This Week in The Guardian #4
Rounding out our first month, we have reformed terrorists, dangerous misinformation and Putin paying Nigerians to tweet celebrity gossip
Every week, on a Sunday, we like to highlight three or four stories that go full-Guardian, but don’t require an entire article of refutation.
We encourage reader-participation here, so if you come across something you feel should be included in the next edition either post a link below, or send us an e-mail.
“Hounded by war, can Idlib’s desperate civilians outrun final assault?“
Martin Chulov’s rambling, emotionally manipulative piece about refugees in Idlib looks, at first glance, to be your usual “touching story” clickbait. The kind of thing people share on Facebook alongside a crying emoji and a picture of a broken heart.
But buried in the text are some other things rather more malign.
For one, there are the repeated references to Turkey “backing rebels” and Turkish force’s “offensive”. The Turkish strikes against Syrian fighters, on Syrian soil, are practically applauded, despite being literally defined as war crimes by the UN. Every Turkish action in or against Syria is illegal, but that is never mentioned.
Worse even than this is the pathetic attempts to somehow rehabilitate Islamic extremist groups:
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who has studied HTS extensively, said the group appeared to have transformed – long a demand of governments who endorsed the humanitarian demands of the millions trapped in Idlib, but were determined not to deal with jihadists. “They truly severed ties with al-Qaida,” said Tsurkov.
Truly appalling.
Orwellian Coronavirus Response
The coronavirus pandemic is “like a war”, according to Gabby Hinsliff, it’s going to totally reshape society, much as WWI and WWII did. It’s hard not to call this an over-reaction, considering – at the time of publication of that article – Covid19 had killed fewer than a dozen people nationwide. Nonetheless, we need to be prepared to change the way we work, the way we educate, the way we vote, change everything.
One thing that won’t change is The Guardian’s view on “misinformation”, and how dangerous it is. See: This article by Tom Philips, the head “fact-checking charity” Full Fact. Sharing incorrect information is dangerous. Only trust official sources. The usual spiel.
Putin’s Secret African Facebook Army
Apparently Russia is looking to “expand its influence” in Africa by paying a couple of dozen people in Nigeria and Ghana to tweet about celebrities.
How they spread insidious Kremlin content without ever mentioning Russia, or being at all political, remains a mystery:
Although the Facebook network posted a significant amount of content, it steered clear of explicitly political postings
So how do we know they were backed by the Russians? Because we just do, alright!
Although the article has two listed authors, it’s pretty obvious which wrote this paragraph:
There is compelling evidence that the Kremlin has sought to reboot KGB methods of propaganda and disinformation via anonymous posts on social media.
This is a Luke Harding special. If you’re not familiar enough to Harding’s prose style to recognise it immediately, well I envy you that, but the real clue is the “compelling evidence” which is neither supplied nor described.
In fact, no evidence whatsoever is supplied showing these accounts were a) Fake, b) Acting in bad faith, c) Paid by “the Russians”. It’s paranoid nonsense spreading a dangerous agenda, but hey you knew that as soon as you saw the by-line.
What we actually know is that Facebook and Twitter shut down some Ghanaian social media marketing company for tweeting about topical issues in a “divisive manner”. Which is actually pretty creepy.
NB. We completely missed this one, this is why our eagle-eyed readers are so important.
BONUS – Where are the Yellow Vests?
Our bonus this week takes the form of a challenge – a sort political scavenger hunt. There was a huge Gilets Jaunes protest in Paris yesterday, breaking the laws limiting “public gathering”. Our challenge to you is to scan the Guardian and find any evidence it took place.
* * *
All told, a busy week for The Guardian, we didn’t even touch on how climate change is sexist, the internet is also sexist or how hard it is being single during a pandemic. Did we miss any others? Tell us about them in the comments below, and keep an eye out for articles that should go in the next issue.
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Here’s an unlikely story about overflowing funeral homes in Italy
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/generation-has-died-italian-province-struggles-bury-coronavirus-dead
The G has finally written a noteworthy and useful article entitled –
“ Israel to track mobile phones of suspected coronavirus cases “
“… The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said providing the country’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, with new secretive powers was a “dangerous precedent and a slippery slope that must be approached and resolved after much debate and not after a brief discussion…”
Another gem from the Harding article. It appears that the Twitter/Facebook community raised suspicions because:
What exactly is the difference between this and the Guardian’s daily output?
Luke Harding’s War on the Truth-what an insect!
Social distancing is not a concern in Chile or France where protests continue. Nor is it of concern in Iraq and Syria where bombing is ongoing. Meanwhile, what’s also relentless is the misinformation, omissions and lies spewed regularly from all mainstream media news outlets.
