Hypocrisy

 

 

Hypocrisy:  The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

Hypocrisy seems to be gaining ground these days, with examples springing up all around. It is something I don't like but when practiced by those pretending to be better and cleverer than us mere mortals, it really aggravates me. So I thought I would mention a few examples:

Beginning with one that came to my attention today. On November 25th, the US regulator for telecomms, the FCC, announced a ban on deployment in the US of telecomms equipment made by, among others, Huawei. That is a ban effective 25th November 2022. The same gang (US government) had carried out a round of brow beating of European nations in 2019, basically forcing European nations to take out and replace their Huawei 5G equipment. The UK Security/Intelligence services had previously done an examination of Huwaei equipment going into UK telecomms systems and given it a clean bill of health. The Yanks shouted at Boris who responded with an "Oo Err Mrs" moment, followed by an edict that all Huawei kit would have to be removed. So, for almost 3 years, it was deemed necessary to eradicate Huawei from Europe on the grounds it was a security risk, while continuing to happily install and commission it in the USA. That's hypocrisy!

How about the UK's lunatic fringe, particularly "Just Stop Oil"? During their recent anti-social behaviour, sitting down in busy roads etc, causing massive disruption to many, and personal distress to others, I couldn't help noticing a couple of points: First, where and when these people found themselves in court for breaching injunctions etc, it became obvious that these people, in the main, came from a certain class; the comfortably off, presumably well educated class and second noticeable feature was their dress. Look for them on the internet and there are hundreds of images, showing them wearing rugged boots with rubber or rubber substitute soles, high-vis gilets, nylon or polyester garments etc. While telling us we must "Just Stop Using Oil" in our daily lives, they seem quite comfortable in wearing clothing that relies for its production on oil! Even if the boots were of natural rubber, have you seen how many tons of diesel fuel is used in the ships carrying the rubber to these shores?

A bit more hypocrisy, featuring once again the world leading exponents of the art, the USA. Currently, they are telling us how the Russian attacks on Ukraine's power infrastructure constitutes a "war crime". Does it now? If true (I don't think it is), was it not a war crime when the US announced in the 1990s how it was going to attack Iraq, beginning with bombing the Iraqi electricity system with carbon fibre filaments, designed specifically to (a) disable the grid and (b) to make it more difficult to restore electricity supplies. Or, what about bombing the crap out of the Yugoslav electricity system because the Yanks wanted to assist Kosovo in their independence grab?

And speaking of independence grabs, how about Ukraine? The regions of Donetsk and Lugansk sought and were granted autonomy within Ukraine in 2014/2015. Note: they were not seeking independence. They chose that route only after 8 years of Ukraine shelling and bombing of civilians and total disregard for the Minsk Accords? Such a flagrant desire to look after themselves (How dare they!) was greeted with contempt and a US led movement to refuse to recognise their self-determination.

BBC; Take note

 

What is this woman doing? Well, she was, at the time the photo was taken, doing 2 things: 1) Politely asking the journalist taking the photo if she could use his phone and (2) Dying.

She had been working in the civil administration building in Lugansk on 2nd June 2014.

Moments earlier the Ukraine Air Force had flown an Su-25 ground attack plane over the street outside the civil administration building and strafed the area with what seems to have been 30mm rounds.

Of course, the Kiev government denied it was anything to do with them. The OCSE reported the following day "In Luhansk the situation remained volatile. On 2 June, shortly after 15:00 hrs, rockets hit the occupied regional administration building. Based on the SMM’s limited observation these strikes were the result of non-guided rockets shot from an aircraft. The number of casualties is unknown". https://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/119479

Regardless of who did what, the poor lady in the photograph died of her wounds a short time later.

CNN published this report, clearly discrediting the Ukraine government's denials: 

https://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/119479

On the same day, the BBC published this weasel-worded nonsense: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27661848. No doubt, the BBC would consider it churlish of me to suggest that the "reporter" contributing this item was sat in the Dog & Duck in Piccadilly, getting his feed via a Ukraine "source". Churlish or not, I'll take that risk and say just that!

