Why Rupert Murdoch considers it worth his while to pay David Aaronovitch a large six figure sum for such puerile antics as tweeting that I am insane, is a conjecture I find difficult to resolve. Today this exchange occurred on twitter:
David Aaronovitch: This suggestion that if elected Corbyn could be quickly ousted is utter bollocks. Democracy allows Labour to commit Hara Kiri.
Mark Doran: @DAaronovitch I hope everyone is watching how these servants of the micro-elite try to paint “attracting popular support” as “committing suicide.”
Mark Doran: @DAaronovitch Craig finds the elite-serving contortions every bit as funny as I do
David Aaronovitch: @MarkJDoran I tend to find Craig Murray unpersuasive on the grounds of him being unhinged. I can see why you like him, though.
Mark Doran: Says the man who managed to find Bush and Blair credible. I can see why you liked them, though.
It is remarkably ironic that on being referred to an article which argues that views outside a very narrow neoliberal establishment narrative are marginalised and ridiculed by the media, the Murdoch hack’s response is that the author is unhinged. Aaronovitch could not have more neatly proved my point.
But something else struck me about the twitter record. Aaronovitch’ twitter account claims to have 78,000 followers. Yet of the 78,000 people who allegedly received his tweet about my insanity, only 1 retweeted and 2 favourited. That is an astonishingly low proportion – 1 in 26,000 reacted. To give context, Mark Doran has only 582 followers and yet had more retweets and favourites for his riposte. 1 in 146 to be precise, a 200 times greater response rate.
Please keep reading, I promise you this gets a great deal less boring.
Eighteen months ago I wrote an article about Aaronovitch’s confession that he solicits fake reviews of his books to boost their score on Amazon. In response a reader emailed me with an analysis of Aaronovitch’s twitter followers. He argued with the aid of graphs that the way they accrued indicated that they were not arising naturally, but being purchased in blocks. He claimed this was common practice in the Murdoch organisation to promote their hacks through false apparent popularity.
I studied his graphs at some length, and engaged in email correspondence on them. I concluded that the evidence was not absolutely conclusive, and in fairness to Aaronovitch I declined to publish, to the annoyance of my correspondent.
Naturally this came to mind again today when I noted that Aaronovitch’ tweets to his alleged legion of followers in fact tumble into a well of silence. I do not even tweet. The entire limit of my tweeting is that this blog automatically tweets the titles of articles I write. They are not aphorisms so not geared to retweet. Yet even the simple tweet “Going Mainstream” which marked the article Aaronovitch derided, obtained 20 times the reactions of Aaronovitch’s snappy denunciation of my mental health. This despite the fact he has apparently 10 times more followers than me. An initial survey seems to show this is not atypical.
In logic, I can only see two possible explanations. The first is that my correspondent was right and Aaronovitch fakes twitter followers like he does book reviews. The second is that he has a vast army of followers, nearly all of whom find him dull and uninspiring, and who heartily disapproved en masse of his slur on my sanity. I opt for the second explanation, that he is just extremely dull, on the grounds that Mr Aaronovitch’s honesty and probity were never questioned, m’Lud.
Republicofscotland, thanks for the info. I didn’t know that Philip Schofield ended up being sued over the incident (Cameron looked like a rabbit caught in car headlights!).
Getting back to Ben Fellows, his trial at the Old Bailey, which lasted for the best part of two weeks, cost the tax payer a fortune. It wasn’t anything remotely heavy duty, like a murder trial. I believe that originally the case was going to be heard at Southwark Crown Court, but for some reason it was moved to the Old Bailey. Throughout his trial, Ben Fellows stood by his allegations against Kenneth Clark. This afternoon, after being aquitted, Fellows stated to the press that he would never mention the allegations again.
Exaro have one of the most indepth pieces on it all that I’ve seen so far…
http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5622/ben-fellows-cleared-of-attempting-to-pervert-course-of-justice
The above piece mentions the well known celeb whose name came out during the trial, although it doesn’t say that the celeb allegedly took part in porn movies. Other names also came out during the Ben Fellows trial, which is leading me to believe that it’s some kind of ruse by elements in the police, who have had enough of the cover-up and want to go after these feckers. The DPP’s recent reversal on Lord Janner was also forced by elements in the police.
