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Open Thread

Are The GOP Running Dead for 2012 or are they simply total goof-offs?

The Republicans seem to be handing the Democrats the next election on a platter. Newt Gingrich has ripped the Paul Ryan Budget.

On top of The Huffington Post Article I received this email from The Daily Kos.
We often don’t know what’s at stake in an election until it’s too late. Fortunately, Republicans in DC have been up front with us. (I know crazy, right?) Over the past month, they made it clear they will hand over Medicare to private insurance companies if they win the 2012 elections.
This is a good thing, because now we have another excellent reason to stand up and fight them. That’s why we’re sending John Boehner a cake, with the signatures of Daily Kos community members underneath it, thanking him for guaranteeing we will be fired up for 2012.
Click here to add your name to the petition that will appear underneath the thank you cake.
Here’s what happened:
On April 5, Paul Ryan released the Republican budget plan, which called for deep cuts to Medicare and the privatization of whatever is left.
On April 15, only two House Republicans voted against this budget.
On May 5, John Boehner said that Republicans wouldn’t push for this budget now because it can’t pass while Democrats control the Senate and the White House. However, Boehner made it clear that Republicans still strongly backed the plan.
That’s about as straight forward as Republicans are ever going to be. They are going to slash and privatize Medicare as soon as they control the House, the Senate and the White House.
The rowdy reception Republicans received at town halls last month was a sample of the blowback they are getting from this, but let’s give them another taste—in cake form! Click here to thank John Boehner for finally being honest about the Republican plan to destroy Medicare.
Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers
Campaign Director, Daily Kos

As well each of their potential presidential candidates has imploded shortly after they announced their decision to run. Well at least two have, and one announced he won’t run. As they self-destruct or withdraw, and they are slowly eliminating the potential candidates, one person is quietly sitting on the sidelines watching the carnage: Sarah Palin, my personal choice for the destruction of the Republicans. There is a LONG WAY to go yet. But after the let down of last year I am beginning to become more optimistic.

As I write this, something has clicked which had not previously occurred to me. My best hope for the senate, in my wildest dreams, would be to pick up two extra states over and above a swing of 5% on the 2008 elections for the Democrats to get anything done. Those states would preferably be the difficult to obtain ones of Arizona and Texas. Both states have retiring senators, and given the path of self destruction that the Republicans are currently on, (and will hopefully continue on till November 2012) the Democrats will nab them. They would then attain 62 seats in the senate, giving them a gap of 4 votes, not two as I had been wrongly assuming. This may be enough to bypass any Blue Dog block and enable a flood of legislation to pass. Meanwhile back in the real world, Walter Mitty says tell im ya dreamin. I am not a praying man, but till November 2012 I will be facing Mecca an awful lot.  I think another sex scandal would be really nice. About 3 months out from the election and running right up to Election Day.

The unpopularity of certain state governors will also help the Democrats, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Florida, Maine and Ohio in particular. Massachusetts has a BIG party machine behind it so Scott Brown should be swept away with the Democrat tide. The Democrats have a big voter registration. Just paint him Republican. Lets hope we get two strong liberals in Connecticut & Massachusetts would REALLY help the Democrats. No Blue Dogs allowed. Tip for the Democrats: if you are lucky enough to get 62 in the senate pass 2 years of popular things with the voters to wipe them out in 2014. It’s called governing by popularism.  Copying Australia’s National Broadband Network would be a great start.
United States Senate elections, 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2012

911 replies on “Are The GOP Running Dead for 2012 or are they simply total goof-offs?”

Chris
If she has to go the south Australian premier gets to nominate a replacement, which under an unwritten gentlepersons agreement would be a Lieberal or Nat whoever they nominate.

This did not happen when Joh belching peanut nominated a rightwing nutter, albert Field, to the Senate, to replace a Qld Labor Senator, which then gave the balance of power to the lieberals and they consequently stopped supply and brought down the Whitlam Govt.

