(Flat Pack) Democracy for Sale!

1(A)
We could almost pretend that it was a new insight, or else something of an underground debate. We could! We could, if only it wasn't for the fact that, in terms of scale and 'attendance,' it presents rather more like a gigantic map of the UK, buried under all manner of makeshift stalls, trestle tables and the like, various vehicles, yawning car boots. Rather like a massive Car-boot Sale! Except for one more, major detail...

You and I, we're not invited. It's not quite 'Invitation Only' and yet, it sort of is. Security on the door has been known to get more than a tad heavy handed, also a bit handsy; they look very Met to me- Thugs for Hire!- and watch out- no, seriously- for those Bad Apples!

Truth is it's almost all been sold off, anyway.

'Old Hat, New Hat.' The hours I spent buried in the pages of this wonderful book. 'Old Hat, New Hat.' and 'Bears in the Night.' were read regularly, several times a day, repeatedly through the early evenings, often well into the latter parts, during every visit of my Granddaughter, up until a few years back; indispensible during a sleepover. I don't know if the authors (Stan and Jan Berenstain) were playing around with the old cliché- not what you think- or not, when they chanced upon the title. Either way the book was invaluable, now both a treasured keepsake as well as a wealth of warm memories.

Darker by far, the term might also be applied to the number of times that ownership of the Media has been broached by any from a higher calibre of journalists. The 'Free' Press, dontcha know! Such a refreshing thought, such a misleading term. It means 'free from state ownership,' not 'free from disingenuous ownership,' nor 'editorial misuse,' nor, ultimately, 'state control.' Albeit, not direct, or more-obvious, state control. The debate, in so far as it ever gets that far, is Old Hat. But...

2(A)
Here are the 'major' (national) newspapers in a nutshell- one overly-long paragraph sub-divided into four shorter ones. Ownership is highly incestuous- it would not look pretty in a family tree. The Metro is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust plc, the same Daily Mail that boasted Paul Dacre at the helm. Dust away the surface detritus and we find Viscount Rothermere as Chair and controlling shareholder. The London Evening Standard falls under the same DMGT group. George Osborne was Editor, 2017 until earlier in 2023, former Chancellor of the Austerity drive, recently recognised as causing some 330,000 excess deaths in the UK, Chancellor of the infamous Two Child Benefit Cap.

The Daily Mirror is owned by Reach plc, which in turn envelops the Daily Express and the Daily Star. Reach plc is massive, owner of some 83 print publications. Chairman of the Board is one Nicholas Prettejohn, who is also a Trustee of the BBC, also Chairman of TSB Bank. CEO of Reach plc is one Jim Mullen, former CEO of merged Ladbrokes Coral (gambling cartel). The i used to boast somewhat of a different slant to most other high street brands, but in 2019 the Daily Mail and General Trust sucked in also this publication. The Financial Times breaks with the pattern, falling under the ownership of Japanese holding company, Nikkei. Deputy Editor is Patrick Jenkins.

The Daily Record is sister paper to the Sunday Mail, one amongst the earlier mentioned 83 Reach plc print publications. The Guardian, formerly the Manchester Guardian, is owned by the Scott Trust Group (ltd since 2008). The paper, with the Observer, took something of a strange turn with the loss of Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger in 2015, since when a whole string of its more robust journalists started drifting away, some more urgently than others. Current Editor-in-Chief is Katherine Viner, who 'worked' her way up through the Australian Guardian route. Viner quickly dropped much of the paper's more investigative thrust, cutting loose those such as Edward Snowden, completely abandoning Julian Assange, throwing Labour under the since discredited anti-Semitism replacement-bus-service.

We know about Rupert Murdoch’s Sun. The Times comes under the News UK umbrella, in turn News Corp and there we have it again, Murdoch. The Daily Telegraph is owned by the wider Telegraph Media Group ltd, a subsidiary of Press Holdings, owned by the billionaire Barclay Twins (David and Frederick). TMG's acquisition of the Spectator magazine is unlikely to interfere with the magazine's ult-right trajectory. Current Editor is Faser Nelson, recruited by Andrew Neil in 2001. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the UK's 'free' press!

1(B)
Within the 'wonderful' Bastion of democracy that is the House of Commons- the Houses of Commons and the Lords- there are hundreds of what are so innocently termed All-Party Parliamentary Groups. According to certain 'choice' parliamentarians they would likely be described as a means by which various issues of national importance are discussed and 'progressed' by our 'trusted' parliamentary representatives. Excluding the notable blip of 2020 the number of such APPGs has increased steadily, every year since 2016, from 555, increasing to 755 in 2022. Naively, we could think in terms of 'the wheels of democracy.' We'd be naive to do so. But these wheels are very well oiled, so well oiled, in fact, that, were there more actual journalism and rather less client journalism, a suspicious, raised eyebrow might be warranted.

'APPGs have no formal place in the legislature, but are an effective way of bringing together parliamentarians and interested stakeholders.' Lifted straight from Wikipedia. There are questions which have not been asked nearly often enough:
- Which non-governmental organisations are being invited to participate in any discussions?
- Which members of parliament receive 'donations' from these 755 (and counting) groups or their respective funders?
- How much do they receive?
- How and by whom are these APPGs funded?


Hidden amongst the 755, there is the Institute of Economic Affairs. The group would like to be thought of as a 'free market think tank,' an 'educational research institute.' The IEA would boast that they are, 'entirely independent of any political party,' also that they are, 'entirely funded by voluntary donations.' The IEA 'does no contract work,' and it 'accepts no money from government.' Thatcher liked to park her think tanks upon all manner of other people's lawns. In the spirit of safeguarded openness any institute or group may choose to reveal that it is funded by the IEA, choose, or choose not!. But from whence does the IEA gather these funds? The unit is tight lipped but this much is known- 'Funding undisclosed. Some funding from fossil fuel industry, gambling industry, and tobacco industry.' The IEA is registered as a UK charity; it is one of 755 APPGs currently operating in UK parliament. Few in MSM ever seem to point out, or even imply, that those with the largest monetary funds are necessarily able to donate greater volumes, therefore exert ever greater influence.