“I think it’s a shared responsibility, fred. Give a little. Take a little. It seems fair in the long run.”
I’m happy enough to debate without attacking the person.
Look back up the thread, did I attack RoS or did I respond to his attack on me? Did I attack Clark or did I respond to his attack on me?
Tell the truth now.
Mary @ 3.35
Signed. Thanks for bringing the issue to my attention.
‘Tell the truth now’
Happily shaing the blame fred. You?
Fred,I said you like to be a bit provocative. I’m sorry you see that as an attack. Maybe others see being called (or being lumped in with) Nazis as an attack.
Fred this is really sad. You’ve been on the ‘net a long time; you know the effect of text communication escalating out of proportion. I wish you well.
“Happily shaing the blame fred. You?”
Nah – why should he? Everything Fred does is totally justified. Someone jostles him in the street, he’ll beat them until they lose an eye, have broken ribs and a ruptured spleen – and be quite satisfied with himself because “they started it”.
Seen this sort many times before, particularly online.
Note the earlier comment:
That’s a form of online behaviour otherwise known as trolling. Nothing in the slightest bit new or clever about it.
O/T just to counteract this pissing contest of a hysteria about a few thousand immigrants, oh dear what bad news are they covering up with this fodder additive to right wing ruminants.
Forget about the empires that don’t exist anymore, you said YES to globalisation, wanted it all your way, did you ever think that people took you for full and started working ,globally moved about from job to job, worked here there and everywhere? not just your usual non doms and ex pats living abroad, so Osborne and Cameron, forget about this small minority of vociferous rude boys in your party, think of Britain, regulate tax havens now before more billions bypass the exchequer into your friends and mates pockets.
its ok for us to traverse the globe in pursuit of better jobs, but damn, not just everyone….
In the interests in Europe and Britain, keep your eyes on the tax evaders screwing this country by hiding their stale emollient billions offshore, they have done more to bust our economies than we yet know.
and take your share of immigrants, its good for you.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-being-tested-by-huge-refugee-influx-a-1045560.html
Fred, 11:37 pm
To me, that looks like a personal attack upon persons unspecified; ie. an implied personal attack. Can’t you see what’s happening? You’re requiring the highest standards from others, but excusing yourself from those same standards. Additionally, you grant yourself the privilege of escalation so long as, in your opinion, “someone else started it”, and predictably it all blows up out of proportion.
I really wish you lot would stop arguing.
For anyone interested, here’s Jeremy Corbyn and George Galloway recently in a BBC studio. I don’t have the time at the moment to edit this clip. You will need to go to about the 7 minute mark…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbSjvp_1bXM
Fred, that you like to be a bit provocative is my impression, an opinion. I’m human, not a robot. But you played your part in producing that opinion, too, like the evening I arrived at yours and asked what had been happening on-line, and you said you’d been “flaming Macky”. OK, maybe Macky started it, but your opinion of your own behaviour was that you’d been “flaming”, ie. being provocative.
Shall we just agree that you never do anything wrong and be done with it? Shall we call you “Fred with perfect on-line behaviour”? You’ll have to stop using “retard”, won’t you you spastic?
(In using “spastic” I’m trying to make a point; I have no wish to denigrate cerebral palsy sufferers)
Glenn, fair dos – “being provocative” was my allegation, not Fred’s admission.
I am sorry if this offends Clark but very few in the west know that there are nightly attacks on various areas of the Democratic Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Last night two children were wounded, two pensioners and others in the town of Gorlovka. Two civilians were killed. There is supposed to be a ceasefire engineered by Vladimir Putin, signed by Angela Merkel, Francois Allende and that great tub of chocolate fat, Petro Poroshenko – whose signature is as worthless in terms of integrity, as Hitler’s.
I urge everybody to get wise. I have tried to help.
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2015/07/20/what-the-left-should-learn-about-ukraine/
Fred, perfect objectivity is impossible. No one can observe any system without affecting it; we are each personally within the system under discussion whether we like it or not, and the way we communicate will affect others. So no, I’m not capable of that, and neither is anyone else, not even you, eg. “myopic nationalist bigots”, “retard” etc…
Glenn, I reckon you’d like Fred face to face; he’s a nice bloke. It all just goes a bit awry on-line.
