More unintentional comedy
I noted today that the main difference in appearance between the layout of the real Riverbend blog and the fake riverSbend blog is the photo of a (presumably Iraqi) woman in the top right hand corner in the fake riverSbend site (Fake RiverSbend's stolen photo). Obviously this is not really our blogger - but is it supposed to be? Well right above her head is copied the real Riverbend's lead in "Girl Blog from Iraq". This is certainly not the photograph of what I would consider a "girl".
But hey, who am I to say? It's possible a rather sullen looking Iraqi woman in her forties would call herself a girl. Of course elsewhere in the fake blog the blogger describes herself as a "woman" but I'm not going to make a big deal of whether that amounts to an inconsistency when there are so many other more glaring ones.
What I did want to point out though is that a very cursory look at the html code for this page shows that the image is from here. This is a cut off version of the following. Suddenly the Iraqi woman's sullen looking expression is given context. She's holding a coffin with the picture of child on it.
A further look at the site shows the explanation behind the picture:
"During the Save the Children of Iraq demonstration held on 8/15/200 in front of the Staples Center, Artists placed hundreds of small cardboard coffins around the demonstration area. Each coffin represented an Iraqi child who has died due to the U.S. imposed sanctions against that country. Each small coffin had a name in Arabic drawn on it along with a photo of an Iraqi child"
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/DNC/iraq.html
Now this is all a bit more confusing. This picture was taken in the US, at a demonstration against US foreign policy in Iraq. We don't even know for sure if this woman is an Iraqi. We can though be pretty sure that she isn't now in Iraq writing a blog about applauding the US occupation, I think. And we can even state with a fair degree of certainty that she wouldn't want her picture being used to *promote* - through false propaganda - US foreign policy. We can also I would suggest be fairly sure that the artist wouldn't want his art being used in this way either.
But we needn't speculate on that last point. There is a contact address on this webpage as well. I intend to use it, to ask the artist Mark Vallen how happy he is at having his copyright infringed and his picture used in a manner which is absolutely contrary to its artistic intent. The address is vallen@art-for-a-change.com. If I get a response I'll let you know.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
My name is Brian. And I am an individual based in the US with a keen interest in politics and at this point in time particularly in the war in Iraq. Among the vast variety of available news sources I am particularly interested to hear voices from Iraq itself, as it seems much of the debate about the best course of action there seemed designed to bypass the citizens of that country.
Like many people I came across the Salaam Pax blogger earlier in the year. I followed closely the "Is he real or isn't he?" debate. Were these really the words of an Iraqi in Iraq? Or was this someone pretending to be one, for a prank or for more sinister purposes. This has now been answered pretty conclusively in the affirmative. Salaam Pax has had a book published and draws a regular paycheck from the Guardian, one of Britain's most venerable newspapers. But it's important to note the tendency in cyberspace to attempt to portray a voice as "not real" simply because one does not like the message.
After an early mention in Salaam's blog in March, Riverbend, another Iraqi, this time a women, who blogs at riverbendblog.blogspot.com began posting in August. If anything she is a more gifted writer even than Pax, and her use of the English language would put many native speakers to shame with its imagery and emotiveness. With her approval by Salaam Pax and her authenticity of emotion I have never harboured doubt as to the fact that Riverbend is a genuine Iraqi citizen in Iraq. I have seen nothing that would persuade me otherwise in her words.
Is she a fan of the US invasion? Not entirely, for sure. But is she a Baathist, a Saddam loyalist as some have tried to suggest? No dispassionate and serious view could support that contention.
But some who dislike her message have gone even further than making these suggestions in an attempt to discredit her. A foreign - probably American - citizen has produced a similar blog, almost stealing her name, but writing at
riverSbendblog.blogspot.com - note the extra S. This blog is a shabby, poorly cobbled together collection of material plagiarised from various foreign sources. It is not a blog by any true defintion.
Let me be clear - if an Iraqi citizen approves the US invasion and wishes to write about it, I applaud them. I for one will be eager to read it. But this is not an Iraqi citizen. This I will demonstrate - if not beyond all doubt, at least beyond all reasonable doubt.
