tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251387802024-03-07T03:48:50.347+00:00KatabasisTake up my sword if I fall.Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-59930152457968192372014-12-04T16:20:00.001+00:002014-12-04T16:20:12.010+00:00Bite the Ballot: The Nathan Barley of Political Engagement<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->In 2005 a sitcom was launched, co-written by Chris Morris of
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brass Eye</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Day Today</i> fame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
focuses on a character, Nathan Barley, who is an incredibly overrated fashion
conscious manchild. He only gets attention because he self-promotes through
digital channels and is perceived to have the necessary ‘street cool’. The
show, it seems, was well before its time as we now have a living, breathing
case of life imitating art in the form of ‘Bite the Ballot’.<br />
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‘Bite the Ballot’ <a href="http://bitetheballot.co.uk/who-we-are/" target="_blank">describes itself</a> as “a not for profit
organisation that empowers young people to speak up and act, to make their
votes and opinions count.” Further down in its blurb we find something I’m sure
was actually lifted from a Nathan Barley script – “Our core values when
engaging those furthest away from politics are to be <b>unconventional</b>,<b>
inclusive </b>and <b>bold</b>.” </div>
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They present themselves as studiously neutral. Which sounds
nice given their current big hitting scheme is “Leaders Live”. The idea behind
this is that they deliver questions to the main political leaders in the UK
ostensibly provided from the general public via social media. In practice, most
of the questioning occurs through an audience panel that is supposedly
representative of the UK’s “youth”.<br />
<br />
And it is the panel where this farce becomes completely unstuck. </div>
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The second episode of “Leaders Live” featured Nigel Farage.
The “representative” audience panel picked by supposedly “neutral” Bite the
Ballot engaged in a solid hour of abuse, belittling, heckling and verging on
violent interrogation of Farage. The role of the chair, Rick Edwards, during
this episode appeared to be to primarily emulate Helen Keller as best as he
could. </div>
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The apparently in built anti-UKIP panel hostility was
obvious to many who were commenting live at the time as well as the majority of
the commenters on the archived <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaMt-Gq-ikQ" target="_blank">Youtube video</a>. The belligerence and bias was
worse even than the most partisan BBC selected audience for Quisling Time I
ever recall seeing. It was more embarrassingly (albeit unintentionally) self-parodying
than Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaMt-Gq-ikQ" target="_blank">send up</a> of the latter too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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One only needs to watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSzCEj-pT6E" target="_blank">previous episode</a>, with the
Green Party’s Natalie Bennett to see the shocking divergence in the panel’s
behaviour towards the two leaders. She was given a relatively easy time on the
questions front, only really corned twice (e.g. on the performance of Brighton
council) and even then she was treated with good manners and respect throughout.
The panel seemed to like what she had to say, but then that’s easy with the
Greens because they can promise spending on all and sundry without having to
account for it. And of course this particularly appeals to the young and
inexperienced who are more likely to opt for idealism and less likely to ask
how one earth the Green’s apparently bottomless spending bonanza can be
financed. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A parody of panels</b></div>
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Who was on the panel for the Nigel Farage episode? That’s
the million dollar question. It’s also one that ‘Bite the Ballot’ singularly
fails to answer. Nowhere on their site or on the youtube channel is a list of
the participants, never mind any biographies. This information is just a teensy
weensy bit important. <br />
<br />
As a result I had to piece together (occasionally making mistakes) who was
actually present and their backgrounds. It is, frankly insane, that I had to do
this. It is part and parcel of modern broadcasting that viewers are informed as
to who is being questioned and who is doing the questioning. Not in this case
though. </div>
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So, who took part? Amongst those participating and including
almost everyone who actually spoke on the panel I’ve been able to determine the
following:</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Piers Telemacque</b>
(@Pierschickenboy)<br />
A vice-president of the NUS and active anti-UKIP activist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can see him <a href="https://twitter.com/Rebel_Rock_On/status/539886906268721152/photo/1" target="_blank">here</a> using crayon (how
appropriate) to express his hatred of the party. He continues the proud
tradition of NUS representatives in being thick and obnoxious. In between his
slews of abuse towards Farage he claimed that Farage had worked for “Wall
Street”. No, really. I’m sure there’s a bright future ahead for Piers in the
greasy poleclimbers club that is the NUS and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q3aGgwO86c" target="_blank">just like his predecessors</a> will be willing to sell anyone out to get what he wants when he’s sick of being
a bag carrier and useful idiot. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kenny Imafidon</b> (@KennyImafidon)<br />
Charming chap this one. Even more belligerent than Piers. He’s currently
“Special Advisor on Youth Policy”. How did he achieve this august position?
That makes for uncomfortable reading. Turns out he used to be a thug in a
London gang. Ended up in the dock for murder. He was <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>however <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21760835" target="_blank">acquitted</a>. Oh, that’s OK then?<br />
<br />
Maybe not. It turns out the imprisoned murderer and accessory were actually his
friends and part of the same gang. As he himself said, it “could have easily
been me”. Oh dear. It is following this that events become truly bizarre. It appears
that <a href="http://kennyimafidon.com/about-kenny/" target="_blank">our establishment inexplicably decided that he needed special treatment,tea and biscuits</a>. This gang-banging thug was elevated by our establishment,
with money, education and status poured on him to become effectively an
establishment selected “Community Leader / Representative” type. I’ve genuinely
never seen anything like it. <br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Myles Dyer </b>(@MylesDyer)<br />
An employee of the Guardian.<br />
<br />
Nothing else really needs to be said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mawaan Rizwan</b> (@MawaanR)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A BBC employee. He’s a “comedian” <a href="http://www.pbjmgt.co.uk/artist/mawaan-rizwan" target="_blank">apparently</a>. <br />
<br />
Another embarrassing belligerent on the show, this chap being the one who
apparently really hates rich people with large houses. <br />
<br />
Again, what more need be said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Russ Haynes</b> (@monkeywithagunn)<br />
Another <a href="http://www.monkeywithagunn.com/about-me.html" target="_blank">“comedian”</a>. This fellow was possibly the most belligerent of the lot
and I genuinely thought he was going to get out of his seat to get at Farage at
some point. He went heavy on the race card. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rebecca Brown</b>(?) (@beckie0)<br />
Current/recent university (under)graduate. Massive youtube following – the
largest of the lot as far as I can tell. I found a ‘Google hangout’ with some
of these people discussing participating in ‘Bite the Ballot’ from 2013 where
she made it clear she had not had any interest in politics until recruited by
this organisation. She appears to be a relatively harmless youtube narcissist
and was one of the politer panel members. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John</b> (surname?) (@JazzaJohn)<br />
Another youtuber and LGBT campaigner as far as I can tell. Came across
perfectly reasonably on the show. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hannah Witton</b> (@hannahwitton)<br />
Another social media narcissist. <br />
Current/recent university (under)graduate</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jamal Edwards</b>
(@jamaledwards)<br />
Millionaire rapper. So, yeah, “representative”. Spoke during the Natalie Bennett
interview previously but as far as I can recall did not ask a question of Nigel
Farage. Which is probably just as well as the remainder of the panel appeared
to be going on for a full on ‘soak the rich’ attack and things could have got
awkward quite quickly especially if Nigel knew who he was otherwise…. <br />
I originally mixed him up with Kenny Imafidon – primarily because information
was so thin on the ground about the panel I was resorting to comparing still
images after confirming Jamal was on the show. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ben Hanlin</b> (@benhanlin)<br />
Magician. Employee of ITV (noteworthy especially in this case as this whole
enterprise was arranged with ITV as a partner). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Harwood</b>
(@tomhfh)<br />
Probably the single most neutral representative panel member I’ve been able to
identify so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Follows the usual
Youtube narcissism pattern but has a following comparable to many people I know
myself on social media who have just been around for a while. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lucy Moon</b> (@meowitslucy)<br />
Another youtuber. Her twitter timeline makes it clear she’s another serial UKIP
hater. She’s also noticeably more narcissistic than the others going by the
evidence there and she’s only 19 (the majority of others seem to be in their
20s upwards). Not good. She was the most ill-tempered of the female panel
members. <br />
<br />
There are a handful of others I’ve not had the time to track down yet (so far
its 11/15 – though only 14 of those appeared on the episode in question).
