Why Rupert Murdoch considers it worth his while to pay David Aaronovitch a large six figure sum for such puerile antics as tweeting that I am insane, is a conjecture I find difficult to resolve. Today this exchange occurred on twitter:
David Aaronovitch: This suggestion that if elected Corbyn could be quickly ousted is utter bollocks. Democracy allows Labour to commit Hara Kiri.
Mark Doran: @DAaronovitch I hope everyone is watching how these servants of the micro-elite try to paint “attracting popular support” as “committing suicide.”
Mark Doran: @DAaronovitch Craig finds the elite-serving contortions every bit as funny as I do
David Aaronovitch: @MarkJDoran I tend to find Craig Murray unpersuasive on the grounds of him being unhinged. I can see why you like him, though.
Mark Doran: Says the man who managed to find Bush and Blair credible. I can see why you liked them, though.
It is remarkably ironic that on being referred to an article which argues that views outside a very narrow neoliberal establishment narrative are marginalised and ridiculed by the media, the Murdoch hack’s response is that the author is unhinged. Aaronovitch could not have more neatly proved my point.
But something else struck me about the twitter record. Aaronovitch’ twitter account claims to have 78,000 followers. Yet of the 78,000 people who allegedly received his tweet about my insanity, only 1 retweeted and 2 favourited. That is an astonishingly low proportion – 1 in 26,000 reacted. To give context, Mark Doran has only 582 followers and yet had more retweets and favourites for his riposte. 1 in 146 to be precise, a 200 times greater response rate.
Please keep reading, I promise you this gets a great deal less boring.
Eighteen months ago I wrote an article about Aaronovitch’s confession that he solicits fake reviews of his books to boost their score on Amazon. In response a reader emailed me with an analysis of Aaronovitch’s twitter followers. He argued with the aid of graphs that the way they accrued indicated that they were not arising naturally, but being purchased in blocks. He claimed this was common practice in the Murdoch organisation to promote their hacks through false apparent popularity.
I studied his graphs at some length, and engaged in email correspondence on them. I concluded that the evidence was not absolutely conclusive, and in fairness to Aaronovitch I declined to publish, to the annoyance of my correspondent.
Naturally this came to mind again today when I noted that Aaronovitch’ tweets to his alleged legion of followers in fact tumble into a well of silence. I do not even tweet. The entire limit of my tweeting is that this blog automatically tweets the titles of articles I write. They are not aphorisms so not geared to retweet. Yet even the simple tweet “Going Mainstream” which marked the article Aaronovitch derided, obtained 20 times the reactions of Aaronovitch’s snappy denunciation of my mental health. This despite the fact he has apparently 10 times more followers than me. An initial survey seems to show this is not atypical.
In logic, I can only see two possible explanations. The first is that my correspondent was right and Aaronovitch fakes twitter followers like he does book reviews. The second is that he has a vast army of followers, nearly all of whom find him dull and uninspiring, and who heartily disapproved en masse of his slur on my sanity. I opt for the second explanation, that he is just extremely dull, on the grounds that Mr Aaronovitch’s honesty and probity were never questioned, m’Lud.
I meant to day.. Who Aroon here..is Able to Question the Dr
Habbabkuk:
“I wouldn’t wish to do that, Giyane. But if you like I could stick a red-hot chili pepper up your capacious fundament.”
Are you accusing me of being a fundamentalist?
Clark:
“Giyane makes an error at 2:51 pm”
I’m glad that popular myth has been exploded.
Giyane (06h09)
Credit where credit’s due – that was a good one! 🙂
re Litvinenko
The Soviets (and their onetime allies, eg the Bulgarians – the Georgi Markov affair refers) have a long history of bumping off their people who went over to the West (aka renegades and apostates).
As their KBG (now known as the FSB) is still alive and well under the aegis of a former serving KBG officer) there seems little reason to look for other explanations for Litvinenko’s untimely death.
It is interesting to note that there is, as far as I’m aware, not a single example – documented or even alleged – of similar MI6 or CIA assassinations in Europe whether before or after the War.
“You have to admire the guts and pluck of the refugees getting through war torn Europe to reach the safety of Blighty”
Ah, you mean the part of fortress Europe where Cameron has is about to unleash dogs on traumatized people and where razor wire fences are being raised and repaired?
http://danielmargrain.com/2015/08/01/calais-let-them-in/
“I just wanted to thank you for your denunciation of Chris Spivey (above). I’s sure you will agree with me that Mr Spivey is the sort of blogger who gives Jew-haters and conspiracy theorists a bad name.”
