Democracy Now! have spoken with Noam Chomsky on a range of topics related to the cables leaked by Wikileaks. It covers a range of topics, notably the nature of the cables consistently supporting USA biases. If they are legitimate Chomsky points out that while Arab leaders, who are dictators to a man, may see eye to eye with the US in wanting to attack Iran the actual Arab populace not only view Israel and America as far bigger threats a majority, 57% actually view the prospect of a nuclear Iran positively. For some reason Arabs think only Israel having nukes in the region is dangerous.
A lot of other excellent points are made and he draws inferences and connections between various things that are obvious when he says them but very unlikely to occurred to most of us.
Please watch it: Part 1 and Part 2
thanks jonny
As an interesting post script the wikileaks twitter highlighted a cable from the leaks describing Prince Andrew. He seems like an absolute fucking idiot.
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Another Hero Sullied.
Please note nearly none of this is original research and just me parroting stuff Mark Ames and Yasha Levine dug up in case that wasn't obvious.
I liked Glenn Greenwald... maybe I still do, I'm not sure. He certainly has done some good stuff in the past but recent events have certainly raised some questions.
Lets go back to the beginning. About a week ago self described Libertarian John Tyner wrote a blog post about an unpleasant encounter with the TSA that he just so happened to have set record devices up on his person before it occurred. This post got a surprisingly large amount of coverage very rapidly. This wasn't especially suspicious because the TSA are far from popular and from time to time the internet does throw up unlikely success stories.
Alas Mark Ames and Yasha Levine of Exiled.com dug up the fact those trumpeting this issue had alterior motives. In short various libertarian Koch Brothers minions were using this as a chance not to push for less security at airports, but privatised security at airports. Their article (which you should read) attracted an awful lot of criticism very quickly. Not just from right wing flaks either; renowned liberal luminary, techno-fetistist and Steam Punk fan Cory Doctorow was among the liberal voices screeching about at the duo for daring to question the narrative of their little pet project. Alas though the most prominent and widely heard critic was Glenn Greenwald.
Greenwald's article is full of very annoyed accusations of baseless criticism on Levine and Ames's part. He then goes on to accuse them of being hardline democrat supporters moved into action by anger at Tyner upsetting Barrack Obama, their favourite person ever's plans.
Yet if one were to do the most cursory of research, say a single search on their website for the word Obama you would realise that they are in no way democratic party allies, fans or even well wishers. Still this isn't the end of the world, Greenwald is a busy man and while Exiled.com is cool they're hardly big fish in the media pond. It is a shame he is wholly unaware of the fact Ames and Levine, through journalistic hard work, were the first to break the news that the Tea Party is an Astro Turfed movement, a sham funded by Billionaire libertarianism proponents the Koch Brothers but you can't expect him to know everything.
Ames and Levine provided a response to Greenwald's letter on The Nation's website which Greenwald then responded to again in Update III of his article. In this Greenwald defends his strident attack on the origianl article and his ignoring the wider facts of Libertarian influence on the anti-TSA movement by claiming he merely wanted to defend the innocence of John Tyner. Which is kinda nice if rather myopic, sure the inference Ames and Levine made about Tyner is perhaps questionable but the wider issue of the right's support for the anti-TSA movement being about privatisation and not loosening of security is noteworthy and perhaps something he should've noted in his attack?
Well it turns out Glenn Greenwald has good reason to be unwilling to criticise the Koch Brothers in regards to Airport Security issues. He wrote a report for the CATO INSTITUTE about Airport security. You can read the report by Glenn Greenwald of the CATO Institute here: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2010/08/09/glenn-greenwald/the-digital-surveillance-state-vast-secret-and-dangerous/. Just in case you are unaware the CATO institute is one of the Koch Brother's principle propaganda mills and sources of succour for academics shills who'll spout the glories of Libertarianism. Greenwald has taken their dime at least once before too.
So what conclusion can we draw from one of the most prominent liberal voices in the US being willing to take at least a sip from the Koch Bros' teat in regards to his strident defence of John Tyner (and just so happening to poo poo the other important criticisms of the Kochs by association?). Well essentially I think theres two main possibilities. Firstly his pride and desire to appear academically consistent have caused him to persist with the CATO point of view and defend other proponents of it, nobody likes to be called on their mistakes and Ames and Levine's usual offensive tone doesn't bring out the best in people generally.
