tom_watson tom_watson
1st dirty trick of the day. Tory MP Nick Debois shouted "object" to Cathy Jamieson being appointed to our committee. So we're one down.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism is a 2004 documentary film by filmmaker Robert Greenwald that criticises the Fox News Channel, and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, claiming that the channel is used to promote and advocate right-wing views. The film says this pervasive bias contradicts the channel's claim of being "Fair and Balanced", and argues that Fox News has been engaging in what amounts to consumer fraud.
Wiki
Wiki
9 Questions for Rupert
Rupert Murdoch’s appearance before a parliamentary select committee is drawing the kind of international attention usually reserved for royal marriages. The committee, appropriately enough, is for “culture, media and sport,” and the Elizabethan sport that public anticipation calls to mind is that of bear baiting: a powerful, blinded beast maddened by small dogs. That would be to underestimate Rupert, who has been rehearsing for days, and certainly to overestimate the forensic ability of members of the committee (“selected” from unpromoted MPs, but in no qualitative sense “select”). It will operate under severe constraints as a result of the arrest of Rebekah Brooks.
The main constraint will be the presumption of innocence—or at least the British sense of fair play: Ms. Brooks was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to hack unlawfully and to corrupt police, and the Murdochs themselves may soon follow her into the finger-printing room. So "The Wapping Three" have a right to remain silent. When the Maxwells were called before a select committee inquiring into the pilfering of The Mirror pension fund, they brought along George Carman, the country’s top barrister.
The Murdochs will be tempted to attend with a row of Queen’s Counsels—a purse of silks, so to speak—but this would be a public-relations error. If Rupert ever says, “I will not answer that question on the grounds it could incriminate me,” News Limited shares would go into freefall. His best strategy would be to adopt the pose that enabled some screenwriters to survive dishonor before the McCarthy hearings—“I will answer any and every question about my own role but because others may face criminal investigation, Mr. Chairman, you will understand why it would be improper for me to speak what I know about them.” This pose plays well—it suggests courage in taking all responsibility, although in reality it masks a position that covers up part of the truth.
The committee hearing may well disappoint, because it is not designed for cross-examination. U.S. Senate committees have counsel and investigators, and their questioning can last hours and be very searching. U.K. select committees have few staff and limited time for a few questions from each committee member. There can be no effective cross-examination, which usually requires sustained questioning before it can be effective. “Laying the ground” is the most important part of the art. In court, it might go like this...
The committee hearing may well disappoint, because it is not designed for cross-examination. U.S. Senate committees have counsel and investigators, and their questioning can last hours and be very searching. U.K. select committees have few staff and limited time for a few questions from each committee member. There can be no effective cross-examination, which usually requires sustained questioning before it can be effective. “Laying the ground” is the most important part of the art. In court, it might go like this...
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Geoffrey Robertson @'The Daily Beast'
jonstribling Jon Stribling
Why couldn't @LulzSec take the heraldsun and Australian news sites down to give us all a bit of respite from their poisonous s**t?
Panorama: Tabloid Hacks Exposed
(Thanx Dangerous Minds!)
Note also that Alex Marunchak worked as an interpreter for the Met between 1980-2000 while still a reporter at the News of the World!!!
FourTet Four Tet
Computer hacking always seems so damn cool to me... ever since this dude youtu.be/AByemfK_qD4 bet he's working with @LulzSec
LulzSec hack The Scum
Those naughty boys...and they have apparently harvested lots of e/mails!!!
'Breast Milk Baby' Breastfeeding Doll Heading To U.S. Retailers
In a press release yesterday, Alicante, Spain-based Berjuan Toys announced their commitment to bring their Breast Milk Baby doll Stateside after it sold well overseas. The company has generated more than $2 million in sales since the dolls were first released in Spain four years ago.
“Even before we released the dolls in Europe, we have been receiving e-mails, letters, phone calls and messages from breastfeeding activists all over the States,” said Berjuan Toys’ U.S. spokesperson Dennis Lewis in an interview I conducted yesterday. He added that the doll previously received a formal endorsement from the Spanish breastfeeding organization FEDALMA, as well as support from members of other international breastfeeding organizations.
Each doll comes with a “fashionable” halter-top to be worn by the child; it’s decorated with two flowers carefully positioned where the nipples would be. The doll then makes motions and suckling sounds when a sensor in its mouth comes close to sensors inside the flowers. Available in both genders and three different skin colors, the six types of Breast Milk Babies are currently on sale in Europe and available online for $89, though Lewis said that they expect them to be on sale in U.S. brick-and-mortar stores after the company meets with various retailers and buyers at the Las Vegas ASD merchandise trade show later this month...
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Tracey John @'Forbes'
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