Hear my just cause, O Lord; consider my complaint; listen to my prayer, which comes not from lying lips. Let my vindication come forth from your presence; let your eyes behold what is right. Weigh my heart, examine me by night, refine me, and you will find no impurity in me. My mouth does not trespass for earthly rewards; I have heeded the words of your lips. My footsteps hold fast in the ways of your commandments; my feet have not stumbled in your paths. I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; incline your ear to me, and listen to my words. Show me your marvellous loving-kindness, O Saviour of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of your wings, From the wicked who assault me, from my enemies who surround me to take away my life. They have closed their heart to pity and their mouth speaks proud things. They press me hard, they surround me on every side, watching how they may cast me to the ground, Like a lion that is greedy for its prey, like a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, Lord; confront them and cast them down; deliver me from the wicked by your sword. Deliver me, O Lord, by your hand from those whose portion in life is unending, Whose bellies you fill with your treasure, who are well supplied with children and leave their wealth to their little ones. As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness; when I awake and behold your likeness, I shall be satisfied.
The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, dripping from the honeycomb. By them also is your servant taught and in keeping them there is great reward.
Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins lest they get dominion over me; so shall I be undefiled, and innocent of great offence. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.
For dreams come with many cares, and a fool's voice with many words.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfil what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfil it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?
With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words; but fear God.
If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a ploughed field.
The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.
When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. As they came from their mother's womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands. This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go; and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind? Besides, all their days they eat in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and resentment.
This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.
One of the greatest challenges for those of us who do church is that of thinking about accessibility of services for those who might otherwise find a challenge through some form of disability.
All too often I find myself with people who think that being disability aware is testified to by the presence of a hand rail or a ramp - and it is indeed a start in the right direction; but it's not the ever the final word (especially if you have deaf people in the congregation!).
An induction loop is another great addition to church buildings these days, but I am often surprised at the number of people who tell me that this is not always turned on in their church. 'Sorry, couldn't hear what you said in the sermon, the loop wasn't working,' equals a blessing for those spared my sermon but exclusion (often by neglect). When did you last check your loop was working?) from an act of worship which, eventually, causes people to drift away.
Our little church building has a projector and screen for the services and this suits most people. But there are the words, in Bold on the 'Welcome'; screen, which state that for those having difficulty reading or seeing the screen, paper copies are available in 12pt and 18pt fonts. This message is reinforced by various of the members to newcomers who appear to be struggling. (There's always a tension between trying to offer support and potentially embarrassing someone - a careful balance called for here).
I have often thought about, and failed, learning to sign because it's a need that crops up from time to time. I have some of the basics and know of people I can call on to provide assistance so it's sort of sorted, but still on the 'want to' list.
Recently I've been working with a few different fonts and sizes to find out which work best for those who need large-print material and have come to a place where it is Arial and 18 point.
Having just completed a Mission Shaped Introduction course where I am, I thought I'd place a set of large print course member handouts HERE should anyone find them useful.
Corrupt are they, and abominable in their wickedness; there is no one that does good.
The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of earth, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks after God. But every one has turned back; all alike have become corrupt: there is none that does good; no, not one.
Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as if they ate bread and do not call upon the Lord?
There shall they be in great fear; for God is in the company of the righteous. Though they would confound the counsel of the poor, yet the Lord shall be their refuge.
O that Israel's salvation would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, then will Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
Whoever leads an uncorrupt life and does the thing that is right; Who speaks the truth from the heart and bears no deceit on the tongue; Who does no evil to a friend and pours no scorn on a neighbour; In whose sight the wicked are not esteemed, but who honours those who fear the Lord.
Whoever does these things shall never fall.
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human spirit goes upwards and the spirit of animals goes downwards to the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?
Again I saw all the oppressions that are practised under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power—with no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person's envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Fools fold their hands and consume their own flesh. Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after wind.
Again, I saw vanity under the sun: the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. 'For whom am I toiling', they ask, 'and depriving myself of pleasure?' This also is vanity and an unhappy business. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will no longer take advice. One can indeed come out of prison to reign, even though born poor in the kingdom. I saw all the living who, moving about under the sun, follow that youth who replaced the king; there was no end to all those people whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Most merciful God, who strengthened your Church by the steadfast courage of your martyr James Hannington: grant that we also, thankfully remembering his victory of faith, may overcome what is evil and glorify your holy name; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
I love the Lord, for he has heard the voice of my supplication; because he inclined his ear to me on the day I called to him. The snares of death encompassed me; the pains of hell took hold of me; by grief and sorrow was I held.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. O Lord, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.
I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord.
I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in chaos.' I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is right.
Assemble yourselves and come together, draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge - those who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is no one besides me.
Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; all who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory.
Almighty God, who built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone: so join us together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Remembrance: It's that time of year again.
For those of you who have served or have a connection with our UK forces and would like to reflect it in your Facebook, Twitter or other places, can I remind you that there are a fairly large number of poppy avatars, like that below, available on this blog?
Now therefore be wise, O kings; be prudent, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and with trembling kiss his feet, lest he be angry and you perish from the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all they who take refuge in him.
The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new'? It has already been, in the ages before us. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.
I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.
to guide us by your will and to shield us from our foes: that, after the example of your servant Alfred, we may inwardly love you above all things; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Like ending a veggie meal with a burger!
After all, if you're a humanist then surely there's no divine being and no one to go anywhere with!
Yes indeedy, I was experiencing syncretic atheism at its very best (should that be 'worst'?) as somehow some 'god being' had crept in to the proceedings and whilst untheological thinking should have been being peddled it was obvious that there was an emerging theology , complete with an emerging god (or someone who could lead the deceased to somewhere by some hitherto unspecified and uncarpeted (or desired) being!
But which god could it be? After all, there are so many on offer and up until then I assume that, being a humanist service, none of those on offer were desired, invited or engaged with!
Then the music started playing and I nearly dropped (metaphorically speaking) me chips!
Like a veggie meal ending with a burger!
So here we are, we've reached end of the green season in the Church of England and we do it with a bit of style as first we consider poor old Job; remember him? Kids die when the house collapses and everything he loves, or loves him, is taken from him (or leaves).A story of testing and perseverance - all about a bloke who, despite the awfulness that surronds him, cings faithfully to God: And sees everything not just restored, but given twice as much! Now that's a bargain, innit?
I have to say that I identify with Job at times when I recall the loss of TJ, a son who almost made it to ten years despite the medical car crash that was his life and look at our four beautiful children. Not a replacement but a restoration and added blessing.
The same is true in other areas of my life - and I don't think I've been especially faithful, I have my feet of clay and my own stupid and selfish bits, but praise God because He has been; after all - faithful, that's His other name isn't it?
Where do you need to be perserving? Where have you been persevering? Trust God for a blessing .. for that's His business then, and now! After all, look at His credentials in the Hebrews reading. Thia is one cool high priest indeed - totally trustworthy, consistent and integrity ridden. Comes with a guarantee that is cast iron: So why not put Him to the test (it's biblical, don't worry - I'm not leading you into sin but salvation and reconciliation with God therough God!
The people (probably the church goers!) tell him to shush (I remember that in a situation where Jesus was replaced by Rowan Williams) so he shouts louder - a good lesson here, don't let the administrators get in the way, demand to speak to management (and you can... 'Our father in heaven...') directly.
Jesus tells the people to bring Bartimaeus to him. So they called him saying, 'Take heart; get up, he is calling you.' Needing no further encouragement he throws his possessions (his cloak) aside and legs it to Jesus who does something amazing. When you get a chance to meet Jesus, then dumping what little you have makes sense: how often do we get our priorities right like this?
Here is God made man and yet rather than assume that He knows what the man wants (and I'm sure He, and we, had a good idea), He asks. So when we encounter people with needs, why do we assme that we don't need to ask???
The same faith that we started off with when encountering Job at the beginning of today.
Job done then - off you go (don't forget to chuck the things that weight you down!
who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations. And Job died, old and full of days.
Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever.
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' Jesus stood still and said, 'Call him here.' And they called the blind man, saying to him, 'Take heart; get up, he is calling you.' So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, 'What do you want me to do for you?' The blind man said to him, 'My teacher, let me see again.' Jesus said to him, 'Go; your faith has made you well.' Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
God of all grace, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom: renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your true and living bread; who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen.
Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate that faces towards the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.
One of our churchwardens tells a tale of a chap who was walking through the streets of a town one morning when he came across a funeral procession. There were many mourners walking behind the horse-drawn hearse and it was obvious by the attire and obvious station of the mourners that this must have been someone of import.
This is Christian Legacy week - a time when Christians and churches are being encouraged to think about the delicate of issue of what we will be doing with the 'everything' that we leave behind: One of the most sensitive topics I think there can be; something that I have never discussed with anyone, ever!
Recently, Christian Research conducted a survey the results of which showed that 'only' 45% of Christians plan to leave a gift to a church or charity in their will. Now I have to say that I was amazed at the number and think that the 'only' should be replaced with 'as many' because I was surprised at that number. But of course it means that more than half of those who wear the label 'Christian' have never thought about it and that's a large number of people!
Recently I have experienced legacy first hand as someone I know left a gift that will keep on supporting a church that was dear to them for a very long time. This really was a gift that will keep on giving and even though no longer physically with the members of their beloved church, their present makes their presence, and their love for them, real and obvious for a very long time to come!
So, if you're a Church Treasurer or a member of your Church Council - this is something you might like to watch and bring to your next finance group meeting and PCC, DCC or whatever you call those who give of their time to do the business of the church.
I pour out my complaint before him and tell him of my trouble. When my spirit faints within me, you know my path; in the way wherein I walk have they laid a snare for me.
Blessed be the Lord my rock, who teaches my hands for war and my fingers for battle; My steadfast help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield in whom I trust, who subdues the peoples under me.
O Lord, what are mortals that you should consider them; mere human beings, that you should take thought for them?
They are like a breath of wind; their days pass away like a shadow.
Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains and they shall smoke. Cast down your lightnings and scatter them; shoot out your arrows and let thunder roar. 7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and take me out of the great waters, from the hand of foreign enemies, Whose mouth speaks wickedness and their right hand is the hand of falsehood.
O God, I will sing to you a new song; I will play to you on a ten-stringed harp, You that give salvation to kings and have delivered David your servant. Save me from the peril of the sword and deliver me from the hand of foreign enemies, whose mouth speaks wickedness and whose right hand is the hand of falsehood; So that our sons in their youth may be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters like pillars carved for the corners of the temple; Our barns be filled with all manner of store; our flocks bearing thousands, and ten thousands in our fields; Our cattle be heavy with young: may there be no miscarriage or untimely birth, no cry of distress in our streets.
Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; and I looked, and lo! the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord; and I fell upon my face. The Lord said to me: Mortal, mark well, look closely, and listen attentively to all that I shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the Lord and all its laws; and mark well those who may be admitted to the temple and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary. Say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant with all your abominations. And you have not kept charge of my sacred offerings; but you have appointed foreigners to act for you in keeping my charge in my sanctuary.
Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them. Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear their punishment. They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, and the consequences of the abominations that they have committed. Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it.
But the levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.
'A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.' Then some of his disciples said to one another, 'What does he mean by saying to us, "A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me"; and "Because I am going to the Father"?' They said, 'What does he mean by this "a little while"? We do not know what he is talking about.' Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, 'Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, "A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me"? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit's gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Street Angels: A shocking addition to the repertoire?
November sees Tamworth Street Angels extend the scope of their services to the people of Tamworth.
Could you make a difference to a life because Jesus has made a difference to yours?
THERE"S NO MONOPOLY ON BEING KIND!
TALK TO YOUR LOCAL GROUP NOW!
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and in your faithfulness give ear to my supplications; answer me in your righteousness. Enter not into judgement with your servant, for in your sight shall no one living be justified. For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
My spirit faints within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the time past; I muse upon all your deeds; I consider the works of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul gasps for you like a thirsty land. O Lord, make haste to answer me; my spirit fails me; hide not your face from me lest I be like those who go down to the Pit. Let me hear of your loving-kindness in the morning, for in you I put my trust; show me the way I should walk in, for I lift up my soul to you. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies, for I flee to you for refuge. Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God; let your kindly spirit lead me on a level path. Revive me, O Lord, for your name's sake; for your righteousness' sake, bring me out of trouble. In your faithfulness, slay my enemies, and destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for truly I am your servant.
Put not your trust in princes,nor in any human power, for there is no help in them. When their breath goes forth, they return to the earth; on that day all their thoughts perish.
The Lord looses those that are bound; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous; the Lord watches over the stranger in the land; he upholds the orphan and widow; but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory. The vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple. He said to me: Mortal, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will reside among the people of Israel for ever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their whoring, and by the corpses of their kings at their death. When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they were defiling my holy name by their abominations that they committed; therefore I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their idolatry and the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will reside among them for ever.
As for you, mortal, describe the temple to the house of Israel, and let them measure the pattern; and let them be ashamed of their iniquities. When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form—all its ordinances and its entire plan and all its laws; and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and follow the entire plan and all its ordinances. This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. This is the law of the temple.
'I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.
Hallowe'en and Pumpkins in Church?
Church Building Reviewed and condemned?
Ministry to the deaf? NO NEED TO SHOUT!


text:
Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Intelligence, Lost History, Media, Obama Administration, October Surprise, Secrecy, The Bush-43 Administration
New York Times: Apologist for Power
November 7, 2016 • 35 Comments
Special Report: Over the past couple of decades, America's preeminent newspaper, The New York Times, has lost its journalistic way, becoming a propaganda platform and an apologist for the powerful, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
In recent years, The New York Times has behaved as if whatever the Establishment claims is true must be true, failing to show thoughtful skepticism whether the findings are coming from a congressional report, an intelligence assessment, a criminal investigation or even an outfit as disreputable as the National Football League.
If some powerful institution asserts a conclusion, the Times falls in line and expects everyone else to do so as well. Yet, that is not journalism; it is mindless submission to authority; and it indirectly pushes many people into the swamps of conspiracy theories. After all, if professional journalists simply ratify whatever dubious claims are coming from powerful institutions, inquisitive citizens will try to fill in the blanks themselves and sometimes buy into outlandishly false speculations.
New York Times building in New York City. (Photo from Wikipedia)
In my journalistic career, I have found both extremes troubling: the Times' assumption that the authorities are almost always right and the conspiracy theorists who follow up some "what I can't understand" comment with a patently absurd explanation and then get angry when rational people won't go along.
Though both attitudes have become dangerous for a functioning democracy, the behavior of the Times deserves the bulk of the blame, since the "newspaper of record" carries far more weight in setting public policy and also is partly to blame for creating this blight of conspiracism.
Some of the Times' failures are well known, such as its 2002 front-page acceptance of claims from officials and allies of George W. Bush's administration that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program and had purchased some aluminum tubes to do so. The Times' bogus story allowed Bush's top aides to go on Sunday talk shows to warn that "we must not allow the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
But the "aluminum tube" story was only part of a long-developing pattern. As an investigative reporter in Washington since 1980, I had seen the Times engage in similar publications of false stories planted by powerful insiders.
For instance, based on self-serving information from Ronald Reagan's Justice Department in the mid-1980s, the Times knocked down the original reporting that my Associated Press colleague Brian Barger and I did on Nicaraguan Contra rebels getting involved in cocaine smuggling.
And, once the Times got snookered by its official sources, it and other mainstream publications carried on vendettas against anyone who contradicted the accepted wisdom, unwilling to admit that they were wrong even at the expense of historical truth.
So, when San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb revived the Contra-cocaine story in 1996 — with evidence that some of that cocaine had fed into the "crack epidemic" — the Times (along with other major newspapers) savaged Webb's articles and destroyed his career.
Finally, in 1998 when the CIA's Inspector General Frederick Hitz confirmed that the Contras indeed had engaged in extensive cocaine trafficking, the Times only published a grudging and limited admission that maybe there was a bit more to the story than the vaunted Times had previously accepted. But Webb's career and life remained in ruins. He eventually committed suicide in 2004 (and please, conspiracists, don't go on about how he was "murdered" by the CIA).
[For details, see Consortiumnews.com's "The Sordid Contra-Cocaine Saga."]