Secondly the money and access his connection to the CATO institute brings to him has lead him to compromise some of his values, maybe he even feels going along with the Libertarian Agenda, with all the media attention and money it is currently getting, can further causes he believes in more than it harms them. In that case attacking relatively minor investigative journalists he hasn't heard of (or at least thats the impression he gives) to further his goals against a creeping surveillance state may be a tradeoff he thinks worth making. Making deals with the devil is seldom wise in any case.
Neither scenario is great but hopefully it is the former.
So in conclusion while I think Greenwald still does a lot of good work my respect for him has dropped considerably and there are major questions hanging over him.
I took two days to write this and in that the hornets' nest seems to have been stirred up even further. Another person mentioned in the original nation article, Peter Eyre, got himself in a tizzy about having some light shined on his activities. He also revealed his ideology is a perverse corporate friendly version of Anarchism oh and he rounds out with a threat of violence against Mark Ames (Yasha Levine is below his notice):
Sadly the liberal mainstream is siding with these assholes over Levine and Ames because they don't want to acknowledge they got played over hating the TSA.
I liked Glenn Greenwald... maybe I still do, I'm not sure. He certainly has done some good stuff in the past but recent events have certainly raised some questions.
Lets go back to the beginning. About a week ago self described Libertarian John Tyner wrote a blog post about an unpleasant encounter with the TSA that he just so happened to have set record devices up on his person before it occurred. This post got a surprisingly large amount of coverage very rapidly. This wasn't especially suspicious because the TSA are far from popular and from time to time the internet does throw up unlikely success stories.
Alas Mark Ames and Yasha Levine of Exiled.com dug up the fact those trumpeting this issue had alterior motives. In short various libertarian Koch Brothers minions were using this as a chance not to push for less security at airports, but privatised security at airports. Their article (which you should read) attracted an awful lot of criticism very quickly. Not just from right wing flaks either; renowned liberal luminary, techno-fetistist and Steam Punk fan Cory Doctorow was among the liberal voices screeching about at the duo for daring to question the narrative of their little pet project. Alas though the most prominent and widely heard critic was Glenn Greenwald.
Greenwald's article is full of very annoyed accusations of baseless criticism on Levine and Ames's part. He then goes on to accuse them of being hardline democrat supporters moved into action by anger at Tyner upsetting Barrack Obama, their favourite person ever's plans.
With a Koch-related mind like that, the next thing you know, Tyner will be calling for endless war in the Muslim world, escalated civilian-slaughtering drone strikes, a covert war in Yemen, war crimes trials for child soldiers, and due-process-free life imprisonment and presidential assassinations. Then maybe he'll decide he can become a Good Democrat and will be able to remove the cloud of suspicion that, in the eyes of these Nation writers, hangs over him.to quote one of several instances.
Yet if one were to do the most cursory of research, say a single search on their website for the word Obama you would realise that they are in no way democratic party allies, fans or even well wishers. Still this isn't the end of the world, Greenwald is a busy man and while Exiled.com is cool they're hardly big fish in the media pond. It is a shame he is wholly unaware of the fact Ames and Levine, through journalistic hard work, were the first to break the news that the Tea Party is an Astro Turfed movement, a sham funded by Billionaire libertarianism proponents the Koch Brothers but you can't expect him to know everything.
Ames and Levine provided a response to Greenwald's letter on The Nation's website which Greenwald then responded to again in Update III of his article. In this Greenwald defends his strident attack on the origianl article and his ignoring the wider facts of Libertarian influence on the anti-TSA movement by claiming he merely wanted to defend the innocence of John Tyner. Which is kinda nice if rather myopic, sure the inference Ames and Levine made about Tyner is perhaps questionable but the wider issue of the right's support for the anti-TSA movement being about privatisation and not loosening of security is noteworthy and perhaps something he should've noted in his attack?