In all likelihood, this is the work of an embittered American who does not like what Riverbend writes. But who is too cowardly to debate it honestly. Instead this individual preferred to set up this spoiler site, and try to deliberately lead people to believe that Riverbend's message has changed by deceivingly misleading them to it.
This person even produced fake archives predating Riverbend's blog in an attempt to suggest that the fake site predated it. I can produce conclusive proof here that not only *can* archives be faked. But that in this case they have been.
I am very aware that I noted just above how people attempt to smear as "not real" those with whom they disagree. I do not agree with riverSbend. But my conclusion that he is not a real Iraqi is not based merely on that fact. It is supported by a mass of evidence which I will produce here.
At a later date I will post the evidence I have as to this person's identity and their malicious intentions. For the moment this blog looks like a lot of date entries stretching back to July (except for one joke one from 1999). Each entry since then is a dissection of the fake RiverSbend's corresponding entry for that date. I show here that over 99% of the verbiage assembled at that location was written not by a simple Iraqi worker as the author would claim but by foreign journalists writing for other publications. Their work has been plagiarised without credit
At this point this blog is intended to shame the fake riverSbend blogger into giving up the game. And to provide some amusement for those with a passing interest in just how desperate some are to silence a message that does not correspond to their own worldview.
If this site is closed down or no more entries appear my readers should conclude that I have been subject to assassination or kidnapping by the American CIA and act accordingly.
(Just kidding - actually the riverSbend site is so poor it was more likely produced by Saddam Hussein himself than US intelligence since it shows at least one member of the pro-invasion contingent in such a dismal light.)
Accept no substitutes.
Proof That Blogspot Archives Can Be Faked
Proof The RiverSbend Archives Are Faked
RiverSbend Plagiarises the New York Times
Like many people I came across the Salaam Pax blogger earlier in the year. I followed closely the "Is he real or isn't he?" debate. Were these really the words of an Iraqi in Iraq? Or was this someone pretending to be one, for a prank or for more sinister purposes. This has now been answered pretty conclusively in the affirmative. Salaam Pax has had a book published and draws a regular paycheck from the Guardian, one of Britain's most venerable newspapers. But it's important to note the tendency in cyberspace to attempt to portray a voice as "not real" simply because one does not like the message.
After an early mention in Salaam's blog in March, Riverbend, another Iraqi, this time a women, who blogs at riverbendblog.blogspot.com began posting in August. If anything she is a more gifted writer even than Pax, and her use of the English language would put many native speakers to shame with its imagery and emotiveness. With her approval by Salaam Pax and her authenticity of emotion I have never harboured doubt as to the fact that Riverbend is a genuine Iraqi citizen in Iraq. I have seen nothing that would persuade me otherwise in her words.
Is she a fan of the US invasion? Not entirely, for sure. But is she a Baathist, a Saddam loyalist as some have tried to suggest? No dispassionate and serious view could support that contention.
But some who dislike her message have gone even further than making these suggestions in an attempt to discredit her. A foreign - probably American - citizen has produced a similar blog, almost stealing her name, but writing at
riverSbendblog.blogspot.com - note the extra S. This blog is a shabby, poorly cobbled together collection of material plagiarised from various foreign sources. It is not a blog by any true defintion.
Let me be clear - if an Iraqi citizen approves the US invasion and wishes to write about it, I applaud them. I for one will be eager to read it. But this is not an Iraqi citizen. This I will demonstrate - if not beyond all doubt, at least beyond all reasonable doubt.
In all likelihood, this is the work of an embittered American who does not like what Riverbend writes. But who is too cowardly to debate it honestly. Instead this individual preferred to set up this spoiler site, and try to deliberately lead people to believe that Riverbend's message has changed by deceivingly misleading them to it.
This person even produced fake archives predating Riverbend's blog in an attempt to suggest that the fake site predated it. I can produce conclusive proof here that not only *can* archives be faked. But that in this case they have been.
I am very aware that I noted just above how people attempt to smear as "not real" those with whom they disagree. I do not agree with riverSbend. But my conclusion that he is not a real Iraqi is not based merely on that fact. It is supported by a mass of evidence which I will produce here.
