theduran--2020-04-28--Olympic Games now and then: Remembering the Summer Olympiad 1980 in Moscow

The Russian Federation ’ s athletes do not only have to fight against the coronavirus epidemy but also against constant discrimination by WADA , the would-be arbiter on who may and who may not participate in future Olympic Games .
This international body , dominated by NATO members , already tried to block Russian athletes from taking part in the 1916 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil .
The blockade was only partially successful .
Many Russian sportspeople went to Rio and won medals .
Now WADA is trying to block the Russians again from the 2020 Olympic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia has appealed to the International Sports Arbitration Court ( CAS ) in Lausanne , Russians are continuing to train hard in preparation for Tokyo .
The coronavirus shutdown is a disaster , yet at the same time a blessing in disguise for the Russian sports world .
Now they have gained one more year to get ready , as the Japanese Government decided to postpone the Olympic Games until summer 2021 .
Hopefully , the Russian athletes will be cleared by the International Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne and WADA ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suffocated .
However , this is not the first time that Russians suffered blockades in the area of sports .
Let ’ s remember the Olympic Summer Games of 1980 in Moscow , where many countries did not take part for political reasons , giving Soviet athletes the chance to win most of the medals .
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo are rescheduled to be held in summer 2021 .
Yoshiro Mori , head of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee , announced that the Summer Olympic Games in Japan next year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Summer Paralympic Games will begin on August 24 .
Meanwhile , the Russians won ’ t let themselves be deterred .
In spring 2020 , the Executive Board of the Russian Olympic Committee ( ROC ) decided to extend its programme of preparations for the rescheduled Olympic Games in Japan .
Additional 265 million rubles ( $ 3.6 million ) were allocated for the programme ( TASS , 10.04.2020 ) .
The 1980 Summer Olympics , officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad , were the first Olympic Games held in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were represented in Moscow .
Because of political strife between western states and the Soviet Union , 66 countries boycotted these games .
This boycott became a golden windfall for the Soviet athletes .
They won most of the gold and overall medals .
For the first time in its history , the Olympic Games were attended by Angola , Botswana , Jordan , Laos , Mozambique , Nicaragua and the Seychelles .
Cyprus also made its debut at the Summer Games in Moscow .
Earlier in 1980 , Cyprus had already participated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Several states took part under their new names for the first time : Sri Lanka ( formerly Ceylon ) , Benin ( formerly Dahomey ) and Zimbabwe ( formerly Rhodesia ) .
Several of the 1980 Olympic competitions were held in other cities of the Soviet Union .
The sailing regatta started in Tallinn ( Estonian SSR ) ; the preliminary games and quarter-finals of the football tournament were held in Kiev ( Ukrainian SSR ) , Leningrad and Minsk ( Belorussian SSR ) ; the shooting competitions were held at the Dynamo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Olympic torch relay of the 1980 Summer Olympics took place from June 19 to July 19 , 1980 .
The Olympic flame is one of the eternal symbols and an obligatory attribute of the Olympiad .
Traditionally , the route of the Olympic flame begins in Olympia , where the first Olympiad was held in ancient Greece .
During the solemn ceremony of lighting in Olympia , the Olympic flame is transmitted to the torchbearers , who then relay the fire to the place of the next Olympic Games .
On the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flame was solemnly lit in Moscow .
The Olympic torch bearers crossed several Eastern European countries , as well as member states of the former USSR : Bulgaria , Romania , the Moldavian SSR and Ukrainian SSR .
On Russian territory the citizens of Belgorod , Orel , Kursk , Tula , Chekov and Podolsk were able to greet and see the Olympic flame passing through .
The total length of the relay was 4992 km .
In Moscow the Soviet basketball player Sergey Belov lit the Olympic fire in the cauldron of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Сергей Александрович Белов ; 1944-2013 ) played for CSKA Moscow and the Soviet Union national basketball team .
In 1991 , he was named the Best FIBA Player ever .
He was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame , in 2007 , and became one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors , in 2008 .
The Stadium Luzhniki has a total seating capacity of 81,000 .
It is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex , located in the Khamovniki District of Moscow City .
The name Luzhniki derives from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Moskva River , where the stadium was built .
Luzhniki can be translated as “ meadows ” .
During the 1980 Olympic Summer Games , it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies , as well as some of the competitions , including the final of the football tournament .
Mishka , the Russian bear , was chosen as mascot for the Moscow Olympics .
Mishka is a short form of the Russian name Mikhail .
It was the first mascot of a sporting event to achieve commercial success in merchandise .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opening and closing ceremonies .
It also appeared on several Soviet merchandise products and had both an animated short film ( Soyuzmultfilm ) and a television series ( Nippon Animation ) .
The mascot was designed by Victor Alexandrovich Chizhikov ( Виктор Александрович Чижиков ) , born in 1935 .
He is a Moscow illustrator of more than 100 children ’ s books .
Victor Chizhikov joined the Union of Soviet Journalists , in 1960 , and the Union of Soviet Artists , in 1968 .
He has acted as chairman of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drawing contest held by the Mir TV company , since 1994 , and as chairman of the Russian Children ’ s Book Council , since 2009 .
The artist ’ s works are exhibited in the collection of the Alexander Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow .
Many new sports complexes and Olympic venues were built in and around Moscow .
Other buildings were constructed to improve the infrastructure .
They are still of great importance today , for example Terminal 2 of the International Airport Sheremetyevo .
This is one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Moscow region , the first in Russia in terms of passenger traffic .
It is included in the list of the twenty largest airports of Europe and the fifty busiest airports of the world .
Sheremetyevo is the home base of Russia ’ s national carrier , Aeroflot Airlines .
The airport is located northwest of Moscow , on the territory of Khimki .
The Soviet Union was the overall winner at the Moscow Summer Olympiad with a total of 195 medals : 80 gold , 69 silver , 46 bronze @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Demokratische Republik ” ( DDR ) , ranked second with 126 medals : 47 gold , 37 silver , 42 bronze .
489 Soviet competitors , 340 men and 149 women , took part in 202 events in 23 sports .
In some of the Olympic sports , where Soviet athletes particularly excelled , they won a great number of gold medals : athletics ( 15 ) ; wrestling ( 12 ) ; gymnastics ( 09 ) ; swimming ( 08 ) ; weightlifting ( 05 ) ; canoe ( 04 ) ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 03 each ) ; diving , judo , pentathlon and volleyball ( 02 each ) .
Alexander Nikolaevich Dityatin ( Александр Николаевич Дитятин ) , born in 1957 , became the first athlete to win eight medals at a single Olympiad , with three gold and four silver medals , as well as a bronze medal .
