The Guardian hit a new low in Amelia Hill’s report on Julian Assange’s appearance at the Oxford Union. Hill moved beyond propaganda to downright lies.
This is easy to show. Read through Hill’s “report”. Then zip to 20 minutes and 55 seconds of the recording of Assange speaking at the event Hill misreports, and simply listen to the applause from the Oxford Union after Assange stops speaking.
Just that hearty applause is sufficient to show that the entire thrust and argument of Amelia Hill’s article moves beyong distortion or misreprentation – in themselves dreadful sins in a journalist – and into the field of outright lies. Her entire piece is intended to give the impression that the event was a failure and the audience were hostile to Assange. That is completely untrue.
Much of what Hill wrote is not journalism at all. What does this actually mean?
“His critics were reasoned, those who queued for over an hour in the snow to hear him speak were thoughtful. It was Julian Assange – the man at the centre of controversy – who refused to be gracious.”
Hill manages to quote five full sentences of the organiser of the anti-Assange demonstration (which I counted at 37 people) while giving us not one single sentence of Assange’s twenty minute address. Nor a single sentence of Tom Fingar, the senior US security official who was receiving the Sam Adams award. Even more remarkably, all three students Hill could find to interview were hostile to Assange. In a hall of 450 students who applauded Assange enthusiastically and many of whom crowded round to shake my hand after the event, Hill was apparently unable to find a single person who did not share the Rusbridger line on Julian Assange.
Hill is not a journalist – she is a pathetic grovelling lickspittle who should be deeply, deeply ashamed.
Here is the answer to the question about cyber-terrorism of which Amelia Hill writes:
“A question about cyber-terrorism was greeted with verbose warmth”
As you can see, Assange’s answer is serious, detailed, thoughtful and not patronising to the student. Hill’s characterisation – again without giving a word of Assange’s actual answer – is not one that could genuinely be maintained. Can anybody – and I mean this as a real question – can anybody look at that answer and believe that “Verbose warmth” is a fair and reasonable way to communicate what had been said to an audience who had not seen it? Or is it just an appalling piece of hostile propaganda by Hill?
The night before Assange’s contribution at the union, John Bolton had been there as guest speaker. John Bolton is a war criminal whose actions deliberately and directly contributed to the launching of an illegal war which killed hundreds of thousands of people. Yet there had not been one single Oxford student picketing the hosting of John Bolton, and Amelia Hill did not turn up to vilify him. My main contribution to the Sam Adams event was to point to this as an example of the way people are manipulated by the mainstream media into adopting seriously warped moral values.
Amelia Hill is one of the warpers, the distorters of reality. The Guardian calls her a “Special Investigative Correspondent.” She is actually a degraded purveyor of lies on behalf of the establishment. Sickening.
doug scorgie, I’d be very surprised if the political parties aren’t doing just that. They hire PR and advertising firms, and behavioural psychologists will be on those companies’ staff. Either that or those companies are incompetent. Hell, corporations probably supply those services free, just to get their preferred party into power. Can you imagine it not being done? I can’t.
Here’s a light-hearted challenge to all interested to dispell, if only temporarily, the air of gloom and despondency which too often hangs over this blog.
If you were designing and writing a business card for the family firm of Assad and Assad (aka in the French speaking world as Assad et fils), what would you write on it to capture its special skills and what it has to offer?
@ Clark and Doug Scorgie : of course they do! Where have you been for the last 20 years – hibernating?? Don’t you read political memoirs and diaries???
After the all encompassing cause n effect net of 911, next time there will not be a refugee (safe in Manchester like Gerald Kaufman) who will dish out her bounty as a thank you to a fellow pussy starved Englishman, and give rise to a habbabkyke sayanim type wishfully thinking of “get well soon” cards for Assad & Assange!!
N_, 4 Feb, 8:06 pm; I’ve posted an answer on the previous thread:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/01/whatever-happened-to-craig-murray/#comment-392120
Wonder if there’s any truth in this one. And if there is, they would never admit it, or would they as another excuse to wage war on internet freedoms.
But anyway ‘Anonymous’ response to the ( make an example of ) hounding to suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, through operation Last Resort, Claims Hack On Government Site, Posts 4,000 Bank Exec Credentials
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/anonymous-oplastresort-hacks-government-posts-bank-credential_n_2615605.html
Habbabkuk, no, I don’t read political memoirs or diaries. I’m more interested in pond life than most politicians. I only remember specific political events to use as evidence. My interest is in structure. My structural understanding suggested that politicians would use such techniques. You, with interest in the primary sources, confirm this. I’m entirely unsurprised; thank you very much.
