The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
A bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog. We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader 2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by The Saker >>
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
"Probing Media" ignore major story.
national |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
Friday January 20, 2006 14:39 by Davros - The Daleks The Planet Skaro
![Report this post to the editors Report this post to the editors](../graphics/report.gif)
Defence Dept. bill U.S. for torture flights. On RTE’s Prime Time programme, broadcast on the 19th January 2006, former U.S. government legal advisor, David Rifkin dismissed the proposition that the U.S. government are blatantly lying when they state that torture detainees are not being transported through Shannon airport. The lawyer claimed that such a lie would not be possible when one takes into account the “probing media”.
Is this the same “probing media” that ignored the emergency landing of a U.S. military aircraft at Shannon airport on December the 1st of 2005? An emergency landing that, due to the “hazardous materials” on board the aircraft, resulted in the evacuation of the entire airport and surrounding properties. More interesting is the lack of media interest in the recent revelations by Phoenix magazine that the Irish Department of Defence are billing U.S. Defence Attaché Office for the facilitation of Gulfstream, Beechcraft, and McDonald DC9 jets (all linked to the special renditions programme) at Baldonnel.
As reported in the Phoenix, the Department of Defence are billing the U.S. via a Post Office Box rented by the U.S. Embassy in Accra Ghana and also another obscure address, one of a criminal defence law firm in San Francisco. The Phoenix points out the possibility that the ‘DAO’ the Defence Department are billing at the San Francisco address are in fact the U.S. Defence Accounting Office, and not the Defence Attaché. For more details see the issue of the Phoenix, dated December 16th – January 12th, 2006.
This is big news indeed but, similarly to the emergency landing of December, a uniformly bizarre editorial approach by the Irish media has resulted in the story being ignored. Also, the Defence Forces Directorate of Intelligence, a.k.a. G2, have taken an interest in the story only to the extent that they are keenly pursuing the individual(s) who leaked it to the Phoenix, rather than investigating the content of the aircraft associated with the special renditions programme. For more details see the issue of the Phoenix, dated January 13th – January 26th, 2006 (current issue).
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4There's no such thing as a servant with two masters.
I'll focus specifically on RTE, but what I say could be applied to just about every media outlet in the country (not including licensing, in any direct way, plenty of indirect examples though), Indy being the only seriously viable exception to everything suggested.
RTE is primarily, an economic entity, with all priorities geared towards profit first. To prove this just google them, every complaint they make or request, well it's an economic one. Arguably one could offer that, the better the programming, the better the market appeal, and that this leads to a top notch organisation. Bootstrapping.
But top notch in what?
Well to answer that one, one must consider their purpose. Of course, before one can establish purpose, one must identify the owner.
So before I become embroiled in the constitutionalities of why and how such a specimen as RTE can exist. Just let me point out that it is this constitutionality alone, that is the difference between what they do and the crime of extortion, with regards to their licensing priviliges. Enough said of that.
Who is RTE's owner?
Us?
They claim to offer a service afterall. I mean, if we are their owners and their "service" revolves around what we consider to contribute to the greater good, then that's the question of purpose sorted out, and the constitution is not violated.
However since RTE is profit driven, and that the license fee only accounts for a very small portion of RTE's accounts, as they often complain, well this points to our idea of being in command or control to be at odds with simple logic.
At the end of the day, the poor bastard who has been scared and threatened, by all the machinations of the state and by all the machinations of RTE and its "bosses," has finally caved in and bought a license (And this is what it takes to make it happen). There's an angle right there, in as far as explaining purpose is concerned. Infect at any given opportunity, extract money, and sell the carcass to the "bossmen," whereby which a never ending line of advertising, that suggests to you that you no longer need to think, that the only things that matter are products and purpose, that's what it's about.
In fairness if RTE flew an American flag in the background, during the news and politically motivated shows, rather than just the rest of what it shows, well then at least they'd be acting truthful.
Here's an interesting statistic I've compiled:
the population of America was 280,562,489 in 2002
Approximately 2800 were killed in the 9/11 attack in the twin towers, this is approximately 0.000997% of their population (also remembering that not everyone killed was an American).
Compared to us, with a population in 2002 of 3,917,203 and 448 people who killed themselves in 2001which is 0.0114% of our population (sorry about 2001, I couldn't find the figure for 2002, but I assure you that it was similar, but may have been a little lower, seeing that the suicide rate always increases in Ireland. ).
When you do some math with these figures you get some interesting results. In a nutshell, the deathrate in Ireland via suicide is 11.434 times greater than the deathrate in the twin towers, remembering of course that suicide in Ireland is motive and on the increase. Basically speaking, an Irish person is 11.434 times more likely to kill themselves than an American was to die in the twin towers. I'm trying not to belittle the victims and survivors of 9/11, I'm focusing on Irish death. I wonder what figure would describe the media's coverage of the twin towers, when compared to its coverage of suicide in Ireland?
An extreme quantity of evidence exists, that show the actions of George Bush Junior, since he first stole an election, have been at odds with international law and Irish law, and that our government has loped lovingly alongside their American masters, tongues a lolling. And that's just the tip of of it. The media has spewed a muck that has obscured most of this, despite the ammount of it that exists.