However, as far as I can tell I have managed to include everyone who asked
questions from the panel on the Farage episode. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where was everyone else?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where they weren’t diehard lefties and UKIP haters (that
covers the people who spent most time heckling, interrupting and abusing) the
panel members were major social media narcissists and/or media luvvies. Are
these really the people who are most appropriate to be representing the UK’s
“youth voice”? If there could even be said to be such a thing? Where were the
political right wingers, the young people working in trades, armed forces,
front line services? Why do only graduates, youtube personalities and
“comedians” get to speak? You know – where’s the missing 50% of British youths
who did not go to university and also did not become youtube superstars plucked
from obscurity?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How desperately unfunny must the “comedians” on the panel be
if all they can do in this situation is effectively act as simple hostile
hecklers? Speaking as a fan and regular attendee of the London comedy circuit I
can’t imagine any of the performers I’ve seen behaving like this. Even if they
were out to undermine Farage they would have prepared some funny zingers rather
than behaved like two year olds on the verge of tantrums, violence or both. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A full third were committed UKIP haters and there are
question marks over several of the others. It was a shockingly biased panel and
the aggression towards Farage was left completely unchecked. It’s worth noting
that all of the ethnic minority panel members who spoke up were persistently
interrupting and belligerent. If your goal was to portray the young left-leaning
members of the UK’s BME communities as know-nothing, belligerent gobshites then this episode
was a major success. GREAT JOB guys!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It would appear to most of those commenting on ‘Bite the
Ballot’ youtube videos that, as commenter ‘Venimus Vidimus’ put it, the panel<br />
<br />
<i>“were chosen because they're simple minded, desperate to be liked, malleable,
sycophantic, photogenic, glib and left-wing (the latter trait being a direct
result of the former traits).”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The boss weighs in </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As if it wasn’t already enough of a Nathan Barley episode with
the student left drama queens and social media narcissists on the panel, the
“Big Boss” of ‘Bite the Ballot’, Michael Sani, has since <a href="http://bitetheballot.co.uk/leaders-live-ukip/" target="_blank">written about</a> the
panel make up. He has in turn delivered the very quintessence of exactly the
kind of purified, distilled, thoughtless idiocy that seems the characterise
these kind of enterprises and was mercilessly mocked in Nathan Barley. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is at this point that the mutual masturbation circle now
turns into a full on circular firing squad.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In case they have a sudden injection of sense and delete the
piece, I’ll quote you the section I consider most apposite:</div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“On the first: yep, I
agree. At times, even I was calling for Rick to step in to keep control of
people’s emotions – but to be fair, it was arguably the hottest debate we’ve
ever seen with Nigel. It was refreshing to see people’s emotions on show,
especially from this age group. One thing’s for sure – it’s becoming harder and
harder to say ‘Young people don’t care’: because last night they proved they
do. And now we build upon it, collectively.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Before I go into how,
let’s address the idea of our unrepresentative audience. The audience was
selected because of the networks they represent – many of whom have thousands
of fans, followers and subscribers. You name it – they have them. These debates
are pilots. We are trying to find a format where the few can represent the
masses, and we are consistently perfecting the model because – like with
everything BTB – we are not afraid to try, reflect, then try again. Yes, one
member of the audience, Myles, has a day-job with a certain left-leaning print
media house, but he didn’t mention that during the event, and more importantly,
he brought in the views of his YouTube, Twitter and Facebook subscribers. That
has always been the aim.<br />
<br />
As for the chap from NUS, yes, it’s disappointing that he’s posted rude,
anti-UKIP pictures on his social profile. He was supposed to be in a position
of representing a mass of students. The thing is, we all have to work and
support one another here. NUS need to be clear on what is – and is not –
acceptable for their officers; and from BTB’s side, we need to think about how
we brief audiences ahead of these debates so they don’t lose their electricity
(and protect us from being picked apart).”</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy non-sequiturs and complete-lack-of-self-awareness
Batman! Would you like a dirty dripping contempt salad and a side order of
sneer with your order, sir? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It was refreshing to see people’s
emotions on show”<br />
</i><br />
- Yes, wonderful. Portray the representatives of “the youth” as ignorant brutes
determined to get their way through shouting others down, along with a distinct
implied violence. And even the boss was calling for the chair, Helen Keller
(sorry – Rick Edwards), to notice something was up and step in. But he did
nothing of the sort. Why?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">let’s address the
idea of our unrepresentative audience”</i><br />
<br />
- The “idea” of an unrepresentative audience. Got that? It’s just an “idea”!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The audience was selected
because of the networks they represent”<br />
<br />
</i>- The “networks” many of them represented were followers of a social media
narcissist. In case you’re unfamiliar, Michael, with what narcissism entails,
the narcissist does not “represent” their following. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They expect to bask in their reflected glory
from sycophants. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We are trying to find
a format where the few can represent the masses, and we are consistently
perfecting the model because”<br />
<br />
</i>- This is just pure delusional talk. There is no model or format at work
here beyond pulling in a social media circle jerk. The folks you picked
represent some quite specific cliques and you’re excluding, at a minimum, 50%
of the UK’s “youth”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fear that by
“perfecting it” you mean pull in people who have more followers and shares on
social media. I don’t think you understand the meaning of “representation” here,
Michael. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, one member of
the audience, Myles, has a day-job with a certain left-leaning print media
house, but he didn’t mention that during the event”</i><br />
<br />
- Ooh. A “certain left-leaning print media house”. There’s not even a hint of
contrition here is there? I can almost feel “Boss Man” Michael’s sneer in his
words. And you also appear to be frighteningly oblivious to the fact, Michael,
that it is definitively <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i></b> responsibility to inform your
viewers of such details. <br />
<br />
- I think the Guardian’s Myles Dyer has realised there’s trouble ahead as he is
currently busy clowndancing in the youtube comments making out that he’s
actually a really neutral, reasonable guy. One glance at his twitter timeline
during and just after the event though and anyone can see the real picture: One
of Myles revelling in so much backslapping over his perceived success in
‘operation get Farage’ that it’s amazing he hasn’t taken time off to see a
chiropractor. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and more importantly,
he brought in the views of his YouTube, Twitter and Facebook subscribers. That
has always been the aim.”<br />
<br />
</i>- And there you have it. It’s all about the hits…sod accuracy,
representation, bias…Never mind the fact that the bulk of followers are likely
to subscribe to a similar viewpoint thereby exacerbating the bias even further.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As for the chap from
NUS, yes, it’s disappointing that he’s posted rude, anti-UKIP pictures on his
social profile. He was supposed to be in a position of representing a mass of
students.”<br />
<br />
</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Right. Because you had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no idea</i> that this is what he was all
about. And the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very idea</i> of NUS reps
actually representing the mass of students rather than the speech-code obsessed
authoritarian harpies? Hoho – pass the smelling salts, please dear!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“NUS need to be clear
on what is – and is not – acceptable for their officers;”<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</i>- Pretty much anything acceptable to the far-left goes at the nutty NUS.
Including opposing motions against ISIS initiated by (Muslim) Kurds because of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- er - “Islamophobia”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“and from BTB’s side,
we need to think about how we brief audiences ahead of these debates so they
don’t lose their electricity (and protect us from being picked apart).”<br />
<br />
</i>- Translation: we need to ensure our biased selectees know how to obscure
their biases from easy discovery!<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i><br />
This all simply beggars belief. “Boss man” had the opportunity to pull back
from the precipice. Instead he hits the accelerator pedal and flies straight
over the cliff, smashes into the rocks below and bursts into flames. <br />
<br />
No acknowledgement of an issue, no contrition and no prospect of rectification
at all. The ostensible goal of this “neutral” organisation is to teach and
inspire young citizens about politics and voting. If the mission here was to teach
young people the lesson that, in UK politics, you can expect to be unashamedly
and outrageously deceived right from the very start, then this has been an
absolutely stellar success.<br />
<br />
The cat is out of the bag now, Michael. <br />
<br />
You had a duty of care to inform the audience. You failed spectacularly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most important currency in politics is trust. Once it is
gone it can take a generation to win it back. ‘Bite the Ballot’ have
demonstrated that they are wilfully biased. Worse, they have clearly expressed
that they simply do not care that they have been outed and intend to carry on
as before. Notice also the lexical register that Michael Sani uses. It is very
childlike, blasé and pompous. It reminds me very much of how Russell Brand
happily masturbates his own ignorance and anti-intellectualism in his own
inscrutable writing. And this man is the “Big Boss”. God help us. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tories should be wary</b><br />
<br />
There’s no love lost between myself and the Tories. However in spite of my
general dislike of the party and my specific issues with Cameron himself, I do
not think he or they deserve to be put through this idiotic farce. Dave is so
far the only party leader to have not confirmed a date with ‘Bite the Ballot’.
In all seriousness I think, now the outright bias of the show is on full view,
that he would be wise to withdraw. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is arguable that Cameron could be in for even worse
treatment than Farage. Why? Because the visceral hatred of UKIP and Farage from
this lot is what I would refer to as “fashionable hate”. It has become a
popular past time, to impress your mates and be seen to make the correct noises
for herd approval to claim to hate UKIP even if you know little about them and
even less about the issues they raise. Yet there is something that is somewhat
fleeting here.<br />
<br />
The tories on the other hand face what I would call “institutional hate”.
Despite not even having been born when Thatcher was still in power, many of
this lot seem to uncannily pop out of the womb with a built in hatred of her
and need to blame the country’s current ills on a prime minister who has been
out of power for decades. You know how it goes. Everything is Fatcher’s fault,
innit bruv? You instinctively support manual frackers (miners) but inexplicably
hate and fear hydraulic fracturing. The tories were so evil they even caught
the Teletubbies going for a poo. They had the Brighton bombing coming. The
Falklands was worse than Iraq. And yes, the Belgrano was a fucking cruise
liner. <br />
<br />
Don’t do it to yourselves. Yes there will be mass hysteria by the
self-righteous New Left, but their teeth grinding and childishness will only
prove the point. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The children of
Orwell and Huxley</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One final issue that really bugged me. Because this attempt
at imitating Nathan Barley was struggling to be so in touch with the supposed
social media zeitgeist, all the panel participants were glued to their
spyphones and tablets. The occasional full frontal shot of the panel was
actually quite unnerving. When they weren’t send spittle flecked tirades Farage’s
way, they were looking down with crooked necks at the miniature portals in
their laps.<br />
<br />
At any one moment the majority of the audience was simply not paying attention.
In human communication terms this is a significant step backwards and not a practice
that should be actively encouraged. ‘The Youth’ have become inheritors of the
worst of both Orwell’s and Huxley’s fears. Continually policed Newspeak (and,
increasingly, prudery too) combined with hypnotising, addictive yet numbing
behaviours of performance and approval carried out via devices that are used to
spy on us. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a social media
network’s glow from a backlit display occupying a dulled, distracted,