Britain's Conservatives have been masters at dressing up their more dubious motives in all manner of fancier clothing. Prior to the UK thinking it had 'freely voted' to leave the EU, there was the European Research Group (ERG), Chairman, Mark Francois and others such as Steve Baker, Chris Grayling, Michael Gove. During the Global Pandemic there was the Covid Recovery Group (CRG), Steve Baker again! Such dysfunctional individuals dressed up in new finery! A fawning BBC would, and will, dutifully invite (say) 'Spokesperson for the European Recovery Group,' to proffer 'expert insight' as and when listeners might require a nudge. Fanfares can be imagined, 'expert insight' largely feigned but, otherwise, afforded way, way too much air time! In similar vein the national broadcaster will happily chuckle along with the Editor from The Spectator, pondering the day's newspaper headlines. Two nutshells: ERG's sole purpose was to selectively search out anti-EU rhetoric. CRG's role was to find any means by which to undermine any form of lockdown during the pandemic, always positioning profit above human life.

Not an APPG- although funds may be forthcoming should the cause tickle Tony's fancy- we have the Tony Blair Institute for Global Affairs (TBI). Tony also has a highly deserved reputation for parking his think tanks upon other people's lawns. Irony we might think, but no! Tony plans to use his TBI to intervene in order to re-energise the 'centre ground,' 'African governance' and 'Middle East policy.' Whoa! Seriously? What, again?

Tony is also guarded about funding, although revenue has now climbed to well in excess of £80 millions. Try digging and there is the legal clarification that 'the Institute is under no duty to disclose donors or donations.' It is known that various funds have found their ways Tony-wards, from Saudi Arabia, Media Investment Ltd and the US State Department. So, all good there! Tony wants his TBI to, "give governments good solid advice. " Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, former Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, has been known to turn to Tony's TBI as a warm source of unofficial advice. Tony's TBI is active in almost 40 countries- no tanks necessary!- as of January 2023.

Heaving the Overton Widow to huge personal advantage, Tony would describe his TBI as 'Centre Left.' Upon taking up the inevitable mantle of UK Premier, it will be interesting- concerning, alarming- to discover just how many of its staff Labour HQ and Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, former Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, recruit from the TBI. There will at least be someone for Peter Mandleson to talk to. 'Good solid advice!'

The means by which political parties and organisations may be funded is another issue which is regarded as 'Old Hat.' For 'old hat' it may (wrongly) be substituted as 'moved on from.' Political Parties are still legally required to disclose their donors and, for the most part, they comply. Here, we may identify the entire purpose of APPGs and similar groups. We can think we know where the funds are sourced but, ultimately we know nothing of the sort.

3(A)
Whilst the likes of Life Peer, Baron John Mann, Government Adviser on anti-Semitism, slinks about in Governmental corridor shadows, shouting at appointed targets, jabbing index finger like a weapon, and fellow life peer, Baron Walney, John Zak Woodcock, Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption, tries his best to move on from his own shadow of allegations of sexual harassment, we may rest assured that GB News and Talk Radio will remain at liberty to peddle their own particular slant upon 'Free Speech!' Suitably selective. Enriching political discourse.

A global fear is that at some point in the indeterminate future of the 21st Century, inevitably, certain higher calibre journalists will be able to document the (current) Second Nakba, the 'Ethnic Cleansing' of Palestinians from the Northern half of Occupied Gaza. That is assuming that the Israeli Government and the IDF tanks stop at 'half.' Currently the UK Government, and UK 'Opposition' Parties endorsed 'Collective Punishment' of Gazan Palestinians- an actual 'War Crime'- is just too painful to watch or to listen to. "The first casualty of war is truth." Hiram Johnson's words may well feature, maybe they will be revised and repackaged, as suitable for the political environment within which we now reside. Suffice to point out that the Truth succumbed several years back. Brave beyond our imagining, honourably collecting and collating evidence, the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has issued an intent to prosecute PM Sunak and several fellow Conservatives for complicity in Israeli War Crimes. Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, Director of ICJP, has put on record that "If you know that a party is going to commit a War Crime – and this forcible transfer of people is a precise breach of one of the statutes that governs international law and all states in this area – then you are making yourself complicit." MP Blunt went on to clarify that "being complicit makes you equally guilty to the party carrying out the crime." Even within the most right-wing UK Conservative Party of modern times, it seems, there is greater freedom of conscience than that afforded by Starmer's and General Secretary David Evans's Labour Party.

In April MP Dianne Abbott penned a clumsy letter, setting out ‘her’ hierarchy of racism. Further, she went so far as to post the ‘idea.’ Had she been any from a vast swathe of fellow MPs, instead targeting any from a selection of other communities, the letter would almost certainly have swiftly been brushed under the carpet, 'explained' as foolhardy misspeak, but she isn’t, she’s the UK’s first black female (Labour) MP and a proud socialist. Without being able to ask and confirm it seems [to me] probable that the e-mail would not have seen the light of day had Labour’s anti-Semitism charade not been orchestrated. Her means to communicate with any wider public was quickly, and almost without dissenting ripple, retracted.

I am not the writer to rise to the immense challenge of documenting a Second Nakba. If, however, I were, I would feel compelled to contextualise the ongoing War Crimes. Highly pertinent has to be the ongoing Israeli Military Occupation, the ongoing targeting and murder of thousands of innocent Palestinians, the IDF sniper fire, the IDF air strikes, the lurch further to the right of successive Israeli Governments, the imprisonment and torture of thousands of innocent Palestinians. Obviously, I'd need to clarify that such has been the ongoing situation in Occupied Palestine for many decades prior to 7th October 2023. Without contextualisation the Human Rights abuses by Hamas absolutely cannot properly be written about, regardless of what disingenuous individuals may fabricate or deflect. Eager to validate this imagined book, I’d also need to accurately condemn Hamas, but accurately so. I’d have to be careful not to go wading in with all manner of reactionary hearsay. “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” If the words are those of Mark Twain then Twain's insight into current MSM has proven spookily prophetic. I’m certain that there exists more than adequate evidence with which to condemn the group, yet I’d still need to ratify each and every cited piece of evidence. I'd hate to be labelled as some form of liar!

