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Battles past
From the newspapers
Tweets seen
A woman once asked me, about 40 years ago, whether I felt in any personal way “betrayed” by Kim Philby. Obviously not. Philby was born in 1912, 44 years before me, I never knew him or, as far as I know, anyone who knew him (excepting that I once or twice had lunch in the 1990s with an ex-KGB officer turned businessman, “Ed”, who had once heard a lecture by him at the Lubyanka) and, last but not least, I have never been an officer or agent of SIS (or any other intelligence or security agency).
However, the woman’s question missed the point. Philby betrayed his Service, and colleagues, but also the State. The crime was against the State, just as is the case, fundamentally, with almost any crime.
It is immaterial that I myself have never been mug enough to waste money sending funds to “Jack Monroe” so that she can snort it up her snout or guzzle it down her throat. I am offended by her defrauding of genuinely poor people, and her abuse of them and their plight so that she can present a fake image to the public and make plenty of money out of virtue-signalling mugs, an enterprise in which she has been aided and abetted by the hand-wringing part of the affluent middle classes (Guardian and Observer scribblers and readers, book-festival organisers, TV producers and other parasites).
Ah. I was wondering whether tweeter “Neil Marsden” (joined Twitter July 2023, only 4 “followers”) is yet another “Jack Monroe” “sock account”. Probably.
Incredibly, and as of today, 397 utter mugs are still sending “Jack Monroe” a total of thousands of pounds each month via Patreon.
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Poland has already been the location of the trigger for one world war. Will there now be another, and probably far more devastating?
Even that great warmonger, Churchill, said that “jaw jaw is better than war war“.
Festive, yet slightly sedate, and well-behaved. If only our British resorts and visitors were so well-behaved. There again, Yalta has not suffered the kind of decadence and migration-invasion as have, say, Bournemouth and Brighton.
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Not a chef, not really even a cook, just a fraudulent “grifter” who deserves to be binned by the public and msm alike.
In Kind Hearts and Coronets, Alec Guinness played 8 separate roles, with different clothes, hairstyle, mannerisms etc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_Hearts_and_Coronets. That theatrical tour de force is, if not equalled, at least certainly imitated by “Jack Monroe”— courageous “firefighter” officer (she never was, she just answered telephones for a while); “cancer sufferer” (never was, but collected donations off the back of the lie); “Grenfell Tower rescuer/organizer” (out and out lie); “poverty-stricken benefits claimant” (for a few months, maybe a year, at least a decade ago; she always had her Greek-Cypriot family nearby, who own millions of pounds in buy-to-let property); “single mother” (yes, but claimed to have sold her child’s favourite toy for cash, a blatant lie designed to fool more mugs into sending her more “donations”, and the child is said to live with her only occasionally); “cook” (her food is execrable and not as cheaply-made as she claims); “lesbian” (apparently not, or only when it suits her); “anti-Tory activist” (occasional tweets, very occasional soundbites on TV shows misguided enough to believe her fake backstory etc and invite her onto such as Question Time); “suicidal-ideation sufferer” (only on Twitter, and when people start to question her fraudulent activities); “mental health sufferer/victim of online and offline harassment” (see previous description).
More tweets seen
One can imagine a near-future in which human beings are not on the battlefield at all, at least not the traditional battlefield.
Israel is doomed. After that, anything is possible.
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Late tweets seen
Ian Robert Millard 
Hello: What a wonderful analogy of “Jack Monroe” with Alec Guinnes’ characters in that superb film! It would be funny if it was not real. The most infuriating thing is how she has survived in spite of being exposed 100 times as a grifter and a liar. Regarding those morons who are still sending money to her I say: SERVES THEM RIGHT!
I am sorry for the honest and compassionate people who sent her money at the beginning when nobody knew what kind of person she was/is.
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Claudius:
I have to agree.
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That fellow Robert Sepehr seems to me a bit of a charlatan; as almost all those who write about “lost civilizations”, “pyramides”, myths and legends” and “UFOs” (particularly the latter!)
