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Stop storage of your web data!

by Jim Killock    
April 6, 2009 at 5:30 pm

You may have read that email and internet phone information now has to be stored by your internet provider. The new law – promoted and pushed in the EU by the UK government – is a first step before they try to change how they can ‘intercept’ your communications.

You can help build the campaign to stop this, firstly by inviting all your friends to our Facebook campaigning group. Secondly, sign the No 10 petition if you haven’t done so already. We need to stop this!

Can the Staggers return to its glory days?

by Anthony Barnett    
April 5, 2009 at 11:52 pm

I have had the strange experience of publishing an article in the New Statesman, once a familiar home. It’s a reply to Conor Gearty’s absurd attack on the Convention on Modern Liberty.

Does the Statesman have a future? If the question continues to be asked for as long as it HAS been asked, since the 60s in fact, that gives it another 50 years. I’ve not met the new editor Jason Cowley. His magazine faces three problems: socialism, the Labour Party and the Guardian. Historically, ie before the 1960s, the NS appealed to a broad liberal as well as left readership as well as enlightened Conservatives.
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Readers’ editor smacks down Nick Cohen

by Sunny Hundal    
April 5, 2009 at 2:09 pm

The Observer’s readers’ editor Stephen Pritchard steps into the recent row between Nick Cohen and Sunder Katwala:

It’s tempting to dismiss all this as just so much scrapping by a small clique, but let’s look a little closer at the detail. Shiraz Maher, Cohen’s “Muslim liberal”, is a former Islamist activist who associated with Glasgow bomber Bilal Abdulla, recently jailed for at least 32 years. Readers should have been told that.

Maher wrote in the Mail on Sunday last month about government ministers being unwilling to promote the idea of Britishness, yet the concept of what it is to be British is central to Gordon Brown’s government and has been a major Fabian theme. If Maher really is this out of touch with democratic public debate, it calls into question his credibility on the subject of think-tanks.

Katwala told me that Maher had never had any contact with the Fabians or the IPPR, but “his co-authored paper is quite good; it contains nothing we could not have published”, so it would appear that Maher and Cohen’s accusation of censorship is without foundation in this case.

No doubt Nick Cohen will see this as example of the ‘vast leftwing conspiracy’ in action. Nevertheless, it is a shame Nick cannot engage in a proper debate other than accuse the left of being blind just because “noted lefties” such as the Queen apparently appease Islamists, and then saying everyone is trying to censor him.

The media and killing sprees

by Septicisle    
April 5, 2009 at 9:01 am

There’s now been at least six killings sprees in the space of less than a month .

For the most part I tend to be sceptical about claims of media influence, especially to the extent to which it might by itself trigger copycat behaviour or violence, but there does seem to be some reasonable evidence, at least where it comes to suicide, that sensationalistic coverage and especially emphasis on methods can lead to an increase in the number of attempts by those who already contemplating doing so or are otherwise depressed.
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I still blame police brutality

by Sunny Hundal    
April 2, 2009 at 4:21 am

We knew this was coming. The Met police had been scaremongering about the G20 protests for weeks through a willing media, based on a few random website postings. This, from an institution which the Joint Select Committee on Human Rights said only a week ago was “too heavy-handed in dealing with protests”. This, from an institution that intentionally harassed and went completely over the top with Climate Camp last year.

And the same happened yesterday. We were only reporting for the Guardian and yet, unexplicably, the police closed in on all protestors from as early as 12:30pm and would not let the several thousand people go anywhere. We managed to escape through the police cordon, but Dave Hill was stuck there till late evening and some, according to the police, would be there till midnight. They all had to be photographed and had their details taken down you see. For just attending a protest.

We can argue endlessly whether the G20 protests had a point. People can even sneer at the message. That is to be expected. But this is about the fact that our basic right to stage a peaceful protest is being eroded. They will just detain you for hours on end, without a toilet to go to, and then arrest you or beat you if you choose to complain. And then they’ll take down your details. Is this the sort of democracy we want to live in?

Sure, there were trouble-makers, as any protest does. But the police penalised everyone right from the start. They predicted trouble and then created the conditions for it. And now undoubtedly they’ll play the victim, aided by a willing media that dance to their tune. And then we wonder what the fuck happened to our civil liberties.

Our Dave wins journalist award

by Newswire    
April 2, 2009 at 3:56 am

LibCon contributor Dave Hill won digital journalist of the year award at the British Press Awards on Tuesday night, for his London politics blog.
Congratulations to him!