Following on from the horrific attack at the Northern Gazan border, 06:30 Saturday 7th October, newspaper headlines (see 2A) tended significantly to favour inflammatory over accuracy. “40 babies were murdered.” One IDF soldier ‘revealed’ to one reporter, “they chop off the heads of women and children!” Truly horrific, indeed, and it is certain that the attacks were horrific! One IDF, maybe the same, soldier said that, “40 babies were murdered!” Even in the Telegraph the solitary soldier’s words remain unverified. An eager Turkish reporter, present when the words were spoken, was also unable to verify the quote. But, as Twain may once have observed, the ‘words’ were already off and spreading like wildfire! Several high profile BBC and other ‘journalists’ chose to go with an unverifiable kernel rather than to investigate further. Some of these individuals duly rounded upon others who elected to hang fire. The BBC came under fire from various parties. The BBC can be too subtle in its uneven-handedness for some commentators. BBC (World) News tweeted that Israelis had “been killed,” whereas Palestinians had (passively) “died.” This is hierarchical reporting.

Never one for waiting, Richard Madeley came bursting through, dragging the 'safety curtains in his wake like some sort of deranged Biblical-esque villain, invoking WW2. "A lot of civilians, German civilians were killed and nobody, at the time, made any excuses or apologies for that. They just saw it as a necessary evil! Is that a fair parallel?" No, it isn't, Richard, for all manner of reasons, every one of which you are unlikely not to shout down. Richard's forte is not with news reportage.

Israeli Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has boasted he will “issue 10,000 rifles to settlers in the West Bank,” many of whom are increasingly dressing as militia, where Palestinian homes and wells are still being bull-dozed and settlers are already daily killing their Arab neighbours.

Likud-compliant ‘news’ channel i24 seems to be the source of the “beheading” claim- the IDF, now ‘reservist,’ soldier remains generic, unidentified- the reporter was Nicole Zedek. A single, unconfirmed claim has travelled, “half way round the world before,” honest journalism has gotten, “its boots on.” Although, in reality, it has travelled much, much further than this.

Away from the headlines reporters have, thus far, failed to secure confirmation. The Israeli Defence Force has said it, “cannot confirm.” An IDF spokesperson was more specific. Major Nir Dinar insisted that the IDF were, “not going to investigate,” they were, “not going to comment publicly.” He made it clear that [we] “don’t need proof,” that it was, “disrespectful to the dead.” [We] “don’t need evidence,” [we] are, “not going to look for it.” Several reporters have pressed Israeli government and the IDF but the line is currently being held.

The ground is laid for the coming of a second Nakba. US, UK and other Western Governments continue to cherry-pick through literal, figurative, structural and human annihilation, remains and 'rubble.' Starmer has, repeatedly, endorsed Israeli ‘Collective Punishment,’ upon the Gazan population, so much so that Labour is currently haemorrhaging councillors. Lammy and Sue Grey have been tasked with shoring up the flow. Perhaps ICJP will look also to prosecute several of His Majesty's Opposition? Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, James Spencer Cleverly, continues to bluster when confronted with the gathering facts, regarding Israeli 'War Crimes,' ‘Forced Transference’ of over one million Palestinians from Northern Gaza- to where precisely? Human Rights Watch is battling to gather evidence, in both instances, of 'War Crimes' on the part of Israel. Formerly, the organisation has declared Israel to be operating as an apartheid state, as has Amnesty International and B’tselem, top Israeli Human Rights group. Human Rights Watch has confirmed that the IDF is using white phosphorus in Gaza. Amnesty is also investigating. Israel's historical record of Human Rights abuses continues to grow. 'Crimes of Apartheid' established, Israel has surpassed the South African threshold. The Norwegian Refugee Council has recognised the Israeli onslaught as a 'War Crime' of 'Forcible Transfer.' The nation's 'Crimes of Aggression' and 'War Crimes' continue to spiral. As of 6th October 2023 Hamas is known to have committed atrocities in the region bordering Northern Gaza. Since when Israel has argued itself 'Immune' from gathering evidence of 'Crimes Against Humanity,' 'Crimes of Aggression,' perhaps yet 'Genocide', and more general 'War Crimes.' Internaionnal law will judge accordingly, with due regard to the evidence. The US, standing erect between US and Israeli flags, will veto!

War on Want has joined the call for Israel to avoid civilians but Israel has seldom bowed to outside pressure. The organisation believes that Israeli 'War Crimes' are currently accumulating daily. The IDF has targeted civilian tower blocks, burying numerous Palestinians at ten-minute warnings. With food running out, several bakeries have been reduced to rubble. There is evidence of the targeting of order-compliant retreating convoys, at ambulances, given IDF clearance, being targeted on site, doctors being lost to IDF aggression. Gazan hospitals are being treated as 'legitimate' targets by Israel, ordered to evacuate its patients at two hour's notice. 'War Crimes' of 'Forced Transfer' and 'Collective Punishment.' Ice cream trucks are being used to store bodies. Over two-thousand miles away Home Secretary, Suella Braverman has responded by attempting to legislate against the Palestinian flag, should 'War Crime' objectors demonstrate too much compassion. Labour General secretary, David Evans, has told members, “they must not, under any circumstance,” attend any demonstration of compassion for Palestinians being slaughtered. Precious time to sit with family and listen to stories such as 'Old Hat, New Hat,' is not to be afforded Palestinian infants.

Seventy miles to the North-East, in the Occupied West Bank, whilst attending the funeral of Palestinians murdered by Israeli Settlers, a father and his son were shot dead by those same Settlers attacking the funeral procession. Obviously this is not the type of terrorism Home Secretary Braverman, PM Sunak, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Cleverly, nor Opposition Leader Starmer have in mind when they pontificate about Terrorism. Hamas, we are lectured, has passed an, invisible and different threshold to that of the Israeli Settlers.