I see half the comments here have gone. Probably just as well.
“I’m happy enough to debate without attacking the person.”
No you’re not. I asked a few threads back if you regarded yourself as having a right-wing persuasion. Not unreasonable, a lot of people are, and are proud to state it. But your response? To start saying highly insulting things about me and my parents.
“No you’re not. I asked a few threads back if you regarded yourself as having a right-wing persuasion. Not unreasonable, a lot of people are, and are proud to state it. But your response? To start saying highly insulting things about me and my parents.”
So if you don’t like me asking personal questions about you don’t ask personal questions about me.
That’s easy enough isn’t it?
You mean, unless one wants to be grievously insulted, they shouldn’t ask you anything personal at all about yourself or your views, whatsoever. Absolutely nothing. Uh huh.
I can see that might work out rather awkwardly in real life.
Passer by: “Nice day, don’t you think?
Fred: “Fuck off and die, retard cunt.”
“You mean, unless one wants to be grievously insulted, they shouldn’t ask you anything personal at all about yourself or your views, whatsoever. Absolutely nothing. Uh huh.”
I mean you can’t get away with a personal insult by putting a question mark on the end of it as you tried to do.
You will just have to learn how to argue the facts instead of attacking the person.
I asked if you were of a right wing persuasion(*). Not if you were some kind of deformed in-breed, with the stated suggestion my parents were incestuous, which is what you thought to be a suitable rejoinder to put to me.
Maybe you just cannot tell the difference between someone politely asking you the time (with a question mark at the end, an’ all), and someone using fighting words to insult you.
—-
(*) Had you not decided to insult me, I might have imparted something about the disgusting nature of (the dead and unlamented) Breitbart, and his followers, and the grievous damage they have done particularly to the black and poor communities throughout America. This is not particularly well known to those who don’t take a close interest in the finer points of US politics.
That was the conversation I hoped to lead to. Instead, you decided to insult my parents.
“Maybe you just cannot tell the difference between someone politely asking you the time (with a question mark at the end, an’ all), and someone using fighting words to insult you.”
I know exactly what you were doing.
And I know exactly what you are doing now.
Learn to argue the facts instead of attacking the person.
“I know exactly what you were doing.”
No you don’t know, you really don’t. I was concerned you were looking at breitbart, and quoting them, not realising what a disgusting operator they were. If one found themselves of a very right wing persuasion, perhaps it’s quite understandable that they go around quoting from a source like that. OK, that’s fine.
Anon1 and Habbabkuk are proud to state their right-wing persuasion, and have done so unprompted – asking such questions in order to properly frame a discussion is simply not an insult. Insulting someone’s parents absolutely IS.
But I thought that Fred would not like the breitbart organisation, and would certainly not go promoting their articles, if it was made clear what they were all about. Perhaps I was wrong. And perhaps you just get a kick out of annoying and insulting sincere people, which – on evidence to date – is your game.
*
But why do I waste time? Clearly, reaching a common understanding can only be met if both sides seek the same. One cannot do this, if the other party finds it entertaining to thwart any possibility of even civil discourse.
Whatever – I’m done with trying. Reaching a hand across the aisle, and finding a knife slashed across your palm in return, can happen only so often.
“Whatever – I’m done with trying.”
Oh good.
Rob G…. 11;54 pm 30th
Cheers… of poss interest to ya …try the first 14 or so mins of this…this dude was on the Mavi Marmara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTACbOVPaXA
Saw this on Tim Ireland’s Bloggerheads about Gove and his wife and their attempt to denigrate the NHS. Note the doctor in the piece has gone abroad. Fed up with the endless reforms.
‘Demoralise Destabilize Dismantle’ is the Con mantra for the NHS.
Doctor’s open letter slams Sarah Vine’s claim that husband Michael Gove couldn’t get an X-ray
27 July 2015
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/doctors-open-letter-slams-sarah-6150387
~~~
It seems that Tim Ireland (a friend of Craig) has lost a High Court case involving Nadine Dorries. His costs will be enormous and I am very sorry for him.