State-run news publications want to be viewed as “the authoritarian source” for all that’s “good and
decent.” Yet they’ve proven to be consummate liars and propagators of untruths. We don’t need to go back any further then recent history to see the horrific outcomes promoted by these sociopathic freaks.
Didn’t the mainstream media convincingly say that 17 intelligence agencies were absolutely certain Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. This lie was pounded into the public’s psyche for two years by the usual mainstream media ghouls. And just shortly before the 2008 financial crash, the “authoritarian sources” gave the impression the economy was fine and dandy. And how about the last three years–the US public has been psychologically assaulted by Russiagate and then Ukraine-gate. Commentators earning many millions on cable news were quite aware of the true facts, yet seized on the opportunity to generate a narrative justifying unremitting warmongering against Russia.
A now these denizens of bugiardo are promoting COVID-19 mass hysteria– a panic pandemic to veil the actual crisis a collapsing worldwide economy…..
Let’s review some real statistics: The world’s population is 7,771,074,926–births per day is 383,261 and deaths per day is 161,543. Let’s use those statistics as a backdrop for the data relating to COVID-19–a panic pandemic: Italy has 24,747 cases and over 1,800 deaths—in China, where the epidemic began there were 80,649 cases and 3,000 dead.
As of March 10, 2020 Italy is under total quarantine. “When leaving the house, everyone must have a hall pass called an autocertificazione per gli spostamenti. It’s a form you fill out stating the nature of your travel. The police are stopping people at traffic circles and questioning them.”
If these draconian measures were implemented in the US local police forces would be shooting and killing thousands. What do people want–a flu or a bullet?
There’s a famous old Chinese proverb: “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.”
What I am worried about is that the shortage of loo-paper will lead to a rise in Grauniad sales . . .
Don’t read the guardian – why does anyone else?
This helps though:
Incidentally, one of your other examples, Tom Phillips, is an interesting case too. Although he does not have quite the profile of Luke Harding, he is just as dedicated a stenographer. In five years as the Guardian’s China correspondent, he did not once find anything positive to say about the place. He has now moved on to Latin America, where he diligently keeps us informed about the catastrophic situation in any “regime” that the Empire has decreed must be overthrown.
What is even more interesting it that it transpires he is also now editor of “Full Fact”, a new Snopes-style operation dedicated to rooting out fake news wherever it lurks. It is a “charity” that receives hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding from Facebook and Google among others – a total of £2 million from various donors in 2019 alone.
Being a “charity”, Full Fact is of course bound by certain rules and regulations, one of them being “impartiality”. I’m thinking that I’m going to submit Luke Harding’s piece to Full Fact for full fact checking, and see how it stands up to their impartial scrutiny. In fact, I’m thinking I might regularly submit articles for fact-checking – it’s not as if Full Fact is short of funds. This column might even become a source of examples. Perhaps other OffG readers might do likewise, and let us know how they get on… Three cheers for Full Fact!
Addendum: Seems it might not be the same “Tom Phillips”. In which case perhaps Full Fact might even do some actual impartial fact-checking of the Guardian’s output!
It’s the same in the ABC sewer here in Australia. “Correspondents’ in China for decade sand NO, Nada, Zilch positive reports, ever. That’s the Free Press for you!
An actual sensible article about the virus in the Groan yesterday by an ACTUAL expert
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/15/epidemiologist-britain-herd-immunity-coronavirus-covid-19
Almost perfect but for two points – he praises various countries for their response but doesn’t China or the WHO. Maybe an editor got to it?
To be fair he was talking of countries that pre-emptively acted. China could not do so because at the time the infection was unknown and the WHO is a grand co-ordinator.
China acted fast and involved the WHO from the end of December.
The WHO’s own expert Bruce Alyard, has been extremely appreciative of the Chinese response in January and since in fas containing the spread there to one city and one region by testing and tracking.
China should be applauded not IGNORED as the western msm is doing as part of the western state propaganda presstitution.
The current panic and crises is man made or to be correct MONEY made.
China is NOT ‘ignored’ in Australia. Our zoo of hard Right presstitutes are spewing HATRED, 24/7, at China. They ‘lied’, ‘covered-up’, ‘repressed whistle-blowers’, ‘created the virus to kill their old people, then unleashed it on the world’, ‘locked up 11 million in Wuhan to die’ etc, etc, etc. War’s a coming, I’m certain.
HA that is all projection by the media. Oz scientists were first to get involved by the Chinese authorities at the end of Feb along with the WHO.
As for going to war with China – they are oz’s biggest customers! And could squash the military and navy with a sneeze!