The media, in general, have taken all shreds of morality from their basics of operation. There's an argument to support this, so long as the greater good results from its practice. When morality is removed to specifically facilitate purpose, rather than cement agreement, this is the point of no return. I have always thought that the media should be the voice of the people, and that ultimately, such things as tribunals, garda ombudsmen, an others where superfluos, in that the voice of the people, well, that was their purpose. Of course I have been pretty much constantly aware, that in practice, that this ideal is violated.
Let me give an example of RTE shedding morality, and getting to the point, it's a valid point no doubt, but that's not my point. My point is that morality has been stripped and the rest is cold hard cash. And that ultimately RTE's point is to profit.
This was said by Peter Feeny when the government introduced legislation, prohibiting the advertising of Alcohol during daylight hours a while back.
Peter Feeney, head of public affairs policy with RTE, says the organization will no longer be on a level playing field if this measure goes through. ‘Our major concern is not with the restrictions itself but with the fact that it won’t apply to broadcasters who aren’t regulated in ROI, so it will only hit RTE and TV3. UTV, Sky, MTV etc will continue to carry ads for alcohol at any time during the day, and we feel that revenue from alcohol advertising will go offshore to non-Irish broadcasters. If this was to be a Europe-wide regulation, we would have no problem with it. But this just puts us at a disadvantage with our competitors.’
Children, parents and society do not form a true part of RTE's argument. They are the commodities that are for sale to big advertising companies. The level playing field that RTE speaks of is not an imaginary one. I mean look at the argument over competition. This competition is for daytime advertising of alcohol. Fair enough the revenue is gone, but competitiveness is not an issue if it is now illegal to advertise alcohol during the day. Or rather it is not the Job of RTE to enforce the legislation on others or worry about others profiting from it, the money has already been irrecovably removed from their table at this point already.
So like I said at the start. RTE and other Irish forms of media could still be described as probing. Insofar as one is willing to qualify it by explaining what it is they like to probe. I would even suggest they are good at this probing. But they are immoral and repugnant to the idea of being a voice of the people. Rather they are the voice for those who would own us. And most certainly they have been a voice for American and Irish propaganda in relation to our support in and condonement of illegal wars.
I tell you, I cannot wait till these sacks of shite start to gut each other as they race to expose each other, with the hope that they will be seen as having been less a bastard than the others.
There'll be an interesting vacuum at the end of it all I'm sure.
Sláinte Seán
Enough of the myths surrounding Shannon Airport, been reading unfounded stories for the past few years and hopefully Indymedia will show a bit of fair play and leave these comments on screen for ( we'll see ).
Mr.Davros, you are misleading people when you say for, for example, "Rendition Flights" are using Baldonnell Airport, just as fellow ill-informed writers have reported these Aircraft at Shannon Airport.
Firstly, why would the US Government use Ireland even if it had High Profile Prisoners to transport when it has at its disposal so many UK military fields and European military allies. To risk the Fuellers, Handling Agents, Caterers .etc seeing prisoners being transported by plane at Civilian Airports would be very foolish. Also contrary to what has been published previously, Handling Agents, Caterers and sometimes Gardai have been on board some of these aircratf and noticed nothing amiss. Maybe they are all liars or maybe they are just normal people doing their jobs. ?????
As far as I know the CIA do not own any Aircraft but just lease them as needed, I'm still checking this out.
Chartered aircraft carrying US troops through Ireland are not allowed to carry ammunition on the same flight and although some troops may have their weapons on board, they are not allowed by their own Commanders to have even one bullet on their person.
Unfortunately most people working in or around the Airports know their is nothing sinister going on but either can't be bothered or have been advised not to comment as some reporters are twisting things to make a story out of nothing.
On a final note, workers at airports, are usually from all walks in life and whether at Dublin or Shannon , they come from a 40 mile radius and are dependant on the Airport's good business.
The workers at these airports know deep down there is nothing sinister going on and won't leave themselves open to scaremongering.....................
Are the planes logged that have been involved in renditions doing and going via Shannnon
All Aircraft landing at, and taking off, from Irish Airports are logged. No exceptions.
Please remember that just because someone in another country "claims" a paticular aircraft is involved in clandestine operations, this dosen't make it a fact.
In reality, the CIA don't own any aircraft, but do charter aircraft from time to time. Now if Joe bloggs, the following week, also charters the same aircraft , does this mean Joe is also working for the CIA ?
Other writers to this site, claim "rendition flights" land in Ireland with or without "detainees". They obviously aren't aware that when one charters a plane to go from one country to another, that people sometimes do not return to their point of departure and the return trip can and often is chartered by another who may wish to return to the original. Usually these parties aren't even aware that someone else is chartering the return leg.
Numerous people, including politicians and plane spotters have "demanded" answers regarding "Rendition Flights" which they claim have landed in Irish Airports from both US and Irish Governments.
Both US officials, including Ms.Rice and Bertie Ahern, have assured the public, that to the best of their knowledge, our airports have not been actively used.
So why now, do you and the media, as you have asked the question, not accept the answer.