At a later date I will post the evidence I have as to this person's identity and their malicious intentions. For the moment this blog looks like a lot of date entries stretching back to July (except for one joke one from 1999). Each entry since then is a dissection of the fake RiverSbend's corresponding entry for that date. I show here that over 99% of the verbiage assembled at that location was written not by a simple Iraqi worker as the author would claim but by foreign journalists writing for other publications. Their work has been plagiarised without credit
At this point this blog is intended to shame the fake riverSbend blogger into giving up the game. And to provide some amusement for those with a passing interest in just how desperate some are to silence a message that does not correspond to their own worldview.
If this site is closed down or no more entries appear my readers should conclude that I have been subject to assassination or kidnapping by the American CIA and act accordingly.
(Just kidding - actually the riverSbend site is so poor it was more likely produced by Saddam Hussein himself than US intelligence since it shows at least one member of the pro-invasion contingent in such a dismal light.)
Accept no substitutes.
Proof That Blogspot Archives Can Be Faked
Proof The RiverSbend Archives Are Faked
RiverSbend Plagiarises the New York Times
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
RiverSbend wrote:
Dinar Returns to Iraq
Japan had about $150 million in Iraqi funds frozen in accounts there. So far almost $90 million has been returned to the development fund. $585 million more was identified in accounts in Switzerland, and $275 million has returned to Iraq. The United States has returned almost $2 Billion that was frozen and held in their banks
since the first war in 1991.
- posted by river @ 12:21 AM
[Brian’s Comment – very interesting. I first pointed out the flagrant plagiarism on the site to the believed culprit in the time between the last entry and this one. After this confrontation the perpetrator may have realized that the game was - to a degree – up, and that he would need to shift tactics This entry I cannot locate online as I have done with all the other entries below. A bit more checking though came up with this:
U.S.: Syrian-controlled banks hold $3 billion in Iraqi funds, Douglas Jehl, New York Times
“Some $150 million more in Iraqi funds has long been frozen by Japan, and about $90 million of that has been returned to the development fund. About $585 million more has been identified in accounts of the Bank of International Settlements in Switzerland, and $275 million of that has been returned.”
[Before that in the piece:]
“About $1.7 billion belonging to the former Iraqi government had been held in banks in the United States, where it had been frozen since the Gulf War of 1991.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4165722.html
So it appears our blogger, may be taking just a little more care to rewrite. Or else this is just lifted from a source I have been unable to find. Whatever it certainly isn’t being written from an Iraqi on the streets as this blog would have us believe. Watch this space as the game progresses]
Dinar Returns to Iraq
Japan had about $150 million in Iraqi funds frozen in accounts there. So far almost $90 million has been returned to the development fund. $585 million more was identified in accounts in Switzerland, and $275 million has returned to Iraq. The United States has returned almost $2 Billion that was frozen and held in their banks
since the first war in 1991.
- posted by river @ 12:21 AM
[Brian’s Comment – very interesting. I first pointed out the flagrant plagiarism on the site to the believed culprit in the time between the last entry and this one. After this confrontation the perpetrator may have realized that the game was - to a degree – up, and that he would need to shift tactics This entry I cannot locate online as I have done with all the other entries below. A bit more checking though came up with this:
U.S.: Syrian-controlled banks hold $3 billion in Iraqi funds, Douglas Jehl, New York Times
“Some $150 million more in Iraqi funds has long been frozen by Japan, and about $90 million of that has been returned to the development fund. About $585 million more has been identified in accounts of the Bank of International Settlements in Switzerland, and $275 million of that has been returned.”
[Before that in the piece:]
“About $1.7 billion belonging to the former Iraqi government had been held in banks in the United States, where it had been frozen since the Gulf War of 1991.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4165722.html
So it appears our blogger, may be taking just a little more care to rewrite. Or else this is just lifted from a source I have been unable to find. Whatever it certainly isn’t being written from an Iraqi on the streets as this blog would have us believe. Watch this space as the game progresses]
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
RiverSbend wrote:
The New Dinar
Today we begin exchanging our two old currencies for a single new Iraqi Dinar, according to Coalition Provisional Authorities.