inattentive human face, forever. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-31482262395365061942014-08-11T17:17:00.001+00:002014-08-11T17:17:23.607+00:00"Whataboutery" Brendan O'Neill <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100282957/the-one-piece-of-whataboutery-that-israel-bashers-have-no-answer-to/" target="_blank">has an interesting piece</a> up today about the double standards that the pro-Gaza activists appear to have with regard to Western links to violence in other lands.<br /><br />The long story short is O'Neill points out that the pro-Gaza activists can claim that they largely ignore other, and much worse, violence such as that perpetrated by ISIS on the grounds that the West isn't backing it, unlike Israel. He then presents events in Ukraine as a <i>prima facie</i> case of Western involvement and responsibility for instigating conflict and tremendous loss of human life, not to mention displacement, then asking activists why they ignore that case.<br /><br />I can't say I'm that convinced by O'Neill's argument even if I recognise it has substantial force. And in any case, its the first part that bothers me more. There's plenty of relevant 'whataboutery' to be had where these burning hypocrites are concerned.<br />
<br />
As I commented over there, I've got an even better bit of 'whatabouttery' - what about George Galloway?<br /><br />
<div class="post-message " data-role="message" dir="auto">
The
speech code anal retentives went into mass bladder-bursting conniptions
over the possibility that Jeremy Clarkson might have muttered a bad
word under his breath on an unaired clip somewhere (an audio sample by
the way, we must remember, that required expert help to clarify).<br />
<br />Yet
Galloway says something in public, on a podium to a substantial
audience and on camera <a href="http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/11399756.VIDEO__Galloway_accused_of_damaging_Bradford_with__Israel_free_zone__call/" target="_blank">that is utterly hateful about an entire people</a>
and what happened?<br />
<br />Tumbleweed.<br />
<br />Again.<br /><br />Speaking of "bladder bursting conniptions" the latest outrage is
apparently Garnier sending free products to female IDF soldiers. The
outrage has been so substantial and quick that Garnier have been forced
to apologise. <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/gaza-strip-garnier-apologises-donating-girly-care-packages-female-idf-soldiers-1460386" target="_blank">No, really</a><br /><br />The campaign, of course, is headed up by none other than George "No dogs or Jews round here" Galloway.<br /><br />Sometimes its hard to believe that we're not all here for the benefit of some cosmic surreal yet brutal planet sized sit-com. <br />
</div>
Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-57815371575304587282014-05-08T10:53:00.001+00:002014-05-08T10:53:45.274+00:00Unite Around Fascism vs UKIP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGIGLlDpo4FgOGE8ohs1I7K4GyytLeycaEZ_tnFfKj6prf25oFZo_cpa5Tk98QnJiPu8_UxXSg0T01lu5lgnWoPYoedCMwjrjjwQ5oc4J-3pjhYj3393-_7dgrLh81WE8ROtgDw/s1600/Bm33yz3CIAAustT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGIGLlDpo4FgOGE8ohs1I7K4GyytLeycaEZ_tnFfKj6prf25oFZo_cpa5Tk98QnJiPu8_UxXSg0T01lu5lgnWoPYoedCMwjrjjwQ5oc4J-3pjhYj3393-_7dgrLh81WE8ROtgDw/s1600/Bm33yz3CIAAustT.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br />So, regarding Unite Around Fascism's supreme arseclownery at the UKIP London rally last night -<br />
<br />
Everyone going in to the venue was given abuse, told that they were
racist bigots blah blah blah. Socialist Worker were actually trying to
give leaflets out to attendees telling them they were racist. A black
fella stood in the queue next to me started quietly singing 'get some
soap, get some soap, get some soap'. I counted three brown faces amongst
the UAF mob. There were dozens <span class="text_exposed_show">of ethnic minority attendees in the UKIP contingent. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
Inside, UAF had a string of people inside who attempted heckling
(there's an art to this chaps, you really could have made a better
effort).<br />
<br />
The UAF hecklers were, frankly, amazing though in their own way.<br />
<br />
Every single one of them was white.<br />
<br />
Almost all of the heckles were aimed at ethnic minority speakers (including calling them "racist").<br />
Extra points go to the very first hecklers who actually looked like
skinheads, chanting at mixed race Steven Woolfe that he was a "fake"
(wtf?).<br />
<br />
Methinks UAF and pals need to immediately go back to the marketing department for a new plan....<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure at one point they tried storming the venue and must
have been aggressively moved on by the police. We couldn't hear them at
all once inside the venue, except briefly for a moment when all of the
security staff rushed for the exit and we heard the clown crew roaring
getting louder. By the time we left the venue there was not a single
sign they had been there - not one straggler, not even a stupid sign
left on the ground and even the barriers had been put away on a truck.<br />
<br />
However, if you read the UAF facebook page, they claim to have won some
incredible victory and "fought off" numerous "EDL thugs". I'm getting a
bit worried about their mental health now. There wasn't a single sign
of any such people at the rally, inside or out. Everyone in the queue
maintained a dignified calm. The desperate blow hards are now having to
make any old shit up.<br />
<br />
I'm also still pondering what the white
middle class student craptivists were actually trying to communicate in
calling ethnic minority UKIP speakers "racist", or "fake". Suffice to
say I haven't been coming to any flattering conclusions.<br /><br />I'll be rolling this story out for years now to anyone who talks to me about UAF and endorses their concentrated fuckwittery. Remind me again who the real "fascists" are?</div>
Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-90578110168575708262014-05-02T17:43:00.001+00:002014-05-02T17:43:39.313+00:00What has the EU ever done for us?I feel this video perfectly encapsulates how the EU has helped me - and so many millions of others - on many occasions throughout my life.<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='500' height='400' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kTXfAtckS3g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-56862417802383503912014-04-16T20:13:00.000+00:002014-04-16T20:13:45.413+00:00The Climate Alarmism DictionaryThis really made me chuckle. Probably one of the funniest summaries of the current state of play in the climate debate that I've seen. <br /><br />Repeated verbatim from Ron McCarley's <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/15/un-ipcc-ar5-climate-reports-conjecture-disguised-as-certainty/#comment-1614634" target="_blank">post</a> at WUWT:<br />
<br />
"A Climate Alarmism Dictionary:<br />
<br />
* Accelerated Sea Level Rise – places sinking into the ocean faster than the water’s rising.<br />
<br />
* Accurate Temperature Measurement – what the thermometer showed after being placed beside the BBQ grill.<br />
<br />
* Climate Alarmist – insists others don’t know what they’re talking about, but knows even less.<br />
<br />
* Environmentalist – Leads a carbon intensive lifestyle, well beyond the
means of the average public. Visits pristine areas often but doesn’t
want anyone else to go there.<br />
<br />
* Global Warming – not the run-of-the-mill average warming, but
disastrous, nasty warming like wearing thermal underwear in Death
Valley. Eskimos will be wearing Speedo’s if we don’t do something by
the next election cycle.<br />
<br />
* Movie Star – arrives at a movie premiere in a Prius, after flying
there in their private jet from one of their huge mansions. Loves to
preach sacrifice to others who live from paycheck to paycheck.<br />
Advocates all kinds of burdensome carbon taxes because the government
can’t tax their fortune more than once.<br />
<br />
* Ocean Acidification – Hell will freeze over before carbon dioxide
turns the oceans acidic, but it’s the best scare tactic that we’ve got.<br />
<br />
* Overpopulation – Anyone else daring to have children.<br />
<br />
* Sacrifice for Your Children and Grandchilden – we don’t even care
about the people alive today, but it’s a great sales technique to
persuade the public to choke down policies that will hurt everybody.<br />
<br />
* Statesman – worries about the effects of DDT and golden rice on a
wealthy nation, but ignores the countless deaths and child blindness of
others in poor countries who could be saved by their use.<br />
<br />
* TV Climate Special – scary pictures at a 3rd grade level, suitable for chimpanzees.<br />
<br />
* Unprecedented Warming – actually occurred many times before, but lying to the public might work."Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-84010124591793364702014-04-08T21:14:00.000+00:002014-04-08T21:14:55.925+00:00GWPF report on climate catastrophist "education" in schools is a MUST READ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span class="userContent">Press release <a href="http://www.thegwpf.org/new-report-reveals-green-brainwashing-in-uk-schools/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />Direct link to report <a href="http://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2014/04/Education-reducedportrait-5.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>. [PDF]<br /><br />When I first started reading this I was just
going to put it up as a recommendation. Having finished it earlier and
thought on it I'm now going to argue that it is a must read. A spokesman
for Michael Gove has apparently already <a href="http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2014/4/8/michael-gove-responds-to-climate-control.html" target="_blank">responded</a> t<span class="text_exposed_show">o it. If you have kids, or teach kids (or even young adults) you really should read this.<br /> <br />
We're on the verge of a lost generation here, where education has not
only become a completely and utterly politicised tool but it is actively
impairing these kids' prospects through a saturation of fear (“I worry
about [global warming] because I don’t want to die.” one child is
reported as saying) and destroying any hope of critical reasoning as
propaganda and science become indistinguishable. <br /> <br /> No subject,
not even Religious Education, is free from the influence. In many cases,
it seems, the kids are being taught complete activist bollocks that
doesn't even fit in with what is said by the IPCC. Never mind "children
won't know what snow is" (courtesy of Dr. David Viner, still gainfully
employed as a climate scientologist), they won't know what science is.
And they'll be leaving the education system with no hope for their
future. <br /> <br /> A couple of apropos citations from the report:<br /> <br />
<i>"In a survey of 500 American pre-teens, it was found that one in three
children aged between 6 and 11 feared that the Earth would not exist
when they reached adulthood because of global warming and other
environmental threats."</i><br /> <br /> And<br /> <br /> <i>"It is easy to engage the
sympathies of children with stories of damage to the natural world and
images of suffering animals they will identify with. But children have
very little power. Of all the sections of society who might make an
impact on climate change, they have the least in-fluence. There is a
real risk of raising levels of anxiety amongst children that will not
only cause distress in the immediate term but will in the long term lead
to those children turning against the environmental causes we hoped
they might espouse."<br /> </i><br /> Read it. Read it now. Read the whole damn thing. <br /><br />If you want the short version, basically this is what our friends in the climate catastrophism community are attempting to do every day:<br /><br /></span></span><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ahuutnPLl7E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-30420044992411053382013-10-04T19:30:00.001+00:002013-10-04T19:30:46.176+00:00"The IPCC is 95% certain that...."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygqpzQocaTl8QUzCXHv1fjP-2B29-SvMokAznlK6VpR8f5NXSgj2LA283o6vdi7Avkt1LWlu-BUM7NFWWK6wFmC2qfZgo9beqRqTlQ0dtrcmR2_0xEX5ZW-oA-rO6FtW4nZfQ9g/s1600/g1380314552973654541.jpg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygqpzQocaTl8QUzCXHv1fjP-2B29-SvMokAznlK6VpR8f5NXSgj2LA283o6vdi7Avkt1LWlu-BUM7NFWWK6wFmC2qfZgo9beqRqTlQ0dtrcmR2_0xEX5ZW-oA-rO6FtW4nZfQ9g/s1600/g1380314552973654541.jpg.png" width="387" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCnzyk3jxoG8-Sw-cqv4KPfiwdCMjBCdlEURaEWC0Mx2bDUqy-KiX38rhjUdTdsUyeRtLcuLEpy_gDkGcQPt_FhKiNnD9ljkBD3WmHEtjZXg0T-YOfinb1q12AkxMk-Oj7zAu3FA/s1600/g1380314874210900575.jpg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCnzyk3jxoG8-Sw-cqv4KPfiwdCMjBCdlEURaEWC0Mx2bDUqy-KiX38rhjUdTdsUyeRtLcuLEpy_gDkGcQPt_FhKiNnD9ljkBD3WmHEtjZXg0T-YOfinb1q12AkxMk-Oj7zAu3FA/s1600/g1380314874210900575.jpg.png" width="388" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOsNvsM66-E0a_gzanTOHM6pq0oG60cy-RUjbuQtSndWiGeIlFni63AcLuXhPE6DUkxbVgn9fwnDS1xFbRNAXDwVxm3oMF6ocD5ULVo47HkCSbqjMx05xQF48SibyGWa7q59E9yA/s1600/g1380315062820414218.jpg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOsNvsM66-E0a_gzanTOHM6pq0oG60cy-RUjbuQtSndWiGeIlFni63AcLuXhPE6DUkxbVgn9fwnDS1xFbRNAXDwVxm3oMF6ocD5ULVo47HkCSbqjMx05xQF48SibyGWa7q59E9yA/s1600/g1380315062820414218.jpg.png" width="388" /></a></div>
<br />All direct quotes from the 'Summary for Policymakers' - [<a href="http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WGIAR5-SPM_Approved27Sep2013.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a>]Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-90905529080855705652013-10-01T19:06:00.002+00:002013-10-01T19:06:40.518+00:00My reaction to the new IPCC Summary for Policymakers reportI had started planning a detailed response to <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/09/30/ipcc-ar5-full-final-report-released-full-access-here/" target="_blank">the SPM</a>, pointing out that it is actually pretty supportive of the sceptical case and incredibly uncertain in many areas.<br />
<br />
Then I saw some of the irrational, hysterical reactions across the usual suspects in the alarmist press, many of whom have made claims that DO NOT APPEAR AT ALL in the IPCC document. Many are also unbelievably willful distortions. I recommend to everyone reading it for yourselves - its just 36 pages and then compare with what others are saying it says. <br />
<br />
There are so many crazy reactions, I'm sure you've already seen many of them. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2436551/A-weatherman-breaks-tears-vows-NEVER-fly-grim-climate-change-report.html" target="_blank">Here</a> is one of the funniest. <br />
<br />
