Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Links 19/5/09

Hello. Here are some things I've read and enjoyed lately. Go and have a look, and maybe you'll enjoy them too.

Rhetorically Speaking - Flying the Flag of Stupidity:

More importantly, the Mail appears to be arguing that showing support for a group of people who are still routinely the subject of abuse - both verbal and physical - is "taking sides," as if to presume there's some kind of debate over whether such treatment is justified or not. This is turn, depends on the right-wing rhetoric that argues recognising and addressing the discriminatory treatment of gay and trans people is the equivalent of "special treatment."

Septicisle - The Truth About Alfie Patten Emerges:

It was arguable that even if Patten was the father, the effect on him from being thrust onto the front page of the nation's biggest selling newspaper was hardly likely to prove conducive to him being fully involved in the child's upbringing. Now that it turns out that Patten was not the father, there simply isn't an argument: if his parents hadn't gone looking for money, and if the Sun hadn't been looking for the latest terrible example of Broken Britain, then he would still probably have had to deal with learning that he was not the father after all, but not in the full public glare. This is the sort of thing which scars people for life: newspapers know this all too well, but Patten is the sort of individual who may as well not exist except as a commodity, someone to be used and abused and then forgotten about.

The Daily Quail - Miley Cyrus: Mm, Isn't it?:

Cyrus's sensual sandy frolicks follow a 'frenzy' earlier this month when she arrived in Leicester Square wearing a really short skirt that 'showed off her long legs', according to Daily Mail Reporter, who had been watching from a tree-top perch with a pair of binoculars and a fake moustache.

Chicken Yoghurt - Gordon Brown & The World Cup: Desperate, Much?

So, what other personal missions has he declared he’s embarking on since becoming Prime Minister almost two years ago? A personal mission to secure peace in Iraq and Afghanistan? A personal mission to force through the vital measures needed against climate change? A personal mission to make sure we have a more equitable society? A personal mission to secure the release of his heroine, Aung San Suu Kyi?
Er, not so much, no...

Ben Six - Give Me One of Those Old-Type Natural Fouled-Up Stories:

Since mid-afternoon, significant edits have sneaked into the piece unannounced. They came – judging by the “last updated” bar – at 12:24 AM, and the piece is no longer credited to David Rose, but to Vanessa Allen, a regular Mail churnalist whose output can be summated in this handy screen grab from Journalisted...

amelie baby britain british christmas dna gerry gerry mccann haringey kate madeleine madeleine mccann mccann mccanns murat portugal portuguese praia rothley sean

Work at 12.24? It’s a tough life. Especially when there are interminable Madeleine McCann suspects to be hunted down and raved about.

Sarah Ditum - British johns for British working girls:

So what’s a brave company like that doing running banner ads for the BNP on their websites? Maybe it wasn’t the exploitation of the sex trade that got to them. Maybe they were actually taking a stand against the illegal immigrants offering five-quid oral and taking British johns from British workers.

George Monbiot - As the political consensus collapses, now all dissenters face suppression:

Our grossly unfair electoral system, which responds to the concerns of just a few thousand floating voters and shuts out the minor parties; the vicious crackdown on dissent within parliament by whips and spin doctors; the neoliberalism forced upon governments by corporate power and the Washington consensus; the terror of the tabloid press – all combine to create a political culture which cannot respond to altered realities without collapsing. What cannot be accommodated must be suppressed.

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