MPs face a form-filling challenge

by Don Paskini    
March 31, 2009 at 12:39 pm

I feel really sorry for Jacqui Smith and her husband, and indeed for all MPs at this time of year. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the situation with MPs’ expenses seems to work like this: Members of Parliament fill in long and complicated forms, and then a panel of journalists choose a few of them and publicly humiliate them on the grounds that they filled in their forms incorrectly in a sufficiently entertaining way.

For these purposes, the rules about what is judged to be the correct way to fill in the form change randomly all the time.
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Eric Pickles in car-crash TV

by Newswire    
March 31, 2009 at 1:48 am

His infamous performance on Question Time this week hits YouTube, (via Libdemvoice)

Curiously, Tory blogger Iain Dale avoids any mention at all.
Update: But one Tory says: ‘put him under house arrest’!

Exclusive: Policy Exchange forced to apologise; takes report off website

by Sunny Hundal    
March 30, 2009 at 8:31 am

The right-wing thinktank Policy Exchange has been forced into a humiliating climbdown over its report, ‘The Hijacking of British Islam’, for making allegations in the report that it now admits were unsubstantiated.
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Incoherent Cohen launches into tirade against entire media

by Newswire    
March 29, 2009 at 11:15 pm

From the George Orwell Awards discussion last week.

Jade Goody, Russell Brand & the media

by David Semple    
March 29, 2009 at 1:53 pm

Some say blog posts complaining about Jade Goody coverage apparently vindicate and perpetuate the rather nauseating circus. I think such logic is bollocks, of course, because the mainstream media – TV, radio, newspapers, blogs belonging to all the aforementioned and others – would have merrily continued to spout crap regardless of what a few poxy political bloggers decided to say.

Why bother writing about it then? These are good questions, and the answer is that not five minutes ago, I spotted a ridiculous article on the BBC website titled, Star dubs Jade ‘Primark Princess’, and then made the mistake of reading it. Thankfully we don’t allow firearms in this country or I reckon I’d feel compelled to hunt down Russell Brand and kill him, earning myself a British Comedy Award for services rendered.
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Ugly journalist bemoans lack of bikini-clad politicians

by Guest    
March 27, 2009 at 9:39 pm

This is a guest post by Zoe

The Daily Mail’s Quentin Letts in juvenile sexism shocker.
Update: Claude chips in by reviewing the Daily Mail boys.

A chance to outlaw homophobic hatred

by Claude Carpentieri    
March 25, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Some may recall the homophobic campaigns run by the Sun in the not-so-distant past, including that of labelling HIV ‘the Gay Plague’ and the one about the ‘Gay Mafia running the country’ in 1998. You may also recall the Sun’s false allegations about Elton John. They only stopped when they were forced to pay £1m in damages. Overall, they did more to stigmatise gay people and those with HIV than any other publication in Britain.

It’s no surprise then that Fergus Shanahan, their most right wing columnist, is lashing out at the currently debated Coroners And Justice Bill. Some MPs are lobbying to include Clause 58 – which would extent the offence of incitement to hatred to the area of sexual orientation, placing homophobic hatred on a par with the areas of racism or religious hatred.
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Are we learning from Obama’s campaign?

by Anthony Painter    
March 24, 2009 at 8:24 pm

There is a real difficulty in translating the Obama campaign to the UK. Inevitably, we end up focusing on the easy bits – the technology for example. The tougher bits such as how you pluck a energised movement out of the ether tend to be ignored. We focus on the more recent influences on Obama ‘08 – moveon.org and the Howard Dean campaign – and forget that it is actually rooted in very old-fashioned politics.

The Fabian Society’s Change We Need launched with self-conscious irony in Millbank Tower last night. Though excellent in many respects, it falls into this trap to a degree.
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Propaganda and the media: Counter-Jihad and the ‘Decent’ Left

by Tom Griffin    
March 23, 2009 at 11:30 am

Over at the Yorkshire Ranter, Alex Harrowell comments on the ongoing story of Glen Jenvey, who featured as an anti-terrorist ‘expert’ in a Sun story about threats, which it now appears he posted himself, against public figures on a Muslim web forum.

It’s a very good question just how many terrorism stories (especially ones that have the “Internet” flag set – it means “stuff I don’t understand” to a lot of editors) are the work of these people, whether the upscale, Decent version or Jenvey’s Comedy Gladio.

