Aaronovitch Blusters to a Well of Silence 1213


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.


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1,213 thoughts on “Aaronovitch Blusters to a Well of Silence

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  • Habbabkuk (la vita e' bella)

    “Heath was Chief Whip for the (governing) Tories from 1955 to 1959, when he entered MacMillan’s cabinet”

    ___________________

    The name was Macmillan, Lysias.

  • N_

    Maybe she’s scared and the meaning of her statement is that she knows nothing about Edward Heath or any other leading figure.

    I thought brothels regularly visited by leading figures were MI5’s department?

  • N_

    I didn’t know Edward Heath had been government chief whip. So he must have known a lot of incriminating facts about a lot of politicians.

  • N_

    @RepublicOfScotland

    Are you calling ISIS terrorists? Do they carry out military attacks against civilians without warning and with the aim of causing terror? I’m not very knowledgeable about them; I’m just asking.

  • lysias

    Not only must he have known a lot of incriminating facts, but he must also have been considered a reliable recipient of those facts.

  • Daniel

    Clark @ 3.32

    I’m sorry I don’t buy the argument that just because she’s a scientist we ought to appeal to some kind of authority. David Bellamy is a scientist but denies the reality of AGW. Helen Caldicott is a pediatric doctor and is not credible here. Her voice sounds slurred as though she is intoxicated. At 04.33 she interrupts Monbiot saying “that’s just not right” before putting her hands to her ears, That was before Monbiot could finish his opening sentence. Her dismissal of the UN Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation, her cherry picking and data mining that belies the scientific consensus is, it seems to me, consistent with conspiratorial thinking similar in principle to those who deny the reality of climate change. Her “listen to me, listen to me, I’m not boasting, I know best because I’m a doctor” line at about the 8 minute mark was, frankly, embarrassing to the extent that it was almost cringe worthy. She claimed that there was a conspiracy involving WHO and the IAEA without offering any evidence for her wild claims and then incredibly didn’t know about the UN Scientific Committee which is a major repository of the science crucial to the subject matter at hand. When challenged by Monbiot on her ignorance of the findings of this crucial scientific body she retracted with a glib reposte. She then became hysterical when challenged. The woman came across as being totally unhinged.

  • glenn

    Habbabkuk: “The name was Macmillan, Lysias.

    Or “SuperMac” to his admirers at the time, and for some while afterwards. Probably the best prime minister we’ve had since then too.

  • Mary

    Indiscriminate killing by Obama

    “Hundreds of civilians killed in US-led air strikes on Isis targets – report”

    “The air campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has killed more than 450 civilians, according to a new report, even though the US-led coalition has so far acknowledged just two non-combatant deaths.

    More than 5,700 air strikes have been launched in the campaign, which nears its first anniversary this Saturday, with its impact on civilians largely unknown.

    Now Airwars, a project by a team of independent journalists, is publishing details of 52 strikes with what it believes are credible reports of at least 459 non-combatant deaths, including those of more than 100 children.”

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/03/us-led-air-strikes-on-isis-targets-killed-more-than-450-civilians-report

    and is being intensified.

    US carries out first drone strike in Syria from Turkey
    1 hour ago
    ‘The US is also preparing for strikes by manned aircraft as part of a planned offensive, Reuters news agency reports.

    Last month Turkey launched its first strikes on the militants.

    Armed drones began flying out of Turkey at the weekend as a result of a new agreement between the coalition and the Turkish government.’

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33793356

  • lysias

    I’m just now reading David Vine’s Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia. The history of the evacuation of the Chagossians from Diego Garcia makes the governments of both the U.S. and the UK look very bad indeed.

  • RobG

    Mods have now closed comments on Jenkins’ vile piece in the Guardian. At the risk of boring you I’ll repeat the link again…

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/05/convict-dead-defenceless-case-edward-heath

    Prior to this, myself and others had our comments removed.

