Antagonista TV #USA08 Obama McCain Election Special

For anyone in the U.K. that isn't sick to the back teeth of the endless coverage of the red, white and blue fake democracy propaganda that has been belching forth from hologram generators in the corners of every room for a period of time that is interminably longer than anyone cares to remember -- like we should care a hang anyway about change for "the cousins" when there's a huge, steaming pile to deal with in our own back yard -- here's George Carlin (R.I.P) with a little American election perspective.

"Fuck 'em! Fuck 'em!"

More on comedians with a revolutionary bent later, just in case you haven't had enough of those two either.

Global Survey says 'U.S. behind 9/11'

Survey proves global warming has fried brains the world over

The explanation for the shocking, stunning and, frankly, chilling-to-the-marrow headline which, it almost goes without saying, has absolutely no basis in any sort of reality that any sane individual would want any part of is, of course, that everyone surveyed for the poll is a wild-eyed yelling Conspiraloon™ who should immediately be tasered and "taken to one of those secret prisons in Eastern Europe, never to be heard from again".

Who is Morgan Tsvangarai's Guardian ghost-writer?

Yesterday the Guardian published a letter by Morgan Tsvangarai, "leader of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe", which urged international leaders to back their rhetoric with military intervention.

Why I am not running
Morgan Tsvangirai

My people are at breaking point. World leaders' bold rhetoric must be backed with military force

...
Our call now for intervention seeks to challenge standard procedure in international diplomacy.
...
We envision a more energetic and, indeed, activist strategy. Our proposal is one that aims to remove the often debilitating barriers of state sovereignty, which rests on a centuries-old foundation of the sanctity of governments, even those which have proven themselves illegitimate and decrepit.
...
We do not want armed conflict, but the people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation from global leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military force. Such a force would be in the role of peacekeepers, not trouble-makers. They would separate the people from their oppressors and cast the protective shield around the democratic process for which Zimbabwe yearns.
...

All well and good and some moral justification for yet another U-SUK led invasion of a far off land for profit. Except, today, Tsvangarai's article no longer exists on the Guardian web site, although it is cached here. And, while the article itself has disappeared, that didn't stop its central meme -- that of Tsvangarai calling for military intervention in Zimbabwe -- making its way into the Washington Post.

More curious still the little twist in the story that Morgan himself has added to what appeared to be his call for a invasion of Zimbabwe:

An article that appeared in my name, published in the Guardian (Why I am not running, June 25), did not reflect my position or opinions regarding solutions to the Zimbabwean crisis. Although the Guardian was given assurances from credible sources that I had approved the article this was not the case.
...
By way of clarification I would like to state the following: I am not advocating military intervention in Zimbabwe by the UN or any other organisation.

A number of questions arise about the original alleged Tsvangarai article in yesterday's Guardian, here's a few of them.

• From whence did the original and now removed Tsvangarai article come?
• Who were the 'credible sources' that advised the Guardian Tsvangarai had approved the article?
• How did the Guardian verify the article's approval?
• Who at the Guardian approved the publication of the original article?

Thus far, the Guardian has offered no explanation as to how an article by Morgan Tsvangarai managed to pass all its vetting and editorial processes to appear in the paper, only to be denounced the following day by its apparent author as not reflecting his opinion or position regarding what is to be done in Zimbabwe.

If you were still labouring under the misapprehension that the majority of the 'news' is in fact actually 'news', rather than a considerable amount of propaganda presented as 'news', perhaps you might want to reconsider your position.

In the meantime, the Guardian has a little explaining to do.

BBC Pre Christmas Specials

Stop press: BBC does something vaguely useful for a change documenting, in part, the bullying, threats and intimidation tactics used against the Black Irish Muslim community by MI5/MI6 and exposes the fraudulent 'research' of Reich Right Wing Stink Think Tanks.

First up, Newsnight on Policy Exchange and the widely-touted allegations about 'extremist' literature in Mosques based on the latest, highly scientific, bleeding-edge Policy Exchange research techniques that go a little something like this:

1. Decide the results and conclusions of the 'investigation'


2. Fabricate token items of evidence to make it appear as if some research has been done


3. Wax lyrical about the 'research', results and conclusions and hope that nobody thinks to check the evidence

In the case of Policy Exchange, Newsnight checked the evidence and scuppered PE's pernicious plans.