Hiding Gore's Victory
By the time of Webb's destruction, the Times was neck-deep in a troubling pattern of getting virtually every major story wrong or sitting on important information that some of its own journalists had dug up.
President George W. Bush and members of his national security team in Iraq in 2007
In 2000, after five partisan Republicans on the U.S. Supreme Court shut down the vote count in Florida to ensure George W. Bush's "election," Times executives resisted calls from lower-level editors to join in a media counting of the discarded votes, only grumpily agreeing to take part.
However, when that vote count was completed in November 2001, the Times executives decided to misreport the findings, which revealed that if all legal votes in Florida had been counted Al Gore would have won (because the so-called "over-votes" – when a voter both marks and writes in the same name – broke heavily for Gore and are legal under Florida law which is based on the clear intent of the voter).
You might have thought that the obvious lede would be that the wrong guy was in the White House, but the 9/11 attacks had intervened between the start and the end of the media recount. So, the Times and other major news organizations buried their own findings so as not to undermine Bush's authority amid a crisis. The big media focused on various hypotheticals of partial counts that still had Bush "winning."
While one might sympathize with the Times' reasons for misleading the public, what the Times did was not journalism, nor was it a case of treating the American citizens as the true sovereigns of the nation who have a right to know the truth. It was a case of protecting the legitimacy of the Establishment. Those of us who noted the actual vote tabulations were dismissed as "conspiracy theorists," though we were not.
[For the details of how a full Florida recount would have given Gore the White House, see Consortiumnews.com's "Gore's Victory," "So Bush Did Steal the White House," and "Bush v. Gore's Dark American Decade."]
Rationalizing War
So, when we got to Bush's plans for invading Iraq in 2002, the Times had already shown its commitment to play ball with whatever the government was saying, no matter how dubious the claims. And, even the humiliation of having been caught publishing a false story about aluminum tubes being evidence of Iraq reconstituting its nuclear weapons program didn't get the Times to change course.
Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
Although one of the reporters on that story, Judy Miller, eventually did leave the newspaper (and landed on her feet at Fox News), the lead author, Michael Gordon, continued as the Times' national security correspondent. Even more stunning, columnist Bill Keller, who wrote an influential article rallying "liberals" to the cause of invading Iraq, was elevated to the top job of executive editor after his Iraq gullibility had been exposed.
Even in the rare moments when the Times claimed it was standing up to the Bush administration, such as publishing James Risen's article in December 2005 exposing the warrantless wiretapping of Americans, the reality was not exactly a new chapter in Profiles in Courage.
It turned out that the Times had been sitting on Risen's story for more than a year – it could have been published before the 2004 election – but Bush demanded the story's suppression. The information was finally shared with the public in late 2005 only because Risen's book, State of War, was scheduled for publication in January 2006 and included the disclosure, a prospective embarrassment for the Times.
The pattern of the Times bowing down to the White House continued into the Obama administration. Whenever there has been a dubious claim that the U.S. government directs against some foreign "adversary," the Times dutifully takes the side of Official Washington, rather than applying the objectivity and impartiality that are supposed to be at the heart of U.S. journalism.
For instance, on Aug. 21, 2013, when a mysterious sarin gas attack outside Damascus, Syria, killed several hundred people, the Times simply fell in line behind the U.S.-driven rush to judgment blaming the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
There were immediate reasons to doubt that conclusion – Assad had just invited in United Nations inspectors to investigate cases of Syrian jihadists using chemical weapons – but the Times and other major Western outlets simply fingered the already demonized Assad.
Though we now know that U.S. intelligence analysts did not consider Assad's guilt a "slam dunk" – and later key elements of the case against Assad collapsed, such as the Times' miscalculation of the maximum range of the sarin-laden rocket – the Assad-did-it stampede almost led to a major U.S. military retaliation against what now appears to have been the wrong people.
Current evidence points to a likely provocation by radical jihadists trying to trick the West into entering the war in a big way on their side, but the Times has never fully retracted its false claim that the rocket was fired from a Syrian military base, which was four times outside the rocket's range.
Indeed, to this day, Times' columnists and other Western journalists routinely cite Assad's guilt – and President Obama's supposed failure to enforce his "red line" against chemical attacks – as flat fact.
The MH-17 Case
There has been a similar lack of skepticism toward the propaganda case that has been built around the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine killing 298 people. We saw another rush to judgment, this time blaming ethnic Russian rebels and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but there were problems with that claim from the start.
The Dutch Safety Board's reconstruction of where it believed the missile exploded near Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014.
I was told by a source briefed by U.S. intelligence analysts that their evidence pointed to a rogue element of the Ukrainian military under the direction of a hard-line, anti-Russian Ukrainian oligarch with the hoped-for goal of shooting down Putin's plane returning from a state visit to South America. According to this account, MH-17 just became the substitute target.
But the international investigation was put under the effective control of Ukraine's unsavory SBU intelligence service, although technically called "Dutch-led." As the Joint Investigation Team's own progress report noted this year, the inquiry relied both on the Ukrainian government's hospitality and "evidence" supplied by the SBU, which has been implicated in concealing Ukrainian torture centers. Far from objective, the investigation became part of the West's anti-Russian propaganda war.
So, when the JIT issued its initial findings in September 2016, skepticism should have been in order. Indeed, there wasn't really a "report" as such, more a brief summary accompanied by several videos that used computer-generated graphics and cryptic telephone intercepts, provided by the SBU, to create the impression of Russian guilt.
A critical examination of the material revealed that the inquiry ignored evidence that went against the desired conclusion, including intercepts revealing that a Ukrainian convoy was pressing deep inside what was called "rebel-controlled" territory, an important point because it showed that a Ukrainian missile battery could have traveled eastward toward the alleged firing point since rebel forces were mostly massed to the north fighting a government offensive.
The alleged route of the supposed Russian Buk battery also made no sense because there was a much more direct and discreet route from the Russian border to the alleged firing location in the southeast than the circuitous wandering all the way west to Donetsk before backtracking to the east. But the SBU-dominated investigation needed to explain why all the "social media" photos showed a Buk battery traveling east toward Russia, not westward from Russia.
And, there was the JIT's silence on a Dutch intelligence report from October 2015 saying that the only powerful anti-aircraft missiles in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, were under the control of the Ukrainian military. Plus, the supposed firing location for the alleged purpose of protecting rebel fighters operating far to the north made no sense from a tactical perspective either. Placing a Buk battery far to the southeast would not help shoot down Ukraine's military planes firing missiles into the rebel lines.
Indeed, much of the evidence fit better with what I had been told, second-hand, from those U.S. intelligence analysts – because any scheme to shoot down Putin's plane would need the deniability that would come from pushing the battery as far into "rebel-controlled" territory as possible so as to manage the political fallout by creating a cover story that Putin was killed by his own supporters. The same cover story also would work for killing the passengers on MH-17 and blaming it on Russia.
But whatever you might think about who was responsible for the MH-17 atrocity — and I agree that the mystery has not been solved — the job of a professional news organization is to examine skeptically the various accounts and the available pieces of evidence, not just embrace the "official" version. But that is what the Times has done regarding MH-17 and pretty much every other case.
Concealing History
The Times' journalistic negligence does not only affect current issues of war and peace, but how the American people understand their recent history. In effect, the false "group thinks" – accepted by the Times – have a long after-life of decay contaminating the public's thinking whenever the Times recycles a bogus account as historical narrative.
President Lyndon Johnson accompanies President-elect Richard Nixon to his inauguration on Jan. 20, 1969.
For instance, in a recent summary of "October Surprise" cases, the Times misled its readers on two of the most important incidents, 1968 and 1980.
Regarding the election of 1968 between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, the evidence is now overwhelming that Nixon's operatives went behind President Lyndon Johnson's back to sabotage the Paris peace talks that Johnson felt could end the Vietnam War, a development that also would likely have helped fellow Democrat Humphrey.
That evidence now includes declassified FBI wiretaps of Nixon's conspirators and Johnson's own taped phone conversations – as well as various admissions and other corroborations from participants – but the Times has always turned up its nose toward this important story. So, the history doesn't exist in New York Times World.