Médecins sans Frontières has reported upon an air strike upon a packed Gazan hospital! The charity reported unrelenting bombing by IDF, one powerful missile striking the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Northern Gaza. The blast is the latest in a long history of Israeli 'War Crimes' against Palestinians, to be misrepresented via MSM. The blast happened at 18:59 local time,17th October- captured on camera- killing hundreds, many already injured Palestinians but also Gazans sheltering because they had hoped the hospital would be safer than other parts of the city. US President Biden has been quick to cuddle up to his Israeli allies, addressing Israeli President Netanyahu in front of a tapestry of Israeli and US flags- the 'right' kind of flags- Biden cited, likely, "the other team." In one surreal moment of absolute farce, and clutching for a line, Biden was heard to whisper something about still favouring a "two state solution." Dig away, Joe! Raz Segal, an expert in modern genocide has labelled Israel's attack on Gaza, “intent to commit 'Genocide.'”

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, "It is clear that IDF did not strike the hospital in Gaza." In front of gathered international journalists Hagari detailed IDF's "intricate analysis," "overseen by the 'very highest levels of command.'" He confirmed that, "there was no IDF fire by land sea or air that hit the hospital." Hagai even shared that the IDF had secured 'very clear' footage of two handy terrorists chatting about the incident; every handy detail (almost as if reading from the script). Hagari pressed that they "wanted to 'double check' everything." Wow, well done! 'Honest' clarification from the people who also 'didn't shoot' Shireen Abu Aqla, except, of course, they did! As several of the attending journalists were well aware, and some made clear, IDF's record of misinformation stretches back decades! Jonathan Cook covered the strike with rather fewer tools yet far greater honesty. He reminded those prepared to take notice, that:
1. 'No Palestinian group has a rocket that can hit a hospital, killing hundreds. What they have are glorified fireworks'
2. 'the video of the strike itself shows that an incredibly large and powerful weapon is used. Listen to the noise the missile makes just before the hit – that whooshing noise is caused by its phenomenal velocity as it cuts through the air. That is *not* the noise of a falling Palestinian rocket.'
3. 'Israel got lucky this time, it seems, and just happened to be listening in when Huey and Louie decided to self-incriminate.'

As the BBC said, "It's hard to see what else this could be, given the size of the explosion." Somehow a number of non-IDF journalists have managed to evade air strikes, although Israel continues to whittle away. The number of those killed is being constantly updated. There is footage of an IDF strike targeting a group of highly-visible journalists, standing clearly apart from Israeli targets, killing one Reuters videographer and injuring six others. Breaking from the official line, an armed Israeli policeman is filmed screaming into the camera! "We will turn Gaza into dust! Into dust!" PM Sunak has travelled to meet President Netanyahu, prior to visiting Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, where non-compliant journalists are treated very differently. In response, presumably not to the Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, instead in order to cement Britain’s blind adherence to colonial values, and to turn a spot-lit blind eye to ongoing 'Ethnic Cleansing.' [We will stand with our] “friend,” [shoulder to shoulder, in] “Israel’s darkest hour.” With a diplomacy, that is only ‘afforded’ the multi-billionaire, PM Sunak swiftly identified where the darkest shadows lay. Perhaps he could not quite see over the horizon? "We want you to win!" Sunak concluded, chilling the blood.

The Gazan hospital was just one of 48 Health Care Facilities targeted since 7th October 2023, said the World Health Organisation (WHO). Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) reported, more than 300 hundred people have been killed, doctors, nurses, patients, children, women and men. Working under the IDF blitz of Northern Gaza, with limited water, limited food, without electricity, and fast diminishing medical supplies, Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) have not the time to gather evidence of accumulating 'War Crimes' of 'Collective Punishment.' Surviving workers have barely had time to report upon the constant air strikes, "causing widespread destruction to civilian life and infrastructure, untold physical and psychological suffering to Palestinians, and the displacement of more than 338,934 people from their homes." An ongoing 'Collective punishment!'

1(C)
Two weeks ago I sat down to a screening of 'Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie,' narrated by Alexei Sayle. This short film is gathering considerable impetus; it's popularity evident in the extra effort that its many viewers have undertaken to attend. Labour General Secretary David Evans believes that here, too, he is the superior arbiter of truth. Again he has intervened- done the heavy lifting- in the thought process, such that members will not have to. Labour does not wish members to attend, nor to acknowledge that such a film even exists. Members are not encouraged to think independently, lest they should cheer or clap in the wrong place, or accidentally wave the wrong design of flag.

Campaign Against Anti-semitism (CAA) boasts itself another non-Governmental Organisation. Its header page 'informs' of its 'volunteer-led charity' status. Self publicity neglects to mention that CAA is currently under investigation for its 'political partisanship,' the ongoing political campaigning undertaken by CAA contravenes 'charity status.' Reported upon by the Civil Society, we are informed that the Charity Commission is assessing concerns. Chief Executive of CAA, Gideon Falter, "worked tirelessly to investigate Labour." Director of Investigations and Enforcement, Stephen Silverman, devotes time to keeping abreast of film screenings of 'The Big Lie,' then contacting venues and badgering for cancellation. David Silverman uses also the Jewish Chronicle as platform for his particular message. The Chronicle has claimed that multiple libel payouts were a small price to pay for 'smearing Corbyn and the Left.' The 'newspaper' has been found to have breached the enfeebled IPSO code of practice at least 28 times, as of September 2021. There have been numerous calls for IPSO to take further action, but then IPSO is both owned and controlled by the very papers it is supposed to regulate. The Jewish Chronicle is frequently cited as the paper in greatest need of far greater regulation. Recognising IPSO for what it is, several other papers have declined to participate in the process- so even this woeful level of regulation is voluntary! Journalist and Activist, Tony Greenstein has identified and more fully exposed CAA's more sinister purpose. CAA hails itself as "almost entirely volunteer" and is reluctant to name major funders, listed as "members of the public." Via JC's 'output' we can, at least, observe that CAA maintains 'contact' with a certain Israeli ideology. The organisation's standard, non-specific threat letter to any venue hoping to screen 'The Big Lie' lays bare its disingenuous 'goals.' Feigning to represent the 'convenient' vagueness of IHRA 'examples,' CAA declines to cite specific examples of anti-semitism in the film because, of course, there are none. Again, the heavy lifting has been assumed.