I must say this blog thread is a fascinating insight as to how the cult of Assange works. Disciples Arbed and LastBluebell both quote chunks from their scriptures as to why the Swedish legal system is an evil and pernicious thing – I could point out exactly where they have cut and paste their extracts from but I will spare them the embarassment, especially since I very much doubt that they understand the links in Swedish (and I certainly don’t – but of course that didn’t stop Arbed having a go at Andrew Brown for not bothering to translate some of his Swedish links for which he apologised. Being true disciples they of course congratulate each other for their skills in cutting and pasting and lo and behold other disciples join in the rejoicing – and they can all take comfort in the strength of their Gospel and give praise to their Messiah and his prophets – I see Gorgeous George as a sort of John the Baptist figure – Pilger is a sort of Old Testament Prophet, while Craig is one of those who are quite keen to join the leading disciples but never quite makes the grade. Of course there are plenty of Judases (the Guardian being the prime one as they sold the Master’s gospel for pieces of silver and then turned their back on him) and more than one devil, (although the Bliar such appear to have a long standing ng a modern and sophisticated cult which seeks to improve on it predecessors.
Of course none of this really adds very much to the debate that has already occurred with regard to the Swedish judicial system. I wasn’t proclaiming perfection on its part – like any legal system it makes mistakes – that is why it has appeal processes and the fact that it is capable of recognising and correcting its mistakes is a sign of its strength not a weakness (not many legal decisions were overturned in Saddam’s Iraq or Assad’s Syria). Sweden is being singled out by Amnesty or Human Rights Watch, or having a whole load of its decisions challenged in the Europen Courts. And if anyone bothered to look at the figures you would see that it actually acquits a large proportion of rape cases after they have gone through the due process that the blessed one is seeking to avoid at all costs. Perhaps the one thing that convinces me the most is that you never heard many members of the cult criticising the Swedish Legal system when the blessed one was using that country as a shelter from his enemies.
Doug Scorgie
Well I thought we were making some progress when you eventually came round to admitting that Papa Assad and his boy had been a little bit naughty (funny how much political good never seems to come out of nepotism – and my all means count in the family Bush on that score) – but then you spoil it by your characterisation of Cuba as a type of democracy (although I can be charitable and assume that you mistyped no as a) and then even worse link me in with the ilk that cannot bear no criticism of the US, Uk and Israel – well I’m sorry you are very wrong on that score – I can and do criticise regularly on that score (please look at my past posts), but I can assure that just as I don’t like Assad lobbing shells onto Palestinian refugee camps I am pretty disgusted when the Israelis do the same. Perhaps the difference is that I can see the good features in those countries as well – and the UK and the US have plenty of those and so does Israel to a lesser extent – and the balance between good and bad is somewhat different to that in Syria where I find the judgement (and that is what it is – rather than being tied by the views of one cult or another.
Habbakkuk – thanks for the warning – but I think they have already accused me of being you – I think the Virgin Mary accused me of being a sock puppet.
Cue indignation from the righteous and probably excommunication.
http://matthewfharris.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/hughes-and-huhne-at-lib-dem-friends-of.html
How the mighty are fallen. Revolting people.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Hughes and Huhne at Lib Dem Friends of Israel AGM
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel has issued the following press release:
HUGHES AND HUHNE AT LIB DEM FRIENDS OF ISRAEL AGM
Members of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel (LDFI) were joined by senior Lib Dem MPs at LDFI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Parliament last week.
Attendees included Lib Dem Deputy Leader Simon Hughes MP, former Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne MP, Lord (Monroe) Palmer and Lord (Alex) Carlile.
Lord (Chris) Rennard, a former party Chief Executive and elections supremo, spoke to the meeting about his trip to Israel and the West Bank as part of an LDFI Parliamentary delegation.
Recalling a packed schedule of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and with grassroots citizens, Lord Rennard explained how the visit had informed his thinking on how best to achieve a two-state solution that would bring peace, justice and security to Israelis and Palestinians alike.
LDFI’s honorary officers reported on a busy year that included the Parliamentary delegation, a successful party conference fringe meeting and regular briefings for Lib Dem leaders on issues affecting Israel and the Anglo-Jewish community.
Former Lib Dem Deputy Leader Sir Alan Beith MP was confirmed as LDFI’s President, with Lord (Monroe) Palmer and London Lib Dem MEP Sarah Ludford continuing as Vice-Presidents.
Gavin Stollar, who was re-elected as Honorary Chairman, updated the meeting on the planned recruitment of LDFI’s first-ever Executive Director, and said: “LDFI has had a year of great progress, as we took Parliamentarians to Israel and the West Bank, regularly briefed party leaders and continued to make the case for a just two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict.”
habby
In the last bit of your reply you say that colonialism and liberal intervention are not the same thing at all.
