Aaronovitch Blusters to a Well of Silence 1213

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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.

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1,213 thoughts on “Aaronovitch Blusters to a Well of Silence”

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  • Ba'al Zevul

    …darn antisemi….. and hate speech!

    As Aaronovitch would undoubtedly say. Neat return to the topic, there!

  • Lance Vance

    Personally I’ve always found Aaronovitch crass and vulgar. Whenever he appears on any TV show you get the distinct impression that’s he’s either hungover or can’t be bothered engaging with anyone who has the audacity to have a different view from him. He reminds me of those boring, opinionated arse-holes you get in pubs- loud and very annoying, to the point where you just want to go up and boot him in the nuts for ruining your lovely pint!!

  • Silvio

    From here on in, seems politics could very well be all just a rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic exercise.

    Topsides the officers and pursers are still reassuring the anxious passengers that under their expert supervision the temporary patches and the creaking bilge pumps will keep the influx of water under control and the old girl afloat, while avoiding the remaining icebergs, they navigate the crippled hulk to reach a safe harbour. Once the harbour is reached “normal” life can resume once more for one and all.

    Following snip is from Our Finite World, the website of Gail Tverberg. She is a US based insurance industry actuary who for some time now has been researching and writing on her blog about the links and interactions between energy availability, energy prices and the health of our perpetual growth world economies. Don’t neglect the comments.

    Nine Reasons Why Low Oil Prices May “Morph” Into Something Much Worse
    Posted on July 22, 2015 by Gail Tverberg

    Why are commodity prices, including oil prices, lagging? Ultimately, the question comes back to, “Why isn’t the world economy making very many of the end products that use these commodities?” If workers were getting rich enough to buy new homes and cars, demand for these products would be raising the prices of commodities used to build and operate cars, including the price of oil. If governments were rich enough to build an increasing number of roads and more public housing, there would be demand for the commodities used to build roads and public housing.

    It looks to me as though we are heading into a deflationary depression, because the prices of commodities are falling below the cost of extraction. We need rapidly rising wages and debt if commodity prices are to rise back to 2011 levels or higher. This isn’t happening. Instead, Janet Yellen is talking about raising interest rates later this year, and we are seeing commodity prices fall further and further. Let me explain some pieces of what is happening.

    1. We have been forcing economic growth upward since 1981 through the use of falling interest rates. Interest rates are now so low that it is hard to force rates down further, in order to encourage further economic growth.

    http://ourfiniteworld.com/2015/07/22/nine-reasons-why-low-oil-prices-may-morph-into-something-much-worse/#more-39948

  • Mary

    The brothers, truly leonine. Cecil, unfortunately named after Rhodes.

    http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03390/Cecil-and-Jericho_3390407b.jpg

    Cecil the lion’s final photograph
    Cecil the lion has been fondly remembered as “confident and regal” by the man who followed him for nine years and took his final photograph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/11768872/Cecil-the-lions-final-photograph.html

    Appalling

    • Donald Trump’s sons under fire over 2010 hunting trip to Zimbabwe
    • Are too many tourists killing Africa’s wildlife?
    • Zambia lifts ban on safari hunting
    • Elephant kills professional big game hunter in Zimbabwe

  • Mary

    Aa is as sick as Nick Boles for retweeting this. So funny, not.

    Says everything about what is wrong with the pair of them though.

    General Boles ‏@GeneralBoles · 1h1 hour ago
    How the #LabourLeadership contenders reacted to #CecilTheLion pic.twitter.com/bPH8UwKcqs

  • Republicofscotland

    So David Cameron is set to add quite a few more peers to the unelected House of Troughers, some news rags claim as much as 1000 Lords will be riding the gravy train in years to come.

    It’s a great job if you can get it, and from what I’ve read, the only real credentials required, are to be morally twisted, have loathing for the poor, weak and sick, and occasionally vote for what and when your party asks you to.

    The rewards for such meagre graft are mouth watering, a subsidised canteen of exquisite fare, gallons of the finest spirits and wines, a £300 quid allowance daily, and not forgetting those comfortable red benches, where, you can sleep off your overly decadent repast,whilst a fellow trougher, prattles on about, passing a bill.

    Is it any wonder that Pete Wishart has called for the abolition of the House of Tyranny.

  • RobG

    William Hill now have Corbyn as almost an odds-on favourite:

    http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/g/5527117/Leader-Betting.html

    Ladbrokes also have Corbyn as a firm favourite at 6/4:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-becomes-favourite-to-win-labour-leadership-race-in-latest-ladbrokes-odds-10424088.html

    And to think, when he first entered the race, Corbyn was marked as a 100-1 outsider.

    Stop kicking yourselves folks, and go and sign-up to vote for Corbyn. The 12th August is the final date for becoming either a supporter or member of the Labour Party. The ballot closes on 10th September. The result will be announced on 12th September.

    https://supporters.labour.org.uk/leadership/1

    You might not have had a nice little earner with William Hill, et al, but at least you can say that you were part of a historic moment.

  • Republicofscotland

    The Survation survey of 1,002 voters, carried out on March 6 and 7, found that 13 per cent – which would extrapolate to around 550,000 Scots – have been on the receiving end of such vile abuse, either online or face-to-face.

    In a worrying development for the Better Together campaign, 21 per cent of those planning to vote Yes have received abuse or threats compared to just eight per cent of those planning to vote No.

    https://archive.is/vXoQ3#selection-1767.46-6912.0

    http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-abusers-and-the-abused/#more-73899

    So as these polls confirm,it’s Fred and his cronies that are the real Nazi’s, hopefully he’ll shut up about the SNP and Yes voters acting like Nazi’s, when all along the polls firmly suggest he’s the fascist.

  • Republicofscotland

    RobG.

