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.
You can’t have a witch-hunt against someone who’s dead.
If a senior minister wants to say it’s a witch-hunt, why does he have to do it anonymously?
““Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he favoured providing suspects with anonymity until they were charged with an offence””
Heath will never be charged with an offence. There’s nothing wrong with appealing for people to come forward if they believe they were abused by him.
Either Hogan-Howe wants a gong, or he will be appalled at the Torygraph’s juxtaposition of what he said about suspects’ rights prior to being charged with a sentence about Edward Heath and he’ll issue a stern response criticising their coverage…as the pigs fly by.
I like this guy already.
Of course you do. You think he agrees with you. But this ?
he favoured providing suspects with anonymity until they were charged with an offence…”
He’s talking about the police, not the blogosphere, or the media.
Meanwhile, this with some interesting linking:
http://kentfreedommovement.com/profiles/blogs/have-the-wheels-fallen-off-of-bandwagon-ben-fellows
Ken Clarke wasn’t even at the meeting Fellows claims to have had with him and Greer.
It’s very interesting that the Mirror did not report that she says Jimmy Savile and a Jersey States Senator, the cast of Queer As Folk, Cecil the Lion, Elvis Presley and Tutankhamun were also on the yacht with the boys and Edward Heath.
FIFY
N_
07/08/2015 1:39pm
In her own words Linda Corby does not say that she counted 11 boys on and 10 off. She says she counted 11 on and Vibert told her that “only ten boys came back”.
Kind regards,
John
“he favoured providing suspects with anonymity until they were charged with an offence…”
Agree with that too. In this instance however Heath is not a suspect who can be charged. He’s dead. It’s a shame proceedings against him were scuppered when he was alive.
The point of publicly naming and investigating dead people and their alleged crimes is that it encourages other potential witnesses/victims to come forward.
Also by Linda Corby (her Heath tale is on another page):
http://lcorby.com/interesting-review-of-feminist-revenge/
Possibly the only blog I have ever seen whose comments are exclusively by spambots.
The point of publicly naming and investigating dead people and their alleged crimes is that it encourages other potential witnesses/victims, chancers, maniacs, people who think they can get compo, and the plain delusional to come forward. It also irrevocably destroys the reputations of any innocent people caught in the shitstorm. But I guess that’s ok. We don’t do innocent until proven guilty any more, do we?
“We don’t do innocent until proven guilty any more, do we?”
We do, it’s just that sometimes innocent people get accused or charged with things they didn’t do and end up being exonerated or acquitted. It happens all the time. It’s how the justice system works.
Just think of all those muslims who get dragged through the courts accused of serious terrorist offences because they bought a bottle of Wash & Go at Sainsburys or something, only for them to get acquitted at the end. Was it fair to put them through all that? Not really, but we don’t have a real alternative.
Top engineers frequenting this site, would not use punch for punching square holes! The infantile simile apparently goes wanting. But hey who cares?
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“Happy bomb day” to you to mate, lets hope as your skin flakes off your putrid body, you will be waving at the others too and reminding them it is best to be “peaceful”. What kind of a cretinous low life can even for a second entertain any such a vile idea?
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Very true indeed! All these years the perverted zionist supremacists shagged and raped all those young boys with impunity, even when his love letters to his thirteen year old “boyfriend” were read out during a trail in court! Clearly it would be a catastrophic distress for him if hes is brought to court to face charges now!
What happened to deference and exceptionalism? Do they not know his credentials and connections?
Daniel 2:25 am
“Is she another demented conspiracy theorist like Caldicott?”
You seem confused Daniel. What has Barbara Thomas Judge to do conspiracy theories?
And what is the point you are trying to make?
Demented are you sure you are not talking about yourself.
@N_ 12:59pm “Older readers may remember what it means for a policeman to “do a Challenor”
Yes I remember a friend who was fitted up in those days by Challenor when I was living in the smoke. Another friend was beaten with wetted knotted towels.
Just think of all those muslims who get dragged through the courts accused of serious terrorist offences because they bought a bottle of Wash & Go at Sainsburys or something, only for them to get acquitted at the end. Was it fair to put them through all that? Not really, but we don’t have a real alternative.