That’s fair enough so far as it goes. Clearly, for example, you don’t now need to set up a colony in order to do a bit of liberal intervening.
But surely you’re not merely arguing the methods?
Colonialism and liberal intervention have similar objectives, do they not, in exploiting and plundering the resources of other peoples lands or otherwise taking control of their resources?
Or, do you argue that liberal intervention and colonialism arise out of the West’s desire to do good works for those less fortunate than themselves.
Let’s just see how we get on with this before we move on to anything more complex.
A man arrested after being Tasered outside Buckingham Palace as he held a knife to his [own] neck has been charged with possessing a bladed weapon in public and affray.
Talhat Rehman will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court today.
http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-02-03/man-tasered-buckingham-palace/
In English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of two or more persons in a public place to the terror of ordinary people.
How can he be charged with affray when he was alone?
I guess he is mentally ill and needs help but our police and justice system does not really make allowances for mental illness.
resident dissident, if you were in Assange’s position, would you feel safe from establishment persecution for your Wikileaks work in submitting yourself to custody?
We might not find out about much of what is happening in Mali:
http://www.cpj.org/security/2013/01/in-mali-a-war-without-images-and-without-facts.php
Davy (22h16)
As you only take me up on the last 2 lines of my comment, I will assume that you are either in agreement with the rest of what I wrote or perhaps don’t want to tease out a little further the question of standards (yours and others’).
OK, to the question of colonialism / liberal intervention.
No, I don’t believe that the objectives of colonialism and liberal intervention are the same at all. Does anyone?
@ Resident Dissident (22h10 : yes, you are like Lucifer cast down…. (and I am Beelzebub).
Woe unto us!
@Doug, re. Talhat Rehman, the common law offence of affray was abolished by the Public Order Act 1986, which set up the statutory offence of affray which is presumably what he’s been charged with.
S3(1): “A person is guilty of affray if he uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and his conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.”
Have you watched the video footage? Those who don’t know the effects of being attacked with an electroshock weapon (‘Taser’) might think that he was waving his arms around in an attempt to put the policeman off his guard or threaten him. In actual fact, the weapon causes involuntary muscle spasms and a sudden pain bringing what is basically paralysis. That is why it was used.
The lasting psychological effect of the Taser is often what I’ve also seen ascribed – with abhorrence, by John McVicar, here – to the 240 volt DC WW2-era signal generator used as a torture weapon by London gangster Charlie Richardson: people who’ve experienced it once go like jelly at the thought of being attacked with it again.
To all my valiant friends,
I have noticed that we have a new puffball here who calls himself the “resident”. Probably read some Le Carré´s prose to acquire the appropriate terminology but he seems to me as someone too unsettled to be any kind of resident. To be fair, a mental asylum is one potential location for his residency but have those institutions got already an access to internet? A dreadful thought to even contemplate. In any case, his boss would hold him back if he was one. He writes somewhat in the style of the demented hahababa. “Might they perhaps be related” as any past and present editor of Private Eye may ask. Quite probable as I cannot exclude the possibility that our resident puffball is also a linguist of some calibre with an ancestry from the fabulous kingdom of Khazaria.
Habbabkuk, 4 Feb, 10:59 pm:
Yes, I think that there’s quite a large degree of overlap, noticeable similarities. But it would have to be examined on a case-by-case basis.
Iraq 2003 would be one place to start. That was framed partly as “liberal intervention”, particularly by its apologists. But it was obviously an oil-grab.
Afghanistan? “There’s Good Money in Death”:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/08/theres_good_mon/
Life after government is foremost in our politician’s minds. It exists as a business model in most politicians have heads.
Britain and America have lost the capacity to govern. On a wide range of critical issues – from global warming to welfare & tax reforms, from regulation of the banks, from effective financial regulation to NHS and health-care changes, from the deficit to defense spending – we have lost the capacity to do anything other than suffer through a miserable status quo. If there is a ship of state, its rudder has been lost. We are drifting. We can’t change course. And eventually, and with absolute certainty, in waters such as these, a drifting ship will sink.
This coalition has devolved decisions that affect our lives down to local councils. I ask, is it time to roll out direct democracy starting with local government? Is it time to address the corruption we know exists for instance at local tendering and procurement levels?
Here Lawrence Lessig attempts to open some blocked channels:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Q53rr8bg8
In memory of Aaron Swartz
Habbabkuk
4 Feb, 2013 – 9:34 pm
“Ah, so it was your “long-held view on the matter”, was it? A long-held view kept nicely to yourself as far as this blog was concerned, until Resident dissident squeezed it out of you.”
Resident dissident couldn’t squeeze the juice out of a soft orange. I note you are now comrades.