Gaffers – if you want to post I think you go via the editorial link on the home page (or ask megan seeing as Ecky is out of action). \

As to coincidental lhal coverups a certain Victorian liberal politian had an AVO against him during the last state election campaign and the court suppressed the media from reporting, and after the election (when this person retained their seat) the case was dismissed and the media was banned from making any referece to it.
Of course i can’t say who it is.
And of course I would never want to be seen to say that I thought there was an overly- cosy relationship between the local magistrates and the local politiicans 🙄
It stinks.

…the South Australian premier gets to nominate a replacement, which under an unwritten gentlepersons agreement would be a Lieberal or Nat whoever they nominate.

As you say, Fraser came to power by Joh (and I think another Premier before him) ignoring this convention.

And in an absolute admission of the grubbiness of it all, Section 15 of the Constitution was soon changed to prevent it happening again. F’n tories, (spit)!

So the SA Liberals will get to choose her replacement, if required.

Andy Coulson investigated for perjury while working at No 10.
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Sources say police will examine Coulson’s denial of any knowledge of phone hacking at Tommy Sheridan trial.
Andy Coulson, the prime minister’s former director of communications, is being investigated by police for allegedly committing perjury while working for David Cameron in Downing Street.

The development renews pressure on the prime minister over his judgment in hiring the former News of the World editor and represents the third criminal investigation Coulson faces, adding to allegations that he knew of phone hacking while in charge of the tabloid and authorised bribes to police officers.

Strathclyde detectives confirmed that they had opened a perjury inquiry centred on evidence Coulson gave in court last year that led to a man being jailed.

Coulson was a major witness in a trial involving Tommy Sheridan, the former MSP who was accused of lying in court when winning a libel action against the News of the World. Coulson had been the editor of the Sunday tabloid when it ran a story accusing Sheridan of being an adulterer who visited swingers’ clubs.

Sources say police will examine Coulson’s denial of any knowledge of phone hacking and payments to police officers at the Sheridan trial against the evidence held by the Scotland Yard investigation.

More here…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/22/andy-coulson-investigated-perjury-allegations

701 Thanks Gaffy. I was hoping their might be some technicality that gave the position to the next spot on the ticket. Never mind.

Looks like the seppos are getting fair dinkum with Roo and his myrmidons now that subpoenas are going to be issued.
I do recall one of the pommie pollies asking Jimmy if he was aware of the term “willful blindness”

FCPA experts have suggested that it could be brought under the auspices of the act because News of the World journalists bribed police officers in the UK in search of exclusive stories that in turn increased sales and generated profits.

It is not a defence for News Corp executives to argue that they were unaware of the bribery. Under the FCPA, a company can still be penalised if it should have known – what is called “willful blindness”.

News Corp could also come under the scrutiny of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is jointly responsible with the justice department for policing the FCPA.

The SEC will want to know whether News Corp properly declared all its activities in its accounts or whether it tried to hide any bribes made within the UK under false accounting returns.

It is not known precisely what information investigators are seeking from News Corp under the subpoenas, but it could include News of the World accounts which would then be examined by forensic accountants.

News Corp itself seems to be most anxious about the FCPA side of the federal investigations, judging from the legal team it has assembled – some of the heaviest hitters in American legal affairs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/22/phone-hacking-authorities-subpoena-news-corp

Looks like the moggie has vacated the hessian bag. :mrgreen:
So the plod have this email in the cache of documents in their possesion. That should be game, set and match. Jimmy and Roo you lose.
Jimmy will most definitely be soiling his diapers now. A meeting of three people and two of them don’t agree with his description of events.

Please let it be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajCYQL8ouqw

Many angry victims of the News of the World’s journalism used to try their hand at suing, and the paper’s battle-hardened lawyers were good at seeing them off. Still they regularly paid out £1.2m a year on a variety of libel claims.

But in May 2008, Tom Crone, the paper’s veteran head of legal, got a nasty shock. His opponents in one lawsuit against the paper suddenly appeared to have got hold of a smoking gun.