One way of mitigating that, of course, is not to propagate ugly rumours ( ™ Tony Blair) about people who have not yet been tried, in the tabloids and the blogosphere. No alternative needed. And, again, I can’t think of a single “muslim” who was dragged through the courts in response to public opinion. Au contraire, they were the subjects of pretty un-public police investigations. Can’t remember their names, either.
Let’s put it another way: “Was it fair to put them through all that? Not really, but it sells papers and gives the public some schadenfreude on a plate. Beats having the proles spotting what else is going down in this fair land and taking to the barricades.
@From the Wild Wood
7 Aug, 2015 – 12:00 am
If interested, Media Lens have just done another piece about Guardian bias against Corbyn:
http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2015/798-the-guardian-readers-editor-responds-on-jeremy-corbyn.html
Has Craig been abducted by aliens..?
There is no irony in the fact that the current DG of the IAEA is Japanese
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukiya_Amano
and a stooge of the US government according to this
‘Amano has simply been a tool of U.S. officials bent on making hostile accusations toward Iran, looking for “expert” evidence to support their specious claims. Specifically, the agency’s tortured language has been twisted by U.S. opponents of an accord with Iran to bolster their claims that Iran was making nuclear weapons–claims that, despite the Amano-influenced IAEA reports — remained utterly unsubstantiated by any evidence anywhere.’
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/08/iaea-director-generals-appearance-before-u-s-senate-a-major-error-in-judgment/
6 August 2015
Israel knows no law. Settlements are ILLEGAL.
Israel approves $90m grant for settlements
7 August 2015
The Israeli government yesterday approved a special grant of 340 million shekels ($90 million) for settlements in the West Bank in the 2015-2016 state budget.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that each ministry will suffer cuts of 0.5 per cent this year and four per cent in 2016 to pay for the extra appropriations.
The paper said the grant will be allocated to planning and development, security on the roads, development of natural reserves, tourism and security.
/..
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20273-israel-approves-90m-grant-for-settlements
Israel sounds just like the UK with its cuts.
Incidentally Dave has defended the £3m payment to Batmanghelidjh’s charity.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33822035
Income £23,104,012 y/e 31 December 2013 with Spending £22,963,671
http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1068298&SubsidiaryNumber=0
So no accounts for y/e 31.12.2014 and it’s now August 2015.
What evil. The IDF is using a bullet like this on Palestinian children – a butterfly bullet.
https://www.facebook.com/WorldWomenforJusticeforPalestine/posts/873708499376177
Even when the Israeli airforce aren’t killing Palestinians they’re killing them.
Four Palestinians from the same family died when they were removing rubble from a building flattened by the Israeli airforce earlier in the year.
The unexploded missile exploded as debris was being removed from the collapsed building, thirtenn other people were also injured in the blast.
The news reports continue to say that Janner denies the charges, in the present tense. Like this BBC report. How can he be said to deny the charges still, if he is now suffering from dementia?
President Barack Obama’s plans to modernise the U.S. nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years could cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion, according to a new study that suggests the project’s long-term price tag will far outpace available Pentagon estimates.
The US is of course renowned for it military spending power, I can only assume going by previous military budgets, that America will recoup the massive spend, from whichever country it next intends to flatten, through assets and rebuilding contracts.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/4/us-nuclear-modernization-could-cost-963-billion.html
“The news reports continue to say that Janner denies the charges, in the present tense. Like this BBC report. How can he be said to deny the charges still, if he is now suffering from dementia?”
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Lysais, from what I could garner from the news, Janner’s defence, are going with “He’s not fit to stand trial” approach.
Whether or not the judge buys it or not, has yet to be seen.
More Nuclear pr Mondayb 10 August 9pm BBC4
Jim Al-Khalili Surrey Univ Inside Sellafield
Lying on the remote northwest coast of England is one of the most secret places in the country – Sellafield, the most controversial nuclear facility in Britain. Now, for the first time, Sellafield are letting nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili and the television cameras in, to discover the real story. Inside, Jim encounters some of the most dangerous substances on Earth, reveals the nature of radiation and even attempts to split the atom. He sees inside a nuclear reactor, glimpses one of the rarest elements in the world – radioactive plutonium – and even subjects living tissue to deadly radiation. Ultimately, the film reveals Britain’s attempts – past, present and future – to harness the almost limitless power of the atom.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065x080
Ukraine has totally out of control with regards to nuclear materials and nuclear weapon components.