You’re welcome. The guy is a total and utter moron.
Daniel
Le Monde has been following the situation at Calais closely over the past week.
Their photos show few if any women and children; most of the 3000-odd people making nightly attempts to get onto lorries and trains and into the entrance of the tunnel are young, fit-looking males. And they mostly seem to be from various black African countries in which Western countries have not intervened (as opposed to the cases of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. In short, they appear to be either economic refugees and refugees from internal, “home-made” troubles.
You appear to be castigating the UK govt for upping security within the Eurotunnel, including by the use of fences (some of which are topped by razor wire) and dogs. To be noted that both razor wire and guard dogs are used in the UK to safeguard commercial premises and various installations. Moreover, the police routinely use dogs as part of their law-enforcement equipment.
Since you are sufficiently moved to comment about this on this blog, I wonder if you’d care to give your thoughts on the following:
!/. on the practical level, what means do you think Eurotunnel security and the border force should use in order to ensure the inviolability of the Eurotunnel perimeter?
2/. on the “political” level, do you believe that the govt and Eurotunnel are entitled to ensure the inviolability of the Eurotunnel perimeter in order to prevent illegal immigration into the UK? Or do you believe that the desire for those immigrants to reach the UK should trump immigration law?
As a further question: various French authorities have claimed that the absence of ID cards in the UK acts as a pull factor for illegal immigration. Do you have a view on that?
Israeli Think Tank With GOP Ties at Center of Iran Deal Opposition
1 August 2015
With the US Congress beginning hearings on the nuclear accord with Iran, Israeli opponents of the agreement are readying a full-court press to persuade that the deal has too many loopholes that would allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon.
“We will make our voice heard,” Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told McClatchy. “We will not miss an opportunity to tell our side of the story because it is our moral duty.”
One Israeli think tank at the center of the campaign is the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, whose largest donor is US casino magnate and Republican benefactor Sheldon Adelson.
Adelson and his wife, Miriam, gave $465,000 to political candidates and parties in 2014 – all to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Recipients in recent years included Republican presidential candidates Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and both House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
/..
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32109-israeli-think-tank-with-gop-ties-at-center-of-iran-deal-opposition
* Evidence is only admissible if from propaganda fronts approved by Resident Dissident.
The Russian Insider reference to polonium allegedly being found on BA planes on which Litvinenko had travelled to and from Israel (his visit occurred as far as anyone can tell before he was poisoned) is a bald assertion. It cannot be tested. An assertion is not the same as evidence, and, shock horror, both sides lie. Not just ours.
Someone – think it was MJ, can’t be arsed checking this insignificant detail – advised us not to believe all we read in the papers. Fine, as long as it is accepted that the Russian media are at least as suspect as our own, and far more directly linked to the Russian state. And each other:
Alexander Mercouris is a Russia Insider writer on international relations. Also writes for Sputnik International, the Vineyard of the Saker, RT and Voice of Russia …
http://sputniknews.com/authors/alexander_mercouris/
Is that this Alexander Mercouris?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9146307/Barrister-struck-off-over-claim-that-senior-law-lord-had-him-kidnapped.html
It is.
http://www.stopfake.org/en/tag/alexander-mercouris/
Dave has gone off with his family on holiday. I think Teresa has been left i/c of the ‘country’. Her latest wheezes have just been explained on Sky News by Greg Clark.
Illegal immigrants to UK face eviction without court order under new plans
Landlords who fail to check tenants’ immigration status face five-year jail terms as part of government crackdown to reduce UK’s appeal as a migrant destination
3 August 2015 08.39 BST
Immigrants living in Britain illegally will face abrupt eviction from rental properties under new laws designed to make Britain a tougher place to live in, the government will announce as it redoubles its response to the Calais migrant crisis.
In a dramatic illustration of the warning directed at migrants, by the home secretary, Theresa May, that Britain’s “streets are not paved with gold”, the government will change the law to allow landlords to evict such immigrants without a court order.
Rogue landlords who fail to check the immigration status of tenants could be fined or imprisoned for up to five years under a new criminal offence to be included in a new immigration bill.
/..
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/03/illegal-immigrants-face-eviction-without-court-order-under-plans-to-discourage-migrants
PS Why does Greg Clark, MP Tunbridge Wells, the son and grandson of English milkmen become a member of Conservative Friends of Israel?