It was a piece of evidence that seemed to guarantee that the complainant in question, Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers’ Association, could virtually write his own cheque in privacy damages and blow a major hole in the tabloid’s budget.

Worse, much worse, was the fact that this single document, later christened the “For Neville” email, was capable of wrecking all the previous NoW efforts to cover up its hacking scandal. In the end, this piece of evidence would not only cost Crone his own job, but also help destroy the entire newspaper for which he worked, the flagship of Rupert Murdoch’s British fleet.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/22/for-neville-email-empire

The first chink in the wall?

BBC’s Newsnight has revealed what it calls “the first chink in the armour” of news groups beyond the Murdoch empire. The programme reported on what it claims was widespread use of phone hacking and private detectives at the Sunday Mirror.

The primary source for the story, who Newsnight says worked at the paper for a number of years, reports witnessing “routine phone hacking in the newsroom”.

The source recalls having seen Liz Hurley’s phone being hacked, and a reporter noting down her voicemails: “It was a Thursday and I was told there wasn’t much on there – just something about lunch with another woman so they would keep trying before the weekend.”

The two other sources for the report say that the paper used private detectives, as well as phone hacking. The primary source goes further, claiming those techniques were routine, and that they were being used at the news desk, and by designated reporters, virtually every day.

The source said: “One reporter, who was very good at it, was called ‘the Master of Dark Arts’. At one point in 2004, it seemed like it was the only way people were getting scoops. If they didn’t just randomly hack people in the news, they would use it to stand up stories that people had denied.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/23/phone-hacking-sunday-mirror-newsnight

Hacking was endemic at the ‘Mirror’, says former reporter.
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The phone-hacking story took a new and dramatic turn yesterday as a former journalist on the Daily Mirror claimed that the practice was “endemic” at the newspaper during his time there and that he would be willing to testify to investigating authorities.

James Hipwell, 45, told The Independent that hacking at the Daily Mirror was widespread and “seen as a bit of a wheeze”. He said he would give evidence to a public inquiry into hacking ordered by David Cameron and headed by Lord Justice Brian Leveson.

I’m excited! Aren’t you too Gaffy?

More here…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/hacking-was-endemic-at-the-mirror-says-former-reporter-2319039.html

Chris
I will be even more excited when they discover that Ltd Noos has been carrying out these activities here as well.

I see where Mr Hartigan is doing an internal investigation and will hand the results over to two retired judges.

It’s like the costing of the opposition policies by hogwarts before the last election, a complete scam.

He must think they have oz dumbed down enough to believe him.

That is exactly what NoW did in the UK. They did their own investigations and look what happened to the pack of liars.

These myrmidons in Oz won’t be any different, they will all be tarred by the Roobrush, that’s why they are still working for him.

They must be shitting themselves.

News International ‘bullied Liberal Democrats over BSkyB bid’.
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Party claims it was told it would be ‘done over’ by Murdoch papers if deal did not go through as company wanted.
Rupert Murdoch’s News International launched a campaign of bullying against senior Liberal Democrats in an attempt to force through the company’s bid for BSkyB, high-level sources have told the Observer.

Lib Dem insiders say NI officials took their lobbying campaign well beyond acceptable limits and even threatened, last autumn, to persecute the party if Vince Cable, the business secretary, did not advance its case.

According to one account from a senior party figure, a cabinet minister was told that, if the government did not do as NI wanted, the Lib Dems would be “done over” by the Murdoch papers, which included the now defunct News of the World as well as the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times.

The accounts are only now coming to light, say sources, because the minister involved feared the potential for damage to the party, which was already suffering a dramatic slide in popularity after going into coalition with the Tories. They chime with reports from senior figures in the Labour party who say that Murdoch executives issued threats to Ed Miliband’s office after the Labour leader turned on NI when the news broke that murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler’s phone had been hacked into by the News of the World.