The gymnast is a three-time Olympic champion , seven-time world champion and one of the best gymnasts of all times .
He received the Soviet Badge of Honour , in 1976 , and the title @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in 1979 .
One year later , he was awarded the Order of Lenin .
In 2004 , Alexander Dityatin was included in the Gymnasts ’ International Hall of Fame .
In 2014 , he was named Honoured Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation .
The closing ceremony of the Games of the XXII Olympiad took place on the 3rd of August with songs , fireworks and Mishka waving goodbye .
The white Olympic flag was slowly lowered to the sounds of the Olympic anthem .
Girls in white tunics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Olympic flame .
While E. Artemyev ’ s song “ Sport – Eternal Progress ” was played , the girls formed a composition reminiscent of an ancient Greek fresco , as the Olympic flame in the bowl slowly died out .
On the screen in the background of the stadium the image of Mishka appeared with the inscription “ Bon voyage !
” A tear rolled from the bear ’ s eye .
An orchestra entered the arena of the stadium to play a series of marches .
Athletes synchronously performed sports exercises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closing ceremony , Mishka surfaced again to the song “ Goodbye Moscow , ” sung by Lev Leshchenko and Tatyana Antsiferova .
The image of the bear slowly rose above the stadium , until it disappeared into the sky .
Tatyana Antsiferova is a Soviet and Russian pop singer with a lyric-dramatic soprano voice .
She was born in Sterlitamak , Bashkir SSR , on the 11th of July , 1954 .
Tatyana Antsiferova ’ s father graduated from the Kharkov Institute of Transport Engineers and was sent to work in Bashkiria .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ age of 8 .
Later she left with her parents to return to Kharkov in the Ukrainian SSR , where she started her successful singing career .
Performer Lev Leshchenko was born in Moscow , on the 1st of February 1942 .
His father , Valerian Andreyevich Leshchenko ( 1904–2004 ) , was a Red Army officer at war outside of Moscow .
In his childhood , the singer was influenced by classical music and began performing popular songs .
In April 2020 , Lev Leshchenko was diagnosed to be infected with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Goodbye Moscow ” is Alexandra Nikolayevna Pakhmutova ( Александра Николаевна Пахмутова ) .
She was born in Beketovka , now a neighbourhood of Volgograd , on the 9th of November , 1929 .
This composer has remained one of the best known figures of Soviet and later Russian popular music , since she first achieved fame in her homeland , in the 1960s .
She was named People ’ s Artist of the USSR , in 1984 .
Besides many other awards and medals , which she received in her very long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Honorary Citizen of Volgograd ( 1993 ) , of Bratsk ( 1994 ) and of Moscow ( 2000 ) .
At a gala evening in the Bolshoi Theatre to mark Alexandra Pakhmutova ’ s 90th birthday anniversary , President Vladimir Putin congratulated and awarded her the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle ( Kremlin.ru , 10.11.2019 ) .
President Vladimir Putin said in his congratulating speech : “ Dear Ms Pakhmutova , I would like to thank you for everything you did for our country and our people .
Many generations of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ music .
I know that you compose different kinds of music – for symphony orchestras , for ballets and for choirs .
However , the music you wrote for songs is most widely known among our people .
It penetrates our very souls … ” What Russia ’ s President said about music is also true for sports .
Just as music penetrates the souls of human beings , sports penetrates the bodies and hearts .
This is why sports is so important for people .
Famous sportsmen are adored and venerated all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope that the next Summer Olympiad in Tokyo 2021 will be a happy event for all nations worldwide .
Olivia Kroth : The journalist and author of four books lives in Moscow .
Her blog : https : //olivia2010kroth.wordpress.com

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by Olivia Kroth…
The Russian Federation’s athletes do not only have to fight against the coronavirus epidemy but also against constant discrimination by WADA, the would-be arbiter on who may and who may not participate in future Olympic Games. This international body, dominated by NATO members, already tried to block Russian athletes from taking part in the 1916 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The blockade was only partially successful. Many Russian sportspeople went to Rio and won medals. Now WADA is trying to block the Russians again from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. While Russia has appealed to the International Sports Arbitration Court (CAS) in Lausanne, Russians are continuing to train hard in preparation for Tokyo. The coronavirus shutdown is a disaster, yet at the same time a blessing in disguise for the Russian sports world. Now they have gained one more year to get ready, as the Japanese Government decided to postpone the Olympic Games until summer 2021. Hopefully, the Russian athletes will be cleared by the International Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne and WADA’s discrimination against the Russian Federation will be suffocated. However, this is not the first time that Russians suffered blockades in the area of sports. Let’s remember the Olympic Summer Games of 1980 in Moscow, where many countries did not take part for political reasons, giving Soviet athletes the chance to win most of the medals.
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo are rescheduled to be held in summer 2021. Yoshiro Mori, head of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee, announced that the Summer Olympic Games in Japan next year will start on July 23 and the Summer Paralympic Games will begin on August 24.
Meanwhile, the Russians won’t let themselves be deterred. In spring 2020, the Executive Board of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) decided to extend its programme of preparations for the rescheduled Olympic Games in Japan. Additional 265 million rubles ($3.6 million) were allocated for the programme (TASS, 10.04.2020).
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were the first Olympic Games held in a Slavic speaking country. Eighty nations were represented in Moscow. Because of political strife between western states and the Soviet Union, 66 countries boycotted these games. This boycott became a golden windfall for the Soviet athletes. They won most of the gold and overall medals.
For the first time in its history, the Olympic Games were attended by Angola, Botswana, Jordan, Laos, Mozambique, Nicaragua and the Seychelles. Cyprus also made its debut at the Summer Games in Moscow. Earlier in 1980, Cyprus had already participated in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. Several states took part under their new names for the first time: Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Benin (formerly Dahomey) and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia).
Several of the 1980 Olympic competitions were held in other cities of the Soviet Union. The sailing regatta started in Tallinn (Estonian SSR); the preliminary games and quarter-finals of the football tournament were held in Kiev (Ukrainian SSR), Leningrad and Minsk (Belorussian SSR); the shooting competitions were held at the Dynamo shooting range in Mytishchi near Moscow.
The Olympic torch relay of the 1980 Summer Olympics took place from June 19 to July 19, 1980. The Olympic flame is one of the eternal symbols and an obligatory attribute of the Olympiad. Traditionally, the route of the Olympic flame begins in Olympia, where the first Olympiad was held in ancient Greece.
During the solemn ceremony of lighting in Olympia, the Olympic flame is transmitted to the torchbearers, who then relay the fire to the place of the next Olympic Games. On the 19th of July 1980, the Olympic flame was solemnly lit in Moscow.