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=11884
So far as I can see, Northern Iraq Kurdistan ordinary people regard their neighbours Daesh as a giant Safari Park where they can hunt Big Game, whom they very much define as unrecognisable as Muslims.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article187738.html
“Jihadists in the service of imperialism
by Thierry Meyssan
Western governments no longer hide the fact that they’re using jihadists – NATO overthrew Mouamar el-Kadhafi by using al-Qaïda as its its only ground forces; Israël displaced the UN Forces to Golan, and replaced them with al-Nosra; the international anti-Daesh Coalition allowed Palmyra to fall in order to cause more problems for Syria. But while we can understand Western interests, we fail to grasp why and how the jihadists can serve Uncle Sam in the name of the Coran.”
When I get back to the UK will I be able to hunt down Jaish stupid Muslims who take the Chavy Dave Cameron bribe, full benefits for wives and families, blessings from the Asian Imams, and a big brown envelope from saudi or qatar to join the Israeli Caliphate / Big Daddy?
I’m not sure I want to live INSIDE the Safari Park when I get back to Brum.
Ba’al Zevul, 8:49 am, excellent work.
John Goss, please, one day, eventually, please be warned.
BrianFujisan, Dr Helen Caldicott is a passionate activist with a vitally important message; consequently, I feel reluctant to criticise her. But when overstated, arguments against nuclear power are easily dismissed by the pro-nuclear establishment causing ordinary people, who are concerned about global warming, to feel misled by the anti-nuclear-power movement, thus losing support. This happened with George Monbiot, and we lost a very influential voice against nuclear power.
Habbabkuk,
This is what I wrote in my blog and I stick by it:
“These people need our help and we should be helping them. There is both an economic and moral case for Britain to take these people in. There is also the question of European solidarity. The French have taken in 60,000 migrants, the Germans 180,000. Britain has only taken in a small fraction of that. We should be taking our fair share of the burden. 85% of all the refugees are in poor countries. A decade ago it was only 70%. Turkey, for example has nearly 2 million refugees. We are talking about places with the least amount of resources who are taking in the most (5). So why is fortress Britain raising its barriers?
The problem is that British politicians’ of both the left and right play into the prejudices of the electorate in the hope of grabbing their votes. Fears that migrants undercut wages and are a drain on society are myths mainly peddled by the political right, but my no means exclusively so. General misinformation and false propaganda feeds into a public perception that belies reality (6).
It’s shameful that one of the richest countries on the planet is turning it’s back on people who have, in many cases, risked their lives fleeing persecution and wars that we largely helped foment. Instead of setting dogs on migrants, repairing fences and building higher ones, we should be supporting those who tear them down.”
http://danielmargrain.com/2015/08/01/calais-let-them-in/
I’m sure that I would not be able to bring over the distinctions between a civil nuclear reactor using molten salt and PWR’s of the dangerous variety, when its a cold horrid day.
Any body who thinks its easy should try speaking for 8 minutes on a subject that is controversial. I’m sure Dr. Caldicott could talk a whole morning on this specific subject.
I personally think that Caldicott trumps hyperbole over substance. I mean, tell me how she comes across here as anything other than deranged:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5HItRpDY8
We have practical and physical proof beyond comprehension that one of the most technically advanced nation on earth, Japan, has no ideas or technical knowledge on how to deal with the worst scenario.
If that is so the logical conclusion is to give it a rest.
When the costs are 14 million over the first ten years and mooted to be 24 bn/per plant, and when we have massive problems with sea level rises in the east of England, then maybe we should contemplate to build tidal power dams, with lock systems. A single Wash barrier would produce two nuclear power stations worth of electricity for approx. 150 years, cost adjusted upwards 4 bn.
With increasingly chaotic weather patterns preventative planning should come into use, especially when it save’s us money. If the wash dykes are breached and the Fen lands inundated by a single salt water flood event, we will cut off 1/5 of our fresh food supply for five years minimum, unacceptable price rises would follow and the vegetarians/alternative types who have played with the idea of gardening, might then have to finally get digging.
Our national planners must marry sea defenses with energy generation, or loose some real realm, here at home, not in Afghanistan.
Sorry should have been 14 billion, not million
“Cameron has is about to unleash dogs on traumatized people”
You people really do play it for all you can. These ‘traumatized people’ have passed through a number of safe and prosperous European countries to get to the UK border. Genuine refugees should claim asylum at their point of entry into the EU. These are economic migrants attracted by the largesse of the British state. This country should not accept economic migrants except through the proper processes. Jumping aboard trains and lorries in order to gain illegal entry to the UK is a criminal offence and should result in immediate deportation. Settling migrants with housing and benefits only serves to encourage further illegal immigration from an unending source.