Aussies are the most propagandised population I have seen since the dumb whites in SA thinking they could keep apartheid!
End of December is what imeant not feb.
I’m surprised the Guard didn’t lead with the Yellow Vests, condemning them outright for their inconsiderate selfish behaviour, which we will be reliably informed, will no doubt kill off millions of French children, raise the price of croissants, wipe out half of humanity and send the share price of Perrier Water to the bottom of the River Seine……and still somehow manage to insert ‘Putin’ somewhere in the article for no particular reason whatsoever.
Thanks for this week’s contribution. I was looking for ward to drawing readers’ attention to the cunning Putin plot to spark the collapse of Western civilization by paying a couple of dozen West Africans to post celebrity gossip on Facebook and Twitter, but you guys got there first.
I must confess I was perhaps a third to a half way through the risible drivel before my eyes tracked back up to the byeline to confirm my suspicions…
Anybody who hasn’t seen it, and even people who can’t bear to read the Guardian any more, should have a look at this one, just to see what kind of abject rubbish this used-to-be-a-newspaper is now willing to publish.
Any mention of this in that rag?
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/03/15/chelsea-manning-supporters-raise-a-quarter-million-dollars-in-two-days/
I wasn’t up to he challenge of finding anything in the rag about the Yellow Vests this weekend, The nearest I got was this:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/feminist-activists-in-france-accuse-riot-police-of-attacking-them
So Guardian, how many Feminist activists lost their eyes or hands ?
Yeah – thought so.
Meanwhile in Australia hardly anyone is infected. Those that were recovered quicker than from the flu, no one had died that I’m aware of and they announcing more lock downs and detention laws! They have single handedly destroyed the tourism and aviation industry and probably the economy. Really ramping up the panic over nothing. Why ? is the scary question. The last protocol?
I believe approx. 250 cases of Covid19 in Australia and 3 in nursing homes have died and one other, a lady; the latter caught it from her daughter who flew in from the US.
Thanx OG for reading the Gargantuan so we don’t have to 🙂
Hey thanx to your good work we have “conclusive proof” that the Guardian is a heaping load of Bull Shit and if it was issued as a commodity on the Chicago Commodity Exchange it would eliminate the need for farmers to by expensive fertilizers.
What?
No news in the Guardian about the daily death toll from alcohol, tobacco, obesity related, workplace accidents, depression or suicides?
Or the daily death toll caused by the MIC and the US Empire around the world?
Strange that.
According to “experts” us smokers suffer from a literal “Holocaust” being perpetrated by Philip Morris and other evil tobacco companies yet unlike the State of Israel we aren’t being compensated. I mean what’s up wit dat?
Also calling some obese slob “fat” is now racist. I didn’t know fat people were a race?
Probably we could eliminate work place accidents by not working and living on welfare. Personally I think people who read the Guardian are most likely to be depressed and commit suicide. So my advice is to stop reading the Guardian and use it for toilet paper.
Or road accidents.
I’m so glad you’re doing this, taking the Grauniad apart. Is it not a truly horrendous newspaper?
I wish I could participate more actively but actually reading the Guardain makes me ill. But I hugely enjoy reading your weekly digest please keep it up!
Once again thank you OffG for providing this invaluable service to the world, reading the Guardian so that we don’t have to!
Incidentally, has anyone seen any sob stories yet of honeymoons in Vegas cancelled or people unable to visit dying relatives in the US?
If an airline boss or tour operator had caused this travel chaos you can bet they would be all over the media. Maybe there is a news blackout on such things or perhaps one isn’t even needed – wouldn’t do to stir up anti-American sentiment with the CIA looking over your shoulders.
Congratulations for finding ANYTHING that wasn’t the fucking coronavirus pandemic – sorry “existential threat”. (I’ts been “upgraded” but don’t expect the new term to last too long. We don’t want the punters scratching their heads over “eggsis-what?”)
Harding and the rest of the CIA sponsored and fed Russian desk at the Graun have been on a real non-stop bender all week gorging on Russia, Russia Russia and Putin Putin Putin, plus of course, the sports pages have been yet again smearing the Russians about doping when all the evidence comes from an ex-Russian sports doctor with plenty of bones to pick with the Russian sports federation. For every one of these hysterical stories, I distance myself further from that pathetic rag.
I know I keep harping on about UK Athletics at every opportunity but I find their arrogance and hypocrisy astounding. I wonder if the Guardian has as yet got round to reporting on the BBC Panorama (let’s call them…) implications of state sponsored doping by UK Athletics (Mo Farah and others; UK Athletics had close working links with Alberto Salazar) or the ongoing investigation of very questionable ‘medicinal’ activities to treat 90% of the Sky UK cycling team, whom we’re supposed to believe all had asthma.
