So, Jim and I are not actually dead and are still floating around in cyberspace somewhere… we’re just snowed under with assignments and thesis research right now.

Wanted to do a short post about Chris Brown having abused Rhianna. Really, the most worrying aspect of this case is how it’s been received (victim blaming, excusing Brown, etc) but I found an interesting reconstruction of what happened according to police findings since the start of the investigation:

Having watched that, please go read Open Letter to Chris Brown over on Diary of a Black Male Feminist. And I think perhaps the crux of the argument is this:

I was doing everything backwards. I was trying to teach women how not to get abused instead of teaching young men not to abuse.

Which is a good point to remember everytime you see government poster campaigns with tips for getting home safely or avoiding being drugged by a man. Or again, everytime you hear someone respond to hearing of domestic abuse with, “What did she do to make him so angry?”

Not much to say about this one, apart from – wtf? (This comes from the same Powell interview where he endorses Obama).

Around 2:38, Powell states, and this is verbatim:

‘There’s gonna be a crisis come along on the 21st or 22nd of January that we don’t even know about right now’

Now, I’m studying paradoxes in one of my university modules, and I have to say that statement qualifies. You know it’s going to happen, but you don’t even know about it? One resolution: perhaps this is a sentence with two distinct subjects, one an informed insider and the other the unaware general populace (hence ‘we’, not ‘I’)?

And, um, why so specific on the date, Colin? Presumably he’s aware of the significance of the date, since its only a day or two after the presidential inauguration, Jan 20th…

Who knows what we should make of it (or the interviewer’s neglecting to ask Powell what in God’s name he was prophesying). But remember this in a few months time, if and when some supposedly unforeseen, external threat is being invoked to justify military action and/or the erosion of hard-won civil liberties.

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.

So what are the US special forces up to this week? I’ll give you three guesses. No, go on! What’s that, you say? Killing civilians and causing needless destruction again? Well I don’t know how you did that, but godamnit, you’re right. Have a cookie – or a prozac, whichever gets you through the day.

Yep, democracy is on the rampage again but this time in Pakistan. The ‘smart bombs’ are officially confused. This story first came to my attention way back into The Guardian (in print last Thursday), I believe it was around p. 22. So it’s there if you want to find it (funny how the news works isn’t it?).

Since then, more updates have arrived on The Guardian online to a grand total of four as far as I can tell. We know that it was bound to happen soon, but I will admit I was mildly surprised. It’s being reported as an accidental spill-over from the Taliban hunting festivities in Afghanistan, reports are varied on what actually took place. Speaking generally, it seems as though between 7 -20 civilians were killed in their homes via several helicopters and heavily armed commandos.

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Alright, so in the papers this morning – the Home Office fancies granting extra powers and privileges to private security staff and council wardens, including dog wardens, housing wardens, football stewards, traffic wardens, bin men, security staff and shopping center staff.

So, what powers will they get? Speaking generally, they’ll be dealing with ‘anti-social behaviour’ when police involvement could be seen as excessive’.

• Ability to issue fines
• The right to obtain personal details
• The right to confiscate alcohol and cigarrettes from those who are either underage, or drinking / smoking in a public place.

It is perhaps a little telling that ‘The Wright Stuff‘ is covering this story (and most papers, infact) from an angle of cheap policing. i.e. Our government is cutting corners – again! They want us to do all the work – again! Why can’t we just have more policemen?

So what’s wrong with this idea? Saves taxpayer money and cuts crime… it’s a win/win situation. Right?

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I don’t know what ‘liberal’ is supposed to mean these days, but I always understood it as having something to do with the prioritisation of individual liberty (hence the etymology of the word). So when I heard Barack Obama’s new running mate summed up as ‘a liberal’ by the BBC last night, I did have to wonder.

