I sometimes read articles in the Guardian / Observer, if only on the principle that, in order to defeat your enemy, you have to know how he thinks. Usually, I pass by, figuratively, if not literally, shaking my head in disbelief at the thinking of a bunch of sopping-wet idiots who not only cannot see the wood; If they did see it, they would reckon it was a mirage.

But, reading an article yesterday about Australian policy regarding illegal immigration, and how so-called asylum-seeking Tamils should not be returned to Sri Lanka; I ventured a measured, factual and entirely straight-forward comment; and it lasted about fifteen minutes before being obliterated under their ‘Community standards’ Gauleiter.

It must be really nice to be a Guardian reader, secure in your own small niche of unreality; free from even the slightest observation that you may, or even might, be wrong!

Who says so? Al Gore’s campaign chairman, Rick Perry, that’s who, as another statist can’t resist the power of the Paulian argument. Without him, none of the GOP candidates would even have heard of the Federal Reserve.

Though the corporate media pretends he doesn’t exist, Ron Paul is winning the argument for liberty, the constitution, peace, trade and sound money. Why do they ignore him? Because the establishment fears him. This is the age of Ron Paul, he is shaping the debate, he is winning, no matter how much the media tries to ignore this fact.

Watch this great Jon Stewart piece reveal how blatant the bias is.

Not been well today but now feeling much better thanks to taking to my bed and doing nothing all day.  Laughed at the antics of Newsweek in presenting Michelle Bachmann as the usual scary eyed Conservative. Here is their image and headline;

Here is another view of La Bachmann.

Oh, and by way of balance, here is Newsweek’s treatment of Obama…

You gotta love Newsweek for the trash that it is.

Via All Seeing Eye!

Today sees the final publication of The News of the World. I never read it.  The vast left wing media establishment, led by BBC/Guardian is ecstatic. But are we missing the real story? As Brendan O’Neil points out here…

You don’t have to have been a fan of the News of the World, still less of its recent indefensible antics, to recognise that the anti-Murdoch moral crusade is likely to have a chilling effect on the British media and on press freedom. British journalism is having its cojones removed. It is being ‘tidied up’ under the threat of being subjected to a judicial review into press standards, a strengthened Press Complaints Commission, or exposure by a ‘liberal media’ offended by tabloid culture. These developments need more serious treatment than they have so far received.

Agreed. We are seeing a concerted attempt to limit the press in order to provide the political elite with much more cover;

 It is very important to point out that the influential anti-hacking, anti-News of the World campaign is not really motored by a true concern for journalistic integrity. More fundamentally it is underpinned by a cultural aversion to the outlook and the politics of the tabloid world. That is why so many politicians said yesterday evening that the closure of the News of the World is a good start, but doesn’t resolve the problematic ‘culture’ of Murdoch’s low-rent titles.

The onslaught against Murdoch contains huge danger for a free and independent media. The global broadcaster, the BBC, pretends Murdoch is the danger yet as this week has shown, Murdoch FEARS his readers, his advertisers – hence the contrived sacrifice of the NOTW. But the BBC fears no one, it gets the cash from us on fear of prosecution, and no debate on the subject. Those dancing in delight at the demise of NOTW need to be careful about what they wish for.

Well, it’s a dramatic if not ruthless decision by the Murdoch empire to close The News of the World. In a sense one less trash newspaper is to welcomed, although it reduces competition and choice whilst ensuring that the leftist point of view increases, something I am certain the BBC will be delighted about. I’m just hoping that the disgraceful practice of phone hacking was restricted to NOTW and did not extend to papers of quality such as the Daily Mirror, to name but one. At another level, this decision by Murdoch shuts the attack on NI down, the crowd have gotten the (deserved) scalp they wanted. I suspect the BBC will now move to focus the attack on Cameron.

So, ATW can’t readily hyperlink to the world. Good. Sometimes I think this whole “linking” to a story only distracts from the quality of the writing anyway so let me take a few moments to cover one of the big issues of the day, namely the integrity or otherwise of the media.

You will have picked up on Pete Moore’s post from earlier(No link)  this afternoon concerning the BBC jihad against the imagined dark forces of the Murdoch empire. Has the News of the World any ethics? I doubt it, but then again, has the BBC?

Many years ago, as a young graduate, I thought I wanted to be a journalist and went for a chat with a local newspaper – The Newsletter. I managed to dodge the bullet and didn’t get a job. I wanted to be a journalist because I enjoyed writing but on deeper examination, I didn’t fancy the whole chasing a story, getting opinions, malarkey! Over the years, as fate would have it, I have gotten to know quite a few journalists. Amongst them are some VERY decent people with very high standards of integrity e.g Suzanne Breen. Others fell from grace and went into politics e.g Michael Gove! Others pursue a path of independent thought and commentary e.g. Peter Hitchens. I also know others who are creatures of the organisations they work for. They follow the party line, they “know” how to spin a story to ensure it creates the desired impact. Some of these people have enjoyed great reward and recognition for what I see as an abandonment of the essence of principle.

For years I have railed against the media. I have been vociferous in my contempt for media organisations like the BBC, like the Belfast Telegraph, like UTV. This is not personal as I know some great people who work within the belly of all of these organisations. Perhaps that is the point – journalists are no better, and no worse, than ANY of us. We are all flawed, none of us is a paragon of virtue. So we get the media we deserve and maybe it is better to have a long look in the mirror (though not the rag that is the Daily Mirror)! The media is a whore but is us who is services. It chases ratings and circulation. The bread and circuses are lapped up by us.

I don’t buy or read the gutter press like The Sun and The Mirror although I occasionally pick one up when waiting in my local Chinese takaway and wonder WHY anyone would read this trash. I think this low level media degrades all who read it regardless of how many sexy lovelies adorn the pages. I do read the broadsheets but I also find them rather homogenous and they do not challenge. That’s one reason why I find this blogosphere so entertaining. In fact I find more intelligent comment amongst the ATW threads (Linear or threaded!) than in many of the broadsheet editorials.

The dead tree press leaves me mostly cold. I am reminded of this apt quote ” The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” ~Thomas Jefferson. One can update this by adding in 24 hour rolling news.

I wish all journalists had integrity. They don’t. But then again, how many of their readers are any better? The Pied Piper may have led the children astray but they followed him of their own will, whilst the music played.

Remember a few days ago when I prophesied the outcome of a documentary about Sri Lanka, and the end of the war with the Tamil Tigers?

Remember how I said it would be a complete exposè of the terrible crimes of the Sri Lankan government, and their methods of repression and massacre?

Well, how’s about that?

National Tea Party Convention, Nashville, Tennessee:   Andrew Brietbart of Big Government  spoke about the liberal MSM’s attempt  last summer to characterize tea party protesters as “racist” and “violent.”  Speaking directly to the liberal MSM reporters assembled in the back of the room, Mr. Brietbart said:

“It’s not your business model that sucks, it’s you that sucks!”

Whoops! CNBC anchors – “these shills for the Fed, the Treasury, and Wall Street” – seem unnerved. Seems that broadcasting the truth isn’t quite the done thing –