Larry Derfner, Haaretz, 14 March: Branding harsh critics of Israeli policy as anti-Semites helps the occupation thrive, and what’s good for the occupation is good for Israel, certainly for Netanyahu’s Israel, and what’s good for Netanyahu’s Israel is good for the Jewish establishment of Britain, the United States and several other countries. It’s a shame:…
Showing all posts tagged Britain
Lockheed Martin goes seabed mining; what could go wrong?
There’s a new frontier soon to open in the endless search for resources, deep under the water at a time with little regulation or environmental protection. Papua New Guinea may soon be moving forward with untested technology, exactly the country that can least afford it, after being shafted by multinationals for decades (something I examine…
What mainstream media deliberately ignores over Hugo Chavez
Almost on queue, the mainstream press coverage of the passing of Hugo Chavez followed a predictable pattern. The underlying agenda is that any leader who seriously challenges US hegemony will receive abuse from less than independent thinking journalists and commentators. Medialens examines the record: Following the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on March 5,…
BBC happy to promote deluded British narrative of spreading democracy
Typically savvy writing by Medialens: This ideological function was clear in the BBC Newsnight ‘special’ edition on February 26, 2013, titled… ‘Iraq: 10 Years On’. One of the guests on the platform in front of an invited audience was the grandly titled ‘World Affairs Editor’, John Simpson. The veteran journalist has an air of avuncular gravitas,…
10 years on, Iraq is broken
Patrick Cockburn, one of the finest mainstream journalists around, writes for the UK Independent… from Iraq about the state of the nation we invaded and occupied in 2003: Iraq is disintegrating as a… country under the pressure of a mounting political, social and economic crisis, say Iraqi leaders. They add that 10 years after the US…
Britain finds novel way to strip citizens of rights before America drones them
Disturbing evidence in the Independent that reveals yet another way Western states find ways to capitulate to unaccountable American demands in the “war on terror”: The Government has secretly ramped up a controversial programme that strips people of their British citizenship on national security grounds – with two of the men subsequently killed by American…
How Britain sells weapons to the world and still claims to be responsible nation
Penetrating story by Andy Beckett in the Guardian: In the town centre of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, between McDonald’s and Carphone Warehouse, there is an unusual statue. Four firm-jawed figures in factory clothes stand back-to-back. One wears a flat cap, one wields a sledgehammer, one has a welder’s visor. All of them are in purposeful poses,…
Setting the right priorities over Wikileaks support
As a long-time supporter of Wikileaks, since its inception in 2006, its importance is often overlooked by the personal issues surrounding its founder Julian Assange. It’s a complex legal and ethical battle and his fear of US arrest and imprisonment is real and justified. Trusting any authorities is unwise considering the record of governments and…
Mali shows that West understands little about failures of “war on terror”
History repeats. Leaders learn nothing or don’t want to. Countless media hacks repeat the talking points about fighting “terrorism” and ask few questions. The “war on terror” has been a catastrophic debacle from day one. If you ask the civilians who suffer under its wrath, which most reporters don’t, you’ll know that. Seumas Milne in…
Far too many journalists worthy of a Shammy award
John Pilger on a new much-needed new media award: There are awards for everyone. There are the Logies, the Commies, the Tonys, the Theas, the Millies (“They cried with pride”) and now the Shammies. The Shammies celebrate the finest sham media. “Competition for the 2013 Gold Shammy,” said the panel of judges, “has been cutthroat.”…