In the past the Jewish Chronicle's financial woes have been ably resolved via characters such as former PM Teresa May, BBC non-Executive Director Sir Robbie Gibb, former Charity Commission Chairman and 'journalist,' William Shawcross, under his own shadow, Baron Varney, John Zak Woodcock and alleged BBC 'journalist, Jewish Chronicle co-owner and lawfare exponent, John Ware. Despite its multiple legal payouts- "grave” threat of closure due to a series of financial losses."- the Jewish Chronicle seems unlikely to soon succumb. "The Jewish Chronicle would have disappeared but for philanthropic support," said the salvaging consortium. "Philanthropic," no less. “We are not treating the Jewish Chronicle as a commercial venture but as a community asset.” they went on to 'clarify.' 'Asset,' seriously? APPG or charitable trust?

University College London fought hard to reject the IHRA definition of anti-semitism, with good cause- but not quite hard enough- recognising the intended stifling of political debate; a stifling which is increasingly evident in UK media. CAA's deliberately vague targeting of 'The Big Lie' demonstrates this. The Humanitarian Crisis unfolding in Gaza, the manner in which ongoing Israeli 'War Crimes' are being tip-toed around, more than amply illustrates this. If not now, when might we be permitted to openly speak about actual 'Genocide?' Imagine the scene: Fiona Bruce 'unable' to repeat the words 'death cult' as used by Jewish Chronicle Editor, Jake Wallis Simons, to describe Muslims. Members of the Question Time audience are able to call up and read the quote. Wallis Simons (award winning British journalist) afforded platform and time to deny his own words, "I didn't, I didn't!" Fiona Bruce, quote in front of her, 'unwilling to challenge. Question Time stifled? Imagine! No wonder, even Kenneth Stern, drafter of the IHRA definition, has become an outspoken critic of the uses to which it is being put.

2(B)
Merriam Webster: Journalism: 'Writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.' There are so many would-be or self-described 'journalists' out there, with so many 'takes' upon current affairs, that the merest hint at holding all to such lofty credentials is, surely, now, and currently, irredeemable. It's not that there is not room for 'deeper insight,' thus even 'opinion.' The issue lies with 'uninformed opinion,' presented as fact. The echo chambers of modern discourse have devolved such that many now seek out opinion over fact but then regurgitate it as the former. Where a certain mind-set is at play, this has enabled the usurpation of open debate by confrontation. Home secretary, Suella Braverman's many rants upon 'refugees' and 'asylum-seekers,' or 'pseudo-anti-semitism,' or the 'Palestinian flag' are all just such examples. Braverman does not favour the debate.

Fortunately, there are several excellent Journalists who openly disclose their slant and will then proceed to build an argument upon a foundation of gleaned facts. The entombed Julian Assange was one such- hailed by the old Guardian but not by Katherine Viner's 'revised' version. Jonathan Cook, Grace Blakeley, Ash Sarkar, the late Dawn Foster- definitely not Giles Coren- Ava Evans- definitely not Laurence Fox- Adam Bienkov of Byline Times, Michael Walker; the writers lean into their work, refusing to subjugate facts to 'the message.' Peter Oborne is an interesting one- he has been on something of a 'journey.' Oborne has moved on from his times at the Spectator and the Telegraph and now prefers to build his columns upon thoroughly researched facts. Thus, several of his former platforms have been retracted. Upon his book, 'The Assault on Truth,' the best that former colleagues could muster was, "keeping the receipts," "whereby someone mentally stores the evidence of another’s behaviour, should they ever need it in future." Swerving sharply to the right of the Guardian's distaste for Oborne's factual tome most UK newspapers opted to avoid altogether the book that refused to return a compliment.

Katherine Viner's latest target has been the political cartoonist Steve Bell. Under her editorship the paper's journalistic pool has been steadily whittled away at. Having usurped Rusbridger Viner's first action was to deny the former editor a new role as Chair at the Scott Trust. Steve Bell, dismissed by curt e-mail, follows a long line of more honourable journalists to leave the Guardian to its adjusted course. Human rights lawyer and journalist, Craig Murray, is yet another to have fallen foul of the national narrative, arrested upon his return from Iceland. Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, the rock musician Roger Waters, the playwright David Hare and the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis have all concluded that his arrest has been more of a witch-hunt; Murray has espoused, perhaps, one too many non-compliant causes?

For the discerning viewer and listener there are several platforms which do not necessarily follow the current narrative, more so where it has been found to be short on fact and honesty. The platforms tend to be less well patronised by the billionaire classes, the real estate owners, the upper tiers of societal inequalities, less well advertised. Their journalists are less likely to be asked to add insight to the BBC's news programmes.

Here's the thing, though, World renowned national broadcaster, the BBC, stands upon the unique platform of Governmental(ish)-and-self-declared impartiality! The BBC repeatedly boasts of 'news coverage without favour or political bias.' Fiona Bruce and others in similar roles are supposed to 'speak truth to power,' not sit on their hands and decline to challenge the interviewee, when half an audience and F.B. herself, could so easily elect to further the debate. Not to shut things down and [I want to] "move on!"

Russian Ambassador to the UK has shocked the nation in an interview with the BBC. Confronted with images of razed hospitals and tales of retreating civilian convoys being targeted by Russian Su-25 fighter jets, Andrei Kelin firmly stated that, "There is no humanitarian crisis." Ambassador Kelin went on to accuse Ukraine of harbouring Nazis, arguing that this is a war of "Good versus evil!" Asked about the likelihood of peace talks in the immediate future, Kelin went on to envoke the Second World War: "You don't speak about peace when Nazi Germany are attacking the whole of Western Europe." [We are] "fighting pure evil!" Shocking and to be roundly condemned!