The Olympic torch bearers crossed several Eastern European countries, as well as member states of the former USSR: Bulgaria, Romania, the Moldavian SSR and Ukrainian SSR. On Russian territory the citizens of Belgorod, Orel, Kursk, Tula, Chekov and Podolsk were able to greet and see the Olympic flame passing through. The total length of the relay was 4992 km.
In Moscow the Soviet basketball player Sergey Belov lit the Olympic fire in the cauldron of the Stadium Luzhniki. Sergey Alexandrovich Belov (Сергей Александрович Белов; 1944-2013) played for CSKA Moscow and the Soviet Union national basketball team. In 1991, he was named the Best FIBA Player ever. He was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, in 2007, and became one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, in 2008.
The Stadium Luzhniki has a total seating capacity of 81,000. It is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, located in the Khamovniki District of Moscow City. The name Luzhniki derives from the flood meadows in the bend of the Moskva River, where the stadium was built. Luzhniki can be translated as “meadows”. During the 1980 Olympic Summer Games, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as some of the competitions, including the final of the football tournament.
Mishka, the Russian bear, was chosen as mascot for the Moscow Olympics. Mishka is a short form of the Russian name Mikhail. It was the first mascot of a sporting event to achieve commercial success in merchandise. The bear doll was used extensively during the opening and closing ceremonies. It also appeared on several Soviet merchandise products and had both an animated short film (Soyuzmultfilm) and a television series (Nippon Animation).
The mascot was designed by Victor Alexandrovich Chizhikov (Виктор Александрович Чижиков), born in 1935. He is a Moscow illustrator of more than 100 children’s books. Victor Chizhikov joined the Union of Soviet Journalists, in 1960, and the Union of Soviet Artists, in 1968.
He has acted as chairman of the jury for the Tik-Tak children’s drawing contest held by the Mir TV company, since 1994, and as chairman of the Russian Children’s Book Council, since 2009. The artist’s works are exhibited in the collection of the Alexander Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
Many new sports complexes and Olympic venues were built in and around Moscow. Other buildings were constructed to improve the infrastructure. They are still of great importance today, for example Terminal 2 of the International Airport Sheremetyevo. This is one of the four main airports in Moscow and the Moscow region, the first in Russia in terms of passenger traffic. It is included in the list of the twenty largest airports of Europe and the fifty busiest airports of the world. Sheremetyevo is the home base of Russia’s national carrier, Aeroflot Airlines. The airport is located northwest of Moscow, on the territory of Khimki.
The Soviet Union was the overall winner at the Moscow Summer Olympiad with a total of 195 medals: 80 gold, 69 silver, 46 bronze. East Germany, the “Deutsche Demokratische Republik” (DDR), ranked second with 126 medals: 47 gold, 37 silver, 42 bronze. 489 Soviet competitors, 340 men and 149 women, took part in 202 events in 23 sports.
In some of the Olympic sports, where Soviet athletes particularly excelled, they won a great number of gold medals: athletics (15); wrestling (12); gymnastics (09); swimming (08); weightlifting (05); canoe (04); cycling, equestrian, fencing and shooting (03 each); diving, judo, pentathlon and volleyball (02 each).
Alexander Nikolaevich Dityatin (Александр Николаевич Дитятин), born in 1957, became the first athlete to win eight medals at a single Olympiad, with three gold and four silver medals, as well as a bronze medal. The gymnast is a three-time Olympic champion, seven-time world champion and one of the best gymnasts of all times.
He received the Soviet Badge of Honour, in 1976, and the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR, in 1979. One year later, he was awarded the Order of Lenin. In 2004, Alexander Dityatin was included in the Gymnasts’ International Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was named Honoured Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation.
The closing ceremony of the Games of the XXII Olympiad took place on the 3rd of August with songs, fireworks and Mishka waving goodbye. The white Olympic flag was slowly lowered to the sounds of the Olympic anthem. Girls in white tunics came up to the chalice with the Olympic flame. While E. Artemyev’s song “Sport – Eternal Progress” was played, the girls formed a composition reminiscent of an ancient Greek fresco, as the Olympic flame in the bowl slowly died out.
On the screen in the background of the stadium the image of Mishka appeared with the inscription “Bon voyage!” A tear rolled from the bear’s eye. An orchestra entered the arena of the stadium to play a series of marches. Athletes synchronously performed sports exercises. At the very end of the closing ceremony, Mishka surfaced again to the song “Goodbye Moscow,” sung by Lev Leshchenko and Tatyana Antsiferova. The image of the bear slowly rose above the stadium, until it disappeared into the sky.
Tatyana Antsiferova is a Soviet and Russian pop singer with a lyric-dramatic soprano voice. She was born in Sterlitamak, Bashkir SSR, on the 11th of July, 1954. Tatyana Antsiferova’s father graduated from the Kharkov Institute of Transport Engineers and was sent to work in Bashkiria. Tatyana lived in Sterlitamak, until the age of 8. Later she left with her parents to return to Kharkov in the Ukrainian SSR, where she started her successful singing career.
Performer Lev Leshchenko was born in Moscow, on the 1st of February 1942. His father, Valerian Andreyevich Leshchenko (1904–2004), was a Red Army officer at war outside of Moscow. In his childhood, the singer was influenced by classical music and began performing popular songs. In April 2020, Lev Leshchenko was diagnosed to be infected with the coronavirus.
The composer of the song “Goodbye Moscow” is Alexandra Nikolayevna Pakhmutova (Александра Николаевна Пахмутова). She was born in Beketovka, now a neighbourhood of Volgograd, on the 9th of November, 1929. This composer has remained one of the best known figures of Soviet and later Russian popular music, since she first achieved fame in her homeland, in the 1960s. She was named People’s Artist of the USSR, in 1984.
Besides many other awards and medals, which she received in her very long and successful career, Alexandra Pakhmutova became a Honorary Citizen of Volgograd (1993), of Bratsk (1994) and of Moscow (2000). At a gala evening in the Bolshoi Theatre to mark Alexandra Pakhmutova’s 90th birthday anniversary, President Vladimir Putin congratulated and awarded her the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle (Kremlin.ru, 10.11.2019).
President Vladimir Putin said in his congratulating speech: “Dear Ms Pakhmutova, I would like to thank you for everything you did for our country and our people. Many generations of our citizens live their lives with your music. I know that you compose different kinds of music – for symphony orchestras, for ballets and for choirs. However, the music you wrote for songs is most widely known among our people. It penetrates our very souls …”
What Russia’s President said about music is also true for sports. Just as music penetrates the souls of human beings, sports penetrates the bodies and hearts. This is why sports is so important for people. Famous sportsmen are adored and venerated all over the world. Let’s hope that the next Summer Olympiad in Tokyo 2021 will be a happy event for all nations worldwide.