[..]
The exchange is a major logistical operation that involved flying the 2300 tons of currency in 747s into Baghdad and over 100 convoys, delivering over 700 tons of currency around the country. Click here for more information on the new currency.
- posted by river @ 3:07 AM
[Brian’s Comment – this is nothing new. Again like the David Kay blog thing it’s almost fair enough. It actually says things like “according to the [CPA]” and actually links to a CPA article (http://www.cpa-iraq.org/budget/IraqCurrencyExchange.html). However the main quotes e.g. “For years Iraqis have struggled with the difficulties of operating with two separate currencies” are adapted from the front page of the cpa site unattributed http://cpa-iraq.org/ (NB this is accurate as of present but is obviously not going to be front page news forever) ]
The New Dinar
Today we begin exchanging our two old currencies for a single new Iraqi Dinar, according to Coalition Provisional Authorities.
[..]
The exchange is a major logistical operation that involved flying the 2300 tons of currency in 747s into Baghdad and over 100 convoys, delivering over 700 tons of currency around the country. Click here for more information on the new currency.
- posted by river @ 3:07 AM
[Brian’s Comment – this is nothing new. Again like the David Kay blog thing it’s almost fair enough. It actually says things like “according to the [CPA]” and actually links to a CPA article (http://www.cpa-iraq.org/budget/IraqCurrencyExchange.html). However the main quotes e.g. “For years Iraqis have struggled with the difficulties of operating with two separate currencies” are adapted from the front page of the cpa site unattributed http://cpa-iraq.org/ (NB this is accurate as of present but is obviously not going to be front page news forever) ]
Sunday, October 12, 2003
RiverSbend wrote:
First Transfer of Authority From Coalition to Iraqis
A significant event marking the return to normalcy for the Iraqi people occurred Oct. 7. Authority of a site was transferred back to the people of Iraq.
[..]
Bouhy and the rest of the guards were thrilled by the ceremony and the chance to be a part of history. “Now we can celebrate something for ourselves,” Bouhy said. “We did not have the opportunity to celebrate with the old regime.”
- posted by river @ 6:14 AM
[Brian’s Comment – this is a direct steal - First Transfer of Authority From Coalition to Iraqis, by Cpl. Todd Pruden, 372nd MPAD. We have already been familiarized with Cpl Pruden’s work in the Sept 18th entry. Note – one wonders what the fake blogger intends to suggest by reproducing this stuff as if it were original. Are we to suppose that this “simple Iraqi woman worker” was approaching US soldiers (quoted in the article) and canvassing for their opinions on the handover here – and getting neat little soundbites like “this will definitely be a centerpiece for this area”? The mind boggles. My feeling is that the blogger simply does not know what he’s doing. The blog is a very half-hearted and incompetent attempt and has no cogent, consistent or logical feel to it, the way a genuine blog does. NB the blogger even takes the image from the original and posts it in the blog]
First Transfer of Authority From Coalition to Iraqis
A significant event marking the return to normalcy for the Iraqi people occurred Oct. 7. Authority of a site was transferred back to the people of Iraq.
[..]
Bouhy and the rest of the guards were thrilled by the ceremony and the chance to be a part of history. “Now we can celebrate something for ourselves,” Bouhy said. “We did not have the opportunity to celebrate with the old regime.”
- posted by river @ 6:14 AM
[Brian’s Comment – this is a direct steal - First Transfer of Authority From Coalition to Iraqis, by Cpl. Todd Pruden, 372nd MPAD. We have already been familiarized with Cpl Pruden’s work in the Sept 18th entry. Note – one wonders what the fake blogger intends to suggest by reproducing this stuff as if it were original. Are we to suppose that this “simple Iraqi woman worker” was approaching US soldiers (quoted in the article) and canvassing for their opinions on the handover here – and getting neat little soundbites like “this will definitely be a centerpiece for this area”? The mind boggles. My feeling is that the blogger simply does not know what he’s doing. The blog is a very half-hearted and incompetent attempt and has no cogent, consistent or logical feel to it, the way a genuine blog does. NB the blogger even takes the image from the original and posts it in the blog]
Saturday, October 11, 2003
RiverSbend wrote:
Iraqis challenge 'Arabism'
I got a tour the other day of Baghdad's rebuilt airport, which is now quite beautiful, but still hasn't opened out of security concerns. Our tour guides even took us through passport control to show off their new computers that will check for incoming terrorists.