Thus, when the Times addressed this 1968 episode in a Nov. 1, 2016 review of past "October Surprise" cases – in the context of FBI Director James Comey telling Congress that the FBI had reopened its investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails – the Times offered this summary:
"President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced a halt to bombing of North Vietnam, based on his claim that peace talks had 'entered a new and a very much more hopeful phase,' and he invited the government of South Vietnam and the Viet Cong to take part in negotiations. Raising hopes that the war might end soon, the announcement appeared to bolster the standing in the polls of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, the Democratic presidential nominee, but Humphrey still fell short in the election against former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, the Republican."
In other words, the Times treated Johnson's bombing halt and claim of peace-talk progress as the "October Surprise" to try to influence the election in favor of Humphrey. But the evidence now is clear that a peace agreement was within reach and that the "October Surprise" was Nixon's sabotage of the negotiations by persuading South Vietnamese President Nguyen van Thieu to boycott the Paris meeting.
The Times got the story upside-down and inside-out by failing to reexamine this case in light of convincing evidence now available in the declassified record. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com's "LBJ's 'X-File' on Nixon's 'Treason'" and "The Heinous Crime Behind Watergate."]
Reagan's Victory
The Times botched the 1980 "October Surprise" case even worse. The currently available evidence supports the case that Ronald Reagan's campaign – mostly through its director (and future CIA Director) William Casey and its vice presidential nominee (and former CIA Director) George H.W. Bush – went behind President Jimmy Carter's back and undermined his negotiations to free 52 American hostages then held in Iran.
President Ronald Reagan, delivering his Inaugural Address on Jan. 20, 1981, as the 52 U.S. hostages in Iran are simultaneously released.
Carter's failure became a central factor in his repudiation for reelection and a core reason for Reagan's landslide victory – that also carried the Republicans to control of the U.S. Senate. But the later congressional investigation into the 1980 October Surprise case – a follow-on to the Iran-Contra scandal which exposed the Reagan-Bush secret dealings with Iran – was stymied in 1992.
Naively, the inquiry trusted President George H.W. Bush's administration to collect the evidence and provide the witnesses for what would amount to Bush's political suicide. Documents from Bush's presidential library reveal that his White House quickly set out to "kill/spike this story" in order to protect his reelection chances.
For instance, a memo by one of Bush's lawyers revealed that the White House had received confirmation of a key October Surprise allegation – a secret trip by Casey to Madrid – but then withheld that information from congressional investigators. Documents also show the White House frustrating attempts to interview a key witness.
After I discovered the Madrid confirmation several years ago – and sent the document to former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who had headed the House inquiry which concluded that there was no credible evidence supporting the allegations – he was stunned by the apparent betrayal of his trust.
"The [Bush-41] White House did not notify us that he [Casey] did make the trip" to Madrid, Hamilton told me in an interview. Asked if knowledge that Casey had traveled to Madrid might have changed the investigation's dismissive October Surprise conclusion, Hamilton said yes, because the question of the Madrid trip was central to the inquiry.
So, a great deal is now known about the 1980 October Surprise case since the Times accepted the misguided conclusion of Hamilton's inquiry. But none of that is reflected in how the Times recounted the history in its review of past October Surprise cases:
"The Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan, and his aides repeatedly warned that President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, would try an October surprise, probably in the form of winning the release of American hostages held for more than a year in Iran. The Reagan campaign's frequent use of the term helped popularize it. Some people have since charged that Reagan aides actually tried to prevent a hostage release before the election, through back-channel communications with Iran, a claim that has been widely refuted. The hostages were freed in January 1981 — on the day Reagan was inaugurated."
Yet, rather than being "widely refuted," the most recent evidence tends to confirm the allegations that have been made by some two dozen witnesses including a detailed account of the Reagan campaign's interference by then-Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr. But the Times seems more interested in reinforcing the false conventional wisdom than informing the American people.
[For details, see Robert Parry's America's Stolen Narrative or Trick or Treason: The 1980 October Surprise Mystery or Consortiumnews.com's "Second Thoughts on October Surprise."]
Crazy Deflategate
Even on more trivial matters, the Times simply can't escape its pattern of accepting the word from the powerful, even when those powers-that-be are as disreputable as the executives of the National Football League.
New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady.
When the NFL decided to accuse New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady of cheating in a bizarre scheme to slightly deflate footballs in the January 2015 AFC Championship game, the Times again showed no skepticism despite the flimsiness of the accusations as well as the absence of any direct evidence — and the official denials from Brady (under oath) and two equipment employees.
The so-called Deflategate case was also marred by the sloppiness of the halftime measurements of the footballs and the ignorance of many NFL executives about the laws of physics and how weather affects the internal air pressure of footballs, as determined by the Ideal Gas Law.
But the "scandal" took on a life of its own with the NFL leaking exaggerations about the discrepancies in the initial air-pressure measurements and false claims about the proper air pressure in the footballs of the other team, the Indianapolis Colts (the one accurate gauge, used by the NFL officials, showed that the Colts' footballs were underinflated for both the first half and second half).
Eventually, even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recognized many of the flaws in the case as he concluded that the only game where the footballs could have been deflated was the AFC Championship game when the Patriots' ball boy carried the footballs to the field unattended (rather than the normal practice of being accompanied by an official) and stopped briefly in a bathroom.
But this NFL conspiracy theory – that the ball boy used his bathroom break to slightly deflate footballs rather than urinating as he claimed – made no sense because the only reason the ball boy ended up unattended was because the preceding NFC Championship game had gone into overtime and the NFL decided to delay the start of the AFC game so the public could see both games.
The sudden-death ending of the NFC game caused confusion among the officials and the ball boy took it upon himself to take the balls to the field.
To suggest that Brady somehow anticipated that series of unlikely events so a tiny bit of air could be removed from the footballs, which would have no discernible effect except to make the balls travel slightly slower and thus easier to defend, is absurd on its face.
But the NFL would have lost face by admitting that it had acted so absurdly – and rival owners saw a chance to damage the Patriots' ability to compete – so the Deflategate story moved on with Brady suspended for four games and the Patriots stripped of two valuable draft choices.
A Puff Piece
While you might say that this "scandal" surely didn't deserve the attention that it got (and you'd be right), the Times, which treated the NFL claims as fact, didn't let go even after Brady dropped his appeals and accepted his four-game suspension.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
The Times devoted 2½ pages on Sept. 25, 2016, to a puff piece by correspondent John Branch about the "Deflategate Scientists" from the corporate-friendly science firm, Exponent, which was hired by the NFL to produce the "science" to justify Brady's punishment.
Though Exponent discovered that all or virtually all the air-pressure drop could be attributable to the cold, wet weather on the night of the game (and the imprecise process of the halftime measurements further muddled the picture), Exponent still composed some scientific-sounding jargon to give the NFL the cover that it needed to go after Brady.
The firm said, "we conclude that within the range of game characteristics most likely to have occurred on Game Day, we have identified no set of credible environmental or physical factors that completely accounts for the additional loss of air pressure exhibited by the Patriots game balls as compared to the loss in air pressure exhibited by the Colts game balls."
But Exponent's phrasing obscured the fact that an innocent explanation did exist on Exponent's range of measurements though the firm ruled it out by applying "accepted error margins" and fudging the facts around the sequence of the football testing at halftime (a key point because in a warmer environment, the air pressure would rise naturally).
Armed with Exponent's phrasing, NFL investigators then took some unrelated text messages from the two equipment employees describing how NFL officials had over-inflated footballs in a prior game to claim they had the "smoking gun" regarding a plot to under-inflate footballs.
However, rather than show any skepticism about this "evidence" and the larger absurdity of the Deflategate claims, the Times simply treated the NFL's case as solid and fawned over Exponent as if it were a temple of noble scientists seeking nothing but the truth. The Times dismissed critics who cited the firm's reputation as a hired-gun to give powerful industries useful conclusions, such as disparaging the danger from second-hand cigarette smoke.
Instead of any serious journalism examining Deflategate's logical flaws and Exponent's dubious role in the scandal-mongering, the Times presented Exponent as the real martyrs in the case, reporting "Exponent still receives emails from adamant critics, and its role in Deflategate has cost it several prospective clients, the company said."
A Troubling Pattern
Granted, the Deflategate silliness is minor compared to other cases when the Times misrepresented key chapters of U.S. history, concealed government wrongdoing and generated propaganda used to justify wars. But all these examples point to a pattern of journalistic behavior that is not journalistic.