Olivia Kroth: The journalist and author of four books lives in Moscow.
Her blog: https://olivia2010kroth.wordpress.com
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theduran--2020-04-28--COVID-19 Great Depression: Global Ecosocialism Is the Way Out

The abstract science of mathematics is a language like music .
But while music is in the realm of pure emotion , the language of mathematics only speaks to the mind not the heart .
Numbers and equations do not lie .
They are not , by essence , subjective .
This being said , when the numbers are those of the dead , they can have the chilling emotional effect of a meat cleaver cutting through bones .
While we have tried to stay away from the mainstream media litany of the death tolls , on April 25 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the United States alone , by the end of April , the COVID-19 pandemic will have killed more people than the reported 58,220 US soldiers who died during the Vietnam war .
Ironically , two political leaders who are supposed to be on opposite sides of the political spectrum have framed their COVID-19 crisis narrative as a war .
One is French President Macron , a neoliberal globalist champion , and the other one is nationalist-populist US President Trump .
Both , however , have a lot in common : they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Commanders in Chief of their respective military but did not serve in the military .
Trump was a reputed Vietnam war draft dodger , while Macron was born too late to have done the mandatory French military service .
In either case , their war on COVID-19 is not going well .
As matter of fact Trump and Macron are winning their war on COVID-19 like the US won in Vietnam or NATO won in Afghanistan .
And incidentally , if the COVID-19 is a world war , both of these presidents and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military draft .
The COVID-19 killing spree is not yet over , even in its first installment .
It is hard to forecast , but in a month or two , once countries such as India , Indonesia , Pakistan and the entire African continent are computed in the tragic body count , we could globally reached 350,000 deaths .
The worldwide government incompetence will continue and the litany of deaths will keep ticking away .
Meanwhile human suffering is not a great concern for capitalism ’ s ruling class , the economy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main focus .
Never mind their countless failures and shortcomings through the crisis , what mostly concerns our callous and cynical political and business leaders is COVID-19 ’ s impact on the global economy .
While the lockdown of half of humanity could have been beneficial for an extra couple of weeks from a healthcare stand point , the enforcers of the imperative of global capitalism do not care .
As far as salvaging what can still be saved from the current economic collapse , the political technocrats who serve the billionaire class @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human lives .
People are dying .
Poor people are starving even in the so-called developed world and relying on food banks in places like Queens , New York ; New Orleans ; or Seine St. Denis , in Paris ’ poor northern suburbs .
But what truly matters for the worshippers of capitalism is the well being of their free-market God , a profane deity brought to its knees by the COVID-19 pandemic .
Humanity is facing a time of reckoning .
Despite what the global ruling class hopes for , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will never return to normal .
In just two months , the global economy was brought to a standstill .
Airplanes are not flying ; factories are not manufacturing , with the exception of face masks ; oil has become worthless ; three billion people are not consuming , at the exception of food products .
The imposed hiatus for most global consumption and circulation of people and goods has blown a giant hole in the complex capitalist edifice .
The main question now is will it recover .
While the notion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , governments worldwide are trying to give their citizens the idea that ultimately it will be okay again .
As during the crash of 2008 , worldwide national or supra-national banking institutions have followed the lead of the US Federal Reserve .
Worldwide , the equivalent of about $ 7 trillion have been printed , and they are in the process of being injected in the financial markets .
Without this , Wall Street and the other markets would already be worth as little as a barrel of US crude oil .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the US On April 21 , the West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) benchmark for US crude dropped below zero .
As matter of fact , it was trading at - $ 4.29 a barrel .
Needless to say , despite the federal money injection , the impact on the US economy energy sector will be catastrophic .
This situation was completely predictable .
It was years in the making , with one geopolitical blunder after another .
After all , for decades the US and its Saudi allies have used oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war has come home to roost .
During the Clinton administration an oil price drop was used against Saddam Hussein ’ s Iraq ; Bush Jr. ’ s administration used it against Iran ; and the Obama administration used it against Russia as a retaliation over Ukraine .
The Trump administration has applied the same policies with regime change goals in Iran and Venezuela .
Like his predecessors , the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia , Mohamed bin-Salman , has been fully on board for decades .
The mechanics are simple : you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by bankrupting another country ’ s economy , especially if it mainly relies on oil extraction , as does Venezuela .
But Maduro is still in place and the Iranians are holding on against all odds .
The Trump administration , despite its claim of being an America-First isolationist , has dutifully followed the post World War II US empire ’ s geopolitical strategy of asserting a worldwide dominance , even bigger than the Monroe doctrine , by engineering failed states .
It is likely , however , that with 26 million unemployed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eat , and an economy that has imploded , the US empire will have to scale back its ambitions .
For global neoliberalism ’ s prodigal son , Emmanuel Macron , the economic and social landscapes are equally grim .
Despite the tough lockdown for more than six weeks in France , clashes have occurred between youths in poor French suburbs and the police .
It started Saturday April 18 in Villeneuve La Garrenne with what appears to have been excessive police force against a motorcyclist .
From there , it snowballed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paris and elsewhere in France , specifically in Strasbourg , Roubaix and a Lyon suburb .
In Strasbourg a police station was set on fire .
The French far-right has done its best to capitalize on the incident , which involved mainly young French citizens of North African or African origin .
The far-right populist leader of the Rassemblement National , Marine Le Pen , called for a severe crackdown on the culprits of the social unrest .
She made the racist claimed that “ la racaille ” ( the human scum ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also attacked the Macron administration for doing something right , which was the release of 8,000 prisoners from prisons to avoid COVID-19 mass infections .
This was to be expected from racist tough-on-crime Le Pen , but Eric Ciotti , a congressman from Les Republicains , a party that is supposed to be less Fascist than Le Pen ’ s , went a step further and called for L ’ intervention de l ’ armee et un couvre feu ( a deployment of the military and a curfew ) .
Most people understand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six million French citizens of North African or African origin , France ’ s confinement would be a lot more challenging .
Just like in New York , Detroit , Chicago , Los Angeles or New Orleans , the mothers and fathers of the angry youths in France are largely the ones who have kept the country going during the lockdown , day in and day out , often risking their lives , anonymously .
They are the clerks in supermarkets , the truck drivers and other delivery persons , the janitors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and low-paid support staff in hospitals and nursing homes .
Generation after generation , since the early 1960s , the largely North African immigrants have done the hard work that the Caucasian French no longer care to do .
Former president Chirac called this social inequality a fracture sociale in the 1990s .
So it was identified but never fixed , and the COVID-19 crisis has just made it more blatant .
France will ease its lockdown after May 11 .