Except, of course, the words have been lifted straight from a Sky News interview with Kay Burley. The interviewee was not in fact Russian Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, speaking for a nation with whom the UK has an increasingly strained relationship. Instead it was Tzipi Hotovely, Israeli Ambassador to the UK, speaking on behalf of "one of the UK's 'dearest' and 'closest' allies," a nation UK Parliament and MSM seems incapable of condemning for multiple accumulating 'War Crimes,' against an almost-wholly unarmed civilian population.

It's as simple as A,B,C 1,2,3! But "The Middle East is complicated."

But, seriously, It's never that complicated!

Silencing the Crickets!

I've cycled a fair few miles this year, most recent years, generally avoiding the heavier traffic, targeting the quieter country lanes. Observations would be that the weather's been rather on the damp side, the air not as on fire as is that further south, around the Mediterranean for example. Numbers of Swifts and Hirundines (Swallows and Martins), if anything, may even be up a squeak upon last year's alarmingly poor showing. Butterfly populations, with the notable exception of Silver-washed Fritillaries and Red Admirals, continue to plummet. Bee populations have nose-dived! Now, solo rider as I often am, I recognise that my observations offer mere anecdotal, route specific, information but...

The 'insect narrative'- insect apocalypse- butterflies more specifically, would have it that the preceding and higher-than-average-summer-temperatures have had significant impact upon several key species. Significant? Maybe. Certainly the farming lobby is implying as much, guardians of the countryside that they are, except to note...

Given that the farming community continues also to spread toxic reservoirs of pesticides- over 150 varieties- across England's green and 'pleasant' lands, maybe, just maybe, they're not the best people with whom to have entrusted the land in the first instance. Their particular (farming lobby) narrative argues that the hot summers are to blame. Mmmm! Since 'taking back control' an additional 36 pesticides, banned by the EU, are now free to bleed into the landscape. Dutifully, the EU kept a concerned eye upon the Monsato world view. We should probably count blessings that Bayer's 2016 acquisition of the giant managed to precede the UK's 2017 goose step to the right!

By all means, justly curse the water monopolies for pumping millions into shareholder pockets, whilst doing the same with effluent and excrement into our rivers and coastal waters but we should also be aware that the farmers continue to produce the bulk of the pollution. And, in so doing, they are contributing majorly to an...


Insect Apocalypse!


The water companies may be ably assisting with the poisoning but they're not yet the ones grubbing out the hedgerows and repurposing land away from wildlife. Except where it may be artificially preserved for bloody sports! The Water Companies are not the ones responsible for allowing animal excrements and nitrates to leach into the water tables and to weep, puss-like, into our rivers. The water company's touch is a far more human one. BBC's Countryfile works hard at filtering and remoulding public consciousness, more's the pity they can't assist with filtering out some of the effluent the farmers are producing.

A recent government pledge to abandon (also) the tiny remnant protection for our waterways, this time at the behest of the 'developer' lobbyists, may yet cause the burden of annihilation to shift. We can sense TBI's Starmer cabinet spinning up through the gears of change. One million new homes! Wow, almost a quarter of the shortfall that's been manufactured under this same government. Watch those dead-eyed client journos pretend not to have noticed the slight of hand.

On a recent summer's afternoon I stopped to stand and stare at a huge acreage of Red Clover. The adjacent country lane had long since been closed-off to transport, excepting bikes and pedestrians; Bramble was snaking across the tarmac from the verges. I watched the pink landscape for well over ten minutes and managed to detect not one single Honey Bee. Two Bumblebees, just about double digits of Hoverflies, one Brown China-Mark Moth and, perhaps, as many as twenty, either Large or Small, White Butterflies, but no Honey Bees! So determined was I to find at least one that I wandered up and down the adjacent lane (the aforementioned totals include this) eventually giving up and riding onward. Modern farming obliterating the Butterflies...

Silencing the Crickets!

No more the quiet chirrup in the long grass, the crack of leather on willow!

Decimating the moths, obliterating the hoverflies, wiping out the beetles and the bugs, thus starving the spiders, enacting a bee apocalypse. But, never fear the grown-ups are back in charge! And, at the eleventh hour, the planet is surely to be saved. Again! And yet again, from the very same gang that drove us here in the first place. Wave some flags, why don't we?

There is an accumulating raft of statistics and facts, that will be pawed over at some indeterminate time in the future, that various non-client 'journalists' and other authors, social scientists, may reference to chart the demise of 21st Century UK, perhaps Western society, hopefully not yet the entire modern world. Who will, then, want or have the time to stop and to reminisce about the former planet we once held? Increasingly, we find ourselves bumping along the bottom, pseudo-functioning at the behest of many of the absolute worst individuals that could ever have been envisaged at the helm. Whether it be global warming- with troughing days numbered Sunak ($1.5 billion in the pocket) now barely even troubles to disguise the corruption- mass species extinction, pollution of our waterways, other forms of pollution, decimation of public services, housing (home ownership and rental), public health and the NHS- both Starmer and Streeting continue to work with private health-care companies, inequality, private monopoly takeovers (privatisation and stealth), eroded democracy, media ownership and messaging, the list is beyond alarming! All of those here listed fully apply to the UK but wildfire expansion of the neoliberal conflagration is spreading fast to engulf also many other nations.

Sacrificing the Honey Bees!

Sugar for the paparazzi. Keeping the buzzing inside the tent.

There's also the monetisation of seemingly everything! Beware, wherever there are private interests with hands in the jar, fat-cat CEOs to cloak in ermine and to dine, shareholder skimming to be done, the profit motive, then there will be leaks! Small leaks, big leaks, expanding leaks! Leaking and leeching from the many to the very few! Prominent amongst a sparsity of Labour election ideas is the one to bring in private lobbyists to 'work' upon (thus insert) Reeves's ideas to grow the economy. It's like something out of a recurring neoliberal nightmare!

Let's focus upon the monetisation of sport! Narrow it down, specifically, to the monetisation of cricket. Chart an...