Newsnight Policy Exchange Exposé Part 1/3


Newsnight Policy Exchange Exposé Part 2/3


Newsnight Policy Exchange Exposé Part 3/3

Osama Saeed noted:

Edinburgh Central Mosque was one of those fingered by the [Policy Exchange] report. I said at the time that the mosque had no idea how this literature was supposed to be on their premises. A strange thing then happened a week or two later. A stash of the pamphlets in question were dropped just inside the doorway to the mosque. No one has any idea how they appeared there, as certainly none of the mosque authorities ordered them. Someone clearly outside dumped them, and they are currently investigating who that could be. Unfortunately, BBC Scotland, including Newsnight Scotland, did report Policy Exchange's "findings".

People at the mosque were smelling a rat at the time, and that will now just intensify in the light of the Newsnight report.

Pamphlets that magically appear inside Mosques to support far-right propaganda masquerading as research leads nicely on to Radio 4's recent broadcast about some of the tactics employed by the 'intelligence' services MI5 and MI6 in their efforts to manufacture from Muslims the same sort of thing they had a heavy hand in manufacturing during the Irish 'troubles', just as the 'only' suspect in the Omagh bomb attack, Sean Hoey, was cleared of all 56 charges -- including the murders of 29 people:

Recruiting Muslim Spies
First aired: Tuesday 18 December 2007 20:00-20:40 (Radio 4 FM)
Repeated: Sunday 23 December 2007 17:00-17:40 (Radio 4 FM)

Since the advent of home-grown Islamist terrorism, Britain's intelligence services have urgently sought better information from within the UK's Muslim communities. But, as reporter Tazeen Ahmad finds out, their attempts to recruit informants are alienating many young British Muslims who say the tactics are making it more difficult to obtain the information the intelligence services seek.

Listen again to this programme

When you're done watching and listening to that little lot, you might want to cast your eyes over the latest report from the perversely named Centre for Social Cohesion, "Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism". Not.

The Cult of the Expert

Read this from Newsnight.

Here's a variant from a parallel dimension, a variant slightly closer to the reality of the situation:

The Cult of the Expert
How Today’s Mainstream Media is Killing Our Culture, Our Ability to Think and Assaulting Our Intellect

“If we are all experts, there is nothing left to be learnt.”

The Antagonist’s new post, The Cult of the Expert is the latest addition to the Antagonista reading list. In it, the author expresses his concern for the profligacy of mainstream media 'experts' who profess to know everything and yet convey nothing, spawned by archaic technologies such as newspaper and television and for too long in the control of too few hands. This, he feels, has had a destructive impact on our culture, ability to think, intellect and understanding of the world.

He says, “[They] can use their mass produced media to publish everything from uninformed 'expert' political commentary, to unseemly pornographic videos, to embarrassingly mindless repetitive music, to the same old unreadable, unwatchable and unpalatable rubbish that we've read for years in the form of reviews, essays, novels and even news”.

He complains that the mainstream media are “collectively deliberately corrupting and confusing their own middle-class values about everything from politics, to commerce, to arts and culture for popular opinion.”

He claims that Newnsight perpetuates a cycle of misinformation and ignorance, and labels the myopic Murdoch media empire inane and absurd, “showing poor fools dancing, singing, eating, washing, shopping, driving, cleaning, sleeping, all in the name of becoming celebrities who want to be worshipped by idiots with nothing better to do because this is the rubbish to which they have become accustomed.”

He warns that new media is just taking hold in earnest – “say goodbye to middle-class idiots and cultural gatekeepers of the old media – old style reporting from inside the cage of small elitest and self-interested circles, news anchors with fake smiles who only do it for the money, editors who can't discern facts from personal opinions unless it is to include the latter over the former, music companies who pump out repetitive manufactured mechanical drivel for huge profits, and Hollywood movie studios producing films about how America is going to save the world from everything but itself.”

What do you think? – is The Antagonist being alarmist about the effects of the mainstream media, or raising genuine concerns? Are we at the mercy of the self-professed and overpaid 'expert' regurgitating the same old opinions for profit and personal gain? Can kids tell the difference between credible news sources and the endless stream of middle-class opinion in the mainstream media? What, in any case, can be done?

The Antagonist is not yet finished with Andrew Keen and his elitest claptrap. More later.

Spin - Footage you were never supposed to see

Don't just see what's on TV, see through it.

Artist Brian Springer spent a year scouring the airwaves with a satellite dish grabbing back channel news feeds not intended for public consumption. The result of his research is SPIN, one of the most insightful films ever made about the mechanics of how television is used as a tool of social control to distort and limit the American public's perception of reality.

Take the time to watch it from beginning to end and you'll never look at TV reporting the same again. Tell your friends about it. This extraordinary film released in the early 1990s is almost completely unknown. Hopefully, the Internet will change that.

Thanks to Sinclair for flagging this up.