After this , if the social inequalities are not addressed by actions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ youths of the poor suburbs could be joined by the Gilets Jaunes , whose movement just went underground .
So far the central banks ’ remedy quantitative easing , a euphemism for printing money , has been largely futile .
The 3 trillion dollars and 1.5 trillion Euros injected are financial band-aids on our global economical Titanic .
If this doomed ship represents our pre-COVID-19 mode of development , it should be cheerfully sacrificed along with the giant cargo ships and planes , which are the nervous system of a globalization that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis has fully exposed the failures of governance and socio-economic systems worldwide .
Beyond their short-term post-COVID-19 strategies , few policy makers or business leaders have any valid answers .
The ruling class ’ model of globalization , based on corporate imperialism ’ s core principle of profit over people , is in ruins .
In the middle of an unstoppable worldwide paradigm shift , so-called leaders and thinkers are in paradigm paralysis .
They are trapped in a pre-COVID-19 reality bubble , unable to think outside the box .
As citizens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possibly to a better future for the many .
One critical systemic problem unlikely to survive COVID-19 is the extreme social inequality driven by hyper-capitalist wealth concentration .
In a nutshell , the existential problem of capitalism that could cause its end is as follows : exactly 2,019 billionaires worldwide have more wealth than 60 percent of the world population .
This is not only immoral but also unsustainable .
Let us travel back in time to 1788 for a moment .
In France absolute King Louis XVI , who presumably combined the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ France ’ s richest man Bernard Arnault , thought he was firmly in power .
But within a year he was swept away by the French Revolution .
The motto of the revolution and subsequent French Republic was Liberte , Egalite , Fraternite .
These three notions still have power and value .
If climate justice is added to them , this could be the foundation of an ecosocialist society .
While the Great Depression of 1929 unquestionably triggered the rise of Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany , humanity can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The COVID-19 Great Depression upon us might be capitalism ’ s end game and the birth of a new global ecosocialist era based on social equality , real democracy with sound governance , zero economic growth , zero global military spending , and respectful harmony with what is left of the natural world .
Editor ’ s notes : Gilbert Mercier is the author of The Orwellian Empire .
Photograph one by Larry Goodwin ; two from the archive of Urban Museum ; three and five from the archive of The National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seven by Lanpernas ; eight by Francisco Anzola ; nine by Denisbin ; ten and twelve by Gilbert Mercier ; and eleven from the archive of Leigh Blackall .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Authored by Gilbert Mercier, via News Junkie Post…
Suffering in numbers
The abstract science of mathematics is a language like music. But while music is in the realm of pure emotion, the language of mathematics only speaks to the mind not the heart. Numbers and equations do not lie. They are not, by essence, subjective. This being said, when the numbers are those of the dead, they can have the chilling emotional effect of a meat cleaver cutting through bones. While we have tried to stay away from the mainstream media litany of the death tolls, on April 25, 2020 we had passed 200,000 deaths globally. In the United States alone, by the end of April, the COVID-19 pandemic will have killed more people than the reported 58,220 US soldiers who died during the Vietnam war.
Neoliberal and populist war presidents?
Ironically, two political leaders who are supposed to be on opposite sides of the political spectrum have framed their COVID-19 crisis narrative as a war. One is French President Macron, a neoliberal globalist champion, and the other one is nationalist-populist US President Trump. Both, however, have a lot in common: they are proponents of global corporatism, are Commanders in Chief of their respective military but did not serve in the military. Trump was a reputed Vietnam war draft dodger, while Macron was born too late to have done the mandatory French military service. In either case, their war on COVID-19 is not going well. As matter of fact Trump and Macron are winning their war on COVID-19 like the US won in Vietnam or NATO won in Afghanistan. And incidentally, if the COVID-19 is a world war, both of these presidents and other world leaders should consider ordering a military draft.
The COVID-19 killing spree is not yet over, even in its first installment. It is hard to forecast, but in a month or two, once countries such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the entire African continent are computed in the tragic body count, we could globally reached 350,000 deaths. The worldwide government incompetence will continue and the litany of deaths will keep ticking away. Meanwhile human suffering is not a great concern for capitalism’s ruling class, the economy and the financial markets are now their main focus.
Capitalism’s callous imperatives
Never mind their countless failures and shortcomings through the crisis, what mostly concerns our callous and cynical political and business leaders is COVID-19’s impact on the global economy. While the lockdown of half of humanity could have been beneficial for an extra couple of weeks from a healthcare stand point, the enforcers of the imperative of global capitalism do not care. As far as salvaging what can still be saved from the current economic collapse, the political technocrats who serve the billionaire class are perfectly willing to sacrifice thousands of human lives. People are dying. Poor people are starving even in the so-called developed world and relying on food banks in places like Queens, New York; New Orleans; or Seine St. Denis, in Paris’ poor northern suburbs. But what truly matters for the worshippers of capitalism is the well being of their free-market God, a profane deity brought to its knees by the COVID-19 pandemic. Humanity is facing a time of reckoning. Despite what the global ruling class hopes for, the global economy has collapsed, and things will never return to normal.
The COVID-19 Great Depression
In just two months, the global economy was brought to a standstill. Airplanes are not flying; factories are not manufacturing, with the exception of face masks; oil has become worthless; three billion people are not consuming, at the exception of food products. The imposed hiatus for most global consumption and circulation of people and goods has blown a giant hole in the complex capitalist edifice. The main question now is will it recover. While the notion of a Great COVID-19 Depression has become accepted, governments worldwide are trying to give their citizens the idea that ultimately it will be okay again. As during the crash of 2008, worldwide national or supra-national banking institutions have followed the lead of the US Federal Reserve. Worldwide, the equivalent of about $7 trillion have been printed, and they are in the process of being injected in the financial markets. Without this, Wall Street and the other markets would already be worth as little as a barrel of US crude oil.
The oil war has come home to roost in the US
On April 21, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark for US crude dropped below zero. As matter of fact, it was trading at -$4.29 a barrel. Needless to say, despite the federal money injection, the impact on the US economy energy sector will be catastrophic. This situation was completely predictable. It was years in the making, with one geopolitical blunder after another. After all, for decades the US and its Saudi allies have used oil price as a weapon. The oil war has come home to roost.
During the Clinton administration an oil price drop was used against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq; Bush Jr.’s administration used it against Iran; and the Obama administration used it against Russia as a retaliation over Ukraine. The Trump administration has applied the same policies with regime change goals in Iran and Venezuela. Like his predecessors, the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin-Salman, has been fully on board for decades. The mechanics are simple: you try to achieve your regime change goals by bankrupting another country’s economy, especially if it mainly relies on oil extraction, as does Venezuela. But Maduro is still in place and the Iranians are holding on against all odds.