Well it turns out Glenn Greenwald has good reason to be unwilling to criticise the Koch Brothers in regards to Airport Security issues. He wrote a report for the CATO INSTITUTE about Airport security. You can read the report by Glenn Greenwald of the CATO Institute here: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2010/08/09/glenn-greenwald/the-digital-surveillance-state-vast-secret-and-dangerous/. Just in case you are unaware the CATO institute is one of the Koch Brother's principle propaganda mills and sources of succour for academics shills who'll spout the glories of Libertarianism. Greenwald has taken their dime at least once before too.
So what conclusion can we draw from one of the most prominent liberal voices in the US being willing to take at least a sip from the Koch Bros' teat in regards to his strident defence of John Tyner (and just so happening to poo poo the other important criticisms of the Kochs by association?). Well essentially I think theres two main possibilities. Firstly his pride and desire to appear academically consistent have caused him to persist with the CATO point of view and defend other proponents of it, nobody likes to be called on their mistakes and Ames and Levine's usual offensive tone doesn't bring out the best in people generally.
Secondly the money and access his connection to the CATO institute brings to him has lead him to compromise some of his values, maybe he even feels going along with the Libertarian Agenda, with all the media attention and money it is currently getting, can further causes he believes in more than it harms them. In that case attacking relatively minor investigative journalists he hasn't heard of (or at least thats the impression he gives) to further his goals against a creeping surveillance state may be a tradeoff he thinks worth making. Making deals with the devil is seldom wise in any case.
Neither scenario is great but hopefully it is the former.
So in conclusion while I think Greenwald still does a lot of good work my respect for him has dropped considerably and there are major questions hanging over him.
I took two days to write this and in that the hornets' nest seems to have been stirred up even further. Another person mentioned in the original nation article, Peter Eyre, got himself in a tizzy about having some light shined on his activities. He also revealed his ideology is a perverse corporate friendly version of Anarchism oh and he rounds out with a threat of violence against Mark Ames (Yasha Levine is below his notice):
Let me know if you ever want to arm wrestle. And I know Josiah Neff on that page said he’d go a couple rounds of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu if you’re interested.
Sadly the liberal mainstream is siding with these assholes over Levine and Ames because they don't want to acknowledge they got played over hating the TSA.
Monday 29 November 2010
Mark Ruffalo is a traitor and a member of the rebel alliance!
I am of the mind that Mark Ruffalo is the next Gary Oldman, his skill as an actor combined with some excellent makeup / styling has allowed him to convincingly play a variety of roles without me realising they were same guy until I later checked on the internet. But hes been playing one role I don't think anyone suspected apart from the brave men and women of the Pennsylvania Homeland Security office. For Mark Ruffalo is a terrorist.
Oh whats that you've read the article and all he did was show people a documentary critical of dangerous drilling practices, his only crime threatening corporate interests? Well comrade I'm just glad more perceptive people than you work in homeland security and were able to understand his true motives. Oil and Gas companies pay millions of dollars in taxes and create huge numbers of jobs, Mr Ruffalo's attempts to attack them were an attempt to weaken the American economy and deprive the American government of funds.
He must be stopped by whatever means necessary or maybe energy companies wont be able to maintain America's healthy democracy due to a lack of money to donate to campaigns.
Oh whats that you've read the article and all he did was show people a documentary critical of dangerous drilling practices, his only crime threatening corporate interests? Well comrade I'm just glad more perceptive people than you work in homeland security and were able to understand his true motives. Oil and Gas companies pay millions of dollars in taxes and create huge numbers of jobs, Mr Ruffalo's attempts to attack them were an attempt to weaken the American economy and deprive the American government of funds.
He must be stopped by whatever means necessary or maybe energy companies wont be able to maintain America's healthy democracy due to a lack of money to donate to campaigns.
A good day to bury bad news and Iranian Scientists.
On 9/11 New Labour spin doctor Jo Moore stated it was a "good day to bury bad news" which while an excellent idea in PR thinking it was very bad PR for her (she lost her job) when it became more widely known and the media and political opponents etc voiced hypocritical anger about it.
Personally I think it was a piece of timeless wisdom and it seems I'm not alone in that. With the ongoing Wikileaks diplomatic cable leak US or Israeli (ah but I repeat myself) intelligence officers have seen fit to try and murder two Iranian nuclear scientists with bombs in two separate incidents, succeeding in one case. The current leak provides excellent cover because as I said the documents that have been released take Iran having a nuclear weapons programme for granted and normalises this unproven scenario in the public mind. In which case murdering a scientist, if anyone notices, is easier to justify as necessary to keep the peace in the region or suchlike.