As I thought, he is a member of “the chosen people”. Here is an interesting article AGAINST him by “The Jewish Chronicle”. I have to say this confirms my suspicion of him being either a clever charlatan.
https://www.thejc.com/news/news/antisemitic-happy-merchant-meme-removed-from-popular-app-after-complaints-qYaATqTbz2CLRn2lqhjgi
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Claudius:
You may be right. I posted the tweet because it looked interesting, not because I agreed with the entire content.
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I did not finish my message about Robert Sepehr. I was saying he is either a clever charlatan or a loony (assuming he really believes what he says). If you look at the comments of his “admirers” on YT you can tell they are loonies (LOL)
There is a lot of people willing to believe the most outlandish theories and certain subjects (UFOs, esoterism, Illuminates, old civilizations, extra-terrestrial creatures) lend themselves for that kind of ideas.
Having said that. in the late 1980s I became acquainted with someone like Sepehr, not personally but through his books. I am referring to the Chilean esotericist-charlatan-loony Miguel Angel Serrano. As most people writing about these subjects, he mixed truth with fantasy and, unless you are very well read, you can easily believe him.
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Claudius:
As a matter of fact, a friend of mine in London was very friendly with Serrano. She even sold two of his Patek Philippe watches for him at auction in London. He needed the money in order to buy a painting by Hitler (also being auctioned in London), and some other things. I did not meet him when he visited London in time for the auctions, though I might have done had I not been busy doing something elsewhere. That was, I think, late 1980s. One of the watches had been given to him by Indira Gandhi. I believe that he had been her lover when he was Ambassador of Chile (Wikipedia just says “a diplomat” but I was told he had been Ambassador) in New Delhi. He attended her funeral.
I see that Wikipedia has a long article about him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Serrano
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I bought and read two books by Serrano: “The golden Cord/Thread” (1978) and “Adolf Hitler: The last Avatar” (1984). As far as I can remember the former was OK, but in the latter he wrote some very foolish/ridiculous things.
We will never know to which extent he was a clever grifter or a lunatic who sincerely believe all that nonsense of Hitler living in the Artic and his fleet of UFOs. (LOL) 😆 😆 😆
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Claudius:
I certainly hear what you say. I read a little of one of his books (I think the best-known), The Arrivals of the Queen of Sheba. Very odd, and someone who also read that book, who met him at that time (1980s) but (like me) did not know him, said to me afterwards “that man certainly has an imagination”.
ps: my mistake…The *Visits* of the Queen of Sheba
Looking at the used-book prices, I should have hung on to that book!
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I have to say that this piece of news does not surprise me and I do not think is illegal. If I knew there would be some changes in the stock market I would tell my closest friends, why not?
https://apnews.com/article/tottenham-soccer-owner-joe-lewis-indicted-6f723ef3c279c0d6fb3858f3b70e5c36
What is infuriating but logical, are the words of his (((lawyer))) David Zornow who said “my client is a man of impeccable integrity” 😂 😂 😂
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Claudius:
Most “advanced” countries have some sort of “insider trading” laws now. They are necessary to ensure that the capitalist system is a relatively level playing field, not (as in the former Soviet Union) a fixed game for cabals and cronies.
Of course, (((the usual suspects))) prefer to fix things (((their))) way…
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I am sorry, I do not know how the hell I got the f… link wrong. 🤬 🤬 🤬 Here is the RIGHT link to Robert Sepehr:
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/american-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-ostracised-by-followers-after-they-found-out-he-was-jewish-1wdiYNmwgXlNncwYm8OsUd?reloadTime=1656892800011
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Claudius:
Thank you.
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Claudius:
Well, looking at him, it is hard to be surprised at his origins, but of course some Jews do become hostile to their origins, so to speak.
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Ian, you do not seriously believe in all that rubbish about UFOs and aliens, do you?
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Claudius:
“Believe” is too strong, but I keep an open mind about extra-terrestrials etc.
I myself once saw a “UFO”, though I make no claim as to whether it was extra-terrestrial, or whatever else.
