All-purpose news and politics thread: One Step Beyond!

[king mob]

While the media tear the BBC apart and generally forget to ask basic questions about the real story, Steve Messham appears to have disapeared. The last sign anyone had of him was a posting on his Twitter account early this morning.

[king mob]

Messham's brief has released a statement saying his client is fine and hasn't done anything silly, which is good but the news today has been insane as the media happily wank each other off in a massive circle as they talk about each other, and the BBC especially.

What does seem clear is the BBC are going to be seriously neutered in doing any serious journalism while all this rolls on and that's another part of this story not being reported. Meanwhile nobody in the media is finding out why Messham was given McAlpine's name by the police?

[Charles RB]

Abbott's a staunch Catholic, they've all got their heads in the sand over this.

What, again? How far down can it possibly go after the last decade? He's got to be past sand and into the fucking mantle.

That person's name is now harder to find online in relation to this as if this was something leaked out in order to hide them away

Hide it away from who? Nobody was looking until the Newsnight story, and the Newsnight story was Newsnight and BIJ talking to a known witness, who gave them McAlpine's name. Muddying the waters would explain why the North Wales police back in the day were telling witnesses the wrong name, but nobody in the current investigation had a reason to muddy anything. EDIT: Though it turns out Overtone blabbed it to Channel 4 to show off.

let the courts deal with it.

A High Court investigation is the courts dealing with it.

EDIT: And that Mail article is the most appalling nasty bit of attack "journalism", even by the Mail's standards. A survivor of systemic child abuse has anger issues and hasn't always remembered everything correctly, of course he's fucking like that after child abuse.

[jmc247]

Syria crisis: Israeli tanks 'hit Syrian units' in Golan

Israel's military says its tanks have scored "direct hits" on Syrian artillery units after Syrian mortar shells fell near an Israeli army post. It comes a day after Israel fired warning shots after it said a Syrian shell hit another of its army posts on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The episode is the most serious between the two countries since the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We are closely monitoring what is happening and will respond appropriately. "We will not allow our borders to be violated or our citizens to be fired upon."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20302503

Given the great powers refuse to get involved it may come down to the regional powers to deal with the situation, especially if Assad starts launching large numbers of rockets across its borders.

[Charles RB]

Hold up, there may be an answer here;

A local councillor who was himself a victim of abuse at Bryn Estyn... Keith Gregory, the Wrexham councillor who has been an eloquent spokesperson for the victims of abuse this week, said he believed a different member of the McAlpine family who lived locally may have been mistaken for Lord McAlpine.
He said a man who children at the home believed to be a member of the McAlpine family would arrive at Bryn Estyn in an expensive car. "He was a right flashy thing," he said.

Lord McAlpine was exonerated by the 1997 Waterhouse inquiry of any involvement in the abuse of children in the north Wales homes but not named because of an order by the retired judge preventing the identification of either victims or alleged abusers. As a result he has been the subject of persistent smears, which resurfaced following the Newsnight allegations about a senior Tory.

But the allegations made by Messham began to unravel after it emerged that he told the Waterhouse inquiry in 1997 that the McAlpine family member he believed to be his abuser was now dead. Lord McAlpine is alive and living in Italy.

And the Guardian names Jimmie McAlpine as someone living nearby. The judge at the time also thought it could be false evidence that Messham was coached to say.

So this could be bad memory on the part of Messham and the widow, they saw a photo of a McAlpine (who would also be titled) and got it wrong years later, or the police were fucking up and calling the wrong McAlpine "Lord", or someone muddying the waters. In which case, Newsnight have done some extremely shoddy journalism and were this close to naming a real abuser or identifying a cover-up.

And Channel 4 have a list of names, one a prominent "local official"; they've got backing from "a credible source".

[Puppetmaker Grae]

Hold up, there may be an answer here;

Didn't I post this last week? Where's my coke, Charles?

[Charles RB]

Where's my coke, Charles?

I drank it on your behalf.

[Puppetmaker Grae]

I drank it on your behalf.

Fair do's.

[Vibranium]

http://www.tmz.com/2012/11/12/elmo-k...y-allegations/

TMZ is reporting this so take it with a grain of salt

I hope its all BS

[Charles RB]

British soldiers might be sent to the Syrian borders in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon to help with the refugee camps. General Sir David Richards has also admitted he keeps "brushing over" contigency plans for Syrian intervention and an attack on Iran, but you'd hope so since that's his job.

[Spike-X]

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has just announced a Royal Commission into the coverup of sexual abuse of children in the care of religious organisations, state care and not for profit bodies. This follows widespread public outrage over the coverup of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

[Iangould]

General Sir David Richards has also admitted he keeps "brushing over" contigency plans for Syrian intervention and an attack on Iran, but you'd hope so since that's his job.

Yes, they probably also have contingency plans somewhere for invading France and going to war with the US.

[Charles RB]

and going to war with the US.

We sacrifice Scunthorpe to dread Morrigan and hope she gives us her patronage.

[Iangould]

The Americans did actually try to invade Britian during the Revolutionary War. They only sent a small force but they were hoping to spark a revolution iside Britain.

Unfortunately, the first landing party found a pub and having been at sea for months proceeded to get massively drunk.

Maybe you can try that again.

[JCAll]

The Americans did actually try to invade Britian during the Revolutionary War. They only sent a small force but they were hoping to spark a revolution iside Britain.

Unfortunately, the first landing party found a pub and having been at sea for months proceeded to get massively drunk.

Maybe you can try that again.

Damn Americans, coming to our country and taking all our Booze.