Treasury memorandum, 1945:

"We have to devise techniques for bringing influence to bear upon other countries' internal decisions."

British Government's Definition of Terrorism:

"Terrorism is the use, or threat, of action which is violent, damaging or disrupting and is intended to influence the government or intimidate the public and is for for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause."



Tony Blair, 12 April, 1999, talking about NATO's actions in Kosovo.

"We will carry on pounding day after day, until our objectives are secured."

Jack Straw, Former UK Foreign Secretary,

"It [the crisis in Iraq] does have to be resolved, yes to deal with Iraq, but also to ensure that the authority of the international order is maintained."

Mr Murdoch on China,

"The truth is-and we Americans don't like to admit it-that authoritarian societies can work."

In an email reply,

"Local authorities are also tasked with supporting and challenging schools in delivering the Government's reform agenda and ensuring that progress on remodelling the workforce is sustained and deepened through the effective deployment of teachers, headteachers and support staff."

Is this even English?

I come across this little ditty of a quote from the BBC which appeared in the latest issue of Private Eye. You have to read it several times and you still don't know what it's about. Believe it or not it is a job description for someone to deal with booking taxis and couriers.

"Procurement is targeted with delivering savings on generic goods and services pan BBC through a comprehensive category management initiative and driving compliance. The Category Manager-Logistics-Ground Transport is responsible to the Head of Production and Logistics and Senior Category Manager, Logistics for:

Developing a strategy for the procurement and development of a supplier strategy for the BBC's ground transport provision.

Managing the resources needed to procure and develop the ground transport aspect of the Logistics Category.

Influencing key stakeholders and customers pan-BBC......

Competencies:

Using external thinking-builds bridges with useful organisations and innovative thinkers.

Collaborating across boundaries-challenges systems, processes and people that block collaboration.

Leading creativity-fosters imagination, creativity and experimentation."

Paul Meyser, Lehman Brothers;

"We must shift America from a needs to a desire culture. People must be trained to desire. People must want new things before the old have been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality in America. Man's desire must overshadow his needs."

Edward Bernays (one of the forefathers of modern propaganda) in 1928,

"Conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in a democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of this government."

"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it. "

Noam Chomsky

Referring to the bombing campaign in Afghanistan in 2001, he said,

"The squeeze will carry on until the people of the country themselves recognize that this is going to go on until they get the leadership changed."

[The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime under Geneva Conventions.]

"The example of a successful elected Marxist government in Chile would surly have an impact-and even precedent value for-other parts of the world, especially in Italy; the imitative spread of similar phenomena elsewhere would in turn significantly affect the world balance and our own position in it"

"The death toll [in Nicaragua] was equivalent in per capita terms to 2.25 million in the United States, greater than all wars in American history combined, including the Civil War."

He warned President Kennedy that "the distribution of land and other forms of national wealth greatly favours the propertied classes.....and the poor and underprivileged, stimulated by the example of the Cuban Revolution, are now demanding opportunities for a decent living."

The world majority "often opposes the United States on important international questions," so that we must "reserve to ourselves the power to determine" which matters fall "essentially within the jurisdiction of the United States as determined by the United States."

"If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the US does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us."

"Among the the most elementary of moral truisms is the principle of universality: we must apply to ourselves the same standards we do to others, if not more stringent ones. It is a remarkable comment on Western intellectual culture that this principle is so often ignored and, if occasionally mentioned, condemned as outrageous."

Talking about US policy in Nicaragua:

"The United States did not want to control Nicaragua or other nations in the region, but it also didn't want developments to get out of control. It wanted Nicaraguans to act independently, except when doing so would affect US interests adversely."

"The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as a Head of State or responsible Government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law."

On the US war against Nicaragua,

"...a sensible policy [should] meet the test of cost-benefit analysis" of "the amount of blood and misery poured in, and the likelihood that democracy will emerge at the other end."

The choice facing the world is "stark and dreadful and inescapable: shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?"

"If we secure the supplies of oil now available in the world we can do what we like."

On the introduction of 'capitalism' to Russia,

"Only a blitzkrieg approach during the 'window of opportunity' provided by the 'fog of transition' would get the changes made before the population had a chance to organise to protect it previous vested interests."

"The worst thing about communism is what comes after."

"These worst of times give rise to the best of opportunities for those who understand the need for fundamental economic reform."

"While FIFA generally has an open and transparent information policy, there are limits that journalists also have to respect."

"The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means in casualties and damage. Within forty-five minutes a full-size village can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured."

"The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means in casualties and damage. Within forty-five minutes a full-size village can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured."

Quite often,

"One would get a signal that a certain Kurdish village would have to be bombed..."

Would it be possible for Trenchard to take control of Iraq? This would entail:

"the provision of some kind of asphyxiating bombs calculated to cause disablement of some kind but not death...for use in preliminary operations against turbulent tribes."

"I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken
their place,"

'It's not good for us, but it keeps the New Orleans brand out there.'

