April 9, 2021
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Questions about BBC producer’s ties to UK intelligence follow ‘Mayday’ White Helmets whitewash
The BBC’s Chloe Hadjimatheou produced a podcast serial designed to rehabilitate the White Helmets’ late, scandal-stained founder, while blaming critics for his demise. Was she a channel for a wider British intelligence operation? Continue reading
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UK: Sewell, stigma and the policing of race – IRR 9 April 2021
9 April 2021 — Institute of Race Relations While much has been said about the ideological approach, farcical methodology and flawed conclusions of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) report, there is yet another aspect to explore. For, as Byline Times report this week, it seems that the commissioners and their backers have ambitions to Continue reading
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Threatened by cultural defiance, Israel throws dancer in prison without charge
The arrest, in February, and continued detention without charge of acclaimed dance choreographer Ata Khattab underlines just how threatening Palestinian culture and identity is considered by Israel’s occupation forces. Continue reading
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Why we must oppose vaccine passports
The vaccine passport is the nadir of ‘permission slip’ officialdom. It means that before you can go to the cinema, or a football match, or perhaps even to work, you must first have obtained official clearance. Continue reading
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UK: The end of civil liberty as we know it
Mission creep is defined as ‘the tendency for a task… to become unintentionally wider in scope than its initial objectives’. The government’s initial mission, when introducing Covid-19 restrictions across the UK, was to save lives and to ensure that the NHS was not overwhelmed, not destroy our civil liberty. Now, it is considering introducing a new… Continue reading
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Crony Capitalism UK: Abingdon Health: An update
Last week, the High Court granted permission to advance our case against Government for its award of contracts to Abingdon Health for rapid antibody tests. The deal with Abingdon Health has been marred by controversy since the very beginning, with Government suppressing reports that raised the alarm around the effectiveness of the tests and ignoring their own legal… Continue reading
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Crises, Alerts, and DEFCONS, 1961-1976 – Part II
Washington, D.C., April 8, 2021 – The United States and its European allies disagreed over the advisability of using nuclear weapons to signal resolve and deter war if a serious crisis with Moscow over West Berlin broke out, according to a review of declassified records posted today by the nongovernmental National Security Archive. Continue reading
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Fatuous Defence: Australia’s Guided Missile Plans
Even in times of pandemic crises, some things never change. While Australia gurgles and bumbles slowly with its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, there are other priorities at stake. Threat inflators are receiving much interest in defence, and the media is feeding on it with a drunken enthusiasm. We live in a dangerous environment, and think-tankers, parliamentarians… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 