Today's Times is not the brave newspaper that published the Pentagon Papers, the secret history of the Vietnam War. It is no longer the place where a Seymour Hersh could expose the CIA's "crown jewels" of scandals or where a Raymond Bonner could reveal massacres of civilians by U.S.-backed militaries in Central America.
Not that those earlier days were by any means perfect – and not that there isn't some quality journalism that still appears in the newspaper – but it is hard to imagine the Times today going against the grain in any significant or consistent way.
Instead, the Times has become an apologist for the powerful, conveying to its readers and to the world a dangerous and dubious insistence that the Establishment knows best.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America's Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com.
Tags: Al Gore George H.W. Bush George W. Bush Iraq War Lyndon Johnson National Football League New York Times October Surprise Richard Nixon Robert Parry Ronald Reagan Russia Syria Tom Brady Ukraine William Casey
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35 comments for "New York Times: Apologist for Power"
The MSM, controlled by the Zionist elites aka the Oligarch, has lost all credibility for orchestrating a vicious and biased campaign against Trump. The New York Times should now be called the New York Slimes and CNN is now the Cartoon News Network.
Because of a working-class uprising throughout America, Trump won and Hillary lost but the Oligarch is still strong and is a real threat to the Trump administration.
http://www.unz.com/proberts/the-working-class-won-the-election/
kenneth David McClintic
A very well written and astute analysis of the state of the New York Times and an indictment of the corporate controlled media in general. Kudos to Robert Perry! This article motivated me to email the New York Times to let them know I will not longer be reading their paper.
Michael K Rohde
I noticed Friedman going corporate because I read him most religiously, MO Dowd too. She's my favorite in that regime. I started paying closer attention to the rest of the paper and then Iraq II hit the fan and that was that. I simply don't trust it anymore and rarely read it. I try to find Dowd every now and then because I enjoy her immensely. She is not my political guru, as it were, I just like her writing. The times has good writers and that used to be my metric but not any longer. The times changed gears and didn't tell anybody, I'm still not sure but I suspect they had financial problems like every other paper and compromises were made. I don't know what else to attribute it to. In any case it is no longer the initial source for me and if I happen to read it it is with a jaundiced eye. It's hard to read and enjoy something you don't trust to be true. Unless it's good fiction. That's what the times has become on major issues, Venezuela was the worst offense in my limited knowledge and that was the proverbial straw. The times deliberately misled its' readers on the stories and photos of the demonstrations for and against the president Chavez. The times was acting more like the CIA than a responsible member of the 4th estate. Whom the gods would destroy, first make them the best? What a fall, from first to what I'm not sure. They still have good writers. They get edited or have an agenda, I'm not sure which. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Edmund Michael Sieminski
True grit: Tom Brady has redeemed, is redeeming, and will continue to redeem himself; would that the others mentioned in this article, who still have the chance, could do the same. Thank you, Mr. Brady.
elmerfudzie
Mr Parry's mention of the MH-17 and the "rogue element" sparked a "disturbance in the force" within me. A sub-conscience return to the Ronald Reagan years, resurfaced. The author's brief historical overview and summary of Nixon's attempts to thwart decision-making processes of elected government officialdom (LBJ) i.e.,the Paris Peace Talks, combined in a haunting way for me. They brought an issue forward that, bears repeating… When the attempt to assassinate Reagan failed, the coded card used to access control over the nuclear football went missing. Question, what knowledge, if any, was obtained by "rogue element" forces within the then rising, Neo-Con circle? During the Ford Presidency, the Cheney, Perle, Wolfowitz ET AL cabal resurfaced. CONSORTIUMNEWS readers should be asking themselves, were any new schemes hatched during some dark, SCIF or skiff room meet by these men? For example; musings like, we've gained important technology to circumvent Presidential Orders and can now issue a nuclear missile launch…whenever we deem it necessary. I'm presenting this scenario here because all the necessary ingredients have come together, that is to say, internal rebellion to authority, technological prowess in the wrong hands, ditto for above top secret information in private hands (RAND, Halliburton Corp et cetera), active service Pentagon generals who belong in the old JCS group of Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, a dependence on private corporate communication systems for military Command & Control or WWMCCS, and public remarks by Pentagon Officials bordering on the insubordinate. Readers may wish to visit; http://www.samadamsaward.ch, where an open letter by VIPS addressed to Obama, faintly suggests that the haughtiness of these Neo-Cons might be due to a card or two in their hands that spell disaster for humanity-the Death Tarot Cards (nuclear codes?). I apologize for all the acronyms folks, readers can blame our new ministry of truth situated away from the only single reinforced exterior of the pentagon. This group works hard to foster a denigration of language itself, a process dedicated to concealment and confusion, and it began long before 1984!
As a conspiracy-minded media consumer I want to thank Mr. Parry for explaining how in the absence of rigorous skeptical reporting people will seek alternative theories, conspiracy theories, if you like. I resent, however, Mr. Parry referring to much of what good researchers have found as "outlandishly false speculations." As he does so well with the mainstream media if he'd like to take on and try debunk some of the better research that is out here I'd be less resentful.
After hanging out at some so called progressive and liberal sites I have discovered the 'Alt Left'–and it is ugly, uglier than Trump.
I have never—and neither has anyone else I think— seen anything like the filth, slime, the McCarthy like character assassination, fear mongering and wild lies by the Hillary establishment in this election. Trump is a buffoon in many ways but the Alt Left is truly evil. I think they fit into the 'banality of evil' Hannah Arendt described, in that it is the ' 'failure to think'—-in this case about the 'long term' future of the country.
I was going to write in a name today, not liking the choices we are given. But have decided to vote for Trump simply because this election needs to be very, very close so that the DIVIDE Hillary , more so than Trump imo, created remains strong enough to fight the 'establishment' and the financial and neo shadow government that Hillary represents.
Bill Bodden
Hillary is nowhere near the left of the political spectrum. Regardless of the election results, if she wins, even if just by a majority of one, she will consider it a mandate to carry out the real plans she has that in most cases will have nothing to do with the promises she made in the past few months. Lotsaluck America.
PitchingDoc
Is there ANY paper you do trust, Mr Parry? San Jose Mercury News?
backwardsevolution
After Comey choked again and did the predictable:
"Unapologetic Hillary press agent NYT was jubilant, saying "Mr. Comey's letter swept away her largest and most immediate problem" – earlier saying she has a 93% chance of becoming America's 45th president, on the eve of Tuesday's election, claiming a more conservative, still overwhelming, 84% chance to defeat Trump.
Washington Post editors stuck to their advocacy throughout the campaign, saying Hillary "is amply qualified to be president" – ignoring her deplorable public criminal record.
Wall Street Journal editors got it right, saying "Comey's review of (650,000) newly discovered Hillary Clinton-related emails was never going to change his legal judgment because the FBI and Justice Department handling of the case was never serious in the first place."
On election eve, US voters get to choose between a woman belonging in prison because of multiple high crimes too serious to ignore and a billionaire saying he wants to "drain the (Washington) swamp."
http://sjlendman.blogspot.ca/2016/11/comey-whitewashes-hillary-criminality.html
At least the Wall Street Journal is telling the truth.
By Stephen Lendman:
"The Times shamelessly serves as Hillary's press agent, masquerading as a legitimate source of news and information.
On November 5, its editors hyped a nonexistent "catastrophe that looms if we wake up Wednesday morning to President-elect Trump…Averting the worst starts with electing Hillary Clinton," they blustered.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/opinion/sunday/imagining-america-on-nov-9.html?_r=1
Appealing to voters unwilling or dubious about supporting her, they ignored her high crimes and unfitness for any public office, calling Trump "an ignorant and reckless tyrant," then asking: "(W)hat did you do to stop him" if he emerges triumphant?
Claiming "Republican efforts to jam the electoral machinery through lies, legal obstructions and the threat of violence," they ignored DNC rigged primaries for Hillary, urging voters to "hold out, however intimidating the process and long the lines."
