The Invisible Empire

 

I understand that Russian popular propaganda is more often targeted against the British than against the Americans.

This might seem odd, since either militarily or economically, the Americans are stronger.

But Russia is run by the secret service, and long has been. I remember talking years ago with a well-educated Russian émigré who had Marxist sympathies, and probably once moved in high circles. He expressed with grudging admiration the opinion that nobody could touch the British civil service for efficient bureaucratic control.

I suspect the Russians think the British MI5 is worth more than all the American factories and armaments. And perhaps they are right.

I also suspect that the Russians believe that, for all the USA’s strength on paper, they can be managed. Largely due to their incompetence at intrigue. The Russians probably figure they can control key people. Notably including Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. The evidence of this is more or less in plain sight, on Hunter Biden’s laptop, and in Hillary Clinton’s storage of all her government files on a private Ukrainian server. The claims from the very same people that Trump was a Russian asset, or that Tulsi Gabbard is, were classic examples of misdirection.

I suspect China is playing the same game. Why wouldn’t they? Biden just began selling off the US strategic oil reserve, at a time of growing international tensions—and sending some of it to China. It is hard to account for some of the things he does with mere incompetence. It looks like deliberate sabotage.

Other Western governments seem to be doing self-destructive things. Notably Canada’s. Might other politicians be owned?

We know the current elite is selfish, and look to their own interests instead of the general welfare. So why wouldn’t they?

Britain may be relatively immune for a variety of reasons. Long experience at espionage, for one. The remarkable ability of the English to conceal their true feelings, making them ideal spies. Global contacts thanks to the old empire. And a surviving tradition of personal honour and duty; the code of the old ruling class.

Angus Reid Poll Suggests Plurality of Britons for Leaving EU

http://www.angus-reid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012.08.14_EU_BRI.pdf

Sounds as though, if Cameron is serious about holding a referendum, it might really result in the UK leaving Europe.

Not that I think it would be a good idea in the modern world for Britain to try to go it alone. Just that I think they're in the wrong trading block. I'd rather see a combined NAFTA-Commonwealth Bloc, with a few other members (Ireland, The Philippines...)--roughly, the "Anglosphere." The combination is far more natural, in terms of shared political, legal, and economic traditions. It would be much bigger and more powerful. And I think it makes more economic sense--a more diverse bloc has more to trade profitably.

On Britain Leaving the EU

A new report.

Silly Brits

Unfortunately, my current landlord has supplied me with a cable TV service that features only one English-language channel: BBC News. And it’s beginning to get annoying.


I don’t mean the BBC’s celebrated left-wing bias, or the odd fact that one rarely sees an Englishman on the BBC. I mean an overall lack of standards. Maybe I’m a naïve colonial, but I had always associated the BBC with a certain rigour—fact-checking, precision of pronunciation, and so forth.

And I’d especially expect them to get it right when the story is about Canada. After all, they used to run the place.

But no, BBC, “God Save the Queen,” when played in Canada in the presence of the Queen or her heirs, is not “the British national anthem.” It is the Canadian royal anthem. No, the Vancouver hockey team that so recently and so slenderly lost the Stanly Cup playoffs is not the CANucks; this is the standard nickname for Canadians, fercrissakes. The capital of Manitoba, once the third-largest city in the Dominion, and featuring frequently in your weather reports as the target of an impending cold front, is not “Winny-peg.” And the stress in “Newfoundland” is not on the second syllable.

Makes you wonder what else they get wrong, elsewhere. And these guys recently ran a quarter of the world?

Okay, the veneer of sophistication is now off. So while I’m, at it, let me also advise you pommies right here and now that “Fiona” is not an appropriate name for a human. Neither is “Penelope” or “Rebecca.” Anything more than two syllables is putting on airs, and nobody will like you for it. Proper people names are “Gordon,” Howie,” “Donna,” or “Anne.”

There’s more, while I’m at it. Ditch that pommy accent. Everyone thinks it’s gay.

Words end or don’t end in “r” for a reason.

Everyone knows you won the Second World War. Time to move on.

Those James Bond films aren’t fooling anyone. We know you’re not still secretly running the world.

And you had to hire Scots and Irish to play the part. The English are not suave. Two words: Mr. Bean.

And must you always say "thank you very much indeed"? When you always say it, it only comes across as insincere. A simple "thank you" will do.

Where are we? Your women are ugly, your food is inedible, and your weather is awful. No wonder you left to conquer the world. What choice did you have? I would have left too.

Winny-peg indeed.
 
Seriously, though, just kidding, guys. I really want to give all you Brits a big hug.
 
Only trouble is, if I did, you'd probably have a heart attack from the unfamiliar human contact.