The Trump administration, despite its claim of being an America-First isolationist, has dutifully followed the post World War II US empire’s geopolitical strategy of asserting a worldwide dominance, even bigger than the Monroe doctrine, by engineering failed states. It is likely, however, that with 26 million unemployed, millions relying on food banks to eat, and an economy that has imploded, the US empire will have to scale back its ambitions. For global neoliberalism’s prodigal son, Emmanuel Macron, the economic and social landscapes are equally grim.
Anger in France: “la racaille” & Gilets Jaunes’ new sans-culottes?
Despite the tough lockdown for more than six weeks in France, clashes have occurred between youths in poor French suburbs and the police. It started Saturday April 18 in Villeneuve La Garrenne with what appears to have been excessive police force against a motorcyclist. From there, it snowballed to the poor suburbs in other parts of Paris and elsewhere in France, specifically in Strasbourg, Roubaix and a Lyon suburb. In Strasbourg a police station was set on fire. The French far-right has done its best to capitalize on the incident, which involved mainly young French citizens of North African or African origin. The far-right populist leader of the Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen, called for a severe crackdown on the culprits of the social unrest. She made the racist claimed that “la racaille” (the human scum) had to be neutralized. Le Pen also attacked the Macron administration for doing something right, which was the release of 8,000 prisoners from prisons to avoid COVID-19 mass infections. This was to be expected from racist tough-on-crime Le Pen, but Eric Ciotti, a congressman from Les Republicains, a party that is supposed to be less Fascist than Le Pen’s, went a step further and called for L’intervention de l’armee et un couvre feu (a deployment of the military and a curfew).
Most people understand that, without the work of the six million French citizens of North African or African origin, France’s confinement would be a lot more challenging. Just like in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles or New Orleans, the mothers and fathers of the angry youths in France are largely the ones who have kept the country going during the lockdown, day in and day out, often risking their lives, anonymously. They are the clerks in supermarkets, the truck drivers and other delivery persons, the janitors, the garbage collectors, the bus drivers and low-paid support staff in hospitals and nursing homes. Generation after generation, since the early 1960s, the largely North African immigrants have done the hard work that the Caucasian French no longer care to do. Former president Chirac called this social inequality a fracture sociale in the 1990s. So it was identified but never fixed, and the COVID-19 crisis has just made it more blatant. France will ease its lockdown after May 11. After this, if the social inequalities are not addressed by actions instead of only words, the angry youths of the poor suburbs could be joined by the Gilets Jaunes, whose movement just went underground.
Ecosocialism equation: climate crisis + COVID19 = systemic change
So far the central banks’ remedy quantitative easing, a euphemism for printing money, has been largely futile. The 3 trillion dollars and 1.5 trillion Euros injected are financial band-aids on our global economical Titanic. If this doomed ship represents our pre-COVID-19 mode of development, it should be cheerfully sacrificed along with the giant cargo ships and planes, which are the nervous system of a globalization that is chocking on itself. The unfolding COVID-19 crisis has fully exposed the failures of governance and socio-economic systems worldwide.
Beyond their short-term post-COVID-19 strategies, few policy makers or business leaders have any valid answers. The ruling class’ model of globalization, based on corporate imperialism’s core principle of profit over people, is in ruins. In the middle of an unstoppable worldwide paradigm shift, so-called leaders and thinkers are in paradigm paralysis. They are trapped in a pre-COVID-19 reality bubble, unable to think outside the box.
As citizens of the world, we may look ahead possibly to a better future for the many. One critical systemic problem unlikely to survive COVID-19 is the extreme social inequality driven by hyper-capitalist wealth concentration. In a nutshell, the existential problem of capitalism that could cause its end is as follows: exactly 2,019 billionaires worldwide have more wealth than 60 percent of the world population. This is not only immoral but also unsustainable. Let us travel back in time to 1788 for a moment. In France absolute King Louis XVI, who presumably combined the power of Macron and the wealth of France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, thought he was firmly in power. But within a year he was swept away by the French Revolution. The motto of the revolution and subsequent French Republic was Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite. These three notions still have power and value. If climate justice is added to them, this could be the foundation of an ecosocialist society.
While the Great Depression of 1929 unquestionably triggered the rise of Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany, humanity cannot afford for that history to repeat itself. The COVID-19 Great Depression upon us might be capitalism’s end game and the birth of a new global ecosocialist era based on social equality, real democracy with sound governance, zero economic growth, zero global military spending, and respectful harmony with what is left of the natural world.
Editor’s notes: Gilbert Mercier is the author of The Orwellian Empire. Photograph one by Larry Goodwin; two from the archive of Urban Museum; three and five from the archive of The National Guard; four by David Shankbone; seven by Lanpernas; eight by Francisco Anzola; nine by Denisbin; ten and twelve by Gilbert Mercier; and eleven from the archive of Leigh Blackall.
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theduran--2020-04-28--The Railroading Of Novlett Williams (Part 2)

So no one should be permitted to upload an image to a website without a government permit , in effect ?
Maybe all computers and mobile phones should be licensed and inspected weekly .
Just think of the work that would generate for police state tyrants .
The same hysterical article claims that around half a million men in the UK may have viewed indecent images of children .
Which begs the question why was so much time and resources put into the Novlett Williams case ?
Before dealing with any conspiratorial motives it needs to be pointed out that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these charging decisions are not very bright .
Indeed , many police officers are not that bright ; the aforementioned Leroy Logan was clearly an affirmative action hire .
In sex cases especially there are men who should be charged with rape or some similar offence but walk free due to poor investigating and charging decisions , while at the other end of the scale some men are charged with imaginary crimes – as was Mark Pearson – or with historical sex crimes because some demented female decides to “ disclose ” her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Last month , the Court Of Appeal confirmed it had received appeal papers from the legal team of Novlett Williams .
This will probably take months due to the current situation , but after it is heard , and hopefully after her conviction is quashed , I will have more to say about a similar matter .
In the meantime , let us look at a possible motive for her being so treated .
Novlett Williams joined Nottinghamshire Police in 1983 , and became the first black woman on the force to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she was a founder member of the aforementioned National Black Police Association , and was at one point its general secretary .
The NBPA is run out of the City Of London Police headquarters at Wood Street in East London .
I use the word run in a very broad sense because it doesn ’ t appear to have much of a presence .
Although its origins go back further , its main inspiration , if it can be called that , was the aftermath of the April 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case , some background information can be found here , but the way this poor kid ’ s death was exploited and continues to be exploited to this day was and is disgraceful .
It was used as an attack on the rule of law , most notably by the abolition of double jeopardy in criminal cases .
The National Black Police Association was not without its opponents .