She has used an expensive firm of solicitors and QC. Why were TWO judges (Popplewell and Baker) involved?
High Court rejects attempt to unseat Nadine Dorries after legal documents sent to wrong address
Lawyers acting for Ms Dorries successfully argued that the election petition sent to her constituency’s Conservative Association last month was invalid
Thursday 30 July 2015
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/high-court-rejects-attempt-to-unseat-nadine-dorries-after-legal-documents-sent-to-wrong-address-10428260.html
The background.
‘The British People’ vs. Tim Ireland
Posted on May 8, 2015
http://www.bloggerheads.com/archives/2015/05/brits-v-tim/
plus updates
It would be interesting to know what proportion of her time is spent in the HoC and on duties for her constituents relative to her media appearances inc the execrable ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’.
Eventually she made retrospective declarations for some of these as it says in her register of interests.
‘* These fifteen payments are late entries to which the rectification procedure was applied on 11 November 2013. Paragraph 108 of the Guide to the Rules refers.’
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=11397
But she gets re-elected.
Note the Israel visit with the CFoI at the end of the list.
~~
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/11379300/Nadine-Dorries-My-child-hunger-drove-me-to-earn-500000.html
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2015/news/mps-complaint-over-reporting-of-rival-candidate-dismissed-by-press-regulator/
the teeny Yin..
Half hour late… My Daughter Handed in her last… paper… She had been in intensive Care for months with the baby…. ” So what now ” Nothing Degree cancled… Just try it ya cnt…. Honors on Politics and sum such else
https://www.flickr.com/photos/115454618@N06/16785464940/in/dateposted/
For serious consideration the next time the independence issue is tested. Why Salmond’s Plan A couldn’t have worked. (And what could, and why). A little more constructive than namecalling, requires the ability to follow an argument.
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=28716
Conclusion
The problem for the Scottish people is that their so-called progressive political party, which is pushing the YES vote are all closet neo-liberals* and probably don’t even understand the reasons I say that, which is part of the problem.
They think that by falling into line with the Washington Consensus which is now the Brussels-Frankfurt consensus as well and supporting a currency union with Britain with tight fiscal rules that they are appearing to be fiscally responsible and the bond markets will like them.
The reality is that their grand plans for independence would grind to a halt because they would be using a foreign currency and the bond markets would know that. Greece all over again.
The only fiscally responsible position is to base independence on the creation of its own separate sovereign currency. Then the Scottish Government could achieve its goals to enhance the common good and it could avoid the nonsensical fiscal austerity that has captured the British government.
Running a nation of 5 million odd people with limited resource diversification would not be easy. But I suspect the people would be better off overall with true independence.
However, if they keep the British pound, then independence will achieve little – other than soothe the nationalist desires.
*well, ok. Namecalling, But he’s right.
Thanks for the picture of your grandchild Brian, she’ has eyes like gems, hope she and your daughter turn the corner soon.
Half an hour late and she can’t put her papers in? go to the newspapers and tell them its no contest, a healthy yin versus GCSE papers in on time, a no brainer.
my commiserations to Tim, you have kept Nadine Dorries quiet for some month, now we have to content with that siren again.
Bless the little one Brian and you and yours. You are the one on this blog with the most decency and kindness.
~~~~~
You will like this from Paul Kavanagh. Every word is true and his insight great.
https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2015/07/30/a-thistle-grows-in-the-rubble/
Palestinian toddler burnt alive after masked ‘Jewish extremists’ target home in arson attack – West Bank
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-toddler-burnt-alive-after-masked-jewish-extremists-target-home-in-arson-attack-10429165.html
This child was the same age as my first (and only) grandchild and I could hardly bear to read this story this morning. It was the first headline I saw …
As Cameron gerrymanders the Lords as they have never before been gerrymandered, time for some scrutiny:
http://www.democraticaudit.com/?p=14964
The root problem is the unregulated nature of prime ministerial appointments to the Lords. For so long as this exists, prime ministers will be tempted to appoint too many peers. Our February 2015 report set out in detail the effects of unregulated appointments, and a possible formula for appointments which would be both clear, transparent and sustainable (where each new round of appointments would be based proportionally on general election votes – rather than attempting to balance the chamber as a whole).