Harold Smith (Lobster 25) Observer editor Jonathan Fenby replied to a letter from Harold Smith on 17 June, 1993: ‘I don’t think it is a story we want to go back over.’ Back over? On 4 July the Observer ran a third of a page on the political situation in Nigeria, ‘New rules, new date, … Read more
It is impossible to ignore the continuing Iraq story but difficult to decide to what, of the mountain of information we are being presented with, we should pay attention. The general drift of the British state’s policy has been clear: concede a little; maintain what’s left of the cover-up; concede a little more; maintain what’s … Read more
Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret Intelligence Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones London: Yale University Press, 2002, £22.50 Know Your Enemy: How the Joint Intelligence Committee Saw the World Percy Craddock London: John Murray, 2002, £25 Jeffreys-Jones is Professor of American History at Edinburgh University and writes on the American intelligence services. His book’s subtitle … Read more
Just ten years ago the issues were so simple, the arguments so clean. The concept of hackers was cute and quaint, best understood through Hollywood thrillers like ‘War Games.’ The major media had yet to use the word ‘cyberspace,’ a term just then created by William Gibson in Neuromancer, his first masterpiece in a strange … Read more
Authority and order are back on the European political agenda. I want to put forward an hypothesis that readers can test against the facts. If I am right, then it opens up a new field of enquiry for parapolitical investigators. Let me state the thesis briefly: the need to create an international infrastructure of authority … Read more
In this article I amplify and update my account of the crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul which appeared in Lobster 37. Since it was written there have been a number of interesting developments – the publication of Trevor Rees-Jones’ book; James Hewitt’s impromptu recreation of the fatal car … Read more
Sibel Edmonds, the former FBI translator turned whistle-blower, claimed in 2002 to have uncovered an extensive nuclear black market with links to officials in governments across the globe, including the U.S. and U.K. Despite recent exposure this year in the U.K.’s Sunday Times,(1) her allegations have reached few other mainstream outlets. Despite being published in … Read more
William Blum New York: Soft Skull Press, 2002, $15 www.softskull.com The working lives of writers, especially writers of non-fiction like Blum – or me – are rather dull. To produce Lobster and my other bits and pieces I have to stay in one place, read e-mails every day, books, newspapers, visit libraries, go to … Read more
As Scott Van Wynsberghe has ‘outed’ himself as a transvestite let me ‘come out’ of the intellectual closet and admit that, like Sylvia Meagher, I also have some UFO books on my shelves. Over the last 20 years or so I also have acquired some books on ‘earth mysteries’ (though I never found a ley … Read more
The most reported episode at the 2002 Labour Party Conference was the tour of Blackpool made by ex-President Clinton and film star Kevin Spacey. Given the status and photogenic nature of the individuals concerned this was hardly surprising. Little was said in the media, though, about the duos’ grand entrance, accompanied by the Prime Minister … Read more