Given that so many of the irresponsible, hysterical responses are shamefully from people who should know better (including <a href="http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2013/10/1/hysteria.html" target="_blank">university "professors"</a>), I thought I'd post my response to them instead. It's better than they deserve:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yj6inro9VUs" width="560"></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-91007125323844520092013-06-22T11:47:00.000+00:002013-06-22T11:47:19.423+00:00Through a PRISM darkly: the worthlessness of political "science"<blockquote>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">“Better
that right counsels be known to enemies than that the evil secrets of
tyrants should be concealed from the citizens. They who can treat
secretly of the affairs of a nation have it absolutely under their
authority; and as they plot against the enemy in time of war, so do they
against the citizens in time of peace.” <br /> - Spinoza</span></span></h5>
</blockquote>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-mastering-the-internet" target="_blank">The ongoing scandal</a> surrounding the extent of our "intelligence" "services" domestic spying proclivities continues to rumble on and yet going by the general news coverage and discussion on social media, including amongst the libertarian blogosphere one could be forgiven for thinking this issue had barely registered and no one really gives a shit.</span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">The fact is that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gchq" target="_blank">this is the biggest scandal of our age</a> and with each day new revelations come to light and more claims by our worthless political class and senior civil "service" are revealed to be outright lies. Yet barely a whimper. It seems Huxley was closer to the truth than Orwell. We really are numbed with distractions.</span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">The extent of this spying capability combined with the promise of Big Data means our dear spooks have an unprecedented insight into our souls and concerns. They have probably already realised <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gchq" target="_blank">the D notice</a> was redundant - not because of technology and media plurality making it redundant - but because even a modest analysis of social media interactions will demonstrate that they can rely on lethargy and apathy to do the job for them. Hague has been running notably silent given that most of what he said at the beginning of the month and in particular <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2013/jun/10/nsa-prism-hague-gchq-video" target="_blank">on June 10th</a> has been shown to be <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-mastering-the-internet" target="_blank">a pack of lies</a>. </span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This not only affects all of us, it is not only cross partisan and it not only shows up the British establishment to be the enemies of the people. No. It also highlights the pointlessness of many of our political and philosophical differences. There is no real debate to be had when there is a secret state at work beneath the surface of the puppet show that we all like to talk about. Degrees in "political science" (and I say this as the unproud owner of one) are worthless when faced with the spook joker in the pack, especially an game changing (and ending) oversized card like ours that clearly eclipses all other institutions. Control of accurate information is like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-hIryWmOk8" target="_blank">the control of the Spice in Dune</a>. All of the supposed "insights" gained by "intelligence studies" <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/people/aldrich/links/" target="_blank">scholars such as Richard Aldrich</a> are little more than crumbs from the table delivered by a handmaiden, not a critic, of our unaccountable secret state. He and his peers have no choice to be anything other than handmaidens - they are after all funded by our Dear Leaders. <br /><br />Dark times indeed. </span></span></span></h5>
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Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-33195716963092318632013-06-08T10:50:00.000+00:002013-06-08T10:50:16.770+00:00D NOTICE ISSUED REGARDING PRISM PLEASE RESHAREVia <a href="http://order-order.com/2013/06/08/d-notice-june-7-2013/" target="_blank">Guido</a><br /><br />
<blockquote>
<em><strong>Private and Confidential: Not for publication, broadcast or use on social media.</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>Defence Advisory Notice</strong></em><br />
<em>There have been a number of articles recently in connection with
some of the ways in which the UK Intelligence Services obtain
information from foreign sources.</em><br />
<em>Although none of these recent articles has contravened any of the
guidelines contained within the Defence Advisory Notice System,
the intelligence services are concerned that further developments
of this same theme may begin to jeopardize both national security and
possibly UK personnel…</em></blockquote>
<br />Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-28091321765247817692013-06-07T09:49:00.000+00:002013-06-07T09:57:29.645+00:00Semi official confirmation of the secret surveillance stateIt doesn't matter whether you identify as "left", or "right" or whatever political-philosophical conjugation suits you, we should all be outraged and concerned by this.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10105066/US-harvesting-data-from-Facebook-Google-and-other-internet-giants.html" target="_blank">Telegraph reports</a> that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data" target="_blank">the Guardian </a>and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html" target="_blank">Washington Times</a> have obtained a secret slide show detailing nine companies who are willing participants in a programme called PRISM - which is, literally, the ever feared 'back door' into the databases of these companies. They are: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.<br />
<br />
It's only semi-official confirmation of what many of us have suspected, however it is nevertheless galling to see it in black and white.<br />
<br />
Such swathes of data really can provide roadmaps - and predictive ones at that - to our lives and inner workings; the capabilities of Big Data in this respect has <a href="http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/big.2012.1504" target="_blank">already been well proven</a> in the last few years. <a href="http://www.censoring.me/privacy2" target="_blank">The nature of privacy has also fundamentally changed</a> in a way that neither the law or popular conceptions (and hence, popular narratives) have caught up with. <br />
<br />
These applications will not be particularly useful for "fighting terrorism".<a href="http://i-squared.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/dont-you-dare-say-you-didnt-see-this.html" target="_blank"> It is abundantly clear that our "intelligence" services already know who the terrorists are. And the terrorists certainly aren't shy about hiding it.</a> Some of them even <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22650053" target="_blank">get invited for regular tea and biscuits on Newsnight</a>. <b><u>No, these applications are on the contrary extremely useful for monitoring, corralling, anticipating and controlling the general population.</u></b> The only major ray of hope in this regard is that our respective governments are so fucking stupid and incompetent that they will continually fuck this up and there will always be ways to run rings around them with enough determination. There's still capacity for great harm however if you fall into one of the currently designated 'social-other' groups (smokers, climate sceptics, EDL, "offensive" tweeters etc etc) - and anyone congratulating themselves on not being on that illustrative list of examples, go bang your head off the wall until you remember that it could - and probably will - be you next. <br />
<br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">Several of the named companies are claiming ignorance, for example:<br />
</span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">"Google said in a statement: "From time to time, people allege that we
have created a government ‘back door’ into our systems, but Google does
not have a ‘back door’ for the government to access private user data.” </span></span></blockquote>
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> I don't buy it. The problem is that no one's official statements can be
trusted in this area, least of all with anything touched by the rancid
dogcock finger of the "intelligence" agencies, metastasizing great brown
clouds of bullshit wherever they go. And of course our respective
governments can compel such companies to remain entirely silent or
otherwise coerce them into making misleading statements such as the
above, especially given the official rationale of the U.S. invasion of
privacy is because <i>"most electronic data passing through the US at some point and therefore accessible to PRISM's net.".</i><br />Meanwhile, in reaction to <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/news/nsa-verizon-court-order-spying-calls-metadata/" target="_blank">the other recent revelation that the NSA is routinely collecting phone data en masse</a>, it appears to have <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10105097/US-intelligence-chief-leaks-cause-irreversible-harm-to-fight-against-terror.html" target="_blank">rattled someone in the "intelligence" community enough to break cover. </a></span></span>- <br />
<i>'it could cause "long-lasting and irreversible harm"
to counter-terrorism efforts.'</i> Oh do, just fuck off already. It's just <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130606/22435723348/nsas-favorite-weasel-word-to-pretend-its-claiming-it-doesnt-spy-americans.shtml" target="_blank">the usual weasel worded bollocks</a>. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN65XyPE5rnmXrvguRZh6TbPAJKKxq_LMobPykARzRSorP8o7-U5CLSBTjcj6IvylPzpQuCQ3w1Sg9q8l_znH1dZ6HpEagid5bMyKHSvGC_k3iTidjBktent0Ss0sIMkBFTHXm6g/s1600/MicrosoftPrivacy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN65XyPE5rnmXrvguRZh6TbPAJKKxq_LMobPykARzRSorP8o7-U5CLSBTjcj6IvylPzpQuCQ3w1Sg9q8l_znH1dZ6HpEagid5bMyKHSvGC_k3iTidjBktent0Ss0sIMkBFTHXm6g/s1600/MicrosoftPrivacy.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-68359375098974594262013-05-31T20:39:00.000+00:002013-05-31T20:39:20.902+00:00A moment of merriment in the deep darknessFor those not already aware, the Guardian has set up its own coffee shop. Given the initial descriptions encountered <a href="http://order-order.com/2013/05/30/guardian-in-the-black/" target="_blank">over at Guido's</a> I had a hard time believing it wasn't a complete spoof. I couldn't have dreamed up a better parody of everything that's wrong with the Guardian and its dedicated (though now mostly virtual) readership if I'd tried.<br /><br />But no, apparently it is real.<br /><br />In these deeply dark times, there is so much chuckleworthy about this development, from the choice of name - a twitter hashtag - '#guardiancoffee' through to the fact that even though it has billed itself as a 'data driven' venue, right in the middle of London's tech city, it doesn't have wifi....<br /><br />Whilst there are plenty of laughs to be had <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23guardiancoffee&src=typd" target="_blank">following the hashtag </a>(incidentally how can such promoters of social media perpetually get it so wrong, apparently forgetting that no one 'owns' a hashtag....), the reviews are where the absolute gold is. Be sure to check out the <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/a-big-day-out-atthe-guardian-data-driven-coffee-shop" target="_blank">Vice review</a>. The <a href="http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2013-05/30/guardiancoffee-pop-up-shoreditch-review" target="_blank">GQ one</a> is worth a look too though not nearly as cutting as the former. Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-18218955763222857512013-05-24T20:44:00.000+00:002013-05-24T20:44:59.024+00:00For Lee<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UypwrAsjvwHZXYjaQfjl5l-x-oBNtmZuqhd_bjljrR0PwSQAaOK9lBZgmn_zum1RwH0R0p8iyOy3VAAbbvCk4aJFzStkimtZq-pMDohHvA497VGyofRk3a2nBNz08t0ct448VA/s1600/notecropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvCiFXtFHBN45fK53YxShjowKcMZXZP4001MKksmH5PD1Yx_TlqE0Hib4sie5zu2UHzEh7OWSyrLZdiJMcSblU4mVQY4BIDkItBGPciN9cUE4MFylyyWzX4vHliXlOjTZGWWyMA/s1600/2013-05-24+13.43.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvCiFXtFHBN45fK53YxShjowKcMZXZP4001MKksmH5PD1Yx_TlqE0Hib4sie5zu2UHzEh7OWSyrLZdiJMcSblU4mVQY4BIDkItBGPciN9cUE4MFylyyWzX4vHliXlOjTZGWWyMA/s320/2013-05-24+13.43.54.jpg" width="240" /></a><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UypwrAsjvwHZXYjaQfjl5l-x-oBNtmZuqhd_bjljrR0PwSQAaOK9lBZgmn_zum1RwH0R0p8iyOy3VAAbbvCk4aJFzStkimtZq-pMDohHvA497VGyofRk3a2nBNz08t0ct448VA/s320/notecropped.jpg" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGh_eTNGDfG2X_XvSOmV0nURZaUz4gq-pVUbfPNQptK7xxjVXhlT-K0Dts8-jrX9QDGMLqfdWlQPdjo9FOlohdCgwxorwjMGk3JDQR9wQtwkR14scw8Uzu9e73y5QiNHRv8JXaw/s1600/2013-05-24+13.43.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGh_eTNGDfG2X_XvSOmV0nURZaUz4gq-pVUbfPNQptK7xxjVXhlT-K0Dts8-jrX9QDGMLqfdWlQPdjo9FOlohdCgwxorwjMGk3JDQR9wQtwkR14scw8Uzu9e73y5QiNHRv8JXaw/s320/2013-05-24+13.43.20.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCy0Ak684rnaBo2QzVBGYTTLzDlm-UsPLvypF1hQslGHjqsRCFFjNnvp68e03WrcqI0tn2Tf82rtMnyXIAdcEBUy3MQlElfTTv2L2AJeftyC1MIOw-a0wXgILVR5dX2jDGIknqg/s1600/2013-05-24+13.44.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa0AAKN7mQHPkoGeKWNdSH2IK6ycVHAHIqNNtcet6TevE-5MEDoxK2mZTYkvmc0pubpYMhX10RapG8mW23neMrzx-MuqY6TFu53g3wHPX_o2y_Myfd_CpNjjvQyc1hsWk1xUT9w/s1600/2013-05-24+13.47.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa0AAKN7mQHPkoGeKWNdSH2IK6ycVHAHIqNNtcet6TevE-5MEDoxK2mZTYkvmc0pubpYMhX10RapG8mW23neMrzx-MuqY6TFu53g3wHPX_o2y_Myfd_CpNjjvQyc1hsWk1xUT9w/s320/2013-05-24+13.47.41.jpg" width="240" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCy0Ak684rnaBo2QzVBGYTTLzDlm-UsPLvypF1hQslGHjqsRCFFjNnvp68e03WrcqI0tn2Tf82rtMnyXIAdcEBUy3MQlElfTTv2L2AJeftyC1MIOw-a0wXgILVR5dX2jDGIknqg/s320/2013-05-24+13.44.13.jpg" width="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLbfu-8_PoQsvQyDCXrOQAlIBhT5lBIjUC4pp49Y8t3bqwWfH2ICq_oQJXdEZD8FsV36fWohgrXVx68twVSbzE3c_ijdbsIQp02F7_Jbn7gBvyNlghGMaTAJTFTtv3jZCdA85CA/s1600/2013-05-24+13.44.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLbfu-8_PoQsvQyDCXrOQAlIBhT5lBIjUC4pp49Y8t3bqwWfH2ICq_oQJXdEZD8FsV36fWohgrXVx68twVSbzE3c_ijdbsIQp02F7_Jbn7gBvyNlghGMaTAJTFTtv3jZCdA85CA/s320/2013-05-24+13.44.17.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63vUq8eGPr3aLCxpgT6Dq_UMW8le6oDc2f9GwTvYb-eC4nlQCSExjr0-gWEIY2XqOOW3L_IR4bobAGpg_pQH3wWzhIM75QHwcyoO_nEjcUyUnlhFXwKKJl9PopX7khJ40KDTYAQ/s1600/2013-05-24+13.47.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63vUq8eGPr3aLCxpgT6Dq_UMW8le6oDc2f9GwTvYb-eC4nlQCSExjr0-gWEIY2XqOOW3L_IR4bobAGpg_pQH3wWzhIM75QHwcyoO_nEjcUyUnlhFXwKKJl9PopX7khJ40KDTYAQ/s320/2013-05-24+13.47.45.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-25237562845357114792013-05-23T14:53:00.000+00:002013-05-23T14:53:28.894+00:00Don't you dare say you didn't see this comingAndrew Gilligan has been documenting this for a long time:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Victims say that officers in the borough of Tower Hamlets have ignored or