    JEREMY Corbyn has recorded a massive 22-point lead in the battle to replace Ed Miliband as leader of the Labour party.

    According to private polling by the Labour party leaked to the Daily Mirror, Corbyn is now on 42 per cent of the vote, way ahead of nearest rival Yvette Cooper on 22.6 per cent, Andy Burnham on 20 per cent and Liz Kendall on 14 per cent.

    Unsurprisingly, the veteran left-winger does not benefit from the second preference votes of the other three candidates. After those are taken into consideration Corbyn leads Cooper by only two per cent.

    http://www.thenational.scot/politics/jeremy-corbyn-jumps-to-a-22-point-lead-in-labour-leader-fight-after-blair-heart-transplant-attack.5727

  • Ba'al Zevul

    the only real credentials required, are to be morally twisted, have loathing for the poor, weak and sick, and occasionally vote for what and when your party asks you to.

    You omitted to mention that large donations to party funds are pretty well mandatory. Cameron’s had so many of these he’s proposing to squash another 50 peers in soon.

    Proles can apply, though:

    http://www.awardsintelligence.co.uk/service/apply-house-lords?infinity=gaw~Awards%2BUK%2BENG%2BSPART~House%20of%20Lords%2BPHRAS~60301226224~house%20of%20lords~p&gclid=CKaPnafNgMcCFWHlwgodH5gDtA

    Odds being similar to those of Elvis being alive on the moon, but don’t let that stop you if you’re a lottery fan.

  • Ben-Le Chanvre troumper

    Gold Sacks also heavily involved in Greek financials.

    “Along with credit default swaps and other exotic instruments, the total notional derivatives value is about $1.5 quadrillion – about 20% more than in 2008, beyond what anyone can conceive, let alone control if unexpected turmoil strikes.”

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/global-derivatives-1-5-quadrillion-time-bomb/5464666

    ‘Value”? My understanding is that the ‘value’ is approx 15-20% equity within those quadrillions.

  • RobG

    Republicofscotland, RE your link: the Labour leadership contest is done under the instant-runoff voting system…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

    This means that if Jeremy Corbyn does not get a majority in the first preferences, only then will it go to second preferences.

    I think the bookies should be placing odds on whether MI5/The Establishment will get to Corbyn before the ballot is announced, or after.

  • Habbabkuk (la vita e' bella)

    Mary

    “Ben I was looking up the Goldman Sachs founders yesterday. NY money lenders. It was ever thus.”

    ____________________

    I’m a little puzzled by your “it was ever thus”.

    What is the “it”?

    Be explicit, you courageous defender of Arab Palestine.

  • Ben-Le Chanvre troumper

    As you know Mary, politics is the art of controlling your environment. Supply/Demand protocols don’t seem to affect precious metals because the same game is being played with paper metal as it is with paper real estate.

    “As we have documented on a number of occasions, the prices of bullion are being systematically driven down by the sudden appearance and sale during thinly traded times of day and night of uncovered future contracts representing massive amounts of bullion. In the space of a few minutes or less massive amounts of gold and silver shorts are dumped into the Comex market, dramatically increasing the supply of paper claims to bullion. If purchasers of these shorts stood for delivery, the Comex would fail. Comex bullion futures are used for speculation and by hedge funds to manage the risk/return characteristics of metrics like the Sharpe Ratio. The hedge funds are concerned with indexing the price of gold and silver and not with the rate of return performance of their bullion contracts.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-28/supply-and-demand-gold-and-silver-futures-markets

  • MJ

    “Unsurprisingly, the veteran left-winger does not benefit from the second preference votes of the other three candidates”

    That’s assuming respondents were polled on their second preferences and that there’s no net change over the coming weeks.

    If Corbyn doesn’t get many second preference votes he’ll need to win the contest outright in the first round ie get over 50% of the votes. 42% at this stage, regardless of how great the lead over his nearest rival, is insufficient to indicate a Corbyn victory.

  • Ben-Le Chanvre troumper

    “The fact is that what we’re experiencing right now is a top-down disaster.”

    Paul Krugman 2008.

  • lysias

    It’s been a while since I read Jacques Attali’s Les Juifs, le monde et l’argent: Histoire économique du peuple juif, but my recollection is that he has quite a bit to say about the early partners in Goldman Sachs. His description of their quarrels I found amusing.

  • lysias

    My recollection is that the Goldman and the Sachs who were of the generation to manage the firm at the time of World War One didn’t speak to each other for years, because they supported opposing sides in that war.

  • Mary

    CameraOn’s partner in the crime of bombing Libya, Hague, becomes the new chair of RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, the think tank of choice for the warmongers.

    William Hague to chair security think tank RUSI
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33687069

    He takes the lead over Petraeus, the Duke of Westminster and this crowd.

    https://www.rusi.org/about/council/

    Q What is ‘a property developer and political activist’ doing there as vice president? Funding?
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Abrahams_(businessman)

    ‘He faced high-profile media accusations in 2007 that he had illegally channelled £630,000 in donations to the Labour Party,[5] by channeling the donations through four different individuals.[6] The Donorgate scandal put pressure on then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[7] Abrahams was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.[8]’

  • Republicofscotland

    “It’s the ugly face of nationalism as how you look at it, I’m not a member of either group.”
    ______________________________

    Aye right! for someone who professes, not be involved in anyway whatsoever, you sure do a lot of bitching about it, using the term Nazi at every turn to describe those who favour independence.

    As for personal attacks calling nationalist and I am one Nazi’s is a personal attack you ignorant tosser.

  • Beth

    Mary—I’m posting a link to the Stephen Lendman blog because the link you posted isn’t working. He’s a great guy–love his talk shows on the Progressive Radio Network.

    http://sjlendman.blogspot.co.uk/

    Scroll down to 28th June to see the article.

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