More here…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/23/news-international-liberal-democrats-bskyb

gaffy @ 714

I’m not tooting News Ltd’s horn, just wanting a reality check. They won’t find phone hacking carried out by News Ltd in Australia because it doesn’t happen. And we know it doesn’t happen because we don’t read those kind of stories in their headlines. Simple as that. If hacking phones is a regular occurance in Australia – where are the stories? Let’s not go down into conspiracy theory craziness. If we want to complain about cheque book journalism and disclosing inapproriate personal details, Today Tonight and A Current Affair are the worst offenders here. The issue for News Limited in Australia must be the level of power it has in Australia by virtue of its ownership of various media interests here.

The question of whether there are unethical practices in News Ltd reporting won’t be resolved by any investigation into their corporate accounts. Come on – think about it people. One can say there is bias against the government and the Greens – but again – that’s not going to be investigated by a review of contributor payments. And if anyone here thinks they want regulation against bias – what will that mean for all the other players? The ABC is hammered enough already by right wingers for perceived bias. The problem of providing the other side of the story in an uncritical manner will just get worse (eg climate change deniers given air time).

The News Limited investigation headed up by former judges won’t be a cover up. It simply can’t and won’t focus on the issues that are raised around News Limited and media in Australia, which are different from what was happening at NotW.

No one has asked the obvious question about News Inernational. Is there a Princess Diana connection?

719 Katielou You are probably right there Katielou. Unfortunately. But with what is going on internationally. They maybe broken up out here and there power watered down. We can only hope. The bigger the scandal overseas. The more chance of a good breakup. In theory anyway.

The way News Limited’s power will and has been broken down in Australia is the gradual death of newspapers and the growing fragmentation of media, which brings increased competition for advertising and squeezed margins. They won’t be forced to sell anything off for a whole range of reasons.

Katielou

I have a slightly different opinion to you on this issue.

There are several issues which come to mind which leads me to believe that the MSM are not angels when it comes to gathering information by illegal methods.
I don’t for one minute claim the two judges will be in on it but they will only be able to comment on the information they are given.
ie; if there are 20000 emails, 15000 of which relate to hacking someone and 5000 emails which are straight day to day running of the show and they only give the judges the 5000 straight emails, then the Judges will most correctly say that on the information given to us there is no evidence of misbehaviour, and rightly so.
They can not comment on stuff they aren’t given and therein lies the problem of not having a proper open independent inquiry in to it.
To me it is patently obvious that MSM with the help of the JWH plants at the ABC have an agenda of regime change.
Their false analogies and misleading opinions presented in their media and newspapers, in their effort to overthrow a democratically elected government, is nothing short of treason as far as i am concerned.

Just a few of their efforts.

Melbourne Storm football club
Kevin Rudds telephone conversation with GWB.
Simon Overland, ex Chief of Victoria police

One that really sticks out like the proverbials is how did the Australian know that there was going to be a raid on suspected terrywrists in Melbourne and make it public before the raid took place.

I am also of the opinion that some of the so called leaks to the press , by their very nature, are from direct phone hacking.

Chris
There was an article/vidoe by that pommie journo that Hugh Grant set up, and he said wtte that they knew exactly where Diana was going, what bloke/lover she was meeting, where she was staying etc etc.
That is already well and truly been said.

IMHO Jimmy and Roo will be well and truly done over by the US, including the FCPA, and UK and i will not be surprised if they do time, aka Conrad Black as well as a few billion in fines.

They will be forced to break up their toxic empire and will lose their media licences in all parts of the world.

I also believe that Cameron will be forced to resign as the PM of the UK.

This thing has not even got into second gear yet and it is now too big for Roo to shut it down with all his money and bribes.

Lots and lots of water to flow under the bridge yet.

Kate, family likely hacker targets too.
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THE Duchess of Cambridge and her family may have been victims of the phone hacking scandal.

It is believed the Duchess, her family and staff in the royal household with close connections to senior members of the royal family have been targeted, and that the extent of the hacking was much more widespread than originally thought.