One should also note that Iran has killed none of the Israeli scientists involved in the wholly illegal Israeli nuclear weapons program but no one cares about that.
Personally I think it was a piece of timeless wisdom and it seems I'm not alone in that. With the ongoing Wikileaks diplomatic cable leak US or Israeli (ah but I repeat myself) intelligence officers have seen fit to try and murder two Iranian nuclear scientists with bombs in two separate incidents, succeeding in one case. The current leak provides excellent cover because as I said the documents that have been released take Iran having a nuclear weapons programme for granted and normalises this unproven scenario in the public mind. In which case murdering a scientist, if anyone notices, is easier to justify as necessary to keep the peace in the region or suchlike.
One should also note that Iran has killed none of the Israeli scientists involved in the wholly illegal Israeli nuclear weapons program but no one cares about that.
This blog now has a twitter feed.
Mainly for links I'm too lazy to blog about but also to justify me cataloguing every waking moment of my life I've set up a new twitter account (I had another one I never used, so fresh start).
http://twitter.com/LamentablyAwake
If you so choose you can follow me on it, I have very vague plans for it but we'll see what happens for now, it may get about 3 updates and then cease to be.
http://twitter.com/LamentablyAwake
If you so choose you can follow me on it, I have very vague plans for it but we'll see what happens for now, it may get about 3 updates and then cease to be.
Sunday 28 November 2010
Something to bear in mind re: Iran.
One rather suspicious thing about the most recent Wikileaks leak is how much it is getting America's favoured message that Iran will imminently have nuclear weapons (or indeed that there is any evidence they are developing nukes at all.)
An international panel of experts recently stated Iran WILL NOT have nuclear weapons in the near future.
An international panel of experts recently stated Iran WILL NOT have nuclear weapons in the near future.
The leaked US cables.
Probably the best place for up to date information about this stuff is The Guardian's sub-website devoted specifically to the leaks.
Man theres a lot of fun stuff up there already, Arab puppets of the US want Iran nuked, The state department (CIA) spying on the leadership of the UN and sundry other unpleasant things.
Man theres a lot of fun stuff up there already, Arab puppets of the US want Iran nuked, The state department (CIA) spying on the leadership of the UN and sundry other unpleasant things.
Le Petit Nicholas and the journalists that wont shut up.
As well as his deeply unpopular pension policies and mini-pogroms French President Nicholas Sarkozy and his government are nursing a couple of major scandals. Firstly there is the Bettencourt affair essentially an allegation that Mr Sarkozy both in his campaign for the presidency and earlier on in his career received illegally large donations from a single donor. Secondly there is the accusation that Mr Sarkozy and others in the UMP (his party) received kickbacks from arms sales to Pakistan in the 90s. Mr Sarkozy and others implicated in these scandals have strenuously asserted their innocence.
Of course Nicholas did what any innocent man slandered and libelled by the media. He set the secret services on them. Oh and also accused journalists of being paedophiles for not revealing secret sources to the government, something which could be construed as a direct threat given the increased monitoring of journalists by the secret services. Further the French government is showing a fondness for the British way of doing things with a number of libel lawsuits threatened (but not yet carried out) against those who are investigating these scandals.
There have also been mysterious burglaries targeting those investigating the aforementioned journalists. Another blow to American Exceptionalism as Europe proves it can do COINTELPRO too.
It would seem that when the Propaganda Model fails supposedly and enlightened and freedom loving "democratic" governments in the west are more than willing to use harsher means to suppress the truth.
Of course Nicholas did what any innocent man slandered and libelled by the media. He set the secret services on them. Oh and also accused journalists of being paedophiles for not revealing secret sources to the government, something which could be construed as a direct threat given the increased monitoring of journalists by the secret services. Further the French government is showing a fondness for the British way of doing things with a number of libel lawsuits threatened (but not yet carried out) against those who are investigating these scandals.