I have long held views on many subjects but I don’t try to force them down people’s throats. If the circumstances arise I will make my views known. I’m not trying to hide anything and I’m not devious by nature as I suspect you are.
Habbabkuk: “And while you’re trying to demolish me; you could try to quote me accxurately [sic] and not leave out an important element of my original post.”
Habbsy baby this is precisely what you do to every comment made by others – leave out important elements.
Habbabkuk: “…when making comparisons of how deadly the Syrian regime is, you have to also take into account the last 30 years duirng [sic] which Syria has been run by the family firm of Assad the Father and Assad the Son.”
How about taking into account the last 65 years of crimes committed by Jewish Zionists and Israeli governments?
To reiterate (look it up) I do not support the Assad regime but for some reason you don’t like me to say that. Does it confuse you and take the wind out of your sails?
The liars at the Torygraph say he was “stopped by police with a Taser stun gun as he ran towards Buckingham Palace”.
Their also say: “As an officer tried to intervene, he lunged at him waving both knives and was shot with the stun gun before being arrested and taken away in a police van.”
That obviously implies that a policeman acted peacefully, then the man “lunged” at him, and so he or another policeman shot him with the electroshock weapon.
That isn’t true. He isn’t threatening anyone when the policeman shoots him. After being shot, his arms do flail, but if the weapon was working properly – and we can assume from the fact that he falls to the ground that it was – then he was not in control of his arms at the time.
The police have stated that he wasn’t threatening civilians.
Even without consideration of mental health issues, the affray charge should be dropped.
Of course…different rules apply in this ridiculous country whenever the royal family are concerned.
Habbabkuk, here’s another you may find interesting:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/08/j_a_hobson_impe/
I’d also recommend John Pilger’s book, Hidden Agendas, which has many examples.
habby
There’s more substance and interest in your last two lines than in the epistemological twaddle you were spouting in the previous twenty lines, but still I’ll address that too if we can make some progress on the more substantive matter.
To that end perhaps you could explain what you see as the major differences in terms of objectives between colonialism and liberal intervention.
@Doug Scorgie, 8:12
That is tragic to hear! So much rest upon this trust, and that this power is handled with care and integrity.
@Clark
Have you had the opportunity to read Steven Pinkers, “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined”? If not, I can only recommend a closer look.
LastBlueBell, no, I’ll have to add it to my reading list. Thanks.
N_, in case you missed my earlier note, I’ve replied to you on the previous thread.
@Villager, I still intend to follow-up on our discussion in the previous thread, but work & family commitments at present are just not allowing me the time & space to respond as I would like to.
Remember that I mentioned Chris Hedges to you, well here’s a great interview which connects directly with the exchange you have just had here with Clark;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sghyDCzIqMk#!
Just seen this;
The US could launch pre-emptive cyber strikes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-draws-up-battle-plan-to-stave-off-digital-attack-cyberstrikes-8480656.html
More outward projections unto others for what they do themselves, a la Stuxnet.
In a stroke of delusional inspired logic, Stuxnet can now be retroactively justifield as essential pre-emption, nevermind that there is evidence that it turned the fukushima disaster into a full blown catastrophe.
Richard 3rd’s bones dug up in a Leicester car park.
Declared fit for work by ATOS.
Lastbluebell, i saw that recommendation of Steven Pinker’s book and intend to read it. Thank you. Hope he’s right and not just looking through rose-tinted glasses.
Born well post-war, i have no personal recall of those upheavals. Also i was never a good student of history, preferring to live in the moment, i exempted myself from the subject never having passed a history exam in my life.
But i do recall our march to the millennium and the painted picture that we, humanity, were walking into a rainbow. Look where we are now. As for me, i’d rather have the days of blow-jos in the Oval Office and the Y2K being the major problems of the day to grapple with.
The Islamic fundamentalist is of course a massive issue to contend with in our times, a clash of civilisations. Millions have been killed in the name of Christianity. Now it is the time of the Islamists. It doesn’t look like the Angels are going to visit anytime soon. But who knows we might be saved by some wise aliens from space.
Meantime, i’m none too excited about reincarnation, not into this planet. Except perhaps as a butterfly. There’s got to be a better place.
@Macky – The AIPACS are in full control of the US State Department, etc. But Dempsey & the Pentagon are still beyond the reach of the organised jewry. Pre-emptive cyberstrike is simple a satanic plot devised by Cohen & Co to short circuit Dempsey & Co and take the country to war regardless, which the US Military would then have to reluctantly follow. Its a classic “sum dum wasp goyim” situation ! That the NYT has spun this “secret legal review” is enough proof their ilk Cohen & Co are behind this satanic plot – some transparency over the composition of the “secret legal review” team should say it all.