Joe Biden supported the PATRIOT act, of all things. Now, admittedly he does want to restore the habeas corpus rights of detainees, but really – is that a specifically *liberal* position these days? It’s a central tenet of the US constitution, from which all US government officials, republican or democrat, (supposedly) derive their power. The constitution says: ‘The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.’  And let’s be clear, the USA have neither been invaded, nor have they revolted.

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Yesterday – Friday, August 22nd – a coaliton airstrike took place in the Herat province of Afghanistan. That is what we do know. And then the fun guessing game begins. You see, once again depending on who you ask, something wildly different actually happened.

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry is claiming that 76 civilians were killed when the airstrike took place yesterday afternoon (19 women, 7 men, 50 children). Conversely, US forces claim that they took out roughly 25-30 terrorists and Taliban members that had been planning to attack US bases. It’s good to see them really going for this pre-emptive strike thing, isn’t it? (Remember when they did that and managed to wipe out everybody at an entire wedding reception?). Yeah, fighting the good fight for freedom. But I digress – the military is also claiming that the strike occurred in the early hours of the morning and that there were no further attacks that day. Oh yeah, and there were no civilian casualties. Reuters must be full of bullshit, right?

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(Left: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev)

So it seems that the French have brokered a deal between the two countries. For a while there it was looking like it might fall flat on it’s face; Medvedev claimed he would only sign once Saakashvili had. Russian troops are remaining in S.Ossetia for the time being.

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• Russia could strike Poland over U.S. shield (Reuters). See yesterday’s post for more on the missile-hosting agreement Poland signed up to on Thursday.

From what I gather, Col-General Anatoliy Nogovitsyn (who is Russian deputy-chief general of staff), gave an interview in which he stated that under current Russian military doctrine, an attack on Poland would be possible. This doctrine was re-worked in 2000, apparently to allow for a broader spectrum in which nuclear attacks would be acceptable. I will allow Nogovitsyn to further clarify the rationale:

“The USA is engaged in an anti-missile defense for its own government, and not for Poland. And Poland, in deploying (elements of the system) opens itself to a military strike. That is 100 percent[...] It is written clearly: We will use it in instances against governments that have nuclear weapons; against allies of countries with nuclear weapons, if they somehow enable them.”

Sounds a whole lot familiar to me. The US, and even our own country have used this rhetoric again and again – you just need to switch some of the words out for ‘those who harbour terrorists’ / ‘those who hinder freedom’ / ‘those who hate our great country and our allies’.  But of course, when the shoe is on the other foot, Russians are “evil [...] 21st century barbarians.” (Saakashvili)

Well, not really. But how’s this for a case of life imitating art?

The man in FBI custody is now believed to be a German con-man named Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. He’d earlier passed himself off as a member of the Rockefeller oil dynasty.

Acquaintances described him as a ‘charming intellectual with rarefied interests, a distinguished pedigree and a privileged air’.

He’s arrested on suspicion of kidnapping his daughter, which clearly isn’t funny. But damnit, all the rest of it is. And, just in case the FBI haven’t worked this one out yet: Clark Rockefeller = Christian Gerhartsreiter = Keyser Söze = Verbal Kint = Kevin Spacey. So, y’know, watch out Kev.

“Before I say anything else, I just want to say that I was running from Georgian troops bombing our city. Not Russian troops. I want to say thank you to the Russian troops that were helping us out.” – Amanda Kokoeva

Just stumbled across this gem from Fox News, broadcast yesterday. It’s reminiscent of so many other occasions on which Fox has deliberately cut footage to guests in order to prevent alternate discourses from receiving airtime.

A girl who happened to be visiting relatives in S.Ossetia at the time violence broke out along with her aunt, whose house was burnt down as a result of the fighting, talk openly on Fox News about placing the blame at the feet of the Georgian government.

Incidentally, if you would like to learn more about how Fox manipulates its’ audience please watch the excellent documentary, Outfoxed (available online at that link) and visit Brave New Films or subscribe to their YouTube channel.

In every single sodding sentence uttered by American officials, Saakashvili is referred to as the ‘democratically-elected president of a sovereign nation’.

