FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is standing for re-election for a fourth term, has admitted that there is a ground swell of popular support to re-hold the 2022 vote won by Qatar. Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup finals controversially last December.
The Independent quoted Blatter, as saying that a FIFA inquiry into claims made by The Sunday Times that there was corruption in the vote could lead to the FIFA executive committee (ExCo) voting again.
Re-voting would represent the biggest U-turn in the governing body's history.
hile Blatter was not thought to have cast his own vote for Qatar, he knows that any move to go back on the decision would cause huge ructions within world football.
While the 75-year-old did not say what he thought the likely outcome of FIFA's investigation would be, he refused to put any limit on the measures they could take if they uncovered wrongdoing.
In an interview with the Press Association, Blatter said that the notion that the 2022 vote would be re-held was "alarming" but conceded it was one that had a groundswell of popular support and was "circulating around the world".
Taking the World Cup from Qatar would be a huge blow to the prestige of FIFA, which has been widely criticized for its decision to award the biggest sports event in the world to a country of 1.6 million people with little football culture and temperatures of around 50C in June and July.
Qatar spent by far and away the most on its bid, committing 27 million pounds on communications alone in one year. To put that in perspective, the next biggest budget in the 2022 race was Australia who spent 28 million pounds in total. (ANI)
@'Yahoo'
Friday, 20 May 2011
Eight New Yorkers sue Baidu for $16m
Baidu is being sued by eight New York residents, who filed a lawsuit yesterday against the company accusing the search engine of censoring internet information in collusion with the People's Republic.
According to Reuters, the complaint claims violation of the US Constitution. It names Baidu and, unusually, the Chinese government as defendants in the case.
The suit was filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, New York. It claims that Baidu operates as an "enforcer" to Beijing policies by censoring pro-democracy content on the internet.
An example cited is China's military action against protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The plaintiffs, described in the complaint as pro-democracy activists, allege that their writings and videos have been suppressed by Baidu.
"We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to suppress political speech, and permeate US borders to violate the First Amendment," the plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen Preziosi told Reuters. The idea is that as Baidu searches conducted in the States do not show the pro-democracy materials, US law has been violated.
"An internet search engine is a public acommodation, just like a hotel or restaurant," Preziosi argued.
The complainants are seeking total damages of $16m. However, there are no demands for Baidu to tweak its search engine policies.
"It would be futile to expect Baidu to change," said Preziosi.
Kelly Fiveash @'The Register'
Only in America!
(Thanx Robin!)
According to Reuters, the complaint claims violation of the US Constitution. It names Baidu and, unusually, the Chinese government as defendants in the case.
The plaintiffs, described in the complaint as pro-democracy activists, allege that their writings and videos have been suppressed by Baidu.
"We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to suppress political speech, and permeate US borders to violate the First Amendment," the plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen Preziosi told Reuters. The idea is that as Baidu searches conducted in the States do not show the pro-democracy materials, US law has been violated.
"An internet search engine is a public acommodation, just like a hotel or restaurant," Preziosi argued.
The complainants are seeking total damages of $16m. However, there are no demands for Baidu to tweak its search engine policies.
"It would be futile to expect Baidu to change," said Preziosi.
Kelly Fiveash @'The Register'
Only in America!
(Thanx Robin!)
First Listen: Joseph Arthur - 'The Graduation Ceremony'
That varied span of work mirrors the career Arthur has built as a "triple threat" artist since the mid-'90s, bridging music, poetry and painting with prolific creativity and unyielding inventiveness. He's even opened a gallery, the Museum of Modern Arthur (now online only). None of those endeavors suggest that "restraint" is part of his vocabulary.
But if there ever was a Joseph Arthur project to dispute that claim, it's his new album, The Graduation Ceremony, out May 24. From the first finger-picked notes of "Out on a Limb," it's clear that Arthur's goal is to keep things simple in both process and sound. Even with full orchestration (guitars, bass, strings, keys, Jim Keltner on drums and Liz Phair on backing vocals), there's an intentional sparseness at work. As with much of Joseph's musical and visual work, layers — however delicate — create depth, not excess.
Restraint in subject matter is another story, as Arthur adds no filter to reflections on a relationship's ebb, flow and end. With his vocal range in fine form, moving from Greg Brown-esque growl to winding falsetto, listening is an almost tactile experience. (Try to not react to the opening line of "Watch Our Shadows Run," in which Arthur sings in full falsetto, "You betrayed me.")
Still, dark ruminations aren't the only color in the album's musical palette. "Midwest" invites listeners to clap along, dream and turn up the distortion, and the sun appears repeatedly throughout The Graduation Ceremony, including in the soaring chorus of "Over the Sun." (That said, the tune also features the line, "When I cheat on you, you're still all I see.")
Whether "Over the Sun" is a sequel to his 2000 hit "In the Sun," only Arthur knows for sure. But his catalog rarely treads the same ground twice, and The Graduation Ceremony proves it by exploring another artful dimension entirely.
Sarah Wardrop @'npr'
Hear 'The Graduation Ceremony' In Its Entirety
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