When asked during a formal enquiry if he had administered high doses of a controlled substance to Bradley Wiggins for the purposes of enhancing his performance, the former team doctor’s response was to the effect of “No comment. It’s for you to prove it.” Sign of guilt, or not? He is still under investigation by the GMC but it’s only The Times newspaper who seems to take an interest. Just swept under the carpet by other news outlets.
None of our athletes would ever do any cheating, unlike all those dirty foreigners.
As Biggles said, “Any Englishman is worth 2 Huns, 3 Frenchmen, or a dozen darkies.”
😉
We English always play with a straight bat don’t you know, toodle-pip, chocks-away, tally-ho, what what what, Downton Abbey, Brideshead Revisted, Michael Barrymore….
And half a Scotsman.
That must be why the UK did not send a team to compete at the World Military Games held in Wuhan in October last year. You know, that sports event where the US sent a 300-member team that barely scraped together a few silver and bronze medals for its efforts – and which was housed close to the Huanan seafood market …
The vermin want Russia banned from Tokyo. As you say, there is little actual evidence of doping, ie failed tests, but the lies of well-paid defector/traitors, the machination of utterly corrupt, Western-controlled, organs like WADA, and the usual relentless hate propaganda from scum like the presstitutes at the MI6 Daily, aka the Guardian.
Looks like everybody’s being banned from Tokyo now.
Even the Japs.
Come on, this is a no brainer. Admittedly this is from the observer today and may come under scrutiny for next week’s sum up .
UK ministers will no longer claim ‘no successful examples’ of Russian interference
So in this piece of non-news it is announced that the conservative party has decided to adopt the propaganda based on no facts, as fact. Even so to bolster this propaganda the Guardian states:
Never mind that there has never been any evidence that this was a hack and was a leak, but then truth is the first victim of propaganda.
The ‘essay’ is accompanied by a photo of Corbyn exposing Tory lies and of course the innuendo here is that Corbyn is a Kremlin agent.
But the real story that the Guardian should be looking into and persevere is the one that Boris has decided not to publish before the election. The Russian influence in UK politics is real but is due to the conservative party receiving donations from Russian oligarchs not from the Kremlin.
And to think that these lying maggots have the gall to accuse others of ‘fake news’. It is yet another sign that the elites and their vermin propagandists are panicking as the rule of the Glorious West sinks into the mire. This all ends in war, for sure, and that will be that.
And never any mention of the biggest election interfering country, the zionist apartheid state.
Controlling elections, by buying the politicians, is not ‘interference’. It’s Divine Right.
Sarcy
The problem in this theory is that it deflects from the true story of who exactly is manipulating the elections successfully, in other words it is a deflection with the added bonus that this will be an opportunity to label such accusations as racist of the worst kind. But please look at this to see how the 2019 elections were possibly rigged.
The Guardian has (yet another) piece about the village of Eyam. And yet again it claims that the disease was bubonic plague, even though it could not have been. The people of Eyam are (again) represented as heroic and public spirited and altruistic because they voluntarily “self isolated”. I wonder how many Guardian staff have self isolated?
They could just self-isolate their mouths and fingers, and I’d be over the moon.
I don’t know if the Guran’s writers are aware of the fact that Turkey’s military presence in Idlib. a region of the sovereign state of Syria, is violation against international law, as is its presence in northern Cyprus which it invaded and renamed the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in 1974, and has been there ever since. It seems to be okay with the Guran that when ‘our side’ i.e. the Turkish Army and its Jihadist proxies (lovely chaps) are perfectly entitled to invade a neighbour country, killing and pillaging, and give overt and covert support to the world’s most barbaric elements drawn from neighbouring countries as far away as Western China – the uyghurs. Strange bedfellows for the Guran. Or maybe not so strange.
This is either crass stupidity or crass cynicism. Is their no depth this outer-party riff-raff will not sink.
The vermin BBC was declaring yesterday that the evil Assad and Putin had bombed, deliberately of course, five hundred (500) ‘hospitals’ in jihadist and salafist controlled areas of Syria. The UK itself possesses only 1200 hospitals. The lies have gone beyond Evil and vicious, to the deranged and hysterical.
I think, on balance, I’d prefer it to be ‘crass cynicism’ rather than ‘crass stupidity.’ Unfortunately, I fear it’s the former. It seems to me that over the last few decades, for various reasons, people in public life, including journalists and politicians, have gotten worse and worse and worse. Just look at the Guardian for example.