Thinking Allowed

Playing with fire From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (105 days old)

“Undoubtedly the science is changing. Anyone who plots a learning curve – and we have all been plotting these things for years – would be able to tell you that whatever we think was fairly good before… more

Guardian's steady flow of greenwash continues From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (140 days old)

From Private Eye (hat-tip): "Panic stations at the Guardian this month where plans to become "the world's foremost media organisation for environmental coverage" as deputy editor Ian Kazt likes to … more

Beautiful From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (230 days old)

“That’s the beauty of Gaza. You see a man walking, he doesn’t have to have a weapon, and you can shoot him.” - an IDF soldier explains to Danny Zamir, the head of Israel’s Rabin pre-military ac… more

Six degrees, here we come From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (239 days old)

What a five degree global average temperature rise looks like: What six degrees’ global average temperature rise looks like: What business-as-usual now looks like: Global temperatures… more

King of corruption From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (246 days old)

Anyone notice this creep popping up on Comment Is Free today? No? Well, consider the various pies in which this car industry shill and PR man has found the opportunity to plant his petroleum-greas… more

A modest proposal From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (246 days old)

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Quotes o’t’ day From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (250 days old)

Some fresh thinking on constitutional reform (from the 17th Century): “If the very existence of arbitrary powers take away freedom, because they take away consent to power, then the first thing you… more

“Who elected you?” From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (253 days old)

Nice promotional video from the US-based media reform campaign group Free Press: In the words of Robert McChesney: “The real issue is, why do we create and subsidize media systems built … more

“I can confirm that we are a bunch of lawless thugs …” From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (260 days old)

Out of the mouths of babes and British Colonels (hat-tip): “We have exactly the same problem [as Israel] ourselves when, for example, we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, and of course we have … more

Who makes the news? Not journalists From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (264 days old)

An insight, courtesy of the lovely people at pro-aviation lobby group Flying Matters, into a vital outsourced arm of the modern news factory: “Michelle di Leo denied the suggestion Flying Matters h… more

The “new anti-semitism” returns, again From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (271 days old)

There is an unending supply of dubious claims in the British media. Some, however, are rather more easy to discern than others. When Prozac Nation author and noted plagiarist Elizabeth Wurtzel wrote i… more

Inverting reality From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (285 days old)

Witness the mysterious alchemy of the British press: a persistent pattern of Israeli provocation (discernible even when one leaves aside the crucial context of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian t… more

Purity of arms From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (287 days old)

Via the Miami Herald: "The evidence we've gathered in two of the cases so far is exceedingly strong," said Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch working in the Gaza Strip. "All… more

That Gaza appeal From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (288 days old)

And Tony Benn had a go earlier in the week ... If you've been awake at all over the last few days, you'll have noticed that this issue has now provoked a bit of a political storm, with Arch… more

The “impartiality” of the psychopath From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (292 days old)

Even I didn’t think they could stoop quite this low, but the BBC appear to have outdone themselves. The Corporation has just refused to air a humanitarian appeal for the people of Gaza by the Disa… more

Suffra-jets brick the windows of the Department for Transport From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (299 days old)

With some groups now threatening a campaign to shut down the whole of Heathrow airport, and a member of the Cabinet admitting that the “opponents had succeeded in talking the plan down to ‘half a runw… more

Israel must lose. From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (299 days old)

An honest appraisal, published on the Guardian letters page today: The massacres in Gaza are the latest phase of a war that Israel has been waging against the people of Palestine for more than 60 y… more

And so it begins ... From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (300 days old)

Here’s the ugly truth no-one is mentioning: the climate now appears to be a lot more sensitive than we thought. In terms of the atmospheric “stock” of carbon, we are already over the limit that we… more

The Guardian forfeits its last shred of moral credibility From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (301 days old)

Guardian editorial, Tuesday 23 March 1999 (via): “The only honorable course for Europe and America is to use military force to try to protect the people of Kosovo... If we do not act at all, or if … more

The BBC lets Israeli propaganda mould its coverage From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (302 days old)

BBC Director of News Helen Boaden provides an insight into BBC editorial policy today, in explaining the discrepancies in its reporting of the LRA in Uganda and the IDF in Gaza: “The LRA is alleged… more

New book by Craig Murray; British libel law From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (303 days old)

Craig Murray, the UK’s former ambassador to Uzbekistan, is currently facing legal threats for libel after attempting to publish his latest book, The Catholic Orangemen of Togo, and Other Conflicts I H… more

SAY IT WITH SHOES: for an end to Britain's support for Israel From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (304 days old)

For those of my readers who are on Facebook, this is a new group I've just set up, shamelessly nicking an idea from Jo Abbess of the Campaign Against Climate Change (much obliged, Jo) to send shoe… more

Israel: the pre-eminent provocateur From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (308 days old)

An extraordinarily revealing analysis from the Huffington Post (via) reveals that Israel’s violation of the most recent ceasefire is far from a one-off. In fact, Israel has displayed a systematic patt… more

Avi Shlaim: How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (309 days old)

“A wide gap separates the reality of Israel’s actions from the rhetoric of its spokesmen. It was not Hamas but the IDF that broke the ceasefire. It did so by a raid into Gaza on 4 November that killed… more

National Demonstration: Saturday 10 January; daily protests continuing outside the Israeli embassy in London From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (309 days old)

Via Stop The War: National Demonstration: Saturday 10 January Stop the Massacre: Israel Out of Gaza Assemble 12.30pm Speakers Corner, Hyde Park March to Israeli Embassy, High St Kensington, Lond… more

Israel’s propaganda war From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (310 days old)

As was entirely predictable, Israel’s extremely well-co-ordinated propaganda effort continues to enjoy an extraordinary level of success in dominating the mainstream media agenda, and is even branchin… more

PROTESTS PLANNED: 3 January, central London and across the UK. From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (313 days old)

Be there. … more

Gaza: war crimes and crimes against humanity From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (313 days old)

Deliberate violation of a ceasefire agreement; deliberate targeting of civilians, civilian homes and buildings; “reckless and unlawful Israeli attacks against densely populated residential areas”, lea… more

What do they even hope to achieve? Er, rather a lot, as it turns out From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (332 days old)

Direct action gets the goods. Let me repeat that: direct action gets the goods. And once more for luck: direct action gets the goods. All we need now is a hell of a lot more of it. So if you… more

Climate change: it’s not (just) the economy, stupid From cassandra05 in The Memory Hole (345 days old)

The widespread tendency to discuss climate change as if it were, at root, a matter of costs and benefits that can be worked out in purely economic terms is dragging us into a realm of overt moral depr… more