downplayed outbreaks of hate crime, and suppressed evidence implicating
Muslims in them, because they fear being accused of racism."</blockquote>
<br />
Do read the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8570506/Police-covered-up-violent-campaign-to-turn-London-area-Islamic.html" target="_blank">whole thing</a>, from 2011, it's a litany of failure on the part of the executive arms of the establishment tasked with protecting us from this kind of violence and intimidation and taking radicalisation seriously. Failure mostly as a result of the kind of fear generated by useful idiots like UAF of being accused of racism via disingenuously fuzzing criticism of islam or muslims with racism.<br /><br />Gilligan has been documenting this <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tag/tower-hamlets/" target="_blank">for some time now</a>.<br /><br />UAF types were already at it on twitter yesterday just a couple of hours after the incident already labelling anyone speculating on an islamist connection of being racist. This in spite of the very first reported eyewitness accounts detailing that a white man had just been hacked to death by two black men. <br /><br />I wanted to call the irony police, but I didn't want to wait 20 minutes. Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-10529149220322938412012-12-13T21:18:00.000+00:002012-12-13T21:24:02.919+00:00IPCC AR5 draft report LEAKED: Strong evidence for solar forcing of climate<b><i><span class="userContent">"The admission of strong evidence for enhanced
solar forcing changes everything. The climate alarmists can’t continue
to claim that warming was almost entirely due to human activity over a
period when solar warming effects, now acknowledged to be important,
were at a maximum. The final draft of AR5 WG1 is not scheduled to be
released for another year but the public needs to know now how the main
premises and conclusions of the IPCC story line have been undercut by
the IPCC itself." </span></i><span class="userContent"></span></b><span class="userContent"> - IPCC reviewer Alex Rawls</span><b><span class="userContent"></span><br /><br />PLEASE RESHARE THIS - and <u>download your copy while you can</u>.</b> The IPCC or someone acting on their behalf will likely issue a cease and desist. The server is taking a hammering at the moment so downloads are slow. Once I have the whole lot I will rehost somewhere if they remove the original. [Original site <a href="http://www.stopgreensuicide.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a>]<br />
<br />
The entire chapter in question may be yet removed in the final , and just as with the previous IPCC reports, there are already clearly lots of political shenanigans at work. That cat however, is out of the bag. They have admitted that there is very likely strong solar forcing at work in the detected temperature trends. Do go and read the full article at <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/12/13/ipcc-ar5-draft-leaked-contains-game-changing-admission-of-enhanced-solar-forcing/" target="_blank">WUWT</a>. As Alec says, it's a game changing admission.<br />
<br />
After the key chapter (ch7) the chapter following (chapter 8) appears to complete ignore the evidence and claims made in chapter 7, asserting that the premised solar effects are based just on TSI (Total Solar Irradience) when the evidence presented shows that this claim is now irrelevant. Whilst it is nir surprise the left hand and the right hand of an IPCC report doesn't know what the other is doing, this is also the usual alarmist refrain for dismissing solar influences. <br />
<br />
The summary for policymakers will of course attempt to emphasise complete certainty and hysterical alarmism as it has done before. It's also the only part of the report alarmists seem to read. Similarly, press releases will (as they have in the past) give a completely different picture to what the report actually says. As they did with the press release for the SREX IPCC report - the Guardian, Independent etc repeated bogus assertions of coming "extreme weather" catastrophe implicating human causes when the report itself actually showed that no anthropogenic link could be found. See Pielke's treatment of this <a href="http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/handy-bullshit-button-on-disasters-and.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. <br />
<br />
Anyone however with a shred of integrity will have to admit that this is a big problem for the alarmist cause. The solar effects could be responsible for anything up to half of the recorded warming (and that's before we get to the issue of how many temperature data sets have been fraudulent adjusted to introduce additional warming trends). That's enough to kill the catastrophic versions of AGW dead, dead, dead.<br />
<br />
In the meantime:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VsuSpei9cf8" width="500"></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-74874301351211143322012-11-28T14:25:00.000+00:002012-11-28T14:56:04.175+00:00Minimum pricing: the most lethal mistake yet...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsHEpByFz4ZPJXo2Fi5GNvCyoyprtijEhLfvPHg6sAVCbjE5Yvovo3_Y3vA5PREo9Idj-yB02lBln_JXlwfwh7W5orAKtyjPdDvAg9oQaR5NkNbC01uI4z6Jqp5qjamZzVLlGTA/s1600/puritans-cavalier-banner.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsHEpByFz4ZPJXo2Fi5GNvCyoyprtijEhLfvPHg6sAVCbjE5Yvovo3_Y3vA5PREo9Idj-yB02lBln_JXlwfwh7W5orAKtyjPdDvAg9oQaR5NkNbC01uI4z6Jqp5qjamZzVLlGTA/s1600/puritans-cavalier-banner.png" /></a></div>
....by the Coagulation government.<br />
<br />
Of all of the idiotic policies (including and especially the government's <a href="http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/">newfound authoritarianism</a> showing that it is just continuity Labour and not even giving us two years before pulling the curtain back...), given all the other factors involved I'd struggle to think of a more lethally stupid policy for this government. And one that it is set on forcing upon the rest of us. Yes - force - there is no mandate for this policy (there is however yet another <a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/alcohol/alcohol-pricing/" target="_blank">meaningless "consultation"</a> (i.e. give us a fig leaf of validation for what we were going to do anyway) - and one, I note that has not been reported by the media despite the press interest in this story. But then the media never do let us know about these "consultations", do they?).<br />
<br />
And ah - yes - "policy based evidence making" as <a href="http://brackenworld.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/minimum-unit-pricing-for-alcohol.html">a Very British Dude put it</a>. With computer models.<br />
<br />
Ah - <a href="https://timeguide.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/computer-models-are-not-reality/">good old computer models</a>.<br />
<br />
I must have fallen asleep during the period when the scientific method was inverted and hollowed out to the point that computer models became acceptable as primary evidence instead of just useful tools for modelling and refining hypotheses. They're supposed to <i>test </i>your assumptions, not provide evidence <i>for </i>them. Though I'm not surprised that the government, or even a Russell Group institution like the University of Sheffield, has deemed it acceptable. It is after all good enough for climastrology catastrophism, and it seems part of the fashion is to exaggerate as much as possible in order to support policy goals (c.f. for example the absolutely appalling activist "research" detailed <a href="http://petebrown.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/if-numbers-dont-fit-make-them-up-sorry.html">here</a>).<br />
<br />
In any case, the UoS "research" is taken fully to task <a href="http://www.adamsmith.org/sites/default/files/research/files/ASI_SAPM.pdf">here</a>.
Continuing this postnormal kind of madness is the fact that a frightening number of people seem to just <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGz97dxGHV8">fall over like surprised goats</a> at the sight of an argument from authority. I'm sure doctors know a great deal about alcohol. How does that authority extend to being able to define policies that are based on economics? Answers on a postcard please...<br />
<br />
....Anyway back to the title of the post. This is a policy not only without a mandate, it is without credible evidence of its efficacy and even lacks support within the cabinet itself. Worse, in a time of deep and seemingly endless recession where the cuts all keep coming (including many in the blatantly wrong places - under 25s housing benefit rather than international aid or the EU for example), the one primary tonic of the nation - affordable alcohol - is under attack. And by a deeply unpopular government that only survived the election in coalition. Not to mention the fact that only a year ago it had a severe criminal wave to deal with across the nation. And then there's the fact that it is likely to be ruled illegal under EU law (and despite this, the Prone Minister has promised to "fight" the EU on such a ruling!) In spite of all this the Boy Cameron is going to force extra costs on people, on something that is one of the few pleasures most of our countrymen and women can afford to indulge in. Costs that are completely unnecessary and driven by an authoritarian nannying agenda; restricting one of the few things that keeps many of us from suddenly rampaging through parliament (and its subsidised bars...). What could possibly go wrong?<br />
<br />
So I do hope you join <a href="http://www.anonymong.org/" target="_blank">Anonymong</a>, myself and others for Drinkuary (facebook event <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/500381096650585/">HERE</a>) to stick two fingers up at the neo-puritans and their authoritarian handmaidens in government. Please do join in and spread the word. Also if you have any spare change, 1000 beermats linking to the <a href="http://www.drinkuary.org/">Drinkuary site</a> have already been ordered - we'd like to order more to spread the word at pubs across the land. There's a huge amount of anger riding on this one and its an issue that's good to get people talking about politics and their relationship with the horror that is our state again. Remember the great and the good don't like us gathering together in relaxed environments to talk serendipitously with one another. We might get ideas....<br />
<br />
ADDENDUM:
Simply the best rant I've seen yet on this topic at 'The Thing Is'. <a href="http://thethingis.co.uk/2012/03/23/booze/">Do read the whole thing</a>. It's worth it. Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-80179685872820841202012-11-06T21:57:00.000+00:002012-11-06T21:57:44.942+00:00It's that time of year again....I posted this up last time for the election in the UK. It is just as apropos for tonight's shenanigans for the competition over who will be the next debt-racking, civil liberties killing, warmongering corporatist in the Oval Office. All the bloviating and posturing aside, it really does just come down to something like this....<br /><br />
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CJLKtXxnGr4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-15924730302830434682012-06-02T12:33:00.000+00:002012-06-02T18:40:31.316+00:00Dear Maj<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear Maj,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it has been sixty years. It is time for us to have a
chat. I usually steer clear of collectivist language but today it seems
appropriate. For today it is clear that any beneficent collective identity has
been ripped away from us under your stewardship and what I have come to claim
as positive and peculiarly ‘British’ in the demeanour I yet share with so many
of my countrymen and women is now looked upon as an evil anachronism, whilst
you somehow are not. <br />
<br />
Seven times they were asked to sign. And seven times they signed. Each time the
Sovereign looked on whilst the sovereignty of which she was supposed to be
protector unto death was packaged up and sold off to a foreign and
unaccountable power.<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
Even as you looked on, your son the Clown Prince Chuckles, stood in the Traitor’s
Parliament and wittered on about how wonderful it was and that more power
should be transferred as was humanly possible. He who hateth his subjects so:
The Son of the Sovereign boasted how he would like to siphon off the thimble
full of sovereignty still remaining to the mendacious mandarins of the
continent and all their satanic little helpers in our own parliament of whores.<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
The country was made morally bankrupt in the world’s eyes as it pursued two
horrific invasions and occupations, slaughtering thousands, maiming tens of
thousands, forever destroying the lives of millions and leaving our descendants
with foreign policy consequences for generations to come. All based on the lies
and ambitions of a few men whom I can scarcely believe are human never mind
that such worms are permitted to prosper. Even those who claimed realpolitik
advantage with our once great daughter civilisation in the Americas were shown
to be fools as even now when our own citizens are genuinely in need in the
Falklands, even supposed allies turn against us. All that blood and treasure
expended – for what?<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
In complete inversion of the self-sufficient British spirit for which our
countrypeople became renowned we became dependants and weaklings. This
phlegmatic race who would always fight to a finish has transformed into a
debased shadow with its hand out constantly. The politics of division and
sectarianism have become rooted in the nation which is now in terminal decline.