Absence of Cricketers.

Hobbling into my mid-sixties, I grew up watching Test Cricket. The first series that I can still clearly recall was England at home to Pakistan in the summer of 1974, Geoff Arnold's swing bowling and Derek Underwood's 'deadly' spin on a sticky wicket! The sublime batting of first Zaheer Abbas, then Dennis Amiss, only black-and-white but really so much better than its five-decades-evolved counterpart. The cricket stayed on throughout the day, Sundays were set aside as a Christian-Empire rest day! No adverts! Nobody seriously thought to deny viewers access to their national side, playing at home. Well, maybe Kerry Packer, maybe the then little-known spawn of a Mr and Mrs Murdoch. Where was contraception when we needed it?

In glorious full black-and-white, 'twas possible to watch as Underwood systematically out-thought, toyed with and set up the batsman, in real time. I don't recall whether there were even replays, whether, if one missed the wicket, one had to wait until the half-hour highlights programme in the late evening. And, if one didn't catch that, that was it! Missed! How cricket coverage has moved on, except...

Has it? Has it really? Moved on?

2023, forty-nine years worth of technical advances later, one may access a full hour's worth of Technicolor highlights, at any time that suits, as many times as one wishes. But, this comes at the expense of the full day's coverage, which has been whisked away behind a pay-wall. After England's eventual triumph in the one day World Cup, I took the trouble to pen a letter to the England and Wales Cricket Board; even got a reply requesting that I give the then Chairman a phone call to discuss any grievances. Which I declined to do, he wasn't upon the verge of conversion, but he was being jolly well remunerated! Jolly well!

I was not a spin bowler but I didn't need to be in order to appreciate the range of subtleties incorporated into the spinner's repertoire. The guile the bowler employs when adjusting length, speed of trajectory and width, maybe targeting the footmarks, maybe giving some air. And, when the spinner's a wrist spinner, a leg-break bowler, or someone as skilful as Ravi Ashwin (India), or the sadly missed Shane Warne, or the since retired Graham Swann! One simply cannot be expected to appreciate what's properly behind the wicket that just happened when one has only witnessed the single ball being bowled.

Or a Pollock and Donald spell of fast bowling, Gough and Caddick, Lillie and Thompson, Harmison and Flintoff, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, Anderson and Broad. Half-a-dozen random balls cannot even begin to capture the sheer willpower of an innings like Atherton's against the rage of a fired-up Alan Donald- when the umpire has missed an off-the-face caught behind, or Bob Willis's famous rout of the Australians. Wickets and selected shots just doesn't cut it!

Listen to radio coverage- it used to work so wonderfully well with the TV volume tuned down- and one thing that none of the commentators, nor the guests, seems prepared or able to talk about is the loss of one of the nation's key sports to Murdoch's pay-wall. The BBC website- all the highlights!- might boast about a poll to pick the best side ever! How would we know? The very idea illustrates the chosen avenue. I doubt John Edrich would have given much thought to the matter.

There's money to be made, for those on the inside track! The ICC and the ECB have the skimming down pat! In 2020 more money was gambled on cricket than on any other sport, and that was before the introduction of the latest cash cow, The Hundred! Last thing they want is another racism controversy. Very neatly reverse-swept under the carpet! Rocking the boat, who's in and who's out? And not the small leaky ones, more like ocean-going luxury cruisers, these. Exclusive stuff!

Whisper it- the talkSport commentators daren't- but the gambling cartels are raking it in! Why else would we 'need' The Hundred? Bet on anything! Curiously, the gambling CEOs don't, they've invested shrewdly (covertly) in the Commons- 19 Tory and 9 Labour MPs. And, when the fun stops...


talkSport are owned by the Wireless Group, in turn owned by Murdoch's News Corp- all roads lead to formerly Rome, since when bought up by Uncle Rupert! Sports betting in 2021 amounted to $194.63 billion, an annual increase of $173 billion on the previous year. And, we dream to wonder why MPs have not better addressed the nation's booming gambling crisis! Breaths will not be held!

It's not really my ticket but I did listen to England's first (2023) 20Twenty defeat of New Zealand, then tune in for the highlights in the evening. Beggars and all that... It's a very poor substitute for Test Cricket but, the ratios improve, 240 balls trimmed down to an hour(ish) offers a greater spread of the game.

Transforming Cricket.

An enabling paparazzi. A defunct media.

Except... no longer does an hour's highlights actually equate to an hour's highlights. The programme will commence with the customary chat- a selection of insiders will impart scene-setting noise at the outset, and when a spinner's wicket does occur replays will be shown from, yes, square-leg! Where better to fully appreciate the degree of spin? A change of innings and why not wheel out a different set of talking heads. And, don't forget to allocate time for the after-match analysis, so perhaps half-an-hour, maybe, if we're lucky? Toblerone boundaries may injure the occasional fielder but note the extra advertising revenue! Wrestle the coverage away from the BBC and be sure, in the ad. breaks, to notice the happy face of the fictional gambling winner! Why, it's almost as if the editors know nothing about cricket... or gambling. But, they will be very well aware that their's is currently a slice of the largest share of something well in excess of $194.63 billion! No wonder the Test scene is under threat, no wonder free-to-air isn't getting the gig, no wonder the commentators are so well suited up. Just like with used-up former PMs, there's £millions in that pot! Tuck in! Austerity's not for that lot!

Bereft of the cricket we grew to love in our youths, still we would be naive to think the carve-up has yet concluded. Listen to former captain, now Sky-voice-box, Michael Vaughan, and the shadow of 'The Hundred' lurks behind every pause, every intake of breath. The current Sun-comic alternative preference of 'choice'- although not ours'- where upon each and every boundary will be accompanied by Marvel Comic styled graphics- 'Bish!' 'Bash!' 'Bosh!'- wickets will flash with epileptic threat! The Hundred, where the children of the CEOs, the Chairpeople, the Directors, have been let loose with the graphics toys.