The Times never served its readers responsibly, an exclusive voice for wealth, power and privilege. Its press agent journalism for Hillary turned itself into a laughing stock – disgracefully supporting a war criminal/racketeer/perjurer, the most recklessly dangerous presidential aspirant in US history, her elevation to the nation's highest office risking nuclear war. […]
"If Mr. Trump is rejected on Tuesday, the nation will have a momentary breather," Times editors blustered, adding "(a)nd some good news to build on…(a)nd the electorate will have demonstrated its decency."
It's hard imagining anyone swallowing this rubbish. Whoever emerges triumphant on November 8, ordinary people lose – with an important difference between Trump and Hillary.
Her empowerment as commander-in-chief of America's military risks unthinkable nuclear war. At least with Trump, we're likely to avoid a potential catastrophe able to end life on earth – what Times editors won't ever explain, shamelessly supporting a war goddess lunatic endangering everyone."
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/11/07/stephen-lendman-sums-up-the-nyt/
The New York Times is a primary player in the Propaganda 3.0 campaign that undergirds Washington and NATO's "hybrid war" against Russia, Syria and Iran.
Joining fake "citizen investigative journalist" Eliot Higgins and notorious neocon "regime change" think tanks like the Atlantic Council, Andrew E. Kramer and Michael R. Gordon of the Times are tugging away furiously in one great propaganda circle jerk.
Higgins was co-author of Atlantic Council "reports" on Ukraine (May 2015) and Syria (April 2016), both predominantly based on Higgins' repeatedly debunked Bellingcat "investigations".
Footnotes in the Atlantic Council reports cite NYT articles by Gordon and Kramer that ostensibly "confirm" the factually flaccid "findings" of Higgins.
Returning the "favor", Gordon, Kramer, and other "reporters" at the Times write articles to promote the "independent" Higgins and Bellingcat.
Like some maniacal mantra, Higgins and Bellingcat, the Atlantic Council, and the Times constantly repeat the word "confirm".
Gordon and Kramer give the Bellingcat and Atlantic Council authors a generous reach around, enabling the chronically infirm Higgins to keep it up.
Today, fake news reports are published in increasingly convincing and sophisticated ways by fake "independent citizen journalists" like Bellingcat.
And thanks to Google, Propaganda 3.0 has metastasized.
Google, an enthusiastic supporter of Higgins despite his track record of baseless claims about Syria and Russia, helped form the First Draft Coalition in June 2015 with Bellingcat as a founding member.
In addition to the fake "independent investigators" at Bellingcat, the First Draft "partner network" includes the New York Times and Washington Post, the two principal media organs for "regime change" propaganda.
In a triumph of Orwellian Newspeak, this Propaganda 3.0 coalition declares that member organizations will "work together to tackle common issues, including ways to streamline the verification process".
Google's new Minitrue (a self-appointed Ministry of Truth) is spewing forth a swarm of social media "journalists" ready to say 2 + 2 = 5 when the situation warrants.
Zachary Smith
At the Emptywheel site is this headline:
NYT Ombud Calls for More Unproven Fearmongering
On down in the text is this remark by author Marcy Wheeler:
On a day when results from North Carolina strongly suggest that efforts to suppress the African American vote have thus far worked, the NYT frames a story by arguing that cyber — not racism and voter suppression — accounts for "most of the biggest stories of the election cycle" (the story goes on to include Hillary's email investigation in with the Russian hacks dealt with in the story).
She left out the existence of the Diebold-type no-verification voting machines. No mention of the now-legal ability of the billionaires to dump money on elections.
The New York Times is working very hard to make itself irrelevant to everyone with a 3-digit IQ..
F. G. Sanford
[This story is absolutely true, but the names have been changed to protect the "innocent".] Years after graduating from Backwater Falls High School, I returned home to visit old friends. The town was still run by the same local political machine characterized by nepotism, corruption, graft and bribery. The kingpin had a large family and lots of friends who all got jobs on the local police force, or worked for the city, or got political appointments, or worked for local contractors subsidized by the county. Backwater Falls High had four programs: Academic, General, Distributive Education and Special Education. Mayzie Miller was my classmate, and she was the mayor's niece. Mayzie was in the "Distributive Education" program. Nice girl, don't get me wrong – but Mayzie was a moron. She was in the "Distributive Education" program because Mayor Miller couldn't possibly have a niece in "Special Ed".
To cut to the chase, an old friend handed me a copy of the local paper, "The Backwater Beacon", and suggested I check out the "editorial page". There, emblazoned at the head of the page, was a scholarly article under the byline, "Mayzie Miller". Yep, it was purported to be written by our very own academically challenged Mayzie. Somehow, after leaving high school, she had developed a capacity to read, write and communicate effectively. And, she had developed an impressive vocabulary. As I recall, the article was about Lech Walesa, Ronald Reagan and Pope John-Paul. "Mayzie" discussed the complex political strategies and diplomatic efforts these three world leaders had brought to bear in the struggle against communism. (The Millers were Republicans, and I guess it was an election year.) Curious as to Mayzie's impressive mastery of geopolitical analysis, I asked my friend, "Who really wrote this?" He admitted that nobody knew, but those articles had been appearing weekly for years. They were all favorable to the local Republican machine.
I have to laugh when people say that "local politics" is the answer to curing our political ills, or that communities have a better chance of making bottom-up changes. Outfits like the New York Times may epitomize the model of journalistic corruption, but it is an endemic disease. Some readers will no doubt recognize the source of "Dispatch #1035-960" which I believe was dated 1967. The document contains the admonition, "Destroy when no longer needed". So, it's a longstanding and insidious problem. I don't have any answers. Intelligent discussion of the issues is likely to result in the hurling about of "conspiracy theory" accusations, even when, as Mr. Parry points out, the "true story" is well and thoroughly documented. The fear of being labeled a lunatic, especially in this era of mass surveillance, is a powerful inducement to conformity. I note that the entire mainstream media is frequently on the "same page". "Mayzie" really gets around. Pretty impressive for a small town girl with a degree in "Distributive Education"…
I have to laugh when people say that "local politics" is the answer to curing our political ills, or that communities have a better chance of making bottom-up changes. Outfits like the New York Times may epitomize the model of journalistic corruption, but it is an endemic disease.
Walter Karp – http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Walter_Karp/Walter_Karp_page.html – wrote extensively about similar situations from the national oligarchs down to the state and city machines and bosses. A similar autocratic posture prevailed in our local party branch that meant my membership was of a very short duration.
evelync
Thanks for the reference to the "dispatch 1035-960" – hah
googling it led to also finding its antidote? :
https://projectunspeakable.com/about-2/about-project/
i think/hope there will always be people who won't accept the lies.
The 1968 and 1980 cases cited by the author are interesting in that in both cases the parties were seeking political advantage. Who you choose to demonize depends on your views of the two participants. I see an attempt by the Democrats to seek a political advantage just before the election no less reprehensible than those of the Republicans. In fact I would tend to argue that trying to time actions to fit election cycles by the party in power is more reprehensible and suggests deliberate delay and unnecessary death and suffering.
As to conspiracy theories, they are generally over the top generalizations reaching simple conclusions regarding complicated situations and conditions. But I have also noted that labeling peoples actions as conspiratorial is a way of dismissing views which the critics deem inconvenient and even threatening. No one wants to be labeled a racist or a conspiracy theorists.
I just wanted to add that my comments in no way support the foreign policy of Nixon regarding Vietnam. His decision not to seek peace right after the election was a blunder everyone paid for, "us" and "them". Nixon was pursuing the course that was the American way, pound the enemy until they capitulate. It is the same policy we are pursuing today. Aside from a few adventures like Panama and Granada, it's been a loser since World War II.