It came as the former wife of soccer star George Best said she believed the footballer’s death had been hastened by alleged hacking throughout the early part of the last decade.
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The initial investigation into phone hacking identified only five victims — Prince William, Prince Harry and three royal aides — who were targeted by the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and the News of the World’s royal editor, Clive Goodman.

Royal aides have confirmed that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have recently been approached by the police in connection with the latest investigation.

However, it is now believed that Mulcaire and Goodman also accessed the voicemails of many more royal officials and members of the royal family, together with a wide circle of their family and friends.

Earlier this month, Guy Pelly, a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, launched a civil case against the News of the World over allegations of phone hacking.

Not good to get on the wrong side of the Royal Family. Some right Royal pressure will come in handy as well.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/kate-family-likely-hacker-targets-too-20110724-1hvid.html#ixzz1T2FOrW7k

735
Paddy

The irony of that is that Toxic is criticising Julia for not adopting a bipartisan solution.

Does not matter that he was offered a seat on the committee and refused.

It is just a beat up of old crap to try to keep it on the boil.

737
Gaff
The really interesting thing about the article, is who leaked it? 👿
In other news.
Jules is currently releasing the details of the refugee policy with Malaysia.
Not a proud day for the country. 🙁

Rats in a sack. heh heh heh. I thought they came out of the woodwork.
I don’t like jimmys chances much now. He should start learning to love bergoo served cold.
Then they can start on Roo.

“It now seems to be everyone for themselves,” said Paul Farrelly, a Labour member of Parliament who has been a prominent critic of News International. “The edifice is cracking; they’re all fighting like rats in a sack.”…………………. A third, Jon Chapman, News International’s director of legal affairs until this month, said in a statement last week he was also preparing to cooperate fully with the Parliament investigation and wanted to correct “serious inaccuracies” in the evidence given by Mr. Murdoch to lawmakers. Mr. Murdoch issued a statement insisting he stood by his remarks.

Mr. Murdoch could also face a challenge from another source, according to several lawyers and executives with knowledge of the proceedings. The source is an outside attorney who was also privy to discussions surrounding a confidential settlement to a phone hacking victim in 2008, which Mr. Murdoch approved, according to several lawyers with knowledge of the proceedings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/world/europe/25hacking.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

That’s three top legal eagles and Mr Myler who will be severely dumping bucket loads on little jimmy.
with no doubt more to line up.

That was the biggest mistake little jimmy made, trying to lay the blame at the feet of some hard nosed legal beavers.

Oh the pain jimmy.

Phone-hacking scandal – live coverage
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Latest as pressure grows on James Murdoch in run-up to BSkyB board meeting and David Cameron says scandal has shaken confidence in Britain ‘to the core’
The culture select committee is due to meet on Friday to discuss how to respond to the apparent conflict of evidence between James Murdoch and Colin Myler, the former News of the World editor, and Tom Crone, News International’s legal manager.

Murdoch told the select committee on Tuesday that when he approved a big payout to Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, he did not know phone hacking at the News of the World went beyond one “rogue” reporter. But Myler and Crone released a statement saying they informed Murdoch of an email – known as the “for Neville” email – suggesting the practice went further.

Committee members are hoping to write to Myler and Crone. They will also write to Harbottle and Lewis, the solicitors who reviewed emails from Andy Coulson and five other News of the World staff members in 2007 before deciding there was no “reasonable evidence” that phone hacking went beyond royal correspondent Clive Goodman or that senior editors were aware of Goodman’s hacking. They may also ask for evidence from Jon Chapman, News International’s former director of legal affairs. Chapman has said he wants to correct “serious inaccuracies” in James Murdoch’s evidence.

No shit Sherlock. There were inaccuracies in James Murdoch’s statements? Wow! I’m surprised.

More here…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/25/phone-hacking-scandal-live-coverage

Rupert has his own protective streak when it comes to his family, and has gone to great lengths to make them central to the News Corporation’s success structure. But what his sons and daughters could soon find out is that if Mr. Murdoch is forced to choose between the family and the company he has built, he will choose the News Corporation.