[..]
Root for them to succeed, for having such a state in the heart of the Arab world would be a very, very good thing.
- posted by river @ 6:36 AM
[Brian’s Comment: This, along with the US govt report supposedly posted before it was even written is another one of my favourite entries here. Chutzpah or extreme stupidity, it’s hard to say. An innocent naïf reading this might think “Oh interesting, but why is this “simple Iraqi woman worker” being given a tour of the airport”. A slightly less innocent naïf might add: And why did they get exactly the same tour as Thomas Friedman, one of the most world famous MidEast journalist, who described his airport tour in the New York Times thusly just a few days before:
Telling the Truth in Iraq,By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
“I got a tour the other day of Baghdad's rebuilt airport, which is now quite beautiful, but still hasn't opened out of security concerns. Our tour guides even took us through passport control to show off their new computers that will check for incoming terrorists.”
http://www.travelbrochuregraphics.com/extra/telling_the_truth_in_iraq.htm
[Brian’s Comment – note how our faker didn’t even bother to change in the last line that “them” to “us”. Thomas Friedman is not writing as an Iraqi. And of course, neither is our blogger]
Iraqis challenge 'Arabism'
I got a tour the other day of Baghdad's rebuilt airport, which is now quite beautiful, but still hasn't opened out of security concerns. Our tour guides even took us through passport control to show off their new computers that will check for incoming terrorists.
[..]
Root for them to succeed, for having such a state in the heart of the Arab world would be a very, very good thing.
- posted by river @ 6:36 AM
[Brian’s Comment: This, along with the US govt report supposedly posted before it was even written is another one of my favourite entries here. Chutzpah or extreme stupidity, it’s hard to say. An innocent naïf reading this might think “Oh interesting, but why is this “simple Iraqi woman worker” being given a tour of the airport”. A slightly less innocent naïf might add: And why did they get exactly the same tour as Thomas Friedman, one of the most world famous MidEast journalist, who described his airport tour in the New York Times thusly just a few days before:
Telling the Truth in Iraq,By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
“I got a tour the other day of Baghdad's rebuilt airport, which is now quite beautiful, but still hasn't opened out of security concerns. Our tour guides even took us through passport control to show off their new computers that will check for incoming terrorists.”
http://www.travelbrochuregraphics.com/extra/telling_the_truth_in_iraq.htm
[Brian’s Comment – note how our faker didn’t even bother to change in the last line that “them” to “us”. Thomas Friedman is not writing as an Iraqi. And of course, neither is our blogger]
Saturday, October 04, 2003
RiverSbend wrote:
Kay Reports Further
A few people pointed out this blogger to me. (http://www.powerlineblog.com/)
Yesterday David Kay gave a telephone intereview to reporters, in which he elaborated on his written report in ways that were, in some respects, quite helpful. The highlights:
[..]
- posted by river @ 8:26 AM
[Brian’s Comment – nothing (much) to see here. Our fake blogger links approvingly to a real one. If this was an Iraqi doing this, or a US citizen honestly admitting this is what they were doing there is no problem here. But a US citizen pretending to be an Iraqi so they can approvingly point to another website. Well like everything else to do with this site, it stinks.]
Kay Reports Further
A few people pointed out this blogger to me. (http://www.powerlineblog.com/)
Yesterday David Kay gave a telephone intereview to reporters, in which he elaborated on his written report in ways that were, in some respects, quite helpful. The highlights:
[..]
- posted by river @ 8:26 AM
[Brian’s Comment – nothing (much) to see here. Our fake blogger links approvingly to a real one. If this was an Iraqi doing this, or a US citizen honestly admitting this is what they were doing there is no problem here. But a US citizen pretending to be an Iraqi so they can approvingly point to another website. Well like everything else to do with this site, it stinks.]
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