Here’s your daily dose of propaganda, kids: Dangerous and depraved: paedophiles unite with terrorists online. This is one of the worst examples of Rupert Murdoch’s ‘journalism’ I’ve seen - I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Yes, two of the best excuses for the erosion of civil liberties are now apparently colluding online to ‘exchange operational secrets’. It’s now even been discovered (by an unnamed and unbiased ‘anti-terror source’) that terrorists and paedophiles are psychologically similar. They’re both ‘obsessive’, ‘paranoid’ (surely they should be paranoid?) and - this is the best one - they spend a lot of time ‘going to the mosque or going off to internet cafés’. That’s an actual quote, I’m afraid.

Never trust an ‘anti-terror source’ with your psychological well-being.

Not only are the terrorists and paedophiles in league with one another, apparently they’re often one and the same. The article proudly declares that ‘The link might have remained unknown but for the case of a Muslim preacher from the East End of London [Abdul Makim Khalisadar]’. Right. Except that they then admit that Khalisadar was never convicted of anything relating to terrorism or paedophilia. (He was a convicted rapist though, so hey, they’re all the same right?) All through the article ‘terror suspects’ are treated as if equatable with convicted terrorists.

We then get the incredible claim that terrorists actually communicate through child porn. Yes, Al-Qaeda have decided to encode pornographic images of children, possibly the most illegal, graphic and conspicuous medium thinkable, with secret messages as a mode of ‘clandestine communication’. I’m not making this up (although I suspect the Times is).

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Today I just want to promote/congratulate this guy. I’ve never really been into hip-hop much, but having come to a growing realisation that most good things in any genre will be hard to find, I did some research. And Sage Francis stood out for me - he’s a proper artist. It’s surprising enough when any given contemporary performer comes across as a self-aware, socially conscious, intelligent human being. Add to that captivating lyrics and you deserve some respect! This particular song, by way of context, was written a month after 9/11. (And yes, that’s Bob Dylan at the end).

Anyway, I’ll let the song speak for itself.

Allegedly. We haven’t really touched upon the 9/11 truth movement as yet, primarily due to the fact that it’s being covered so extensively elsewhere.

But this needs posting. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (an agency of the US Department of Commerce) has concluded that yes, WTC 7 is the first tall building ever to have collapsed because of fire damage. Their claim is one of ‘fire-induced progressive collapse’, which they admit is ‘a new kind of progressive collapse’. They claim their research (which consisted of analysing video footage, select eyewitness testimony and structural plans of the building) proves for the first time ever that fires can cause tall, 47 storey buildings to collapse. All from fires on 10 floors. And apparently, falling debris from the other towers wasn’t even necessary.

My favourite part from the Q&A page:

Why didn’t the investigators look at actual steel samples from WTC 7?
Steel samples were removed from the site before the NIST investigation began. In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, debris was removed rapidly from the site to aid in recovery efforts and facilitate emergency responders’ efforts to work around the site. Once it was removed from the scene, the steel from WTC 7 could not be clearly identified. Read more