“Rupert may end up having to make a choice between his son and the company, which is fairly biblical,” said a friend of the family who works in the media business and who declined to be identified when speaking about private family matters.

James Murdoch is done. He and his father both know that. His testimony curdled as he emitted it, and within two days a couple of former News Corporation executives publicly challenged it. The hooks are still in him, as Prime Minister David Cameron made clear when he said James still had “questions to answer.” And so he will, gradually sinking further into the mess he has overseen……………..
…………………Mr. Murdoch is suddenly, deeply mortal. And the questions that I am asking will be asked by others as well. It’s not just James who is done. Rupert Murdoch, as we have long known him, is done as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/business/media/scandal-splinters-the-murdoch-family-business.html?pagewanted=1&hp

Vatican Recalls Ireland Envoy Amid Abuse Uproar.
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VATICAN CITY — Chafing under extraordinary criticism, the Vatican made the rare move of recalling its ambassador to Ireland on Monday following accusations that the Holy See sabotaged efforts by Catholic bishops to report clerical sex abuse cases to police.

A Vatican spokesman said Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza was recalled to help prepare an official response to Irish complaints, but that the decision “does not exclude some degree of surprise and disappointment at certain excessive reactions.”

The spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, acknowledged the recall of an ambassador was a measure rarely used by the Holy See, underlining “the seriousness of the situation.”

Irish politicians attacking the Vatican.

More here….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/vatican-recalls-ireland-envoy_n_908462.html

Gaffers – how proud must Johnny be….

Mr Breivik apparently writes of Mr Howard: ”Luckily, not all Christian leaders are appeasers of Islam. One of the intelligent ones comes from Australia, a country that has been fairly resistant to Political Correctness. They have taken serious steps towards actually enforcing their own borders, despite the predictable outcries from various NGOs and anti-racists, and Prime Minister John Howard has repeatedly proven to be one of the most sensible leaders in the Western world.”

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/australian-leaders-mentioned-in-manifesto-20110726-1hxhd.html#ixzz1TAVFDxoi

‘A DANGEROUS GAME’ Obama On Debt Crisis: ‘No Way To Run The Greatest Country On Earth’.
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Decrying a “partisan three-ring circus” in the nation’s capital, President Barack Obama criticized a newly minted Republican plan to avert an unprecedented government default Monday night and said congressional leaders must produce a compromise that can reach his desk before the Aug. 2 deadline.

“The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government,” the president said in a hastily arranged prime-time speech. He appealed to the public to contact lawmakers and demand “a balanced approach” to reducing federal deficits.

“It is a dangerous game we’ve never played before,” Obama said, “and we can’t afford to play it now.”

Obama stepped to the microphones a few hours after first Republicans, then Democrats drafted rival fallback legislation Monday to avert a potentially devastating government default in little more than a week.

Video and more here…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/obama-debt-ceiling-address-nation_n_909212.html

Come on down Johnny you little grub.

Former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor: David Hicks’ War Crimes Charge Was a “Favor” for Australia

Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor of military commissions at Guantanamo, recalled during a recent interview at his office in Washington, DC, how he was pressured into indicting Hicks for war crimes not long after the Military Commissions Act was signed into law by Bush in October 2006. (Truthout will publish a lengthy story based on our interview with Davis, a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s handling of Bush-era torture, in the weeks ahead.)

Davis said he believed that Hicks, who attended training camps in Afghanistan and was sold to US forces by the Northern Alliance for a $1,500 bounty in November 2001, should not have been prosecuted for war crimes. He described the former horse trainer as a “knucklehead … a little guy with not a lot of education who wanted to be a big shot and went off on this adventure to Jihad.”

http://www.truth-out.org/former-guantanamo-chief-prosecutor-david-hicks-war-crimes-charge-was-favor-australia/1311603758

Recording Of Piers Morgan Admitting Knowledge Of Phone Hacking Exists: Blogger Guido Fawkes.
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The British blogger who has led the way in alleging that CNN’s Piers Morgan was complicit in phone hacking while a tabloid editor is now claiming that he has a recording to prove it.