Jean Ranc
Re. the 1968 "Oct. Surprise" by Parry: "the election between Richard Nixon & Hubert Humphrey, the evidence is overwhelming that Nixon operatives went behind President Lyndon Johnson's back to sabotage the Paris peace talks that Johnson felt would end the Vietnam War, a development that also would likely have helped fellow Democrat Humphrey." Indeed! but to get to the really dirty details, one must read "Kissinger's Shadow: the Long Reach of America's Most controversial Statesman" (2015) by Greg Grandin, NYU Professor of History, in which he documents how Henry Kissinger, as a secret source inside the Paris negotiations…sought to ingratiate himself with the Nixon campaign by revealing what was going on: that Johnson was suspending the bombing & the North Vietnamese had agreed to participate in official peace talks…but "the South Vietnamese scuttled the settlement, after hearing from Nixon's campaign that they could get a better terms from a Republican administration: 'Saigon Cannot Join Paris Talks under Present Plan,' ran the above-the-fold November 2 healine of the New York Times." p. 43 "The fact that Kissinger participated in an intrigue that extended the war for five pointless years—seven if you count the fighting between the 1973 Paris Peace Accords and the 1975 fall of Saigon—is undeniable." p.44 But this is only the beginning of "Kissinger's Shadow", which extended while he served as Nixon's head of the National Security Council…to his instigation of the secret bombing of the 2 neutral countries of Laos & Cambodia and after Nixon's forced resignation…his direction of coups & wars in southern Africa & Latin America…and now right up to the eve of this 2016 Presidential election what with Hillary being one of Kissinger's great admirers…which certainly influenced how she served as Secretary of State together with her promotion of "regime change" from Iraq, Libya, Ukraine and Syria to apparently Putin now being on her hit list. However, what with his book published in 2015, Grandin couldn't quite bring us up to date re. "Kissinger's Shadow". We'll leave it to the extraordinary founder & editor, Robert Parry &: his team to bring us the succeeding chapters.
Is independent media the only place to get real important actual news? I get the 'Washington Post, once a fine paper now it's more like a Clinton fan club rag. Thanks Robert for some real reporting. This election is the most depressing, ever, even when The'Nam was a huge concern for me. Is there any hope for the USA? I wonder, really, in a depressed funk.
Independent media written by Thomas Paine and others of his ilk were a key part of the American Revolution. Perhaps, Consortium News and other independent websites of similar quality can help form a very badly-needed American Revolution 2.0
Thanks for this excellent article, Mr Parry.
I trust reliable credible whistle blowers far more than the MSM press.
Deep down, I think the powers that be at the Times know they are just shills for the power structure. Maybe they understand that they are betraying their obligations as the part of the fourth estate. Who knows.
I guess they just don't care. They think they can get away with it, if the smoke is thick enough.
Maybe they're just afraid of the powerful military industrial complex/corporate powerhouses.
Or they cling to it to prove they're relevant. To get invited to the right parties.
I think that average people know, or eventually know, when smoke is blown at us and we're grateful to the whistle blowers who help fill in the gaps with carefully proven facts to give us a narrative from which to make sense of what's really going on.
Great comprehensive historical analysis of how the Times helped drive us down the horrific path we've been on.
I haven't been able to read it since they helped BushCheneyRumsfeld/Rice drive us to wage their war on Iraq based on lies.
Everybody always used to ask, "how could the good Germans allow Hitler and the Nazis to take over their country?" Or, "how could the Russian people allow the rise of a tyrant like Stalin?" Or Mao in China, or any number of cruel dictators coming to absolute power. Now we know. They all needed their enablers, their own historical equivalents of the NYT, WaPo, the mainstream media, and a host of other useful tools who fall in line because it is expedient, it makes them insiders and it gives them privilege. It's a natural human tendency to fall in line and enjoy privilege rather than sticking out and taking grief for your opposition to tyranny. As I just said to a friend in an email: "when the world ends in the near future, don't blame me. Though, if I may, I'd like to offer the space aliens who may examine the ruins of human civilisation many years from now the reason why it all came to such a precipitous end: hubris, greed and cowardice. The American people have seemed incapable of choosing a leader for rather many election cycles now who has not been infused with or served all three attributes to pathogenic levels." The subject of your piece, the NYT, certainly stands out for the degree of hubris, greed and cowardice it displays and/or supports in the actions of the American government.
Agreed, but I'll note that the Nazis were elected by plurality, something like 30+ percent, while the largest party the Social Democrats usually had 40 percent. The severity of depression-era issues in Germany had led to extreme fragmentation of political parties, something like two dozen parties, and the desperation for solutions led to rallying of some behind the strongest-looking demagogic nationalist. Hitler never had a majority, excluding votes after the totalitarians took over and forced consensus.
Even on more trivial matters, the Times simply can't escape its pattern of accepting the word from the powerful, even when those powers-that-be are as disreputable as the executives of National Football League.
I cranked this essay into my word processor and found that "deflategate" occupied 23% of it. That brought to mind an old book I once read titled "Up the Organization.." which had this chapter-ending gem:
"I don't know what you call it, but we Polacks call that 'pissing in the soup'"
But except for the needless watering down, this was a fantastic presentation all tied up with a nice bow.
Taras77
Thanks again, Mr Parry-you are one of the few journalists out there. You stand tall amongst a mob of midgets.
Here is a link which reinforces your thesis:
http://observer.com/2016/11/this-election-has-disgraced-the-entire-profession-of-journalism/
But it isn't only the New York Times, there are also the people who created the lies for the Times to relay to the public. Most of them remain in positions of influence without having been able to comprehend how devastating wars can be for millions of people as they continue to promote more wars and regime changes.
To paraphrase Scotland's poet: If only there were some power that would convene a Nuremberg-type trial to hold the warmongers accountable.
Bart in Virginia
Today, Oleg Kashin, one of the NYT house gang of ten Russian bashers*, implies that Russian citizens were grateful for WWII having enabled them to fight and die (some 27 million) as a relief from lives of drudgery.
* Ever growing list of names upon request
Michelle Hansen
In the mid to late 80s', I was in college studying Iran and I noticed the New York Times always stated that Iran started the Iran-Iraq war. After Saddam invaded Kuwait the New York Times switched to Iraq starting the war. I haven't believed a word they've written since.
Sally Snyder
Here is an article that looks at how much trust Americans put in mass media news:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2016/10/how-much-do-americans-trust-mass-media.html
The decline in trust can be connected to the rise of opinion journalism which really isn't journalism at all.
Thanks for this link, Sally Snyder. An interesting quote from the article:
"In general, Republicans tend to have significantly less trust in America's mass media than Democrats with differences peaking at 39 percentage points in 2005"
Which is ironic since the Times has bolstered the fortunes of Republican administrations by repeating their War lies and helping them when win their flawed elections – as Robert Parry discussed above.
Although, for some bizarre reason right wing politicians attack the Times as a bastion of "liberal" thinking.
Tops turvy public narrative damages our body politic by creating mistrust.
Hence Mr. Trump?
" The decline in trust can be connected to the rise of opinion journalism which really isn't journalism at all"
And then local newspapers would echo whatever the NYT says, and congratulate themselves on agreeing w/ each other. It's amazing how similar local newspapers' editorials are to the editorial of the NYT, which usually appears a day or two earlier. "Great minds think alike" is something newspapers are proud of.
In addition to being relay conduits for the major corporate media, the local newspapers are to their local establishments what the NYT is to the national establishment.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Celebrity DramaCelebrity MovieCelebrity News
'The Butler' Faces Movie Name Troubles Just Weeks Before Releasing
If you haven't heard, The Butler is an upcoming, true story film about a butler who serves in the White House under a number of presidents. The film has a number of big name stars including Forrest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Lenny Kravitz and Terrance Howard and Oscar buzz is already surrounding the film. But just weeks before film is set to release, director Lee Daniels is finding himself having to rename the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently there's a short film by Warner Bros. made in 1916 with the same name and the MPAA's Title Registry Bureau has told The Weinstein Company that they need to rename the film.
Photo courtesy of Instagram
But Lee Daniels is deciding to go another route. He's written a letter to the Warner Bros's CEO in a campaign to keep the title of the film and gain permission to keep the title.
Daniels' letter takes a different tack, pleading his case by describing the film, which stars Forest Whitaker and is based on the true story of Eugene Allen, who spent 34 years working at the White House until he retired as head butler, as a film he made "so I could show my kids, my family and my country some of the injustices and victories African-Americans and their families have experienced in the fight for Civil Rights." The movie, he continued, "tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement from the sit-ins and the Freedom Riders, to Selma, Martin Luther King's assassination and the election of the first Black president."
Daniels wrote that while working on the film "is the proudest moment of my professional career, I am heartbroken as I write this letter." He explained that the modestly budgeted movie is not intended to be a blockbuster and "if we were to change the title a mere six weeks before we open, it would most certainly hurt the film by limiting the number of people who would ultimately see this important story."