There have also been mysterious burglaries targeting those investigating the aforementioned journalists. Another blow to American Exceptionalism as Europe proves it can do COINTELPRO too.
It would seem that when the Propaganda Model fails supposedly and enlightened and freedom loving "democratic" governments in the west are more than willing to use harsher means to suppress the truth.
Thursday 25 November 2010
Egypt and Ethiopia (+ other countries on the upper Nile) heading for war.
Essentially about a century ago the British Empire and Italian "Empire" made a number of unilateral treaties about who could use the water resources of the Nile. Unsurprisingly both nations had a bias towards the Mediterranean and thus the nation / British colony closest to the med, Egypt got the lion's share of the water. Due to Egypt geo-political position throughout the C20th it was both politically and militarily impossible for nations on the upper Nile to get a more equitable agreement. Consequently nations like Ethiopia and D.R. Congo could not benefit economically or agriculturally from one of the most fertile rivers in the world.
Things are however changing, in 1999 the UN and World bank helped the upper Nile countries set up the Nile Basin Initiative and after a decade of negotiation are moving forward with an initiative. Egypt's ability to quash this has been limited by a number of recent events. Firstly their standing in the Arab / North African world has diminished greatly, willingly accepting US bribes to recognise and not attack Israel, a weak or non-existent stand on issues important to the region, the end of the cold war removing the need for Russia and the US to woo / appease them and the simple fact memories of Nasser have long since faded mean their clout, while still significant, is a shadow of what it once was.
Secondly Ethiopia's star is rising, their little excursion in Somalia was a solid favour for the US. In addition the War on Terror (or whatever the arms and security industry subsidy is now called) is starting to focus increasingly on the horn of Africa, Yemen is just a thin, Somali pirate infested strip of water away from the horn. While Eritrea, Ethiopia's mortal enemy, is also considered an ally by America the simple fact remains Ethiopia is Christian and most of its' neighbours are Muslim. They may not be as powerful as Egypt right now but their recent actions have likely given the Nile Basin Initiative considerable leeway.
Thirdly there is the issue of continued Chinese colonisation of East Africa and America's AFRICOM response which requires a large amount of cooperation from and with African countries given America's relative manpower shortage compared to China in the region. Again this means leeway for the NBI countries, after all there is at least five of them. It may or may not be noteworthy that Sudan, a benefactor of considerable Chinese largess, is siding with Egypt. They are also benefiting from the 1958 treaty though so I'd be wary to say its a thing. Also there is little reason for America to worry about Egypt going Chinese even if they don't back them, they have other incentives to stay friendly.
However while Egypt is unlikely to be able to get this manoeuvre quashed by my powerful agents it still seems to be trying good old fashioned violence. Is war actually likely? I'm not sure. At a very shallow level I think there are convincng reasons for Egypt to go to war and for them not to. The not to side is the fact in the conflict over a river's water supply being downstream and relying heavily on it for your economy makes you very vulnerable to upstream enemies. Plus while Ethiopia's military is definitely weaker than Egypt's it is known to be a very able fighting force and Ethiopia's terrain makes it very difficult to invade. The use of funded guerillas is workable to an extent for Egypt but sugar daddy America likely wont be too pleased about Ethiopia having to waste the War on Terror weapons and aid its been given on rebels being indirectly funded by the US also. Why bring military action? Well at this point Egypt has no real non-violent means of compulsion as aforementioned but they really do want to keep their preferential access to the Nile. It might be deeply iniquitous but their economy is and has for a considerable time been dependent on that unfairness, this is a compelling reason to use whatever means necessary to keep things as they are.
Also there is the issue of "President" Hosni Mubarak's son succeeding him as ruler of the country. While Egypt pretends to be a democracy it is in reality a brutal dictatorship and a client state of the US (ctrl+F Egypt). It seems the people of Egypt even under great repression than usual are not happy about the country's lack of democracy being thrust in their faces so brazenly. Hosni's failing health means this is a time sensitive issue. The economic impact of the NBI would just add injury to insult and make the future of the dictatorship uncertain (likely someone else would step up to be US client but for the current oligarchs that might not be a good thing). On the other hand a successful military adventure and the nations' interests protected would definitely ease the transition.
