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Date
20040816
In The News
Time
11:09
Barring general fuck-ups, the rule is as follows:

If you have a well-kept secret, it won’t hit the news unless someone in your inner circle breaks rank.

If you have an ‘open secret’ that’s pretty much common knowledge, it won’t hit the news unless a newspaper journalist/editor/owner breaks rank.

So the Blunkett Has Affair With Married Woman story is a very curious beastie indeed.

My first thought when the news hit BBC radio on Saturday afternoon (but wasn’t repeated for the rest of the day, mind) was that Blunkett had finally gone too far for someone’s taste and the knives were out.

The next day, the only newspaper to give it serious coverage was the Murdoch newspaper (curiouser and curiouser) News of the World.

News Of The World – They’re both madly in love: Cabinet Minister David Blunkett and his secret married lover met on Wednesday of this week as their three-year affair reached crisis point. Since they were introduced in 2001, the woman —who is in her 40s and has one child—has been the great, passionate love of his life. They meet discreetly in London and, during his rare breaks from a huge workload as Home Secretary, have found time for romantic getaways at his Derbyshire cottage. But she has a family to care for and divorced Mr Blunkett, who famously reads his papers in Braille after he was born blind, is committed to long hours at his job.

And so it goes on. Apart from one or two rather detached references to the as-yet-unnamed husband, the story focuses almost entirely on a true love that will not be denied. There are further references to how hard Mr Blunkett works, the couple’s “huge reservoir of love and affection,” how Mr Blunkett “has fought adversity all his life” and the huge challenges the couple have had to face especially when you consider how hard Mr Blunkett works.

An associated editorial entitled ‘A very human face of power’ assures us that “the Home Secretary’s love affair with a married woman cannot be condoned – but neither is it a matter for resignation.” It goes on to describe David Blunkett as a “human and vulnerable figure.”

Were the story ‘in the open’ and covered by every other newspaper, you could easily classify this beyond-soft coverage as damage control – but there was barely a mention in any other newspaper. Yesterday or today.

So was this a spectacular own-goal… or something else?

Most of today’s coverage reports on the NOTW report and throws in reactions from Blunkett and Blair. We’ll take a look at those in a moment. First of all, you may want to take a quick peak at the only (minor) expansion of the story outside of the Murdoch group, which appears to be suggesting that this was very close to an ‘open secret,’ and/or that the “human and vulnerable” Blunkett is actually about to have a serious breakdown…

The Mirror – Blunkett’s Secret Love: Friends believe the strain on the Home Secretary over his three-year relationship with a married mother in her 40s is beginning to tell. Mr Blunkett’s “irritable and tetchy” moods have alarmed party colleagues for nearly two years. They talk of him “hitting the roof” at the slightest problem. And they worry that he is not recovering properly from a serious operation 20 months ago. One said: “It would make sense that he was also struggling to cope with a very intense but problematic relationship at the same time. “Goodness knows, that is difficult enough for the ordinary man or woman in the street but if you are a public figure and you are trying to keep things private it must impose the most awful strain.”

This article closes (after many a statement from unnamed friends) with a quote from Mr Blunkett that says: “Anyone purporting to speak about my private life does so without knowledge or authority.”

You can read more of that statement here, but you certainly won’t read that snippet about people speaking about this private life “without knowledge or authority” in today’s Scum (scroll down to the bottom of the article linked below and note what parts of this statement they do and don’t use just before we move on).

The Sun – I told him I was tall and blonde: One insider said: “The future of the relationship is unresolved. They are torn. It’s a far from perfect situation but there’s a deep love. They’re finding it terribly hard to deal with. Neither of them knows what the future will hold. It’s actually a very, very sad situation for all concerned. The relationship isn’t going any further forward — but neither is it over. Like any affair it’s an extremely complicated situation. Other people’s lives are affected”…. Another source said: “The meetings have always been at his place, normally in London and very occasionally, Derbyshire. He has one of the busiest diaries in Government but when time allows there are romantic moments. None of this rests easily with David. He has a deep conscience. But this is no casual fling. He’s totally in love with her.”

There it is again…

A deep and profound love. Two people, struggling against hardship. One of them a hard-working civil servant (and, just in case you’re in any doubt, Blunkett’s picture caption mixes his hardships and his hardworkliness; “Dedicated … hard-working Home Secretary Mr Blunkett with guide dog Sadie”). The only difference is that this time the husband is not mentioned at all.

This story is coming from the Murdoch group, but it’s more than soft. In fact, it’s beyond fawning.

At this stage, you may wish to cast your mind back a week or so and consider these thoughts on painted pictures.

While we’re in the past, let’s also consider that last week was a very bad one for Blunkett, what with us finding out that evidence obtained under torture is admissible in our courts and Blunkett’s none-too-popular proposals that including making every offence and arrestable one.

And, if you search for news relating to Mr Blunkett in a real newspaper today, you’ll find (still) no mention of the affair, but heavy focus on the following…

UK ‘sleepwalking into Stasi state’

BBC – Watchdog attacks ID card scheme

But both of these originate from a story in The Times – yet another Murdoch newspaper.

Times – Beware rise of Big Brother state, warns data watchdog

If your head is starting to hurt, soothe it with the knowledge that the report would be public knowledge anyway, but for reasons that have yet to become clear, this dog chose to drop the stick in front of The Times first.

But the affair… ah, yes, the tragic tale of true love beset by hardship… was this also about to come out? Had someone threatened to blow the whistle?

Perhaps the as-yet-to-be-mentioned-beyond-the-abstract husband was foolish enough to signal his intentions. We shall see.

However, unless something like this turns up, we’re left with a rather uncomfortable possibility… that this is some kind of bizarre self-outing. A David Mellor moment – but instead of a family portrait by the gate, David Blunkett and his mistress are the photo opportunity. And the purpose of it all is to convince us that David Blunkett is human.

UPDATE – Pondlife – How blind is love? Oh, and did you notice that I got through all of the above without a single cheap shot about privacy issues…? No, I didn’t think so. All that effort and nobody cares… mutter, grumble… Oh well. Speaking of cheap shots….

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Date
20040816
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
11:30
Inside Al-Qaeda’s Hard Drive! Sorry, no porn.

We The Media – O’Reilly’s blog begins to take shape.

Electoral Vote Predictor 2004: Kerry 327 Bush 211 – hope springs eternal.

John Perry Barlow 2.0 – The Thomas Jefferson of cyberspace reinvents his body — and his politics: We have to re-engage in the political process we have. Democracy actually works. You could make the argument that it’s working too well in America — people are really getting exactly the government that they want. That is to say, the people who bother to engage themselves in the really tedious work of being a political activist — having meetings in church basements and putting signs on people’s lawns. I have grave misgivings about John Kerry, but I certainly don’t have misgivings about Kerry that equal the terror I have about another four years of Bush. What he’s done to aspects of the Constitution that are there to assure individual rights is breathtakingly bad.

I wouldn’t describe them as grave, but I also have some misgivings about Kerry. A fair amount of indifference sometimes, too. In fact, his value to me can be summed up in one simple picture.

Call it simplistic if you like, but I prefer mild concern to abject horror.

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Date
20040816
Inneresting
Time
11:54
I just checked out the claim by The Scum that; “Kimberly (Fortier) sat next to Mr Blunkett… at a Buckingham Palace state banquet for President Bush in November 2003.”

A look at the seating plan for the banquet not only confirms this… it also shows that Charles Kennedy was seated directly opposite Karl Rove of all people.

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Date
20040816
Activism
Time
12:04
Guardian/Observer – New York ready to unleash fury on Republicans : (Anti-Republican protestors) run a ‘snitch line’ where people involved in the convention can leak details of events and where delegates have been staying. The protesters are widely believed to have infiltrated several people into working at the convention who will smuggle information out. Moran’s plan is to send out teams of activists to disrupt as many events as possible.

Heh. Ring any bells?

UPDATE – The site mentioned in this article can be found at rncnotwelcome.org – good luck to everybody dodging the Permit Police.

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Date
20040816
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
12:12
1 – The background thing I was working on? Didn’t work out. I’ll give more details (but not too many) later.

2 – Please welcome the proxy-blog for Gordon Brown!

3 – The next Tory target for the ‘free MT weblog with the works’ offer is going to be… Boris Johnson. I need to dig through some scraps of info that have already been coming in about this later today. Fun should begin tomorrow. Cheers all.

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Date
20040816
Photoshopping
Time
17:09
“Romeo, Romeo! Oh, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

(Couldn’t be helped. Posted to B3ta.)

Also, some cutting satire for you and a short-but-sweet news update…

PA News – ‘Blunkett Affair’ Woman Appeals to Media (I bet she does, I bet she *does*): In a brief statement, issued through her solicitors, she warned that she “will not hesitate to take action in respect of intrusive media coverage of her private life”.

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Date
20040816
The War on Stupid
Time
17:48
Michael Howard evicted from Tory House of Turmoil! (This includes what may very well be the best political photoshop ever.)

It’s rather convenient, then, that the far superior and more enlightened version of Tories in Turmoil offers you a chance to pick his replacement. (Actually, it’s nothing to do with covenience. Or coincidence. It’s just genius at work, is all.)

Go visit (and pretend that your vote actually counts for something).

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Date
20040817
In The News
Time
08:06
Telegraph – Blunkett ‘affair’ woman threatens to take legal action: The woman who is alleged to be having an affair with David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, threatened yesterday to take legal action against newspapers which intruded into her privacy.

Yes, well… best of luck with all of that…

From Bloggerheads Mon, August 16, 2004: But the affair… ah, yes, the tragic tale of true love beset by hardship… was this also about to come out? Had someone threatened to blow the whistle? Perhaps the as-yet-to-be-mentioned-beyond-the-abstract husband was foolish enough to signal his intentions. We shall see. However, unless something like this turns up, we’re left with a rather uncomfortable possibility… that this is some kind of bizarre self-outing. A David Mellor moment – but instead of a family portrait by the gate, David Blunkett and his mistress are the photo opportunity. And the purpose of it all is to convince us that David Blunkett is human.

Hmm, this’d probably do it….



The Sun – Blunkett lover in baby turmoil: David Blunkett’s secret lover is five months pregnant, according to friends. Married Kimberly Fortier, 43, has been telling pals for weeks about the unplanned baby. American Kimberly is due to give birth at the end of the year. Friends say she is now in an “emotional state”. It is not known whether she will stay with husband Stephen Quinn, 60, or devote herself to the 57-year-old Home Secretary.

Assuming it’s all true, of course.

Let’s play Spot The Denial: Last night a Downing Street spokeswoman refused to discuss news of the pregnancy. She insisted: “This is a private matter. We have nothing to add.” But it was reported that Mr Blunkett would “stand by” Kimberly. He has told aides he feels confused after his secret relationship has become public.

Nope, can’t see a denial in there – but that last bit is amusing. Perhaps the confusion stems from a formerly-held conviction that they controlled Murdoch and not the other way around. Perhaps not. A look at the Sun’s editorial today takes us to interesting places. Just give me mo and we’ll return to that. After this…

Yesterday The Mirror parroted most of the Sun/NOTW material, but didn’t have anything new to add apart from this hard-hitting investigation into Blunkett’s first kiss. Today, they appear to be credited with the pregnancy revelation. This is backed by Sky, but the online chappies are a bit slack with the updates. I’ll bring you the link when she goes live.

UPDATE – Yup, here it is. Times two…

Mirror – Blunkett’s Lover Pregnant: Mr Blunkett suspects news of the affair was leaked by an enemy within the Labour party. He is said to be “bewildered” as to how it got out.

If it was leaked by an enemy, how come everybody who has been talking to the newspapers is described as a ‘friend’…? Oh well, no matter. Let’s hear from some more of them and hope some sense will come of it…

Mirror – Home Secretary’s Agony: I Will Stand By Her: Home Secretary David Blunkett will put his career on the line to stay with pregnant lover Kimberly Fortier, friends said last night. The 57-year-old pledged to stand by the American, despite the damage an affair with a married woman could have on his political future. One source said: “He’s so deeply in love that he wants nothing to come between him and Kimberly, even a child.”

And so on and so forth, until we get to this wonderful passage: He has always had a reputation in Whitehall as a workaholic but one insider said: “It is as if he feels there is not much time left in his job and he is rushing to get everything done. It’s very hyper.”

There you go, folks – that’s it in a nutshell. Blunkett has been working to crush civil liberties with all speed so he can get the nursery done in time. Or something.

Back to that Sun editorial, because what really piqued my interest in the Sun/NOTW reportage was how heavily they laid on the ‘hardworking yet vulnerable human being who has struggled through adversity’ muck, especially considering all the inhuman and inhumane stuff Blunkett has been tolerating, proposing and accepting lately.

(Yes folks, we’re straying away from gossip and towards actual news!)

Scotsman – Increase in state databases ‘a threat to civil liberties’: Hazel Blears, a Home Office minister, who yesterday revealed plans for the systematic tracking of the children of criminals in England and Wales, rejected criticism of the government’s approach. “What we are trying to do is put in place some very practical measures to make sure that we have got identity cards so that people are using the right identity. “We know that there are some pretty serious and organised criminals out there who use false identities to traffic people, to launder money, to do drug smuggling,” she said on Sky News.

Take a look at the government line and which broadcaster is helping to feed it to the public. Then take a look at today’s editorial in The Sun (quoted in full below):

The age of the real Big Brother (NOT the TV series) is arriving later than George Orwell envisaged. But there is no stopping it now. In his novel 1984 Orwell predicted an all-powerful snooper state which knew everything about everyone. Soon a mass of cross-checking databases and ID cards will give the Government and big business details about us all. But it is not all bad news. The tax-dodgers will be exposed. The money launderers nailed. Uninsured drivers tracked down. And illegal immigrants exposed. The advance of information technology cannot be turned back. But we’re still an open democracy. And it is up to all of us to make sure we watch the snoopers … just like they are watching us. You can be sure The Sun will be on guard.

NOT the TV series. Glad they cleared that up before telling me I had nothing to fear. Otherwise I may have ended up not-fearing Endemol or something.

Anyway, it’s all being done for a jolly good reason. Page 3 girl Melanie (22, from Watford) even pre-empted this assurance by saying yesterday that she wanted the government to get tough on benefits cheats. She said: “I am staggered how they are ripping off the country. The government should come down very hard on anyone making fraudulent claims.”

So, what are we left after all of that?

Blunkett – Going through some difficulty, but he’s a jolly good chap who struggles through adversity. He’s also hard-working and vulnerable. But virile, byt the looks of things. Did we wention that he had struggled through adversity?

ID cards and Information Databases – Bit scary, but needed to target dole-cheating scum. Besides, that nice Mr Blunkett is in charge. It’s a tough job, but if anyone can struggle through adversity…

The Sun – There to protect us should the government ever step out of line. As it has always done in the past.

UPDATE – Anthony Wells digs up two early media references to Blunkett and Fortier.

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Date
20040817
The End of Democracy
Time
08:12
Washington Post – Chavez Defeats Recall Attempt: Leaders of the coalition against Chavez, who has governed the country since 1999, summoned followers to the streets to protest what they said was vote fraud. But former president Jimmy Carter and a team of international monitors said the voting appeared fair and accurate.

LNR – Pity Venezuela: if Chavez had to pick a private company, why was it SmartMatic?: Any politician worth their salt now knows it’s probably worth a punt to say that an electronic election went wrong somehow. And when they do, we need an answer. This won’t come if you use private companies, whose technology will be a commercial secret. It’s especially iffy when the company is a donor to one or more political parties, as we’ve seen in America.

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Date
20040817
Weblog Marketing
Time
08:17
This all seems desperately familiar….

New York Times – Warner’s Tryst With Bloggers Hits Sour Note: But as is sometimes the case when marketers try to insinuate themselves into online communities, the company’s approach did not go as planned. Warner – which was part of the Time Warner media empire until February, when it was sold to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. – ran into a culture clash with the small world of MP3 blogs, annoying some of the very people it wanted to win over, especially after one or more people at Warner apparently posted anonymous messages to make it appear that ordinary music fans were defending the label.

Be honest. Be transparent. Have something to offer. Or don’t bother. It really is as simple as that.

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Date
20040817
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
08:23
Top link today is this ‘next blog’ link – a new web-ring-thingie feature from Blogger that has link-magically also given participants a rare (if randomised) shot at the top spot on Blogdex.

Then it’s Kerry-probing, Conservative-bashing, more Kerry-probing… Ah, here we go – this is almost enough to make me care about sport…

1 – Free tickets on offer to stop near-empty stadiums being shown on television

2 – Great big gobs of greasy grimy gopher’s guts

Also, there’s the Moonie Times refusing to give up on those WMDs and yet more good nes on the democracy front…

New York Times – Suppress the Vote?: State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd “investigation” that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November.

Investigating voter fraud in order to commit electoral fraud? Only Bush would be so bold. (Or am I thinking of Darth Vader…?)

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Date
20040817
The War on Stupid
Time
08:51
Pandagon – Annie’s Got A Gun: Annie Jacobsen, discredited paranoid and the white woman who actually made herself seem like more of a terrorist than the 14 Arabic men she says were acting suspiciously, is back, desperately trying to prove her point. She interviews Billie Jo Rodriguez, apparently also a passenger on the flight, and the results are hilarious.

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Date
20040817
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh FFS…
Time
08:53
Independent – Blair faces Labour conference walkout over invitation to Iraqi Prime Minister: Tony Blair was warned by a member of Labour’s ruling national executive he would face a walkout protest if he goes ahead with plans to invite Iyad Allawi, the leader of the interim Iraqi government, to the Labour Party conference.

Meanwhile…

Independent – Najaf, city of defiance

Back to Iraq 3.0 – A Chat with Iyad Allawi

Oh, and Bush is finally bringing some troops home… from Europe and Asia. Ah, what’s the diff? Troops is troops.

Did anybody else watch this election/policy speech? He damn near took credit for winning WWII, the Korean War, and the Cold War.

He also kept the Iraq/terror/911 link/lie ticking over: “Before September the 11th, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of America. He was defying the world, firing weapons at American pilots who were enforcing the world’s sanctions. He had pursued and he had used weapons of mass destruction. He had harbored terrorists; he invaded his neighbors; and he subsidized the families of suicide bombers. He murdered tens of thousands of his own citizens. He was a source of great instability in the world’s most volatile region. He was a threat.”

But what was most interesting was what he said just before this…

“Today, because America and our allies have sent a strong and easy to understand message — (laughter) — the leader of Libya has abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and America and the world are safer.” – George W. Bush, August 16, 2004

Gadaffi spies gave ‘terror cash’ out in Britain *during* peace talks with Blair – Guardian, August 15, 2004

State Department retracts terrorism assertion – Corrected report to show ‘sharp increase’ – CNN, June 10, 2004

I know, I know – he doesn’t read the papers. Still, you’d think his scriptwriter would pick up a clue or two…

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Date
20040817
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
09:52
OK, same deal as before. There’s a full MT weblog up for grabs (with free installation, design and consultation) if the right Tory MP chooses to reach out and grab it. This week’s target is Boris Johnson – but we’re going to try a slightly different tack with Boris, for a number of reasons:

A – Boris is a busy man

B – Boris has been known to get flustered when put on the spot

C – Boris is also caught up in this whole Blunkett/Fortier affair

So dropping a bunch of ‘hassle’ emails on the man is unlikely to do any good. Especially this week. We also have to consider the rather short reply from his staff, received by Shane McCracken following this email, which was sent to all the MPs who had proxy blogs in early August…

I am sure you are aware of the weblog that has been set up for you at the address below:

http://www.wibbler.com/boriswatch/

I have a strong interest in democracy and in particular e-Democracy and I was very interested to know your views on the site and what if any plans you had regarding it. I was hoping you could answer the following questions that have also been put to the other seven MPs who similarly have “proxy” weblogs.

1. Were you aware of the site before this email?

2. Were you aware of the concept of weblogs or blogs before the site had been set up for you?

3. Do you have any immediate plans (within the next 3 months) to set up your own weblog?

4. Would you consider asking the author to close down the site?

5. Do you feel the benefits of the weblog (transparency of your policies, feedback from constituents, unmediated communication) would make it worthwhile your time writing one (15 minutes per day on average)?

I hope you can help on this short informal piece of research.

And here’s the reply…

We are setting up our own site for Boris

Melissa Crawshay-Williams

Boris Johnson’s Office

So, here’s what I’d like you to do…

(SNIP)

UPDATE – Stand down! Stand down! I’ve been in touch about this and Melissa is keen. Boris is (reportedly) keen. Hosting issues are being discussed. This looks very, very promising….

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Date
20040817
Useful
Time
11:06
Gray’s Anatomy – browsable by thumbnail. If you want to save time, most of the rude pictures are here.

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Date
20040817
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
15:17
Cheers to Anthony for yet another dynamite heads-up today…

Take a look at the poll they’ve got running on the front page of Conservatives.com:

Poll: What would you most like to see from conservatives.com in the future?

– more local news

– new video content

– extra news from Parliament

– blogging

– more campaign support

We’re finally getting through. Now they (almost) know that they want it. But do they know what it is?

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Date
20040818
In The News
Time
09:42
Finally, someone spares a thought for the husband! According to The Sun he was delighted to discover his partner had become pregnant. But somehow they neglected to put the emphasis on was…

The Sun – Blunkett rival ‘over moon’: The husband of David Blunkett’s lover told friends of his delight when he found she was pregnant, it emerged last night. The Sun revealed how American Kimberly Fortier, 43, has been having a three-year affair with the Home Secretary. But news she is five months pregnant has thrown their relationship into turmoil. Her husband Stephen Quinn, 60, spoke to pals about the baby before the affair became publicly known. A former colleague of Mr Quinn said: “Stephen told lots of people that Kimberly was expecting another baby and he was naturally thrilled. He was over the moon that she managed to get pregnant again.”

What I love about this – what really, really pumps my nads – is that this story is (supposedly) about the husband, but The Sun seems more concerned with the effect the baby is going to have on the relationship between Ms Fortier and our beloved Home Secretary. They don’t even speculate on what the husband’s (ahem) revised opinion might be.

Speaking of opinions, let’s take a quick detour through some thoughts from the now-emerging columnists…

Sympathy vote for ‘so-in-love’ Blunkett on adultery policy – where the writer in confused about a general lack of frothing at the mouth from the champions of family values. Oh, and a final thought is spared for the husband and child.

Double standards? – where the ‘If he were a Tory…’ point is raised and it is pointed out that; “if someone proves themselves to be incapable of resistance and capable of deceiving some poor husband for three years, it does show something about their character.”

And now, back to the meat…

So far, it’s all sources, pals, friends, close aides and insiders. The only statements we can put a name to have come from Kimberley Fortier and David Blunkett. It’s Mr Blunkett’s that I want to take a closer look a right now, because it make a clear reference to all of those pals, friends, close aides and insiders:

“Anyone purporting to speak about my private life does so without knowledge or authority.” – David Blunkett (from a statement released on Sunday).

But the story was broken – in the most forgiving and fawning way possible – by News of The World, a known ally of (and unofficial distributor of information for) Downing St. This established a very forgiving tone that has held quite well to date.

Theory One – The small matter of pregnancy made this long-standing affair impossible to hide, so the story is being deliberately leaked and managed by David Blunkett, and/or with his full knowledge and authority. So if we return to his quote with this in mind, it has a certain smack of denial about it….

“Anyone purporting to speak about my private life does so without knowledge or authority”….. really. For True.

And now, a quick word from someone purporting to speak about his professional life…

“( A source/friend said that) Mr Blunkett suspects news of the affair was leaked by an enemy within the Labour party. He is said to be “bewildered” as to how it got out.” – Mirror, Aug 17

Please pardon me for treading over old ground again. I am going somewhere with this. In fact, this time I’ve added some extra italics to help you along…

But the story was broken – in the most forgiving and fawning way possible – by News of The World, a known ally of (and unofficial distributor of information for) Downing St…

Theory Two – The small matter of pregnancy made this long-standing affair impossible to hide, so the story is being deliberately leaked and managed by Downing Street, without David Blunkett’s full knowledge and authority.

Perhaps it’s even a little bit of One and Two (i.e. Blunkett is reluctantly being compelled by Downing St to run with the spin – as opposed to thinking with his penis).

The only other explanation that remains at this stage is that the editor of News of the World and/or Rupert Murdoch decided that the scoop was too good to ignore, but they should go really, really easy on poor old Mr Blunkett, who only committed the sin of following his heart. And destroying a marriage. And compromising his integrity. And allowing his personal life to interfere with his work.

UPDATE – Then again, perhaps this is why most media-peeps are going so easy on Mr Blunkett… but Vijay Dutt is in for a surprise if he thinks this latest affair has involved anything close to typical tabloid behaviour.

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Date
20040818
Normal People
Time
09:48
Meet the people of Malmesbury. I trekked as far as Belinda Sherwood & the Sherston Girls, but went no further. Perhaps your courage will be greater.

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Date
20040818
Flash Games
Time
09:53
Simple things please even those of us who are out of our tiny minds. (Link via FunJUnkie.)

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Date
20040818
Diversions
Time
09:55
Tiscali takes a look at some odd and unusual road signs.

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Date
20040818
The Grand & Dirty Game
Time
09:57
Some Hartlepool links for you:

– Tories seem to give up without a fight in Mandelson by-election

– Swivel-Eyed Loon Update

– A special ‘focus on’ page from The Guardian

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Date
20040818
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:03
Hmmm, there seems to be a fair degree of self-interest today… and a modicum of self-abuse.

Bruce Sterling – When Blobjects Rule the Earth – the future is already here, it’s just not everywhere… yet.

Wired – ‘Internet’ loses its capitalised status – sadly, this isn’t because we’ve managed to chase off the capitalists.

Washington Post – Blog Interrupted: When Jessica Cutler put her dirty secrets on the Web, she lost her job, signed a book deal, posed for Playboy — and raised a ton of questions about where America is headed.

And finally (as they say), we bring you the good news that a little porn is good for you.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040818
The Bush Administration
Time
10:11
Dick Cheney and the falsified flip-flop: Last week, the dissembling veep kept telling voters that Kerry recommended “sensitivity” toward terrorists. Everyone knows that this claim is pure bunk, but pundits hid beneath their desks, too afraid to challenge Cheney’s fake statement. Result? By Saturday, the veep was playing the rubes extra hard….

This comes to us via Atrios, as does this wonderful linkage about the Bush doctrine at work and news of a little girl who had her first Communion declared invalid, because she has a rare digestive disorder and so requested a wheat-free wafer. And by that, I mean one that wouldn’t kill her (or test her faith, depending on how you look at it).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040818
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:27
Boris news will head you way as soon as it comes in. Please chill. Meantime…

Rob reports on his meeting with Sarah Teather: On Monday afternoon I met with Sarah Teather in her constituency office on Willesden Lane. We spoke about a number of things: blogging (needless to say), engaging with constituents, getting voice for unreported activities, technology as a barrier (for BELD!) and as an enabler (for local people) and also a little project I’ve been working on.

Rob regrets to inform us that the ‘MPs and Blogs’ presentation didn’t get an airing, because Sarah appears to have already made up her mind about weblogs. A shame, really. To be so young and so set in your ways…

Anyway, Rob also brings us a graph showing whose got the most influence online. The high placement of Instapundit surprises me not at all, but it’s heartening to see the filthy liberal propagandists dominating the top ten.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040818
119 (please note correct formatting of date)
Time
10:40
Via BykerSink comes today’s must-read…

The Coincidence Theorist’s Guide to 9/11

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Date
20040818
Compare and Contrast
Time
11:09
Not that Tony Hawks. This Tony only displays dexterity of the mind.

Not that PETA. In fact, they sell knives.

Not Prince William. At all.

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Date
20040818
Normal People
Time
11:15
Eep!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040818
The War on Terror
Time
11:20
Bombs Found on Blair Island: Two explosive devices were found in Porto Rotondo on the Sardinian coast today, just hours after Tony Blair ended a visit to the nearby villa of his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi, news reports said.

Please note that the caller who allegedly provided the tip-off claimed to be from “Proletarian Combatant Groups,” but The Sun ignores this bit, and instead takes this same, short PA release and manages to squeeze in a link to Al Qaeda.

Oh, and am I the only one who hears ‘Blair Island’ and immediately thinks of a hollowed-out volcano?

UPDATE – More details from The Guardian, who describe the town of Porto Rotondo as being “1km from Mr Berlusconi’s Villa Certosa.”

Do correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that the nearest town to the villa was Porto Cervo – which would place it at least 30km away by road from Porto Rotondo and perhaps 20km by boat. Not that I would split hairs when our Dear Leader’s life is clearly at stake.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040818
Consume!
Time
13:44
Cafe for cats opens in New York’s Fifth Avenue. It’s summer, so this story should be in your chosen newspaper tomorrow (complete with a pun-tastic headline).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040818
Established Media
Time
15:15
I should have known that Sue Carroll wouldn’t be able to keep her big mouth shut about this Blunkett business (here’s a direct link to the relevant entry for the benefit of the archives).

Please keep in mind that this thoughtful and insightful piece closes with the following: “* I DO feel the newspaper headline I spotted at the weekend – David Blunkett has been seeing married woman for three years – could have been worded better.”

1 – The only article on this subject that was published this weekend was in Sunday’s News of the World. I have a copy right here. Until next Sunday, you’ll be able to check out the online version for yourself. This phrase does not appear anywhere in Sunday’s edition. So there’s no way she could have spotted this ‘at the weekend’ – or at any other time…

2 – Because this ‘poorly worded’ phrase did not appear in any of Monday’s or Tuesday’s or today’s newspapers, either.

3 – In fact, according to Google, the only place it appears anywhere on the web, in Usenet or in the news, is in her own damn column!

In fact, I think we can be pretty sure that Sue Carroll made this up in order to get away with a joke that’s in poor taste without compromising her sanctimonious demeanour. And I’m calling her on it…

To: s DOT carroll AT mirror DOT co DOT uk

From: manic AT bloggerheads DOT com

Subject: Seeing is believing

Dear Sue,

I have been following and documenting media interest in the Blunkett/Fortier affair since the story first broke, but must admit to being confused about the following from your most recent column:

“* I DO feel the newspaper headline I spotted at the weekend – David Blunkett has been seeing married woman for three years – could have been worded better.”

As far as I can recall, the only newspaper to run with this story ‘at the weekend’ was News of the World – and my copy does not carry the headline you mention. Perhaps you have a slightly different copy. Could you perhaps provide me with a scan of the headline you mention and the page it appeared on? I would hate to think that my scrapbook was in any way incomplete.

Regards,

Tim Ireland

www.bloggerheads.com

UPDATE – Anthony sure is making himself useful lately. He just informed me that this headline did appear over the weekend. It was on page 10 of Sunday’s…. Mirror.

It doesn’t appear in the online version of the article, but it does still appear on the front page of that sister-paper’s website.

Happily, no follow-up email is required. All we have to do with sit back and wait to see if Sue points this out. Then perhaps we can ask why she didn’t mention the source in the first place.

UPDATE 2 – Happily II, the Mirror is not alone in gaffeland. In this Daily Mail article, David Blunkett gains sight and loses his voice.

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Date
20040818
Photoshopping
Time
17:16
Oh dear!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Tony Blair’s Email
Time
09:16
For those who came in late: Have a quick peek at this and be advised that Pete Broderick has been emailing and/or CC’ing ‘Tony Blair’ for well over two years now. There are times when I suspect (or, to be honest, hope) that this is all some kind of grand and glorious joke – but chances are these messages are genuine and sincere.

Today, Pete reveals the secret behind Moktada al Sadr’s rise to power…

From: Pete Broderick

To: vice-president@whitehouse.gov, tony-blair@prime-ministerco.uk, president@kremlin.ru, president@whitehouse.gov, marrena.marren@fco.gov.uk, kay.sweet@fco.gov.uk, inquiries@un.org, gerhard.schroeder@bundestag.de, ctc@un.org, clu@fco.gov.uk

Subject: Moktada al-Sadr

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 09:58:01 +0100 (BST)

Hi,

In the first instance, it seems that the young islamic cleric using the name Moktada al Sadr, is in fact a Scientologist, not just any Scientologist, but a senior figure in the HCO Protocol, the Security wing, Colin wayne Jones (born U.k. d.o.b. January fourth 1970). He was responsible for the murder of a pensioner Rosella Middleton, in Birchfield Tower, Birchfield Road, Birmingham, in 1994. He confessed it to me, in 1998. I reported it to Ladywood Police Station in 1998, both through crimestoppers 0800 number. This was while Edward Crew, was Chief Constable, Crew of course was one of the most corrupt Chief Constables the U.K. has ever known, due to his obsession with Verwood, of S.A. A Mentally ill IC3 was framed for the murder by the tail end of 1999. I presume this was soon after Jones came in contact with him, at HMP Birmingham, possibly under an a.k.a.

The conviction came “surprisingly” quick, after I approached the Police in comparison to when the crime was committed.

This of course also prevented, myself receiving the financial reward, of five thousand pounds.

In addition, Paul VI, is still alive, he is in fact JORGE ILES, of [address censored by Manic] B’HAM

He faked his death in 1978, due to his pontifical reign covering the opening of the terrorism that erupted globally, in the knowledge that the both sides of the Cold War, did not originate the Drug Wars, only the corrupt elements Crux Orientalis had running through the three superpowers, and their allies. It is vital for C/O to have him in B’ham, as B’ham is the seat of the existentialist council, they regularly used the underground offices of the local authority, that were used by Churchill, etc during WWII, thatis the main reason that 8 Ethel St, the Scientology base, and Italian Consulate named the Building they are in Winston Churchill House.

Where PIP, is Patrick Fitzpatrick – d.o.b. 18.3.1968 – nominated by Margaret Thatcher, and the HRE thru the Knights of St Columba, and due to him being a spiritual protege of J.Edgar Hoover, Paul Weller a.k.a KEITH BISHOP(RO ring) – d.o.b. 25.5.1958 – is the modern day OTTO, as Cardinal Basil Hume, was considered unsuitable. The present day Cardinal of Westminster is attempting to regain, the Controoler reins of OTTO. Weller is NEO-Nazi, and an archictect of Militant Tendency, hence his invlvement in RED WEDGE. WELLER, was also instrumental in the Union bashing of the 1980’s, and is leading the onslaught against the Firefighters, as a parallel project to that of Startfor.com, that manifested itself most strongly with the veiled attack on Queens, in October 2001. WELLER, as BISHOP, personally led the advance of Cocaine into UK Public Houses, referring intrested parties to the Church of Scientology (RAISE). Such negative innovation by well has led him to inherit Denis Thatchers corporate Empire, as well as drawing him to the attention of Dominic Du Vallon Lohan, and the Riveria Gigolo(Alistair Campbell), and in more recent times Xenia DU VALLON LOHAN, (SKY media/20th Century Fox), who is keen to invest her wealth, that i tied up in the Church of Scientology with Weller. The Wellers Anne, John (a.k.a. Danny fron Ravenscourt park, who lived with temp at the tail end of 1995, onset of 1996, before moving to Cricklewood to share with Matt Mendell),a nd Paul, all agreed to put Nicola Weller, in the Northfield Convent, in order to turn her into a drug addict. This was at the same time that Weller was advancing Cocaine in Birmingham, between 1984-1989. Another avenue was through FOOTBALL Casuals.

One of the reasons Weller returned to Woking in 1999, was his occult beliefs, and Linda Broderick’s/Burnett’s foul up at the Home Office (catering).

While in Birmingham Bishop/Weller became affiliated with Samantha Louise Winn/Bloxham (they met at The Lodge P/H & CoS St Mary’s Row, Moseley), and Colin wayne Jones (Maypole P/h & CoS Moseley).

Weller is the Policy Director Co-ordinator of the Fifth Columnists in the Uk. His financial interests are in prostitution, narcotics, and pornography.

With Respect,

Pete Broderick

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
In The News
Time
09:46
The Sun – Blunkett DNA test – with a quick mention of the husband, primary focus on Blunkett’s anguish at not knowing whose baby it is, and a report from some bloke who says he met Blunkett and Fortier while on holiday.

Of course, Murdoch’s papers are handling this with kid gloves (even though it was a Murdoch paper that broke the story), but not every paper is being as gentle. Ex-Blair-pal and pornographer Richard Desmond has been laying the boot in via the Express, and the Evening Standard has – in this less-than-flattering profile of Kimberly Fortier – made a point of focusing on the spin…

Seducing the power brokers : These anonymous sources spoke of how sad and heart-rending it was for two adults to find themselves in the midst of such a complex love affair. “None of this rests easily with David,” claims one source. “He has a deep conscience. But this is no casual fling. He’s totally in love with her.” The “spun” story, it appears, is that marriages do break up, that falling in love can hurt innocents involved. But according to friends of Fortier’s husband, there is another, less sympathetic side to the story. “Of course, people have affairs, but we have to remember that the Home Secretary appears to have engaged in some kind of affair with a married woman who had just had a child,” says one friend.

There’s also this little snippet that found its way online: DAVID Blunkett has asserted his affair with Kimberly Fortier ‘has never compromised my jobs as an MP and Cabinet Minister’. However, the affair does shed a new light on his comments in the foreword to last year’s White Paper on Anti-Social Behaviour. ‘As a society, our rights as individuals are based upon the sense of responsibility we have towards others and to our families and communities,’ wrote the Home Secretary. ‘This responsibility starts in the family, where parents are accountable for the actions of their children and set the standards they are to live by.’ The paper recommends courses to help parents ‘set limits: they have to make sure their children understand the difference between right and wrong.’ It’s not as easy as it sounds, is it, Mr Blunkett?

But the coverage and the tone is still dominated by Team Murdoch. Take a look at this profile from yesterday’s magazine section of The Times to see them in full-tilt…

Times – Lothario, no: but he is a romantic: (After much fawning and some rather interesting theories)…All this makes it easier to understand why now, in his late fifties, Blunkett cannot resist the coup de foudre of first love, with its promise of the fun and vivacity that he missed out on in his youth. His social conservatism must have disapproved — along with half of the population — of having an affair with a married woman with a young child, but in the struggle with his romantic yearning for a deep relationship, love seems to have won out.

Matters are helped by the Independent and Guardian all but shunning the story (with the exception of this hand-wringing moment, of course) but – here and there – the treatment of the story gets close-to-serious focus. Which is a good thing, because that *is* the bloody story. I’m increasingly convinced that this has been a carefully-managed release by (or on behalf of) the happy couple themselves.

Torygraph – The publisher, the politician, and a question of public interest: Certainly, the Sun and NoW peppered their respective stories with sympathetic quotes from apparently well-informed insiders who attested to the strong bond between the pair and the difficulties that they now face. And Mr Blunkett is particularly admired by Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail (the Home Secretary was guest of honour at a party celebrating the Dacre reign). Not surprisingly, the paper – which could normally be expected to take a high moral tone over married people having affairs, has down-played the story.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:48
It’s the Organizr! It’s DropCash! Two news and exciting tools to help *you* improve your… ahh, who am I kidding?

The Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness should keep you amused until the boss drops by your desk.

Yahoo is selling child-size ‘Pimp and Ho’ costumes. Can someone please alert the Daily Mail?

And Freedom Of Music Choice is back in the charts. I can’t be bothered finding out why.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
An American Election
Time
09:54
New York Times – Just Keep It Peaceful, Protesters; New York Is Offering Discounts: In a transparently mercantile bid to keep protesters from disrupting the Republican National Convention later this month, the Bloomberg administration will offer “peaceful political activists” discounts at select hotels, museums, stores and restaurants around town during convention week, which begins Aug. 29.

Yes, us filthy liberals are known for our violent ways. But get some chicken inside us and it’s all gravy. Or something.

Weirder than that, take a look at The John Kerry Scrapbook, a site that has popped up out of nowhere but has suddenly found a link-audience and is even enjoying (what appears to be) some genuine sharing via Usenet with a day or two of launch.

1 – For a Harvard graduate, she don’t write too good

2 – Sure, there’s no dirt, and the intention appears benign – but it makes Kerry look like an ass

The same question is coming from the left and the right: where did it come from and what is it for?

UPDATE – Atrios of the latest Swift-boat swifties.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Normal People
Time
10:08
A former middle school teacher has admitted raping a 12-year-old student in social studies class and homeroom. Her defence team points out that she feels remorse (deep, deep remorse) and bring forth a medical expert who claims that she ‘lost her perspective’….

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Viral Marketing
Time
10:15
Today, The Ultimate Insult points us in the direction of K-Tel Classics.

I’ve seen this before, and:

1 – K-Tel must have miles of this kind of material in their archives (including some of the classic television commercials). It amazes me that they’re not using it to push their current offer to the music consumer.

2 – I bet you didn’t know that K-Tel now sells drugs. (Hey, it’s all part of being in the music industry.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Inneresting
Time
10:22
And folks wonder what us geeks see in Science Fiction. Women in the future wear spandex, people. Or, failing that, metal panties and nipple guards….

(Please note that this collection also features trash, drug-oriented and gay fiction. Yes, that’s the kind of thing Sci-Fi can lead to.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Here Comes The Science
Time
10:44
How to render the Segway Human Transporter obsolete.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Flash Games
Time
12:07
Moody and tricky – scare the crows to stay alive.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Consume!
Time
13:02
Doom 3 – Take a peek under ‘related items’…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
An American Election
Time
15:33
A-men! Go, tell it on the mountain! (Cheers to known billionaire Y. Bee for the heads-up on this one. I hope the New York RNC – the first on this site in 150 years for some unknown reason – proves to be as great an embarrassment for Bush as his London visit.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Normal People
Time
15:58
Meet Jerry Querrard. Jerry has found Atlantis, and will reveal the location to the first person who coughs up 8 million big ones.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040819
Humanity
Time
16:03
Florida man tries to pass barrier to reach his home. Police use reasonable force to stop him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
Spam
Time
09:58
Spammers are sub-human scum. That goes for email spammers, Usenet spammers and comment spammers. They have no respect for your privacy, community, bandwidth or site integrity. And there are days when I wish they would all develop a horrible, painful, disfiguring, inoperable form of cancer and die. Slowly. Then I can send them a bunch of ragweed wrapped up in a lovely bow, with a card that reads: “Want to live? We offer cheap rates on generic anti-cancer drugs that work better than the real thing! Lose weight *and* fight cancer while you sleep!”

(Calms down. Reads Comment Spam Manifesto. Makes further plans to spam-proof upcoming comments at Bloggerheads.)

UPDATE – This week’s B3ta challenge: take the subject lines from your spam email and illustrate them.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
RWCs
Time
10:05
Independent – Ann Coulter: The blonde assassin: Does Ann Coulter really believe the outrageous things she says? To the pin-up pundit of the American right, liberals are fascists – and all terrorists are Muslims.

OK, let’s be fair and balanced about this. Here’s a postive spin on Ann Coulter by a Christian libertarian. (Hmm. That totally rad hair-do makes me wonder what Mr T thinks.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
An American Election
Time
10:08
Chapel Perilous shows us the glory of the subtle rewrite:

“The Oval Office is a powerful place. It’s the kind of place where my mother walks in and feels so overwhelmed, she won’t tell me what to do.”

President Bush, August 10th, Niceville Florida

audience:hehehehehmmmhmm

“The Oval Office is a powerful place. It’s — you know, people walk in and just get overwhelmed by the majesty of this shrine to democracy. I do, on a daily basis. And the only person I know that didn’t was my mother, who walked in and continued to tell me what to do.”

President Bush, August 12th, Las Vegas, Nevada

audience: ahahahahahaha!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:10
Bear drinks 36 beers and passes out in campground. Yes, but did it manage to sing?

The Yahoo team now has a blog. The comments are… open!

A new twist to Kerry probing. Who knew that a right-wring group that had ‘truth’ in its name would actually tell lies?

Washington Post – Records Counter a Critic of Kerry: Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry’s most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events.

Finally, another big hit from Bad Gas. That’s two chart-toppers in two weeks, folks. (I’d best start sucking up to these guys. They are the future.)

Bad Gas – Doing a Lynndie

– You will laugh out loud.

– You will lose all control of your body as you find yourself pointing and gently flexing your elbows.

– You will smirk.

– You will find it comfortable and continue to smirk.

– You will call a friend who owns a camera.

– They will smirk.

– You will go out looking for trouble.

– You will do all of the above without even asking yourself why.

(Please note that BadGas is getting a hammering today. If the page loads as text-only and/or you have trouble downloading any/all of the image collection, bookmark the page and try again later.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
Follow-Up
Time
10:27
Lucky – the rabbit what almost got blowed up – now has a new home. In fact, hundreds of people offered to adopt him. Awwww…..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
In The News
Time
10:33
Right. Blunkett….

The Times lectures us on ethics.

Meanwhile, there’s no mention of Mr Blunkett in today’s edition of The Sun. At all. Perhaps they’ve run out of nice things to say. Or perhaps today is a good day to try and move on…

Evening Standard – Blunkett helped ‘lover’ over passport: David Blunkett helped the woman alleged to be his lover obtain a US passport for her son, it emerged today. The suggestion that the Home Secretary used his position to help married publisher Kimberly Fortier could put him under political pressure for the first time over their relationship. Home Office aides confirmed claims in The Times that he telephoned a senior official at the American embassy to ask for the name of someone she could contact to rush through a passport application. Mr Blunkett then passed the name to Ms Fortier, publisher of the Tory-backing Spectator magazine, with whom he is alleged to have had a secret relationship. There is no suggestion that Mr Blunkett asked for her to be given special treatment but aides today acknowledged that the US officials may have prioritised her case because of the minister’s interest in it.

Here’s a word or two on hypocrisy from The Scotsman, the view from The Friday Thing and some opinions from Mirror readers. At least one of the latter will raise an eyebrow (I also hope that the uniquely vulnerable Mr Blunkett will be able to disentangle himself from this evil temptress).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
Christianity Watch
Time
10:54
ScaryDuck advises us that the rapture is nigh.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
Flash Games
Time
10:58
The Invisibility Game! How well will you manage when you can’t see your cursor?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
Normal People
Time
11:01
Ahahahahahahahaha! One can only wonder what happened here.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040820
An American Election
Time
11:02
I managed to stuff this link up late yesterday, so here it is again:

NYC to GOP: Drop Dead: Well aware that it is barren soil for their party’s anti-urban, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist, overtly racist ideology, Republican leaders have wisely avoided New York City as a convention site for the past 150 years…. But White House strategist Karl Rove sees the continued exploitation of 9/11 for partisan political gain as Bush’s key to victory in November. That means bringing the big bash three miles north of the hole where the Twin Towers used to stand, where most of the victims of 9/11 were burned, suffocated, impaled and pulverized.

And that’s the guts of it, boys and girls. Bush is still exploiting that nation’s greatest tragedy, and New Yorker’s simply aren’t going to stand for it. Unlike what we saw at the Democratic convention, few of the protests will be partisan… and if they squeeze too tight on where/when protests are allowed, even fewer of them with be peaceful.

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Date
20040820
Art
Time
11:09
Stop Motion Studies should help focus that blank stare that kicks in around lunchtime.

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Date
20040820
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
11:18
Guardian – Abu Ghraib doctors knew of torture, says Lancet report : Army doctors at the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad falsified medical records to cover up torture and human rights abuses perpetrated on Iraqi detainees, the British medical journal the Lancet reported today.

The following may also be of interest…

Washington Post – Abu Ghraib Probe Points to Top Brass: An Army investigation into the role of military intelligence personnel in the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison reports that the scandal was not just caused by a small circle of rogue military police soldiers but resulted from failures of leadership rising to the highest levels of the U.S. command in Iraq, senior defense officials said… Officials also said that the report implicates five civilian contractors in the abuse, and that Army officials plan to recommend that their cases be sent to the Justice Department for possible prosecution in civilian courts.

And here’s the icing on the cake…

New Standard – Abu Ghraib contractor sees profits soar despite torture probe: Virginia-based homeland security services contractor CACI International, whose private interrogators have been linked to torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, said its bottom line increased 42 percent over the last year. From June 2003 to June 2004, which marks CACI’s fiscal year, net income rose to $63.7 million.

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Date
20040820
Photoshopping
Time
13:25
A topical variation on Preparing For Emergencies.

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Date
20040823
In The News
Time
09:50
Mirror: Blunkett suffers from whispers! Blunkett is ditched! Blunkett takes holiday! (Well, who can blame him after a weekend like that?)

As with Friday’s edition, there is no mention – no mention – of David Blunkett in today’s Sun. Interesting, no?

This story reminds me of something…

An interesting level of support from the Torygraph: Poor Mr Blunkett, the romantic who has struggled against adversity. Somebody is obviously out to get him.

Iain Macwhirter thinks the story is about tabloid justice aiding democracy (when, in truth, the past week has actually showed us how adept this government is at controlling those same tabloids).

Antony Barnett, Martin Bright and David Smith edge closer with a look at Blunkett’s intimate courtship with the media, but it’s Peter Preston who’s closest to the target after a week of media gameplay….

Guardian – Today’s news is not the end of the affair: It was all what the former Sun editor, David Yelland, called ‘a good old-fashioned Fleet Street barnstormer’ in his Evening Standard column. Except, of course, that Fleet Street has ceased to exist in any good old-fashioned sense – and that this tale was full of bad, new-fangled, evasions. Who was dishing lurid and intimate dirt to the News of the World, Sun and Mirror on eerily orchestrated rent-a-quote basis? The NoW had a ‘source’ who reported the star-crossed couple as ‘deeply in love – though neither know what the future may hold’. The Sun had ‘a pal’ who informed us that, ‘like all affairs, it’s extremely complicated’. The Mirror had ‘a source’ with a hotline to Blunkett’s heart and a ‘well-informed source’ who did the DNA testing bit. Four or five separate sources? Or one, ubiquitous ‘pal’ picking up a different phone to a different editor’s office every day?

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Date
20040823
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:55
Aww, wookit all the cute widdle monkeys. Aww, wookit all the cute widdle cewebwities…

I’ve dumped Internet Explorer. So have these people.

BugMeNot.com returns! (Neo-Nazi diversions are also explained here…)

Everything else is Kerry/Bush and the wonders of war, which I’m saving for other posts so I can add a little context…

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Date
20040823
An American Election
Time
10:44
A week? Pfft! Three days is a long time in politics…

Independent – ‘Veterans for Truth’ or Republican reptiles? Kerry senses hand of Bush in attacks on his war record: Mr Kerry has filed a complaint with government regulators alleging that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth “illegally co-ordinated with the Bush- Cheney presidential campaign”.

Independent – Veterans prepare new attack on Kerry: Undaunted by accusations that they were spreading lies on behalf of President George Bush’s re-election campaign, a group of Republican veterans of the Vietnam War were preparing yesterday to launch a new television advert accusing John Kerry of cowardice, disloyalty, and worse, during his time in uniform.

And the new TVC contains a surprise guest…

CNN – Bush adviser quits after appearing in swift boat ad: A volunteer adviser has quit President Bush’s re-election campaign after appearing in a veterans group’s television commercial blasting Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s involvement in the Vietnam-era antiwar movement.

New York Times – Kerry TV Ad Pins Veterans’ Attack Firmly on Bush: Senator John Kerry released a television advertisement yesterday blaming President Bush for a campaign by a “front group” of veterans that Mr. Kerry said had smeared his Vietnam record, as he intensified his drive to gain control in a fight that some Democrats said could undermine his campaign for the presidency. … hold your breath, good bit coming up…) Mr. Bush’s campaign denied any involvement with the effort by the veterans challenging crucial parts of Mr. Kerry’s war record and sent a letter to television station managers calling the new Kerry advertisement libelous.

This article also says that; Mr. Bush’s advisers said Mr. Kerry’s campaign was engaged in an exercise of six degrees of separation and said they had no connections to the group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Well, perhaps you’d care to judge for yourself via this article or this handy wall-chart.

The response from the digital brownshirts? They’ve made a chart, too.

This is the classic “See? Your guy is as bad as our guy, therefore our guy comes out looking good!” defence. Expect to see more of it in the coming months.

Quick diversion; let’s see Bush accentuating the positive…

Sports Illustrated – Iraqi soccer players angered by Bush campaign ads “Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign,” Sadir told SI.com through a translator, speaking calmly and directly. “He can find another way to advertise himself.” (The article includes a link to offending ad. You’ll love the bit about freedom spreading across the world like a sunrise.)

Meanwhile, back in the main tent, check out this filthy liberal rag putting on a show of presenting both sides.

Washington Post – Swift Boat Accounts Incomplete: Establishing the facts is complicated not merely by fading memories and sometimes ambiguous archival evidence, but also by the bitterly partisan nature of the presidential campaign. An investigation by The Washington Post into what happened that day suggests that both sides have withheld information from the public record and provided an incomplete, and sometimes inaccurate, picture of what took place. But although Kerry’s accusers have succeeded in raising doubts about his war record, they have failed to come up with sufficient evidence to prove him a liar.

Makes you sick, doesn’t it? Why aren’t they burning Kerry at the stake, dammit?

Curse the inaction of the liberal media. Why, if they investigated this properly, I bet they’d find destroyed service records and all manner of suspicious shenanigans.

The final word on this goes to Atrios.

UPDATE – If you want to see the Kerry ads, start with ‘Old Tricks’ before you move on to ‘Issues’.

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Date
20040823
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh s**t!
Time
11:17
Hooray for the Bush doctrine!

Yahoo – Iran warns of preemptive strike to prevent attack on nuclear sites: Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned that Iran might launch a preemptive strike against US forces in the region to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities. “We will not sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will do to us. Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly,” Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera TV when asked if Iran would respond to an American attack on its nuclear facilities.

That’s one thing that can’t be undone. Here are over a thousand others.

Mind you, these are just numbers. People seem to be forgetting the greatest casualty of this war; Tony Blair’s hurt feelings. Some people even seem determined to take advantage of his good nature…

Guardian – Mother of dead soldier to sue: The mother of a young British solider killed in Iraq plans to sue the Ministry of Defence, claiming officials breached their duty of care to her son. If the case goes ahead, it will be the first time the government has been sued over the death of a soldier in combat…. She wants to go to court because she believes her son’s death could have been avoided if his patrol had been equipped with an electronic signal jamming device which would have stopped the bomb being detonated.

For a full brain-tickle, take a look at this bloggage from January that tracks similar concerns of another war widow and then consider what that same widow has to say now.

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Date
20040823
Activism
Time
11:17
Independent – Bush is ‘exploiting 9/11 for re-election’: With only a week to go, the city is in a stand-off with an activist group called United for Peace and Justice that expects as many as 250,000 people to turn out for an anti-Bush rally next Sunday. The group is suing for the right to hold the march in Central Park. The city is refusing, citing probable grass damage…. Last week, a director of the FBI’s anti-terrorism division acknowledged that the agency expects some of the protests to become violent. The FBI has sent out agents to infiltrate some of the political groups coming to New York to try to uncover their strategies. But no actual plot to cause violence has yet been found.

The ‘keep off the grass’ gambit may remind you of something, but don’t expect Bush to roll tanks into JFK. It’s far more efficient to generate an imaginary terrorist threat from amongst the protestors themselves.

In the public mind, the people protesting a government placing them in danger *becomes* the danger (as part of the anti-terrorism budget is being spent policing the people who are – by and large – protesting the Bush administration’s exploitation/manipulation of the terrorist threat). Hell, it may even turn out that way in reality. Turning the screws in the name of preventing violence often seems to provoke violence. I’m going to be a self-important know-it-all now and quote myself: Take a sweet little kitten and squeeze it. Watch what happens.

UPDATE – FBI precautions for convention worry area activists and New York braced for protests at Republican rally

UPDATE 2 – A Protester’s Guide to NYC! Version 2.0

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Date
20040823
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
11:34
Big-Brother place-getter Shell Jubin appears with her cha-chas out on Page 3 of today’s Sun and says: “Those who sneer at Page 3 lack intelligence.”

Well, that’s me told.

Turns out it’s art. And empowering art, at that: “It’s beautifully-shot and tastefully pioneered the celebration of the female form. In many ways it emancipated women, letting them exploit their assets, earn cash and keep control. I see it as a modern art form.”

So, ladies, if you want to exploit your assets, earn cash and keep control, I suggest you get in touch with The Sun, let them photograph you topless, and then provide and associated ‘News in Briefs’ editorial that focuses on the evils of concentrated media ownership. See how far you get.

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Date
20040823
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:42
First of all, it’s worth noting the nature of this curious blogbeast. Today, poor old Tom takes a beating for pointing out that his comments function can take a beating.

Oh, and there’s this small item…. a bit of housekeeping, as it were….

We are GO for Boris Johnson. I repeat; we are GO for Boris Johnson.

Screen Pages are being very cool about providing the development, but I thought there might be a few interested parties that would want to chip in on the initial design.

The brief is as follows:

– Submit (as a GIF or JPEG) a design concept/template for Boris Johnson’s site.

– Please include the standard weblog functions/aspects (as would appear on a Movable Type platform) in your design, as well as links/navigation for the following static pages – Home, About Boris, Constituency, News, Press Releases, Speeches, Photo Gallery, Conservative MPs Online.

– If you need permission-granted source images of Boris, you have but to ask (but feel free to submit a concept with any available images).

– You have 48 hours from…. NOW!

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Date
20040823
Educational
Time
12:32
What happens if I…

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Date
20040823
An American Election
Time
16:12
Factcheck.org – because sometimes even one dungbeetle can make a difference.

Oh, and this column has some news on hedgefundmistress.com, and an interesting little story about Google and bushhouseofcards.com

Also worth seeing is this comparative study of the two main campaign sites. One focuses mainly on John Kerry, and the other… focuses mainly on John Kerry. A dirty game is the only game they have left. (Latter link via Brian Arner, who also has some thoughts on “freedom spreading throughout the world like a sunrise”. Bush will be claiming to have invented the helicopter next. And the turlet.)

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Date
20040824
The War on Terror
Time
09:45
The Sun – Airport security scandal exposed: An undercover Sun reporter has exposed chilling security blunders — by smuggling a fake bomb on to a jet carrying more than 220 British holidaymakers…. “Had I been one of Osama Bin Laden’s terrorists, I could have wiped out more than 220 British passengers on the Thomas Cook flight to Majorca — and thousands more on the ground below.”

And – had he been John Carter, warrior of Barsoom – he could have wiped out millions of rebel Tharks and turned Mars into a cold and sterile wasteland.

(Oh my God! Mars *is* a cold and sterile wasteland. That must mean that John Carter is *real*!!! OMG! OMG! OMG! Tell your friends! Close the airports! The Tharks are coming!)

The editorial asks the tough questions (i.e. Why aren’t we plugging every hole, watching every citizen, and electronically tagging every child? Why aren’t citizens fulfilling their responsibility to believe every word that comes out of Tony Blair’s mouth?): Within days, our reporter found himself alone and able to do what he liked in the hold of a holiday jet. He smuggled materials into the airport hidden behind the toecaps of his boots. They could have been the ingredients for a bomb. Yet Birmingham Airport was described in a police terrorism probe as being a potential al-Qaeda target. Surely anyone applying for a job with access to planes should face exhaustive screening? Security checks on passengers are not much use if it is easy for terrorists to infiltrate planes through the back door.

Presumably, this didn’t happen in Heathrow because security there detected this ‘terrorist’ (or should that be ‘journalist’?) and gave him his marching orders. But we have no time to quibble over details, because we have this urgent editorial coming in from Page 3…

Today, Krystle (21, from Manchester) is disgusted at the lax security. She says: “With the massive terror threat hanging over this country, it is incredible that this could happen.”

Yes, incredible. In that it is so implausible that it defies belief. (If that is her thought, she should hang on to it…. she’s almost there.)

Keywords: “Terror.. airport.. threat… real…” Why?

UPDATE – Yet another blood-chilling expose for you to ponder on.

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Date
20040824
The Bush Administration
Time
10:00
Washington Post – Goss Backed ’95 Bill To Slash Intelligence: President Bush’s nominee to be the director of central intelligence, Rep. Porter J. Goss, sponsored legislation that would have cut intelligence personnel by 20 percent in the late 1990s.

Slate – Dick Nixed It – Is this why Bush’s intelligence-czar plan is so half-hearted?: President Bush has only tepidly endorsed the 9/11 commission’s proposal for a new centralized director of national intelligence, and now we have an explanation for his half-heartedness. It seems that back in 1992, when he was secretary of defense, Dick Cheney virulently opposed an uncannily similar notion…. The letter – unearthed by Open Source Solution and reprinted this week on Steven Aftergood’s invaluable Secrecy News Web site – makes for particularly poignant reading. If Cheney hadn’t successfully blocked the measure (his letter moved Aspin to drop it), one of the 9/11 commission’s most urgently advanced proposals might have been in place for over a decade before the terrorist attacks.

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Date
20040824
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
10:44
Let’s begin with a few reminders of what this story is really about…

The Gray Zone

The Roots of Torture

Locked in Abu Ghraib

Then move on to today’s openers…

Independent – Soldier will admit role in Abu Ghraib abuse: “I will be pleading guilty to certain charges because I have concluded that what I did was a violation of law,” said (Staff Sergeant Ivan ‘Chip’ Frederick). “I am hopeful that all those within the army who contributed to or participated in the chaos that was Abu Ghraib will also come forward and accept responsibility.”

*clap*clap*clap*clap*

Also worth noting is this Reuters story, which says that; In his statement, (Frederick) said he had no bad feelings toward Army Spec. Joseph Darby, who informed the military chain of command about the abuse, saying Darby did the right thing.

Why does this matter? Well, there are some people for whom the sky refuses to be blue. The type of people who would attack John Kerry for objecting to what was wrong about the conflict in Vietnam.

Reuters – Family of Iraq Abuse Whistleblower Threatened: Relatives of the U.S. soldier who sounded the alarm about abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison said on Monday the family was living in protective custody because of death threats against them. In testimony this month at a hearing for one of the soldiers accused of abusing prisoners, Darby said he struggled with the decision to turn over the photos because he was friendly with one of the accused. What he saw on the CDs containing the photos, he said, “violated everything I personally believed in and everything I had been taught about the rules of war.”

Also happening is this…

Scotsman – Judge threatens to drop Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse case : Colonel James Pohl issued a 10 September target for the government to complete three reports so that they can be used as evidence in army hearings of soldiers charged with abuse at the prison. Col Pohl expressed particular displeasure after being told that only one army criminal investigator had been assigned to review thousands of pages of records on a secret computer server at Abu Ghraib.

A seemingly deliberate go-slow? On something as important as this? Gosh, I wonder what that’s all about…

OK, enough appetisers. The main meal is on its way. Try not to fill up on rolls before it gets here…

MSNBC/Newsweek – A Battle Over Blame: In mid-August, the commission that Schlesinger chairs—handpicked by Rumsfeld from members of his own Defense Policy Board—is expected to issue its final report on abuses by U.S. interrogators stemming from the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. Newsweek has learned the Schlesinger panel is leaning toward the view that failures of command and control at the Pentagon helped create the climate in which the abuses occurred.

But don’t hold your breath for anything special.

DailyKos – General Fay’s Report On Abu Ghraib Due Any Day Now: The investigation is not being broadened because the investigators ultimately report to people who would themselves be implicated by the investigation. If there ever was a case that cried out for an independent counsel, this is it. Unfortunately, however, it looks like the White House and Defense Department have once again put itself above the law.

Washington Post – Iraqi Teens Abused at Abu Ghraib, Report Finds – Officials Say Inquiry Also Confirms Prisoners Were Hidden From Aid Groups: Speaking on the condition of anonymity because the report has not been released, other officials at the Pentagon said the investigation also acknowledges that military intelligence soldiers kept multiple detainees off the record books and hid them from international humanitarian organizations. The report also mentions substantiated claims that at least one male detainee was sodomized by one of his captors at Abu Ghraib, sources said. “The report will show that these actions were bad, illegal, unauthorized, and some of it was sadistic,” said one Defense Department official. “But it will show that they were the actions of a few, actions that went unnoticed because of leadership failures.”

Yep, there’s your Keep Out Of Jail Free card right there. Leadership failures. Groupthink. All a bit unfortunate, but no actual leaders to blame.

Torygraph – Rumsfeld escapes blame in ‘whitewash’ Abu Ghraib report: “This is a whitewash – a carefully orchestrated one,” said a lawyer who has liaised with military officials involved in the case. “People in the Pentagon have been coming to me in a fury because of the way this has been handled. By naming military intelligence officials as well as the seven military police who have been charged, it will look like action has been taken. But basically it’s still the same storyline of just a few bad apples, way down the food chain.”

This kind of (kind of?) reminds me of the findings of the Butler Report. Blair desperately needed to make a case for invading Iraq with or without the UN, and – via the magic of serendipity – deep-rooted failures in the system somehow magically deliver a flawed (if not fraudulent) document that suited his needs.

Bush and Rumsfeld desperately needed a win in Iraq. One might even be charitable enough to imagine that they actually believed there were WMDs yet to be found. Better intelligence was needed. A decision was made to ‘get tough’. At one stage, they had a memo in circulation that pondered the use of torture, but torture was never authorised. It just so happened that flaws in the system resulted in torture happening by accident.

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Date
20040824
Humanity
Time
10:52
Independent – Human rights: the case for the defence: The Conservative Party launched a campaign yesterday to ‘curb the rights culture’. But can all their charges be taken at face value?

I’m less worried by the house-of-cardiness than I am by the idea that the Tories have been pushed so far to the right that they’ve begun an attack on, erm, rights…

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Date
20040824
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:56
Taking a closer look at the War Medals of George W. Bush. Hooray for this. It reminded me of an idea for a site that was almost lost in the ether. Idea recalled. Email sent. Iron in fire.

OK, what else is there? A Godchecker, a rather (ahem) spectacular arrest in China (with a surpise ending, no less) and some Plame rumours.

There’s also this, which reminds me of this.

Pretty light on the Kerry-bashing content this morning, isn’t it? Apart from maybe yet another ‘Your Guy is As Bad As Our Guy’ moment. Perhaps I can compensate by throwing this in…

Slate – Holiday in Cambodia – The “Christmas Eve” attack on Kerry is cheap and almost certainly wrong.

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Date
20040824
Distractions
Time
11:08
Track how far your cursor travels. As if it matters.

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Date
20040824
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:11
Dare you submit a design for Boris Johnson’s weblog? You now have about 24 hours left to conceive, cobble and submit.

(Note – Please do not expect results to be posted publicly. Oh, and I have a function tonight. This may result in a hangover tomorrow. Bloggage may be light.)

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Date
20040824
Inneresting
Time
13:48
Lunchtime!

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Date
20040824
Photoshopping
Time
15:38
Just had a crack at the Boris job myself. It’s a tad impractical, but it has charm…

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Date
20040824
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
15:54
Meet Kevin Davis, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston & Surbiton.

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Date
20040824
Flash Games
Time
16:22
Ready… aim… fire!

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Date
20040824
Consume!
Time
16:24
Who could possibly say no to a DVD rewinder?

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Date
20040824
Inneresting
Time
16:42
The Happy Poster Project is still doing its job.

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Date
20040825
The War on Terror
Time
09:31
(we assume)

Sent in at 5:30am by a reader who wishes to remain a nonny mouse due to a rather backwards corporate policy regarding Doing Things That Are Not Work…

Mad shit’s been going down overnight. Don’t know if you’ve been up, or heard about this already, but I thought you might like some tasty links.

Right. So reports come in that one Russian airliner has crashed – ‘exploded in mid air’ – and another one is missing. Reports since have confirmed that the second has crashed as well.

The first was *possibly* shot down as it was *possibly* going to *possibly* crash into the *possibly* scarily-named ‘Instrument Design Bureau’ in the town of Tula which *possibly* manufactures *possible* nuclear weapons… though you’d have to be a conspiracy nut to suggest such a thing.

But I digress…

First up, initial reports from the Associated Press jackhammered an Iranian link into our skulls – an example of which is still up on the web here: Both planes were Tupolev Tu-154 jets, the standard medium-range airliner on domestic flights in Russia, other former Soviet states, *Iran* and parts of eastern Europe, according to the Web site Airliners.net.

Later reports removed the reference to Iran – though why it was there in the first place, I don’t know. Turns out that a simple google search for ‘Tupolev Tu-154 + Iran’ throws up Airliners.net as the third link, and the AP monkey has copied and pasted the text. Get where I’m going with this? Like, someone’s received information of a possible terrorist attack over the wires and tried searching for the airplane model involved alongside terms like ‘Iraq’, ‘Al Qaeda’, ‘IRAN’ etc, found a favourable mention and included it.

So why was it taken out? Look a little further through google’s results and you’ll find references to Iran Air Tours, the carrier which owns some Russian-built planes. Then take that, and do a google search on ‘Iran Air Tours + Tupolev Tu-154′. You’ll see that Iran Air Tours in fact owns a newer model called the Tu-154M’ – note the extra ‘m’ on the end – which were manufactured in 1992 and are 20 years newer than the planes which blew up over Russia.

To summarise: two Russian air lines owns some planes which were blown up by terrorists. An Iranian air line owns some completely different planes. Obviously there’s a connection there.

Now shovel that crap down the wires so it gets repeated over and over, read time and time again and broadcast all over the world.

Still, to someone who isn’t an aviation expert it’s a simple mistake to make, and easily ignored when you’re desperate to get a namecheck for Iran into a major story about terrorism.

Still, there’s more, and this is probably bigger:

A Russian virus expert speaking at a Russian information agency conference in Russia reckons ‘e-jihad’ terrorists will try to disable the internet within the next 24 hours (here’s one link and here’s another). Normally I’d laugh at this, but due to this plane crash business, who knows?

Rumour-mongering! I love it!

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Date
20040825
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:43
Blogger is 5 years old, plus Adsense has been opened up for hosted bloggers. They ask you very nicely not to pee in their pool, but at the same time allow you to drink from their toilet. Or something. I’ll let John explain the rest.

Remeber it was a Kerry-light chart yesterday? Check this lot out! *Ding*… round three: 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 (BugMeNot is back up if you run into any registration walls along the way).

Now, the inneresting stuff…

Tricks of the Trade – I can confirm the proof-reading trick. It can also extend into the display of copy. I once knew a nightclub promoter who insisted on a certain percentage of posters being displayed upside-down at random intervals. It forced people to decode them (i.e read them).

Please excuse the Doc Brown impersonation… Sixty-one-point-eight megabytes!!!) Nevertheless, if you’ve got Quicktime and a pipe that can deal with the download, you’ll want to check this one out. (You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!” And so on.)

Man finds digital camera in spooky woods, displays pictures online. Fog descends. Ghost of owner fails to take bloody revenge.

George Takei travels back to the U.S. internment camp where he and his family were imprisoned during World War II. Even on this profound and deeply personal pilgrimage, he *still* has to dodge geeks.

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Date
20040825
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:44
Guardian – Guantanamo Britons to be visited by lawyers. For the first time in two years. Man, I can’t wait to wake up from this nightmare, so can get back to the simple things in life. Like having pride in my country and a modicum of trust in my leaders.

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Date
20040825
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
09:52
Today, Natasha (21, from Torquay) gets her funbags out in a completely tasteful and artistic way as she ‘slams’ soccer star Wayne Rooney over his “seedy vice girl romps which have pushed fiance Coleen to the brink of a breakdown” She says: I feel so sorry for her. She’s been a tower of strength and doesn’t deserve to suffer like this. I just hope she will overcome this terrible strain.

No doubt the thoughts of the Sun family are also with Stephen Quinn. Perhaps they’ve limited their coverage of Mr Blunkett to this unrelated and fleeting mention today as a mark of respect. Or perhaps they had to make room for this guide to brothels in Newcastle and Manchester.

UPDATE – From The Scum’s recent Hillsborough ‘apology’ : If they want to hate The Sun, then that is their right. We are hardly in a position to blame them. What we find impossible to take, though, is the way some of Liverpool is turning its anger on one of the greatest footballing talents the city has ever seen. Wayne Rooney is one of Liverpool’s finest sons. On Merseyside, his name should be the toast of every pub, street and school. Instead, he is being vilified by some Liverpool and Everton fans…. One view on a Liverpool website is that by telling his life story in The Sun, Wayne has “signed his soul away to the devil.” Another is that he has “accepted 30 pieces of silver.” For goodness sake, give the lad a chance.

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Date
20040825
Flash Thingies
Time
09:57
Wow, that’s one busy tree.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040825
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
09:58
Thank you all for your lovely designs for Boris. I’ll be showing them off today. And taking all of the credit.

(You still have an hour or so if you want to send something in yourself.)

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Date
20040825
Campaigns
Time
10:01
I urge you all to get behind Poons on his Rizla campaign. You can contact Rizla via this form or rizla AT rizla DOT co DOT uk

(Factoid: Where I come from, Orchy bottles are of enormous use to lorry drivers.)

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Date
20040825
Personal Massages
Time
10:31
Oh, hooray for UKNM, hooray for last night and ‘hello’ to everyone I met.

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Date
20040825
Newsflash
Time
12:07
Latest on the Russian jet crashes from AP : Witnesses said they heard what sounded like three explosions before the first plane crashed and suspicions of terrorist involvement were compounded when officials said the Sibir airlines Tu-154 had issued a signal indicating the plane was being seized.

BBC: An FSB spokesman said searches had revealed no signs of terrorism but sabotage had not been ruled out.

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Date
20040825
Foreign Affairs
Time
12:34
Well, it’s not like it runs in the family or anything…

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Date
20040825
An American Election
Time
13:38
Filthiest. Election. Ever.

1. A top lawyer for the Bush/Cheney re(?)election campaign has also been advising the Swift Boat Smear Team.

2. Swiftian caught dead-to-rights in outright lie.

Is it too early to stick a fork in this?

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Date
20040825
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
13:48
From the filthy liberals at the BBC:

Extracts from the Schlesinger report.

The full report (5.7Mb PDF).

A report on the report.

A comment on the report, including a mention of those who would cast Rumsfeld as a hero in this affair.

I’ll leave you alone with your stunned silence.

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Date
20040825
Pluggage
Time
14:00
There’s an excellent, fresh crop of posts over at The UK Today. Go see. (Oh, and don’t forget to vote.)

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Date
20040825
Normal People
Time
15:58
Meet Steve Webber. He’s a walking, talking (and totally convincing) Tony Blair lookalike. ‘Tony’ appears to be marginally more convincing, but somewhat delusional. Neither of them would get past my front door, never mind anywhere near my chequebook.

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Date
20040825
George W. Bush
Time
17:31
The Dress-Up pResident was photographed wearing a ribbon he did not earn.

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Date
20040826
Established Media
Time
08:55
Spin Buster – Ambush!: Why was the press complicit in keeping afloat a story so easily debunked? There have been dozens of press failures during this presidential campaign. But this one, even given the Times’ and the Post’s belated efforts to get to the bottom of things, has to rank as a low point. In the end, the whole ball of wax certainly did nothing to help the mainstream press’ credibility with what is an increasingly dubious audience.

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Date
20040826
Photoshopping
Time
08:58
They’re on a mission from God.

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Date
20040826
NSFW
Time
09:01
Totally and completely not safe for work (in fact, I’d even avoid it over lunch if I were you), but this really is a most excellent cautionary tale.

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Date
20040826
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Educational!
Time
09:05
Current Events teacher punished for using Abu Ghraib images in class : ”I expected the principal to protect me as a teacher from individual parents who are upset over one thing or another,” he said. ”The class was called Current Events, and it [the prison abuse scandal] was the number one current event at the time. The photos were being displayed everywhere, on television news programs, in newspapers. I was doing my duty as a teacher. At least that’s what I thought.”

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Date
20040826
In The News
Time
09:18
Bob Piper has made an interesting comment on Mark Thatcher’s arrest. Daniel Brett has produced a flow chart showing all the people and organisations linked to the alleged March 2004 coup plot. The Sun is more worried about how Maggie is taking it. Today, their Page 3 girl (Michelle, 21, from Oldham) says: “It’s a big blow for Maggie coming so soon after the death of her husband, Denis. The allegations against her son are very serious. I only hope this doesn’t cause Maggie’s health to take a turn for the worse.”

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Date
20040826
Iraq
Time
09:31
Independent – Sistani mobilises his ‘believers’ to march on Najaf in peace bid: The most venerated Shia cleric in Iraq made a sudden intervention in the Najaf crisis yesterday by returning to the country and calling on his supporters to march to the embattled holy city.

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Date
20040826
Tony Blair
Time
09:51
Faith in democracy… rising.

Hope… returrning.

impeachBlair.org: A group of MPs will shortly publish a report which calls on Parliament to impeach the Prime Minister for misleading the people and Parliament over the Iraq war. There will be a press conference at 2pm Thursday 26 August in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, The House of Commons.

Updates will follow, of that you can be sure. At this stage, the best I can suggest is that constituents be ready to approach their MP and see where they stand on this issue.

Guardian – MPs plan to impeach Blair over Iraq war record: MPs are planning to impeach Tony Blair for “high crimes and misdemeanours” in taking Britain to war against Iraq, reviving an ancient practice last used against Lord Palmerston more than 150 years ago…. A number of Labour backbenchers are considering whether to back the motion, though it could mean expulsion from the party.

BBC – Blair impeachment campaign starts: In the UK, the power was last used in 1806 and Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price wants to revive it. He is unveiling a report from academics but many experts believe it has no realistic chance of success.

Reuters – British Lawmakers Plan to Impeach Blair: Although it has almost no chance of success and is likely to be seen as little more than a publicity stunt, the plan will throw the spotlight back on the reasons Blair gave the country for going to war, the newspapers said… In 1967 a parliamentary committee recommended the right to impeach should be abandoned as “the circumstances in which impeachment has taken place are now so remote from the present that the procedure may be considered obsolete.” However, the right was never repealed.

Yes, but today, the requirement for the right to impeach seems far from remote. Let’s take a quick break to consider these thoughts from Robin Cook (link via The UK Today)….

Scotsman – Cook berates ‘gutless’ Cabinet for backing war: Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Cook said that the majority opinion in the Cabinet was against the war in Iraq but ministers failed to speak up for their beliefs. He also claimed that Britain would never have been involved in the war had the Prime Minister held a closed vote of his ministers to find out their views.

And now, let’s get back to the meat in the pudding – the report that’s due for release this afternoon.

Torygraph – Isn’t it time to impeach Blair over Iraq?: They have culled each top-spun, souped-up, over-egged quotation, and set it side by side with what the Prime Minister was actually being told about those WMD. You are left at the end feeling angry and bewildered that Blair should take us all for such mugs. It is not so much that he lied (though many of his statements were at odds with reality): it is rather that he used all his lawyerly arts, and all the trust that is naturally reposed in his office, to communicate to the public a vast untruth.

Hmmm. Sounds like a long-overdue document. And it brings to mind the ever-useful Claims vs. Facts Database.

Scotsman – PM has a case to answer: This report not only details the Prime Minister’s misdemeanours over Iraq but also points to a parliamentary mechanism that could finally hold him to account over the abuse of his office in launching the war.

While we wait for the report, here’s some familiar ground to tread over. Get your blood up. Dare to dream that jelly can be nailed to a wall.

(Incidentally, that quote comes from Boris Johnson – who is also backing this report and the motion to impeach. It’s a funny old world, isn’t it?)

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Date
20040826
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:31
Meet Jody Dunn, Lib-dem candidate for the (maybe) Hartlepool by-election.

This is a new ship launched in rough waters, so will result in a fair amount of nail-biting from me.

1. Will blogs be misinterpreted as a campaign tool only?

2. Labour enjoy a healthy margin. If the Lib-ems fail to tackle it, will the blog be grouped with this failure (or maybe even blamed for it)?

3. Tom’s record as a blogger and his role in this by-election further complicates matters.

4. I’m not pointing any fingers, but the Birmingham fight got downright personal and dirty at some stages. God forbid that shoutiness should overwhelm either or both blogs. (See 2)

UPDATE – Here’s what The Guardian had to say about it.

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Date
20040826
Normal People
Time
11:20
‘Fiona’ sure likes those wedding dresses. (Note – I found this when making this lovely picture of Tony Blair in Peach.)

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Date
20040826
A Blog is Born
Time
12:32
Decide for yourselves.

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Date
20040826
The Interweb
Time
12:34
Everybody still here? Good. Carry on.

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Date
20040826
Flash Thingies
Time
12:39
OK, everybody – stop what you’re doing. It’s time for a quick lunchtime quiz.

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Date
20040826
Distractions
Time
13:24
1. Print this.

2. Leave the sign blank.

3. Put it up on a wall.

4. Wait.

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Date
20040826
The Interweb
Time
13:30
What do we want? Wider pipes! When do we want them? Last Tuesday!

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Date
20040826
Copyright
Time
13:35
This Song Belongs to You and Me: EFF has just announced that the JibJab suit has been settled. The resolution was a complete victory for JibJab, which will be entitled to continue distributing the “This Land” animation without further interference from Ludlow.

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Date
20040826
Activism
Time
14:03
It’s official; Bush protestors will no be allowed to walk on the grass. (Cheers to ScaryDuck for the heads-up.)

I think from this point on, we can pretty much take violence as a given. Well done to the Republicans for getting just what they wanted.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040826
Tony Blair
Time
15:12
ImpeachBlair.org is now live. The report is available in PDF format.

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Date
20040826
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
16:18
BBC – US admits ‘bounty hunter’ contact: The US Department of Defense has admitted having contact with a former US soldier, Jonathan Idema, charged in Afghanistan with torturing civilians.

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Date
20040826
In The News
Time
17:21
Kathryn Cramer: Somewhat to my surprise, I find the answer to the timing of the Mark Thatcher arrest: he was getting ready to move to the US where presumably his attempts to liberate the oil of Equatorial Guinea from oppression would be more appreciated.

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Date
20040827
Bunch of Stuff
Time
10:13
I’m building a modest but important page at the moment. Research is required. Also, there’s Work to be done. A long weekend looms and clients have to be reached and nailed on certain bits and bobs before they take off early to brave the motorways.

In the meantime, please enjoy this excellent post on 527s and the difference between a ‘flip flop’ and a ‘change of heart’.

Also, you may want to consider this curious development brought to our attention by Wibbler…

Guardian – Booth’s chambers will help impeach Blair over Iraq war: Cherie Booth’s chambers, Matrix, are to draw up the document to impeach her husband, Tony Blair, for “high crimes and misdemeanours” in the run up to the war against Iraq, it was disclosed yesterday… Yesterday Elfyn Llwyd, leader of Plaid Cymru, a lawyer and one of the MPs bringing the impeachment, said: “Matrix will not be doing this work on a pro bono basis, they will receive a full fee. Cherie Booth will of course will be ruled out as it would be a conflict of interest.”

Check out ImpeachBlair.org is you haven’t already, and please be patient with the PDF download, as demand is heavy and error messages are common. (BTW, this document could just as easily have been distributed as an RTF with a much lower file size… and there really should be a HTML version as well. I’ve scanned it already, but a full read won’t take place until this weekend.)

Contact your local MP. Find out where they stand. If you have a blog, publish their response and get them on record. (See Underblog, who has already made a start.) When this is all over (Blair’s premiership, I mean, not this small but exciting chapter of it) there’ll be lots of Labour MPs who will claim that they weren’t really behind the war blah-blah-blah. I for one would like to be able to identify the ones who actually took a stand when they had the chance.

Oh, Jody Dunn enjoyed a warm welcome yesterday, with 22 comments in all, but as Tom H notes: “It seems that Labour have already drafted in a few people to moan about any old thing – even if it has nothing to do with the issues in Hartlepool!”

If you’re not a big fan of digital brownshirts, perhaps you’d care to wander over that way today and make nice or offer the odd voice of reason.

More? You want more? Oh, go on then…

Enjoy a lesbian and gay summer camp in the Rockies, where you can stay in comfortable condos and “hold hands with whomever you want”. You’ll especially enjoy the section on rock-climbing. It has a photo that (I assume) shows the appropriate level of gratitude you should display when your partner catches you on the backup rope.

Man, that’s a lot of effort to find a girl you almost met. But true love works that way sometimes, I suppose.

Speaking of true love (and the trouble it can get you into)…

The Western Mail – Critical promise of British troops given in Sept 2002: These commitments given by the Prime Minister to the US President were not revealed to his Cabinet, to Parliament or to the public. In fact, the Prime Minister repeatedly said that no decisions had yet been taken.

PS – The best reports coming out of Najaf are coming via Back to Iraq. Some heady stuff.

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Date
20040827
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
13:12
Someone has decided that Tom Watson needs a slap, launched Comical Tommy and been rewarded with coverage.

My thoughts on Team Comical Tommy? Well, one thing that strikes me is that they either don’t get the Teens page or they’re determined to use it against Tom in the hope that others won’t either:

“Tom is very sensitive about people suggesting that his “laff riot” web page Teens! should be taken seriously.”

(says the man swinging his handbag)

“Despite the website appearing to make it look like he is an out of touch, middle-aged loser, he would like it to be made clear that he is being ironic and in reality is very much down with the kids. Only for real. Not a joke.”

(I’ll explain it again, just in case there are newbies around: The Teens page was not meant to appeal to teens. It was not meant to be funny to teens. It was meant to be funny to people who communicate online on a regular basis.)

Given the issue/s that prompted disquiet in Tom’s comments, I think it’s pretty clear what quarter this site originates from. Some may even argue that Tom asked for it, after the Lib-Dem bashing that has taken place on his blog and during the recent by-election (you can track some of the disquiet relating to the latter via this post).

Wait… back up…

Also possible is that:

– This is someone from another party or interest group, trying stir things up

– This is someone with no political affiliation, just pure outrage

– This is someone just wanting to start a fight for the sheer hell of it

– This is someone deliberately trying to disrupt the development of political weblogs

(Yeah, I know that last one is pretty unlikely. I just wanted to cover as many bases as possible because I love being right.)

Point. Back. On. Here we go…

What we’re looking at here is a potential catfight that will almost certainly spread to Jody Dunn’s new weblog and others. And everybody who hasn’t taken a side will most likely abandon ship. But not before the newspapers catch on and decide to aid their circulation by cheering or sneering from the sidelines.

This is not healthy behaviour. This is not helpful behaviour. And what matters most right now isn’t who’s behind it or who started it… but who’s going to finish it.

Peace be with you.

(Yes, I know I don’t have a comments feature. Please feel free to empty your chambers in alt.irony, on your own blog or via email.)

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Date
20040827
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
14:57
OK, here you go… the best of the Page 3 editorials all in one place. Link away and share it with an audience you love. Please. (With any luck, I’ll be in the Top Ten for ‘page 3’ this time next week.)

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Date
20040827
Updates
Time
15:05
I’ve added a ‘Register To Vote’ button from DeclareYourself.com. You may also wish to have a peek at this page from GWB’s campaign site. (Tch! Somebody forgot to add the words “Vote Often!”)

Hey, while we’re on the subject, here’s an image I cooked up last night that shows the miracle of punctuation.

Oh, and if you can’t make it to NYC next week, perhaps you’d care to attend a party in your local area.

UPDATE – Also of interest…

What if the whole world could vote in the U.S. presidential election?

BBC – Bush admits Iraq ‘miscalculation’: US President George W Bush has acknowledged for the first time that he made a “miscalculation” of what conditions would be in post-war Iraq. Mr Bush told The New York Times that the error was by by-product of a “swift victory” in the initial conflict.

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Date
20040827
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
16:42
The new proxy-blog for Steve Pound has been added to the nav-bar, and the Blog Your MP page. Go and say ‘hello’ by all means.

The following candidates have also been added to the nav-bar, but I can see this becoming very crowded very soon. I may have to launch a directory instead:

Conservative Candidate Iain Dale

Conservative Candidate Kevin Davis

Lib-Dem Candidate Jody Dunn

Speaking of directories, I’ve also added TheyWorkForYou.com more or less as a ‘the rest’ link and a couple of Official Plugs for the new directory Near.co.uk.

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Date
20040827
119 (please note correct formatting of date)
Time
17:38
Toy In Candy Bag Appears To Depict 9/11 Attack (Link via Catch.)

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Date
20040827
Flash Games
Time
17:50
Battleship, anyone?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
Tony Blair
Time
09:34
BBC – Blair returns to hectic schedule: Tony Blair will start his first day back at his desk after his summer break promoting Labour’s efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour. In his first official engagement he will try to seize the initiative on the government’s domestic agenda. The prime minister’s busy in-tray includes a set of potentially highly-charged political issues. They include new Northern Ireland peace talks, a possible ban on fox hunting, Labour’s conference and a by-election.

OK, so there is an anniversary to be exploited (so long as nobody uses the word ‘terror’), but yobs and foxes again? I thought these guys were supposed to me magicians of spin.

Oh, wait – there is spark of life there after all…

Independent – Howard fury over White House ban: Mr Howard hit back after it emerged that his calls for Mr Blair to stand down over the Iraq war have enraged the US President. The simmering feud was laid bare yesterday as it emerged that Karl Rove, Mr Bush’s most powerful official, told the Tory leader that he “could forget about meeting the President”…. Some Tories suspect a Downing Street dirty tricks operation to embarrass Mr Howard on the eve of the Republican Convention in New York. “You have to wonder how this got out when it did,” said one.

You have to wonder? You have to wonder? FFS, it broke on page 2 of Saturday’s Sun in yet another ‘exclusive’ from Trevor Kavanagh. The man behind the leak behind the leak. And you have to wonder?

From ‘subtle’ spin to pure muscle… What the bloody hell does Tony Blair think he’s doing putting this kind of pressure on the BBC?

Independent – Dyke unleashes ‘avenging fury’ on Blair Hutton, Campbell and the BBC governors: But it is Mr Dyke’s account of his relationship with Mr Blair that will attract most attention. A former Labour donor who even financially supported Mr Blair’s leadership bid, Mr Dyke reveals the Prime Minister sought to change BBC coverage on Iraq even before Gilligan’s fateful broadcast. He reveals that the Prime Minister sent personal letters to both himself and Gavyn Davies, the former BBC chairman, complaining about the corporation’s coverage. “It seems to me that there has been a real breakdown of the separation of news and comment,” Mr Blair wrote.

Jaw. Floor. Especially when you consider which news provider has the biggest problem with the separation of news and comment.

More…

Dyke: Blair ‘Unleashed Dogs on BBC’ over Iraq

No 10’s ‘vindictive pressure’

Dyke: How Blair betrayed me – and the BBC

Downing Street remains silent after Dyke accuses ‘bully’ Blair of interfering with BBC

That silence you hear is Mr Blair’s wish for privacy (hey, it worked for Blunkett last week) but I think we can look forward to some heady indignation and “He’s just plugging his book!” noises sometime this afternoon.

Related…

I read the report from ImpeachBlair.org over the weekend. Today, I’m going to email the organisers and ask why it’s not available in HTML format.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
George W. Bush
Time
09:36
Oooh, look – Bush wearing a ribbon he didn’t earn finally made the news. In one foreign newspaper…

Torygraph – Kerry campaign attacks President over ‘war honour he did not earn’

But – oh dear – linking it directly to the Kerry campaign in the headline? MoveOn.com?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
John Howard: 2nd to Fall?
Time
09:45
ABC – PM calls Oct 9 poll: “This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust,” Mr Howard told a press conference. “Who do you trust to keep the economy strong and protect family living standards? Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? Who do you trust to lead the fight on Australia’s behalf against international terrorism?”

Absent or not, I may have to take part in this. Could all Australian readers please check in by email? Cheers.

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Date
20040831
A Blog is Born
Time
09:49
Nosemonkey launches Europhobia – “the musings of a one-time Eurosceptic turned pro-European”. You’ll like Nosemonkey. He owns one of those sense of humour thingies. Keeps it in a box. Even feeds it from time to time.

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Date
20040831
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:54
Memory Hole – Justice Department Censors Supreme Court Quote: Anybody who has read many official documents – including those making headlines in the last year or more – has seen plenty of redactions (those portions that are blacked out or otherwise made unreadable). This, we’re told, is for legitimate reasons, such as “national security” or “protecting intelligence sources and methods.” But now we have absolute, incontrovertible proof that the government also censors completely innocuous material simply because they don’t like it.

Plus…

Kerry’s daughters booed at MTV awards – the picture of the Bush twins on the giant screen behind them had nothing to do with it.

Who’s blogging at the RNC?

We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore: How did the Party of Lincoln and Liberty transmogrify into the party of Newt Gingrich’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk?

Blogger sacked for blogging… by ‘Friend’ster. Bloggers take action.

Lots more on the RNC. This will be grouped in a dedicated post. Later.

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Date
20040831
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
10:02
Page 3 – Model Propaganda reached over 8,000 people this weekend, thanks in no small part to this feature at BoingBoing submitted by Rod.

You can backtrack full linkage via Technorati if you’ve got the knowin’, but the two biggest tickles for me this morning include this cracking of the language barrier and this (ahem) impassioned response.

Incidentally, I was (finally) motivated to put the collection together after watching Outfoxed. There’s an NTSC VHS sitting on my shelf if anybody wishes to borrow it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
George W. Bush
Time
10:15
I saw a clip of this hard-hitting Q&A sesssion last night. The transcript doesn’t do it justice, so the following (actual) quote has been edited to give you a better idea of the timing…

AUDIENCE MEMBER: God bless you, Mr. Presi…

THE PRESIDENT: He has, thank you.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: …dent.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
The War on Terror
Time
10:20
How Long Can the Country Stay Scared?: The DHS’s threat warnings have been vague, indeterminate, and unspecific. The threat index goes from yellow to orange and back again, although no one is entirely sure what either level means. We’ve been warned that the terrorists might use helicopters, scuba gear, even cheap prescription drugs from Canada. New York and Washington, D.C., were put on high alert one day, and the next day told that the alert was based on information years old. The careful wording of these alerts allows them not to require any sound, confirmed, accurate intelligence information, while at the same time guaranteeing hysterical media coverage. This headline-grabbing stuff might make for good movie plots, but it doesn’t make us safer.

And now, a totally unrelated link that should make you feel even saferer.

And, finally, Bush admits war on terror is unwinnable. Especially the way he plays it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
Flash Games
Time
10:24
Rooftop is secure. Oxygen supply looks good. Target in view… and we are GO for launch!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
Activism
Time
10:26
New York Times – Vast Anti-Bush Rally Greets Republicans in New York: A roaring two-mile river of demonstrators surged through the canyons of Manhattan yesterday in the city’s largest political protest in decades, a raucous but peaceful spectacle that pilloried George W. Bush and demanded regime change in Washington.

But, of course, if you rely on Murdoch for news, all you’ll see is the inside of Madison Square Garden. Until there’s violence. Or at least some goofball getting shouty. So I’m sure you can guess what this crackdown nonsense is all about…

CNN – 264 arrested in NYC bicycle protest

A blog entry detailing these arrests, from a guy who took pictures of the cops arresting protestors… and got arrested himself.

Activist bike creator Joshua Kinberg arrested

Bikes Against Bush thwarted

Update on arrest of Joshua Kinberg, Bikes Against Bush

Speaking of goofballs, the Protest Warriors are also on the loose in NYC, which can only help. Here’s a blog entry from of these clever clogs who has trouble understanding some of the harsher reactions. It may have something to do with his assumption that everybody opposed to Bush is a liberal peacenik. More here and a video here. You’ll love watching them defend their attempts to disrupt the march and generally cause trouble with cries for ‘free speech’. I’m not at all surprised that Instapundit find them plugworthy.

*sigh*

Moving right along…

You may also be interested to know that there was at least one geek in attendance.

For more RNC protest coverage, check out Indymedia. While you can…

Secret Service Attempts Subpoena For Indymedia Logs as Part of Harassment Campaign: As was reported in today’s New York Times, the Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation and is demanding records concerning anti-RNC deleagte posts to this website. Specifically, the DOJ is seeking information on lists of 2,200 RNC delegate names posted to our Open Newswire.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
RWCs
Time
10:48
On taking ownership of God… God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

On taking ownership of 119… Mayor kicks off RNC with a flub.

On inadvertently speaking scraps of truth… Bush Calls Iraq a “Catastrophic Success”

And if you need a jolly good lunchtime ponder, juancole.com awaits.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
The War on Stupid
Time
13:10
This week is your last chance to vote for the next leader of the Tory party. Blair and Blunkett are neck and neck.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
Richard Desmond the Pornographer
Time
14:44
Scaryduck has a go at Richard Desmond for having a go at the BBC.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
RWCs
Time
16:55
What a nice lady. What a clever campaign.

I think we can assume that this is part of the whole ‘Support the Troops!’ thing. And that the other band-aid fell off the gaping wound under her nose.

UPDATE – CNN has a report. Yahoo is carrying the picture. See other people comment on this here, here and here.

UPDATE – Angry enought to want details? OK, I’ve got you covered. Try here, here and here.

UPDATE 2 – Well said, that man.

UPDATE 3 – And again. Never misunderestimate a wingnut’s ability to enrage and inspire.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
An American Election
Time
17:50
Micahel Moore: The GOP doesn’t reflect America. Or acknowledge reality.

UPDATE – This just in; CNN has spotted an Hispanic woman at the RNC! (This isn’t likely to stay on the front page for long, so I saved you a screengrab.)

Oh, and here’s a whole bunch of pictures from the NYC protests. Poke around here and elsewhere at NYC Indymedia and you’ll see a whole lot more.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
The (Now Reluctant) War President
Time
18:22
Salon.com – “I’m very ashamed”: The former Texas official who got George Bush into the National Guard apologizes for making sure that young men with important “family names” did not have to fight in Vietnam.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040831
RWCs
Time
19:01
This Salon article pretty much says it all about the Protest Warriors. Please note that their input resulted in the only violent incident of the day: Protest Warriors, a Texas-based, right-wing group whose members have crashed lefty demonstrations carrying mocking signs like “Communism has only killed 100 million people. Let’s Give it Another Chance,” sent a contingent to march into the crowd. “We’re about to have some fun,” said Sergio Kadinsky, a 20-year-old Protest Warrior from City College of New York. At first, to their evident frustration, they were ignored or indulged. “They have the right to be here, but they’re jerks,” shrugged McCormick. Soon enough, though, a group of outraged anarchists saw what was going on, tied their bandanas around their faces, and charged, yelling, “Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!” A brief fistfight ensued, during which several of the Protest Warriors’ signs were broken. That was pretty much the extent of the day’s violence.

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Date
20040831
Updates
Time
20:42
Working on getting Bloggerheads II together (at last). Click here for some test logos. Email me with a preference if you like.

Bloggage may be light tomorrow morning. Be warned.

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Date
20040831
Tony ‘King Blair
Time
21:19
Do you like my new headline? It’s dual purpose.

The Herald – Labour peer attacks Blair’s alliance with ‘lunatic’ US: BARONESS Kennedy, the leading human rights lawyer and Labour peer, last night declared that Tony Blair had sold out Britain and lost his moral authority by aligning himself with the “lunatic” government of the United States.

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Date
20040831
George W. Bush
Time
21:29
Heh. That idea I was pondering on last Tuesday was Champagne Unit Veterans For The Truth. The ‘ideal’ proponents didn’t take it on, but no matter – the idea had already occured elsewhere and there’s already a willing team or two on the case:

Cheerleaders for Truth

Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth

I wonder if they’ll get equal airtime….

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Updates
Time
09:20
You may have missed this quick bit o’ bloggage on Saturday. I’m seriously considering writing a page specifically for lazy journalists who can’t be bothered to look at more than one page of a website before writing it up.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
The General Election
Time
09:23
The election draws near, and here’s the first sign of silly money…

Tories in Turmoil: After another bout of infighting and jockeying for position Tory panic is rising and the knives are out. The big question on everyone’s minds is what will happen next in the Tory House of Turmoil? Now’s your chance to vote on which Tory you would send packing from the house.

As Irritant notes: Tactically this anti-Tory page is not a clever idea as it’s almost begging someone like Tim Ireland or B3ta to knock out a Labour version fairly sharpish.

Indeed it is, only this time the main weapon won’t be domain hijacking but search engine dominance. Here’s the target.

I’m sure a few ideas will be bounced around today, but in the meantime I want to share last night’s dream with you…

I opened the newspaper to see a two-page ad plugging Labour. Strangely, it wasn’t red in theme, but more of a More Than green and blue. For an ad that took up so much space, it had very little to say; the message was; ‘Expect us to last!’

I went outside and the first thing I saw was a billboard with exactly the same message. And another. And another. Labour had started their campaign before announcing the election; and boy, had they started strong. Every inch of available billboard space had been booked and used.

Already there were little protest posters going up on the billboards complaining that Labour hadn’t left any billboards for the other parties. Other billboards had been altered so they said; ‘Expect the least!’

I was looking at one of these when I was invited to lunch by some friends. At first glance the place looking like an automated funeral parlour (food for the wake was in vending machines, a body was lying in state in something that looked like a glass-fronted cigarette machine) but we were led through this to a more restaurant-like arrangement in the back and asked to sit at a large table in the middle of a concrete balcony. Some building work was going on and things were quite noisy, so I declined the offer of lunch. Besides, I was still wearing my pyjamas.

I walked down some dodgy stairs beside the restaurant and saw that the concrete balcony was only being held aloft by some rickety scaffolding. I went for a walk by the river and had many adventures.

Weird, huh?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Inneresting
Time
09:25
Send an Elvis e-card! (Found via Myrtledene.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
09:33
Clive Soley on being incorrectly labelled a Lib-Dem: After 26 years service in the House of Commons and one of the first blogging MP’s and proud owner of a blog entitled “Labour MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherds Bush” they have called ME a Liberal Democrat MP! OH MY GOD! THE SHAME! Can I live with it?

The Jim Cousins Blog has also hit a minor snag or two with coverage in a local paper: Apart from a few minor inaccuracies, like extending my offer of a few months technical support to a year (Which I’ll honour Jim – it get’s better and better.), the now obligatory ‘web logger’ reference, saying I update daily (I wish I had the time – that’s where Jim comes in I hope), the fact I may reveal my true identity and the omission of my explicit statement that computer programming has nothing to do with it and is in no way required to write a blog the journalist did at least do a bit of background on the reason for doing it including a mention for Tim at Bloggerheads and the Alan Milburn proxy blog, just down the road from here at Darlington.

That mention of moi, BTW, repeats the erroneous description of me as an ‘Australian-born programmer’… when in truth I’m lucky if I can set my alarm clock correctly. Ho-hum.

BTW, sometime today or tomorrow we move on from encouraging William Hague and hit a new Tory target in his stead. Same offer; same technique.

UPDATE – Mike of the Alan Milburn blog also feels a tad misrepresented.

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Date
20040802
A Blog is Born
Time
09:44
UK Future has been launched by Brazilian-born horse-trader James Malcolm in an attempt to ‘provoke informal political debate’ and fight voter apathy.

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Date
20040802
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:47
Independent – Officers vetoed inquiries into 23 deaths: Army officers blocked police investigations into the deaths of more than 20 Iraqis during incidents involving British troops, raising concerns about the Army’s right to stop inquiries into fatal shootings. Investigations by The Independent on Sunday have revealed that British Army commanders in Iraq routinely used their powers to stop the Royal Military Police and detectives in the Special Investigations Branch from looking into fatal shootings.

Independent – Fair price for a life? Army pays Iraqi family £390 after shooting girl dead: Hanan Saleh Matrud died in an alleyway near her home in northern Basra after a British soldier with the King’s Regiment opened fire nearby. The ricocheting bullet left a deep wound across her stomach, and she later died in hospital. The soldiers claim they fired a warning shot in the air after being targeted by “heavy stone-throwing” by mobs. Local eyewitnesses dispute the claim, and allege that only children were in the streets. The Army admitted the shot “possibly” caused her injury and paid her parents $700, but without admitting responsibility for her death.

That name may seem familiar to regular readers; here’s why.

These two articles were part of a large feature in the Independent on Sunday, the centrepiece was this article by Martian-born ferret-handler Robert Fisk…

Robert Fisk – ‘Can’t Blair see that this country is about to explode? Can’t Bush?’: The stage management of this catastrophe in Iraq was all too evident at Saddam Hussein’s “trial”. Not only did the US military censor the tapes of the event. Not only did they effectively delete all sound of the 11 other defendants. But the Americans led Saddam Hussein to believe – until he reached the courtroom – that he was on his way to his execution. Indeed, when he entered the room he believed that the judge was there to condemn him to death. This, after all, was the way Saddam ran his own state security courts. No wonder he initially looked “disorientated” – CNN’s helpful description – because, of course, he was meant to look that way…. But don’t think we’re going to learn much more about Saddam’s future court appearances. Salem Chalabi, the brother of convicted fraudster Ahmad and the man entrusted by the Americans with the tribunal, told the Iraqi press two weeks ago that all media would be excluded from future court hearings.

Meanwhile: Drive that wedge, baby – drive it!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Useful
Time
09:58
Rent a peasant.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
An American Election
Time
10:02
I smell desperation… or more Drudge bulldust; Republicans planning to eliminate IRS. It sounds great… but only if you don’t think about it too much. In other words, your average Bush-supporter will eat it up. Along with their tinned beans and hog’s anus. More at Atrios.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
10:11
Washington Monthly are cooking something up on the Iraq/Uranium/Nigeria lie.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
The War on Terror
Time
10:19
Be afraid! Stay alert! Go on with your lives! Be happy in your work!

Also, Poons has a bloody good point here. I’m not a big fan of animal rights activists, either – but if we’re not careful we’ll soon find that police will be armed with a whole new set of laws designed to stifle all forms of protest as and when is ‘necessary’… this issue also blurs the line between terrorists and protestors; a line that is already pretty blurred abroad and at home.

(Incidentally, does that ban on protesting outside people’s homes extend to people marching on Downing Street?)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
We’re Not At Home To Mr Cock-Up
Time
11:33
Curious name for a computer desk, wouldn’t you say?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Normal People
Time
12:51
Found Photos should keep you busy and well-freaked for the rest of the afternoon.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
The War on Stupid
Time
15:23
epolitix – Labour website mocks ‘Tory turmoil’

Scotsman – Labour’s Big Brother Jibe at Tories

That second article lets us know that this clevery-clogs campaign does have a domain: www.toriesinturmoil.co.uk

Mind you, this currently redirects to the main page of labour.org.uk…. perhaps because the page at www.labour.org.uk/toriesinturmoil has been withdrawn for some unknown reason. (Best guess: the site’s database fell over about 3 hours ago, so it’s probably just being retooled or something.)

UPDATE – Someone must have pressed ‘reset’ – the whole site went down at 5:15pm… now, at 5:30pm, Tories in Turmoil lives and breathes once more.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Opportunities
Time
16:20
Party in London this Friday night. Email me for details.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Sudan
Time
19:19
Like many, when I think about Sudan, I always end up wondering how it will impact on poor Mr Blair.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040802
Photoshopping
Time
20:44
Animation genius. That is all.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040803
The War on Terror
Time
09:51
But this time it’s different; it’s not just chatter. We have clear intelligence of a specific threat! Right?

New York Times – Reports That Led to Terror Alert Were Years Old, Officials Say: Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.

Washington Post – Pre-9/11 Acts Led To Alerts: Most of the al Qaeda surveillance of five financial institutions that led to a new terrorism alert Sunday was conducted before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities are not sure whether the casing of the buildings has continued, numerous intelligence and law enforcement officials said yesterday.

Independent – A nation in danger. Or a president in peril?: The former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean highlighted the concerns of many without access to the information. “It’s hard to know what to make [of it]. None of us outside the administration have access to the intelligence which led to this determination,” he said. “I am concerned that every time something happens that’s not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism,” he told CNN. “His whole campaign is based on the notion that ‘I can keep you safe, therefore, at times of difficulty for America, stick with me’ and then out comes Tom Ridge. It’s just impossible to know how much of this is real and how much of this is politics, and I suspect there’s some of both in it.”

Howard dean? Isn’t he that crazy shouty person? Should we really be listening to him? (Read some discussion on this and related matters here.)

Anyway, as I was saying; this time it’s different. It’s not just chatter. We have clear intelligence of a specific threat! Something to do with American banks and financial institutions, if I’m not mistaken. And we have a few of them here in the UK, so – though the threat in our case is rather vague and unspecific – it does result from clear intelligence of a specific threat. With me so far?

Some less responsible people have told Blair to put up or shut up, but today the Daily Mail takes the more prudent step of assuming the worst. They’ve chosen to go with the powerful headline; AL QAEDA’S CHILLING PLOT TO TARGET BRITAIN

Dammit! Now I’m in an advanced state of fear and anxiety (some call it “heightened readiness”) and I’m worried about what effect this is going to have on the value of my house. I simply don’t have room for my brain for this, which just happens to be going on at the same time…

Guardian – Military Hearing Set for Lynndie England: A military hearing was set to start Tuesday that will begin gathering evidence to see if Pfc. Lynndie England should be court-martialed for her actions. The Article 32 hearing is the military equivalent of a grand jury in civilian court. The hearing will be the first chance in court for the 21-year-old Army reservist’s attorneys to make their case that she was following orders from higher-ups when she was photographed mocking naked detainees at Abu Ghraib.

But, if I did, something in the back of my mind would assure me that – because Iraqis are terrorists – these measures that weren’t authorised at the highest level would be justified even if they were – which they weren’t – because we have to do everything we can to fight the War on Terror.

And not only is mental torture marginally more acceptable than physical torture, it’s also more economically viable. (Now, stay with me here, because we are talking about the War on Terror and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These people are animals, and they deserve everything they get. Erm, and we needed answers to important questions like “Where are the WMDs?”)

Even with a large contingent of willing troops (or, if you prefer, ‘bad apples’) and a continuous supply of Viagra, it simply wouldn’t be possible to sodomise all 8000 detainees. (Or was it 10-15,000? It’s hard to tell with some people being left off the books and so many hostages coming and going.)

No, it’s far more efficient to simply sodomise their children, tape these events, and then use the tapes on the other prisoners.

Alternatively, if sodomy isn’t on the cards (let’s face it, some days you’re just not in the mood), there’s always this method to fall back on: A military intelligence analyst who recently completed duty at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq said Wednesday that the 16-year-old son of a detainee there was abused by U.S. soldiers in order to break his father’s resistance to interrogators. The analyst said the teenager was stripped naked, thrown in the back of an open truck, driven around in the cold night air, splattered with mud and then presented to his father at Abu Ghraib, the prison at the center of the ongoing scandal over abuse of Iraqi detainees. Upon seeing his frail and frightened son, the prisoner broke down and cried and told interrogators he would tell them whatever they wanted, the analyst said.

Admittedly that’s rather labour-intensive, but it only took a few hours and saved days of beatings. Besides, I hear that – while being physically demanding – such activity can be rather fun…

Rolling Stone – The Secret File of Abu Ghraib – New classified documents implicate U.S. forces in rape and sodomy of Iraqi prisoners (be warned that this is a very graphic read).

Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes…

This time it’s different; it’s not just chatter. We have clear intelligence of a specific threat!

Go In. Stay In. Tune Out.

Comments – Comments, permalinks and all that jazz are planned, but they’ll take time and cash – two things in very short supply at the moment. In the meantime, perhaps we can squeeze in a few manual entries (or maybe just take control of the Usenet group alt.irony). Today, I have this comment emailed in by Andrew H:

I could not agree more that the terror threat in the US yesterday is blatant electioneering. This was the first thing I thought when I saw the news yesterday. There are only so many times that the Bush team can cry “Wolf!” before people catch on. My prediction will be that he is saving his last call of “Wolf!” for late October. Despite the threat I am going to the bank to get some cash out. If you don’t hear from me in the next few days….

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Date
20040803
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:08
How to be creative. I have my own tip here; try not to clench your brain. Give it room to move. And go easy on the stimulants.

From the peeps what brung you Subservient Chicken… Subservient President! (Hint: ask him to curl up and die.)

Operation Give is getting screwed by Atlas Lines.

Sorry, I don’t feel like playing today.

Bush staff demand to know race of photographer before permission to photograph Dick Cheney is granted. I don’t see the big problem here. One, we know what a terrorist looks like, so what harm can it do to check for towel-headedness? Two, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a camera and a rocket launcher.

A message from White House West: Americans must be able to trust the facts in political ads. Every voter has the right to truthful advertising. Free speech is no defense to massive, purposeful fraud.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040803
Compare and Contrast
Time
10:11
We must crack down on Al Qaeda!

We must stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction!

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Date
20040803
Flash Thingies
Time
10:15
Here you go; this should keep you busy for a while.

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Date
20040803
Scam Alerts
Time
10:17
ZDNet – Criminal gangs blackmail Web users with porn threat: While criminal gangs are more widely associated with threatening denial of service attacks unless they get a kickback of thousands of pounds, it seems some are taking a more small-scale approach to extortion: now average PC users are being targeted. Instead of £50,000, the criminals are making demands by email of a mere £50. Unless they’re paid off, they threaten to tell the police about the child pornography they’ve installed on your machine.

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Date
20040803
OK, So I’m a Star Wars Geek
Time
10:32
Star Wars Art by Ralph McQuarrie (link va Cynical-C Blog.)

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Date
20040803
Is Richard Desmond a Pornographer?
Time
12:02
Richard Desmond is feeling cheeky. Normally he does his best to avoid letting OK! readers in on his seedier side, but now he’s entering the Lad’s Mag race with a new title… KO!

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Date
20040803
RWCs
Time
13:02
1. How can you possibly argue with inspired lyrics like these?

2. James Broadwater has been duped by Ali G, and he’s not happy about it. There’s an excellent post at onegoodmove.org with everything you need to know, so there’s no need to repeat it all here. (Oh, but you may also wish to read this interview with the great man.)

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Date
20040803
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
13:41
Some exciting developments over at the Alan Milburn blog. Go, Mike, go!

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Date
20040804
South West Trains
Time
09:45
I must be cursed or blessed or something…

16:00 – Depart office for 6pm meeting in Westminster. Departure time gives me close to an hour’s grace.

16:17 – Guildford to Waterloo service delayed at the station due to reported “flooding in Earlsfield.”

16:25 – Train leaves station

17:15 – After nearly and hour of stop-start-stop-stop-stop-start, the train terminates at an unscheduled stop at Surbiton. The guard has to walk along the train to tell us to get out, because the tannoy is broken. (Obviously, this was not connected to the reported flooding at Earlsfield; it was just one of those crappy trains built in 1968 or so that SWT still relies on for regular services.)

17:20 – Station manager refuses to issue me with more than one complaint form, so I walk up and down the platform with it telling people in groups what it is and why they should use it.

17:25 – Depart Surbiton on hot and crowded all-stops service with no toilets. One passenger with a young child found this out the hard way.

17:35 – Stop-start-stop-stop-stop-stop-stop-stop-start. Driver very vague about cause of delay, which is now being reported as “a localised electrical disturbance.” He states that from Wimbledon onwards it will take a minimum of 30 mins just to reach Clapham Junction. It’s pretty obvious from what’s going on that it would take an extra 20 minutes minimum to reach Waterloo, but this isn’t mentioned. That the London Underground will honour SWT tickets is, but the actual option of proceeding to Waterloo or your chosen destination in London via the Underground is not specified as such. A few passengers and I get together and start talking out loud about our options and decide that the best idea would be to abandon ship at Wimbledon.

17:45 – Heat unbearable by now. Not feeling well at all.

17:55 – Arrive Wimbledon. A mass exodus for the Underground service ensues.

18:35 – Arrive Westminster via the District Line – announcements are being made that Waterloo Underground is closed.

18:36 – Jubilee Line entrances being closed off just to stop anybody getting any bright ideas. It is suggested that passengers continue their journey “above ground” (i.e. – walk).

18:37 – Departing Westminster station, all hell breaks loose. A loud alarm is sounding; an announcer tells us to leave the station immediately. Signs with flashing lights read: Emergency – Do Not Enter. We’re in a state of heightened readiness, so somebody had to say it; “Oh my God, is there a gas attack?”

18:50 – Almost an hour late, but counting myself lucky that I made Westminster at all, I attend my meeting.

19:50 – Meeting ends.

20:00 – Jubilee Line only just returning to service. Signs state that next train is due in a 1 minute; it takes 10.

20:10 – Waterloo is a mess. I have no desire to get on one of the few very crowded trains leaving for Guildford and get back on the stop-start ride of a lifetime, so I chill for an hour.

21:20 – Depart Waterloo for Portsmouth ‘express’ service.

21:40 – Arrive Clapham Junction (normally about 5 mins from Waterloo on a bad day).

22:00 – It is reported over the (working) tannoy of our (modern) train that the two rear toilets are out of order, but the two forward toilets are in working order. A passenger next to me attempts to take advantage of this good fortune – and returns to report that the forward toilets – and the sinks – are overflowing with sewage.

22:30 – Guildford. Home at last. Somewhat comforted by the robot voice apologising for the delays, but felling very rough indeed.

Thank you, South West Trains, for yet another pleasant journey and the usual effort put into serving and advising passengers during times of difficulty.

UPDATE – Ride a bike? Use the trains? Then you’ll be interested in this leaked SWT document.

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Date
20040804
The War on Terror
Time
09:50
Independent – Terror alert: how four-year-old information was transformed into clear and present danger: The Bush administration was forced into the embarrassing admission yesterday that “new” intelligence about al-Qa’ida’s plans to attack US financial institutions – information that led to an official alert and a slew of fresh security measures – was up to four years old and predated the 11 September attacks.

Still, we’re busy making hay while the sun shines over here in the UK…

Independent – Police seize 13 men in terror raids across UK: Scotland Yard said the arrests formed part of “inquiries by security services into alleged international terrorism” and that they were part of a “pre-planned, intelligence-led operation”. It is understood the intelligence came from MI5. The timing of the raids was brought forward in the wake of the publicity over the perceived threat to US financial institutions, although the arrests were not connected with that threat.

Guardian – Home Office draws up tighter terrorism laws: The overhaul of the the anti-terror laws is being considered as American banks in London step up security after the discovery of detailed but dated plans for al-Qaida attacks in the US and Britain. The Home Office said no specific threat had emerged about Britain, adding: “We are maintaining a state of heightened readiness in the UK.” The new counter-terror package is expected to spark sharp criticism from civil liberties groups, who will be dismayed that Mr Blunkett has not used the opportunity to replace his emergency executive detention powers with realistic alternatives.

UPDATE – More on this latest round of arrests from The UK Today.

Oh, and if you’re new to Bloggerheads, you may have missed yesterday’s bloggage on the subject of terror and torture.

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Date
20040804
The Bush Administration
Time
09:54
“I want, and every President must have, the best, unbiased, unvarnished assessment of America’s intelligence professionals.” – George W. Bush, August 2, 2004

It’s a bit ‘king late for that isn’t it? Not that they’re going to get it or anything…

Independent – Bush agrees to independent US spy chief: Many specialists have warned that if the post were part of the White House bureaucracy, it would only increase the risk of intelligence being politicised ­ precisely what critics say happened in the debacle of Iraq and its non-existent weapons of mass destruction… Although the new director will technically not have cabinet rank, he will be named by the President and be subject to approval by the Senate.

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Date
20040804
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
10:01
Monday, August 2 – Nikkala (22, from Middlesex) gets her cha-chas out and expresses her shock over seaside resorts reportedly having the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country. She says: “No one loves a wild party on the beach more than me, but these figures show youngsters must think twice before they put away too much booze.”

Wednesday, August 4 – Nicola T (22, from London) is excited about a new book giving tips on sex in the office. She says: “This book should go down a treat as us Brits love to spice up our work life. Everyone flirts at some stage and no one can deny it brightens up the day. I can’t see anything wrong with a quick nookie break.”

Read more about brightening up the day for others in your place of work.

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Date
20040804
Video
Time
10:05
Team America is headed your way. Matt Drudge has a few calm words to say about it.

The producers (who you may well be familiar with) have said: “We dont want people thinking we are in on the Fahrenheit 9/11 bandwagon. Everyone should be afraid of this movie.”

But it seems to me that some people have more to worry about than others…

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Date
20040804
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:12
Mike is getting closer to an actual meeting with his chosen MP, Alan Milburn. You can help by going to his site and making a comment on any post. Show them how feedback works, people.

Rob has reported similar progress with Sarah Teather. I’ve armed him with an amended version of the PowerPoint presentation on MPs, Weblogs and Search Engines that I presented to a group of Labour MPs a few months back. (Incidentally, that presentation had to be rushed because of the good people at South West Trains. One has to wonder if there isn’t some kind of massive conspiracy going on…)

And today we have a new proxy-blog for Frank Dobson.

I’m going to tone down the whole ‘stalking’ thing so this healthy trend continues. (Yup, here it is. Many thanks to Rob D and Shane for their valuable input.)

I’m also working on something pretty significant in the background. I’ll tell you what I can, when I can.

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Date
20040804
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:23
Wow. Thank you. I’m touched. (But it was only harmless flirting. Really brightened my day.)

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Date
20040804
The War on Stupid
Time
12:49
All Iraqis are terrorists! That’s why we had to fight to save them from terror, or start a new front on the War on Terror in Iraq, or, erm… No, I’m sorry – I’ll need some help on this one.

(Found via Atrios. You may want to make time to skim through the related comments thread. Oh, and here’s a treat for those who ‘know what a terrorist looks like’…)

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Date
20040804
An American Election
Time
14:47
Yeeeeeee-hah! Cheers to Mirjam for the following heads-up…

Bands gather to stump against Bush: In an unprecedented series of concerts in nine swing states, more than 20 musical acts – including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks – will perform fund-raising concerts one month before the Nov. 2 election in an effort to unseat President Bush.

Latest news and a full statement can be seen at the Bruce Spingsteen website and the official Act For Change website.

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Date
20040804
Needs Salt
Time
15:11
OMG! Thatcher’s dead! (Click here only if you find yourself in difficulty.)

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Date
20040804
Matters Political
Time
15:34
Bwahahahahahaha! And now, a message from the UK Independence Party (NSFW).

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Date
20040804
The Interweb
Time
16:24
I refer you to this bloggage from Fri, June 18, 2004: Fark.com has been removed from the ‘follow me’ links. This removal should not be taken lightly, as fark.com was one of the earliest inclusions and I cut my photoshopping teeth there. The reason it’s been removed? Let’s just say that I’m not happy with the way they choose their articles for the front page. The omissions are subtle, but deliberate. And The Sun gets plugged in a ha-ha-jolly way every other day. Goodbye, Fark. No more traffic from me.

Now we have this…

Fark.com sells their editorial, and the loyalty of their users: After trying to figure out a deal they told me that I could just buy the editorial. The cost? Like $300 to $400 for a story. I was shocked…. all this time I’ve been reading Fark.com it turns out that some percentage of the stories are paid for. Looking back on it I’m now sure the adult links are all paid for, as are the ifilm.com links. I feel like I can never trust Fark again. The stupid part about all this is that Fark.com could easily just put “Advertisement” by the stories and their readers would click them 2x as much just to support Fark. It is so dumb.

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Date
20040804
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
16:29
The Onion trundles on… CIA Asks Bush To Discontinue Blog

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Date
20040804
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
16:30
Credit card numbers, anyone?

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Date
20040804
Love Me, Love My Clients
Time
17:26
With so many new visitors today, I’d be a fool not to plug Giltsharp’s new and renewed short story competition. String a few words together about a Swiss Army Knife; win a Swiss Army Knife. Dead simple, really…

Here, let me start you off:

It was a dark and stormy night. I wasn’t looking forward to this emergency tracheotomy, because I had a splinter in my thumb and sesame seeds in my teeth…

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Date
20040804
The War on Stupid
Time
17:30
You may remember this laff-riot from the Labour camp that offers the public the chance to vote their favourite Tory out of a house or something like that.

The official Interweb response comes from The UK Today. (Yes, I did help out just a little bit, but Balders – who did the bulk of the research for Labour: I See Red – deserves full credit. And the harsh tax audit that’s headed his way.)

Tories in Turmoil – who would you vote for as the next leader of the Conservative Party?

I’m sure you’ll love the list of choices….

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Date
20040805
The War on Terror
Time
09:37
On Tuesday we were told by Scotland Yard that the arrests in Britain were not connected with the intelligence garnered from Pakistan that pre-dated 11/9 (please note correct formatting of date).

Today, Murdoch’s Times newspaper assures us that they were connected – and that the intelligence coming from Pakistan and the arrests have brought to light more information on the much-plugged ‘Heathrow terror plot’…

We also have the Bush administration assuring us that new intelligence was the reason for the latest round of alerts. We’re also told that this years-old information had recently been ‘revisited and recompiled’ as little as a year ago (which predates Blair’s ‘tanks into Heathrow’ stunt, but that’s by-the-by).

I’m inclined to agree with Balders, who said recently that: History has shown too many times that little faith should be placed in these announcements, and reality usually rears its head within a week or so.

But while other more responsible newspapers are sifting through this often vague and nearly always third-hand information before passing judgement, Murdoch’s Times (linked above) jumps straight into ‘foiled terror plot’ mode just as the whole country is recovering from a bout of healthy scepticism and facing a report from the all-party Joint Committee on Human Rights:

Scotsman – Scrap Jail-Without-Trial Terror Law, Blunkett Urged

Guardian – Blunkett faces revolt on internment

The Herald – Blunkett urged to abandon terror legislation

My advice? If you want an idea of what Blair’s trying to pull, turn first to The Sun, where the strings are there for all to see. Today, they report that “a terror suspect held in UK swoops was finalising plans to bomb Heathrow” and in case you’re in any doubt about this real-genuine-and-current threat, you need look no further than the front page where – in black and white – the reality we’re expected to see is outlined in three simple words – HEATHROW BOMB PLOT.

It brings to mind another front page from The Scum that resulted from vague intelligence and bold assertions when the government was in some difficulty and needed to sell their version of reality. It read; 45 MINS FROM DOOM!

Here’s the guts of it for me…

Most (if not all) of this information appears to be coming from the Pakistani government, who recently have been under pressure from the Bush administration to come up with the goods on Al Qaeda for reasons of political convenience

And the most useful thing they can provide for the Brits? Information suggesting that the threat to Heathrow is/was real.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there’s a very big and very dirty story lurking behind all this Heathrow business… and Blair is more worried about it than he lets on.

UPDATE – An image for your consideration.

UPDATE – I’m terribly sorry, I appear to have been wrong. Pakistan has not been helping Blair out by feeding him politically useful intelligence (well, at least they deny it) – and Blair’s team hasn’t been making shit up and briefing journalists on it (well, at least they deny knowledge of any actual threat). Both of Mr Murdoch’s newspapers just happen to have taken it upon themselves today to paint a picture of a real and current threat and connect it with this ‘fresh’ intelligence from Pakistan….

BBC – Doubt over airport ‘terror plot’: Confusion surrounds claims that an al-Qaeda plan to attack Heathrow airport was foiled by British police… The Times newspaper said an attack was in its “final stages” but had been averted after UK police acted on Pakistani intelligence. But government officials in Pakistan deny any details were passed to the UK…. The Home Office said it would not comment on the details of intelligence, but confirmed that there had not been a specific threat.

But – and this is how the magic time machine works – if I bring up the subject of the Heathrow stunt in 6 months time, the answer from any ardent supporter of the government will be; “Of course the threat on Heathrow was real – they arrested 13 people and found all sorts of plans and photos on a laptop!”

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Date
20040805
Inneresting
Time
09:41
“What do I have to do? Draw you a bloody diagram?” (Link via Ultimate Insult.)

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Date
20040805
An American Election
Time
09:44
Bruce Springsteen – Chords For Change: I don’t think John Kerry and John Edwards have all the answers. I do believe they are sincerely interested in asking the right questions and working their way toward honest solutions. They understand that we need an administration that places a priority on fairness, curiosity, openness, humility, concern for all America’s citizens, courage and faith. People have different notions of these values, and they live them out in different ways. I’ve tried to sing about some of them in my songs. But I have my own ideas about what they mean, too. That is why I plan to join with many fellow artists, including the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, Jurassic 5, James Taylor and Jackson Browne, in touring the country this October. We will be performing under the umbrella of a new group called Vote for Change. Our goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration come November.

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Date
20040805
Humanity
Time
10:05
Boy, all of this ‘current and specific’ terror intelligence has come at a good time, hasn’t it?

Another thing it does is that is eases the minds of those who may just worry about piffling matter like human rights…

Independent – Father demands release of his British son after claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay: A 115-page dossier, Detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo, produced by the lawyers of three of the recently released British men, said inmates had been shackled, punched, kicked, hooded and deprived of sleep. Amnesty International condemned the treatment, which drew comparisons with Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison where inmates were ritually humiliated. British Government agencies were accused of complicity.

Torygraph – Foreign Office denies ignoring complaints: The Government has denied ignoring complaints by three British former Guantanamo Bay detainees who claim that they were beaten and abused at the prison camp.

Yes. Our government and the military do everything it can to act responsibly in such matters.

The same goes for the US, who assure us that they’re also (finally) taking ‘appropriate’ action regarding detainees in Guantanamo, but lets us know that these are really, really bad people without pausing for ‘king breath.

Oh, and Abu Ghraib? It was all a bit of fun and Lynndie England was a bad apple is the picture being painted by Murdoch’s New York Post. Please note that this article makes no mention of the response by the defence (in other words, they report some things, and you decide on the basis of that information and that information alone)….

Scotsman – Lynndie Made Illicit Visits to Prison Abuse Block: The prosecution’s case has been aimed at rebutting a defence claim that England was acting on orders from higher-ups to break down prisoners for questioning…Defence lawyer Rick Hernandez contends the government is trying to shift its responsibility to a lowly private for a scandal that has stirred outrage in the Arab world. But the prosecution’s case is flawed, he said, because investigators didn’t look into allegations “at other camps where my client has never been. … All the information out there indicates it is a systematic problem.”

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Date
20040805
Updates
Time
10:05
More later. Meetings. Bleh. In the meantime, do consider giving Tories in Turmoil a plug. I’d like it to to be the top search result come Monday.

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Date
20040805
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:57
Things are really rolling now… today we have a proxy blog for David Lepper and a proxy blog for Keith Vaz. I urge you to visit both (and make an encouraging comment if you’re so inclined). Both blogs have now been added to the front-page navbar and to the How To Run a ‘Proxy’ Weblog on Behalf of Your MP page.

For proxy bloggers due to meet with their chosen MPs… it may pay to point out that they can if they wish – though this is bare bones design and not quite as integrated as it could be – integrate a (free) Blogger weblog into their current website like Lynne Featherstone has done.

UPDATE – Don’t forget that the new proxy blog for Frank Dobson still needs your love-juices. There were some extremely useful comments made at the Alan Milburn blog, so thanks for that. Oh, and the plan to attend David Lepper’s next surgery (this Friday) shows a glorious level of commitment. This is all very encouraging.

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Date
20040805
Advertising Genius
Time
12:08
Best. Product. Name. Ever. (Link via ScaryDuck.)

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Date
20040805
Photoshopping
Time
13:00
This is top banana and most woo-some.

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Date
20040805
Consume!
Time
13:28
Not up to this or this? Can’t even handle something as simple as this?

Then you need this!

(Haven’t lost my touch as a copywriter, have I?)

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Date
20040805
Photoshopping
Time
13:50
A treat for photoshoppers – a huge collection of movie posters.

UPDATE – Heh. Couldn’t stop myself. It’s a bit choppy, but only because I have another bloody meeting to go to. (Posted to B3ta.)

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Date
20040805
Normal People
Time
14:33
Tch. I’m so childish. (Please note the care he has taken in formatting his email address. Link via ScaryDuck.)

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Date
20040805
Established Media
Time
14:54
Pfft! Bygones….

The Register – Victim not killer owned ‘murder manual’ game: The copy of the computer game Manhunt that was discovered during the investigation into the murder of a 14-year-old boy was not the possession of the killer but the victim, it has emerged.

Oh well. They managed to work up a jolly good froth and sell a few papers. That’s got to count for something…

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Date
20040805
Flash Music Video
Time
15:06
Radiohead’s Creep – it’s a lovely build and a beautiful finish. Flash developers will love the intro and credits. (Well, hacks and newbies like me, will…)

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Date
20040806
The War on Terror
Time
10:14
Yes, it’s true. Because I suspect my government and the US government of manipulating the terrorist threat with the help of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, I don’t believe that threat exists. And because I considered the invasion of Iraq to be rash and illegal, I love Saddam and want to hug & kiss and squeeze him until our bodily fluids mix and I can have his babies.

Well, Abu Musa al-Hindi appears to be real, and these connections appear to be damning, but I’m sure you’ll pardon me for questioning the following:

The Times today breezes right over denials from government officials in Pakistan that intelligence regarding Heathrow was shared with the UK (“Pakistan’s interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat later said that the UK authorities had not received information from Pakistan”) and instead praises them for their help in this editorial and goes live with this…

Times – Manhunt as five al-Qaeda militants evade police: A Pakistani intelligence official said Mr Khan told them how he visited Finsbury Park mosque during his time in Britain and met the radical cleric Abu Hamza whose extradition is being sought by the US.

Khan (Khaaaaaaaaaaan!) is of course the man who was arrested in Pakistan, so is not part of the recent round of arrests in the UK, but it’s all happening at the same time and there are so many foreign names to deal with, I doubt anybody know or cares about that. Especially not The Sun who – as you might expect – are all over the Hamza connection and not above linking it to the phantom Heathrow plot from paragraph one….

The Sun – Hamza linked to bomb plot: Preacher of hate Abu Hamza was sensationally linked to the al-Qaeda suspect behind the Heathrow bomb plot yesterday. Hook-handed Hamza had several meetings with terrorist “postman” Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan… The computer expert’s capture led to arrests of 12 terror suspects across Britain on Tuesday.

Today’s bold editorial is even better: The man, codename Bilal, was arrested in the swoop which foiled a plot to attack Heathrow. He had met Hamza several times in London — and you can bet it wasn’t to talk about Arsenal’s back four or who’d win the Derby. Let’s now hear no more nonsense from those who pleaded for Hamza’s “human rights” to be respected.

Let’s skip over the human rights issue and the Heathrow matter for a moment take a look at the timing of these arrests…

Here’s a repeat from Wednesday’s Independent newspaper: Scotland Yard said the arrests formed part of “inquiries by security services into alleged international terrorism” and that they were part of a “pre-planned, intelligence-led operation”. It is understood the intelligence came from MI5. The timing of the raids was brought forward in the wake of the publicity over the perceived threat to US financial institutions, although the arrests were not connected with that threat.

The Times today chooses to present this somewhat differently: The official said that the US had been interested in Bilal “for some time”. British security sources refused to say last night why he had not been picked up earlier.

My guess would be that they had a shifting group with some more elusive members and were doing the sensible thing; monitoring the threat, gathering information, and waiting for the right time to make arrests so they could capture as many suspected cell members as possible and maybe even (God forbid) come up with some actual evidence here and there. Bush’s long overdue, but much hurried and politically-motivated push in Pakistan f**ked that up, which is why we have a manhunt on our hands (much to the joy of the Daily Mail, who get one Manhunt! story that’s so sensational, it’s sure to take people’s minds off their role this Manhunt! story.

*cough*

Human rights…

Stalking David Blunkett brings us this Sun sidebar that you may have missed amongst yesterday’s linkage: Peers and MPs last night infuriated David Blunkett by condemning his anti-terror laws as a breach of human rights. Post-9/11 measures to net Muslim extremists were branded racist in an all-party committee report. It said they breach rights of all Muslims and should be torn up. Mr Blunkett denounced the findings. A close aide to the Home Secretary said “The world changed after the al-Qaeda attacks on the twin towers yet some people don’t seem to have grasped this. The most important thing now is to protect British citizens.”

Hmmm. So, human rights for us, but not for all? Sounds awfully familiar…

BBC – UK troops ‘beat Iraqi to death’: Rabinder Singh QC, appearing for the Iraqis in the six test cases, told the judges European human rights laws, which protect the right to life and freedom from torture or inhuman and degrading treatment, applied to troops in Iraq and the government was obliged to investigate. But lawyers for Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon say the Human Rights Act, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK domestic law, can only be applied inside UK territory.

At this stage, I feel compelled to remind you once more that my objection to our attack on the wrong country and the use of the terrorist threat as a propaganda device to sell the invasion to the public does not mean that I deny there is any terrorist threat. In fact, if anything, Iraq has proved to be one of Al Qaeda’s greatest victories.

The abuse of the terror threat by the US government to pursue a totally unrelated and greed-driven agenda has provided Al Qaeda not only with a great deal of sympathy in some quarters, but a massive and largely unregulated playground in the Middle East that may soon see the introduction of martial law in the new, ‘free’ Iraq. The issue has also effectively split the United States in two.

At home, our role in the invasion of Iraq and Blair’s attempt to spin and sell it via manipulation of the terrorist threat means that it is the terrorists’ agenda, not his own, that now shapes his foreign and domestic policy (we pissed off a lot of people by siding with the US when we could very well have prevented the invasion and allowed the inspectors more time merely by sticking to our guns – and it reached the stage long ago that Blair could not drive forward new policies because of ongoing disquiet about Iraq).

It’s also compromising our justice system. And Bush’s continued use of terror as a trump-card (or ‘Keep Out of Jail Free’ card) now appears to be interfering with our attempts to monitor and contain actual threats. The question you have to ask is; is this making us any safer?

Which brings us back to Heathrow… and another question.

Independent – A plot, or not? Why Heathrow bomb plan was a media dream: It began with tales of a “terror alert in US and Britain” and culminated in a “plot to bomb Heathrow”. In the past few days anyone following the American and British media or listening to US security chiefs would be in little doubt the two countries were facing an imminent attack by al-Qa’ida. New information is, however, emerging that calls into doubt the level of threat. Senior British counter-terrorist sources yesterday denied they had found any specific plot to attack Heathrow or any other British airport.

Blair was very careful not to lie outright about the Iraq/terror connection (that didn’t exist), but he used the word ‘terror’ and Iraq’ or ‘terror’ and ‘Saddam’ or ‘terror’ and ‘weapons of mass destruction’ in the same sentence more times that I can count. This careful and deliberately proximal use of key phrases and concepts painted a false – and useful – picture.

Another picture is being painted right in front of us. The keywords are ‘terror’ and ‘Heathrow’ and ‘real’… why?

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Date
20040806
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:25
Mike (of the Alan Milburn proxy blog) has managed to get a nibble out of a local councillor via this discussion forum. He also reports that this post is only one minor technicality away from being an actual post from his MP.

You may also wish to read Ivan’s post on his personal blog, where he outlines the genesis of the proxy blog for David Lepper.

This is a nice and cuddly blog in keeping with the now-fluffier Blog Your MP campaign, but Ivan has also started another weblog in parallel. …

For David Blunkett, there will be no mercy.

And Balders? Balders has gone all-out and started weblogs for all three MPS in Barnsley: Michael Clapham, Eris Illsley and Jeff Ennis. At the very least, one man running three blogs in tandem (as well as his own) should prove how easy it is.

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Date
20040806
George W. Bush
Time
10:43
Bwahahahahahahahaha!

Independent – Tongue-twisted Bush is bent on self-harm: Even by the previous standards of Bushisms, this was one for the ages. Signing into law a new $417bn (£229bn) defence spending bill, the famously tongue-twisted 43rd President of the United States solemnly declared yesterday that his administration “will never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people”. The gaffe came as President George Bush was warming to his favourite theme of the terrorist threat faced by the US. “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we,” he said. “They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

More Bushism fun here.

In other news, one can only wonder what the mother of this baby was thinking….

UPDATE – A little somthing extra for you… They Knew: Despite the whitewash, we now know that the Bush administration was warned before the war that its Iraq claims were weak.

Oh, and you may want to check out PoliticalStrikes.com, (where I found this little number).

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Date
20040806
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh s**t!
Time
10:50
North Korea’s nuclear sub capability exists thanks to the assistance of Sun Myung Moon, the well-known Republican supporter, owner of the Washington Times and all-round religious nutbag.

While we’re on the subject, you may also wish to read about the ‘scrap metal’ being shipped out of Iraq.

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Date
20040806
Opportunities
Time
11:01
Sorry, no fun links today. I’m saving myself. Party. London. Tonight. Be there.

UPDATE – Oh, go on then…. take a pot-shot at a pigeon or two if you must.

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Date
20040806
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
15:09
Bill Thompson – The revolution will not be blogged.

Apart from the joy of the rip-off headline, this article is worth reading purely for the enjoyment of watching a man present every almost every clue available and still fail to come up with the obvious conclusion.

Perhaps Bill’s distaste for weblogs is causing a blind spot (you may remember him asking this time last year if it was all over for blogs).

Perhaps Bill read this report on the report and not the report itself.

No matter – let’s get to the meat….

In this article, Bill Thompson commits the following sins:

– He makes the false claim (often bandied about) that blogs take a lot of work. They don’t. They require a lot of commitment. There is a difference.

– He points out that the development of weblogs has been slow because “they appear to require more technical knowledge than a website built by a constituency activist” – without bothering to point out that they actually don’t.

– He acknowledges the issues of accountability and transparency and how blogs can promote same, but ignores the potential value of this in re-engaging a cynical electorate.

– He acknowledges that it’s not the technology that’s really at work here, but the capacity to engage driven by a willingness to do so – but he then dismisses the potential of this on the basis that it’s foolhardy to place too much faith in technology alone (I’m still trying to work that one out).

– He also notes that some MPs will fear accountability and transparency and/or shun this level of engagement. Quite right. But he completely ignores the rise in personal publication (which he dismisses as noise pollution) and what role this plays now and is going to play in the future. (I would not describe a blog or blog-driven/supported campaign that’s the top search result for an MP’s name or a high-level government campaign to be “absorbed into the general flow of net traffic”, would you?)

Finally, it’s worth taking a look at what he considers to be the difference between his early website for Anne Campbell and a weblog; the former boasted “no trackback, no comments or feedback” (I have none of these – is this not a blog then?)… and* “the content was mostly press release-style information.” Then take a look at Bill Thompson’s blog, where he only ever posts articles that he was writing for the BBC anyway (one wonders where he gets the idea that blogs are a lot of work).

The potential is still there for weblogs to further contribute to political discourse. If all goes well, they may very well shape it in subtle but positive ways.

But in these early days, there are also dangers. These dangers are as follows:

1 – That not enough MPs will fail to understand the value of weblogs before…

2 – A top-driven campaign to exploit them in the wrong way fails miserably, resulting in…

3 – Most MPs being convinced that weblogs are of no use.

Bill Thompson is contributing to Factor 1 with this witless piece. The only thing he brings to the debate is a less-than-helpful mix of prejudice and ignorance. I hope he’ll pardon this trackbackless blogger for saying he should pull his fucking head in.

[UPDATE – *Actually, he was right on this point. It took me far too long to get comments etc. going on this site, because I was too busy building blogs for other people like Tom Watson and Boris Johnson. IMO, for a while, in the very early days, blogs could still be blogs without comments, but this ended as conversation technology became widely accessible. ‘Witless’ etc. was a bit harsh, too. My bad. Cheers, Bill.]

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Date
20040807
Appeals
Time
15:53
The Circle Line Party was grrrrreat. I may report in full on Monday, but for now I have a favour to ask on behalf of one person who had a not-so-great time:

If anyone who went to the Circle Line Party witnessed the arrest of the gentleman in the green t-shirt (or the exchange with the police officer that preceded it) at or around 8.50pm at Sloane Square station, please get in touch with me via my main email address:

manic at bloggerheads DOT com

It seems the police are making some quite ridiculous claims, so we’ll need a few witnesses to set things straight. (And, yes, someone is already chasing up the CCTV footage.)

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Date
20040809
The War on Terror
Time
10:47
Your questions answered…

Were the Pakistan arrests linked to the London raids?: Yes. MI5 had been investigating Mr Khan for some months and had several of his contacts in Britain under surveillance, including Bilal. When details of Mr Khan’s arrest was made public, the police were forced to arrest the suspected cell members in the UK.

A shorter version of this answer reads: Yes. Whoops.

Is Blunkett really mad with the Americans about this?: David Blunkett has issued a barely coded rebuke to President George Bush for issuing a terror alert that resulted in “ridicule”. The Home Secretary went on the offensive to explain why Britain did not follow suit when the US administration issued a warning on information that turned out to be four years old.

A shorter version of this answer reads: Yes. But only because they made him look stupid.

Have the Bush administration learned anything from this?: Washington reacted by disclosing still more data…. An unnamed military official told Time that there were benefits to spreading panic in terrorist ranks. “People get flushed out and when that happens other people get nervous. As they start to move, they talk and we hear them. It’s like hunting birds: you scare ’em up, they run then you shoot them.”

A shorter version of this answer reads: No. Duh.

Incidentally, new spin is due from Washington any day now – and could well take hold. The reason Al Qaeda is being targeted in the run-up to the election is because they plan to strike during that election.

Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? The only thing that’s hard to explain is why this reason wasn’t mentioned before now. Oh, and why Osama bin Laden became not-so-much-a-priority-as-Saddam for close to two bloody years.

Heathrow…

Only the Moonie Times is hanging on to scraps of this, but it’s worth noting how the story (almost) grew legs via Reuters and Bloomberg. Were there a little more panic and a little less healthy scepticism, it could well have become reality by this morning. Not that it isn’t for about a million or so devoted Scum readers, who are unlikely to see any form of correction or retraction…

Bloomberg – Al-Qaeda’s U.K. Leader Planned Heathrow Attack, Times Reports: A senior al-Qaeda member in the U.K., alleged to have been in the final stages of planning an attack on London’s Heathrow airport, has been arrested by British police, the London-based Times reported, citing unidentified intelligence officials in Pakistan.

Reuters – Terror detainee targeted Heathrow: A senior al Qaeda figure planning to attack Heathrow airport was among 12 terrorism suspects arrested in Britain two days ago, newspapers report. None of the papers quoted a named source and all differed in details, but most linked the arrests with recent swoops in Pakistan and this week’s alert in New York and Washington.

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Date
20040809
RWCs
Time
10:49
For the least week or so, Blogdex has been close-to-overwhelmed by a variety of posts, articles and plugs for books/sites/ads that question John Kerry’s military service record in Vietnam. The latest question that has the wingnuts foaming at the mouth is “Was Kerry in Cambodia?” – and of course, if they can prove that, they can declare victory. Kerry wasn’t in a certain area of Vietnam when he says he was! And Bush wasn’t in a certain areas of Texas when he says he was!

See? They cancel each other out completely.

Another wonderful bit of balance comes to us in the form of the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, who are meant to act as an antidote to the vile poison of the veterans who support John Kerrys’ hateful and unnecessary campaign to unseat that great world leader George W. Bush. You may want to read up on this ‘independent’ and ‘self motivated’ group. They certainly appear to have some interesting ties:

Salon.com – Smear Boat Veterans for Bush: The “swift boat” veterans attacking John Kerry’s war record are led by veteran right-wing operatives using the same vicious techniques they used against John McCain four years ago.

CHB – Anti-Kerry Vets Driven by Longtime GOP Operative, Bankrolled by Bush Cronies

More from Disinfopedia.

The final word I leave to R. H. Blanchard.

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Date
20040809
Religion
Time
10:55
Unusual Churches and Cults reviews/blogs more whacked-out religions than you can poke a stick at. Including mine, which is nice.

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Date
20040809
NSFW
Time
10:58
I hope they’re not serious….

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Date
20040809
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
10:59
Guardian – Forget the bloggers, it’s the vloggers showing the way on the internet ! You heard it here first, folks. The simple wish to communicate has been outmoded yet again by another sexy bit of tech! (Nice to see Steve get a plug, though…)

UPDATE – Try not to get too excited about MT Tabs.

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Date
20040809
Funny
Time
11:01
Build a better Bush. Should keep you distracted for all of 10 seconds.

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Date
20040809
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh s**t!
Time
11:07
Martial law is on the way, government censorship is already happening, the death penalty has been reinstated, moderate cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is suffering from a life-threatening illness and arrest warrants have been issued for both Chalabis (the one who helped the US with the WMD claims and the one who’s presiding over the trial of Saddam Hussein).

At times like this I thank the Lord that this perilous step in the Middle East was taken with international cooperation that allowed us to leave behind a strong and renewed Iraq that rests on a solid foundation and is able to handle life’s little challenges.

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Date
20040809
Circle Line Party III
Time
11:47
Circle Line Party III got a massive response (and this morning wakes up to find itself blogged), but it was obviously too crowded, and a decision had been reached (and spread through the party) that we were to split into two groups – but when we reached the Sloane Sq, the police were waiting.

I don’t know who talked to them about it, but the police seemed OK to let us just split into two groups and be on our merry way, but then the Undergound staff got involved, lost patience very quickly and insisted 1) that the train go nowhere until they decided on what to do and 2) that um, yes, we empty the train.

We don’t know what to do with it, so let’s just be rid of it.

The excuses I heard were technical problems and someone being ill on a train stuck behind ours (which wasn’t true).

So, there were all standing around doing nothing, not having fun, sweating a lot and pissing of commuters. This wasn’t part of the plan. So…

The only thing that got people off the train? A promise that came from somewhere that we had to let this train move on so we could be allowed to split up amongst the next ones. Partygoers trusted this and passed it on. I was one of them. (It needs to be noted that the train could not have been emptied without the partygoers organising this themselves.)

Mostly the authorities looked lost. Maybe they know how to deal with passive crowds (move along now, sir) or aggressive ones (resisting arrest, are we sir?) but not happy ones.

Anyway, we did as they asked and the result was a packed platform, but if we all kept our heads and stuck to the plan, half/some of us could get onto the next Circle Line (or even available) train to ease up pressure on this station (priority one), allow the trains behind us to proceed (priority two) and then get on with the party (priority three).

Only problem was, someone had decided the party was over. Suddenly trains were going through and not stopping. Past a *packed* platform, even at slow speed, this was pretty dodgy and getting dodgier with each passing train (a subdued but ugly ‘booo’ went up when the first Circle Line train did this).

Had we been allowed to split into two groups and proceed, there would have been no danger to anybody (and a much better experience for partygoers and commuters).

Whoever made the decision to stop the party (seemingly at near-to-all costs – at a station with a platform narrowed by building works) fucked up. And the platform only cleared as quickly as it did because there was a ‘pass it on’ distributed by partygoers about moving on, ‘wandering’ off and continuing at a specific time/location.

They couldn’t have evacuated the station without us. But they kept it closed for a further hour or so, just to look like they were doing something, I suppose. Or collect evidence for the attempted murder that took place (dun-dun-dahhhhhhh!).

One of the party-goers lost his footing and ended up putting his dirty, grubby hands on a policeman. This quickly turned into a claim that he had actually pushed him onto the tracks. When this (allegedly) happened, something like 200+ people were still on the platform, and nobody saw anything like this happen. (An arrest was made and CCTV footage is being sought, but we’re still looking for witnesses if you saw the exchange and/or arrest.)

The police and/or Underground staff caused the problems on that platform, and the only solutions (proposed and working) came from the partygoers themselves.

(Incidentally, if there’s ever a panic-causing situation on the Underground, they’d best pray for a few smart commuters being on hand to give some sensible advice. The tannoy system they have going can’t even be heard above the background noise of a *quiet* crowd and their staff’s crowd-handling skills ain’t worth shit.)

Happy news? The split had already started. There was a large group that had got off at Victoria and subsequently didn’t get stopped by some pigheaded jobsworth. This reformed into a party that proceeded happily in an anti-clockwise direction. Some people from the interrupted party stuck around outside Sloane Square to be hassled by a comically large police presence (which eventually dwindled to allow this party to proceed also). A group of us made our way to the whispered rendezvous and this chapter of the party renewed itself successfully and completed a full lap of the Circle Line in the traditional clockwise direction. Both train-based parties managed to meet up afterwards, and a fine time was had by all.

UPDATE – A short report from Geoff, who failed to see me not seeing him.

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Date
20040809
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:49
A political weblog aggregator has just launched. So has a proxy-blog for Glenda Jackson.

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Date
20040809
The War on Stupid
Time
13:34
Victory is ours! The zone is owned.

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Date
20040809
The End of Democracy
Time
13:49
Some shenanigans of a hi-tech and low-tech variety for you to ponder on. To think of all that campaign money that’s just going to waste when the result has already been decided… makes you want to cry, doesn’t it?

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Date
20040809
Compare and Contrast
Time
16:02
Comparing the treatment of Khan and Krar should tell you just about everything you need to know about the Bush administration’s approach to terror (and the vital role the media plays).

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Date
20040809
Tony Blair
Time
16:36
BBC – Labour group urges new direction: “We did think Blair would…renew social democracy. We were wrong,” says Renewal’s next edition’s editorial. It adds: “Iraq is Blair’s poll tax, a… breach of trust, demonstration of arrogance and strategic blunder for which the party as a whole is paying.”

More from The UK Today.

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Date
20040809
In The News
Time
17:01
You won’t be quite so calm when you realise that it’s recycled Prozac…

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Date
20040809
Inneresting
Time
17:32
I was trying to find/remember the name of an early arcade game when I stumbled upon this collector/dealer website and this fantastic arcade game from 1942.

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Date
20040810
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
09:32
Thanks to lies and spin (plus something I like to call ‘selective transparency’) about BSE under the previous government and MMR and WMD under the current government, releasing a simple and safe vaccine has become problematic. At least, that’s the spin.

You read that right, folks. The government is telling us that the vaccine is totally safe, but they’re concerned that people won’t trust it because they lie so often. And if you find yourself doubting the army of doctors, experts and department heads that have come out of the woodwork in the last few days, then turn instead to the page you love most in the one newspaper you can trust:

One Page 3 of today’s super immunosuppressant Sun, Katie (19, from Liverpool, who is wearing a lovely pair of medical-issue panties and little else) says she understands parents’ concerns over the new five-in-one jab. She then goes on to say: “Tony Blair has done the right thing by publicly reassuring mums and dads. The experts seem to agree that the five-in-one jab is a positive step, so I think most people will put their faith in the Government.”

Must. Believe. Girl. With. Boobies.

Must. Place. Faith. In. Government.

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Date
20040810
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
09:34
Guardian – The blog busters : Mighty corporations ignore the whispers on web diaries at their peril. Sean Hargrave reports on how the big brands are logging on to save face.

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Date
20040810
The War on Terror
Time
10:01
London News review – Terrorism: how many warnings is too many?: Threatening people is precisely what (Bush is) doing. Terrorism’s the right word for it. An up-against-it President Bush is trying to scare the electorate into keeping the Republican Guard in charge. It’s disgraceful, really it is. Listen to how he measures his presidency by the “job” he has to do, leading the fight against terror: “We will stay there until the job is completed and our commanders on the ground tell us.” Bush has even started calling himself “the war president” – just listen to this amazing statement: “I wish it wasn’t this way. I wish I wasn’t the war president. Who in the heck wants to be a war president? I don’t.” You’ve got to tip your hat to his speech writers – that’s a particularly neat trick: affirming that Bush is “the war president” while suggesting that he is only such by force of circumstance. The same force of circumstance that is forcing Bush to remain at the helm until the “job is completed.” Which it won’t ever be because the War on Terror is unending. Brilliant.

Tom Tomorrow – Using the threat of terrorism to scare voters: all of September will be “National Preparedness Month”: Other September Surprises: a whole “educate the family” campaign, with kits available at various retailers; an in-school “Ready Deputy” duck-and-cover training program; and a website called Readykids.gov (not yet online), all launched in the first week. Brilliance. Tie the concept of Bush’s only winning issue to family and children. Unspoken, deniable implication: “vote for Bush if you want your kids to live.” Nice.

And of course it’s those of us pointing out the dangers of this ongoing manipulation of the terror threat that:

1 – Do not believe in the threat

2 – Cause people to lose trust in the government

3 – Make the threat worse

Heathrow…

The LNR piece links to this wonderful ‘bull-becomes-reality’ article:

rediff.com – Al Qaeda planned to attack Heathrow airport: Al Qaeda’s British cell planned to attack London’s Heathrow airport. This became clear after British agents arrested ‘Bilal,’ the man suspected of heading the Al Qaeda cell in Britain earlier this week.

Of course, it had only become ‘clear’ that this was the case after this ‘journalist’ had read an article in the Times, but to give it more credence he/she/it also references two articles in the Guardian and the New York Times – the only problem being that the former article makes no mention of Heathrow and the latter article only says: The leader of the House of Commons, Peter Hain, told British Broadcasting Corporation radio that those detained in London on Tuesday had been “important arrests.” But Mr. Hain declined to comment on reports in some publications that they had involved a plot against Heathrow Airport.

PS – When he says “some publications,” he really means “two publications owned by the same man that have willingly fed the public our lies since before we took power” – but this quote was obviously edited for reasons of space.

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Date
20040810
Consume!
Time
10:06
Start ’em young!

Incidentally, McDonalds recently started airing two minute educational commercials aimed at very young kiddies. You can make all the grown-up arguments you like about what the intentions are and how Ronald McDonald never says ‘hamburgers are good for you,’ but what a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that this is playing to two audiences:

1. Mum – Sees full message. Feels reassured about McDonalds. Stops writing angry letters.

2. Child – Sees; health + clown. Clown=McDonald’s. Therefore; McDonald’s=Health

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Date
20040810
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:20
More Kerry-bashing, plus:

Every issue of the Toronto Star from 1892-2001 in PDF format. Plus a search engine to help you find what you’re looking for. Other newspapers, please take note.

4 charged in Florida killings over Xbox. No doubt because the X-Box was evil. And the clothes. The clothes were evil, too.

Koko the gorilla calls for a dentist. Awwwww. That’s so cute, I forgot to ask why it’s been 20 years since her first full medical examination.

Psychologists try to learn how to spot a liar. Turns out liars have no reliable tell-tale signs. Conclusion? Anybody not showing any tell-tale signs is lying to you. And that includes you, you bastard.

UPDATE – Oh, I’m sorry. Did I skip over the Kerry-bashing? OK, here’s a link for you; one of the authors of this book is a hardcore Freeper.

Go and browse through the related freep threads before they’re pulled. (FreeRepublic tend to be rather gutless about things like this, and pull threads the moment their own poison starts to work against them.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
10:28
The Washington Post is having a best blog competition. Must be the season for them or something.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
Inneresting
Time
10:32
“Do Not Enter” signs from around the world.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
11:09
Reuters – Lynndie England abuse hearing halts: Lawyers for England renewed a request for top U.S. government and military officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to be called to testify… (hearing officer Colonel Denise Arn) said she would rule on the additional witnesses and resume the hearing as soon as possible but gave no indication when that might be.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
George W. Bush
Time
11:19
Journalists laugh at Bush, to his face. The cracks are finally showing (mind you, the one in his skull has been visible from Day One).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
Cool
Time
11:39
Cool website with nifty jingle. (Doesn’t work in Firefox, sorry.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
Circle Line Party III
Time
12:03
More reports, comments, pictures and video.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040810
Tony Blair’s Email
Time
16:27
I decided that enough was enough this afternoon and advised the two biggest abusers of not-Blair’s email address (i.e. the people who hammer it week-in, week-out) that they’ve been wasting their time these past 3-4 years. These are two Very Serious People that each take an opposing view on the Israel/Palestine question. I’m not looking forward to the replies, but at least the deed is done.

Peter Broderick is more of a problem. This is a man on the edge, with a unique view of the world. I’m not sure how well he’d cope with this particular reality. Still, the last email he sent was over a month ago, so perhaps he has finally switched medication….

From: Pete Broderick

To: clu@fco.gov.uk, kay.sweet@fco.gov.uk, marrena.marren@fco.gov.uk, paul.mowat@fco.gov.uk, tony-blair@prime-minister.co.uk

Subject: Health and safety

Date: 6/7/2004 9:25:11 am

Hi,

Questions have to be asked, of the like so fthe GMC, BMA, BMJ, UKCC, RCN, etc when it comes to the amount of hours junior doctors are expected to do over weekends, when from a friday to a Monday junior doctors are expected to be on call over one hundred hours at a stretch, leading to a situation where consultants can vend cocaine to the junior doctors.

This fee nominal lack of regard by the medical bodies, and their doctoring fee loss of fees proves that health and safety are not paramount in their agenda, but actuallly dragging the NHS into disrepute, with regards the Maastricht treaty and the social charter/chapter. Such an approach by the medical bodies is fostering a drug dependency culture, if it hadn’t happened last year I would have suggested that they would be offering amphetamines to the airforces of NATO, to try and take a few out, especially as TOP GUN has probably been repeated on TV recently.

AN NHS with a (w)holistic approach to healthcare and illness prevention would be far better than the current NHS that we have.

The Royal Arches of medicine, still do not support the principle of the NHS and would prefer healthcare to be more commercial, currently the Royal Arches, want the pharmacist to be a person, most NI holders see every week, and they have designs of a crazy paving to take you from being smacked by a medic the minute your born, into a home when you retire, so that your house goes to the owner of the home.

That’s just the way it is

Pete Broderick

Pls could could you actually try and stop these fifth columnists or do you need the help of those that give a shit?

UPDATE – No, I tell a lie. I just found this one that also explains his recent absence…

From: Pete Broderick

To: clu@fco.gov.uk, kay.sweet@fco.gov.uk, marrena.marren@fco.gov.uk, paul.mowat@fco.gov.uk, tony-blair@prime-minister.co.uk

Subject: Industrial espionage

Date: 23/7/2004 8:12:54 am

Hi,

Institute of Directors v CBI

Small retail outlets are being distributed

contaminated alcohol.

1980’s ID knocked out CBI and small business through

the Commercial poll tax.

On Wednesday I drank four cans of tennants super Bar

code 5010017046880 #10010000049/83 T4AA10D

They were contaminated with Prozac+.

This then linked with drink spiking that is going on

the pubs.

The distribution seems to coincide with when ITN’s

Patrick Hubbard concentrates on bINge dr inking.

If it goes unchecked other food sources might also be

targeted.

I have also to contact my local police on a seperate

matter, again there has been an attepmt to break into

my flat.

With Respect

Pete Broderick

And, as we all know by now, Pete may actually have been onto something about that Prozac.

UPDATE 2 – Oh dear, the account seems to be overloaded again… and now I’ve done a bit of a clean-up, some of the backlog is coming in – including at least 8 more emails from Mr Broderick. No matter. I’m sure they’ll keep until tomorrow. (Unless he’s rumbled yet another dastardly plot to poison our beer supply!)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Tony Blair’s Email
Time
09:30
After yesterday’s revelation from Mr Broderick:

…I drank four cans of tennants super Bar

code 5010017046880 #10010000049/83 T4AA10D

They were contaminated with Prozac+.

This then linked with drink spiking that is going on

the pubs.

… Pooons got in touch with the following:

Reading the blog about Mr Broderick reminded me of a story a friend

in London told me a few years ago.

She was working as an alcohol counsellor, and the service she worked

for noticed that of all the drinkers they had on file, 90-odd percent

that died drank Tennants Super. The ones drinking Special Brew, etc

seemed to be fine.

A letter to the brewers garnered little response. Completely

unprovable sadly, but you should drop Mr B a line and suggest he

change his poison!

That’s all very interesting, but surely the proof of Mr B’s theory would be that these people died *happily*…

Besides, whatever Pete may or may not be dosed-up on certainly doesn’t appear to be hindering his problem-solving abilities:

From: Pete Broderick

To: uk@un.int , usa@un.int , tony-blair@prime-minister.co.uk , turkey@un.int , smillar@nato-pa.int , so2mr@arrc.nato.int , spain@un.int , slovakia@un.int , slovenia@un.int , romania@un.int , rusun@un.int , poland@un.int , portugal@un.int , president@kremlin.ru , president@whitehouse.gov , press@hq.nato.int , paul.mowat@fco.gov.uk , natodoc@hq.nato.int , netherlands@un.int , luxembourg@un.int , latvia@un.int , lithuania@un.int , italy@un.int , iceland@un.int , hungary@un.int , greece@un.int , france@un.int , estonia@un.int , dims-pia@hq-nato.int , dims.pia@hq-nato.int , delun@mfa.no , denmark@un.int , czechrepublic@un.int , bulgaria@un.int , canada@un.int , belgium@un.int , gerhard.schroeder@bundestag.de , germany@un.int , clu@fco.gov.uk

Subject: NATO & Expansion

Date: 29/7/2004 11:51:16 am

With Respect,

Hi,

Along with the political expansion of the Twenty seven

Countries of the RCN, has developed a geographical

progression, with the thawing of Tundra, in Siberia,

and Greenland.

Both pieces of land should be developed to be used by

NATO, in the first instance.

Denmark, for instance could be awarded 10% of the

contracts, on a home grown basis, with the other

member nations offering 3% each, ditto in Siberia, 10%

of the contracts designated by the Kremlin, and each

other NATO member responsible for approx 3% each.

NATO/RCN should look to Modify the name of the

organization, to include membership of Commenwealth

states, especially Australia/NZ. with the plans of the

PRC in mind, and Arab alliance, that is looking to

form allegiance, with regards the redevelopment of

Iraq.

This org. can then contract services in a professional

manner to the twenty eight bodies of the UN.

On a business basis, is also how professional

preachers have to be dealt with, as they show a

starkling lack of appreciation of patriotism.

Rapid Deployment should be a comprehensive issue, not

just in the resource deployment of troops, but also

assets from Procurement to competitive tenders, and

regional rejuvination.

Finally Sharon is looking to flood the Israeli army

with mercenary troops, a hidden message of his

DIASPORA comments ditto Saddam, his 8/8 posting to the

Iraqi UN Mission 2001, and his repeated emphasis in

the final few paragraphs, regarding aeroplanes.

Business will now look to contaminate every aspect of

the Madrid Treaty, from the bilateral talks, through

the multitrack process.

Again, With Respect

Pete Broderick

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Compare and Contrast
Time
09:32
Michael Howard: “I’ve got my rights” is the verbal equivalent of two-fingers to authority. There is now a palpable sense of outrage that “so-called” human rights have tipped the balance of justice in favour of the criminal and the wrong-doer – rather than the victim and the law abider. The decline of responsibility and the proliferation of rights have left us in an ethical quagmire, which is undermining our fight against crime. The clear distinction between right and wrong has been lost in sociological mumbo-jumbo and politically correct nonsense.

Deborah Coles: “The death of a 14-year-old while in and custody of the state is shocking and highlights the dangerous consequences of locking up children. The Home Secretary can no longer resist the call for a public inquiry into the treatment of children by the criminal justice system. He must take action to address what is a serious and disturbing human rights issue� the death and suffering of children while in the custody of the state.”

(Image posted to B3ta.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:22
Look up.

Look down. (Note – all images leached from yannarthusbertrand.com)

Look out!

Everything else is Kerry-Kerry-Kerry… which I’d like to have a little chat about if that’s OK with you. The first thing you need to see is that this isn’t charting organically. This is a co-ordinated push of information. This article does worry me some – but what worries me more is where the link support is coming from. In case you haven’t noticed, almost every Kerry-bashing or Bush-supporting chart-topper on Blogdex begins its life (or its link support) at either Drudge or Instapundit. Hardly a natural groundswell.

Now, let’s compare this whole ‘question of service’ thing with the Bush AWOL question. The Torygraph has an interesting angle…

Telegraph – Nuanced? Kerry’s story just doesn’t add up: The point is, even if it were true, it fits the Bush narrative: he was a lackadaisical son of privilege who goofed around, drank too much, found Jesus, sobered up and got his life together. If you’ve got 30-year-old pictures of him dancing naked on a bar in Mexico when he was supposed to be back at the air base, so what? It’s compatible with the official version. That’s Bush: the bad stuff still fits the picture.

Bush is/was an idiot. Therefore it’s water off a duck’s back. Works for me. No need to mention that he’s the (now reluctant) War President who never faced a shot fired in anger (unless there’s some coke-deal-gone-wrong that we don’t know about).

Another comparison worth making is the number of witnesses that have come forward in this case. In Bush’s case, the AWOL question was national news, but the only positive ‘witness’ they could dig up was professional letter-writer William Campenni – who never actually saw anything. Kerry, on the other hand, has backers – and knockers – that have known him for years. FFS, at least someone remembers he was *there* – even if some right-wing activists (who just happen to have deep and long-standing Republican connections and just happen to enjoy Republican funding) wish to cast doubt and sling mud with what appears to be a pack of carefully-crafted lies.

Jim Rassman – John Kerry saved my life. Now his heroism is being questioned: Nobody asked me to join John’s campaign. Why would they? I am a Republican, and for more than 30 years I have largely voted for Republicans. I volunteered for his campaign because I have seen John Kerry in the worst of conditions. I know his character. I’ve witnessed his bravery and leadership under fire. And I truly know he will be a great commander in chief. Now, 35 years after the fact, some Republican-financed Swift Boat Veterans for Bush are suddenly lying about John Kerry’s service in Vietnam; they are calling him a traitor because he spoke out against the Nixon administration’s failed policies in Vietnam. Some of these Republican-sponsored veterans are the same ones who spoke out against John at the behest of the Nixon administration in 1971. But this time their attacks are more vicious, their lies cut deep and are directed not just at John Kerry, but at me and each of his crewmates as well. This hate-filled ad asserts that I was not under fire; it questions my words and Navy records. This smear campaign has been launched by people without decency, people who don’t understand the bond of those who serve in combat.

My advice is as it has always been. If a link on Blogdex raises an eyebrow, always look to see where the support comes from.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
10:24
I really wish these people would do their research before rushing in with stuff like this….

—– Original Message —–

From: “Jeff Shakoor”

To: manic AT bloggerheads.com

Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 7:38 PM

Subject: FOX TV seeking Star Wars families for “Trading Spouses”

–> My name is Jeff Shakoor. I’m a casting associate at Rocket Science Labs

–> here in Hollywood. We are currently producing the new hit reality show

–> “Trading Spouses” for FOX and are currently seeking a Star Wars family for

–> our second season. We were hoping you could be of some assistance in

–> helping us find this talented and interesting family. If you know of anyone

–> who might be interested could you please have them send the names and ages

–> of everyone in their family who would like to participate along with a photo

–> in jpeg format to jshakoor@rocketscience.com. All children must be five

–> years of age or older and all applicants must be legal US residents. If you

–> have any questions please feel free to contact us. The show airs Tuesdays

–> at eight on FOX. Thanks in advance for any help you could provide us.

–>

–> Jeffrey Shakoor

–> Rocket Science Labs

1. I’m not sure, but I think I’m supposed to leap up and say; “Me! Me! I’m interesting and talented!” and in the process forget to ask for money.

2. Trading Spouses? Was Wife Swap too hardcore, or do you perhaps have more interesting plans for that title?

3. Let me guess, you plan (ha ha ha) to swap the wives (ho ho ho) from a Star Wars (ha ha) and a Star Trek (ho ho) family. Oh, do stop, please. You’re killin’ me here…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Inneresting
Time
10:36
Take a look at some bloopers from Bewitched, then – while you’re in the mood – take a peek at who owns gladyskravitz.com…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Consume!
Time
10:39
Get your face or photo onto a stamp without all that doing a great public service and dying malarkey.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
Christianity Watch
Time
10:40
“Why are you helping me?”

I think I may have the answer to that question, but I’ll let you work it out for yourselves…

UPDATE – Jesusify your website with these fabbo linky-tract thingies. Highlights include the truth behind martial arts and rock music.

(Latter link via Ultimate Insult.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
The Big Intervention
Time
10:42
Independent – Blair faces vote of no-confidence over war: Labour activists are circulating a resolution of no confidence in Tony Blair for next month’s annual party conference because of a loss of trust in him over the war over Iraq.

This is exactly what The Big Intervention was designed to do/create/prompt. If you want to take advantage of this development, check out this update from The UK Today.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040811
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
14:05
Hutton fails to find leak culprit shock! His ‘urgent’ investigation took 196 days to complete. And makes no findings whatsoever. And is followed by a two finger salute by Trevor Kavanagh of all people. It’s laughable.

But, hey… it’s six months down the track and the Olympics start in a day or two. Who’s going to care?

(Heads-up via Wibbler.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
The War on Terror
Time
10:28
Heads-up via this post at The UK Today….

Independent – Terror suspects lose detention challenge: Ten suspected terrorists detained in the UK without charge or trial today lost a Court of Appeal challenge to their internment. Most of the foreign nationals at the centre of the ruling in London have been held in prisons since 2001. Two of the ten have exercised their option to leave the UK rather than remain in detention. The men challenged a ruling of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) that Home Secretary David Blunkett had “sound material” to back up his decision that they were a risk to national security. Their lawyers had argued that evidence obtained by alleged torture of detainees in US camps should have been excluded by SIAC.

The Scotsman today has a few word from the men’s solicitor, Gareth Peirce: Ms Peirce pointed out that, while British citizens could not be locked up indefinitely, foreign nationals could be detained on mere suspicion of being a threat to national interests, which could include economic interests as well as security.

But that nice Mr Blunkett has assured us that he has used these (new) powers “sparingly and proportionately.” Basically, we should not be concerned about these draconian laws, because they’re only being used – most reluctantly – by people who are quite nice, really, and looking out for our best interests. It’s because the spectre of terror is so very, very scary that these only-very-slightly-scary measures are being taken.

We should also try not to be concerned about the following quote, also from Gareth Peirce: “It shows that we have completely lost our way in this country, legally and morally. We have international treaty obligations which prevent the use of evidence obtained by torture in any proceedings (but) what this judgment says by a two-to-one majority is that, if it is obtained by agents of another country and not procured or connived at by UK agents, it is usable without any restriction and there is no obligation on the secretary of state to inquire into the origins of it.”

We’ll get onto Blunkett’s bleating in a moment. In the meantime, it needs to pointed out that no statement he has made so far directly addresses the question of the rights and wrongs of evidence obtained by torture.

Independent– Evidence gained by torture allowed by British judges: From Lord Justice Laws’ judgement: ‘I am quite unable to see that any … principle prohibits the Secretary of State from relying … on evidence … which has or may have been obtained by torture by agencies of other states over which he has no powers of direction’

OK, let’s go to the bleating…

Independent – David Blunkett: Freedom from terrorist attack is also a human right – in which he claims that he’s protecting our human rights by ignoring theirs – but he’s also looking out for theirs by detaining them and not sending them home. As for comparisons between Belmarsh and Guantanamo? Pshaw! Absurd! They use orange jumpsuits, we use grey. (Please note that one of the ‘safeguards’ he cites is the option he also points out that many detainees do not have.)

Besides, he says, it’s not as if he’s pulling people off the street for the hell of it: “It is not as David Blunkett that I act to protect national security, but as Home Secretary. And act I must to prevent foreign nationals who we believe are international terrorists, but are unable to deport, from remaining at large in the UK.”

Yep, that’s our David. Calm, responsible and detached. Especially when it comes to terrorism.

And of course it needs to be pointed out that he’s not arresting people willy-nilly: “I deeply resent the inference in The Independent’s leading article on Tuesday that taking decisive measures to protect the country against terrorism – and the measures have protected us – is somehow to deny those very rights. I want a rational debate but based on facts. It is wrong to claim – as the media has this week – only 14 people have been charged out of more than 600 arrested under counter-terrorism laws. In fact, about half of those who have been picked up under the Terrorism Act 2000 have been charged with differing offences – 97 of them under the Terrorism Act itself. Under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) 2001, 17 people have been certified, 12 of them are still detained.”

Please note the two-step. He refutes the Independent’s human rights argument because of an ‘erroneous’ claim over how many were charged. If we refer to the article in question, you will note that it claims something lese entirely: Of more than 500 arrested under the Terrorism Act of 2000, just 14 have so far been convicted.

He’s the Home Secretary and he doesn’t know the difference between a charge and a conviction? That calls for a repeat of this link, so it does.

But even if we let this slide, we need to take a look at the ‘about half’ bluff: “In fact, about half of those who have been picked up under the Terrorism Act 2000 have been charged with differing offences – 97 of them under the Terrorism Act itself.”

1. ‘About half’ is not half. Technically it could be ‘more than half,’ but if it were then you would have said that. So is ‘about half’ 290? 240? What? Give me a number, please.

2. 97 charged under the Terrorism Act, hmm? What were the other 100-200 people charged with, then? Littering? I hear that’s an arrestable offence these days.

As for calls for a rational debate, it’s not us defending every move (or hiding from every crisis) with claims that the fucking sky is about to fall. And it’s not us who magically process ‘suspected of having connections to groups who may be involved in terrorism because of what some guy strapped to a board in Guantanamo said’ into ‘people we believe to be international terrorists’…

Beware the lies. Beware the creep.

(A large version of this image has been posted to B3ta.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
Flash Games
Time
10:41
Two cool games via The Ultimate Insult:

Shoot the Cliche is a sad in-joke that starts slow, but gets more challenging as time goes by. (It doesn’t get funnier, it just gets more challenging.)

Herculympics follows a very simple rule; take a retro game and add a twist. Prepare to break your keyboard….

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:46
Not-the-Real-Jim-Cousins has a meeting lined up with the real Jim Cousins!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:59
National Lampoon turn their attention to MoveOn.org

The Onion: Delivering the central speech of his 10-day “Solution For America” bus campaign tour Monday, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry outlined his one-point plan for a better America: the removal of George W. Bush from the White House.

Terror searches meet censorship – man almost has book confiscated ‘for his own safety’…

Torygraph – Hand over nuclear weapons and know-how, Iran tells Britain. We’re saying no, yes?

CNN – Wedding guest eat victim. I hope they remembered to keep a slice for luck.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
The War on Stupid
Time
11:16
Rob D noticed that the home page of Labour Party in Shepherds Bush points to what used to be the Hounslow Labour Party website. Sadly, whoever was in charge of renewing the domain hounslowlabour.org forgot to pay the bill and a move to labourinhounslow.org was necessary. What is now at hounslowlabour.org is a very useful guide to pay-as-you-go porn sites.

However, despite this being brought to their attention and reported once or twice, they have yet to chase down and update external links from many other Labour websites. (Not that this is easy to do. With so many of them hiding their content behind frames, a simple Googling of the URL is unlikely to detect every link. Can I perhaps suggest you take a peek at your old referral logs?)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
A Blog is Born
Time
11:17
Meet Rachel, friend of Poons.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
George W. Bush
Time
11:20
As George himself might say; “It was the picture that was heard around the world…”

George W. Bush sucker-punches a rugby opponent at Yale.

UPDATE – Would plugging this t-shirt reveal a horrendous (if gratifying) double-standard?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
No, Really…
Time
12:19
Woman thrown overboard for refusing to share her breastmilk.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
13:01
Independent – Hutton leak inquiry ‘is yet another whitewash’: Richard Ottaway, a Conservative frontbench spokesman who questioned Dr Kelly when he was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: “This is not only a second whitewash. It is a complete waste of the taxpayers’ money. Everyone knows it was No 10.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
Photoshopping
Time
13:45
Intelligence gained under torture is admissible in our courts – so long as we didn’t do the torturing…..

I’m still getting over that. Here’s a picture I made to help me cope.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
14:20
Washington Post – The Post on WMDs: An Inside Story – Prewar Articles Questioning Threat Often Didn’t Make Front Page.

I can’t possibly improve on the comments by Atrios and Rising Hegemon.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040812
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
15:16
I did warn ‘Ivor’ about posting in first-person, even in jest. Not that it’s confusing (it only confuses the very stupid) but more because it provides justification for this kind of hard-done-by reaction. So, a gentle slap on the wrist for ‘Ivor’ and a quick “get over yourself” for David Lepper for this effort….

MP hits back over spoof weblog: The Pavilion MP has become the latest victim of a national campaign to ‘blackmail’ politicians into starting web log (blog) online diaries. Some of the “proxy-blogs” are openly hostile to the targeted MP and Mr Lepper will now consider legal action to get the site removed…. Dr Nick Palmer, secretary of the all-party Parliamentary internet group, said: “Blackmailing MPs into creating blogs is not the best way. If they want the MP to blog, they should get in touch and ask.”

Ex-squeeze me? I’ve been in touch. I’ve asked aplenty. I may not have talked with the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group but:

1 – They haven’t approached me, either.

2 – I think I had them on my hassle list, but they didn’t appear to do much apart from talk (and their site still uses frames, so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of forward thinking).

As for the whole “David Lepper is a serious and dedicated MP” thing, perhaps his web presence should reflect that.

The blackmail/victim/culprit language deserves a slap too, but what really gets me is “there has been a growth of genuine blogs by MPs following successful internet campaigns in the United States” – when the US model is highly flawed and had nothing to do with this growth. In fact, the first elected officials to start blogging started right here in the UK. And the only reason this campaign is necessary is because the flawed top-down model might yet be adopted here (as the general election looms ever closer and silly money comes into play).

Mr Brendan Montague should check a few of his facts (and perhaps do a little research) before he plays journalist again.

UPDATE – I know, I know – flies and honey. But this kind of ignorance really gets me down. Incidentally, you may wish to take a look at the fabulous website of Nick Palmer, the man who is quoted in this article as some kind of Interweb expert. What would happen if I knocked on your door, Nick?

UPDATE 2 – Nick actually answers his email, so I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt when he tells me that the quote attributed to him was used rather (ahem) selectively. However, he needs to take a closer look at weblogs before he decides what they are.

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Date
20040813
Civil Liberties
Time
10:22
(Image posted to B3ta.)

Just what in the hell is going on here?

On Wednesday, it was established that evidence obtained by torture is admissible in our courts (as long as it’s not us doing the torturing).

Now – when he’s not bleating to The Scum about the injustice of a criminal winning the lottery – Blunkett is proposing that every offence be an arrestable one!

He would also prefer it if officers could fingerprint you, test your DNA and X-ray you without your knowledge or consent.

Independent – Police to have power to arrest litterbugs

Guardian – Police to get wider arrest powers

Bit Mail-esque, that Indy headline, isn’t it?

OK, let’s try to be sensible and look at this with a cool head…

John Kampfner – This is about politics, not policing: When a government floats changes to the criminal justice system, look for the context as much as the content. The political parties are using the summer to test-run ideas ahead of a frenetic election year. There can be no other reason why David Blunkett has, two days after a speech from Michael Howard, decided to unveil another pot-pourri of ideas in the never-ending “battle” against crime.

But, at the same time, let’s be aware of the creep.

There were certain laws rushed through to target terrorists. Who in their right mind would defend the rights of terrorists?

Oops – these laws were also used to stifle protests – against arms dealers!

There are new police powers designed to crack down on animal rights activists. Who in their right mind would defend the rights of such extremists?

But they apply to you too, Jack. And a law that makes it illegal to protest outside someone’s home technically makes it illegal to protest outside Downing St.

I say again; “Oops!”

Even if they are only headline-grabbers and/or an attempt to dominate the right-field and hamper the Tories – what happens if these ideas take hold? After all, they’re designed to such things as slimy, law-savvy hooligans. Who in their right mind would defend the rights of rampant youths thrusting two fingers at authority?

Certainly not Leah (22, from Hastings) who ‘reckons it’s a good idea’ to make every offence arrestable. She says: “There’s no point just ticking people off. This proposal will make a lot more people stay within the law.”

Ah, yes. As with the ever-developing DNA database and the plan to introduce ID cards (hey, we’re at war, remember), the law-abiding have nothing to fear.

Unless you fear the growth of a police state.

Unless you fear that one day the law may change and put you on the wrong side of it.

And I’m not just talking about making something illegal that you wish/need to do – I’m also talking about making something legal that inconveniences, endangers, or outrages you. (Not that our government would ever, say, pander to the needs to a greedy corporation by approving of morally questionable or unsafe practices.)

The further the creep gets, the less likely it will be that you’ll be able to protest against such things (or anything) effectively.

Currently, if a protest gets to be inconvenient or embarrassing (i.e. if it’s working) the police have to use their imagination with regards to charges and/or goad people into violence. If Blunkett’s proposal’s went through, it would be much easier for police to discourage protestors by making one or two ‘show’ arrests or to displace/disperse protestors by taking them into custody. Embarrassment over little incidents like this will be a thing of the past.

Under Blair, we seem to be forgetting the ‘social’ and getting waaaay out of control on the ‘justice’ – this is especially dangerous in an age where media control is increasingly centralised (and the government becomes more and more adept at controlling it).

What recourse do the public have if they object to the actions/inactions of a corporation or their government and the media are unable or unwilling to highlight the problem?

There are some people who are in this position right now – and the media actually conspire against them. But who in their right mind would defend the rights of rampaging anarchists?

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Date
20040813
How To Think Like An Evil Bastard
Time
10:30
Steal monkeys and put them to work! If you get enough monkeys, you may even be able to get them to knock out a novel on the side.

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Date
20040813
Humanity
Time
10:37
Evangalist’s ‘miracle baby’ scam acts as a front for baby-trafficking. There’s a programme about this on Radio 4 at 12:30pm (GMT) today. You may wish to tune in.

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Date
20040813
Music
Time
10:44
iPod Vs. the Cassette!

‘Stairway to Heaven’ as Schubert would have written it, not to mention Beethoven, Mahler, Miller etc.

The latter brings to mind this fabulous album. I’m proud to say that I not only own a copy, but even keep in the the Regular Rotation library (i.e. not in a box in the attic).

UPDATE – More on the eeeeee-vils of music from Backword.

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Date
20040813
Tolerance
Time
10:49
Oh God, what a mess.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040813
RWCs
Time
10:51
Oh God, what a bunch of asshats.

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Date
20040813
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:28
It seems that this article is mostly the result of a thin-skinned MP and a journalist who wishes to one day write for the Daily Mail.

‘Ivor’ has been in touch about amendments to the David Lepper proxy-blog (i.e. removing/rewriting the ‘first person’ material) but he also points out that this article was written without his knowledge. Mr Brendan Montague didn’t even bother to advise him of the article; much less ask why he had created a proxy-blog. I’d like to think that we have slightly more class than this, so if you do link to this story and/or comment on the writing style, judgement or parentage of Mr Brendan Montague, please do get in touch via mailto:news@theargus.co.uk and let him know why his ears are burning. (UPDATE – Brendan claims to have tried to reach ‘Ivor’ and myself by email and blames deadlines for the inaccuracies. He also requests that any correspondence regarding this article be sent to his direct address. Google hasn’t seen this address yet, so I’ve spamblocked it as a courtesy – brendan DOT montague AT theargus DOT co DOT uk)

Note – It’s worth mentioning the sudden rush of press releases that have followed David Lepper’s discovery of the proxy-blog – and that one of them concerns an issue raised at the blog.

On a more positive note, Nick Palmer has been in touch to defend his choice of publishing platform, which relies heavily on a direct newsletter with a readership approaching 1500 peeps (contents of this newsletter are mirrored on the site).

Nowt wrong with that, but take a look at his main concern about blogging (Nick has asked me to plug his way of doing things, which is why I’m being so liberal with the email quotage):

“I don’t want to write frequent short passing thoughts – I want to chew over issues in depth from time to time, usually about once a week. Because my format is email-driven, a blog approach would mean sending them an email most days. Many would unsubscribe. I could instead invite them to look at the web site when they felt like it, but that would mean that if I wanted to consult them on a current issue I’d be at the mercy of when they next went to have a look.”

Basically, Nick has mistaken capacity with necessity.

A blog would allow him to publish more frequently, but it wouldn’t compel him to. If he wished, he could publish once a week as he had always done and instead of simply sifting through the isolated replies by email (he gets about 300 per newsletter) he could instead bring it to life by inviting comment on the website.

One is a publication, the other is a conversation (which often brings new ideas to the table). There is no need to blog hourly or daily to make this happen.

As an added benefit, this level of interaction with the online community nearly always improves search results (which often brings new people to the table). There is no need to reach thousands of people to make this happen.

Nick seems worried that the site will become inundated with non-constituents, but he doesn’t seem to understand the value of attracting like-minded individuals to his site (i.e. peeps who are interested enough in any given issue to search for more information). I’m sure there’s more than one problem Nick deals with that people outside his constituency may have dealt with before and/or may be able to help with.

Anyway, he knows all this now, so I’ll let you know what he comes back with. (UPDATE – He’s not sold on it yet, but there is hope…)

Moving right along to some excellent news from the proxy blog for Alan Milburn…

Meeting Alan Milburn: Alan seemed very keen for the blog to continue, and was interested in himself and his office taking a more active role, but was reluctant to commit to personally updating the blog before he had a better understanding of how much of a time committment it would be. As a halfway step, one of Alan’s constituency workers is going to start posting items to the blog… in addition to me.

Excellent news. Top banana. Good work that man.

I’ve been kind of slack on Tory-chasing this week, as I’ve had something developing in the background. As soon as I get an answer on this, I’ll be ready to move (or not) on the Tory front.

UPDATE – Julian Bond on Ivor/Lepper Vs. Mike/Milburn

UPDATE – Yes, that’s what we do. We rush straight into blackmail. Because we’re evil. And impatient. And ungrateful.

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Date
20040813
The Bush Administration
Time
11:32
Via Toby….

BBC – Moore embarrasses new CIA chief: Moore, who directed the film Fahrenheit 9/11, has released an interview with Mr Goss in which he says he lacks the qualifications for the top spy post. “I couldn’t get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified,” Mr Goss told Moore’s production company in March. The White House has dismissed the interview as “ridiculous hearsay”.

Ridiculous hearsay direct from the source?

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Date
20040813
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
12:23
Meanwhile, in Iraq…

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Date
20040813
We’re Not At Home To Mr Cock-Up
Time
15:19
I’ll let Annie do the introduction to this wonderful example of customer communication.

It reminds of an idle thought I had the other day about the most interesting request I could make under the Data Protection Act (here’s a handy resource, courtesy of Mark Thomas).

Who do you think would have the most interesting/telling chatter or data relating to little old me and my two stampy feet? SWT? Downing St? The Ecilops?

I can probably only afford one request every month or so, so I’ll have to prioritise. Emails/suggestions to the usual address, please.

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Date
20040813
Distractions
Time
16:54
Crikey! Look at the size of this week’s B3ta newsletter! Oh my… and there’s some very, very rude bits in this latest edition (read a comment from an outraged recipient). If you wish to avoid blushes and go straight to the coolest features, then bikesagainstbush.com, the KFC clones and this very naff/cool Flash version of pool await your attention.

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Date
20040813
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
17:40
Hooray for us, because we’re working to change this.

If you’re an MP, please keep this article and the ‘politics (is) conducted by and for the elite’ comment in mind the next time you prepare to poo-poo our requests or suggest helpfully that perhaps we would care to run for office ourselves. Sneh.

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Date
20040702
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
12:33
Rod, who is currently blogging on behalf of Sarah Teather MP, has applied to be in the audience of this special ‘yoof’ edition of Question Time… where Sarah Teather will be on the panel.

Here’s hoping that the subject of communication with MPs via weblogs gets an airing.

In fact, if you’re a blogger aged 15 to 25 and you live in or near London, you may wish to apply for a place in the audience yourself.

(This has been a rare post in support of The Political Weblog Movement. Find out more here.)

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Date
20040705
A Blog is Born
Time
09:37
Just for the record… I went to see a certain movie last night. Going to see it yourself? My advice would be to take a wingnut with you. If you can find one with enough guts.

Links: www.michaelmoore.com

Counterbias: The Media’s Dual ‘Propaganda’ Thresholds.

Michael Moore started blogging yesterday.

Moore: pirate my film, no problem.

An Independence Day Quiz

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Date
20040705
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:56
Two posts in one day? Honestly, I spoil you people sometimes.

James Mills is trying to get a Tory MP on board with a blog, and he needs your help.

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Date
20040706
Spam
Time
11:59
A little treat for those of you who have been keeping the faith. Like Andrew. Who wishes to bring this to your attention.

UPDATE – Yep, looks like he’s going to weasel his way out again. And there’s nothing you or I can do about it…

Independent – Blair finally admits it: ‘We may never find WMD’: His move was seen at Westminster as a pre-emptive strike before the publication a week today of the Butler report into Britain’s pre-war intelligence, which is expected to criticise the security services and the use by the Government of the material they provided. Mr Blair is expected to admit that mistakes were made ­ but to defend the decision to topple Saddam.

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Date
20040707
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
17:37
Can you hear that rumble in the distance? That’s a storm headed our way. And it’s going to be a big one.

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Date
20040712
Feedback
Time
11:49
MRSA could kill you stone dead! So wash your hands! FFS, we’ve obviously got some kind of genius in charge of this, the latest Major Life Or Death Issue That’s Nothing To Do With Iraq.

Cheers for all the weekend/morning emails.

Yes, I watched Panorama last night. Yes, I caught the ‘blink and you miss it’ reference to what Blair omitted from the September dossier – the assertion by the intelligence services that there was no clear link between Iraq and al Qaeda.

Yes, I’m aware that Bush’s ‘doomsday’ plan for postponing the election is spearheaded by a Baptist pastor and I’m as amused/disturbed as you are.

Yes, I see how determined Bush is to restore dignity to the White House. And now I have a link for you.

It also hasn’t escaped my attention that – in yet another week where Blair needs The Fear – it is delivered with the wonderfully graphic notion of Big Ben falling on the House of Commons. How very WTC.

My turn for a question… what can I do apart from bitch about it?

Juicy links to follow, emails and/or any ideas for futile gestures are welcome.

Andrew Rawnsley – What Tony Blair would say to God: I’m increasingly convinced that the Prime Minister essentially decided to support the removal of the Iraqi dictator first, and then thought about how to sell this to his party, the public and international opinion. On this occasion, the presentation did not drive the policy; the policy drove the presentation.

Peter Preston – Does Big Ben Chime For You?: At heart, you’re just that ordinary guy, stuck with going on and on until something – a trouncing, a visitation from Osama, a superbug the good doctor missed – says you’re not. The trouble with power, you know, is that there is no rest as the clock strikes five.

The Guardian – Focus on The Butler Report

PS – Survival Tips for Tony Blair:

1. Your party is likely to stick with you if you continue to overstate the threat of the Tories. You’re jolly good at this kind of thing, and the plan appears to be working. Keep it up.

2. Try to ignore the torture of children in Abu Ghraib for as long as possible, and then act shocked and take ‘immediate and decisive action’ the moment the issue hits the front pages.

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Date
20040712
Flash Music Video
Time
16:39
There may be a new Flash jobbie cooking away in the background sometime soon. In the meantime, enjoy this. Cheers all.

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Date
20040713
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
08:49
“The proof? You can’t handle the proof!”

PS – Black is white and up is down. Does this remind you of anything?

UPDATE – Who’s rewriting the what now?

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Date
20040713
Photoshopping
Time
13:45
The Butler Report is out tomorrow.

I know I’m going to regret my youthful optimism in the morning, but… (Closes eyes. Makes a wish.)

And now, here is the news: bong… bong… bong…

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Date
20040714
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:21
From today’s issue of Murdoch’s Times newspaper: Officials said yesterday that they were confident the Government had escaped the two most ‘lethal’ verdicts, namely that Mr Blair and his aides lied about Iraqi WMD or that he went to war without legal justification. Although they accept that the report will be “tough and embarrassing,” one senior Whitehall source stated last night: “The Prime Minister will be cleared of misusing intelligence. An hour after receiving the report yesterday, Mr Blair issued a passionate defence of the war with Iraq, saying that the world was safer and more secure with Saddam out of power. He is expected to reiterate that message today in a Commons statement at 1.30pm, an hour after Lord Butler publishes his report.”

That’s it? That’s all he’s got? Saddam bad, Saddam gone, no problem…?

There have been more than a few mentions of the lack of a “silver bullet” aimed at Blair, but it’s also highly unlikely that any aspect of the report magically clears Blair.

Why do I suspect this? Because if there were such a thing, the foundations would almost certainly have been laid in this morning’s Sun, which today contains not one mention of Lord Butler and his report. Instead it’s the new plague and Britney Spears swigging scotch. (Or is that perhaps a bottle of ginseng extract? Never mind. They operated on the intelligence they had at the time and did what had to be done, and that’s what matters.)

Don’t think too hard today, boys and girls. And remember that there are bigger problems to deal with.

That way, Blair has a chance of squirming free once again, instead of being strapped to the nearest long-range missile and sent on his way.

The UK Today: Now remember, and this is the important bit, the rationale for invading Iraq was to prevent Saddam using his WMDs, weapons that would take no more than 45 minutes to deploy and could hit Cyprus. Remember that because it is important. Our Parliament voted to go to war on the issue of WMDs, not to bring about regime change, not to bring democracy to Iraq, not to free the Iraqis, but to get rid of Saddam and his WMDs.

(Click here for a desktop version of this image.)

Keep up with the latest news on the Butler report here or here. For a clear/creative indication of what the public makes of it, scan the B3ta messageboard.

UPDATE – London News Review – Lord Butler has some easy conclusions to draw about Blair and the Iraq intelligence.

UPDATE – Download the report here. Also, there’s this:

BBC – Butler report publication: Point-by-point

My fave bit: On the 45 minute claim, Lord Butler said his inquiry had looked at whether the claim had been spun by the government but he decided it had not. It had been seized on by the media because it was new and striking.

Yes. Downing St had no control over how certain media outlets *cough*Murdochscum*cough* might select or treat this new and striking information. That Blair’s team chose to highlight.

Also: Lord Butler said Iraq was a very big place and there was “lots of sand” and it would be an unwise person who reached the conclusion that nothing would ever be found in Iraq.

Like, perhaps… more sand?

And: Lord Butler said there was no evidence, no reason to question to the prime minister’s good faith.

Quickly leapt upon by Blair as Vindication Lite: The prime minister said there had been two issues one being about good faith – no-one had lied, made up intelligence, everyone had tried to do their best in difficult circumstances. Questions over good faith should now be at an end.

Funny, I could have sworn there was the small matter of “unwittingly” misleading Parliament to be dealt with.

Not that it should be argued in these terms. Blair still has a case to answer in my view.

He needed justification for invading Iraq and he made damn sure that he got it.

Or perhaps you would care to believe that he just happened to have the good fortune to be visited by the Good Intelligence fairies, who delivered a magic carriage of invisible weapons.

That he was left with a crate of rotting pumpkins is by-the-by. And nobody’s fault.

Oh, and Saddam is a bad man, and now he’s gone. War on Terror, 911, etc. etc. etc.

Maggie Thatcher’s Underpants – Whitehall Whitewash Part Deux: The Smell of Teflon: What I am definitely certain of is that something went badly wrong in the interface between the intelligence community and government. The government wanted intelligence to make the case for a war they were already committed to – intelligence didn’t guide what they were doing. In this desperation, pressure was placed on the intelligence community to come up with the sort of language that the government wanted.

The UK Today – Lies, Damn Lies, and Dossiers on WMDs: When it comes to the 45 minute claim, Butler decided that the claim had not been spun by the government, but instead was seized upon by the media because it would make a striking headline. Which would be a valid defence were it not for the fact that Alistair Campbell was in the loop and would have know exactly the effect the 45 minute claim would have on the press.

To close, I offer you a rarity; something that almost never appears on Bloggerheads… a reference to sport. Yes, I’m as amazed as you are.

I may blog the results of New Statesman New Media Awards (the awards are presented/announced tomorrow evening), but after that I fully expect to re-plug and go back to sleep. Cheers all.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040714
Opportunities
Time
18:41
Sounds to me like they’re looking for a young blogger. Too bad the pay is so average.

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Date
20040714
Tolerance
Time
19:47
Is George W. Bush a flaming homosexual?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040715
Intelligence
Time
08:59
The official Butler Report website – Now trading as the John Scarlett Appreciation Society. Cheers Rogi.

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Date
20040716
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:29
You can still sign up to the Bloggerheads mailing list and get updates while I’m resting by sending a blank email to this address:

bloggerheads-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

In fact, if you’d already done this, you would have known that my picks for the New Statesman New Media Awards were Slugger O’Toole for Community and Information and Tom Watson for Elected Representative.

And so it came to pass.

(For comments on Tom’s award, see his website; I’ve just taken the liberty of making a post on his behalf.)

Rob and I spent a very pleasant hour before the awards handing out ‘Will Blair Resign?’ stickers to people queuing up to go into Westminster. I was still wearing mine when I met Peter Hain at the presentation of Tom’s award and during a very pleasant chat in the reception that followed.

(Don’t ask; my lips are firmly sealed. No big secrets; I just don’t want to be rude.)

James Mills was also in fine form and a pleasure to share beer with.

I really should close by saying hooray for Slugger and his gentle but firm nurturing of democracy.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but when you think about it, it’s probably not a good idea to give an achievement award to a guy who spends most of his time setting fires.

Speaking of which, I’m still officially resting, but I’m sure that I will find this very hard to ignore.

(shakes box of matches)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040716
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
11:33
See and enjoy www.johnhowardlies.com before it gets knocked for six.

Not only but also…

Independent – Revealed: Government witnesses knew September dossier was unsafe – but did not tell Hutton: Crucial doubts about Iraq’s ability to produce chemical weapons were withheld from two inquiries which examined the Government’s case for war.

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Date
20040716
A Blog is Born
Time
13:33
Mail Watch, brought to you by the Merkster and friends. Look forward to it; that’s an order.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Google
Time
09:22
The answer given so often in Usenet and web groups that actually helped to establish Google is now a website.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Church & State
Time
09:24
Independent – Revealed: Blair’s link to schools that take the Creation literally: A controversial chain of schools teaching Biblical “creationism” has been given Tony Blair’s personal support despite serious doubts raised by parents and teachers, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. Mr Blair, said to be the most religious Prime Minister since Gladstone, has backed the millionaire car dealer Sir Peter Vardy in his attempt to take over seven comprehensives and turn them into Christian Academies promoting Old Testament views of the world’s creation. This includes the claim that it was made in six days, 10,000 years ago. Two of Sir Peter’s schools are open already, in Gateshead and Middlesbrough, and a third is under construction in Doncaster.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:26
Guardian – Red Cross ultimatum to US on Saddam – Release him, charge him or break international law, Bush told: Saddam Hussein must either be released from custody by June 30 or charged if the US and the new Iraqi government are to conform to international law, the International Committee of the Red Cross said last night.

Torygraph – Interrogation abuses were ‘approved at highest levels’: New evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington this week, adding further to pressure on the White House. The Telegraph understands that four confidential Red Cross documents implicating senior Pentagon civilians in the Abu Ghraib scandal have been passed to an American television network, which is preparing to make them public shortly.

There’s also that memo and footage of children in Abu Ghraib to come.

Labour MPs determined to stick with Blair (or tempted to swing back after the morale-boosting ‘new plan’ meeting today) would do well to remember that.

Interesting, isn’t it, that the word that was so useful a few weeks ago (‘abuse’ in place of ‘torture’) should now look to become a huge liability…

Just look at the words and think about the picture they paint in your mind:

child torture

OK, now clear your mind and start again:

child abuse

The footage doesn’t even have to be released for that to be incredibly damaging, especially as we already know how prevalent the use of sexual humiliation was in the torture of adult detainees.

It will be *very* interesting to see how Rebekah ‘Red Mist’ Wade deals with this when it breaks.

If this is the jumping-off point for Murdoch, she’ll be permitted to unleash her fury. If Murdoch is determined to keep playing, will she follow orders, actually try to bury it and do an appeal for abused puppies instead?

Back to the kiddies:

How evil is this?

Well, we already know why the torture and degradation the public already knows about was filmed and photographed. The resulting footage was shown to new detainees to put them in (ahem) the correct frame of mind for interrogation. It’s a sure bet that this footage was used for the same purpose.

And we can all be pretty sure what the first question was:

“Where are the weapons of mass destruction?”

A good thing that WMD is such a concern for Tony Blair as well. I can just hear him now:

“Well, it may not have been a popular decision, but it was the right one. I believe that we are dealing with a genuine threat, war on terror, etc. etc. etc.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Tony Blair
Time
09:54
Michael Moore to target Blair next?: “I personally hold Blair more responsible for this war in Iraq than I do George W. Bush, and the reason is Blair knows better. Blair is not an idiot. What is he doing hanging around this guy?,” Moore told Reuters in an interview.

(Thanks to Steve and Scaryduck for the heads-up.)

UPDATE – Really, what yould I do without you people? Cheers, Mark…

BBC – Director Moore denies Blair film: …a message posted on Moore’s website stated that reports of his plans for a film on Blair were false. It is not true. Michael made a joke in an interview and, apparently. it was taken seriously,” the statement added.

Bugger…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
The Bush Administration
Time
10:06
New York Times – Epitaph and Epigone: At every opportunity, as the extraordinary procession solemnly wended its way from California to the Capitol, W. was peeping out from behind the majestic Reagan mantle, trying to claim the Gipper as his true political father.

UPDATE – This link requires registration, but the headache is worth it for the joy it brings…

LA Times – Retired Officials Say Bush Must Go: A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America’s national security and should be defeated in November.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Only Interesting to Bloggers
Time
10:34
Visit this blog or the duck gets it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
The Big Intervention
Time
10:48
The statements page was updated this morning, and now features the most recent statements first.

I kept myself busy over the weekend and had a lot of joy handing out simple stickers with ‘Will Blair Resign?’ and the URL on them. If you want a copy for the Word doc I used (suitable for a 24-sheet page o’ stickers – Avery L7159) then just ask.

Wimbledon was Saturday. Guildford on Sunday and again this morning. Woking at lunchtime.

Balders has been taking it to the streets, as has Poons, who brings us this report from Worcester City Centre.

Remember; to make a difference, you do actually have to get up, step away from the computer, go outside and Do Stuff from time to time.

In fact, if anyone out there works in London and wants a quick job, I need a pile of stickers delivered to Brain Haw (the protestor opposite Parliament). Drop me a line with your mailing address if you think you can help.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Only Interesting to Bloggers
Time
11:20
Various links and posts regarding Dave Winer’s decision to withdraw hosting at weblogs.com pretty much dominate Blogdex today.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
The Big Intervention
Time
15:06
I have a new statement to add to the Big Intervention…. from Terry Jones.

I got in touch with his agent, I asked, I got. And if I can do it, you can do it. Pick a notable, any notable, and request your statement today.

And now, a few words from Terry:

–> “Tony Blair has successfully supported the most right-wing,

–> corrupt government the USA has ever known. He has successfully turned

–> the Labour party into a warmongers’ party. He has successfully led

–> the Labour party away from any form of socialism. As far as I can see

–> he has successfully destroyed the Labour party.

–> The only hope is for the Labour party itself to destroy him.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Tony Blair
Time
16:12
Just in case you need clarification, Tony Blair’s apology on Friday was not in any way an apology for the war. I love that he’s still playing the ‘Do you want Saddam back?’ card.

Scotsman – Bitter blow to Labour’s recovery bid: Coming so soon after last week’s bleak results from the local government elections, last night’s display of public disenchantment was a bitter blow for the Labour Party. By midnight, Ian McCartney, the party chairman, had been reduced to declaring that the fall in Labour’s vote was actually quite good, because it was not as bad as the Tories’ slump.

Reuters – Blair seeks to calm party after poll rout: In what is likely to be a tense meeting of Labour parliamentarians later on Monday, Blair will try to calm those worried about losing their seats in the next election, expected next year. Blair does not usually attend the weekly meetings. With some angry Labour members demanding he stand aside, Blair has called on his followers to hold their nerve.

Yes. To hold one’s nerve is to show strength of character. To see what obviously needs to be done and act on it is to panic. Glad we’re all on the same page.

Independent – Senior colleagues rally round Blair after Labour suffers double election blow: Cabinet ministers rallied behind Tony Blair yesterday as they tried to prevent Labour’s drubbing in last Thursday’s elections provoking a crisis of confidence in his leadership…. Although a growing number of Labour MPs would like to see Mr Blair stand down before the general election, there were few signs at the weekend that they will try to force him out.

It’s up to us to change that.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
16:46
Time – Redefining Torture – Did the U.S. go too far in changing the rules, or did it apply the new rules to the wrong people?: A series of leaked legal memos has revealed that since late 2001 the Administration has been quietly but fundamentally reshaping America’s stance on torture. Contradicting 50 years of policy governing the treatment of detainees captured during conflict, the memos meticulously list all the laws against torture—then offer methods of evading them. The White House insists that these documents were abstract musings rather than actual policy changes. Nevertheless, they suggest that what happened at Abu Ghraib was not unique but grew out of a climate of ambiguity regarding the treatment and interrogation of prisoners that was created by an Administration determined to do whatever it takes to win the war on terrorism.

And, as we all know, when it comes to terror, Iraq is the central front. Well, it is now…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040614
Tim Yeo
Time
17:29
Damn. I’ve been sticking pins in the wrong bloody doll. Tim Yeo has just been sacked as Shadow Minister for Public Services, Health, Education and Bottle-Washing!

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Date
20040614
The Bush Administration
Time
17:41
The Age – Cheney linked to suspect contracts: The Pentagon has acknowledged that Vice-President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and other political appointees helped make the controversial decision on a $1.8 million contract for the postwar recovery of Iraq’s oil sector. The decision to award the contract to the energy giant Halliburton overruled recommendations of an army lawyer. Eventually it resulted in the awarding of a much larger $US7 billion ($A10 billion) no-bid contract to Halliburton. Mr Cheney ran Halliburton for five years before he was nominated for vice-president…. Mr Cheney, who was chief executive of the Houston-based oil services company from 1995 to 2000, has repeatedly denied that he or his office influenced decisions to give contracts to Halliburton.

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Date
20040615
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:32
Guardian – British soldiers face abuse court martial: Charges against the four fusiliers include indecent assault, “which apparently involves making the victims engage in sexual activity between themselves”, said Lord Goldsmith. They are also accused of military offences – prejudicing good order and military discipline. In a written statement in the House of Lords, the attorney general said the case “concerns conduct alleged to have occurred while the civilians were being temporarily detained, but not in a prison or detention facility”.

New York Times – Unit Says It Gave Earlier Warning of Abuse in Iraq: Beginning in November, a small unit of interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison began reporting allegations of prisoner abuse, including the beatings of five blindfolded Iraqi generals, in internal documents sent to senior officers, according to interviews with military personnel who worked in the prison. The disclosure of the documents raises new questions about whether senior officers in Iraq were alerted about serious abuses at the prison before January. Top military officials have said they only learned about abuses then, after a soldier came forward with photographs of the abuse.

UPDATE – Analysis of the OLC’s Aug. 1, 2002 Torture Memo: In the views of the author/authors, there’s basically nothing Congress can do to constrain the President’s exercise of the war power. The Geneva Conventions are, by inevitable implications, not binding on the President, nor is any other international agreement if it impedes the war effort. I’m sure our allies will be just thrilled to hear that.

Keep telling yourself that we are only implicated by a necessary alliance. Keep telling yourself that we are only implicated by a necessary alliance. Keep telling yourself that we are only implicated by a necessary alliance. Keep telling yourself that we are only implicated by a necessary alliance.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040615
Minions of Murdoch
Time
09:43
BBC – US channel’s BBC remarks censured: Ofcom said Fox News breached guidelines when commentator John Gibson claimed the BBC had displayed “a frothing-at-the-mouth” anti-American bias.

Pfft! They claim as part of their defence that; searching for the phrase “BBC anti-American” into the Google internet search engine resulted in 47,200 hits.

Searching Google for ‘murdoch is evil’ returns 46,800 results. Your point being…?

(And, as Joe has been kind enough to point out, searching in Google for ‘fox news is shit’ returns 175,000 results. So this statement is clearly three times as true.)

You can still see this fair and balanced report by John Gibson here and his response to direct complaints here.

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Date
20040615
The Big Intervention
Time
09:45
More on this soon. I have a big job to do first. In the meantime, why not busy yourself with finding contact details for notable folks who may wish to make a statement?

(Hint: Don’t look for their contact details. Instead, find out who their agent is and go through them.)

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Date
20040615
A Blog is Born
Time
10:14
Mike has started a weblog for Alan Milburn MP. He gives his reasons for doing this here.

I need to start up some static links to this, the Lewis Mooney weblog and others that come along.

I also have to change the status of a couple of links to James Mills, who is now an ex-Councillor (by 56 votes). But I won’t be removing the links, and I don’t think he should stop blogging.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040615
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
11:30
The seven-year-old bloggers

Where are all the British blogs?

Muted dissidence? No comment.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040615
The Big Intervention
Time
12:33
We have our first response. I can’t tell you who it’s from, but you do need to see it and know that it’s from someone who voted in favour of the war:

–> Having looked at the website I have no intention of responding.

–> I am disappointed you felt you could write to me in the way you did without

–> disclosing your intentions. As it happens, I never respond to surveys.

–> I shall, however, be passing this on to the Labour Party’s National Office.

Alll together now; WOOoooOOOoooooooo….

(I wonder if this will result in a black mark on my permananent record…)

UPDATE – Oh, go on then – have a clue.

Other MPs who get in touch with us and request time to think about it will get that time. Those who wish to speak off the record will be given that opportunity.

But dismissing this initiative (as this MP has, branding it a ‘survey’) rates as a ‘No Comment’ and the response will be recorded as such.

Get snarky about it, and we will go public with the full response.

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Date
20040615
The Big Intervention
Time
13:28
I’ve been a busy boy this lunchtime…

To: All Labour MPs (with one or two obvious exceptions)

Subject: The Big Intervention and child torture in Iraq

By now Tony has made his case and you’re aware of several bold initiatives. A way forward. With Iraq behind us.

It’s my sad duty to inform you that this simply isn’t going to happen.

You need to be aware of this memo, that clearly shows how outraged the Bush administration is by the use of torture in Abu Ghraib by one or two ‘bad apples’:

http://tinyurl.com/2kbqx

Now think back to when the images of torture were first released. Piers Moron did Blair a tremendous favour with the distraction of the staged images, but the genuine photos still caused a major shift in public opinion here in the UK, and people are about to realise that one set of fake images does not make a story untrue:

http://tinyurl.com/2r4py

The next round of images are going to be even worse. They involve the children of detainees:

http://tinyurl.com/yuuxu

Children. Let that sink in for a bit.

These images exist because footage of this action was taken so it could be shown to new detainees to prepare them for questioning. (Where, presumably, the first question was; “Where are the weapons of mass destruction?”)

Successfully spinning this would be about as likely as getting away with calling September 11th a good day to bury bad news.

You need to know this is coming, because even the loosest association with this outrage is going to reflect very badly on Tony Blair, on yourself, and everybody in the UK. Together, we allowed this to happen. Because we supported it, because we didn’t fight it hard enough, or because we simply stood by and watched matters unfold.

In the next few days, you should be receiving letters from your constituents asking what your position is regarding Tony Blair’s suitability for leadership. I urge you to consider your position very carefully. You can see on the website that many people – like myself – believe in the Labour Party, but can no longer support Blair as leader:

http://www.bigintervention.org.uk/statements.htm

The only way forward in Iraq and in the war on terror is for mistakes to be admitted and for justice to be seen to be done.

You must take this stand for social justice here and abroad, or betray everything the Labour Party is supposed to stand for.

Fail to take action when given the opportunity, and you risk associating yourself with every crime and mistake behind this stupid, stupid war.

Yours Sincerely,

Tim Ireland

http://www.bloggerheads.com/

PS – And now a few words from the President of the United States:

http://tinyurl.com/3hfe2

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Date
20040615
The Big Intervention
Time
13:59
Dave needs some help tracking down contact details for Tony Benn. Please help out if you can.

UPDATE – Best routes appear to be via the person who built his site (who also happens to have the last name ‘Benn’) and his publishers. But do get in touch if you know of a better way.

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Date
20040615
Tony Blair
Time
15:21
BBC – Blair defiant on Europe and Iraq.

The Leader Who Can Do No Wrong spoke thusly: “Now is not the time for a change in direction … but a change in gear.”

But not into reverse, obviously.

Hm. Considering how likely he is to push these bold initiatives through without the simple currency of trust, can I instead suggest neutral?

(Link via Perfect.co.uk)

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Date
20040615
It’s Not About The Oil
Time
16:34
Attack brings Iraq oil exports close to a standstill.

Reuters reports that repairs will take 7-10 days, but oil prices surged by a dollar a barrel anyways (which is quite strange, because there was no connection between the ‘need’ to invade Iraq and our thirst for the black stuff).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:43
Slate – A Moral Chernobyl – Prepare for the worst of Abu Ghraib: But get ready. It is going to get much worse. The graphic videos and photographs that have so far been shown only to Congress are, I have been persuaded by someone who has seen them, not likely to remain secret for very long. And, if you wonder why formerly gung-ho rightist congressmen like James Inhofe (“I’m outraged more by the outrage”) have gone so quiet, it is because they have seen the stuff and you have not. There will probably be a slight difficulty about showing these scenes in prime time, but they will emerge, never fear. We may have to start using blunt words like murder and rape to describe what we see. And one linguistic reform is in any case already much overdue. The silly word “abuse” will have to be dropped. No law or treaty forbids “abuse,” but many conventions and statutes, including our own and the ones we have urged other nations to sign, do punish torture—which is what we are talking about here at a bare minimum.

Past revelations from Iraq of this kind have followed this pattern:

– Blog whispers (done)

– Online report from small news agency/commentary site (you see it before you)

– Major article/programme with release of images through the cursed liberal media

– Shit/fan interface

Here it comes…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
The Bush Administration
Time
09:48
Ken MacLeod: The American Revolution is over. When the President claims for himself powers outlawed in every country issuing from the English Revolution, and last exercised when James the II & VII personally supervised the splitting of Presbyterian shins, I guess we have to admit that in the long run the English Revolution failed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
It’s Not About The Oil
Time
09:51
BBC – Iraqi oil security chief killed: The security chief for the oil fields in northern Iraq has been assassinated, in the latest attack on the industry. Police said Ghazi al-Talabani was shot by gunmen as he travelled to work in the city of Kirkuk.

And now, here’s a speech by Tony Blair that happened inside someone’s head.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
The Big Intervention
Time
09:55
We can do this, we can win this – but we won’t enable those rebel MPs (ding-ding-diddle-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding) unless they feel they have the backing to go for it.

They won’t feel they have that backing unless we can meet our traffic targets for The Big Intervention (more traffic results in more statements and more letters.) – and, overnight, traffic has stalled. We are going to fall far, far short of our target unless something is done about it today.

So today is Link-Whoring and Statement Day.

1. You’ve made a statement, but have you encouraged/asked other readers of your blog to do the same?

2. You’ve featured a link on your website, but have you submitted it to others? (This can be a major source of traffic if you score with a very large website.)

3. You’ve emailed a few friends, but have you really dug through your address book and milked it for all its worth?

4. Have you picked a quotable notable and pumped them for a statement?

I tried for Stephen Fry yesterday, but he’s in America. Today I’m trying again with Damon Albarn, Anita Roddick and anyone else I can track down.

We need more statements, we need more links.

Take a look around you and see what’s coming.

This is a fight that can be won.

This is a fight that must be won.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
A Blog is Born
Time
10:06
Please welcome to the stage the weblog for Sandra Gidley, Lib-Dem MP for Romsley (by Adrian Sedgly and Andy Salridge).

OK, who’s next?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
Stuff
Time
10:18
I’m as hard as nails, me. Here I am playing rugby, aged 7. Or 8. In fact, I’m so tough I don’t care if I can’t remember. Long-term memories are for pussies.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
RWCs
Time
11:15
Hooray for the wingnuts who will do anything – anything – to keep George W. Bush in office. (Link via Atrios.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
11:26
Winer-Bash 2004 continues. Doc Searles has this to say.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
Compare and Contrast
Time
11:31
Cheney Claims al-Qaida Linked to Saddam. Again.

No question: John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh s**t!
Time
11:32
Take it with a biiiiiiig grain of salt; this comes from Wingnut Central…

Moonie Times – Iran massing troops on Iraq border: Iran reportedly is readying troops to move into Iraq if U.S. troops pull out, leaving a security vacuum.

Hooray for this timely information from a ‘reliable source’…

Here’s an equally short, but opposing view.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
Labour Needs Leadership Change
Time
13:58
Guardian – Gordon’s world: We know about Brown’s domestic record, but would he have handled Iraq any differently from Tony Blair?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
14:21
Via this excellent post at Perfect.co.uk comes the Best. Article. Ever.

Terry Jones – This won’t hurt much.

I’m not going to quote from it. You have to go and read it in full. I’m in tears, myself.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
The War on Terror
Time
14:41
Washington Post – 9/11 Panel Finds No Collaboration Between Iraq, Al Qaeda – Findings Contradict Comments by Cheney, Bush : There is “no credible evidence” that Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq collaborated with the al Qaeda terrorist network on any attacks on the United States, including the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackings, according to a new staff report released this morning by the commission investigating the hijacking plot. Although Osama bin Laden briefly explored the idea of forging ties with Iraq in the mid-1990s, the terrorist leader was hostile to Hussein’s secular government, and Iraq never responded to requests for help in providing training camps or weapons, the panel’s report says.

Perhaps now people will stop posing that extremely misleading hypothetical question about the rights and wrongs of torturing a suspect who may have had information about an impending attack on the World Trade Centre…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
RWCs
Time
16:34
Will somebody please suture the gaping wound in John Gibson’s face?

For the record, it was the sheer audacity and hypocrisy that shocked me. It continues in this latest offensive defence, that also includes a less-than-subtle jibe regarding sexual orientation.

Oh, and here’s a reply sent to someone who dared to email Gibson and ask for evidence to back his claim that the BBC ‘routinely trashes Americans, the American president, the American military and American policy’:

oh gawd… do you ever listen to the bbc world service? did you watch

any of the bbc war coverage? why did brit sailors take the beeb off

their tv feed while at sea? give me a break? you can’t see the anti

americanism that drips from every elongated sylable on the beeb?

I’m amazed they give this troll TV time. Actually, I’m amazed that he’s permitted a share of our precious, precious oxygen.

The email address you need is myword@foxnews.com – reach out and touch the man.

I’ll blog what I’ve sent him as soon as I’ve calmed down a bit.

UPDATE – I sure am glad I calmed down before writing this….

To: John Gibson

Email: myword@foxnews.com

Dearest John,

Any criticism of ‘the American president, the American military and American policy’ by the BBC is far from routine.

Sadly, we live in a time when your un-president takes unprecedented liberties abroad and at home, so somebody has to speak up and state the bleeding obvious.

Yes, I was shocked by your report. I was shocked at the audacity.

I was staggered by the *hypocrisy* of this diatribe from a poster child for a regime and a network (strike that; try ‘corporation’) that regularly distorts, manipulates and misrepresents the truth.

Please also note that in my opening paragraph I omit the part where you claim the BBC ‘routinely trashes Americans’. I did this because it is part of a separate complaint…

You have a hell of a nerve:

1. Making this ludicrous claim without a shred of evidence.

2. Grouping yourself with Americans, as you are one of the most un-American people I have ever had the displeasure of laying eyes and ears on.

I’d even go so far as to say that you are the kind of person who has little to no claim to the lofty title of ‘human being’.

If you were on fire, I wouldn’t stop to piss on you.

(Not out of any lack of mercy on my part, mind, but because you’re better off getting used to flames where you’re headed. In fact, you may wish to start conditioning your arse by having friends or neighbours stab you regularly with a household pitchfork.)

Warmest Regards,

Tim Ireland

http://www.bloggerheads.com/

http://www.bloggerheads.com/bbc/

UPDATE – Guardian – Fox News censured for rant at BBC: The Guardian understands that some Ofcom policymakers would like to draw the restrictions more narrowly, applying them only to ITV, Channel 4 and Five. That would allow Mr Murdoch, if he wished, to remodel Sky News into a British version of Fox. It is unlikely, however, that the Fox rant would get past even a more relaxed regime in Britain, because of its lack of basis in fact.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040616
The Big Intervention
Time
17:44
Details of The Big Intervention were today sent to the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) – the Dutch version of the Labour Party – by the lovely Mirjam.

It has now been forwarded by their main office to all of their members in the Dutch government.

I’m not sure what good that will do, but it sure is cool.

Whore that link, people!

Send those emails!

Pump those quotable notables for statements!

That only 24 people made an official complaint about John Gibson speaks volumes.

It’s an arse problem. Not enough people actually get off theirs.

Also, consider this…

Time – Meet Joe Bloggs: We may be in the golden age of blogging, a quirky Camelot moment in Internet history when some guy in his underwear with too much free time can take down a Washington politician.

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Date
20040616
The Big Intervention
Time
21:48
I was really quite struck by that torture article by Terry Jones today. Bush & Blair’s defence is a house of cards. What we need is more stuff that cuts through the bullglue and brings it all down.

Tomorrow I’m going to try and convince Billy Connolly to chip in.

*coughs*

Unless sumbody wants to try an’… beat me to it.

/johnwayne

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
08:42
Six Log: Announcing Pricing & Licensing Changes to Movable Type.

And yet more Winer, Winer, Winer. Another day of staring at our own belly buttons? FFS.

Worry about your data later and count yourself lucky you have something to eat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
Inneresting
Time
08:46
I’ve blogged Bush/Zombie-Reagan 2004 before, but it’s worth blogging again as The Straight Dope brings you the answer to this very important question:

When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?

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Date
20040617
Useful
Time
08:53
“Oh my god! There’s an axe in my head.” in 102 languages. Including many dead ones.

It brings to mind the I Can Eat Glass project (mirror) which recently disappeared from the Interweb. The stated aim of this project was as follows:

“The Project is based on the idea that people in a foreign country have an irresistable urge to try to say something in the indigenous tongue. In most cases, however, the best a person can do is “Where is the bathroom?” a phrase that marks them as a tourist. But, if one says “I can eat glass, it doesn’t hurt me,” you will be viewed as an insane native, and treated with dignity and respect.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
09:01
Official verdict: White House misled world over Saddam: The Bush administration’s credibility was dealt a devastating blow yesterday when the commission investigating the attacks of 11 September said there was no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein’s regime had assisted al-Qa’ida – something repeatedly suggested by the President and his senior officials and held up as a reason for the invasion of Iraq.

To paraphrase John Gibson: They feel entitled to lie. And when caught lying, they feel entitled to defend their lying.

Speaking of John Gibson, Toby Bryans has pointed us in the direction of this report (PDF) that shows that 24 complaints is actually quite a lot when you consider how few people complain at all about all manner of things that make it to air. (You can also see the report about the offending My Word programme in PDF format is you wish.)

Me, I’ve always been amazed at how few people know how to – or take the time to – make an official complaint about anything.

Back to John Gibson. The pin-wearing wingnut.

Below is an unedited transcript of his correspondence with someone deep inside the anti-American liberal agenda machine. (So deep, in fact, that I cannot tell you his or her name.) The emails started following his offensive defence for calling the BBC liars. I didn’t get a reply to my email, but Gibson obviously couldn’t resist baiting someone from the BBC:

Evil Minion of Auntie:

“major media outlet, which routinely trashes Americans, the American

president, the American military and American policy?”

And your evidence is…?

No, no, carry on making sweeping statements based on your honest

opinion. I need a good laugh.

American Hero John Gibson:

oh gawd… do you ever listen to the bbc world service? did you watch

any of the bbc war coverage? why did brit sailors take the beeb off

their tv feed while at sea? give me a break? you can’t see the anti

americanism that drips from every elongated sylable on the beeb?

check for earwax.

gib

Evil Minion of Auntie:

Yes Gib, I did watch the coverage, particularly the Rageh Omaar’s piece

to camera while the US soldiers were helping the locals in Baghdad pull

down the Saddam statue. As I recall he was rather complimentary. This

despite the fact that the hotel he and other reporters were staying in

had been hit repeatedly by US soldiers just days earlier. I also recall

John Simpson’s report when he and his BBC colleagues, plus some US

special forces, plus some anti-Saddam Iraqi militia were bombed by an

American jet in a classic, though sadly not rare, friendly fire

incident. His later documentary was also polite about the people who

injured him and killed his translator, without hint of malice. It was a

remarkably understanding, forgiving but essentially factual account

(including that of the jet pilot himself) of the accident.

And the spelling of the word is syllable.

Check for spelling and selective hearing yourself Gib.

Cheers

American Hero John Gibson:

yes i suppose it was good of them to note that iraqis might be happy to

be rid of a killer/ruler… and to not carp too much about the nasty

bits involving war…

but puhleeze (sp check please)… you cannot be serious claiming the bbc

did not come at this war from the point of view it was wrong and the

americans were wrong to be waging it, can you?

sorry about the missing l. i was using it scribbling the word lies…

gib

Evil Minion of Auntie:

As I recall Gib, the last American to use the line “you cannot be

serious” was one John McEnroe, whilst complaining about a line call by

an English umpire at Wimbledon. He now presents on the BBC when

Wimbledon comes around. See, they like you Americans so much they even

end up employing you! Isn’t that sweet? No doubt it was rather an effort

for the BBC to admit the Iraqis were happy to be rid of Saddam. In the

same way it may have been an effort to admit that Rumsfeld use to visit

on his arms-sale-away-day visits to Saddam. Nevertheless, as for the

point of view, as a broadcaster the BBC has been chastised by even the

British government (Margaret Thatcher’s to be

accurate) over its coverage and “point of view” on the Falklands war.

That was one of ours, if you’ve forgotten. The one where Haig didn’t

want us to go and fight as it might upset that nice Mr Galtieri chap the

Reagan administration liked. So, while the BBC is being attacked for not

backing the troops, by Fox (owned by a Mr R Murdoch I believe, who has

been rather clear about his feelings for the BBC in the past), I think

it’s rather obtuse of you to say the BBC has some kind of agenda. That

kind of thinking would eventually lead to, say, suggesting Fox News has

some kind of agenda when it comes to reporting on the BBC’s behaviour.

And that can’t possibly be “fair and accurate” can it Gib. Bless you.

You should really be working on your next piece rather than gossiping

with me this fine morning. Cheers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
Normal People
Time
09:27
It’s wrong to laugh at foreign names. So don’t.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
10:27
New York Times – With 9/11 Report, Bush’s Political Thorn Grows More Stubborn: In questioning the extent of any ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda, the commission weakened the already spotty scorecard on Mr. Bush’s justifications for sending the military to topple Saddam Hussein.

Guardian – No Iraq link to September 11 plot, US report finds: The commission’s report confirmed the judgment of US intelligence officials, who have said that since the fall of Baghdad last April no proof has been found of a significant link between the Saddam Hussein regime and Osama bin Laden. The US vice president, Dick Cheney, revived the allegation at an election campaign appearance on Monday, telling supporters that Saddam “had long-established ties with al-Qaida”, and President George Bush came to his defence on Tuesday, citing the suspected presence in Iraq before the war of an al-Qaida supporter, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A poll by the University of Maryland in April found that 57% of Americans believed that Iraq helped al-Qaida before the war, and 20% believed Iraq was linked to the September 11 attacks.

New York Times – The Plain Truth: It’s hard to imagine how the commission investigating the 2001 terrorist attacks could have put it more clearly yesterday: there was never any evidence of a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, between Saddam Hussein and Sept. 11. Now President Bush should apologize to the American people, who were led to believe something different.

In response, Ann Clwyd was on BBC Radio 4 this morning spouting the humanitarian/liberation argument. She said: “I think the scale of crimes committed by the regime against their own people has constituted war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and had to be dealt with. They couldn’t continue.”

Well, I’m sure that if this is the case, at least the Iraqis will be behind them… right?

Independent – Poll reveals hostility to US and support for rebel cleric: The Bush administration’s last remaining justification for the invasion of Iraq has been demolished by a private poll revealing that only 2 per cent of Iraqis regard the occupying forces as liberators. The poll results are devastating for both President George Bush and Tony Blair, who are fond of saying that future generations of Iraqis will thank them for liberating their country. Tony Blair has consistently said that history will prove him right for engineering the downfall of a cruel tyrant, even if weapons of mass destruction were not found.

Right, let’s go down that list of justifications for war:

WMDs – none found

War on Terror – no connection found

Humanitarian – hmm, let me see… do I want to use the word ‘torture’ or ‘abuse’…?

Moving right along…

The findings of the commission (which ‘change nothing’ according to The Texas City Sun) were released yesterday. Today they feature in every major British newspaper. Bar one.

Today’s Sun carries no mention of the findings. At all.

In fact, the only mention of the word ‘Iraq’ today (apart from this passing mention where a photographer compares his experience at the football violence in Portugal to that conflict) appears in this feature, which is obviously a build to another flag-waving ‘support the troops’ exercise: Hubby away from home? Is your husband currently posted in Iraq? We want to talk to women whose husbands are serving overseas about how they are coping home alone. Perhaps you have a young family you are bringing up while your husband is away and would like to tell us about how you cope. If this sounds like you, we want to hear your story. Simply email us your name, daytime phone number and a brief outline of your story on sunwoman@the-sun.co.uk – Don’t forget to mark your email ‘ARMY WIVES’.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
The Big Intervention
Time
10:30
I’m mostly working behind the scenes on The Big Intervention today, but will blog any fruits of my labours this afternoon. Check out The UK Today and Howling Spoons for activities and updates in the meantime.

We need more statements from Joe Blogs (like this one from Phlegma), and we need more statements from famous peeps. Help out if you can. Please.

UPDATE – Oh, there is this via Perfect.co.uk…

Guardian – A change of leadership is now in Labour’s interests: But it should also be clear that a change of leader before the election is in the interests of Labour as a party. If Blair insists on limping on as prime minister through the next election, he will inevitably be seen as a lame-duck caretaker for the long-heralded Brown premiership, his tarnished reputation sapping Labour support, masking government successes and sowing the seeds of disintegration and defeat… There are a multiplicity of ways in which Blair could orchestrate a face-saving exit in the next six months. But his overweening self-belief suggests there is little chance of that. With Labour’s rules rigged against an open party challenge, only Labour MPs and the cabinet are in practice able to call time on his leadership. But Labour has no tradition of deposing its leaders, who have in any case rarely lasted long enough in government for the issue to arise.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
Pretend You Care
Time
13:31
National Dad Dancing Championships.

Gosh, do you think Fathers-4-Justice are planning to crash the event? Just maybe? (Oh, and I found a new site for these chappies here. Pow! Zap! Etc!)

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Date
20040617
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
16:14
Guardian – No 10: Saddam let al-Qaida operate: Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein did let al-Qaida operate out of Iraq, Downing Street insisted today. A US report yesterday said there was no conclusive evidence of a link between the former Iraqi dictator and Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group. But Downing Street said Saddam had created “a permissive environment” for terrorists and al-Qaida operatives were in the country during his time in office.

Typical Blair.

1. There’s no arguing with that.

2. That’s not what he and Bush have been claiming/inferring/not-clarifying all this time and he bloody well knows it.

More at The UK Today.

UPDATE – Now Dubya’s disputing it. I guess he really doesn’t have much choice. There are so few justifications left…

Says Bush: “This administration never said that the 9-11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaida…”

No, you only suggested it again and again and again and again until nearly everyone believed it. Hands up who didn’t see this particular denial coming…?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
We’re Not At Home To Mr Cock-Up
Time
16:22
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Best laugh you’ll have all day, I promise.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
RWCs
Time
17:15
Well, that settles it. John Gibson is nothing but a malicious troll.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
17:30
MSNBC – Rumsfeld ordered prisoner held off the books – Iraqi terror suspect hidden from International Red Cross: Pentagon officials tell NBC News that late last year, at the same time U.S. military police were allegedly abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered that one Iraqi prisoner be held “off the books” — hidden entirely from the International Red Cross and anyone else — in possible violation of international law. It’s the first direct link between Rumsfeld and questionable though not violent treatment of prisoners in Iraq.

But of course he was only kept from the Red Cross because he was dangerous. So dangerous that he later got ‘lost in the system’. Do read it; the last line of this story will blow you away.

And, from Camp Murdoch, a timely attempt to yet again ensure that when people hear ‘Abu Ghraib’ they think of Saddam Hussein; Saddam atrocity footage is being ignored by the cursed liberal media!

Saddam was a bad man. We know this. We don’t question this. Even though that nice Mr Blair dares to suggest that us misguided peaceniks think otherwise with ‘Would you prefer Saddam was back?’ (possibly the last line of his crumbling defences).

The reason this footage isn’t being played is because it isn’t necessary. It isn’t news. People know what Saddam was capable of. By and large, they don’t yet know what the Bush administration is capable of. But they will. And very soon, by the looks of things. Why else would this pre-emptive ‘even worse atrocity’ story be necessary?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040617
Tony Blair
Time
17:38
Still on the hunt for famous peeps who’ll speak up. It ain’t easy.

The only real news I have for you this afternoon is this:

This time last week I requested from Ladbrokes odds on a bet that Tony Blair would not be the leader of the Labour party after July 1st 2004.

They’ve since updated their site with these odds on the UK General Election but – despite direct email harassment – they have yet to come up with my odds.

Why the delay in calculating these odds? You’d think they’d be happy to take my money.

Perhaps you’d care to get in touch and request odds on a similar bet…

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Date
20040617
Funny
Time
18:28
I love people who still put music on their website. The best page/music on this site can be found here.

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Date
20040617
Images
Time
19:57
He is George W. Bush, and his Kung Fu is strong.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
Updates
Time
10:39
Google Adsense has been removed from Bloggerheads after a very disappointing trial. It amounts to little more than pocket change and often displays ads that I’m less than happy with. Out it goes. (Sorry. I’m not even interested in their new gadget.)

Fark.com has been removed from the ‘follow me’ links. This removal should not be taken lightly, as fark.com was one of the earliest inclusions and I cut my photoshopping teeth there. The reason it’s been removed? Let’s just say that I’m not happy with the way they choose their articles for the front page. The omissions are subtle, but deliberate. And The Sun gets plugged in a ha-ha-jolly way every other day. Goodbye, Fark. No more traffic from me.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
Pluggage
Time
10:41
You’re a bloody fool if you don’t enter Giltsharp’s short story competition. There’s less than two weeks to go and plenty of prizes still up for grabs. Anybody who strings a few words together has a bloody good shot at a Swiss Card Quattro, and I could throw a stone from here and hit at least five people with the hummus required to take home one of the three SwissMemory jobbies with the sexy USB stick.

I’m not involved in the shortlisting or the judging, so even if we’ve shared email or a pint, you can enter freely without creating on of those conflict of interest thingies.

It’s a gift for bloggers, people. Make this one work and I’ll bring you another.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
The War on Terror
Time
10:47
Independent – Defiant Bush and Blair insist Saddam had al-Qa’ida links: In a carefully co-ordinated riposte to the commission, London and Washington both insisted that Saddam had allowed al-Qa’ida to operate inside Iraq before the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

Washington Post – Bush Defends Assertions of Iraq-Al Qaeda Relationship: “The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda: because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda,” Bush said after a Cabinet meeting.

Well, that settles that, then. But he never, ever claimed a direct connection… that would have been a lie. And we all know that George W. Bush is a good Christian who would never bear false witness.

“I have also determined that the use of armed force against Iraq is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.” – George W. Bush, March 21, 2003

“The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We have removed an ally of al Qaeda and cut off a source of terrorist funding.” – George ‘Flight Suit’ Bush, May 1, 2003

Actually, I found the response from Downing St to be the most illuminating…

Guardian – No 10: Saddam let al-Qaida operate: But Downing Street said Saddam had created “a permissive environment” for terrorists and al-Qaida operatives were in the country during his time in office. No 10 said it was not claiming a direct link but a spokeswoman said: “The prime minister has always said Saddam created a permissive environment for terrorism and we know that the people affiliated to al-Qaida operated in Iraq during the regime.

So from this we learn that Saddam presented a danger that warranted a pre-emptive strike because he had created “a permissive environment” for terrorists.

Let’s step back with George W. Bush…

“Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in many places. Iraq is now the central front.” – George W. Bush, September 7, 2003

And who made it the central front?

FACT: al-Qaida are far more active in Iraq than they ever were before – even with that dirtbag Saddam in charge.

It’s not just the opportunities presented by the chaos of war that motivates and enables them, it’s the charging in without a UN mandate, killing and torturing civilians. Works wonders. There and elsewhere.

In short, Bush and Blair have created a permissive environment for terrorism and we know that the people affiliated to al-Qaida operate in Iraq far more effectively during their occupation. And we now know that terrorism has increased worldwide under their watch.

The final word I leave to Loretta Napoleoni…

Hussein’s Weapons of Mild Destruction: What ever the real causes, it is apparent that coalition forces not only have gone to war for the wrong reasons but they have ended up fighting an unexpected new enemy. Since the victory over Hussein’s army, American solders have been engulfed in a vicious guerrilla war, waged by a variety of forces, whose lifeline is the former dictator’s massive arsenal of conventional weapons and small arms. What is killing hundreds of American GIs and thousands of Iraqis civilians are explosives, guns, Kalashnikovs, Soviet-made AK-47s, shoulder missiles similar to US Stingers — these are commonly known as small arms, terrorist groups’ favourite weapons. Ironically, unable to achieve WMD, Saddam Hussein stockpiled ‘weapons of mild destruction’.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
11:07
Winer, winer, hosting, whining, Winer, Winer, weblogs. Get a f**king grip, people!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
11:10
Demagogue on Bush and the Iraq/terror lie: Now, maybe it wasn’t quite a lie; maybe Bush thought it was true, in spite of the absence of evidence for it. If so, Bush is even less competent than he’s looked lately. But in any case, what he said was false. And now, his flaks are trying to pretend he never said it. But he did. And he didn’t just say it; he went to war on it.

Every justification for the war has been shot to hell.

Meanwhile, here in the UK we operate on a two-party system and – in the recent elections – the ruling government were lucky to come third. And Blair is still in power. Why?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
RWCs
Time
11:18
Pin-wearing wingnut John Gibson owes Mark B five squid:

—–Original Message—–

From: Mark B

To: myword@foxnews.com

Sent: 6/17/2004 12:17 PM

Subject: Hahaha

You are a troll and I claim my five pounds.

—–Original Message—–

From: Show -My Word [mailto:myword@FOXNEWS.COM]

Sent: 17 June 2004 21:09

To: ‘Mark B’

Subject: RE: Hahaha

congrats.

Heh. Here’s an excellent breakdown of the Ofcom ruling, just in case you need it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
The War on Terror
Time
11:27
I was looking for a citation for this:

“The greatest danger of bombs is in the explosion of stupidity that they provoke.” – Octave Mirabeau

And found this: The war on terror is the new Cold War and will not help bring peace.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
The Big Intervention
Time
11:56
A whopping great load of Big Intervention stickers is now in the hands of Brian Haw. Keep an eye out for them in and around Westminster.

This weekend, I’m going to try and apply the blog model (user get audience) to real life by hitting boot sales at sparrow’s fart and handing out individual stickers to sellers who’ll wear them and sheets of stickers to sellers who wish to hand them out.

The hunt for statements from famous peeps goes on, but I keep hitting brick walls. Picking up the phone instead of using email gets you closer, but the job of these people – sadly, a necessary filter for such contact – is to prevent clients from doing silly things like speak up once in a while. Ho-hum.

Oh, and I’m *still* having to chase Ladbrokes, who appear to be having some difficulty calculating the odds of Tony Blair not being the leader of the Labour party after July 1st 2004.

What are you up to? Blog it and I’ll plug it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
Pretend You Care
Time
14:04
Big Brother 5: the animals are getting restless.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
15:12
Fox News lies – proof by Google (via Not A Blog).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
The War on Terror
Time
16:44
Well, Cheney is sticking to his guns, but he doesn’t have much choice after saying in 2002 that; “We know that al-Qaeda is operating in Iraq today.”

Also, curse the liberal media, who attack Bush every chance they get. Unless it’s lunchtime, of course.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040618
Useful
Time
17:46
Amusing places close to you (link via the latest B3ta newsletter).

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Date
20040621
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
10:17
Some fine words from Anthony Sampson, author of Who Runs This Place?

Payment/subscription is required, but the guts have been quoted below for those of you in the cheap seats…

The damaging legacy of our silence over this offshore haven for torturers: The extent to which the British have lost their moral authority by condoning lawless warfare is only gradually beginning to sink in. It is already becoming evident now, with the diminishing British prestige throughout the Middle East. But in the longer term it may more serious consequences by undermining effective protests against torture and abuses of prisoners throughout the developing world. No condemnation of the treatment of prisoners, from Zimbabwe to China, will carry the same weight if the British are seen to have colluded with the methods in Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib.

Samspon also speaks of the US methods of torture that have infected British soliders. And on that note…

Guardian – UK troops accused of mutilating Iraqi bodies: Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers mutilated the bodies of Iraqi insurgents after a firefight last month near the southern Iraqi town of Majar al Kabir. The allegations are contained in official death certificates seen by the Guardian written by Dr Adel Salid Majid, the director of the hospital in Majar al Kabir, on May 15, the day after the battle. Seven of the certificates state that corpses handed over to hospital authorities by British troops showed signs of “mutilation” and “torture”.

And Time takes us a step closer to The Big One with this Notebook entry…

Time – New Abuse Charges – Allegations of mistreatment of female detainees: Could the abuse of prisoners in Iraq have gone beyond the beatings and sexual humiliation already alleged?

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Date
20040621
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:22
Finally, interest turns away from bellybuttons and back to politics. And Clinton. Which, as we all know, is less about politics and more about public interest in the correct use of a cigar.

Yahoo – 9/11 Panel Underscores Saddam Controversy.

Washington Post – Mistakes Loom Large as Handover Nears: The American occupation of Iraq will formally end this month having failed to fulfill many of its goals and stated promises intended to transform the country into a stable democracy, according to a detailed examination drawing upon interviews with senior U.S. and Iraqi officials and internal documents of the occupation authority.

Meanwhile, there are joys elsewhere in the world…

New York Times – Dare We Call It Genocide?: The world has acquiesced shamefully in the Darfur genocide, perhaps because 320,000 deaths this year (a best-case projection from the U.S. Agency for International Development) seems like one more boring statistic. So listen to Ms. Khattar’s story, multiply it by hundreds of thousands, and let’s see if we still want to look the other way.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040621
Give ‘Em Enough Europe….
Time
10:26
Was I the only one who laughed out loud at Tony Blair’s declaration that the debate over the new European Union constitution would be “a battle between reality and myth”?

Myth.

Reality.

Anyway, enough about Iraq. Let’s get back to Europe for a moment…

Independent – So what is fact? And what is Eurosceptic fiction?

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Date
20040621
Told You So
Time
10:29
Guardian – Bush told he is playing into Bin Laden’s hands: Al-Qaida may ‘reward’ American president with strike aimed at keeping him in office, senior intelligence man says.

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Date
20040621
The Bush Administration
Time
10:33
Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness. And you’d have to be a little bit funny in the head not to see the benefits of this bold initiative…

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Date
20040621
A Blog is Born
Time
10:39
Sarah Teather is my MP by Rob D is the latest weblog written on behalf of an MP.

Oh, and Dan had some good advice when commenting on Tom’s blog: Warning: many MPs love litigation. If you blog “on behalf of” your MP, remember that you could risk being sued for impersonation, particularly if you are putting words in their mouth they would not normally say.

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Date
20040621
The Big Intervention
Time
11:04
Max Hastings – Only prime minister Brown can win an EU referendum: Yet faith in Blair seems damaged in a fashion that cannot be undone. If he invites the British people to trust him on a matter of such magnitude as the European constitution, he will get a resounding raspberry. Indeed, the more personal the campaign Blair conducts on behalf of the constitution between now and a referendum, the less effective it seems likely to be.

I’ve a mind to include this on the statements page, but should probably ask permission first.

A further statement from me will follow later today.

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Date
20040621
Updates
Time
12:39
Well Blair may not know when to quit, but I do.

The official deadline for The Big Intervention is midnight tonight, but – truth be told – this particular battle was over last Wednesday.

The UK Today will now be taking control of The Big Intervention, aiming for action at the upcoming Labour Party Conference. This is a far more conservative plan, operating on a more generous timetable. Will enough MPs have the sense and the guts to take on Blair and take back the party? Time will tell, but I won’t be taking part.

From tomorrow, Bloggerheads will be going away for a while. What shape it takes and what the priorities will be upon its return remain uncertain at this stage, but there will be no more activism through this blog until matters are settled in the US in or around November. (Please note that in that sentence I make no assumption that Bush will lose or even that an election will take place.)

The campaign to get Tony Blair to establish a publicly accessible email facility had a great many strengths. A clear precedent had been set (every other western leader had one) and a promise had been made (in the closing days of the last general election). Oh, and I was actually receiving email intended for the PM. But in the end, Blair’s communications team delivered the service in their own sweet time, pretending that nothing of consequence had happened. They even managed to rip off my specifications in the process. Blair won.

When Bush came to town, he didn’t dare set foot on a London street. But Blair took Bush back to his constituency with a specially arranged pub lunch complete with its own Free Speech Zone. Again, Blair wins. By pretending that nothing of consequence has happened.

In these campaigns, pornography or the prospect of seeing bare bums in public were the aspects that generated the most public/media interest.

In both campaigns there were many visitors, but very few participants.

I’m glad to see some uptake on the call for people to blog on behalf of their MP, but everybody participating needs to be aware that the actual effectiveness of these blogs will be limited to the actions that are taken OFFLINE by the blogger and/or the readers it reaches. (Note – new blogs will still be plugged here during my period of rest.)

In the days following the local and European elections, Blair was particularly vulnerable. That’s why I pushed for such a tight deadline for the Big Intervention. It was the perfect time to go for the throat.

But in the end, Blair won again. By pretending that nothing of consequence had happened.

So, here I sit, worn to a frazzle and unable to anything but pray.

From tomorrow, Bloggerheads will be going away for a while. It will return, but you may not recognise it when it does.

But nothing of consequence has happened.

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Date
20040622
Goombye
Time
09:48
I have a few final words to say in Flash format. I’m just sorting out hosting for this parting shot… with you in a moment

UPDATE – Yep, here you go… parting shot, as promised.

For occasional updates and an email alert when Bloggerheads gets going again, simply send a blank email to bloggerheads-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For UK-centric news and commentary, see:

The UK Today | Perfect.co.uk | London News Review | howlingspoons

For US-centric news and commentary, see:

Atrios | The Washington Monthly

Everything else, watch Blogdex, but do keep an eye on where the link support originates from. When in doubt, run the URL through Technorati.

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Date
20040628
A Blog is Born
Time
08:43
Don’t get your hopes up. The only new posts here – for quite some time – will involve the promised pluggage of new weblogs written on behalf of MPs. Like this one…

The weblog for Jim Cousins, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central: The blog’s primary aim is to let his constituents see what he is up to, to find out if he is their ideal person to represent them and most importantly to make their views heard. If the real Jim Cousins ever finds out about this blog he can have it, and the associated gmail address, as long as he keeps it up to date. How good an offer is that? Nice, easy to use way to get in touch with his constituents. For free. Come and get it Jim.

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Date
20040601
Jolly Good
Time
10:22
Andrew Bailey thinks I should have a bit of a relax and take my mind of things. He may have a point.

Here’s what he offered by way of relaxation. It really is quite wonderful, and we do have a rodent in the house, but I think I’ll stick with more simple pleasures for now.

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Date
20040601
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
10:25
Ruth (23, from Bolton) today tells us that she was stunned to learn that a thrid of Brits are too lazy to take a ten-minute walk. She said: “A short walk every day keeps me fit. I think everyone should o the same.”

Sadly, for reasons of space, Ruth was unable to also point out that she’s actually thirty-nine and has had four children. And that we should remember our boys on the Malabar front. *cough*

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040601
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:27
Washington Post – From Bush, Unprecedented Negativity – Scholars Say Campaign Is Making History With Often-Misleading Attacks: Scholars and political strategists say the ferocious Bush assault on Kerry this spring has been extraordinary, both for the volume of attacks and for the liberties the president and his campaign have taken with the facts. Though stretching the truth is hardly new in a political campaign, they say the volume of negative charges is unprecedented — both in speeches and in advertising.

This from the camp that screams ‘Hate Criiiime!’ any time we dare point out that Bush is a lying crim. Much further down the chart, but somewhat related and worthy of attention:

Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics.

UPDATE – Oooh, lookie here… Yahoo – Bush Campaigns Heavily on Air Force One: President Bush is using Air Force One for re-election travel more heavily than any predecessor, wringing maximum political mileage from a perk of office paid for by taxpayers. (More over at CNN.)

Yet another landmark for the unprecedented un-president….

Back to the chart-toppers, there’s this wonderful piece of work in the 2nd spot. Joanne, if you’re watching, this is for you:

Flash video for the Beatles’ “Come Together”. (You’ll need a moderately wide pipe. It’s 7 megabytes and change.)

There’s also the Time article on Cheney that will be covered in a new post momentarily and this list:

Pros and Cons of John Kerry’s Top Twenty Vice-Presidential Candidates.

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Date
20040601
The Bush Administration
Time
10:43
Via the Tom Watson we all know and love comes a link to this whopper from the other Tom Watson we have yet to know but could come to love. Dick Cheney has been caught lying about Haliburton kickbacks!

Time – The Paper Trail: Cheney’s relationship with Halliburton has been nothing but trouble since he left the company in 2000. Both he and the company say they have no ongoing connections. But TIME has obtained an internal Pentagon e-mail sent by an Army Corps of Engineers official – whose name was blacked out by the Pentagon – that raises questions about Cheney’s arm’s-length policy toward his old employer.

Guardian – Email shows Cheney ‘link’ to oil contract: Reports suggest that the process of awarding contracts has changed under the Bush administration. A report to the House of Representatives committee on government reform last week noted that $107bn in contracts had been awarded without open competition. Nearly three-quarters of those exclusive arrangements – worth about $88bn – involved work in Iraq, the report said. Halliburton has won a sizeable share of them.

CNN – Cheney office denies role in Halliburton deal: Vice President Dick Cheney’s office denied Sunday that he was involved in a coordinated effort to secure a multibillion dollar Iraq oil deal for Halliburton, his former employer.

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Date
20040601
Inneresting
Time
10:45
Ever wonder what happens to lighters that get left in the pub?

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Date
20040601
The End of Democracy
Time
10:48
Guardian – Making voters care: Yesterday the word from the worst-affected councils was reassuring. Even if today’s deadline is missed, the elections will go ahead as planned. But at best the result is that universal suffrage will no longer be quite so universal. Some voters will get more than a fortnight to send their papers back and some less than a week. Some may not be able to vote at all, unless they return their votes by hand. Once the results are in, legal challenges by failed candidates look unavoidable.

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Date
20040601
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
10:50
Washington Post – Why Hawks Should Be Angry: Bush could have responded differently. He could have embraced the heroes such as Spec. Joseph Darby, who sounded the alarm; William J. Kimbro, the Navy dog handler who refused to sic his dogs on prisoners; Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who wrote an honest report. He could have apologized to the people of Iraq, appointed an investigator from outside the chain of command, pledged to abide by the Geneva Conventions. Instead, he opted for a Nixonian strategy of damage containment, and a summer of piecemeal disclosure.

Not only but also, a few notes for your scarpbook. The online version really could do with some hyperlinked annotation, but it’s still nice to see comeprehensive messages like this on the front page of a newspaper….

Independent – An A-Z of the Iraq war and its aftermath, focusing on misrepresentation, manipulation, and mistakes.

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Date
20040601
Flash Games
Time
10:54
Fantastic intro, and a great game:

Hulk Hogan, He-Man and Mr T take on the Bush administration.

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Date
20040601
Interesting Times
Time
11:03
Thanks for all the email. I’ll be answering what I can individually later today – but in the meantime, I have this to tide you over….

I think I have a way of providing those with the power to remove Blair and his cronies with the motivation and elbow-room required to sort this out quickly and efficiently so we can all move forward. The time for action would be in the days following the European elections.

It’s got a pretty good shot at working, but I’m still pondering on whether it should be done. There’s a very strong argument that this move could more or less hand power to the Tories at the next election… but what also worries me is that a certain stubborn person may hang onto power until events force his removal anyway – and this will happen too late for the new cabinet to establish a suitable amount of goodwill/credentials/etc. ahead of the next general election (even if this is held over until 2005).

So, that’s where my head is at. And I’m still thinking about it. Bear with me.

UPDATE – You may want to read the blogged thoughts of Balders and Angel.

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Date
20040601
George “War President” Bush
Time
11:55
It was reported over the weekend that George W. Bush keeps and displays in the White House the pistol Saddam Hussein was captured with.

The Rude Pundit points out that it’s illegal to own a handgun in D.C. unless it was registered prior to 1976 and that the District of Columbia also does not allow firearms to be given as gifts.

He also asks:

– Did he receive a background check for the transfer of ownership?

– Is Bush licensed to possess a firearm in a federal facility?

War trophies are also a no-no.

UPDATE – That calls for a picture, that does. Big’un posted to B3ta.

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Date
20040601
Advertising Genius
Time
18:19
The shortlist is in for the Tory ‘please make us an ad campaign for free’ drive. As you might expect, the bulk of entries stink of professional cleveryness – which might have something to do with the Tories farming this out to ad agencies well ahead of the public release.

To put it bluntly, this whole ‘grass roots’ campaign is based on a lie.

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Date
20040601
Pretend You Care
Time
22:09
Be you in the UK or not, you should spend time getting to know Kat/Kathryn Pinder, or She Who Shall Now Be Known as ‘Kitten Off Big Brother’. She’s, like, a totally hardcore activist with genuine life experience.

And, until today, only worthy of this single entry in Google from an indexed PDF file.

Whoop, wait a bit… someone in Usenet has been kind enough to post her Friends Reunited profile that she really should have deleted before going into the house.

1991 Molescroft Primary School (St Leonard’s Road, Beverley)

1996 Cottingham High School (Harland Way, Cottingham)

1998 Longcroft School (Burton Road, Beverley)

1998 Denstone College (Uttoxeter, Staffordshire)

What I’m doing now: I am living in brighton and having a fantastic time. I am employed by connexions as a youth worker, working with 13 to 19 yr olds. Im hoping to move to Perth with my Australian girlfriend in September. Email me at…

Member’s Interests: Djing, Political activism, showing off.

I’m sure the phone number in this listing is also due for a hammering given its locality and the name associated with it, and the Brighton arm of the LGB is sure to receive a few calls from gossip-hungry journalists once they’ve finished milking her parents.

OK, that’s enough from me. I’m off to watch some paint dry.

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Date
20040601
Updates
Time
22:15
I’ve just finished writing my presentation for NotCon 2004. I was orginally going to do a rather vague thing on activism and search engine optimisation, but there’s just too much to say and I thought it would be better if I presented something genuinely and immediately useful.

My presentation is entitled:

HOW TO STALK YOUR LOCAL MP (IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES A DAY)

Regular readers will know that I’ve resisted this idea in the past (despite being a total hypocrite and keeping all the fun to myself), but MPs have had long enough to cotton onto this themselves. It’s time for a little tough love.

There’ll be an abridged (perhaps even an expanded) online version, but I’m deliberately holding back on this because:

1. I’m as busy as all hell.

2. I’m a total bastard and want to make sure that you attend the conference.

Little to no bloggage tomorrow, as I have some work-for-money to do. If I haven’t answered your email yet, it’s because I was working on my presentation. And the dog ate it. Honest, Sir!

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Date
20040601
Video
Time
22:20
Bush Family Fortunes. A documentary on the history of the Bush family and how George W. Bush got to the White House. Enjoy.

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Date
20040601
It’s War! Let’s Hug!
Time
22:49
I saw Tom’s link to it this morning and this post by Jeff Jarvis just now. I hate to be a killjoy, but I’m still not sold on Spirit of America. But – what the hell – I’ve linked to it now and you can do what you like with it.

What’s causing the uncertainty?

Well, if we showed this kind of cohesion and goodwill on a certain other matter, we could give the Iraqis what they really need – justice and stability (without one there can’t be the other) – and then send a bunch of food, tools and frisbees over knowing that the goodwill isn’t going to be wasted and the materials aren’t going to be pissed away in the storm of war. Or occupation. Or ‘temporary armed support’. Call it what you like.

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Date
20040602
Consume!
Time
10:16
Remember; it’s not about the oil…

BBC – Fuel protest plan for city centre.

Here’s an overview of what the papers are saying and here’s some analysis from The Independent. You’ll love the quote from Tony Blair that actually attempts to tie in with Big Brother of all things. There’s also a survey from the Churchill motor insurance company which indicates that ‘up to seven in 10 motorists would support fuel blockades’. Oh, and you can see copy of the (very old) email this article mentions, and some comments, by clicking here or here (there’s a lot of talk about how much of the current price is tax).

Similar industry-sourced statistics were around well ahead of the last big fuel protest; Alastair Campbell’s strategy of trying to distance the government from the issue (and at the same time involve themselves by demonising lorry drivers) didn’t get very far, as you may well remember.

Whoops. I take that back. It was very effective in stopping the protests themselves. Follow the trail:

Fuel crisis tests Blair’s leadership

Fuel protesters ‘like cornered rats’

Warning on fuel protest dangers

Did Blair back down? Hell, no! But Gordon Brown’s pre-Budget report offered certain concessions and played a very important role (when this card was played in conjunction with the demonising/danger Ace). But Blair didn’t back down. Blair never backs down.

A quick note for Americans; currently there’s fuss over your way about you paying $2 a gallon at the pump.

A quick distraction….

This is typical of a Murdoch paper. The headline says one thing, while the article says another…

Times – £4 gallon of petrol becomes a reality: The oil price rises mean that the £4 gallon of petrol came closer to reality in Britain, as fears of disruption to supplies from Saudi Arabia intensified after the weekend’s attacks by suspected Al-Qaeda militants.

Right, now, where was I? Oh, yes…

You pay $2 a gallon at the pump. We pay close to £4. That’s $7 and change in Yankee dollar, big boy.

And now fuel protests are scheduled for the day before (non-postal) polling day. Panic-buying may very well cause problems well before this.

It looks like al-Qaeda are going to play a role in the local and European elections after all.

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Date
20040602
Interesting Times
Time
10:54
Sudan? Go here.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040602
It’s War! And You Just Volunteered!
Time
11:24
The Draft is back: and this time conscription is for women, too.

Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005.

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Date
20040602
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
12:47
New York Metro – John Kerry Intern Scandal – The Education of Alexandra Polier: Falsely accused of having an affair with John Kerry, the “intern” sifts through the mud and the people who threw it.

Brian Flynn from The Sun is singled out for special mention. Read the article in full (or take a shortcut to the guts via Gawker) to enjoy the men and women from doorstop-central dodging and weaving and insisting that Alexandra go through ‘proper channels’.

“You’ve just ambushed me,” he cried. “You’ve ambushed me!”

Bwahahahahahaha!

UPDATE – The Sun’s version is now offline, but you can still search about today and confirm that this is a Brian Flynn story:

He Chopped Off My Hand: America gives back what Saddam Took Awayin Abu Ghraib prison

This was all part of Team Bush’s drive last week to reassociate Saddam with Abu Ghraib and shunt their own wrongdoings into the background…

Bush Meets Iraqis Maimed Under Saddam: “I’m honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein with six other Iraqi citizens as well who suffered the same fate,” Bush said, shaking the new hand of Qasim Ghida Kadhim at a photo opportunity at the Oval Office. “They are examples of the brutality of the tyrant.”

I think it’s pretty clear who Brian Flynn is working for, don’t you?

UPDATE – Tinfoil hats on, please. If you poke around, you’ll also find that Brian Flynn has boldly presented more than a few Iraq porkies, was behind many of the more sordid stories concerning Michael Jackson (see: Timely Arrests) and coughed up some juicy nuggets for the whole AIDS/porn-industry thing (see: War on Porn). Interesting, no?

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Date
20040602
Photoshopping
Time
14:58
Nominations are now open for this special Iraq War Memorial.

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Date
20040602
RWCs
Time
15:51
Yahoo – RNC Mocks Kerry Lifestyle in Online Game: In “Kerryopoly,” the Republican National Committee roasts the Democratic presidential candidate with an online satire of his well-heeled lifestyle.

Yes. Because George W. Bush is a stranger to wealth and privilege…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
UKIP=BNP
Time
09:46
Howard: BNP a stain on British democracy.

BBC – UKIP hits back over Howard attack: The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has hit back after Tory leader Michael Howard branded them “extreme”.

*cough*

More on Howard later. For now, let’s have some more UKIP…

Johann Hari – Don’t be fooled: The UK Independence Party is not harmless.

Guardian – It feels like the BNP – only in blazers.

Anthony Wells – Swivel-Eyed Loons Triumphant.

Oh, and someone at the UKIP has been paying attention. Kind of. Take a look at this blog entitled ‘UKIP Uncovered’, which is actually just another layer of bulldust.

Finally, here for your reference is an edited transcript of their party political broadcast last night:

Hey, we’re not extreme! We’re nice! We’re reasonable. But here are some ‘facts’…. 75 million potential immigrants, Britain awash, etc. Look at out big truck with the word ‘NO’ on it! All of our healthcare and education problems can be fixed if we only take immigrants, the EU and other foreigners out of the equation. It’s the British way. Look at our BIG TRUCK! Again, we’re a reasonable lot, so here are some soundbites from people on the street. Look! One of them is wearing a turban! “I think healthcare is important…”, “I think education is important…” There you go. See? We’re not alone. And we also have A VERY BIG TRUCK! (Postal voters! Vote now before you have a chance to think it over!)

UPDATE – Now you can see it for yourself by clicking here (WMV file).

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Date
20040603
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:58
CBS – Enron Traders Caught On Tape. Read it. It’ll confirm a lot for you.

Oooh, and look what I found at the bottom of this page…

CBS – Bush, Atty Huddle On CIA Leak: President Bush has consulted an outside lawyer in case he needs to retain him in the grand jury investigation of who leaked the name of a covert CIA operative last year, the White House said Wednesday. There was no indication that Bush is a target of the leak investigation, but the president has decided that in the event he needs an attorney’s advice, “he would retain him,” White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.

Circle those wagons, boys!

UPDATE – (from a not-entirely-credible source, so do tread carefully) Capitol Hill Blue – Bush Knew About Leak of CIA Operative’s Name: Witnesses told a federal grand jury President George W. Bush knew about, and took no action to stop, the release of a covert CIA operative’s name to a journalist in an attempt to discredit her husband, a critic of administration policy in Iraq.

Also of interest on Blogdex today; Neil Gaiman ‘fesses up to his daughter Holly. It all started when they were listening to Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”….

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Date
20040603
A Blog Is Born
Time
10:06
A new blog for you to enjoy: Spluttermonkey!

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Date
20040603
Googlejuice
Time
10:08
Sudan. More from this post at The UK Today.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
In The News
Time
10:16
Smoking Gun asked to serve up to serve up Jacko “source”.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Please Remember To Keep Being Afraid
Time
10:18
CNN – House rejects constitutional doomsday measure: Determined to remain elected representatives, House lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed governors to name replacements if half the 435-member chamber died in a terrorist attack or other disaster.

But what about the Rapture? What contingency plan do they have for when the Rapture takes place?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Video
Time
10:23
Farenheit 911 – The Trailer (suitable files for all pipe sizes in Quicktime & Windows Media).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Genie Arse
Time
10:26
School-board Chairman’s plagiarised graduation speech tracked down with simple search in Google.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Fun, Fun, Fun!
Time
10:29
Remember; our government’s foreign policy has nothing to do with this.

It’s also nice to see Michael Howard acting so responsibly. And considering the hammering the tube system took during the last fuel protest, the planned strike couldn’t have come at a better time.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Goodbye, George
Time
10:34
Tinfoil helmet optional: The truth, hard as it is to accept, is that Bush is an Iranian agent.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Googlebombing
Time
10:40
#############################################

I hereby call for the following Googlebomb:

Opportunist

That is all.

#############################################

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Free Speech
Time
10:43
Warning: This is what you get for daring to stand around with a bag on your head. (Cheers to Martin for the link.)

UPDATE – Some details and comment over at DailyKos.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Christianity Watch
Time
16:32
Please note the source of this information: The Anti-Christ is due to be revealed to the world in June and death awaits us in the skies above.

Damn. Our house is located directly under the sky. Perhaps now would be a good time to move.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Tony Blair
Time
16:45
Space Hardware: I want one single outcome from the upcoming elections. I want Blair to get a bloody nose. Ideally I want him to bleed so profusely that his own colleagues take advantage of his weakened state and finally find the guts to chuck him out the party.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Church & State
Time
16:57
Pennsylvania political push for Bush could cost churches tax break: President Bush’s re-election campaign is trying to recruit supporters from 1,600 religious congregations in Pennsylvania — a political push that critics said Wednesday could cost churches their tax breaks.

More from Yahoo: “If ever there were a question about the real intent of expanding faith-based initiatives and promoting a presence of religion in government, this tactic puts it to rest,” Rabbi Moline (of The Interfaith Alliance) said. “The Bush-Cheney campaign has dropped any pretense of honoring the separation of church and state mandated by the Constitution, and puts in jeopardy the non-profit status of 1600 houses of worship by asking them to engage in partisan politics. The President should repudiate this initiative immediately. 1600 Pennsylvania churches for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. How clever. How reprehensible.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Goodbye, George
Time
17:03
CIA Director Tenet Resigns!. For ‘personal reasons’, of course…

Link via Atrios. Click here to read some comments.

Oh, and here’s a picture that says it all.

UPDATE – “We simply cannot afford to further increase the risk to our country with more blunders by this team. Donald Rumsfeld, as the chief architect of the war plan, should resign today. His deputies Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and his intelligence chief Stephen Cambone should also resign. The nation is especially at risk every single day that Rumsfeld remains as Secretary of Defense. Condoleeza Rice, who has badly mishandled the coordination of national security policy, should also resign immediately. George Tenet should also resign. I want to offer a special word about George Tenet, because he is a personal friend and I know him to be a good and decent man. It is especially painful to call for his resignation, but I have regretfully concluded that it is extremely important that our country have new leadership at the CIA immediately.” – Al Gore (the actual President) May 26, 2004

One down….

UPDATE – 1, 2, 3, 4 – I declare a flame war! Oh, and let’s raise a glass for Mr Chalabi, first man to stake a claim on the official fall guy.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
The BNP
Time
18:15
Due another plug, I think.

UPDATE – The BNP site fell over about 2 minutes after I posted this. It’s not my fault, I swear!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Oldies But Goodies
Time
18:37
How long has it been since you visited Eric?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Updates
Time
20:34
As a daily read and a site that picks up on (and/or expands on) a lot of stuff I don’t have time to deal with myself, perfect.co.uk qualifies easily as a ‘follow me’ link – and has just been included as such.

Oh, I’ve been thinking about the upcoming transfer to Movable Type… it’s going to be a long, hard slog, but I think I have a way to do it and include all of the archives in MT format.

I’d want a couple of serious plug-ins, too. One plug-in I’d like is something that turns off comments once any given post drops off the front page. Another would let me enable/disable indexability for any new or existing post – with the default set to ‘off’ (see Web Directive No. 7).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Politics
Time
20:45
Is the Tory party due for a major bowel movement? Will Tim Yeo end up with less than 3 jobs? I hope not; I was just beginning to enjoy the show…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Consume!
Time
22:47
Oh, FFS…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Flash Thingies
Time
23:39
The buck stops where exactly…?

(Bloggage will be light tomorrow; if you haven’t been here for a while, scan for updates – there’s a few juicy bits hidden down there that you may have missed.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040603
Proper Gander
Time
23:43
Goebbels would be proud. (Link via Perfect.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040604
Goodbye, George
Time
09:36
Scotsman – CIA Chief Quit for Personal Reasons, Insists Blair: Mr Blair told BBC Breakfast today: “I would just say that the head of the CIA left for personal reasons. He said that very, very clearly. “As far as I understand it, the decision of the CIA director has got absolutely nothing to do with Iraq, 9/11 or anything else.”

Well, there you go. Here are some other official reactions and some from the public as well.

Independent – The Scapegoat?: George Tenet, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, resigned yesterday, the Bush administration’s de facto scapegoat for the fiasco of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and the heavy loss of US credibility that followed.

Guardian – Farewell to the fall guy blamed for terror blunders : Now that Mr Tenet is outside the administration, much of the criticism – and there is plenty more to come with a string of inquiries under way into the double debacle – can be deflected away from the president as he approaches re-election.

That he was a Clinton appointee has absolutely nothing to do with it, either.

And now, some news that is no way related. Just a simple retirement. It was planned weeks and weeks and weeks ago. Honest…

BBC – Second top official to quit CIA: A second top CIA official is to retire from his post, less than a day after the surprise resignation of the agency’s director George Tenet.

Incidentally, The Sun have buried news of Tenet’s resignation in the lower right-hand corner of Page Two with a mere 79 words. But the opening paragraph still manages to set the scene for Team Bush…

The Sun – CIA boss stands down: CIA chief George Tenet quit last night, taking the blame for America’s failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Tenet, 51, said he was quitting for personal reasons but sources said he was being blamed for passing flawed information to the White House.

So there it is. George Tenet has the Bush administration’s ‘complete support’ (aaaaand cue: kiss of death).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040604
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
09:53
How Democracy Was Subverted in Peru: What they found was a stunningly bold and effective effort to circumvent three institutions key to maintaining democracy in Peru: the judiciary, the legislature, and the media. “Montesinos and Fujimori maintained the façade of democracy—the citizens voted, judges decided, the media reported—but they drained its substance,” McMillan and Zoido wrote. What’s more, by analyzing the size of the bribes, they demonstrate that the media, or more specifically, television, has become the most forceful of the checks and balances that underpin constitutional government.

And you wonder why Murdoch wants to ruin the BBC and establish his own terrestrial presence here in the UK?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040604
Interesting Times
Time
10:17
If we move, we move next Friday.

The name of the project is The Big Intervention.

You need to be ready.

Bloggerheads regulars (and irregulars):

1. Have you got a weblog yet? If you haven’t, get one. There’s no shame in starting with – or even maintaining – a ‘simple’ presence via Blogger.com, and it takes about 10 minutes to set yourself up. Need any help? Just ask. If you want a voice during this campaign you will need your own web presence.

2. Once you’re done and have made your first post – or, if you already have a weblog – make sure you are listed with each of the major blog directories.

I can’t stress that second one enough. In fact, here it is again;

Make sure your weblog is listed with each of the major blog directories! Blogdex is a bit shaky this morning, so you may have to do that one last, but please do it, because it’s the most important aggregator there is. Also, the processing of submissions can take anywhere from 2 days to 12 in some cases, so it’s very important that you do this today.

Get to it.

Erm, please.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040604
Google
Time
10:49
Oh dear, what an unfortunate side effect.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040604
Oldies But Goodies
Time
17:39
Welcome to the Interweb! Link via BBSpot.

(What are you doing still hanging around here? Go and build your sodding weblog!)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040604
Stuff
Time
23:05
When I was 6 years old, I used to believe that magicians/illusionists got away with what they did because everybody in the audience blinked at the same time. I may have been onto something…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040606
Interesting Times
Time
01:08
Big Brother: What a bunch of fools. If they’d stuck with each other in that room, each one of them would have earned £50K in the free market easily. And they punked out the first time their prize money took one step down. Without even discussing it. And then Kitten – who folded faster than Superman on laundry day – had the audacity to scream ‘smash the capitalist state’ on her way out. FFS…

OK, that’s my priorities sorted. Here’s some not-at-all-important stuff.

The unprecedented un-president is at it again, messing with the political opponent of his faaaaaayvrit deputy“. Think about how you would react if Blair praised or criticised any policy of John Kerry. Australia must go to the polls soon; an election is visibly close. WTF does Bush think he’s playing at?

“International law? I better call my lawyer…”

May. Not. Be Necessary. He’s having enough trouble with the locals.

But it was all worth it. His foreign policy is extremely successful.

*cough*

And now this.

Here are some opinions.

Here’s a dirty great flame war.

Me, I plan to take a page out of the Book of Blair and not speak ill of the dead. Unless they’re a deranged fantasist.

Hey, a blog is born! This is kind of harsh, but Howling Spoons has visibly calmed over the last few days.

Everything else, watch the B3ta messageboard. It’s late, so I’ll probably refrain (oh, go on, then). But it would pay to watch for some artistic/personal reactions to this limit and beyond if you have the time to do more than simply scan the latest posts. But only if you’ve already built/prepared your weblog, of course. You’ll want a weapon in your hands during these coming weeks.

Oh, do you want some good news?

Think about all of those generic Tory posters you’ve seen about lately. Think about what the eye-catching strapline is (presented as it is in bold white on dark blue). Think about what you would remember from that if you ever wanted to find out more from a search engine.

Exactly.

(does small victory dance)

(UPDATE – Bugger. This was brand new yesterday (I See Red was 2nd for ‘let down by labour’), and has dropped off the chart today. Happens sometimes. It’ll be back tomorrow. For now I’ll just have to live with another fresh result: Michael Howard is today 3rd in Google for opportunist…)

If you’re a left-handed blogger or want to run a weblog and are left-handed, then get in touch. (Just thought I’d throw that in to see who’s paying attention…)

NotCon is going to be fun

At the time of the last event I was too commercial to be interesting. Lately I find myself too interesting to be commercial…

UPDATE – Here’s an interesting thought for you: There is one further aspect of last week that should not go unremarked. For the Prime Minister has, in effect, issued a challenge. Having blocked all independent routes to get at the truth, he is now saying that my proposals are “undemocratic”. In other words, he is saying that he is accountable only through the ballot box. That may have profound consequences. For when “Hutton”, “Butler”, “45 minutes” and “WMD” have moved to the periphery of public consciousness and we are all focused on some other political debate (such as the disgraceful decision to push ahead with university top-up and tuition fees), the nagging questions about the war will remain. And the only way to resolve them will be the way our votes are cast.

Do make sure that you vote this week. There are several unpleasant people counting on you forgetting or not bothering with stuff. A protest vote is inevitable. Your job is to make it a responsible protest.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
Updates
Time
08:27
This could not have come at a better time. The system is in beta mode, so do what you can to test it to its limits and make good with the feedback when things go wrong. Robin’s post on this subject or this comment at Boing Boing should help you to understand how cool/useful/important this is. You may want to read either or both before you go and play.

I’ll be publishing a little something later this morning. A statement regarding Friday may not follow until later in the week. Some secret-squirrel emails may be going out in the meantime (it pays to think ahead). Cheers all.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
09:50
Watch Matt Groening strain against his leash.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
Updates
Time
11:00
As promised, here’s the web version of my talk at NotCon yesterday (there’s an increasing amount of reportage being posted here if you’re interested):

How To Stalk Your MP In Less Than 10 Minutes A Day

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
RWCs
Time
11:18
Just. Listen. To. This. (Requires Windows Media Player; link via Tom.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
Search Engine Optimisation
Time
11:21
Nigritude Ultramarine. Because it has to be done.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
Inneresting
Time
11:54
Chain Saw Injury Statistics (via Everlasting Blort).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
2004 – The Year of Zero Modesty
Time
13:20
Both Tom and myself have made the shortlist for the New Statesman 2004 New Media Awards.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to make a nomination.

(makes rude face at peeps who didn’t)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040607
The Interweb
Time
15:19
Top Ten Internet Fads (according to The Wave Magazine).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040608
The Big Intervention
Time
10:16
In quotes: What Blair said about Iraq’s weapons, before and after the war.

PM ‘delusional’ over Iraq WMD, says inspector: Tony Blair was branded ‘delusional’ yesterday over his continued insistence that weapons of mass destruction might still be found in Iraq. The charge was made by the man who headed the hunt.

Yet Blair was on Radio 4 just now urging us to hold our water – yet again – and wait a few months until the Iraq Survey Group publishes its report.

He also played that little game with UN resolutions and what action they may or may not have justified.

He may be an opportunist – but Howard is still right: For, along with the Lib Dems, the Tories are making the right noises on this, the defining topic of the Blair era. They are right, for example, to join Clare Short in demanding to see the full legal opinion issued by the attorney general on the eve of war. The government cites the longstanding “convention” that keeps such advice confidential, but the Conservatives retort that that makes no sense – not when the advice itself, in summary form, has already been released. Now that that is out, there can be no logic which keeps the grounds for that opinion, and the facts on which it was based, a secret. Moreover, it is disingenuous to speak of Whitehall conventions when the Iraq document was clearly the most important legal guidance of its kind for 50 years. It’s no good citing precedents like the Falklands conflict or the 1991 Gulf war, because legality was not an issue in either case (the law on repelling invasions being pretty straightforward). This was an exceptional episode, which broke all previous conventions: it’s no good standing on ceremony now.

Short version: If the case has been made, show us the proof.

Now to the guts of it…

Time and again Blair has said that we the people would decide if he was right at the ballot box.

1. By all means, let us ignore international laws and conventions and let the people decide. After the crime has taken place.

2. You don’t really think he meant it, did you?

Blair urges British voters to put Iraq feelings aside: British Prime Minister Tony Blair, back from the D-Day commemorations in France, urged voters Monday to put aside their feelings about Iraq when they cast ballots in EU and local elections this week.

So let’s push Iraq into the background. It’s not an important issue. In fact, let’s push Tony Blair into the background as well…

‘Invisible man’ attack on Blair: Tony Blair was dubbed “the invisible man” today after all references to him were kept out of Labour’s TV broadcasts and campaign leaflets for this week’s elections. Amid polls showing voters are set to punish the Government over Iraq, the decision underlines fears that the Prime Minister is the party’s biggest liability at the ballot box.

Blair: Labour ‘to decide my future’: Tony Blair has said it is up to the Labour Party to decide whether he should resign as leader. The prime minister had previously pledged to quit if his leadership became an electoral liability to his party.

I say again:

2. You don’t really think he meant it, did you?

Finally, putting his tomorrow-goggles on, Ken Livingston had this to say:

Coup against Blair ‘would be a disaster’: Ken Livingstone today warns Labour rebels that trying to overthrow Tony Blair could destroy the party, amid fears that a wipeout in this week’s local elections could trigger an attempted coup.

If we move, we move on Friday. Yes, the decision to move will be influenced in part by the amount of blood gushing from Tony Blair’s nose.

Today is a day of secretive emails and site builds. There will be few to no updates tomorrow.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040608
Inneresting
Time
19:58
Hooray for days of yore.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040608
Useful
Time
20:07
Check your vision.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040609
A Blog Is Born
Time
08:46
An unofficial blog for Lewis Moonie, Labour MP for Kirkcaldy. A fine effort by DoctorVee!

Everything you need is here: How To Stalk Your MP In Less Than 10 Minutes A Day.

It really is ever so much fun. Trust me.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040609
Tony Blair
Time
08:53
Perfect.co.uk – Use your vote on Thursday!

“Well, I voted for Labour in the last election, but…” is the new black. Or something.

Newsnight last night was awesome, BTW. This article focuses on what nobody wants to talk about, but the really fun bit was seeing all that promotional material from a few years back with Tony’s Big ‘King Face on everything. Three times over.

This time around he’s nowhere to be seen.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:59
New York Times – Lawyers Decided Bans on Torture Didn’t Bind Bush: A team of administration lawyers concluded in a March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation’s security. The memo, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also said that any executive branch officials, including those in the military, could be immune from domestic and international prohibitions against torture for a variety of reasons.

[Washington Post – Legalising Torture: There is no justification, legal or moral, for the judgments made by Mr. Bush’s political appointees at the Justice and Defense departments. Theirs is the logic of criminal regimes, of dictatorships around the world that sanction torture on grounds of “national security.” For decades the U.S. government has waged diplomatic campaigns against such outlaw governments — from the military juntas in Argentina and Chile to the current autocracies in Islamic countries such as Algeria and Uzbekistan — that claim torture is justified when used to combat terrorism.

You can see a copy of the leaked memo here (PDF format).

Also, just for giggles, it’s morning in America… again!

Vote Bush/Zombie-Reagan in 2004!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
Inneresting
Time
10:02
Cherie Blair is a AAA+ eBay buyer!

The ID isn’t cheri-boo, it’s cherie_boo. You can see her profile here. Login, and you can see that she’s a great buyer and makes quick payments.

I hope she gets some good use out of those old flip-flops before she becomes the chief earner in her household and has to switch to the black & cream high heels.

Oh, and in completely unrelated news:

Scotsman – Vote for Sale on Ebay: A Londoner has attempted to sell his or her vote for the June 10 elections on eBay, it emerged tonight. The Electoral Commission confirmed that an advert had been placed on the auction website by a person apparently offering to vote according to the highest bidder’s instructions. The offer, which has now been removed from the website, was condemned by the commission and the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
Flash Thingies
Time
10:05
Where Did The Time Go?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
Tony Blair
Time
10:07
Has Tony Blair inadvertently misled Parliament… again?

Independent – Ministers accused of misleading MPs over prisoner abuse: Mr Blair was accused of misleading Parliament after the Ministry of Defence admitted the number of cases of alleged abuses of civilians in Iraq being investigated by the military police were nearly double those previously given to MPs.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Thanks to Piers Moron, most of the public has it in their heads that the number of cases involving British troops mistreating Iraqi detainees isn’t 33 or 61, but zero.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
The End of Democracy
Time
10:09
Prescott claims postal voting is a success!

Postal vote trial boosts turnout!

Hmm, perhaps this has something do with the people who are working so hard to make sure that all of those postal ballots are filled out promptly and *ahem* correctly…

Times – Postal ballot marred by fraud: Postal ballots for (the) European and local elections were thrown into turmoil last night after a Times investigation uncovered widespread allegations of fraud, vote-stealing and intimidation. The investigation, which covered two of the four postal ballot regions, suggests that substantial numbers of voters have been intimidated into handing over blank ballot papers or forced to support a certain party. In one case, an employer allegedly told his staff that he would sack them all if they refused to support Labour.

UPDATE – Have you voted yet? I got up and voted before breakfast. The Lib-Dems got my vote as the least offensive buffer against the BNP and the UKIP. Labour will never get my vote while Tony Blair is in charge, but I’m pretty sure you worked that out already.

Oh, and Private Eye have gone to print with rumours that Robert Kilroy-Suck plans to ‘do a Sonia Gandhi’ if he’s elected….

UPDATE – John Pardoe: “The Labour Party continues to be the only real choice for the sane.”

I agree. But we can’t continue with that Blair fellow in charge, for reasons that I hope to explain clearly sometime very soon. For now, just go out and VOTE!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
10:19
and his minions…

How The Sun’s Brian Flynn made blonde journalist Alexandra Polier into “brunette Kerry intern”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date
20040610
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
10:20
Independent – The Re-United Nations: The world’s powers yesterday called a diplomatic truce over the tragedy in Iraq as the United Nations Security Council at last gave unanimous backing to a new resolution charting Baghdad’s next perilous steps towards self-determination.

Now we get to watch Bush & Blair play with the blurring of time (well, you can’t argue that the war is illegal because we obtained a UN mandate…).

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Date
20040610
Updates
Time
10:23
More to follow this afternoon.

In the meantime, I need to hear from readers of Bloggerheads who live in a Labour-held constituency. After you’ve voted, of course…

Drop me a line.

JUST IN – Ahahahahaha! loggerheads to play honorary role in G8 summit. Those pesky turtles get everywhere… Also from Abnu; John Ashcroft sings!

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Date
20040610
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:51
Doctor Vee requests guidance.

Blog:Vote comments on Doctor Vee’s efforts.

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Date
20040610
Photoshopping
Time
12:38
It just feels like it is all….

Not only, but also:

Perfect.co.uk – Use your vote on Thursday (I’ve linked to the version with comments, as they’re worth a look-see).

UPDATE – Whoops. Link now fixed.

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Date
20040610
The Big Intervention
Time
16:39
I’ve just done the sums, and taking into account the % of people who live in a Labour constituency, the % of people who believe that Blair should no longer be PM, and the (quite small) % of people who are likely to get off their arses and actually do something about it, I’ve worked out that I need to reach at least 100,000 web users within about a week in order to meet the MPC (Minimum Practical Requirement).

Chasing Bush reached 125,000 people within 7days, so it’s not impossible. There’s just a lot of work to do is all.

Something you need to know:

If I do this project (and I still won’t know until early or late Friday morning if we’re going ahead), I will be putting everything behind it and calling in every favour.

But if we can’t do this, if I personally can’t motivate enough people to get on with a job that so obviously needs doing, then I’m dropping out of the political circus until after Blair is removed from power and/or the US presidential election takes place (on November 2, 2004).

Two reasons:

1. If I can’t make a difference, what’s the point?

2. If we can’t bring about responsible change now, then I fear a shitfight is coming. A bloody big one. I’ll need to shield my family from the worst of it, and that will take money. This means that pretty much everything on or around Bloggerheads that doesn’t make money will stop. (In fact, if the campaign fails, Bloggerheads will probably stop completely for a few weeks while I quietly lick my wounds in a darkened corner.)

I won’t be plugging generic Viagra on a daily basis, but I’ll probably lose the bulk of my audience. Still, if all we’re doing is shouting into the wind and making ourselves feel better, then I have to ask again… what is the point?

In short, if you believe in me, and if you value Bloggerheads, you need to get behind this.

That means not just sitting there and nodding your head in agreement. That means doing everything you can to help – and then wondering what else you can do.

Can you reach a well-known personality and get them to make a statement of support?

Can you raise enough money to place ads – big or small – in local or national newspapers?

Will you actually get up and walk away from the computer and dare to display this same bold attitude in real life by distributing posters/pamphlets?

We have a campaign window of 10 days. The more sudden and overwhelming the coverage, the more likely it is that this will work.

But this will require commitment. From me, and from you.

I’ll see you in the morning.

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Date
20040610
Cool, Just Cool…
Time
16:44
It’s such a lovely day. Let’s go for a walk.

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Date
20040610
Spam
Time
17:51
Have you noticed how much of spam focuses on improving your quality of life? A bigger wedding tackle, improved tackle performance, income opportunities, mortgages, diplomas, anti-depressant pills, weight-loss products, etc. etc. etc.

I don’t know about you, but my my quality of life would be improved tremendously by the removal of spam. Mind you, I get spam offering me that, as well…

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Date
20040610
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
17:59
A Metafilter thread on the Bush torture memo.

There’s lots in there, but you should dig though it, follow the links and consider the implications.

Besides, you need something to keep you busy until the whistle blows and I go over the top….

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Date
20040610
Tony Blair
Time
21:07
The cat is away. I repeat: the cat is away.

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Date
20040611
The Big Intervention
Time
08:25
Here’s my statement. Press release is here.

We’re going for it.

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Date
20040611
The War on Terror
Time
08:50
CNN – State Department retracts terrorism assertion: The U.S. government acknowledged Thursday that a recent report declaring a decline in terrorism in 2003 was wrong. The report, released in April and touted by top administration officials as a sign of the success of the war on terrorism, was based on faulty data, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. In fact, he told reporters, the corrected report will show “a sharp increase over the previous year.” The corrected version is not yet completed, he said. Secretary of State Colin Powell denied the errors were the result of an effort to make the administration look good.

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Date
20040611
Flash Music Video
Time
08:51
Say goodbye to Ray Charles in the most fitting way possible; by shedding a tear for all we have lost. Pride, freedom, brotherhood, and like that. (Oh, well you know, depreciation man…)

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Date
20040611
Photoshopping
Time
11:17
The good news is, it won’t be the door hitting his arse on the way out…

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Date
20040611
The Big Intervention
Time
13:03
Election results keep coming in and things keep looking worse and worse for Labour unless they do the necessary…

UPDATE – And there goes Newcastle!

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Date
20040611
The Bush Administration
Time
13:41
Is Bush in trouble, too?

First they start whispering, then they start talking…

(Link via Perfect.co.uk)

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Date
20040611
The Big Intervention
Time
14:33
BBC – How bad is it for Blair?: Whether he can then get away with simply brushing aside these results as mid-term blues or whether they will spark a leadership crisis in Westminster will be the big question.

(Link via Wibbler, who has started this thread for the Metafiltarians to chew on.)

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Date
20040611
Flash Music Video
Time
16:06
We love you Grandad!

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Date
20040611
Tony Blair
Time
17:30
A few words from a humble Tory councillor: The Labour Party have lost in every area. That may mean RIP Tony Blair, it may also herald an Autumn election – because if Iraq is an issue and TB does manage to hang on – they will be scared witless at the prospect of a Kerry win in the US, because that may lead to the exposure of facts about the Iraq War, making the protest vote in the UK next May even worse.

May lead to the exposure of facts? May?

Pfft. And they call me an optimist.

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Date
20040611
The Big Intervention
Time
17:37
Guardian – Rocky night signals Labour’s three-day storm: In the coming inquest, starting with a sombre meeting of the parliamentary Labour party on Monday evening, Mr Blair will try to persuade his MPs not to panic, hold their nerve and recognise Labour’s standing has been overshadowed temporarily by Iraq.

Yes. Because it will all be over by Christmas.

Oh, and there’s that ‘panic’ word again.

UPDATE – Oh, do keep any eye out for official reactions like this from Downing Street Says.

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Date
20040611
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
18:00
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, now we hear of video footage of children being abused in Abu Ghraib. More here.

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Date
20040611
Flash Music Video
Time
18:36
Goodbye, Ronald.

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Date
20040611
Tony Blair
Time
18:59
Blair in civvies. Get used to it.

UPDATE – All that wagon-circling must make one dizzy. Especially if you have to do it all by yourself… Blair Era Not at End, Says Blunkett.

Oh, and you may want to check out a wide range of opinions being expressed at the BBC website.

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Date
20040612
The Bush Administration
Time
09:56
Everything Isn’t Under Control (requires DivX).

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Date
20040612
Tony Blair
Time
09:58
Independent – Blair says sorry as Prescott admits Labour got a ‘kicking’ for Iraq war: Tony Blair has admitted his decision to go to war in Iraq had cost his party support across the country and he apologised to the Labour councillors that lost their seats.

Today I’m putting together some pamphlets (and maybe even some stickers) and hitting Wimbledon to reach the constituents of Roger Casale (who looks to be a tough sell, but what the hell).