Letters in Police Review in the years following its inception asked if there was a need for a specifically black police association .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggestion of forming a white police association would generate .
The NBPA is obsessed especially with what it calls institutional racism , a phrase that gathered momentum in the UK after the Stephen Lawrence murder .
In reality , institutional racism is an import from the United States where it was used to explain or rather explain away black civil disobedience and riots in the 1960s .
This NBPA document about so-called institutional racism in Leicestershire Police should be taken with a grain of salt .
Or maybe a boulder .
The Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the side of the British police , so it may be that someone has decided to teach it a lesson .
Returning to Novlett Williams , in 1999 she received an award from Nottingham City Council , and was awarded the Queen ’ s Police Medal in the 2003 New Year ’ s Honour ’ s List .
More recently she was singled out for praise following the Grenfell Tower fire .
Although she has clocked up 36 years service , most police officers retire after 30 years , so hopefully her pension @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also a lesbian , and there was at one time a suggestion that she might become the first black commissioner of police .
One is entitled to ask if a white lesbian police commissioner might not see her as a rival .
One final thought , in 2008 , uniformed thug Mark Andrews knocked a prisoner unconscious in a Wiltshire police station .
Pamela Somerville – a small woman and not young – was thrown into a cell bashing her face against the floor .
Andrews was prosecuted , convicted , gaoled , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was granted an appeal , his conviction was quashed , and he was ordered to be reinstated against the wishes of the police authority .
If a thug like Andrews is considered fit to carry a warrant card , surely so is Novlett Williams .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
So no one should be permitted to upload an image to a website without a government permit, in effect? Maybe all computers and mobile phones should be licensed and inspected weekly. Just think of the work that would generate for police state tyrants.
The same hysterical article claims that around half a million men in the UK may have viewed indecent images of children. Which begs the question why was so much time and resources put into the Novlett Williams case? Before dealing with any conspiratorial motives it needs to be pointed out that a lot of the people who make these charging decisions are not very bright. Indeed, many police officers are not that bright; the aforementioned Leroy Logan was clearly an affirmative action hire. In sex cases especially there are men who should be charged with rape or some similar offence but walk free due to poor investigating and charging decisions, while at the other end of the scale some men are charged with imaginary crimes – as was Mark Pearson – or with historical sex crimes because some demented female decides to “disclose” her sexual abuse years and decades on.
Last month, the Court Of Appeal confirmed it had received appeal papers from the legal team of Novlett Williams. This will probably take months due to the current situation, but after it is heard, and hopefully after her conviction is quashed, I will have more to say about a similar matter.
In the meantime, let us look at a possible motive for her being so treated.
Novlett Williams joined Nottinghamshire Police in 1983, and became the first black woman on the force to be promoted to sergeant. In 1999, she was a founder member of the aforementioned National Black Police Association, and was at one point its general secretary. The NBPA is run out of the City Of London Police headquarters at Wood Street in East London. I use the word run in a very broad sense because it doesn’t appear to have much of a presence. Although its origins go back further, its main inspiration, if it can be called that, was the aftermath of the April 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence.
For those not au fait with the case, some background information can be found here, but the way this poor kid’s death was exploited and continues to be exploited to this day was and is disgraceful. It was used as an attack on the rule of law, most notably by the abolition of double jeopardy in criminal cases.
The National Black Police Association was not without its opponents. Letters in Police Review in the years following its inception asked if there was a need for a specifically black police association. One can only imagine the outcry the suggestion of forming a white police association would generate.
The NBPA is obsessed especially with what it calls institutional racism, a phrase that gathered momentum in the UK after the Stephen Lawrence murder. In reality, institutional racism is an import from the United States where it was used to explain or rather explain away black civil disobedience and riots in the 1960s. This NBPA document about so-called institutional racism in Leicestershire Police should be taken with a grain of salt. Or maybe a boulder.
The Black Police Association is clearly a thorn in the side of the British police, so it may be that someone has decided to teach it a lesson.
Returning to Novlett Williams, in 1999 she received an award from Nottingham City Council, and was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the 2003 New Year’s Honour’s List. More recently she was singled out for praise following the Grenfell Tower fire. Although she has clocked up 36 years service, most police officers retire after 30 years, so hopefully her pension wil not be affected. She is also a lesbian, and there was at one time a suggestion that she might become the first black commissioner of police. One is entitled to ask if a white lesbian police commissioner might not see her as a rival.
One final thought, in 2008, uniformed thug Mark Andrews knocked a prisoner unconscious in a Wiltshire police station. Pamela Somerville – a small woman and not young – was thrown into a cell bashing her face against the floor. Andrews was prosecuted, convicted, gaoled, and sacked. Yet within days he was granted an appeal, his conviction was quashed, and he was ordered to be reinstated against the wishes of the police authority. If a thug like Andrews is considered fit to carry a warrant card, surely so is Novlett Williams.
Back to Part 1.
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theduran--2020-04-28--The Railroading Of Novlett Williams (Part 1)

Last month , a senior officer with the Metropolitan Police was sacked without notice after 36 years exemplary service .
The furore over her dismissal has died down , but important questions remain .
Novlett Williams goes by her middle name , Robyn , but that sounds far too much like an A List comedian , and there is nothing remotely funny about the incident that led to her dismissal .
So how did it come about ?
There are three players in this sorry saga : Dido Massivi , his lover who happens to be Novlett ’ s sister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is over sixty , and Jennifer Hodge was reported to be 56 at the time of their trial .
In February 2018 , Mr Massivi received two obscene images through his WhatsApp application .
One was of someone having sex or attempting to have sex with a horse .
And another was a 54 second video of a very young child engaged in an unspecified sexual act with an adult .
The former is classified as extreme pornography , and might also be termed extreme depravity .
Photographs and even videos of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do exist .
The porn actress Linda Lovelace once “ starred ” in a film with an unspeakable title that saw her having sex with a dog .
Although few will admit it , many people will watch such videos : once out of curiosity , and a second time to confirm they actually did see what they thought they had seen .
For those interested in the legal aspect , here is a recent article from a law journal .
After receiving the child sexual abuse image from Massivi , Jennifer Hodge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other people , including her sister .
Some of the media coverage of child sexual abuse in recent years has bordered on the hysterical , but even allowing for that , any reasonably intelligent person domiciled in these islands should realise that was a foolish thing to do .
When Novlett received the offending WhatsApp , she failed to report it , or at least to report it immediately , and for that she ended up in court with the other two .
Part of the defence case for Jennifer Hodge was that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the abuser , which sounds plausible , foolish though it may have been .
In spite of the wide coverage given this case , there is no information in the public domain as to where it was filmed , or if there is , I haven ’ t been able to find it .
