June 2006
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Media Lens Guest: Kidnapped by Israel – The British Media and the Invasion of Gaza By Jonathan Cook
Few readers of a British newspaper would have noticed the story. In the Observer of 25 June, it merited a mere paragraph hidden in the “World in brief” section, revealing that the previous day a team of Israeli commandos had entered the Gaza Strip to “detain” two Palestinians Israel claims are members of Hamas. Continue reading
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Connecting the dots by William Bowles
One has to ask the question why the media feels it necessary to ridicule the idea of a conspiracy, especially a government-inspired one. Could it be because it’s just too close to home? Continue reading
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Media Lens: A Superb Demolition – Part 3 – Squeaky Spleen – Beaumont Strikes Back
Media Lens, it seems, produces “nasty emails”, is “run by a couple of acolytes of Noam Chomsky, and serviced by a couple of dozen die-hard supporters”. We are an “irritating site” given to “hyper-ventilating” about this and that, targeting journalists and “anyone else who needs an email kicking”. In short, we are e-hooligans stalking the… Continue reading
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Law ‘n’ disorder By William Bowles
Far from being secure in its post-Communist world, Capital reveals to all and sundry just how insecure it is. But it is no simple matter to simply dispose of the ‘luxury of democracy’ as and when the State dictates, it has after all spent the better part of a century convincing us that capitalist ‘democracy’… Continue reading
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Nigeria’s hidden history By William Bowles
This particular history haunts Africa to this day and one that the British Establishment have yet to pay for, for it resulted in the deaths of millions and almost led to the break-up of Nigeria. The results determined the nature of the Nigeria of today including all the talk about post-colonial ‘corruption’. And, it should… Continue reading
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Media Lens: A Superb Demolition – Part 2
23 June 2006 — Media Lens The Observer’s Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Beaumont Reviews Noam Chomsky’s Failed States Beaumont continues of Chomsky: “In attempting to create a consistent argument for America as murderous bully, going back to the Seminole Wars, he edits out anything that could be put on the other side of the balance Continue reading
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Media Lens: A Superb Demolition – Part 1
22 June 2006 — Media Lens The Observer’s Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Beaumont Reviews Noam Chomsky’s Failed States A Gauntlet Is Thrown On June 16, the Observer’s editor Roger Alton made a bold announcement on his newspaper‘s website: “And to all my many enemies on the Left, and in various organisations like the pernicious MediaLens, Continue reading
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Death to ‘al-Zarqawi’! Long may he live! By William Bowles
Since the ‘death’ of ‘al-Zarqawi’ reams have been written from both a ‘left’ and right perspective on the significance of his death or even, as I along with other writers have asserted, whether the damn fellow existed in the first place, at least as he has been portrayed. Continue reading
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Media Lens: The BBC’s John Simpson Responds – Again
14 June 2006 — Media Lens On June 9, we published a Media Alert: ‘An Exchange With BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson.’ (www.medialens.org/alerts/06/060609_an_exchange_with.php) This alert generated some of the most interesting and insightful letters we’ve ever received from readers. On June 13, we received the following response from John Simpson: Continue reading
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Specific intelligence? By William Bowles
Last night (13/6/06) the Channel 4 News report on the invasion by an assault force of more than 250 state employees on the homes of two innocent citizens of this (formerly) green and pleasant land, Mohammed Abdul Kahar and his brother Abdul Koyair, opened with a list of all things reported by the media that… Continue reading
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Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven By Joe Bageant
14 June 2006 — Joe Bageant Democracy rots from the inside out as a nation of telemarketers and war criminals parties on amid the stench A spring Sunday morning and I am at the politically incorrect Seven-Eleven buying my cholesterol loaded half and half for my peasant slave labor grown coffee. In the parking lot Continue reading
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Why do we do it? By William Bowles
There must be thousands of us, banging out our ‘blogs’ (damn, I hate this word!). Broadly speaking, we seem to be united by a common ethos, namely justice and a deep commitment to making some kind of positive impact on the way the world is shaped. We identify ourselves by all sorts of names but… Continue reading
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al-somebody or other By William Bowles
According to reports, the new leader of ‘al-Qu’eda in Iraq’ is Abu Hamza al Muhajir. Apparently a website statement signed by al Qaeda said its council had unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al Muhajir to succeed al Zarqawi. Continue reading
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Pulling corpses out of the hat By William Bowles
There can be no doubt that the ‘death’ of ‘Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’ is part of a carefully planned disinformation campaign designed to divert attention away from the slaughter of Haditha (and elsewhere), a campaign that the corporate and state media have gleefully participated in. Indeed, ‘al-Zarqawi’ is itself a psy-ops programme in its own right,… Continue reading
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Media Lens: An Exchange With BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson
9 June 2006 — Media Lens On June 6, we sent the following email to the BBC’s Baghdad Correspondent Andrew North, World Affairs Editor John Simpson and Director of News Helen Boaden: Who would guess from your reports and commentary tonight (BBC1, Ten O’Clock News) that the US-UK ‘coalition’ had anything to do with the Continue reading
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And now for something completely (in)different By William Bowles
Okay, okay, I know there’s all kind of shit going down. This morning for example BBC Radio 4 News ran a long piece on the reported death of ‘Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, how he was “leader of al-Qu’eda in Iraq” and how, with his alleged death, things would now be different in Iraq. The report by… Continue reading
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Media Lens Guest: Freedom Next Time – An Extract from John Pilger’s New Book
John Pilger’s new book, Freedom Next Time (Bantam Press, 2006; www.johnpilger.com/) has just been published. Containing chapters on Diego Garcia, Palestine, India, South Africa and Afghanistan, it is a devastating indictment of brutal state-corporate power, and a heartening account of how people around the world are challenging that power. Continue reading
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It’s down to Fundamentals By William Bowles
Under the cover of the ‘terrorist threat’, even the vaguest accusation becomes the basis for terrorising entire communities, truly a witch-hunt. Judging by this event, we can expect more of the same over the coming weeks and months, with other, almost exclusively Muslim communities the target of massive swoops by hundreds of police and security… Continue reading
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Independence Day By William Bowles
There could be no better exemplar of the mindset of the servants of capital than yesterday’s (3/6/06) editorial in the London Independent. Titled ‘A protracted and messy conflict, with its myriad dark corners’, at first reading it would seem to be a condemnation of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, but a closer examination reveals… Continue reading
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Climate of Fear By William Bowles
So finally, the reality of global climate change hits the media? The BBC for example, is blasting the public with blood-curdling doccies with titles like ‘Climate Chaos’, the series, and they’ve roped in the venerable David Attenborough to host, along with the predictable line-up of ‘experts’ suitably equipped with charts and computer predictions of impending… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 