    I call Jenkins’ piece vile because as well as the usual sly propaganda line – ‘old man, long dead’, ‘no evidence’, ‘might have been gay’, ‘witch hunt’ – it puts none of the accusations against Heath into context. Also, and I know this is in the eye of the beholder, look at the comments: it’s an Establishment troll-fest. With all the child sex abuse stuff that’s been in the news in recent years, I think it’s fair to say that there should be a bit more balance in the comments on Jenkins’ article, which is quite blatantly media/Establishment manipulation of public opinion.

    With their coverage of Jeremy Corbyn, and now the way they’re handling the Ted Heath stuff, the Guardian haven’t just gone into the toilet pan, they’ve also been flushed into the sewer.

  • John Goss

    As regards the link I posted to the Eric Zeusse article which stongly indicates that a fighter plane fired on MH17 it still beggars belief that the BBC and world mainstream media choose to continue to run with the BUK missile theory more than 12 months after the murder.

    https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/07/aaronovitch-blusters-to-a-well-of-silence/comment-page-5/#comment-542533

    I pay a licence fee for this shit. I hardly watch the BBC. But I can understand why others do not want to pay a licence fee.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28357880

  • N_

    What are the Torygraph up to? There’s not the slightest “whiff of Salem” about this: Heath is dead.

    And they say “as his few close friends testified, he was wedded to politics with little time or inclination for relationships”, which is just rubbish. First, he was well known to have various leisure interests which he kept up even when he was prime minister; and second, this is a highly questionable use of the notion of “relationship” when the allegations concern child abuse and rape.

    Of course it can’t have escaped notion which party Heath was the leader of.

  • John Goss

    I wonder which story is keeping Habbabkuk, Resident Dissident, Anon1 and Kempe’s heads down. Which story have they been advised to keep quiet on? Is it the Ted Heath story which was knocking around years ago and which many referenced on this blog? Or is it the fact that their beloved government in Kiev appears to be responsible for the shooting down of MH17 and the blatant murder of the 298 people on board?

  • BrianFujisan

    High Blood Pressure FFKS

    The things they get away with

    The US government is allowing a NATO member to openly and actively provide material aid to the Islamic State. Turkey is conducting airstrikes targeting Kurdish militia positions that are in direct opposition to the Islamic state. The US government is counting on you being too stupid or too apathetic to voice a concern. This subject is complicated, but it is critically important that you understand it. The end result of the current US course of action is US ground troops in both Iraq and Syria after Islamic State forces ravage the countries with genocide….

    The Cost:
    The US plan requires that the Islamic State kill so many Syrians that they beg for international intervention. It also requires that the people of Iraq continue dying while fighting an indecisive waruntil the “rebels” in Syria can successfully destabilize the Assad regime. It then requires US troops to enter Iraq and Syria to die in a war that has spun out of control because of US actions. The US government is literally setting up a scenario that will cost thousands of US lives, not to mention the untold loss of life and suffering that is currently occurring in the region. –

    http://theantimedia.org/why-nato-is-bombing-the-kurds-and-helping-the-islamic-state/

    War Criminals, Cameron, and Obama’s Isis Terrorists Bastards Buy and sell Children – U.N report –

    Islamic State sex slave price list authentic, $165 for a child – UN

    Fkn Cowardly Evil %&$+@%&£££££$$$$$. It’s terrible to Feel Helpless

  • Mary

    70 years ago today, this obscenity occurred.

    Hiroshima: Japan Marks 70th Anniversary
    Tens of thousands observe a minute’s silence as the mayor of Hiroshima urges world leaders to rid the planet of nuclear bombs.
    http://news.sky.com/story/1531080/hiroshima-japan-marks-70th-anniversary

    followed three days later by another.

    The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 rose some 11 miles (18 km) above the bomb’s hypocenter.

  • Kempe

    ” There is a lot in this MH17 article which helps explain why Russia vetoed a protracted tribunal to be set up by those who do not want to get at the truth. I draw attention to the pilot’s seat which has what can only be described as a bullet-hole in it. ”

    Back to the fighter plane scenario are we? What happened to the internal bomb?