In stark contrast to the UK's visible plummeting Cricket populations the International Cricket Council has ballooned to such immense proportions of wealth such as to feeding-frenzy-threaten even itself, or parts thereof. Lord Woolf's long since ignored report into the governance of the International Cricket Council rather proves the point. Woolf recommended the restructuring, mainly financial, of the executive board but, in the scene where the biggest cockroaches feast upon the smaller ones, too late, the even bigger Board of Control for Cricket in India rejected and ignored all proposals. The IPL has bloated to the point where it may now take well in excess of 2 $billion per game! Humanity may have rather tended to consider itself above the lesser species, those that might defecate the nest, or consume younger siblings as a snack, yet sheer greed has shown this not to be the case. India, England and Australia lord the burrow, the smaller Test nations would do well to look elsewhere. The human species feasts openly upon itself, the minnows count the costs.

Like a fast food victim who needs to be winched out through the roof, the ICC has now relocated from Lords, to where the taxes are even fewer and the checks absent altogether, Dubai! Where, curious by-product of wet dishcloth and wasp-chewing bulldog, Giles Clarke and, cleared of match fixing, apparently?, Narayanaswami Shrinivasan may further snuffle up the game. Son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was (purely coincidentally) found guilty of illegal betting. No relation, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, was banned for life for spot-fixing, also coincidentally. But Narayanaswami Shrinivasan was cleared, apparently. No, really!

Silencing fans of Cricket!

Fleecing the addicts!

Bet now! And remember, when the fun stops!

It pretty much already has for many who still remember. And, what's left? Well...

It's just not cricket!

Warning signs! If ever they were needed, or indeed to be heeded- but that would require an actual free media, as opposed to a freed-up billionaire-auctioned media- Giles Clarke began as yet another investment banker- no rhyming pun intended- then on to wines, then pets, then bulk storage. He has had fingers in Adult Learning, the Council of the European Union, Theatre and Disfigurement 'charity' Changing Faces. Currently Clarke is Chairman and controlling shareholder at Westleigh Investments, which dabbles in telecommunications, event catering, gun sports, independent schools software and silicon chips. At Somerset, where he was Chairman (definitely not 'chairperson!'), he worked with gun-toting 'charmer,' now Lord Botham. Promoted up the ladder, to non-executive director of the ECB- where I suspect I once briefly caught up- where he 'negotiated' (negotiated, mind) a four year TV and Radio deal with BSkyB, Five (Radio) and (minimally) the BBC. In 2015 he rose, as so often do certain substances, to President of the ECB. Knighted in 2012, of course he was. He has worked with, now convicted, American financier Allen Stanford, whereupon Kevin Pietersen briefly floated back to the surface. Warning signs indeed! Somewhat larger, decidedly less inclined to interview, immeasurably more wealthy, Clarke latterly appears to have adopted more of the wet dishcloth, marginally less wasp-chewing bulldog. But that's because he's so very far removed from the likes of us, so very shielded from questions that might elicit the wasp-in-the-mouth side.

Like the most exquisite jigsaw puzzle, each and every invertebrate slots precisely into place, onward and upward to incorporate the entire animal kingdom, the living environment, an evolved balance between feasting and being feasted upon...

Violence evolved into a perfect living art-form! And yet...

The most bloated of the globe's Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) seek to misrule it all to their own designs.

Like the most deranged jigsaw imaginable, imperfectly overlaid- because nothing actually fits- in such manner that every tumour bleeds poison into each and every neighbouring mismatched tumour- transport, education, health, medicine, war, international aid, refugees, warfare, welfare, lawfare, environment, energy, utilities, wildlife, housing, employment, food, retirement, entertainment, sport, cricket, inequality, democracy, media, information, technology, etc, etc, etc...

As Giant Jenga, modified in celebration of today's greedaholic, or the most urgent yet conceived 'to do' list, we could bicker as to how to structure the tower. A game for all the family as the planet goes down the drain.
Economy
Climate
Pollution
Crime
Political corruption
Lobbying
Accountability
(Grenfell, Windrush, Media Phone Hacking, Hillsborough, Orgreave) Productivity
Loss of habitat
Roads
Industrial relations
Investment
Gambling
NHS
Dentistry
Mental health
Home insulation
Housing (rental sector)
Housing (mortgages)
Industry
Next pandemic
GDP
Ecology
Diplomatic relations
Media bias
Weaponisation of anti-Semitism
Refugee crisis
Detention of Refugees (UK)
Lawfare
Warfare and the Arms Trade
Air quality
Emergency services
Legacy
Wildlife diversity
Building standards
RAAC
AI


Violence re-imagined unto ugly oblivion!

Greed begets greed, begets greed...

Fractal decay!

Unto Oblivion!

Beware not only the short-pitched bowling!

Now that the reins are entirely in the grasping claws of such shadowy business men as Clarke, sorry Lord Clarke (Rugby School), and Narayanaswami Shrinivasan, I think still at liberty at time of publication, squirrelled away to non-cricketing Dubai, those of us who still recall the glory of Test Cricket, free to air, may wonder at the diminution of the 'lesser' Test Nations. Lift the 'Astroturf' and watch the IPL feasting upon the lesser Test Nations. There are just so many, curiously so wide-eyed, former and current players and commentators with at-least-half-a-handle upon what is happening. But dare they speak out and risk upsetting that lumbering gravy train? For clues, listen to the former Test Players, those most comfortably nestled in the Sky networks, the Hundred Teams. Listen between the words and watch their eyes! Torn or committed? Monetise the players, monetise the fans, and discard the rest. Which is RAAC and which is sound?

For the concerned cricketing onlooker 'Death of a Gentleman' is a must watch documentary. I think that so much of 'society' might be similarly detailed and described. The bloated foreign dictator threat has become something of a dead cat, we should be far more concerned with the bloated dictators currently embedded in every fibre of what we once almost held. Threaten to tip the cart and watch the bloaters react. Why, they might even label you as an anti-Semite!

Massacring true Cricket! Banqueting the Cockroaches!

Ultimately...

It's just not Cricket!