I hope they're able to work it out, because the film sounds like its going to be a must-see.
Oprah Covers JET Magazine: Says "So Be It" To Butler Backlash
'The Butler' Director Lee Daniels Says America Is More Racist With A Black President
'Our Family Wedding' Movie Premiere In NYC
TagsForrest WhitakerLee DanielsLenny KravitzOprah WinfreyTerrance HowardThe Butler
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Multi-award winner as best jazz vocalist - BBC Jazz Awards 2007 and 2004 and Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2018, alongside nominations from the Jazz FM Awards 2013 and Downbeat Magazine 2017 - Ian Shaw has amassed a number of highly acclaimed internationally released albums and is a popular performer both in the UK and the US. He has been cited, along with Mark Murphy and Kurt Elling, as one of the world's finest male jazz vocalists.
Shaw's career in performance began unusually for a jazz musician on the Alternative Cabaret Circuit, alongside such performers as Julian Clary, Rory Bremner and Jo Brand. Shaw was spotted by Dave Illic, jazz critic for City Limits and was described as "the voice of the decade".
During the next few years Shaw moved from the singer-pianist format to working with his new band to an eventual move into jazz. Shaw has toured extensively in the UK - regular venues include the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Blackheath Concert Halls, Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express Soho Jazz Club, The Vortex, the Jazz Café and The Barbican. Ian has played at all of the major jazz festivals in the UK including Brecon, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh (where he was nominated for a Perrier Award), Grimsby, Glasgow, Cheltenham, Scarborough, Swanage and St. Ives.
In Europe he has proved popular in France, Germany and Italy with numerous live appearances. He has also performed regularly in the States including Jazz at the Lincoln Center (New York), Cine Grill (Hollywood), the Fairmont (Chicago), The Nest (Washington DC), Fez Club (New York), the Ellington Church (New York), the Pasadena Auditorium (California), the Miami Film and Music Festival and the Arizona Jazz Party. He has also performed at the Hanoi Opera House and Ho Chi Minh City Opera in Vietnam. More recently Ian has become a frequent visitor to Canada, as result of regular play on the 24 hour JazzFM91 radio station where his Ronnie Scott's Radio Show airs weekly.
His acclaimed 2006 album Drawn To All Things - The Songs Of Joni Mitchell, saw him "Praised far and wide as the single greatest male jazz vocalist Britain has to offer" by Jazz Times. This was followed in 2008 by the autobiographical collection co-penned with David Preston, Lifejacket, also on Linn Records. In 2009 Shaw recorded his long-awaited solo album, Somewhere Towards Love (Splash Point Records) which continues to represent beautifully his increasingly popular solo shows.
In the summer of 2010 Shaw joined an historical legacy of artists and recorded his first Abbey Road studio album. Using a personal blueprint connection in the shape of legendary bassist Peter Ind, Shaw and his young guitarist collaborator, David Preston, assembled a stellar, international, cross-generational band resulting in a recording that led Jamie Cullum to say "the incomparable Ian Shaw… absolutely fantastic" and reflects Shaw's position as one of the world's leading jazz singers.
Shaw's 2013 album, A Ghost In Every Bar, The Lyrics Of Fran Landesman (Splash Point Records)fulfilled a long-standing promise made to the late poet/lyricist Landesman to make an album devoted to her work. Ian was one of her favourite singers and his past discography includes many of her songs.
His appearances on TV include guest slots with Jools Holland, Top of the Pops, The Jack Dee Show, Christmas Night with the Stars (BBC), Channel 4's The Happening, TVAM, BBC Breakfast Show, BBC 2's A Night of Love, BBC 2's Jazz at the 606 alongside numerous appearances on the Performance and Artsworld channels. More recently Shaw featured in the prestigious live session slot of BBC 2's The Review Show and Channel 4 filmed him with Liane Carroll for their series Random Acts.
Collaborators over the years have been many and include Quincy Jones, Abdullah Ibrahim, Guy Barker, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Iain Ballamy, Mornington Lockett, Barb Jungr, Cleo Laine, John Dankworth, Cedar Walton, Joe Lovano and Joe Beck. Shaw's ongoing and highly popular collaboration is a celebrated duet show with Claire Martin, the UK's finest female jazz singer (he also guested on her 2002 album Too Darn Hot! (Linn AKD 243)). Together they have toured the world in an intimate duo setting with Shaw playing piano and with the BBC Big Band. They co-hosted the 2004 BBC Jazz Awards.
Lifejacket, Shaw's 2008 album, cemented his reputation as a fine song-writer as well as a great jazz singer. One of his recent self-penned songs, Somewhere Towards Love, has been a radio favourite, chosen by both style icon, Molly Parkin, on her Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4) and by fellow performer Julian Clary on the Jools Holland Show (BBC Radio 2) and Radio 4's Saturday Live.
Shaw was for some time the presenter on BBC Big Band Special on BBC Radio 2 and is a regular on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4, BBC Radio London and Jazz FM where he guest-presented their legendary Dinner Jazz show. In October 2012 Shaw presented a show called Miles Symphonic live from the Tower Ballroom Blackpool for Radio 3. Also for Radio 3, in June 2012, Shaw joined The BBC Concert Orchestra, alongside Pete Townshend and Jeff Beck at The Southbank Centre for London On Film and later was invited by Pete Townshend to revoice the songs from Quadrophenia (scored by composer, Rachel Fuller) for a new recording. In a similar vein, Gail Zappa invited Ian to play "Mark" in a fully orchestrated new version of 200 Motels, Frank Zappa's cult 1972 movie which was performed on the Royal Festival Hall stage and broadcast on Radio 3 as part of Hear and Now in October 2013. Shaw then reprised this role for the Belgian premiere of the work, in Antwerp, with the Brussels Philharmonic, in March 2014.
Ian currently presents The Ronnie Scott's Radio Show for Jazz FM in the UK (and he hosted the inaugural Jazz FM Jazz Awards in January 2013). The show is also broadcast on JazzFM91 (Canada), Jazz901 (Rochester NY) and Jazz88.FM (Minneapolis MN)and a special two-hour version forms the monthly-changing British Airways jazz show. Ian's special "in conversation" guests have included Al Jarreau, Kenny Garrett, Patti Austin, Ruby Turner, Van Morrison, Fred Wesley and Marlena Shaw.
In 2011 Shaw joined Rory Bremner on a UK stand-up tour where he firmly returned to his roots by performing a mix of comedy and original songs. The tour continued into the following year with dates nationwide including the Glasgow Comedy Festival. A Bit Of A Mouthful - An Evening With Ian Shaw, Ian's solo "sit-down" comedy show, a delicious confectionery of witty songs and stories, hit the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012 to great acclaim for a month's run at the famous Stand comedy club. At the invitation of Barry Humphries, Ian took this show to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June 2015 before touring across Australia with local ace trios and gave two solo shows in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on his return. In October 2015 Ian performed A Bit Of A Mouthful in Berlin at the Bar jeder Vernunft.
To celebrate the landmark birthday of the legendary songwriter, Joni Mitchell, Shaw toured Joni at 70 - Ian Shaw Sings Joni Mitchell, in 2013-2014 sometimes inviting the award-winning jazz singer, Claire Martin, to guest. It played to New York's 54 Below, Toronto's Old Mill Inn as well as a packed Elgar Room (The Albert Hall) at the London Jazz Festival.
Recent European touring dates have taken Shaw to venues and festivals throughout Italy, Ireland, Germany as well as Belarus, to perform solo or with his trio. Ian's return to working with the singer-with-trio format has seen him teaming up with the in-demand young pianist, Barry Green, the legendary UK bassist, Mick Hutton and old cohort, drummer David Ohm. Following their appearance in 2014 at the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival, Ian returned to Hamburg's Elbjazz in 2015 with the trio to showcase his new work.
In 2015 Ian signed to the Jazz Village label and recorded his first album The Theory Of Joy for them, which was released in early 2016 to great acclaim (reviews). Ian took the album to Canada, the Far East and Australia and Europe in club dates and at festivals, both in solo shows and with the trio.
Shine Sister Shine, Ian's current album for the Jazz Village label, was recorded in 2017, again in the with-trio format, and was given its international release in all format including vinyl and digital in September 2018.