We certainly seem to have a very short memory. In 2003, the US funded ‘Revolution of Roses’ brought Saakashvili to power via a thoroughly un-democratic coup.

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Over the past few days, the news media has been full of quotes such as these:

‘The US stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists the territorial sovereignty of Georgia be respected’ – George Bush

The obvious implication is that South Ossetia is a part of Georgia, and the situation is framed as a simple invasion of a smaller country (Georgia) by a much larger one (Russia). And this neatly ties in with Bush’s decision to send ‘humanitarian aid’, (in the form of military forces), to heroically support the little guy. (Never mind the 1000 American troops in Georgia recently for training, or the American funding and equipping of the Georgian military since 2002).

But, as Russian deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov said on BBC’s hardtalk:

“We recognise the sovereignty and independence of Georgia … But territorial integrity, it’s just another matter. South Ossetia and Abkhazia never were part of Georgia as an independent country”.

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Source: Georgiandaily.com

Details can be found here of a joint military training programme known as ‘Immediate Response 2008′, which took place at the Vaziani military base in Georgia only a couple of weeks ago. It involved 1000 US soldiers.

There’s been little to no mention of this in the mainstream coverage of the recent conflict. Searches for Immediate Response 2008 on the BBC website come up blank, as too on ITN news, Sky etc. Most news organisations don’t even seem to return any hits for the Vaziani base. (Though there is this Guardian article from 2002, which refers to US plans to set up a ‘terrorism school’ [sic] at the base. I can only assume they meant ‘anti-terrorism school’, though maybe it was a Freudian slip).

So was there a media blackout? Well, on the morning of July 15, the day the initiative began, Reuters covered it, even being so explicit as to use the term ‘wargames’.

U.S. troops start training exercise in Georgia (Reuters, July 15 2008)

The Associated Press carried it too, on the same day. Maybe we’re a bit strange here at One More Promethean, but we just thought that information might be relevant to understanding current affairs. We could be wrong.

I really am having a hard time finding any mentions of this minor detail in any of the recent news coverage (I’m mainly going on the BBC website here,  but it seems the same goes for ITV, Sky and the rest). The Georgian military bases are just called ‘Georgian military bases’, and the Georgian army is apparently just the ‘Georgian army’. And who’d believe that Georgia would dare attack Russia?

Maybe Joe Public already knows all about the Krtsanisi US military base right next to Tbilisi, but you’d think it’d be worth a quick mention anyway. Y’know, just as a refresher course in any of the Georgian geopolitics we might have missed in school.

Still, at least there’s not a conspiracy to delete the BBC News archives:-

US role in Georgia alarms Russia – BBC  (Feb 2002)

US army trainers land in Georgia – BBC (May 2002)

US army steps up Georgian training – BBC (Sept 2002)

US military will stay in Georgia - BBC (Jan 2004)

See? It even forms an understandable narrative and everything. Shocking.

But that’s not relevant to coverage of a Russia/Georgia conflict, is it? What is worth referring to are such delicious George Bush quotes as…

“Russia’s government must respect Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”. (source: BBC)

We’ll just ignore the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, then. Oh, and how’s this for hypocrisy…

“[Russia] threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century”. (source: Guardian)

I guess this hinges on your particular definition of ‘democratic’, but I don’t think the Bush administration is an authority on the matter. In any case, President Chavez and President Ahmadinejad might take issue with Bush’s position.

I’ll not pretend to know anything much about this situation – I don’t. The point is, however, that the mainstream news is not really helping to alleviate my ignorance.

Worries seem to be mounting about the rising cost of food, particularly grains and those animals reared on them. Evidently the mass production of biofuels is not really panning out to be the magic answer that it was originally propagated as… In confusing times like these, it’s always good to know that Fox News is there with the solution. Case in point, amusing screenshot:

That subtle little advertisement brought to you by propaganda delusionist group ACCCE. You can watch the full video for yourself here. It’s also interesting to note that Shell sponsors Fox Online.