This island of whom Napoleon said was made of a ‘nation of shopkeepers’ is now
a set of divided ambulance chasing collectives. The paradox of democracy
reached its nadir when the lazy and stupid outnumbered the rest of us and were
able to vote themselves largesse from the state. Dispensation that they still
demand even though reality will not be forthcoming as they have been taught
otherwise by the ghostly whores that pass as statesmen and stateswomen in the
parliament that is now little more than a regional office of the greater EUSSR.
<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
When the one eyed son of the manse, the kirkcaldy clown, our very own modern
day Caligula bullied his way to the position of Prime Monster and dealt the
country its final death blow, you looked on still. In contravention to all
sense, to appease the helpless class he and his fellow shitstains had so
lovingly created here as a perpetual lobbying population for sloth and
mediocrity, he took the nation to the very edge of bankruptcy. Globalisation
has done its work and began rebalancing the economies and the equality of all
humans across the Globe. For some reason the British post baby-boomers did not
seem to think they needed to lift a finger to maintain their advantage. They
were British you see and appear to have been led to believe that this meant
simply expecting the world to fall at one’s feet, not – instead – as I
understand it, to fight for it. And to have to fight for it with every
generation. No Maj. They saw you and your ghastly family still riding high
regardless of all other circumstances and so thought that they would be carried
on one’s opulent coattails. They were not, as you well knew. This you have
seen.<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
Postnormalism has now taken root within our educational institutions, our media,
our science, our politics. No civilisation can survive such. The lies that
increasingly became part of the ship of state are now, like woodworm, infested
into the very foundations of the ship of society. Yet you knew. You knew. Now
those blessed few of us who bother to look know, after it had been kept secret
for three decades, that the Heath government knew what the endgame plan was for
the EC. Millions voted in good conscience believing that their Dear Leaders
would not lead them astray thinking that we were being bound to something as
beneficial as a free market with our continental cousins. It was all a lie and
known from the very beginning. My heart is gripped in a vice of pain and fear
anticipating how many more revelations from the secret state, to which you were
of course always party, will come to light in the coming decades. If I even
make it to old age, I suspect I will die a sad weeping old man upon discovery
of the poisons you have injected into the veins of this country. You will be
long dead by then of course but your legacy will have lived on and the
consciously managed decline of this realm will be complete even as you rot.<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
Those cultural gas chambers that we laughingly call institutes of learning are
now producing en masse generations who cannot read, write or even use computers
whilst being pumped full of a sense of entitlement that few of them deserve, to
go out into a world where potential investors in their future are being taught
to flee as fast as they can as the country becomes a becon and world leader in
the most mind numbing levels of interference, taxation and petty expectation.
Were it the case that these policies had produced a majority in upcoming
generations of critical and incisive thinkers, but no. Under this factory
system we now have surfeit of useless, talentless, wasters.<br />
<br />
And yet you did nothing.<br />
<br />
A single man was primarily responsible for preventing our joining the madness
that is the Euro: Jimmy Goldsmith, who used his own personal fortune (in
contrast to you) to defend the interests of the realm. Somehow you have
outlived him. And none of the shit-sucking convention of genetic defectives of
which you are part in the ruling class stood alongside him. It is clear the
people are your enemy for you have not defended or protected them, you have
instead been the nursemaid to many evil men, and now increasingly women too,
who would sap the goodness of this nation for their own engorgement. And the
marrow of the British is all but spent and about to crumble.<br />
<br />
And you did nothing.<br />
<br />
The nation’s legacy will be to have its landscape dotted with rusting
Eco-crucifixes and hollow ivory towers of entitlement that future tourists will
come to visit and laugh at whilst historians will look back in astonishment at
this decades long act of collective suicide, all under your stewardship. We all
fought eachother in our blocs and our bunkers – bunkers more like ruts that are
just graves with the ends knocked out – that we failed to see the root, never
mind strike it.<br />
<br />
And for those of us who dared to say ‘no’, or to ask ‘why’ whether categorised
in the ‘left’ or ‘right’ sheep pens (all the better to ensure we continue fighting
eachother rather than you fifth columnists at the very heart of our
institutions), we are directed to expend our energy arguing over the clowns and
muppets in the parliament of whores over who has the differentest same policies
whilst you and the rest of the shit eating ruling class untwine the last threads
of the rug from beneath us with so few – so very few – noticing what you are
doing. And those of us in the latter group to us you left the ultimate
betrayal, for to us you turned our friends, family and loved ones into abscesses
and whores and made them cry out that we had hurt them most.<br />
<br />
I am not your subject. I owe you no allegiance or loyalty. No queen or monarch
are you to me. No god, no master, but maybe a monster who has piled up secrets,
lies and hypocrisy so high they will soon touch heaven.<br />
<br />
To you I bequeath this wreath and this
curse.<br />
<br />
Yours,<br />
Katabasis</div>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-76345130913766403312012-05-01T21:00:00.002+00:002012-05-01T21:00:53.276+00:00Minority of One - episode 1 - 'Signs & Portents' - released!Here it is, the first episode of this long-form series, using a re-edited Babylon 5, with occasional subtitles to tell the story of the loss of, and battle to regain, freedom. In a mythical place in a galaxy far, far away called 'Albion 5'.<br />
<br />
For further info and the original trailer, see <a href="http://i-squared.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/ammo-minority-of-one-trailer.html" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bLvJKH_m8kY" width="420"></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-75555333064756091232012-04-27T15:13:00.001+00:002012-04-27T15:13:36.249+00:00"If I wanted Britain to fail"A new video has just started doing the rounds - "If I wanted America to fail". Now if only this video went viral like the "KONY 2012" meme. Unlike the Kony video this one, whilst following the surefire emotional porn philosophy, is packed full of verifiable and tear-jerking observations. <br />
<br />
Everything in this video applies double to the UK and I'm sure a UK version is in the offing....<br /><br />Please share widely.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CZ-4gnNz0vc" width="560"></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-76437623806189018012012-04-18T21:09:00.000+00:002012-04-18T21:09:12.918+00:00Ammo: Minority of One trailer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='450' height='330' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/V6ihsWH6cFw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
For an explanation of the 'Ammo' prefix, please see <a href="http://i-squared.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/ammo-for-freedom-fighter.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
If there's one thing missing from the libertarian armoury it is narratives. And with it - tugging of the emotional heartstrings. It has been one of the main advantages statists and propagandists more generally have held over us for a long time. I've discussed making moves to change that with fellow libertarians in the last year or so and this represents a modest effort in that direction.<br />
<br />
This project tells the story - in a long, episodic format, of the loss of freedom in a mythical place called 'Albion 5', and the subsequent fight to claim it back against impossible odds. The video attached is the final trailer for the series.<br />
<br />
It uses clips from Babylon 5 to tell the tale. There are already elements that fit perfectly from Babylon 5 so it was chosen as the vehicle for the story. Most of the characters represent principles and when references are made to actual historical figures (living or dead) they usually take the form of ships or weapons. <br />
<br />
It is part literal, part metaphor and part allegory. I hope you enjoy it in those senses. Much of it is also tongue in cheek whilst also attempting to make serious points and tell an urgent story that is directly relevant to where we find ourselves now in the West more generally and Britain in particular.<br />
<br />
Because so many elements of Babylon 5 fit the narrative I am attempting to tell (which is from an anti-war individualist/right libertarian point of view), much of it speaks for itself. However subtitles are used regularly to alter the meaning of what is being said, or highlight the role or name of particular characters, events or objects. It is also used sometimes to literally repeat what the character in question is saying to emphasise its importance. I'm hoping you are able to get into the spirit of it and enjoy the ride along with me.<br />
<br />
First episode - provisionally named 'Signs and Portents', will be out at the end of next week.<br />
<br />
Please spread the word!Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-30136153149925039842012-04-15T17:54:00.000+00:002012-04-15T17:54:09.300+00:00Once upon a time in Bexley.....Fellow blogger and member of the awkward squad, <a href="http://www.youve-been-cromwelled.org/" target="_blank">Olly C</a>, has as I'm sure many of you already know, been slapped with a custodial sentence as a result of calling a Bexley councillor a "cunt" on twitter. There's a lot of history here and I've already seen some lightweights casually dismissing it because they believe the council's line that he was "harrassing" them. For a short readable version, pop by <a href="http://www.maxfarquar.com/2012/04/free-the-bexley-one-olly-cromwell/" target="_blank">Max's place</a>. For a lengthier treatment, go to <a href="http://spiderplantland.co.uk/sir-olly-c-and-the-case-for-free-speech-in-bexley/" target="_blank">Spiderplant </a>- which gives a fairly detailed and dispassionate breakdown. If you're unfamiliar with this case, Olly or Bexley council, then you really owe it to yourself to dig deep into this and as such just have a quick browse through <a href="http://www.bexley-is-bonkers.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bexley is Bonkers</a> for examples of mendacity from the council that are legion. The blogs just for <a href="http://www.bexley-is-bonkers.co.uk/blogs/2012/april.shtml" target="_blank">April </a>will give you enough of a taste. Rather than add my own summary of the situation, I'd rather highlight some particularly striking points from the 'Bexley is Bonkers' site.<br />
<br />
First, however I would like to speculate on something. And I'd ask people to please share this speculation far and wide. Remember though, given how easily speech - especially online - is criminalised in this country, it <b><i><u>is only a speculation</u></i></b>.It goes as follows: Olly is due to be sentenced at Bromley magistrates court on May 9th. WOULDN'T IT BE AWFUL if Bexley council, and certain councillors in particular, were on the receiving end of a "mass cunting" on that day. That is to say - that they were inundated with emails, tweets and phone calls indicating that many of the general public considered them - well - "cunts". Spread the word about this speculation......I'd be interested to see if it comes true.<br />
<br />
Secondly I wanted to highlight that the story is now being picked up by as diverse sources as <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/sanvf/why_is_the_entire_internet_not_in_an_uproar_over/" target="_blank">Reddit</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/stephenfry" target="_blank">Stephen Fry</a> and <a href="http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/04/15/tweeter-harassed-and-prosecuted-for-swearing/" target="_blank">Sunny Hundal</a>. That's good. These censorious attacks - especially in online media - have got to the point where they are simply beyond belief. I certainly wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me 10 years ago that this would happen. So a cross-partisan left-right shitstorm in response is exactly what we need, as we've had on (too few) occasions in the past such as when left and right blogs joined forces to support <a href="https://p10.secure.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/spyblog/2008/07/11/schillings-trying-to-censor-craig-murray-again.html" target="_blank">Craig Murray against Schillings</a>. <br />
<br />
Now - those two points I wanted to highlight, lifted verbatim from the 'Bexley is Bonkers' April 2012 blogs:<br />
<br />
<i>"When Eric Pickles’ department wrote to all councils in February 2011
telling them “citizen journalists” should be allowed to Tweet and film
in council meetings even the most hard line of secretive Conservative
councils like Barnet and Westminster caved in. Bexley however changed
its Constitution to exclude all forms of recording at meetings. All
their Agendas repeat the prohibition and when questioned they say it is
to protect members of the public from appearing on tape. They sheepishly
offer the excuse that permission may be granted on request but not a
single request has been approved, not even for an audio only recording
at a meeting where the public is not allowed to speak."</i><br />
<br />
And as to why / how the judge on friday effectively threw the book at Olly:<br />
<br />
<i>"the charges were those prepared from the original false allegations
that included flaming torches, pitchforks, petrol bombs and Olly writing
on Bonkers. All of that was untrue; made up and distorted stories by