It seems unlikely though that it was produced in the UK .
There have been cases in the Philippines and elsewhere of women , mothers , hiring out their young ones to be sexually abused by Western paedophiles .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ documentary on this subject which included a sting operation .
When she testified in her own defence , Novlett Williams denied actually watching the clip , a claim that seems unlikely but one would have expected her to have been given the benefit of the doubt .
She was not , and although cleared of corruption , she was convicted of possessing an indecent video of a child .
Now here is the punchline , Novlett Williams is black , so you know what comes next .
Here is Leroy Logan of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ card .
Yes , it was all about racism .
No , not in the least , but let us take a deeper look .
First though , let me tell you about my experience of something similar .
In 2003 , I was receiving enormous amounts of spam .
At that time I wasn ’ t using webmail , all messages came directly to my computer .
When I clicked on one message expecting to see a link to a website I was confronted with what appeared to be a photograph of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a man .
I say appeared to be , some of these legal porn websites use models of both sexes who look underage , deliberately , but are not .
Whatever , I phoned my ISP , at that time Demon Internet , and was told to forward the headers – but not the full message – to Demon abuse .
I also wrote to the CPS requesting clarification of the legal position .
It took nearly two months for them to reply , and the answer I received was not helpful .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ clicks on an e-mail which he or she believes may contain child pornography – read a police officer or Crown prosecutor says the recipient must have believed contained child pornography – is guilty of making an indecent image .
Curiously , it is perfectly legal to look at images and videos of dead children rather than those who are merely being sexually abused .
Run the term “ dead Palestinian children ” through your search engine and you will see what I mean : a cooperative effort between the people of Gaza and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s another story .
My own view is that no one , and I mean no one , should be prosecuted for possessing ONE fake £50 note or one short video clip however depraved , and with good reason , namely we are all at risk .
There have been many cases of innocent people receiving illegal pornography by spam e-mails such as I received .
Did I say many ?
How about this for fear-mongering ?
“ The NCA estimates a minimum of 300,000 people in the UK pose a risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while investigators were able to find child sexual abuse material on the open web in just three clicks.
” And the solution ?
You know what that is , even more Draconian police powers , more censorship , and more money for police officers and other “ professionals ” .
Here is another quote from one of these lunatics : “ Tech giants should be forced to pre-screen all content uploaded to their platforms in a bid to stem the ‘ explosion ’ of online child sexual abuse , an inquiry has @ @ @

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Last month, a senior officer with the Metropolitan Police was sacked without notice after 36 years exemplary service. The furore over her dismissal has died down, but important questions remain.
Novlett Williams goes by her middle name, Robyn, but that sounds far too much like an A List comedian, and there is nothing remotely funny about the incident that led to her dismissal. So how did it come about?
There are three players in this sorry saga: Dido Massivi, his lover who happens to be Novlett’s sister, and the lady herself. Dido is over sixty, and Jennifer Hodge was reported to be 56 at the time of their trial. In February 2018, Mr Massivi received two obscene images through his WhatsApp application. One was of someone having sex or attempting to have sex with a horse. And another was a 54 second video of a very young child engaged in an unspecified sexual act with an adult.
The former is classified as extreme pornography, and might also be termed extreme depravity. Photographs and even videos of people having sex with a variety of animals do exist. The porn actress Linda Lovelace once “starred” in a film with an unspeakable title that saw her having sex with a dog. Although few will admit it, many people will watch such videos: once out of curiosity, and a second time to confirm they actually did see what they thought they had seen. For those interested in the legal aspect, here is a recent article from a law journal.
After receiving the child sexual abuse image from Massivi, Jennifer Hodge forwarded it to no fewer than sixteen other people, including her sister. Some of the media coverage of child sexual abuse in recent years has bordered on the hysterical, but even allowing for that, any reasonably intelligent person domiciled in these islands should realise that was a foolish thing to do. When Novlett received the offending WhatsApp, she failed to report it, or at least to report it immediately, and for that she ended up in court with the other two.
Part of the defence case for Jennifer Hodge was that she forwarded the clip hoping to identify the abuser, which sounds plausible, foolish though it may have been. In spite of the wide coverage given this case, there is no information in the public domain as to where it was filmed, or if there is, I haven’t been able to find it. It seems unlikely though that it was produced in the UK. There have been cases in the Philippines and elsewhere of women, mothers, hiring out their young ones to be sexually abused by Western paedophiles. The BBC has produced at least one documentary on this subject which included a sting operation.
When she testified in her own defence, Novlett Williams denied actually watching the clip, a claim that seems unlikely but one would have expected her to have been given the benefit of the doubt. She was not, and although cleared of corruption, she was convicted of possessing an indecent video of a child.
Now here is the punchline, Novlett Williams is black, so you know what comes next. Here is Leroy Logan of the National Black Police Association playing the race card. Yes, it was all about racism. No, not in the least, but let us take a deeper look.
First though, let me tell you about my experience of something similar. In 2003, I was receiving enormous amounts of spam. At that time I wasn’t using webmail, all messages came directly to my computer. When I clicked on one message expecting to see a link to a website I was confronted with what appeared to be a photograph of an underage boy performing oral sex on a man. I say appeared to be, some of these legal porn websites use models of both sexes who look underage, deliberately, but are not. Whatever, I phoned my ISP, at that time Demon Internet, and was told to forward the headers – but not the full message – to Demon abuse.
I also wrote to the CPS requesting clarification of the legal position. It took nearly two months for them to reply, and the answer I received was not helpful. I was told basically that anyone who clicks on an e-mail which he or she believes may contain child pornography – read a police officer or Crown prosecutor says the recipient must have believed contained child pornography – is guilty of making an indecent image.
Curiously, it is perfectly legal to look at images and videos of dead children rather than those who are merely being sexually abused. Run the term “dead Palestinian children” through your search engine and you will see what I mean: a cooperative effort between the people of Gaza and the Israeli Defence Force. But that’s another story.
My own view is that no one, and I mean no one, should be prosecuted for possessing ONE fake £50 note or one short video clip however depraved, and with good reason, namely we are all at risk. There have been many cases of innocent people receiving illegal pornography by spam e-mails such as I received. Did I say many?
How about this for fear-mongering?
“The NCA estimates a minimum of 300,000 people in the UK pose a risk of committing physical or online child abuse, while investigators were able to find child sexual abuse material on the open web in just three clicks.”
And the solution? You know what that is, even more Draconian police powers, more censorship, and more money for police officers and other “professionals”. Here is another quote from one of these lunatics:
“Tech giants should be forced to pre-screen all content uploaded to their platforms in a bid to stem the ‘explosion’ of online child sexual abuse, an inquiry has found.”
To Part 2.
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