This was on New Year’s Eve, I think 1979. I was walking with some lady in one of the outer suburbs to the south-east of London (actually in the county of Kent, but part of the London sprawl). Early evening or late afternoon really, but still light. Just before dusk. I suddenly saw out of the corner of my eye, peripherally, a shining sphere travelling very fast, apparently quite high in the sky. I said “look at that!”, but it had gone. The lady walking with me missed it.
The next morning, the local radio news was on, and the announcer said that they had been inundated with hundreds of telephoned reports of the object. This of course was long before the Internet, Twitter and the rest.
As I say, I make no claims for what it was, but it was something unexplained, anyway.
I did know another lady, a reliable source, who told me her story.
This was early 1990s; must have been late 1993 or early in 1994. The lady in question worked at night in a security office on the edge of Heathrow Airport, west of London. One night, I think late evening, she was alone there, and saw through the windows (I think her office was one floor up from ground level) a massive circular flat craft rise up, rotating, right next to the building. She was terrified. After a while it just disappeared (I think higher, but cannot now recall exactly what she told me).
Obviously the phenomenon was not material, in that it seems that it was not detected (as far as I know) by air traffic control, or security people at the airport.
Again, I make no claims for that event or experience, except that I regarded her as a reliable witness, and she had no interest generally in such matters.
I think that there is something out there that goes beyond our present knowledge.
As for Adolf relocating to Antarctica in 1945, I cannot accept that, though I know (from personal sources) that at least one former member of the SS (not high-ranking, though), and who was still alive in the 1990s (in Bavaria), fully believed it.
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Interested in fact based espionage and ungentlemanly officers and spies? Do read “Beyond Enkription” by Bill Fairclough – it is the first stand-alone fact-based espionage novel of six autobiographical tomes in The Burlington Files series. As the first book in the series, it provides a gripping introduction to the world of British intelligence and espionage. It is an intense electrifying spy thriller that had me perched on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. The twists and turns in the interwoven plots kept me guessing beyond the epilogue. The characters were wholesome, well-developed and intriguing. The author’s attention to detail added extra layers of authenticity to the narrative.
In real life Bill Fairclough aka Edward Burlington (MI6 codename JJ) was one of Pemberton’s People in MI6; for more about that see a brief News Article dated 31 October 2022 published in TheBurlingtonFiles website. The series follows the real life of Bill Fairclough (and his family) who worked not only for British Intelligence, but also the CIA et al for several decades. The first tome is set in 1974 in London, Nassau and Port au Prince: see TheBurlingtonFiles website for a synopsis.
Fairclough is not a professional but his writing style is engaging and fast-paced, making it difficult to put the book down as he effortlessly glides from cerebral issues to action-packed scenes which are never that far apart. Beyond Enkription is the stuff memorable spy films are made of. It’s unadulterated, realistic, punchy, pacy and provocative. While the book does not feature John le Carré’s “delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots” it remains a riveting and delightful read.
This thriller is like nothing we have ever come across before. Indeed, we wonder what The Burlington Files would have been like if David Cornwell (aka John le Carré) had collaborated with Bill Fairclough whom critics have likened to “a posh Harry Palmer”. They did consider collaborating but did not proceed as explained in the aforementioned News Article. Nonetheless, critics have lauded Beyond Enkription as being ”up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”.
Overall, Beyond Enkription is a brilliantly refreshing book and a must read, especially for espionage cognoscenti. I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the future. In the meantime, before reading Beyond Enkription do visit TheBurlingtonFiles website. It is like a living espionage museum and breathtaking in its own right.
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Jim Brown:
Thank you for that information.
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Ian – this may interest you too. John le Carré described Ben Macintyre’s The Spy and the Traitor as “the best true spy story I have ever read”. Bill Fairclough’s spy novel Beyond Enkription was described as ”up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby”. David Cornwell almost rewrote this thriller. See the brief and intriguing News Article dated 31 October 2022 about Pemberton’s People in MI6 in TheBurlingtonFiles website for more about how John le Carré may have had more Achilles heels than toes! The news was released several years after Beyond Enkription was published. Best wishes – Jim
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