There are indeed some interesting connections between the kind of right-wing “CounterJihad” networks represented by Jenvey and the so-called “decent left“.
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We’re not barred by Barclays are we?

by Sunny Hundal    
March 20, 2009 at 12:26 pm

A reader sent in a link to a cryptic comment on the Guardian:

Surely this can’t be right. There must be a better way to ensure accountability and transparency. While institutions keep important legal evidence all kin suffer. People have a right to know.

Why yes, people do have a right to know. Barclays obtained a gag order against the Guardian, but its not a libellous document so I can link to the full papers on WikiLeaks without perpetuating a libel. The order against the Guardian doesn’t apply to everyone does it?

A lawyer during the proceedings argued: “The quality of confidentiality is lost if the information is available from other public sources.” — so I wonder how the courts would react if British blogs started carrying links to the documents. Wouldn’t that then void the confidentiality?

This is why these documents are important. If you’re going to or have blogged this, let me know so I can add you to the list.

Linked:
Andrew Grant-Adamson
newsjiffy
septicisle
John Band
Richard Murphy / Tax Research UK
CharlieMcMenamin / Excuse me whilst I step outside
Rick B / Ten Percent
D-Notice
BenSix / Back towards the Locus
Aaron H / Tygerland
Jamie K / Blood & Treasure
Pickled Politics
Shiraz Socialist
Common Endeavour
FT Alphaville has its own artists’ rendition.
Max Dunbar
Andrew Adams / mutantBlog
Index on Censorship
OurKingdom / openDemocracy
Sean / Error Gorilla
Modernityblog
Claude / Hagley Road to Ladywood
Amused Cynicism

Ben suggests Twitter tag #barclaysmemo.

Beau Bo D’Or sends in the Wikileaks / Barclays banner – thanks mate. Use the top image if you like, but pls don’t hotlink them from BBDO as he doesn’t have bandwidth.

Don’t let tax-scrounging scum Barclays get away with it.

She’s not gone yet, OK!

by Aaron Murin-Heath    
March 19, 2009 at 10:09 am

I know, it’s hardly good form to pile in on the embattled Northern and Shell publishing group, what with the Dumblane story still rumbling…

But I have to pass comment on this week’s copy of OK! Magazine.

THIS week in our special tribute issue we’ve got world exclusive words from Jade Goody and unseen pictures as the brave star clings to life…

Is today’s celebrity culture so sickeningly turbo-charged, that we have “tribute issues” before people have even had the chance to die?

Hell in a handcart people, hell in a handcart.

(hat-tip Akela)

Will Barclays’ scam create public anger?

by Septicisle    
March 18, 2009 at 11:00 am

It would be nice to think that with various tax havens having to promise to be rather more transparent in their operations than they have been previously, that the actual businesses which exploit such havens would be following a similar trajectory. The sad reality is that both will continue to get away with it just as they have in the past: when the economy eventually recovers, they will go back to doing what they do best, letting the rich and powerful get away it while castigating the scum at the bottom who dare to fiddle their benefits.

Barclays however hasn’t even bothered with letting it all blow other.
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1984 in 2009?

by Laurie Penny    
March 18, 2009 at 12:05 am

This week, I have mostly been re-reading George Orwell’s 1984. It’s been too long. Somehow, sixty years after it was published, this book is once more at the linguistic core of the zeitgeist. Words like doublethink, Big Brother, Thought Police are used by all political factions, indiscriminately and with tongues only half in cheeks. I was struck by the way that terms like ‘Orwellian Nightmare’ were flung around at Saturday’s Internet For Activists conference, at which I was speaking- flung around with a quiet, numinous resentment that I found deeply frightening.

1984 is claimed by both the left and the right, but by far the most urgent message of the book for the modern age is one of paranoia. 1984 is the definitive paranoid novel.
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Is American journalism failing?

by Dave Cole    
March 16, 2009 at 9:46 am

People who watch US news or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will know that one of those minor feuds between celebrities – in this case, between Stewart and Jim Cramer, a hedge fund manager turned journalist, of CNBC’s Mad Money – has been brewing over The Daily Show’s repeated attacks on the low quality of reporting by the financial network, CNBC.

It came to a head on Jon Stewart’s show in one of the most compelling pieces of television I’ve seen in a long time. You need to watch this. Now. (3 parts)
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