Bexley council aimed at getting both Olly and me in trouble. The
prosecution could find no evidence for any of those allegations which is
what you might expect since they were all false and Olly was found not
guilty last December. All the nonsense invented by Bexley council was
put before the new Judge as fact. Worrying."</i><br />
<br />
Did I mention that the judgement against Olly was made at a court in <u><b>Bexley</b></u>?<br />
<br />
Time to consider this a war footing I think.<br />
<br />
And my personal message to Bexley council is:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mrsqJgqjWL4" width="420"></iframe>Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-24659055897710672772012-03-25T19:14:00.000+00:002012-04-01T13:10:21.694+00:00You can support the Open Rights Group...as long as you're not white and male<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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UPDATE 3 (27/03/12) - Jim Killock, Executive Director of ORG responds in the comments (Comment #10). Response is as expected - no condemnation of Nishma's views. My response follows in comment #11.<br /><br />UPDATE 2 (26/03/12): Nishma Doshi responds on twitter. Comment #8 below. <br />
<br />
UPDATE 1 (26/03/12): Mealy mouthed response from and twitter exchange with ORG advisory board member Owen Blacker added - comment #7 below.<br />
<br />
I'm done. I've absolutely had it with attempts to work with the activist left in this country. No more.<br />
<br />
The Open Rights Group held its conference 'Orgcon' yesterday. It's a hub of activity and interesting talks for anyone interested in the crucial issues facing us in the digital realm in general and with regard to the internet in particular. ORG have worked for many years now to raise awareness on issues such as the Digital Economy Act and ACTA and have run many campaigns to get people involved. These are causes that affect everyone and there is good reason for people of all political persuasions to get involved.<br />
<br />
You might be reading this and passively wishing I'd included links to ORG and their useful summary pages on the Digital Economy Act and ACTA. That was a conscious choice not to and I won't be doing so again for the forseeable future. Tomorrow I will be cancelling my donations to them. <br />
<br />
Let me tell you why.<br />
<br />
For many years now quite a number of us on the libertarian right have made attempts to reach out to the broad left on issues of common concern. In my personal experience it was mainly for anti-war actions and campaigns. In every single case there would be at least one person amongst the left-wingers who would say that we "weren't allowed" to join them, and worse. I've known of so many attempts to hold out the Olive branch - and <i>all</i> from the right-libertarian - that have been rebuffed, and often with menaces.<br />
<br />
I know this kind of attitude has put many of my libertarian and libertarian-leaning Tory friends off ever going to events run, or largely dominated, by lefties just for this very reason, even if the case for common cause is compelling and possibly necessary for any chance of victory. One of the clearest examples of shooting themselves in the foot in recent memory was in the battle over AV. The lefties refused to work with Farage and UKIP on this despite common cause. As a result the case for AV was seen largely as something exclusive popularised by the Guardian reading metropolitan lefty elite. And people were, it seems, right to think that. This is not to say had they made common cause the vote would have been won, but I suspect the pro-AV vote would not have been so embarrassingly small either, and the turnout perhaps a little better (and the debates from the AV side less childish too).<br />
<br />
A couple of friends I'd mentioned the Orgcon to had already declined on the grounds that they didn't want to end up in an argument with left-wingers who would tell them that they were 'evil' and not welcome and blah blah blah. Yeah, you know the rest. But I thought I'd give it a go. I've been a supporter of ORG and their work for some time so now I'm based back in London I thought I'd finally make it to one of their major events.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately I groaned almost as soon as I joined the - very long - queue to get in to the conference. Being the gregarious kind of chap I am I decided to start getting to know the people nearby in the queue. An older bloke behind me was ranting to a friend - I was about to say 'hi' but paused to listen first. He claimed, first, that the cuts on pensions would be 'given to the bankers at Canary Wharf' and second, claimed he had met a "right wing sociologist" whose secret task was - apparently - to "destroy the working class". It was a classic facepalm moment and I wondered if I was going to make it through the day without putting someone's head through a window.<br />
<br />
Fortunately throughout the day I met a handful of friendly left leaning people with whom I found a lot of common ground. Interestingly they were generally older and also not UK natives. The two keynotes - by Cory Doctorow and Lawrence Lessig were particularly good and well worth watching when they go online. (I'm sorry I refuse to post links and give ORG traffic from this blog). Particularly notable was an argument made by Lessig - he made it clear that it was a mistake to regard these issues as left/right in any way and that the only division that mattered was those within the political class and those without. I thought he was very clear on this. Apparently not.<br />
<br />
In the early evening most of the attendees went to the pub. Three libertarian pals joined me at the pub, though (lucky for them) two had to leave a little earlier at which point the two of us left retired to the back room of the pub to continue drinking and chatting.<br />
<br />
It was then I encountered Nishma for the third time.<br />
<br />
When she breezed in, whilst chatting to my friend, I passively noticed how the group of (white, males) reoriented around her and she became the centre of attention. That's nothing new in left-activist circles as I've observed over the years, though it is relevant for what was about to pass. Despite lots of fine rhetoric about being open minded and the women not wanting to be "objectified", that soons slips when it suits and I witness a ritual even more painful than most I've seen after 13 years of looking after nightclubs full of drunk idiots. I do honestly wonder how many of the men get laid in these circles and how dull their sex lives must be. <br />
<br />
Anyway, I digress. Nishma was ranting loudly about Tory bastards this and Tory bastards that and at one point turned to the two of us and asked something about hating right wingers. I said 'well, there's two of us right here'. A stunned silence ensued until one of her compatriots said "libertarians". At which point she seemed to relax slightly. (The underlying implication being that whilst we had some credibility in their eyes, Tories were not allowed full stop! As many of you know there's no love lost between myself and the Tories but I still find much of the left attitude towards them utterly repugnant not to mention often completely wrong).<br />
<br />
She then proceeded to tell us how libertarianism "excludes women of colour" (<u><b>how?</b></u>) and how everything was the fault of us evil white men. My (female) libertarian friend, to her eternal credit, then leapt to my defence and pointed out what a hypocrite Nishma was. Nishma then came out with the classic line we're all used to now that it isn't racist or sexist if it's white men we're talking about. Both of us started laughing at which point she also then said "and then there's colonialism too". The mutual recriminatory exchange only got worse from then on until she flounced out of the room.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
At this point something inside me just gave. I'm done with putting up with this, or just putting it to one side for the perceived greater good. She was surrounded by four (white) men who - as per fucking usual in these groups - just passively accept this offensive concentrated bullshit. But of course they do - they all want to get into her pants and its hard work when the odds are 4 to 1 and they have to pay lip service to not "objectifying" her and taking their licks as "evil white men". If they were confident men and not emasculated craptivists they would have done one of two things - either i) backed up her position or ii) told her to stop being so offensive to almost everyone present and shut up. They did neither. They made a very quick exit, with one muttering "I'm getting out of here!". Fuck 'em. They're welcome to their sex starved lives of constantly having to self-flagellate for being white and male and beg for approval. <br />
<br />
Now here's the second important bit:<br />
<br />
Nishma Doshi is the Community and Events Organsier at the Open Rights Group. <br />
<br />
She's responsible for PR, outreach and is the main point of contact for many people with ORG. As such she's very much a <i>bona fide</i> spokesperson for the organisation and just not some random nutter amongst the supporters.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned, earlier I'd ecountered her already at least twice that day. She'd already said something offensive about everyone in the room being "white males" at one of the workshops but I let it slide again in the interests of getting something out of the session. No more. Other greatest hits from this white hot intellect included - in response to her being asked why she thought Boris Johnson was corrupt, it was because "he went to Eton" and during the "hacktivism" workshop she shared her - barely out of teens years of experience - clue for working out who the police informants and undercover agents were. They're socially awkward apparently. This was said to a room full of techie geeks. <br />
<br />
With someone this openly bigoted, dogmatic, sexist and racist, following the usual cultural marxist script in such a sensitive position at ORG it is reasonable to assume that her views are at least passively tolerated.<br />
<br />
Well that *is* intolerable to me, especially after having promoted and supported ORG for so long and joined in on their various campaigns. <br />
<br />
So I'm sharing this blog with all of my libertarian and right wing friends and asking them to share further and boycott ORG unless and until Nishma Doshi no longer works for them and they release an official statement to the effect that they apologise and do not endorse her views and that people of all political persuasions (and white men) are welcome to get involved. I will be cancelling my donations to ORG tomorrow and writing them a formal letter explaining why and what it will take for me to consider ever associating with them again in future.Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-61180598340324156802012-03-15T19:13:00.001+00:002012-03-15T19:27:39.333+00:00The Orwellian breakdown of civil society in the UK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It had to happen eventually.<br />
<br />
Myself or one of my friends would have to end up on the receiving end of one of these vendettas carried out by a nightmare family that most people only think could possibly exist in fiction like <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eden_lake/">Eden Lake</a>. Only it's not fiction is it. This happens to people daily across the UK who live in terror of their fellow "citizens" and are often left to suffer right up until the point someone is permanently injured or even killed.<br />
<br />
He's a nice, well liked lad - an ex-soldier who always tries to do the right thing. Those of you who know me from Sheffield likely know him too. He was a Corp regular. He lives with his girlfriend and together their means are quite modest, so they live in "social" housing on one of Sheffield's less desirable estates. The cheaper rent enables them a few creature comforts - a few pets and a room for him to indulge in one of his favourite hobbies - making and painting airfix models. <br />
<br />
Yet he has suffered a continual tirade of abuse, threats, assaults and damage to his property for over two years now from a family of neighbors who are - apparently - above the law. He's done nothing to provoke it. He's just a big, distinctive looking lad trying to get by and mind his own business. As is usual in these kind of affairs, the council and police take less interest than they would in cleaning dogshit off the street. And - as always - this intimidation just continues to escalate.<br />
<br />
He's gone out of his way to do the right thing over the last year - recording as many of these incidents as possible, whether with audio devices, videos, photos or keeping a diary of events. He has submitted this regularly to Sheffield City Council and the police, to be met with indifference at best and - unbelievably - outright hostility at worst. He's shown more patience and restraint than anything I think I could have endured without snapping. <br />
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About a week ago it started to come to a head. His girlfriend was badly beaten when on the way back from the local shop. She didn't even see her attackers and they didn't steal anything. <br />
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Then the night before last they put through the windows of their house and camper van.<br />
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Due to the escalating threats and violence, he installed a CCTV system and filmed them in the act. He has shared the images with a few of us and I post a sample up here with his permission:<br />
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<br />
They did this while they were in the house. The bricks apparently just missed the cats and dogs.<br />
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The only time they have received any direct assistance from the police is when they happened to be outside the house on one of the occasions when he was being abused by one of the neighbors. They gave her an £80 on the spot fine and she said - with police present - that she would "do something about it" and "didn't care about the cameras".<br />
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In some parts of the U.S. he could have rightfully shot these people.