While addressing German press and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Rudd said it was unlikely any progress would emerge from the Major Economies Forum (MEF) 'by way of detailed programmatic specificity'.

In the Guardian on Wednesday 14th the Treasury Spokespeople of the 3 major parties where asked several questions about the public service. On one question in particular the Conservative's George Osburne gave an answer which I have read several times and I still can't work out what he is saying.

When asked the following;

"Will you give citizens a bigger say in running public services?", he responded,

"We are committed to providing public services such as health and education free at the point of use, and to getting budgets into the hands of users of public services. This would allow those who use public services to drive priorities, and would ensure providers' professional responsibility was restored while services were also more accountable to users."

Ah? Committed to providing..."point of use..", "drive priorities...".

Heaven help us!

"Everyone in Israel is literally glued to their radio and television sets."

“Is it that you hate this president [Bush] or that you hate America?”

“Governor, why wouldn't anyone want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, unless they detested their own country or were ignorant of its greatness?”

I've been to Africa three times. All right? You can't bring Western reasoning into the culture. The same way you can't bring it into fundamental Islam.

"So anyway I'd be rubbing your big boobs and getting your nipples really hard, kinda' kissing your neck from behind...and then I would take the other hand with the falafel thing and I'd just put it on your p***y but you'd have to do it really light, just kind of a tease business..."

"I just wish Katrina had only hit the United Nations building, nothing else, just had flooded them out, and I wouldn't have rescued them."

"If I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, 'Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.'

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country....corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war.

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.

The love of money as a possession--as distinguished from the love of money as a means to the enjoyments and realities of life--will be recognized for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity, one of those semi-criminal, semi-pathological propensities which one hands over with a shudder to the specialists in mental disease.

Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then you will find that money cannot be eaten.

Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

Another poll revealed that faith in God is the most important part of American's lives. Forty percent said they valued their relationship with God above all else; 29 percent chose good health and 21 percent happy marriage. Satisfying work was chosen by 5 percent, respect of people in the community by 2 percent. That this world might offer basic features of a human existence is hardly to be contemplated. These are the kinds of results one might find in a shattered peasant society. Chiliastic visions are reported to be particularly present among blacks; again, not surprising, when we learn from the New England Journal of Medicine that black men in Harlem are less likely to reach the age of 65 than men in Bangladesh.

When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

I spent 33 years in the Marines. Most of my time being a high-classc muscle man for Big business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenue in. I helped in the rape of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street....

If only more of today's military personnel would realize that they are being used by the owning elite's as a publicly subsidized capitalist goon squad.

The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.

Contrary to popular belief, conventional wisdom would have one believe that it is insane to resist this, the mightiest of empires.... But what history really shows is that today's empire is tomorrow's ashes, that nothing lasts forever, and that to not resist is to acquiesce in your own oppression. The greatest form of sanity that anyone can exercise is to resist that force that is trying to repress, oppress, and fight down the human spirit

To enjoy the things we ought, and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character

We who have a Voice must be a Voice for the Voiceless!

‘I do not believe a Jew can ever be a referee at that level (Argentine Premier League) because it’s hard work and, you know, Jews don’t like hard work.’

FIFA senior vice-president and chair of Finance Committee, Julio Grondona, 5 July 2003. Buenos Aires

‘Lying and deception and bad faith are standard operating procedure at FIFA.’

Adam C. Silverstein, a lawyer for MasterCard in their successful action against FIFA, New York, December 1, 2006

The other day I saw a vomit inducing article online about the government's response to a petition to allow teachers from Commonwealth countries to work in the UK without having to go to all the trouble of going through the full process of gaining QTS. It was nothing but long winded management speak about requirements to maintain the 'highest of standards' in education. The fact that almost everyone looks down on the UK system seems to escape them. UNICEF carried out a survey in 2007 that looked at the wellbeing of children and the UK finished 22nd out of 22 countries. Last year a university in London compared results from a standardized test to those of children about 30 years ago and found the more recent results were lower. From that you could say that you would have been better off in a school over 30 years ago than today. Then when you throw the increasing number of unqualified staff doing more and more teaching into the mix you aren't really talking about the highest of standards at all. More like the cheapest.

"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world and we knew exactly who the they were. It was us versus them and it was clear who them was. Today, we're not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there."

"Gain wealth, forgetting all but self, a demeaning and degrading doctrine that had to be driven into people's heads with no little violence. Normal human sentiments had to be crushed; they are inconsistent with capitalist ideology, which celebrates private profit as the supreme human value and denies people rights beyond what they can salvage in the labor market."

"Established institutions, with overwhelmingly dominant power, tend to line up in goose-step fashion in support of any state foreign venture, no matter how immoral (until the cost becomes too high)."

"The process of barring public interference with important matters takes a step forward when elections do not even enable the public to select among programs that originate elsewhere, but become merely a procedure for selecting a symbolic figure."

"All public resources go to the rich. The poor, if they can survive in the labor market, fine. Otherwise, they die. That's economics in a nutshell."

By Noam Chomsky

"If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged."