This entry was posted on
Friday, December 2nd, 2005 at
9:30 am and is filed
under Inneresting.

New bloggers start here.

It looks like Tim Spicer will soon need to ‘move on’ with yet another company name. Help him choose one.

Greenpeace – the carbon condom. This, of course, is propaganda. Having people who work for the nuclear industry swanning about town for the past 3+ years selling the idea to the public without declaring an interest… that’s part of a sensible, democratic debate. You need to know this. You also need to know that Greenpeace protested the other day only because they’re a bunch of left-wing do-gooders wishing to hijack this sensible and democratic debate. It had nothing to do with the CBI suddenly un-inviting them at the last minute. I’ll close this item with a great quote from one of the left-wing do-gooders: “Today’s new review is simply a smokescreen for pushing his new-found enthusiasm for nuclear power. It’s like Iraq all over again – Blair makes his mind up, then tries to spin his decision to the British people.”

(See also: Pot/Kettle Fallacy and Wanted: A debate, not a fix.)

Speaking of sensible, democratic debate… Chicken Yoghurt – Educating the masses: Cut ‘n’ pasted letters and emails from constituents are ignored and binned by MPs, and fair enough. But cookie cutter quotes sent in the other direction, to gull voters into thinking a policy (whatever its merits) is popular, are fair game from our elected representatives. I suppose that’s what you call “building a consensus”.

Speaking of sensible, democratic debate… A Big Stick and a Small Carrot – We plant the seeds, nature grows the seeds: Planting political propaganda in the media, you say? Passing it off as the work of independent journalists, you say? Where have I heard that before?

Might be of interest to Methodists… FoxNews – Methodist Bishops Repent Iraq War ‘Complicity’: Ninety-five bishops from President Bush’s church said Thursday they repent their “complicity” in the “unjust and immoral” invasion and occupation of Iraq. “In the face of the United States administration’s rush toward military action based on misleading information, too many of us were silent,” said a statement of conscience signed by more than half of the 164 retired and active United Methodist bishops worldwide. President Bush is a member of the United Methodist Church, according to various published biographies. The White House did not return a request for comment on the bishops’ statement.

Might be of interest to bloggers… CIA using its own blogs to gather, analyze information

Freepers on the loose… DailyKos – My Book is Being Freeped

Hostages!

Well, I’ve already had my say about that, but I would like to add that we tend to get very upset when this stuff happens to ‘one of ours’, but not so much when it happens to foreigners. This goes for bombings, too.

Hostages! Again! This time, it’s the people that we grab off the streets….

Guardian – Twist to terror suspects row as logs show 80 CIA planes visited UK
Independent – The need for a modern free market in torture
Guardian – MPs dismiss torture flight denial
Independent – Blair faces allegations of complicity in torture

Moving on to other difficulties… BlairWatch – The Two Memos – Where We Are

And, finally… Michael Howard’s last question as opposition leader enjoyed some press, but I much prefer his 2nd-to-last question: The Prime Minister said of his party; “I have taken from my party everything they thought they believed in. I have stripped them of their core beliefs… What keeps it together is… power.” When he said all that, did he realise that he would end up needing their votes?