William Bowles – Essays
-
‘K’ Metamorphoses into ‘G’ By William Bowles
Just think about Blunkett’s secret court and how it operates behind closed doors, with the accused allowed to see neither the ‘evidence’, the charges nor to cross examine their accusers and all of it under the pretext that revealing the sources or their accusers might reveal information damaging to the state. It’s a no-win situation,… Continue reading
-
Betwixt and Between By William Bowles
Much play has been made of Blair’s abrupt turnaround over the referendum on the new constitution for the European Union, with talk about it being a diversion from Iraq and/or the realisation that with the collapse of the Iraq adventure, Blair needs to re-insinuate the UK back into the ‘heart of Europe’. But what are… Continue reading
-
Truth and Consequences By William Bowles
In this age of instantaneous and interlinked communications, dominated by a handful of powerful (and interconnected) media/communications companies, the power of the press to shape our knowledge let alone our opinions has taken centre stage in the struggle ‘for hearts and minds’ as the US political pundits put it during the epic struggle of the… Continue reading
-
“I simply say to you” By William Bowles
20 April 2004 “All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those toward whom it is directed will understand it…. Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the… Continue reading
-
Information Clearing House Archives: 14-19 April 2004
19 April 2004 — Information Clearing House [From the Archives. I’ve been archiving ICH digests since 2003. Unfortunately, an unknown number of the of the links are now dead, so I can’t guarantee that clicking on a link will take you where you want to go. WB] 1 YEAR -10 DAYS … AND STILL NO… Continue reading
-
No Justice? No Peace! By William Bowles
Such was the cry I heard in South Africa in pre-1994 days and on innumerable occasions since. A reader wrote me and castigated me (somewhat) for allowing my emotions to get the better of me in my last essay. Rather, he said, I should be supplying analysis, a view with which I wholeheartedly agree. Well… Continue reading
-
Information Clearing House Archives: 8-13 April 2004
13 April 2004 — Information Clearing House [From the Archives. I’ve been archiving ICH digests since 2003. Unfortunately, an unknown number of the links are now dead, so I can’t guarantee that the link will take you where you want to go. WB] 369 DAYS … AND STILL NO WMD FOUND IN IRAQ. === Robert… Continue reading
-
Pundit’s Paradise By William Bowles
Once more, in Iraq, the entirely false notion is promulgated of a civil war, a civil war moreover, that is only being averted by the presence of an occupying army! Where does this nonsense come from and on what is it based? Continue reading
-
The Power of the Press – to reorder reality By William Bowles
Well you wouldn’t know it from all the tributes to the tenth anniversary in the media, that within two days of the Rwandan tragedy, the US knew not only what was going on but who did it and where and when they did it. The report from the invaluable National Security Archive released via a… Continue reading
-
Soldiers of misfortune: One story, two takes By William Bowles
So went the headline in the Independent on 1 April 2004 and the story (penned by ‘anti-war’ journalist Robert Fisk) occupied the entire front page and ran onto page 2. The four Americans, described by Fisk in the article as “contractors” were actually mercenaries or Private Military Contractors who worked for Blackwater Security Consulting and… Continue reading
-
US Foreign Policy: A Mystery to the Media? By William Bowles
Okay, so what’s the deal? Why won’t the corporate media tell us what’s going on? Why do I have scrabble around the Internet looking for answers? Why won’t my local print, tv and radio tell me why, yet again, the US is orchestrating a coup d’etat against Venezuela? Continue reading
-
Book Review: Friends, Washingtonians and Countrymen… By William Bowles
What an irony. For decades the left has been talking of the US as an empire, identifying the ring of military bases that surrounded the former Soviet Union and China, its destabilisation and overthrow of countries that defied US power; the Cold War and the nuclear arms race, also instigated by the US; its control… Continue reading
-
Just the facts Ma’am, just the facts By William Bowles
If nothing else, the farce surrounding Andrew Gilligan’s/Dr David Kelly inadvertent revelations concerning British government’s dissembling and lying over the invasion of Iraq has revealed the true nature of what the British establishment likes to foist on an unsuspecting public as ‘objective’ journalism. But what is objective journalism and is there such an animal? Continue reading
-
Whose culture is it anyhow? By William Bowles
26 March 2004 Despite a background and involvement in the arts for most of my life, I rarely, if ever write about such things here on I’n’I (although for another side of me, check out the now defunct MusicSA). Well that’s about to change not only because the arts and especially music, are a part… Continue reading
-
May Day – May Day! By William Bowles
So apparently the Anarchists and the BBC have joined forces and cancelled May Day at least according to BBC TV News London (24/03/04). The nightly ‘news’ show carried a report that shifted the goalposts on May Day by presenting it as something that ‘belonged’ only to the Anarchists, and to compound this outrageous reordering of… Continue reading
-
Blaming the Victim By William Bowles
Underlying the coverage of Haiti is a common theme that views all poor countries as incapable of managing their own affairs, intrinsically corrupt and pathologically unable to deal with western ‘democratic ideas and institutions’. The message is clear (if embedded), ‘You had your chance when we ‘gave’ you your independence and you blew it’. Without… Continue reading
-
Is the Media Public Enemy #1? By William Bowles
Over the past twenty years media ownership has been concentrated into a handful of giant global conglomerates. But even more telling is the fact that the ‘digital revolution’ has seen media, IT/communications, weapons companies and the state fuze together to the point whereby, their interests and objectives have become indistinguishable. Continue reading
-
“Why the little yellow bastards!”: Imperialism, nationalism and racism By William Bowles
It should be pretty clear to most right thinking people that there is a direct link between the imperialist project and the rise of racism and as the excerpts above illustrate, it is neither an accident nor is it a new phenomenon. And whilst Blair’s ‘theatrical’ approach may not be as explicit as those of… Continue reading
-
Book Review: The New Imperialism By William Bowles
For most, mention the word economics and eyes glaze over and turn elsewhere, but without some basic understanding of economics, making sense of our world is all but impossible. The corporate media rarely, if ever, mentions economics as intrinsic to politics in its coverage of events unless it’s about interest rates, taxes or employment. Delving… Continue reading
-
Will the real global terrorists please stand up By William Bowles
International ‘conspiracies’ have a long history extending back to the 1919 US ‘Palmer Raids’ that resulted in the arrest and deportation of hundreds of Italian ‘anarchists’ who were purportedly planning the overthrow of the US government. And of course ‘red plots’ of one kind or another have been used by Western governments as a pretext… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 