After the windows were smashed they of course phoned the police only to be told there was no one available to look for the perpetrators as they only had one car in the area. He has recorded evidence of them stating "we're going to firebomb you both". <br />
<br />
Yet only now has the council moved, after she has been beaten and their windows have been put through and even then all they are offering to do is find them emergency housing with a month's wait. And apparently the cats and dogs can't come. PCSOs visited them last week and told them (also recorded) that they would not arrest the neighbors as "It would only make things worse". His girlfriend got a phone call from the police last night telling them to remove any gas bottles from the van or fuel cans, "they have had info its going to be firebombed". No police came to their assistance of course.
As regular readers will know, South Yorkshire Police Farce will apparently only work fast when <a href="http://i-squared.blogspot.com/2009/12/syorks-police-farce-at-it-again.html">doormen are involved</a> (an easy target, being licensed by the state), or <a href="http://i-squared.blogspot.com/2009/02/help-wanted-chilling-landmark-for-civil.html">a university technician who provides free anonymous web hosting</a>. Everyone else can just go rot apparently.
<br />
<br />
And on that note, I wanted to briefly highlight two other recent occurences by contrast. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9141514/Home-Secretary-approves-extradition-of-student-Richard-ODwyer-over-pirate-TV-website.html">Richard O'Dwyer is to be extradited to the U.S</a>. to probably face 10 years in prison for "copyright infringement", only the basis of that accusation is extremely tenuous anyway. As many have noted previously, he set up a site that provided links to such content but did not host it itself. It's a dangerous precedent to have been set. And the extradition link is even more tenuous - the U.S. has laid claim to him because the domain name he used was registered with a U.S. based registrar. Meanwhile, a pub which has been trading under the name of 'The Hobbit' for two decades is now facing legal trouble because of - you guessed it - <a href="http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2012/03/giant-hobbit-threat-to-student-drinkers.html">a copyright infringement claim</a>.<br />
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Why do I mention these? It's to give consequence to the 'Orwellian' part of the blog title above. Our society has reached an unbearably kafkaesque stage where minor infractions of vagaries such as "copyright infringement" are vigorously pursued whilst people on the receiving end of threats, violence and outright property destruction are left to fend for themselves. That's when they're not being <a href="http://www.annaraccoon.com/madeleine-mccann/portuguese-men-o-law">victimised under the guise of the European Arrest Warrant</a> that is.
<br />
<br />
The situation I've outlined above simply cannot end well. It should never have reached this stage anyway, though there is almost certainly more to come. He has a few handy mates. Something will snap at some point and this will be dealt with the old fashioned way. At which point the victims and whoever comes to their defence will be blamed as per usual in this fucked up society that I no longer recognise.<br />
<br />
Much of this scenario leaves me too speechless to comment further except to say one thing with certainty:
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I do not want to grow old in this country.Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25138780.post-58650015282371944902012-02-14T17:01:00.000+00:002012-02-14T17:01:13.621+00:00Laying the ground for an assault on Freedom of Information<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Reading the opinions of "civil servants" in the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/13/freedom-of-information-ministry-justice" target="_blank">RearGuardian today</a>, I see the ground is clearly being laid for an attack on the current status quo on the Freedom of Information legislation. Moreover, the complaints being made are coming from those with a direct conflict of interest (remember they were said to be "shit scared" at <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/12/19/civil_servants_private_public_email/" target="_blank">this</a> proposed development previously).<br /><br />It should be noted that <a href="http://scottishlaw.blogspot.com/2012/02/agnew-gets-foi-role-holyrood-msps.html" target="_blank">a full on assault on FOI is in progress in Scotland</a> (which has its own FOI commissioner).<br /><br />Their claims deserve nothing less than a complete fisking:<br /><br /><i>"The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/freedomofinformation" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Freedom of information">Freedom of Information</a> Act has failed to increase understanding of government"</i><br /><br />- Utter crap. The majority of journalists and researchers may have failed to have used it, but the minority who have managed to use it to great effect and have pulled the curtain back on all sorts of issues. I think what the "civil servants" mean here is that it 'failed to increase a general appreciation of *their* understanding of government.'<br /><br /><i>"may have reduced trust"</i><br /><br />- Well yes. Because it has served the essential role of exposing you - exactly as it was intended to do. <br /><i><br />" and has done little to improve decision-making in Westminster"</i><br /><br />- This at least may be true. Our Parliamentary Muppets certainly act as if they don't fear the outcome of a FOI request - I recently had one returned from the Cabinet Office that confirmed there was no 'draft treaty' for the Boy Cameron to have vetoed. It hasn't stopped the Tories repeating the lie continually. However, this is an issue of exposure as much as anything. They most certainly do fear exposure on <a href="http://order-order.com/" target="_blank">Guido's site</a> for example and there's no reason FOI responses could not contribute to some of his exposes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><i>"Civil servants are also calling for the introduction of higher fees for
users of the act. The ministry suggests that the costs do "not
adequately reflect the total amount of time spent in practice in
compiling the information".</i><br /><br />- OK so now you're trying to close this valuable tool down by pricing people out. If you kept better records it wouldn't be so onerous would it. Why do you keep such bad records? Because you know you're unlikely to be held to account for them. Oh.<br /><br /><i>"Research commissioned by the Ministry of Justice also found civil
servants believed freedom of information was not being used to increase
accountability, but instead by journalists fishing for a story."</i><br /><br />- Fishing for a story? Really? For god's sake. Why is this considered illegitimate? It's not as if the journalists who submit FOI requests are the paparazzi.<br /><br /><i>"The report found: "It was well recognised by most that journalists have
started to use other email accounts in requesting information as a way
of masking the origin of the request."</i><br /><br />- Diddums. I failed to read the part of the FOIA legislation that stated those making requests were obliged to identify themselves and their interests. You guys have got that Public servant <--> Public relationship the wrong way around again haven't you? Mendacious idiots.<br /><br /><i>"The chairman of the justice select committee, Alan Beith, said he was a
supporter of the act, but added that he was aware some ministers and
civil servants wanted to rein in what they regarded as a costly burden
on the government."</i><br /><br />- It's that relationship confusion again here isn't it? You're already a frighteningly bloated bureaucracy (not to mention increasingly redundant as the EU continues to encroach further). It is frankly offensive that being expected to be transparent and accountable is seen as a "costly burden".<br />
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<i><br />"The report says: "Most officials agreed that the same issues would have
been discussed and the same decisions reached had the FOIA [Freedom of
Information Act] not been in place."</i><br /><br />- Indeed. Because you don't actually care what we think. You'll go ahead anyway with your own plans. The way you administer (not to mention completely fail to publicise) "consultations" as pathetic exercises in confirming what you were going to do anyway, is regular proof of that. At least with the FOIA us Proles get to see some of the inner workings you would rather not were exposed to sunlight.<br /><br /><i>"The memorandum finds a "very small proportion of the public requests
information, whilst media coverage of FOI requests is rarely on
policy-decision topics (ie it is far more likely to cover a topic like
expenses, crime statistics and so on)".</i><br /><br />- Given that you have already admitted you can't always identify journalists amongst the requests, how on earth do you provide this estimate? And yet again you cry like spoiled brats that the media narratives don't necessarily go your way. "Policy-decision topics"? Piss off! <br /><br /><i>"Overall, the ministry claims, there "is little evidence to suggest the
FOIA has increased public participation in government. The number of
individuals making requests is insignificant in terms of the UK
population. Those who make requests are normally already engaged with
government: campaigners, journalists and politicians for instance."</i><br /><br />- Again. How in hell do you measure this? It has certainly increased my participation - and the participation of many people I know. And if the number of requests is "insignificant" relative to the population then STFU about how "onerous" it is. And the fact that most requesters are likely to be "already engaged with government" is not only redundant but also no surprise.<br /><br /><i>"The survey also revealed a frustration at the way in which "serial or
vexatious requesters waste time and money by pushing their request
through the internal review process and up to the information
commissioner". Some believed that such cases should incur a higher fee
at a lower threshold of civil service time."</i><br /><br />- They just don't let up do they? Poor them, eh? The review process was in place to serve people who want the information, not those who have to provide it. And of course they generally only become vexatious if you stonewall them in the first place. <br /><br /><i>"The memorandum also suggests the cost of censoring documents for public
consumption is so costly that more documents should simply be deemed to
be too expensive to publish."</i><br /><br />- What? You folks do have the use of computers, right? And aside from personal contact details, perhaps you should just censor *less* in the first place. It's not as if you have anything to hide. Is it?<br /><br /><i>"The report also cites evidence that some charities and non-profit
service providers are holding back from using FOI requests out of fear
that it will antagonise the public authorities they rely on for funding."</i><br /><br />- Oh really? Is it ANY surprise at all given all the whining already cited above? I've actually wondered the same thing myself when submitting more than one FOI request to the same entity, despite the fact that I am fully within my rights to do so regardless of all other factors.<br />
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<br /><i>"Civil servants also claimed their internal discussions were being
hampered by the act, saying "some people were recording less information
and … internal communications had become less detailed and informative"
than before freedom of information."</i><br /><br />- Uh huh. And WHY would you want to avoid taking note of certain details?<br /><br /><i>"Ministry of Justice statistics show that central government departments
currently receive a total of about 2,000-2,500 FOI requests a year,"</i><br /><br />- W-what? 2-2.5 thousand? <u><i>That's it</i></u>? <br /><br /><i>"Nearly 700,000 requests had been made to local authorities between 2005 and 2010, with the number now reaching 200,000 a year."</i><br /><br />- Ah. That's more like it. Quelle surprise - requesters are more interested in their local government. I suspect part of the reason is that Council Tax provides one of the government's few weakspots for collecting revenue (which is why their powers to claim it are so draconian). People might - just might - think they have legitimate reasons for with-holding payment given the multiple spending clusterfucks that Local government is famous for. This is something <a href="http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/09/4-million-heist.html" target="_blank">Richard North has been heroically chronicling for some time</a>. They also - probably rightly - perceive that their local representatives are potentially more accountable and accessible unlike those in the Westminster bubble (and let's not mention the even more distant Brussells bubble, eh?)<br /><br />After that torrent of Bilge, the top rated comment by davidabsalom at the RearGuardian does at least summarise it best:<br /><br /><u><b><i>"<span class="trackable-component component-wrapper eight-col" data-component="microapp: discussion-main : fetchCommentsForKey : comments top">Well they would say that, wouldn't they."</span></i></b></u><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Katabasishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059375486530788092noreply@blogger.com6