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keenie-meenie · 2 years

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The Film

Directors: Phil Miller & Lou Macnamara Release date: 8 October 2020

Full transcript available here.

Watch trailer here.

Advance praise from Ken Loach:

"Important, dangerous and must be screened. It deals with those charged with war crimes – and they are in our midst. I look forward to seeing it with an audience."

vimeo

The Book

Keenie Meenie Services - the most powerful mercenary company you've never heard of - was involved in war crimes around the world from Sri Lanka to Nicaragua for which its shadowy directors have never been held accountable. Like its mysterious name, Keenie Meenie Services escaped definition and to this day has evaded sanctions. Now explosive new evidence - only recently declassified - exposes the extent of these war crimes, and the British government's tacit support for the company's operations. Including testimonies from SAS veterans, spy chiefs and diplomats, we hear from key figures battle-hardened by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Iranian Embassy siege. Investigative journalist Phil Miller asks, who were these mercenaries: heroes, terrorists, freedom fighters or war criminals? Phil Miller's book presents the first ever comprehensive case against Keenie Meenie Services, providing long overdue evidence on the crimes of the people who make a killing from killing.

Published by Pluto Press January 2020 Paperback £12.99

Reviews

"Pilots you into a twilight world, where the pioneers of a rapacious industry blaze a trail of death and destruction across the continents, with a nod and a wink from Whitehall. This is the riveting story of HMG’s dirty secret service: an investigative tour de force." Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News

"I'm reading this book!!!!" M.I.A.

"A masterclass in understanding the persistence of colonialism ... shows how political writing can go beyond appropriation into a struggle for justice ... go buy it, read it, recommend it to others"

Meena Kandasamy, author Gypsy Goddess

"Revealed: clandestine actions of mercenaries during Thatcher years." The Observer

"Tells the story of an elite band of ex-special forces who wreaked havoc around the world ... lifts the lid on KMS's activities and the men behind it" Daily Mail

"The pace and narrative are Le Carre-esque, but made even more compelling by the fact that the events are true" Joe Glenton, Forces Watch

"Very, very explosive" BBC Asian Network

"This fascinating, unique and brilliantly researched book is one of the most important to be written on the UK's postwar foreign policy and provides a major contribution to understanding it. The book deserves to be widely read." Mark Curtis - author and historian

"Remarkable ... Miller's achievement is so welcome: a book that contains close to 500 references and footnotes yet is thoroughly readable throughout." Professor Paul Rogers, Open Democracy

"A fine piece of investigative journalism" Nick Hager, author of Hit & Run

Irish Times

Irish Examiner

Press Trust of India

Indian Express

Novara Media

Morning Star

Cracking Coconuts podcast

Tamil Guardian

Events

2020 Events

28 January - Book launch, Garden Court Chambers, with UN mercenary expert Dr Sorcha MacLeod

9 February - Panel discussion, Indian YMCA London, with Meena Kandasamy

21 February - Panel discussion, Kings College London

27 February - Book signing, Imperial War Museum

28 February - Human rights festival, Kingston University

6 March - Panel discussion, SOAS University

11 March - Author evening, Frontline Club

30 April - Norway Tamil Film Festival, Oslo

17 May - Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, Wales

10 September - Toronto Tamil Film Festival, Canada

8 October - Online release, Declassified UK with Andrew Feinstein

Special thanks to all our supporters and advisers including Garden Court Chambers, Trust For Research And Education on the Arms Trade, University of Middlesex, Declassified UK, Callum Macrae, Bashana Abeywardane and Vairamuttu Varadakumar.

#Vimeo

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thesecondmate · 3 years

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reading: wk4

2 weeks’ worth here baby! i’ve just completed my week in limb reconstruction (when will the plastic surgeons STOP trying to seduce me into their specialty!!! let me live!!! don’t send softly-spoken tall registrars who like teaching into my theatre to convince me to be a surgeon!!!) + trauma week (i’m less enamoured w/ trauma/ortho surgery....bones suck) and am trying to take a breather over the next 2 weeks. promo for my charity’s conference is taking over my life but what’s new baby! feeling a lil delicate but hopefully some time off doing things i love (ie, reading, learning languages) & catching up on notes will do me some good. hope everyone is staying happy & healthy ~

BOOKS

✩ emporium // johnson (finished) some of these short stories are sublime; some miss the mark for me (twenty-something male angst doesn’t really do it for me tbh) but that’s life. the ones that hit the mark hit a perfect bullseye: homegrown americana dystopia, the aching twin senses of loneliness and readiness to take on the world-ness of teenagers, surrealism, and gorgeous prose. johnson nails family dynamics and love and regret so well; he gives form to the feelings that most of us won’t admit to, without naming them, like the outline of a faceless ghost. this collection is probably why so many of my teenage writing snippets were dystopias heavy on the loneliness and light on the worldbuilding. adam johnson should actually cut me a cheque for the number of times that i’ve recommended his books lol if i had to recommend individual stories: - teen sniper: teen sniper pushed into the business by a tiger mom, shooting silicon valley yuppies for the police, friends with a replaceable robot - it’s so american that i can taste the star-spangled banner. love love love. - trauma plate & the jughead of berlin: johnson gets family dynamics and teenagers so, so right. beautiful. trauma plate is set in a dystopian mom&pop bulletproof vest shop, told from 3 perspectives; the jughead of berlin absolutely nails teenage girl psyche. - the death-dealing cassini satellite: the prose in this is just stunning. stunning.