    Taking a look at a clearer image of the pilot’s seat it’s clear that the “bullet hole” is actually square and that there are numerous other holes in the seat of various sizes and shapes which is indicative of shrapnel, not bullets.

    http://www.shoutwiki.com/w/images/acloserlookonsyria/a/ac/Pilot_seat_2.jpg

    There’s only one reason why Russia vetoed the UN tribunal.

  • Mary

    Disbelief.

    MH370: relatives in China sceptical about debris linked to missing plane
    Some still refuse to accept that plane with so many on board could have crashed when only one piece of evidence has been found so far
    Thursday 6 August 2015 07.47 BST

    ‘However many of the Chinese relatives continue to cling to the hope that their loved ones might be alive. Zhang Yongli said he remained convinced MH370 had either landed safely or not taken off at all.

    “Think about it yourself. If the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean there would be lots of debris,” he said.

    “All those ships searching for so many days and they couldn’t find anything! They only found one piece of wreckage after a year and a half. How can we believe this?”

    “If the plane sent out no signal it means nothing happened to the plane and the plane is in one piece. We have consulted experts on this.”’

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/06/mh370-relatives-in-china-vent-grief-and-frustration-as-debris-is-linked-to-plane

  • John Goss

    Kempe, well at least I can see you are not an engineer.

    Anyway, ask yourself why those ‘bullet holes’ are there when the roof of the cockpit appears not to have been penetrated as it would with a BUK missile.

    What about the alleged recording between air-traffic control and one of the fighter pilots? What about the fact that Ukraine is using its veto to prevent the inquiry telling us what happened? What about the fact that Ukraine said there were no fighter planes in the sky on that day? What about the supposed US satellite images of a BUK missile being fired from separatist held territory? Why can the family of the pilot not have independent verification of their loved one’s cause of death?

    No, I do not discount that the aircraft was shot at by a fighter plane and that a bomb was detonated from inside the plane – the only possible cause of debris being behind the point where the plane exploded apart.

    So do you still hold to your theory that it was a BUK missile shot by the terrorists?

  • Ba'al Zevul

    There is a lot in this MH17 article which helps explain why Russia vetoed a protracted tribunal to be set up by those who do not want to get at the truth.

    Sooo… the findings of the enquiry will be vetoed, according to Global Research, citing Washington’s Blog as its source. Washington’s Blog cites gordonua.com*, and Global Research’s interpretation of this. This last from GA cites Live Journal. Live Journal (Живой Журнал) is closely tied to gazeta.ru, which is similarly owned by SUP/Rambler Media, belonging to Alexander Mamut.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/hmv/8303237/Alexander-Mamut-profile-probably-the-most-powerful-oligarch-you-have-never-heard-of.html

    He remains very close to the Kremlin and he is understood to be close to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, with one source describing him as “Putin’s man”.

    Well, bugger me with a bowl of borscht. Makes News Corp look amateur, doesn’t it?

    gordonua.com writes for the Ukrainian Euromaidan Press. The cited pieces are in Russian, or possibly Ukrainian, but for lulz, here’s the Euromaidan gordonua.com archive. Makes a change from incessantly Russian-slanted accounts, anyway.

    http://euromaidanpress.com/category/news/donetsk-luhansk/

    This is a digression to indicate that both sides are probably guilty of little tiny untruths from time to time. However, there is a basic implied grievance that needs to be addressed: why isn’t Russia participating in the enquiry, while Ukraine is? And the answer is very simple. The aircraft was shot/missiled down over Ukrainian sovereign territory. And if Russia had nothing to do with it….what’s the problem? A complete cynic might say that the complaint indicates that the Russian-backed insurgents (who aren’t Russian-backed, really, they’re not, I tell you) did the deed.

  • Mary

    The population of Australia is LESS than 24million.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Australia

    Yet Abbott said:

    ‘Prime Minister Tony Abbott hailed the announcement as vindication of the Australian-led search.

    “For the first time we might be a little bit closer to solving this baffling mystery,” he said.

    “We have invested upwards of $100 million into this search … >we owe it to the 24 million Australians who use our skies.'</strong

    http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/08/06/aeroplane-wing-fragment-confirmed-mh370/

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