Sometimes Pants Can Give You Vertigo (Curtin)
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Edward Curtin, "Sometimes A Pair of Pants Can Give You Vertigo", © EdwardCurtin.com (04 December 2018)
"Between the experience of living a normal life at this moment on the planet and the public narratives being offered to give a sense to that life, the empty space, the gap, is enormous. The desolation lies there, not in the facts."—John Berger, “A Man with Tousled Hair” in The Shape of a Pocket
Peer Review & the Corruption of Scholarship (Areo)
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Helen Pluckrose, James A. Lindsay & Peter Boghossian, "Academic Grievance Studies and the Corruption of Scholarship", Areo (02 October 2018)
Fascinating and instructive. Three academics (not opposed to the subjects they investigated) have published the results of their year-long experiment: to see if absurd papers would pass the peer-review process in the area of "grievance studies" (things like gender studies, queer studies, etc.) and end up published in highly-respected academic journals. Their finding? Yes.
Bellingcat (again) names the other suspect (BBC News)
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"Skripal attack: Bellingcat names second Salisbury suspect", BBC News (08 October 2018)
Wow, Bellingcat does it again! Aren't they amazing? No wonder its founder was promoted to the position of Atlantic Council Nonresident Senior Fellow, Digital Forensic Research Lab, Future Europe Initiative. But let's stand back from all this for a moment. Why are these "revelations" coming from an "investigative website" that was founded "with the help of a crowd-funding campaign"?
Boshirov or Chepiga? (Craig Murray)
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Craig Murray, " "Boshirov" is probably not “Chepiga". But he is also not “Boshirov". ", CraigMurray.org.uk (27 September 2018)
Well, this is quite a find! In the update to his piece (see the bottom of the linked article) Craig Murray spots a nice little propaganda trick by the (always-above-board-and-eminently-trustworthy) BBC. He says—and this is on his word alone, since I haven't seen the news report myself—that the BBC news item, while discussing the identity of "Boshirov", showed only the two pictures of "Boshirov" while failing to show the picture of "Chepiga"! As he says, "incredibly..."Operation Nina (David MacIlwain)
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David MacIlwain, "Operation Nina - A Conspirator's View", © America Herald Tribune (17 September 2018)
I find this article interesting for the following paragraphs:
"Is it possible that the unwitting Russian “agents”, whose visit to Salisbury has now become the clincher of the UK’s Novichok case, were actually lured to the vicinity of Sergei Skripal’s home, with the conveniently placed chemical weapons labs at nearby Porton Down? Without doubting the innocence of Petrov and Boshirov over any involvement in the BZ attack on the Skripals, might we consider if they were on a different mission, and victims of a “honey trap” not involving women?
Made For (Plantaseed)
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Mark, "Made For", © Plantaseed.org.uk (08 September 2018)
Got to get back on the horse. Hardly John Wesley but something to exercise the soul. Help me live in God. Rant on the ridiculous. The slipping into mass hypnosis eh. Trying to find public expressions of sanity is more not-worth-doing. I.e. be on the internet. Much. TV? -- 'have to' watch, between 9-10 pm and be an accompanying one.
John Bolton Rejects ICC (C-SPAN)
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"Word for Word: John Bolton Says US Will Not Cooperate with International Criminal Court", C-SPAN Youtube Channel (10 September 2018)
It's a good job that the elites of the US and those of its allies never commit any war crimes, otherwise these words might look like an attempt to escape justice. Thankfully, though, such "leaders" are always impeccable advocates of "feedom, democracy and the rule of law", so there's nothing to worry about here.
US "has seen evidence" (BBC)
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"Syria War : US "has seen evidence" - chemical weapons being prepared", BBC News (07 September 2018)
This is too much! In the same article (embedded video) we are told that the rebels in Idlib face "overwhelming odds" [against them] because they are "surrounded and outgunned", and yet that the US has " "lots of evidence" that Syrian government forces are preparing to use chemical weapons in Idlib", in spite of the US state department having "warned on Monday that Washington would respond to any chemical attacks by the Syrian government or its allies."
Impending US, UK, French Military Action (GNS)
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"Statement on impending US, UK and French military intervention in Syria", Global Network for Syria (August 30, 2018)
This is an important post. Peter Ford, a former UK ambassador to Syria—to whom we spoke recently—has confirmed to me this evening that the following statement by members of the Global Network for Syria was published today.
John Bolton "Warns" Syria (NBC News)
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"John Bolton Warns Syria: U.S. "Will Respond Strongly" If Chemical Weapons Used In Idlib", NBC News Youtube Channel (22 August 2018)
Excuse my cynicism, but aren't the words of US National Security Advisor John Bolton, who here "warns" Assad not to order the use of chemical weapons in Idlib—which, it seems to me, he has no good reason to do—likely to encourage violent jihadists opposed to the Syrian government to carry out just such an attack (or related hoax) to be blamed on Assad?
English Sports (Jiskefet)
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Jiskefet, "English Sports", Jiskefet YouTube channel (15 October 2014)
On a lighter note, I really must share this wonderful satire on English sports by the Dutch TV comedy programme Jiskefet. Maybe they go a little too far by including the board game, but the rest of it is priceless. There's also something "just right" about the player with a pipe in his mouth; I seem to remember people like that from my childhood. I hope you enjoy it too.Peter Vs Peter Debate (BeautifulDays)
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Beautiful Days Festival, Peter Ford and Peter Tachell Debate, Vanessa Beeley YouTube channel (21 August 2018)
An interesting recent debate on the war in Syria between Peter Tatchell (human rights campaigner) and Peter Ford (a former UK ambassador to Syria and TMR guest) at the Beautiful Days Festival in Devon 2018. Listen out for the impassioned words of one of the audience members towards the end of the video, and enjoy the impromptu song at the close that calms tensions in the tent.Yarndling Through The Ages (Documentary)
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Saxonbury Films © 1989, "Yarndling Through The Ages", The Yarndling Channel (26 May 2018)
John Pilger's Sydney Speech on Julian Assange
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John Pilger: "John Pilger Speaks at Free Julian Assange Rally - Sydney Town Hall - 17th June 2018", Yupster2501 YT channel
John Pilger's forthright speech at the Socialist Equality Party* rally in Sydney, organised to demand that the Australian government secure Julian Assange's freedom and safe return to Australia, and guarantee his protection from any attempt to extradite him to the US.
(*Please don't be put off by the fact that this is a "socialist" rally; the issue of Julian Assange transcends politics, at least on this level.)
TMR 111 : Transcript : Dr. Mike Licona : On The Gospels and Their Contradifferences
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What are the New Testament Gospels? How should we read them in relation to each other? And are they really "full of contradictions", as some would say?
This week we welcome Dr. Mike Licona, associate professor of theology at Houston Baptist University, who joins us for an extended in-depth discussion on the New Testament Gospels and the differences between them. Drawing upon his many years of research into the subject, Dr. Licona leads us through the maze of questions often asked about the NT Gospels, and explains how familiarity with the literary conventions of Graeco-Roman biography and historiography can help to provide compelling answers.
Salvation Vs Enlightenment (DSC)
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