It has been like this for years. You could buy what you want at the flea market in Odessa.
‘Possibility of stolen uranium in western Ukraine being sold to ISIS is mind boggling’ –
British historian Martin McCauley.
https://soundcloud.com/rttv/stolen-uranium-ukraine-isis
“doing a Challenor” became a police slang expression for avoiding punishment and prosecution through retiring sick from the force
No need to be old to know that the same corrupt bastards running the system are using the same tactics to get off with their crimes; War crimes, sex offenses, mass murder, bribery, ………
I came across this link on Kate Belgrave’s website. In summary, people who may have no money at all are going to be pursued for Criminal Courts Charge fines of up to £1,200. If you plead guilty in a Magistrates’ Court you can be fined £150, if you are convicted after a not guilty plea in a Crown Court you can be fined £1,200. I would probably plead guilty whether I had done something or not, given those prospects.
http://www.howardleague.org/criminal-courts-charge/
Judges and magistrates apparently have no discretion over these fines, and some evidently regard them as ridiculous.
Here’s Kate’s website, she’s a fine lady.
http://www.katebelgrave.com/
Kind regards,
John
Money talks.
Posh Londoner pays staggering £11k to MOVE bus stop from outside their house
A POSH Londoner has paid a staggering £11,000 to get a bus stop MOVED from outside their home – much to the disgust of furious commuters.
Aug 6, 2015
The mystery person paid Transport for London (Tfl) bosses to have the stop shifted five minutes down the road in Maida Vale, West London.
The homeowner lives in Abercorn Place, one of the most exclusive streets in the area with houses selling for more than £2million.
Susan Segal, 72, who relies on the regular 98, 16 and 332 services to take her to her daily shop in Kilburn, was shocked to find her stop suddenly vanished six weeks ago.
The outraged pensioner is now leading calls for TfL to return the stop to the spot it occupied for 35 years.
She said: “I looked across the street one day and thought ‘where’s the bus stop?’ and it was gone.
“We’re very annoyed.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/596467/Homeowner-pays-to-move-bus-stop-Maida-Vale-outside-house-Transport-for-London
A brief clip of the standing ovation that Corbyn got after his speech in Norwich last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQvuPbbKx7w
In the meantime the media continue to do a character assassination job on Corbyn, while promoting three muppets who could never muster this kind of popular support.
Jonathan King in the Spectator:
Heath wasn’t gay. Trust me – I tried and failed to seduce him”
Maybe Heath didn’t fancy 30-year old men? I mean has anyone said he did?
King has served time in prison for abusing five boys aged 14 and 15.
King has previously defended the mass murderer Harold Shipman, who he claims was mistreated by the media.
Maybe the next person who will speak up for Heath will be Gary Glitter?
RobG – That looks like support at an SWP conference, not “popular support”.
Corbyn doesn’t stand a cat’s chance in hell of winning the Labour leadership.
Just a quick point for those who ask how Edward Heath could have got a way with raping boys in care homes if he was so well-known a figure. Well Cyril Smith got away with it, including in Rochdale!
Thanks Mary for brining to our attention the use of Radically Invasive Projectile a nasty piece of engineering by the murderous zionist supremacists. This bullet is designed to do maximum damage to human flesh and skeleton; this video will illustrate the point (note the accompanying music is a ghoulish addition, so best turn the sound down) Note the pneumatic shock induced to the ballistic gel and the exit patterns! (The ballistic gel is designed to mimic human flesh)
This is a vicious extension/variation to the old dumdum bullet that is a banned munition the use of which constitutes a war crime.
“When the round impacts, it expends much of the energy it does have tearing itself apart, which means that those little needles will likely lodge inside the victim rather than pass through. You can see very clearly in the video’s ballistics gel tests that the needles stop a couple of inches below the surface — not near far enough to come out the other side.”
Glenn
Habbabkuk: “The name was Macmillan, Lysias.”
“Or “SuperMac” to his admirers at the time, and for some while afterwards. Probably the best prime minister we’ve had since then too.”
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Yes indeed, Glenn. I suppose you know that “SuperMac” originated in a cartoon in the late 1950s (perhaps by Cummings) and was not intended as a compliment at the beginning. A good example of a mild piss=take which was taken over and given a positive slant by its subject and its subject’s admirers.
Your evaluation of Macmillan is interesting.