At this point it seems very likely the Nile Basin Initiative will happen which, stepping away from realpolitik for a second, is definitely a good thing for the upper Nile region and the sweeping away of a negative legacy of colonialism. What reaction this will cause from Egypt is much less certain at this time.
Things are however changing, in 1999 the UN and World bank helped the upper Nile countries set up the Nile Basin Initiative and after a decade of negotiation are moving forward with an initiative. Egypt's ability to quash this has been limited by a number of recent events. Firstly their standing in the Arab / North African world has diminished greatly, willingly accepting US bribes to recognise and not attack Israel, a weak or non-existent stand on issues important to the region, the end of the cold war removing the need for Russia and the US to woo / appease them and the simple fact memories of Nasser have long since faded mean their clout, while still significant, is a shadow of what it once was.
Secondly Ethiopia's star is rising, their little excursion in Somalia was a solid favour for the US. In addition the War on Terror (or whatever the arms and security industry subsidy is now called) is starting to focus increasingly on the horn of Africa, Yemen is just a thin, Somali pirate infested strip of water away from the horn. While Eritrea, Ethiopia's mortal enemy, is also considered an ally by America the simple fact remains Ethiopia is Christian and most of its' neighbours are Muslim. They may not be as powerful as Egypt right now but their recent actions have likely given the Nile Basin Initiative considerable leeway.
Thirdly there is the issue of continued Chinese colonisation of East Africa and America's AFRICOM response which requires a large amount of cooperation from and with African countries given America's relative manpower shortage compared to China in the region. Again this means leeway for the NBI countries, after all there is at least five of them. It may or may not be noteworthy that Sudan, a benefactor of considerable Chinese largess, is siding with Egypt. They are also benefiting from the 1958 treaty though so I'd be wary to say its a thing. Also there is little reason for America to worry about Egypt going Chinese even if they don't back them, they have other incentives to stay friendly.
However while Egypt is unlikely to be able to get this manoeuvre quashed by my powerful agents it still seems to be trying good old fashioned violence. Is war actually likely? I'm not sure. At a very shallow level I think there are convincng reasons for Egypt to go to war and for them not to. The not to side is the fact in the conflict over a river's water supply being downstream and relying heavily on it for your economy makes you very vulnerable to upstream enemies. Plus while Ethiopia's military is definitely weaker than Egypt's it is known to be a very able fighting force and Ethiopia's terrain makes it very difficult to invade. The use of funded guerillas is workable to an extent for Egypt but sugar daddy America likely wont be too pleased about Ethiopia having to waste the War on Terror weapons and aid its been given on rebels being indirectly funded by the US also. Why bring military action? Well at this point Egypt has no real non-violent means of compulsion as aforementioned but they really do want to keep their preferential access to the Nile. It might be deeply iniquitous but their economy is and has for a considerable time been dependent on that unfairness, this is a compelling reason to use whatever means necessary to keep things as they are.
Also there is the issue of "President" Hosni Mubarak's son succeeding him as ruler of the country. While Egypt pretends to be a democracy it is in reality a brutal dictatorship and a client state of the US (ctrl+F Egypt). It seems the people of Egypt even under great repression than usual are not happy about the country's lack of democracy being thrust in their faces so brazenly. Hosni's failing health means this is a time sensitive issue. The economic impact of the NBI would just add injury to insult and make the future of the dictatorship uncertain (likely someone else would step up to be US client but for the current oligarchs that might not be a good thing). On the other hand a successful military adventure and the nations' interests protected would definitely ease the transition.
At this point it seems very likely the Nile Basin Initiative will happen which, stepping away from realpolitik for a second, is definitely a good thing for the upper Nile region and the sweeping away of a negative legacy of colonialism. What reaction this will cause from Egypt is much less certain at this time.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Zizek on the inevitable apocalyspe Capitalism is causing.
I will let Zizek speak for himself because his command of language and passion is far beyond my own. I do recommend you watch it though.
Monday 22 November 2010
Rory Bremner does excellent sung epitaphs of Prime Ministers.