This story struck me as slightly odd since the first coverage came in. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Todd was found dead in Snowdonia (by a path leading to the summit of Mount Snowdon) on March 11th.

One fact which has received very little media coverage, is that last year Todd ‘led an investigation into charges that Britain cooperated with secret CIA flights to transport terrorism suspects without formal proceedings’, that is ‘extraordinary rendition’. That snippet came from the Associated Press’ first release. Todd’s investigation concluded that there was no evidence to support that claim. However, in February 2008, only a few weeks before Todd’s death, the British and American governments admitted that two extraordinary rendition flights had refuelled on British territory, on the island of Diego Garcia. You might think then, that Todd’s investigation would be topical news, given the timing, at least sufficiently so for a brief mention of it in the news coverage of his death – especially since it was the headline bit of information from the AP newswire.

But no, we get this from the BBC , this from ITV , and so on. The BBC one in particular is interesting in that it gives a detailed chronology of almost the whole of Todd’s career, without mentioning the investigation. All we have are these intriguing paragraphs:

In 2006 he became the vice-chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers, the politically powerful group of senior officers that help set policy across constabularies.

His interests in the body included counter-terrorism and media policy. Greater Manchester became the first area outside of London to launch a dedicated counter-terrorism unit with Mr Todd calling for close co-operation with MI5.

Counter-terrorism and media policy, with close co-operation with MI5? Well, that’s not relevant to the investigation then, eh?

Now, I’ll leave the CIA/MI5 thing there as clearly I have no idea whatsoever of the facts, and so it’s irresponsible to speculate…

But speculate the media did. The very next day, the BBC reported that his death may have been suicide. To me, this didn’t seem like news, I had countenanced the possibility myself – there’s only so many ways he could have died. Of particular interest was the line:

He is believed to have killed himself and sources said letters addressed to his family have been found.

Now, this isn’t Fox News, this is the BBC we’re talking about here. Is this the state of journalism these days? Sorry but, who believes that? The post-mortem wasn’t even finished at this point; the inquiry hadn’t started. Who are your sources? Where were the letters found? Not wanting to go all conspiratorial here but letters can be faked/planted, can we at least wait until there’s been some sort of judicial procedure before confirming the validity of these supposed suicide notes? Or the ‘worrying texts’ that the BBC claim to have been informed of? The Mirror went further and reported that suicide notes were actually found on Todd’s body. Bear in mind that Greater Manchester police have said no notes to his family have been found anywhere. (see bottom of article)

So, if there’s any of the Mirror’s target demographic reading this… you know… they’re making shit up. And well, I don’t know what to think about the BBC sometimes.

The next big wave of stories were basically defamatory, implying Todd had killed himself because of personal problems. These personal problems included an alleged affair with a co-worker. The Mirror cites unnamed sources who call Todd ‘a bit of a womaniser’ and claims he had a ‘string of affairs’. Another unnamed source in the Mirror article claims Todd was ‘reeking of gin’ – not just defamation but wilfully misleading, since Todd was only 25mg over the legal driving limit – he’d had the equivalent of 2 and a half pints of beer.

And as all this is happening bear in mind that Todd is survived by a grieving widow and three children.

So how could the media compensate for all this speaking ill of the dead? Why not romanticise his tragic downfall?! Yeah! Todd was as a ‘family man’, a ‘copper’s copper’, ‘destined for the top’, but then he was found on ‘storm-lashed slopes’ / ‘a wind-swept peak’ (actual quotes). It becomes kind of blatant when your tabloid papers actually start speaking in the language of 19th century Romantic poets, replete with imagery of tormented, starcrossed, solitary figures meeting their fate on dark forbidding mountains.

And this comes so soon after a moral panic in the media social networking sites like Bebo are romanticising suicide. But hey I guess its okay to criticise young Welsh people, grieving for their friends on the last free medium.

We need to be holding the media responsible for this sort of thing.