Obsolete’s on Kamm is brilliant. This bit had me LOLing:

And just because his latest effort, delivering the most rancid apologia for the rendition programme you’re ever likely to read, doesn’t mean that in the words of some on CiF, he’s a man with a revolting worldview, it also doesn’t mean that he’s not the most pathetic muscular liberal around. That would be Nick Cohen.

Thanks for the link to mediocracy.
I like him!

damn, they’ve closed comments on Kamm’s article otherwise I would have abused him too.

The thing that amazes me about Kamm is despite how fucked up it is, there are many supposedly leftist, even socialist commentators and bloggers they are who write very similar stuff.

They even have a (ridiculous) name for themselves – they call themselves the ‘Decent Left’!

Out of interest Lobster 54 says , on page 14, in the references, that Oliver Kamm is in fact Matthew Freud. Nowhere on t’internet can I find confirmation of that. In fact their pictures look a lot different. Still.

Anyway, Oliver Kamm is someone who has made a living out of loving the bomb. Maybe, for the money he makes, I should love Anthrax! He could try pressing me on this….

Oh, and thanks for the Lee and Gav thingy, it always brightens up my day.

Like a 120 watt light bulb; we’ll be taxed before you know it.

Uhh, in the cartoon, why is the Jewish blob getting a blow-job?

I mean, I realise that many mainstream Jewish groups in the UK are willing to lick any jackbooted “anti-terror” politicians so long as it is Muslims they intend to persecute rather than themselves, but that doesn’t mean that ordinary Jews won’t be exposed to all the same dangers and indignities of an ID card system.

I’m all for robust debate, and the right to be offensive too, but I am just wondering if that sort of commentary violates the house rules somewhat, you know about not being ‘Misogynist, racist, homophobic and xenophobic’? I mean, the message certainly seems to imply that anti-terror statism is part of a Jewish orchestrated conspiracy to persecute Muslims (a common enough, and mistaken, meme amongst some Muslim media). Unless I am getting it wrong, and they are actually checking his penis to make he is circumcised but it doesn’t look like that! I wouldn’t mind so much if those cartoons were actually funny, but they sound like something Marcus Brigstocke would do while hungover.

Nick:

My interpretation (as the creator) is that Britain as a state bends over backwards to accommodate Jewish residents while it intrinsically acts cautiously around Muslims. I think you’ve read a little bit more in to it than I ever could

But we’re all for comments and suggestions on how to improve, I’m personally of the belief we’ve not quite got the format right yet.

Ok, in that case I think this idea that the British state bends over backwards to accomodate Jewish residents itself probably needs to be challenged because I think that is a bit of a myth that propogated in this context of security policy, is potentially poisonous to a debate. To substantiate a claim like that, you would need to specify some sort of specially advantageous treatment that Jews receive that is over and above what other immigrant groups have gained. I suppose there are a few rhetorical and ceremonial flourishes, like Holocaust memorial day which I think is a very crass method of pandering to a small number of jews within the political establishment.

Beyond that, a few state funded faith schools, maybe some exclusions from a few animal rights laws… I dunno, while I disagree in principle to exemptions from the law, none of it seems unprecedented. In so far as jews seem to be well served in their areas by public services, I would argue that is more of a class and geographical issue than special treatment for jews.

On the format front, I think it may have already improved somewhat from its first episode but the main problem is the images sometimes seem superfluous to the audio, making it sound a bit like a Now Show -style radio 4 rant with some graphics thrown in. When it works is not when the graphics are merely illustrating what is being said, but when it is actually adding something to it – like reversing the meaning with visual irony.

It’s a tough subject, I don’t know that I meant the right thing when I said accommodate, I probably more meant offend. Not that I’m saying the state tries to offend Muslims but then their policies such as asking lecturers to spy on Muslim students aren’t exactly conducive with respect. It’s not secret that this country, as well as the US, has a particular love affair with Jewish communities when it comes to politics..I’m not suggesting that this is anything other than a long time of “knowing each other” and constructive engagement of communities without the tensions that Islam has had handed to it…but I find it hard to believe that anyone could say that Jewish people and Christians don’t get it a lot easier and a lot nicer than Muslims do.

Cheers for the feedback, this last one certainly has suffered from my other engagements leaving me without time to do it over the weekend, and it’s precisely the problem you talk about that irks me. I’m trying to find the solution quickly