Yet, here we are, over 8 years since this incident and the pompous bastards at the BBC maintain that this struggle/war/conflict (delete that which doesn't suit you) began 8 months ago. No stupid! It began over 8.5 years ago. Try and be a little more honest with your audience. Or try and get another job!

 

Wanna Buy Some Grain?

Recently, following the Ukraine/UK attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sebastapol, there was a brief hiatus in the tripartite deal between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey  that allowed the shipment of grain from Ukrainian ports. The shipments continued after Russia said words to the effect of "OK Ukraine. You have had your warning, don't pull a stunt like that again". The day shipments resumed, I chose 9 bulk carriers departing Ukraine and heading South in the Black Sea.

Given the constant bleating from Ukraine and the UN about how the blockade of Ukraine ports was depriving starving third world nations of much needed grain. A need made more urgent by climate changes around the world resulting in crop failures, droughts etc. If renewed grain  shipments were to bring some desperately needed relief to those countries, it could only be a good thing. However, being a bit of a cynic, I thought I would track these 9 ships "just to see". (I had followed a couple of the very first shipments in July this year and they had not ended up where they said they were going).

Under the deal, shipments go via Turkey for checks to ensure the ships are indeed carrying grain exclusively and nothing untoward. So, it was no surprise to note that of the 9 vessels selected for following, all 9 declared Istanbul to be their destination, once they were underway. Eventually ships modified their declared destinations, usually upon leaving the Bosporus Anchorage after a couple of days at anchor. On 4th November, the following ships signalled modified destinations as follows:

St Sofia            Dest            Cartagena                    Caravos Harmony     Dest        Port Said

Nikolaos  A      Dest            Liverpool                      Despina V                Dest        Rotterdam

Notice how many ports in starving 3rd world nations there? At a quick count, I would say Nil. Zero, blank, bugger all, nought. Well, fair enough. That is only 4 of the 9, meaning 5 others had not decided or declared their destinations. So, Amyntor signalled Istanbul Anchorage as destination on 5th November. And no change for the remainder. Subsequently, Eco Destiny decided on 12th November it was bound for Tripoli and is now in Misrata (Libya). St Sofia has berthed in Cartagena, Caravos Harmony on 8th November decided it was not stopping in Port Said but would transit Suez, heading for Singapore and was last seen in the Gulf of Aden, apparently heading that way. Nikolaos A has berthed in Liverpool, Mount Baker is still bimbling around Maramara Sea, still determined to go to Istanbul. Ikairia Angel, on 11th November, turned around and set off for Djibouti and today it is in the Gulf of Suez. After a few days lurking around Istanbul, African Robin decided on 10th November to go to Almeria and was last seen somewhere between Sicily and Tunis allegedly "Out of Range" of suitable AIS receivers. (Other ships in the same area are NOT Out of Range though, so...hmmm). Following a couple of excursions around the Marmara Sea and the Aegean Sea, Amyntor came back to Turkey and is berthed in Iskanderun

As a table, they all look like this:

St Sofia                 Dest            Cartagena                    Caravos Harmony    Dest       Singapore

Nikolaos   A          Dest            Liverpool                     Despina V                Dest        Rotterdam

Amyntor                Dest            Iskanderun                   Eco Destiny             Dest       Misrata

Mount Baker         Dest            Istanbul                        Ikairia Angel            Dest        Djibouti

African Robin        Dest            Algiers

So there we have it. Of 9 ships carrying "desperately needed" grain supplies to the starving millions, I can see only 1 that would qualify, Ikairia Angel. Having said that, the destination declared by the ship may be Djibouti but it is still in the Gulf of Suez. I would suggest I wait and see!

Where in the bible does it say "The idiots shall inherit the earth"?

 Of course, I am writing this with a jaundiced eye. But then, bear in mind the cause of this affliction. "Mainstream Media". (I hate the term but it is the only one available). I honestly don't know if the BBC (which I consider the bulwark of UK Mainstream Media) is deliberately creating and publishing crap or whether they are doing the bidding of others but as this war in Ukraine goes on they are beginning to really stretch the boundaries of stupid.