✩ the secret history // tartt (in progress)

ESSAYS actually read several essays that won’t leave my brain these last 2 weeks.

✩ The Crane Wife - CJ Hauser, Paris Review yes i know i’m late to the party but nothing has ever made me feel so seen. hauser took out my beating heart from years ago, when i dated men who were bad for me, and showed me its anatomy. she showed me a kindred spirit in my shame in writing about things that aren’t true suffering, in writing about my own feelings, and i love love love.

✩ The Valley and the Stream - Danyl McLauchlan, Granta this essay took my breath away. the perfect mix of neuroscience, psychiatry, and human experience and philosophy that is what medicine is all about, for me. beautiful beautiful. will be re-reading this for a long time.

ARTICLES: MEDICINE

✩ Yemen: This doctor saw Covid hospital empty after fake death text - Nawal Al-Maghafi, BBC

✩ Covid linked to risk of mental illness and brain disorder, study suggests - Natalie Grover, Guardian so i have a lot of thoughts about this tbqh. firstly, the study isn’t peer-reviewed, although it is out of a good uni & good research department; secondly, grouping together neurological and psychiatric diseases rly doesn’t help clarity (e.g., having a stroke after covid, a disease that is known to create a pro-clotting state in the body, is v different to developing depression, which is v different to developing psychosis); thirdly, this article didn’t mention at all the fact that we are in an incredibly stressful, isolating, terrifying time that is probably in itself a risk factor for triggering new mental illnesses & diagnoses. really crap reporting if u ask me.

✩ COVID-19 and psychosis risk: Real or delusional concern? - Watson et al., Neuroscience Letters (2021) so i read one of the review articles referenced in the above article - rly interesting and good! and contained a very interesting sentence that the above journalist could have stood to read: “There are currently several specific complexities in assessing the true role of SARS-CoV-2 in neuropsychiatric disease, the most pertinent of which is separating the specific impact of the virus from both the broader disease response and the social, cultural and psychological circumstances in which an infection has occurred.” plus a lovely graphic that would have summarised the possible causes of this apparent correlation. not to hate on people but i really hate shoddy science journalism, a pet peeve that has caused me significant angst during this pandemic lol. why go into science journalism if you blatantly don’t understand science? thanks.

✩ Biological Insights From 108 Schizophrenia-Associated Genetic Loci - Ripke et al., Nature (2014) reading bc 1. my current extracurricular research is on schizophrenia 2. prompted by above discussions of inflammation & psychosis 3. i have always been interested in neuropsychiatry and inflammatory causes of psychosis, thanks to a wonderful talk i went to in my first yr of med school by dr belinda lennox + will graham’s autoimmune encephalitis. lol.

ARTICLES: CULTURE/MEDIA

✩ Why ‘Fleabag’ Is Not Returning For A Third Season - Dani Di Placido, Forbes gutting but a good reason nonetheless

✩ Dave Grohl: 'I dreamt I was shot in the back’ - Mark Savage, BBC absolutely obsessed w the new foo fighters singles. nearly lost my mind when i walked into theatre and the surgeon had them on in the b/g. power move.

✩ The Slumflower Beef Has Exposed the Limits of Influencer Activism - Ash Sarkar, Novara finally a reasonable take on this bullshit - having never really enjoyed either of the parties’ content, this was quite refreshing lol.

ARTICLES: POLITICS/CURRENT

✩ Poland to implement near-total ban on abortion imminently - Shaun Walker, Guardian rage does not cover my feelings.

✩ Impeachment guide: how will Donald Trump's second Senate trial unfold? - Lauren Gambino, Guardian pls god come through, republicans.

✩ 'Vaccine tourism': tens of thousands of Americans cross state lines for injections - Kiran Misra, Guardian horrifying but not surprised. interesting that NJ are vaccinating smokers first but i guess that’s to stop them using up resources - they will get sicker if infected than non-smokers, v interesting.

✩ Finally Taking A Stand? Assessing the UK’s Response to the Uyghur Crisis - Max McGiffen, UK Public Law Blog lots of links to read. a friend set up this public law blog & it’s so clear & well-referenced!

✩ Is the Military Above the Law? A Comment on the Overseas Operations Bill - Max McGiffen, UK Public Law Blog this legislation is terrifying ngl

ARTICLES: OTHER

✩ Why You Don’t Use Garamond on The Web - Design for Hackers

✩ The disabled activist who led a historic 24-day sit-in - Lucy Wallis, BBC

✩ Why 'preppers' are going mainstream - Manuela Saragosa, BBC

✩ How to investigate a firm with 60 million documents - Michael Dempsey, BBC

#reading 2021 #weekly #oh this is so late but w/e

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