Fools
46 minutes ago
Thursday, 21 July 2011
The Murdochs must stop spinning and resign over the phone-hacking scandal
Yesterday, as Rupert and James Murdoch appeared before parliament, this theme was repeated. Their testimony was less about true and honest answers and more about the script of a public relations firm, and an attempt to spin the public debate on issues of corporate disgrace.
If their testimonies presented any information at all, it would be how much the Murdochs want to promote the spin of willful ignorance. For two incredibly involved businessmen, their testimonies would lead you to believe that they have long had absolutely no idea about what happens within their company.
James Murdoch claimed to be “shocked and surprised” to learn about the payment of legal fees for the jailed phone-hacking investigator, Glenn Mulcaire. Rupert Murdoch claimed to be unaware of out-of-court settlements made with hacking victims.
This portrayed ignorance leads to the Murdochs shifting blame to anyone but themselves. Asked about whether he should resign, Rupert responded: “No, because I feel that the people I trusted, I don’t know at what level, let me down and I think they behaved disgracefully, betrayed the company and me and it’s for them to pay.”
It, apparently, in Murdoch’s mind, is not at all true that he was responsible for the company that behaved disgracefully and, in fact, betrayed the public and let the public down.
As has been recently reported, the Murdochs have hired Edelman Public Relations to help them try to weather this crisis. The same Edelman Public Relations firm that previously defended Walmart, in part by funding a pro-Walmart blog called Walmarting Across America, purported to be run by two regular individuals, who later were revealed to be hired PR hacks, spinning in the name of PR goals.
Since Edelman has been brought on, the Murdochs have apologised in various forms, introduced the word “humble” into their lexicon, and have yet equally strengthened their resolve to say they did nothing wrong, had no idea anyone else did anything wrong and that they definitely should bear no responsibility.
If this scandal makes one thing abundantly clear, it is the importance of honest information being presented to the public truthfully – a trend far too rare in the storyline of this corruption. We have no need for a further parade of public relations spinning, meant only to distract the public from facts and the truth. What we need right now is a thorough, just, legal and strong investigation into wrongdoings. The type of honest reporting NewsCorp has shown themselves incapable of doing. Outfoxed was the canary in the coal mine years ago. This recent scandal has been a loud siren of clear corruption.
It is time for the truth to come out. And it is time for the Murdochs and NewsCorp to stop their habitual addiction to spin and lies. The Murdochs bear responsibility for what occurred in their company, and the public deserves accountability around their failed and corrupt leadership. As increased revelations of corruption endlessly emerge within this scandal, the only way for justice and journalistic integrity to win out is for both Murdochs to resign. At that point, their public relations firm can spin all they want, without causing further harm to the public interest.
Via
Robert Greenwald @'AlterNet'
Phone hacking: Australian PM promises 'hard questions'
The Australian branch of Rupert Murdoch's media empire will face "hard questions" in the wake of the phone hacking scandal in Britain, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said.
She said she was "disturbed" by revelations about his UK business.The Greens, which hold the balance of power in the upper house, have called for a parliamentary inquiry into News Limited, Mr Murdoch's Australian firm.
Mr Murdoch appeared before a UK parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
"When people have seen telephones hacked into, when people have seen individuals grieving having to deal with all of this, then I do think that causes them to ask some questions here in our country," Ms Gillard told reporters in New South Wales.
"Obviously News Limited has got a responsibility to answer those questions when they're asked."
Australian journalists' unions said they backed the call by Greens party leader Bob Brown for an inquiry.
Different dominance.
Ms Gillard told the Greens she was ready to discuss the holding of an inquiry into Murdoch company practices in Australia, but would not jump to conclusions.
"I'm not going to engage in running commentary on testimony but I do believe Australians... are looking at News Limited here and are wanting to see News Limited answer some hard questions," she said.The company dominates Australian media - it controls 70% of the newspaper readership and has extensive holdings in television, the internet, and other media.
The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says that largely because News Limited owns most of the tabloid titles, the competition in Australia for stories and gossip is nowhere near as cut-throat or intense as that in Britain.
The tabloid agenda is also different, he says, without the same preoccupation with sex scandals and nowhere near the same salaciousness.
