Call for solidarity with British boycott of the BBC and Sky Television

Sky have now confirmed that they too will not broadcast the Disaster Emergency Committee's appeal for aid to Gaza. There is outrage in Britain where the decision has disgusted people across the political spectrum. More info here and a request to boycott Sky in Ireland by cancelling subscriptions en masse:

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/90825

Interesting Aragon, and fair play to the British public for kicking up a stink. About time too.

The BBC has been worse than neutered since the Gilligan affair... Gilligan was actually substantially correct in what he broadcast ( the sexing up of the dodgy dossier that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq), but the subsequent enquiry resulted in resignations and sackings at the Beeb, I think, not to mention the apparent suicide of David Kelly

I say apparent because there was no autopsy, 1/4 of the usual lethal dose of Coproxamol in his system, and he was found sitting against a tree with very little blood around, despite the fact that he was supposed to have slit his wrist.

The above was broadcast on a C4 documentary, and was the subject of letters to the Guardian by at least 15 Harley Street surgeons. Before any mods get worried about legal action!

People criticize our politicians, but, the odd bit of petty gombeenery versus huge arms sales, bribery associated with same, war mongering, new WMD, and people dying as the result of MoD enquiries?? 2 dodgy wars?? Up to 1 million Iraqis dead?? Think about it.

C4 news is the one worth watching in the UK. Jon Snow & Co. seem less afraid of p!$$ing off the Powers that be.

Mind you, as a resident Irish person with an NTL subscription, are there any measures I should take re the boycott?? Our licence fee goes to RTE, presumably???

I''d read that about David Kelly, and always had my worries about Robin Cook too: he died very soon after writing that Al Quaeda was a group of agents working for the US.

Wow... where did you read that about Cook?? Mind you, he was hiking with his wife at the time and there weren't any majorly suspicious cicumstances, so if there was anything unusual, they must have been MUCH more intelligent about it.

That was so sad, I thought that resignation speech he gave was just the Mae West... he'd be feted now if he were still alive. I wonder if Gordon B would have popped him back in the Cabinet.... rumour had it Gord was not a mad fan of Eye-Rack himself. Which is one of the reasons he is much lower down my political hate list than Bliar.

expat girl wrote:

Wow... where did you read that about Cook?? Mind you, he was hiking with his wife at the time and there weren't any majorly suspicious cicumstances, so if there was anything unusual, they must have been MUCH more intelligent about it.

That was so sad, I thought that resignation speech he gave was just the Mae West... he'd be feted now if he were still alive. I wonder if Gordon B would have popped him back in the Cabinet.... rumour had it Gord was not a mad fan of Eye-Rack himself. Which is one of the reasons he is much lower down my political hate list than Bliar.

I'll start a thread on this tonight: its the least we can do.

Some pretty damning behaviour by Barclays Bank and interesting connections between BBC senior management and Barclays:

Link

Spot the charities theme?

Aragon wrote:

Some pretty damning behaviour by Barclays Bank and interesting connections between BBC senior management and Barclays:

Link

Spot the charities theme?

Well, I think both of those banks are bust now Aragon, if that is any comfort.

cactus flower wrote:

Aragon wrote:

Some pretty damning behaviour by Barclays Bank and interesting connections between BBC senior management and Barclays:

Link

Spot the charities theme?

Well, I think both of those banks are bust now Aragon, if that is any comfort.

Some. But the charities have been badly affected even so. It looks as if charitable aid throughout the Middle East has been targetted - presumably because their work tends to expose the realities.

Meanwhile a Medialens poster has achived a pretty major success by having closed down one of th attack site being used Israel to secure denial of service for websites like 'Stop the War Coalition' in the UK:

http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1232986953.html

one of the interesting upsides of the noughties depression; will the US be able to afford weaponry and Israel the way it used to?? any thoughts??

expat girl wrote:

one of the interesting upsides of the noughties depression; will the US be able to afford weaponry and Israel the way it used to?? any thoughts??

Michael Hudson says the US gets other countries to pay for its wars. He also says that the US, which pays for wars on credit, runs up its deficit with no intention of paying it back...

Quote :

"This Treasury-bond standard of international finance has enabled the United States to obtain the largest free lunch ever achieved in history. America has turned the international financial system upside down. Whereas formerly it rested on gold, central bank reserves are now held in the form of U.S. Government IOUs that can be run up without limit. In effect, America has been buying up Europe, Asia and other regions with paper credit – U.S. Treasury IOUs that it has informed the world it has little intention of ever paying off."

The debt is getting debtier......

well, maybe this whole crisis should end with universal debt forgiveness

Could sure use that on the mortgage front...

expat girl wrote:

Interesting Aragon, and fair play to the British public for kicking up a stink. About time too.

The BBC has been worse than neutered since the Gilligan affair... Gilligan was actually substantially correct in what he broadcast ( the sexing up of the dodgy dossier that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq), but the subsequent enquiry resulted in resignations and sackings at the Beeb, I think, not to mention the apparent suicide of David Kelly

With regard to the Beebs neutering.

From Richard Seymour's Lenin's Tomb,* on a visit by the director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, to Jerusalem to meet with the war criminal and hardline Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

At the time, "Sources at the Beeb suspect[ed] that it heralds a "softening" to the corporation's unofficial editorial line on the Middle East."

*
The very model of a modern director-general
http://leninology.blogspot.com/2009/01/very-model-of-modern-director-general.html


(a witty re-working of the original Gilbert & Sullivan lyrics by some posters on the above blog)

Quote :

I am the very model of a tame director general;
I’ve information, processed, sieved and mostly deferential;
I know the kings of England and report the fights historical
(Be certain my reporting is triumphant and rhetorical).
I’m very well acquainted too with things humanitarian -
Enough to know they don’t apply to matters Palestinian.
My media is slanted, it’s teeming with invented news
For a fee I’d even falsify the square of the hypotenuse.
Robert Bollard | Homepage | 25 Jan, 23:24 | #

[...]

I can't do any better than Robert Bollard, but I can try to continue his version for the rest of the song ('try' being the key word here).

Refusing to air aid appeals might strike a few of you as callous
But who's to say that Christian Aid aren't just a front for Hamas?
I’ve information, processed, sieved and mostly deferential
I am the very model of a tame director general

Making hard choices is, it seems, always to be my lot in life
I hope the Palestinians appreciate my sacrifice.
I knew at once of course that the planned appeal would have to be axed:
In order to stay neutral we must keep well clear of awkward facts.
For recently I've adopted a new, exciting strategy,
I've realised what matters most is our impartiality.
The deaths of scores of Gazan poor might strike you as a tragedy,
But to suggest we don't approve? Now that would mean calamity.

Of course we're always prepared to do our bit for the DEC -
Except when doing so might lead to complaints from the Israelis.
With information, processed, sieved and mostly deferential
I am the very model of a tame director general.
Andrew R | 26 Jan, 01:28 | #