• home • about • twitter • archives • subscribe • email •

Remember this story in The Sun from earlier in the year?

Fears grew last night that hate-filled Islamic extremists are drawing up a “hit list” of Britain’s leading Jews – bringing the Middle East conflict terrifyingly close to home.

TV’s The Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar and Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson are among prominent names discussed on a fanatics’ website. Labour Peer and pal of Tony Blair Lord Levy, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Princess Diana’s divorce lawyer Anthony Julius are also understood to be potential targets.

In a very fine piece of investigative journalism (remember that?) Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads, with help from Richard Bartholomew, discovered this story to be a massive hoax perpetrated by a man called Glen Jenvey, a man who has in the past worked with Tory MP Patrick Mercer, the parliamentary counterterrorism subcommittee chairman.

Tim’s reward? To be smeared, to have his mental health impugned, to be accused of being a paedophile, lied about, vilified, stalked, and finally his home address made public on the internet. He has had to involve the police. The harassment continues. Those in a real position to help him put an end to this have, disgracefully and unforgivably, refused to do so.

I’m proud to know Tim well and know something of what he’s been through in the last few months. And all for calling someone on their dangerous bullshit. He deserves much better for doing what a far better resourced press and media should have been doing themselves. He deserves full credit and any damage to his reputation restored.

To those who have helped do this to him or stood by and done nothing by allowing petty disputes get in the way of doing the right thing: it won’t be forgotten. This isn’t a game or an inter-blog spat – this is about a person’s safety and well-being and that of his family. The behaviour of some of the prominent Tories involved in all this is gut-churning.

Tim could do with a hand. You could start here.

If you would like to send a message of condolence and/or share your memories of poons with his family and friends, please send them to Tim Ireland who is collecting them to forward them on.

Dave ‘poons‘ Halligan was an occasional commenter here and a thoroughly decent bloke. A couple of years ago he let me put an honest and hopeful piece from his blog in the Blog Digest book. Sadly, two Saturdays ago, he lost his long fight against alcohol and depression. Rest easy, Dave.

A very ace mate of mine is running the New York marathon this year and wants to raise money for a couple of Asian charities. Justgiving.com doesn’t allow overseas charities apparently and Fundable.com only lets you fundraise for 26 days.

Does anyone know of any other fundraising sites that might fit the bill?

The (also) mighty, mighty Matt Buck has a new home right here.

Update your bookmarks or, if you don’t know Matt’s excellent cartoons, go and have a look.

Big cheers to Tim for the heads-up: the mighty, mighty Get Your War On is now animated:

Apparently episodes are going to be weekly.

I endorse this…

Right here.

Right here.

You are commanded to put this guy on your favourites list. Don’t waste your morning working. Spend it with The Perry Bible Fellowship.

Right here along with some exciting news for GYWO fans.

Right here.

Right here.

Right here.

Defender of freedom and all round good egg Henry Porter has now got his own website collecting his columns and articles. Some excellent stuff to be found in the archives.

UPDATE: Porter interviewed by Peter Tatchell.

…is back after his takedown by Alisher Usmanov’s lawyers.

Stand by for fireworks.

A message from Dan Hardie, who really doesn’t deserve this:

I am not a Doctor, of Medicine or anything else. Nor have I ever claimed to be a Doctor. I have indeed completed a medical training course of two weeks’ duration. I do, in fact, research a particular commodities industry, and the journalist who just called me a Doctor in the pages of a national newspaper knows this because we first met when I brought his attention to a story about the price of building materials and the cost of the London Olympics. If he’d forgotten that, he needed to simply check with me as to my profession, or to the extent of my medical training, and he didn’t.

This is simply so that we don’t get Press Officers saying that I’m some nutter who has awarded himself a medical degree. No I’m not, and no I haven’t. I also note that I am entirely in agreement with Ministry of Defence policy, that serving soldiers should not speak to the Press without permission, and should not make political statements under any circumstances. Reservists- who include a number of MPs- may do both so long as they do so as citizens, without identifying themselves as soldiers or doing so whilst they are in uniform, or revealing sensitive or classified military information.

Right here.

Sad news.

I’ve never met anyone else like Rachel North; anyone less deserving of what she’s had to face in her life nor more deserving of the seeming bottomless reserves of strength she has.

Think about her today.

A big fat must.

In half an hour…

Mark Thomas: my life in serious organised crime.

Update: Mark’s on form today:

Consider Geoff Hoon, being defence secretary will be the crowning point of his career. As such it is unlikely that he will ever condemn the invasion of Iraq and his role in it. He is probably proud of his part and I reckon every now and again he must glimpse the flames of Baghdad on the telly, nudge his wife on the sofa and say, ”I did that. That was me.”

Tim W’s Britblog Roundup #101 and James H’s Saturday Blogfocus are both out.

John Brissenden is hosting the end of the year awards ceremony.

(Not safe for work or in the presence of small children who are learning to read).

Tim Worstall’s Britblog Roundup #94, Mr E’s Swearbloggers Roundup #9 and James Higham’s Blogfocus.