Yeah that title could've been a bit more catchy but its true. Heres Gordon Brown's Swansong:
and going a good way into the past Tony Blair's:
(some knowledge of British Politics required for you to fully understand these)
and going a good way into the past Tony Blair's:
(some knowledge of British Politics required for you to fully understand these)
Wednesday 17 November 2010
Tories announce end to Net Neutrality in the UK
Companies will now not even need to maintain the pretense that all websites deserve equal bandwidth. Websites ISPs don't like will get short shrift and big companies will be able to pay their way to prominence. This means dissenting views can be marginalised on the internet and startup companies will now be even easier for corporate juggernauts to crush or "convince" to join their team so they get decent bandwidth.
I suppose it was inevitable but its annoying to live in a country on the vanguard of the end of the egalitarian internet.
The guardian have a full pdf of the speech where this was announced here: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2010/11/17/EdVaizey.pdf
I suppose it was inevitable but its annoying to live in a country on the vanguard of the end of the egalitarian internet.
The guardian have a full pdf of the speech where this was announced here: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2010/11/17/EdVaizey.pdf
Tuesday 16 November 2010
UK Police shut down prominent opponent.
Fit Watch used to provide criticism and oversight over FITs (Forward Intelligence Teams) essentially watching the watchers by taking photographs of the police taking photographs of people at protests and suchlike. So as is the way of things they were shut down. The police were able to do so without a court order or anything else.
Dissent and opposition to what the police wants is naughty so just don't do it ok?
Dissent and opposition to what the police wants is naughty so just don't do it ok?
Tories endorse Police Racism.
A couple of months ago it was revealed that black and brown people in the uk are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched. So now the Tories are in power they've decided that the best thing to do is fully back this behaviour and amend stop and search powers so that a person's race can be a legitimate reason to accost them! Along with this the plans also remove the need for the police to record each time they stop and search a person, giving them even greater carte blanche to be racist.
Why is this happening? Well apart from the general fact rightists are pretty much evil to their core and this is just another example it is likely an attempt to appease police officers over the slash and burn cuts the Tories are imposing, especially given the news yesterday Manchester Police are facing 25% spending cuts cuts. This does not reflect well on the police that this would appease them and it doesn't reflect well on the Tories that they would attempt appeasement in this way.
This however should dispell the myth of the Tories being in any way tolerant or decent.
Why is this happening? Well apart from the general fact rightists are pretty much evil to their core and this is just another example it is likely an attempt to appease police officers over the slash and burn cuts the Tories are imposing, especially given the news yesterday Manchester Police are facing 25% spending cuts cuts. This does not reflect well on the police that this would appease them and it doesn't reflect well on the Tories that they would attempt appeasement in this way.
This however should dispell the myth of the Tories being in any way tolerant or decent.
Wednesday 3 November 2010
A shadowy group offers the UK govt £5 billion and a Tory Lord admits to the house he laundered lots of money for the IRA but this is not news.
Credit to Jonny on this one, he caught it on Reddit and then fact checked it on Hansard (the British government's official records).
The title is not hyperbole, the source of this stunning revelation is a tiny blog: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/11/conspiracy-theories.html and the relevant corroboration by hansard can be found here. I highly recommend you read this stuff but I'll give you a taster quote just in case you're too lazy to click links:
All credit to Charlie Stross for finding this out. Its good that hes getting a lot of traffic from Reddit but jeez its scary the mainstream media aren't covering this at all.
The title is not hyperbole, the source of this stunning revelation is a tiny blog: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/11/conspiracy-theories.html and the relevant corroboration by hansard can be found here. I highly recommend you read this stuff but I'll give you a taster quote just in case you're too lazy to click links:
Lord James of Blackheath: Not into my pocket. My biggest terrorist client was the IRA and I am pleased to say that I managed to write off more than £1 billion of its money. I have also had extensive connections with north African terrorists, but that was of a far nastier nature, and I do not want to talk about that because it is still a security issue. I hasten to add that it is no good getting the police in, because I shall immediately call the Bank of England as my defence witness, given that it put me in to deal with these problems.
All credit to Charlie Stross for finding this out. Its good that hes getting a lot of traffic from Reddit but jeez its scary the mainstream media aren't covering this at all.
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Giant Bomb's finest hour.
You might not like computer games, you might not like Giant Bomb. This is irrelevant, this video is so awesome it wont matter. You have to watch it:
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