Let's take a look at one of today's headlines on the BBC web site: "Celebrations in Ukraine after 'extraordinary victory' in Kherson". I would like to offer an alternative view: There was no victory in Kherson or anywhere else for that matter. The Russians announced a few days in advance that they would be withdrawing from the right bank of the Dnieper River. And some time before that, they had issued a call for civilians on that side of the river to evacuate the area. To me, that does not sound like the actions of a force that was taken by surprise and subsequently beaten back by the enemy that was some miles away still. And, despite the BBC and others proclaiming Ukrainian victories here, there and everywhere since the much trumpeted Ukrainian counter-offensive which began in August and was getting nowhere, they were not yet in a position to seriously threaten the city of Kherson. They had won a couple of minor victories in some villages around the boundaries between them and the Russians.

So, despite the Ukrainian hot air about what was going on, there was effectively a stalemate. Bearing in mind the probable 3:1 ratio of Ukrainian forces to Russian, it probably seemed to the Russians that lines should be shortened here and there and that logic probably extended to the area within and around Kherson. The Russians had forces on the right bank of the Dnieper and they had to be reinforced and supplied via the bridge over the river, which was subject to shelling by the Ukrainians and was not expected to last too long and posed a danger to the forces on the right bank. It was therefore sensible to leave the right bank and to consolidate their forces along a more defensible line on the left bank.

Meanwhile, the Russians had been defending the dam across the Dnieper at Nova Kakhovka. The Ukrainians had been shelling this fairly regularly, presumably with the intention to breach the dam and flood the city of Kherson and its environs. The dam is reported to be damaged but still holding. I wonder if the Russians have looked at this and thought it may be on its last legs?  If so it does eventually fail, who will suffer the effects of the subsequent flood in Kherson. Maybe Ukraine? If so, that would be classed as a self-inflicted injury. Is the BBC reporting this? Don't be silly! Of course they are not. Update: As of 15th November, the BBC are reporting on the dam but of course everything has the usual caveats such as "According to sources" and "The BBC was unable to verify this".

Did anybody notice that within 30 minutes of Ukrainian forces entering Kherson, Zelensky was claiming that the Russians had "committed 400 war crimes" in the city. So soon after the events and so precise! Then the BBC stepped on its dick, publishing photos of alleged Russian collaborators tied to a lamp post in Kherson. A search of the BBC news for13th & 14th November no longer shows this photo. I wonder why? Could it be that someone has realised that publishing this war crime photo was a big whoopsie as it demonstrates a war crime being perpetrated by the Ukrainian side? And still they are banging on about "mass grave sites" in Mariupol and elsewhere. Using their criteria, there must have been some tremendous "war crimes" here in the UK as the place is littered with "mass grave sites". There are so many of these in the UK that we have a name for them; they are called "cemeteries"! 

A few days ago, the BBC did a big piece on "Russians Kept in Dark by Internet Search" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63246153). How interesting. Nowhere does it mention how, here in UK, a government decree was issued months ago, not only banning RT news from broadcasting but instructing all internet providers to block internet access to RT (and no doubt other news organisations that don't fit the narrative). So, Russia blocks/interferes with internet in Russia: "Bad boys, Russians". While the UK does exactly the same but "Hoorah for the bastion of Free Speech in the UK". Now there's balance for you. A living working example of "Don't do as I do, do as I tell you".

Finally (for today at least), I found myself getting very wound up this Sunday. I was one of the 10,000 veterans attending the parade at the Cenotaph, remembering all those who had given their lives in conflicts throughout the ages. Stood on Whitehall, I happened to look up and see, on the roof of the Foreign Office, a bloody big Ukrainian flag. Given the special day Remembrance Sunday is, they could have given this some thought and, if they considered it necessary to fly the flag of another nation alongside the Union Flag, they could have chosen from 100 others. No! They chose to fly the flag of a nation with a dark past from WW2. In that period, Ukraine was the nation of Stepan Bandera and others of his ilk. This was one of the WW2 war criminals that are celebrated in Ukraine today. His followers are very same modern era Nazis that were the target of the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. By giving the Ukrainian flag a prominent place on Sunday, I take it that the UK government is fully supportive of the Nazi ideals