Rolled-up Trousers

You know you're on the money when

you're attacked by Harry's Place. The 'left wing' website where Muslims and antiwar protesters get more stick than Tony Blair. They along with former HP poster Johann Hari are not happy with Islamophobia Watch.

More terror in the papers

More terror in Sunday's papers with talk of anthrax, nerve gas and cyanide. The latter Sunday Times report oddly has "intelligence sources" talking about cyanide, but later the same report says nothing has been found in the house.

The Telegraph report however, who also have "security sources", say that the chemical in question was more likely to be sarin. How can both newspapers have conflicting reports from the same intelligence services? Either they're lying or the police and security services need to look at their media management.

Both newspapers report a rollback from yesterday's reports that the police were on the lookout for an actual bomb. There's no mention at all of the Times's suicide belt. If the papers are not careful there will be widespread boy-who-cried-wolf syndrome about their reporting.

Also see Lenin on the News of the World's assertion that the man who was shot was not hit by the police, but by his brother. What incredible bad luck - 250 officers to aim at but you shoot your brother. Also see BlairWatch.

Ayaz Ali freed (updated)

You'll remember I blogged with concern at the detention for weeks by Israel of Islamic Relief worker Ayaz Ali.

He has now been freed (and deported despite there being no charges against him).

More here and here

UPDATE: Ayaz speaks about his time in captivity to the Observer where he says he was frightened for his life:

Spot the difference

Last week, Honest Reporting (the pro-Israeli media monitoring organisation) issued a communique regarding David Pratt's reporting in the Sunday Herald:

The Scottish Sunday Herald's Foreign Editor, David Pratt offers a classic example of how journalists can distort the facts to suit their personal interpretation of Israel and the Mideast. On 28 May he claims:

Even among Israelis, the term 'Hafrada' - separation or apartheid in Hebrew - has entered the mainstream lexicon, despite strident denials by the Jewish state that it is engaged in any such process.

In fact, just a cursory glance at a Hebrew-English dictionary reveals that the term "Hafrada" does not literally mean "apartheid". Also, as a concept, "Hafrada" has certainly not entered the Israeli lexicon, but rather, the term "Geder Hafrada" ("Separation Fence") referring to Israel's security barrier. Thus, Pratt deliberately and dishonestly claims that Israelis have begun to privately use their own term for "apartheid" while inaccurately stating that Israel's security barrier and the apartheid ideology are one and the same. 

And here's a letter from one Mel Momford in Stamford, Connecticut writing in the Scottish newspaper's columns today:

DAVID Pratt offers a classic example of how journalists can distort the facts to suit their personal interpretation of Israel and the Middle East. On May 28 he claims: “Even among Israelis, the term ‘Hafrada’ – separation or apartheid in Hebrew – has entered the mainstream lexicon, despite strident denials by the Jewish state that it is engaged in any such process.”

In fact, just a cursory glance at a Hebrew-English dictionary reveals that the term “hafrada” does not literally mean “apartheid”. Also, as a concept, “Hafrada” has certainly not entered the Israeli lexicon, but rather the term “Geder Hafrada” (“Separation Fence”) referring to Israel’s security barrier. Thus, Pratt deliberately and dishonestly claims that Israelis have begun to privately use their own term for “apartheid” while inaccurately stating that Israel’s security barrier and the apartheid ideology are one and the same.

Hmmm maybe Honest Reporting will sue for plagiarism.

Release this report

The government have been suppressing reports by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture into the UK's treatment of suspects detained under Terrorism Acts.

Who's terrorising?

Yet another terror panic. Today's front pages (below) are frightening indeed.

There is a feeling however, that we've been here before. Plots to bomb Old Trafford that weren't. Lethal ricin plots that weren't. Hogmanay party poopers in Edinburgh that weren't. In each case the arrests were made in a blaze of publicity with the later news that there were no prosecutions buried in a column on page 14.

Now today the Times reports on a suicide vest that the police are not going on the record about to say actually exists. World Cup watchers in crowded pubs were at threat apparently. The house was a "bomb factory" but the people living there who were not arrested know nothing about it (see bottom).

I've seen politicians on the TV praying that the police haven't got it wrong this time. I don't know how you can pray for such things - I hope that no one was planning a chemical attack on this country.

Reaction to Haditha

Reuters Alertnet provide a very handy chronology of the Haditha massacre. In the immediate aftermath in Nov 2005 Captain Jeffrey Pool said:

"Iraqi Army soldiers and Marines returned fire killing eight insurgents."

Needless to say now, there were no Iraqi Army soldiers, no insurgents, but there were 24 innocents slaughtered.

Maybe the US could be forgiven for not having the details at that time, but then why say anything at all if you don't know? And why, when confronted with video evidence in Jan 2006, dismiss it as "Al-Qaeda propaganda"?

More evidence of US war crimes are now being unearthed. Yes, and why are these actions not being labelled "war crimes" by anyone?

But it's ok, because US soldiers are now going to be receiving ethics training of between two and four hours. As if people need to be taught that shooting 2-year-olds is wrong.

More - Ben White

UPDATE: The US have cleared their soldiers of any wrongdoing regarding the Ishaqi video I linked to from the BBC above

Ditch the flag - for the environment

A study has found that the extra drag on a vehicle caused by these little flags which are all the rage, cost an extra £1 in fuel per hour of driving. That's an extra 2.8m kg of extra CO2 into the atmosphere just to support England in the World Cup. Best ditch 'em me thinks.

Six years of WMD intelligence

You must check out this post, ripping apart Geoff Hoon's claim on Newsnight last week that:

"I read, for six years, intelligence reports; every one of those for six years said that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; every other country that looked at Iraq also came to the same conclusion."

Pakistanis and Egyptians google "sex" more than anyone else (updated)

And Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are in the top 10.

Via

UPDATE: gay.com report that Muslim countries are also the biggest googlers of "gay sex".

What are we to make of this?