News Limited boss John Hartigan has launched a review of all payments made by the group in the last three years and has said he is willing to co-operate with any inquiry.
He has also denied allegations by governing Labor party members that News Limited has been running a campaign against them, describing his group's journalism as aggressive but fair.
The government has reportedly stalled a ruling by an independent panel in favour of Mr Murdoch's part-owned Sky News to run Australia's taxpayer-funded overseas TV service.
The panel had unanimously backed the Sky bid to run the Australia Network but the government imposed a "national interest" bar on the process.
News Corp has also been attempting a takeover of the Australian broadcaster Austar.
@'BBC'
The Monkees of Invention
Mike Nesmith and Frank Zappa switched places on 'The Monkees' - Episode 57 (out of 58) titled 'Monkees Blow Their Mind' which was filmed in April 1967, and first aired on 11 March 1968.
Bonus clip of Tim Buckley (aged 20) performing 'Song To The Siren' on 'The Monkees' after the jump...
Bonus clip of Tim Buckley (aged 20) performing 'Song To The Siren' on 'The Monkees' after the jump...
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Menthol: The 'gateway' cigarettes?
If he has a beef with the family, Candlers is puffing away.
And if his late model Ford Explorer breaks down on the Atlanta freeway, as it did recently, Candlers will be headed to the corner store to re-up on the nicotine sticks.
"It just died on me," Candler says between long drags off a cigarette. "So I was like real stressed and I think I smoked half a pack of cigarettes waiting on the tow truck."
Like about 19 million other Americans, Candlers smokes menthol cigarettes - for now. The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering whether to ban menthol from cigarettes. Candlers, a stocky man with a beard and a wide smile, says that would be a bad decision.
"They gonna have a war on their hands," Candlers says of the FDA. "I know a lot of folks that smoke menthols, and it would be wrong just to ban one type of cigarette."
But the U.S. government has already banned other types of cigarettes. Flavored beedies, cloves, cigarettes with spices, peppermint and vanilla have all been banned in an effort to discourage teenagers from picking up the habit. Basically, anything that makes tobacco easier to taste or inhale has been targeted by the FDA and Congress.
The FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee is recommending menthol be banned. The committee issued a report earlier this year finding that menthol cigarettes are overwhelmingly smoked by the poor, the young and African-Americans...
Continue reading
John Sepulvado @'CNN'
Taliban blames US for Mullah Omar death reports
Two Taliban spokesmen have said their phones had been hacked and messages sent out that their leader Mullah Omar was dead, media reports say.
One of the spokesmen Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters that the "Americans have hacked our cellphones with advanced technology and sent the messages".Mullah Omar's death was reported in May by sections of the media, including an Afghan TV channel.
Pakistani and US officials had dismissed the reports.
Mullah Omar has evaded capture, despite one of the largest manhunts and is believed to be guiding the resurgent Taliban.
The AFP news agency said that a message went out from Zabihullah Mujahid's phone announcing the death of Mullah Omar.
The spokesman denied this, and said the Taliban would take "revenge on the telephone network providers".
A second spokesman, Qari Yosuf Ahmadi, also told AFP that phones had been hacked.
"That's a false message. The Westerners hacked into our cellphones and sent the message from our numbers to everyone. They want to deceive the Afghan people. It's wrong. [Omar] is not dead and is alive," he said.
@'BBC'
House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Report:
Unauthorised tapping
into or hacking of
mobile
communications
into or hacking of
mobile
communications
Mission Control - Celebrating NASA and Space Explorers everywhere
Check out our Live updates from Kennedy Space Center.
This is a mission audio live feed, so there may be extended periods of quiet between events and astronaut sleep periods.
STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis Mission Coverage live now through landing. NASA's crew for STS-135 is: Chris Ferguson, commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, both mission specialists. The crew is set to arrive at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Monday, July 4th.
Atlantis will carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. The mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems.
@'Soma FM'
Internet Activist Charged in M.I.T. Data Theft
Cambridge man accused of hacking MIT computers to steal 4m scientific papers
evgenymorozov Evgeny Morozov
the case against @aaronsw is ridiculous. he will be the new hero of the Anonymous crowd. can't end well.
Funk and Beyond 45s session by Anatoly Ice
funk and soul 45s
01. the majestic arrows – another day [bandit]
02. garland green – hey cloud [gotillion]
03. al perkins – need to belong [atco]
04. fly-face – born free [fly-face]
05. ted taylor – somebody’s gettin’ it [alarm]
06. rudy love and love family – does your mama know [calla]
07. jimmy gray hall – be that way [epic]
08. jodi mathis – young power [capitol]
09. minnie riperton – adventures in paradise [epic]
10. ruby andrews – didn’t i fool you [zodiac]
11. jordan valentine and the sunday saints – tell me what’s on your mind [cultures of soul]
12. willie joe – funny thing [pure black soul]
13. etta james – i got you babe [cadet]
14. electric leal – loaded with love [key note]
15. eddie ray – you got me [prix]
15. the cause – hard times (in the city) [asg]
16. fly-face – walkin [fly-face]
17. a.c. reed – talkin ’bout my friends [nike]
18. the pharaohs – freedom road [scarab]
19. nicole croisille – we got a thing [az]
20. mel torme – brother can you spare a dime [liberty]
21. dyke and the blazers – my sisters and my brothers day is comin’ [original sound]
22. fabulous oriiginals – it ain’t fair, but it’s fun [jewel]
23. tommie young – that’s all a part of loving him [soul power]
24. the tempress – my baby love [we produce]
25. the mystic moods – honey trippin’ [soundbird]
26. lary santos – can’t get you off my mind [casablanca]
27. skip mahoney and the casuals – running away from love [abet]
28. charles pryor and power of love – what they doing (funkie junkie) [double]
29. pete napoles – pancho villa [jaguar]
30. the bilalian express – disco nights [lk]
31. nia johnson – plain out of luck [mainstream]
32. dee dee gartrell – second hand love [maverick]
33. phil flowers – the judge and the alligator [dot]
34. tyrone chestnut – the bump [intrepid]
more @ anatolyice.ru
artwork by anatoly ice
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@'subnav'
Cairn Energy obtains legal interdict: ‘Twitter ban’ and 'gagging order' for Greenpeace
In its latest move to cover up the truth about its Arctic drilling, Cairn Energy has obtained an extraordinary, wide-ranging legal interdict (injunction) against us, gagging us from posting Tweets and Facebook updates containing photos of yesterday's occupation of their Edinburgh headquarters. The interdict also demands that we remove our Tweets and Facebook updates carrying pictures of protesters dressed as polar bears - and that we retract photographs issued to national newspapers.
Specifically, the court order prohibits "disseminating, printing, uploading, sharing, copying or otherwise publishing any images, photographs, pictures or other material (or copies thereof) taken or recorded by Greenpeace activists present within 50 Lothian Road, Edinburgh on or around 18 July 2011."
Cairn is clearly worried that our volunteers got their hands on their secret Arctic oil spill response plan yesterday. This court order is apparently aimed at preventing its publication.
So the Cairn cover up continues; this time, not just at the expense of the Arctic and the environment, but also at the expense of freedom of expression.
We are deleting the photos but, as you might expect, we're going to keep campaigning to protect the Arctic from reckless corporations who see the melting of the polar ice as a business opportunity.
bex @'Greenpeace'
Specifically, the court order prohibits "disseminating, printing, uploading, sharing, copying or otherwise publishing any images, photographs, pictures or other material (or copies thereof) taken or recorded by Greenpeace activists present within 50 Lothian Road, Edinburgh on or around 18 July 2011."
Cairn is clearly worried that our volunteers got their hands on their secret Arctic oil spill response plan yesterday. This court order is apparently aimed at preventing its publication.
So the Cairn cover up continues; this time, not just at the expense of the Arctic and the environment, but also at the expense of freedom of expression.
We are deleting the photos but, as you might expect, we're going to keep campaigning to protect the Arctic from reckless corporations who see the melting of the polar ice as a business opportunity.
bex @'Greenpeace'
It's ALL so fugn cosy isn't it?
MichaelLCrick Michael Crick
Nice story I couldn't include on Newsnight: R Murdoch visited Thatcher 3 weeks ago, partly fixed up by culture cttee chair John Whittingdale
Daedelus - My life Lowly Ends (A Live Set)
Originally created for The Low End Theory Podcast. Especially made for freeway driving
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