“It is interesting to note that there is, as far as I’m aware, not a single example – documented or even alleged – of similar MI6 or CIA assassinations in Europe whether before or after the War.”
What a load of bollocks! What do you think the drone strikes are all about? Then there is what happens that they don’t tell about. Like for example Dr David Kelly’s murder! No wonder they run these Inquiries to cover up the truth. It’s going to be another whitewash and any Israeli involvement will not even be questioned! Hmm.
Settling migrants with housing and benefits only serves to encourage further illegal immigration from an unending source.
Hear, for once, hear.
I’m not leaning on the ‘largesse of the state’ argument too heavily, though. It’s a factor, but also, the UK is the end of the line, barring Ireland, for those who haven’t disappeared into the undergrowth en route, and even the UK is simply a nicer place to live than insert blood-spattered shithole here. There may be a perception, too, that immigrants are actively welcomed, which is not mitigated by our globalist leaders incessantly telling us how much EU free movement benefits
cheap employersthe economy.“John Goss, please, one day, eventually, please be warned.”
If I knew what that was about Clark I might try to address it.
So who will do the jobs immigrants do for us, lets see.
Which of your sons/daughters will get up at 5am to be ready for a 8-12hrs. shift at 6am somewhere in the Fens, earning 9,-/hrs? btw. its raining but don’t let that stop you because you only qualify for benefits if you have worked for at least 1 year after coming out of school, and only for three month to tie you over manual jobs.
Off course if you live further away you have to get up earlier.
Who will clean hotels, work long hours in the tourist industry, not all paid at that rate, some on min. wage and/or apprenticeships.
All school leavers required to do civil duties for 18 month after they finished education? civil, in a hospital or care home etc., or military service?
Should school leavers have an obligation to make a decision whether to further educate and or work, in six month, after that they will have to be employed or in civil service of sorts?
And what will we do with the expats that are sent home, leaving Europe before island Britain sails away to New jersey, a reciproke move by our EU neighbours, alienation all round.
“So why is fortress Britain raising its barriers?”
Fortress Britain? Are you feeling alright Daniel? The country is fucking swamped with immigrants.
Let me let you into a secret, Daniel. When the Prime Minister uses a word like ‘swarm’ it is not a slip of the tongue. It is planned well in advance to upset the right-on liberal media and hence paint Cameron as the tough-guy on immigration. The reality of course is that he has no intention of taking any tough stance on immigration and never has done. The reason being that he is all for it, just like you. Look at the figures. All that rhetoric and racist van nonsense is designed to placate the rising support for UKIP and the majority will of the British people, who have had enough immigration for ten lifetimes.
Are they refugees from UK Muslims Chavy Dave is paying to populate Islamic State? In Kurdistan women and children beg in the bazaar while their husbands kill Peshmerga. The women from Boznia married to Islamic militants having been begging on UK High Streets for years.
“the UK is the end of the line, barring Ireland”
Another good reason to lose Scotland. We could just wave them all through like France does. Scotland would have to get tough of course and we could laugh at President Mhari Black as she comes to terms with some harsh realities.
“You mean the anti-static gizmos,no you buy from the backdoor.”
I mean as where you get it. Just google “polonium for sale” that’s all I did. You are literally just getting a few atoms of the stuff for around $70 and even if you could buy enough to kill someone without arousing the suspicion of the vendors it’s sold in a form that can’t be ingested.
“Which of your sons/daughters will get up at 5am to be ready for a 8-12hrs. shift at 6am somewhere in the Fens, earning 9,-/hrs? ”
I’ve done it. Apple thinning, wild oats, weeding out organic fields. Nowt wrong with it.
But it has to be a default left-wing position though doesn’t it? You can never say anything to oppose mass-immigration, no matter how excessive it gets. I honestly believe that if the UK let in half of Africa, the left would be complaining about the cruelty of the government for not letting in the other half.
Le Monde “photos show few if any women and children; most of the 3000-odd people making nightly attempts to get onto lorries and trains and into the entrance of the tunnel are young, fit-looking males. And they mostly seem to be from various black African countries in which Western countries have not intervened”.
Passing over the slack methodology (from particular to universal, and “few if any”, or maybe both some and none); is this what passes for decisive ‘evidence’ on the comment section of this site?
Typical comment from Anon1. If I was in a war-torn country I would seek asylum in a country that I perceived safe. We created the problem in the Middle East/North Africa. We should take responsibility for our actions. The Czech president has got it spot on.
http://www.rt.com/news/311407-migrant-crisis-eu-policy/