Morgan has become a top target in the phone hacking scandal, with multiple reports accusing him of having knowledge of hacking while he was editor of the Daily Mirror from 1995 to 2004. A former Mirror journalist, James Hipwell, told a British newspaper that the practice was “endemic” and that it was “inconceivable” that Morgan did not know about it.

More here…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/26/piers-morgan-phone-hacking-recording_n_910124.html

Pressure mounts for broad media inquiry.
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LABOR backbenchers are beginning to press for a wide-ranging inquiry in the wake of the UK phone hacking scandal, joining the Greens and lower house independents in arguing the case for an Australian probe.

Victoria’s Steve Gibbons told The Age yesterday a new Australian media inquiry was necessary – declaring some publications were pursuing ”vendettas of hate”. ”People will tolerate right-wing bias in newspapers … but when right-wing bias turns to vendettas of hate, that’s when we need to have a look at it,” Mr Gibbons said.

New South Wales Labor backbencher John Murphy told The Age that dominance by News Limited was an issue. ”Seventy per cent holding in our major daily newspapers is too much for one media company, particularly with the other electronic media interests which Murdoch holds and which only serves to reinforce the messages in his papers,” Mr Murphy said.
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”Our democracy is at stake if we allow further concentration of media ownership,” he said.

More here…
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/pressure-mounts-for-broad-media-inquiry-20110726-1hym7.html#ixzz1TGwDVsJ8

This kind of garbage lends itself to reasons why we need an inquiry in to australian media.
Downer should be hauled up and so should TUT.

Two years earlier, in the lead up to the Iraq war, the Howard government tried to discredit former Office of National Assessments (ONA) analyst and current MP Andrew Wilkie. He’d gone public about the lack of a genuine, intelligence-based justification for the conflict. First the head of ONA issued a statement suggesting Wilkie had no expert knowledge on Iraq. When that didn’t work, the attempts became more vindictive. A campaign of whispers suggested that Andrew Wilkie was unstable due to his marriage breakdown and therefore should not be heeded.

Finally in 2003, when Wilkie was making waves internationally, someone was willing to break the law to destroy a lone dissident who publicly disagreed with government policy; classified information was leaked to Andrew Bolt.

At the time, Labor demanded parliament be suspended so Downer could explain how top secret documents which had passed through his office were given to a journalist. On those grounds alone, Andrew Bolt would be an easy target for any review.

But what of the leakers, the criminals who passed the top secret documents on to Bolt? And why have the vicious whisperers been allowed to escape scot-free? Don’t we deserve answers to these questions?

http://newmatilda.com/2011/07/27/how-john-martinkus-became-jihad-john

Fair go Jen not Mordor.

Meanwhile the stuff just chugs along.

It surely will be interesting as the history according to Mr Crone at Mordormedia.

His name could also be pronounced as Crony, could it not?

Especially after 25 years at the wheel.

Tom Crone had insight into how the dirt was dug—and defended—at the News of the World, the now-closed tabloid at the center of the U.K. phone-hacking scandal.

Now he may be on a collision course with James Murdoch, the deputy chief operating officer of News Corp.

Mr. Crone, who was the top lawyer at the tabloid, joined forces last week with its former editor, Colin Myler, to challenge the testimony Mr. Murdoch gave at a parliamentary committee hearing two days earlier.

The two men said that in 2008 they had informed Mr. Murdoch—who was then overseeing News Corp.’s European and Asian operations—of a key 2005 email that suggests that interceptions of voice mails at the paper went beyond a single reporter and a private investigator.

Mr. Murdoch, who is News Corp.’s deputy chief operating officer, said last week he first saw evidence of that in late 2010.

Mr. Crone served for more than 25 years as a lawyer for the News of the World and its sister paper the Sun, earning a reputation as a shrewd hand in defending the racy British tabloids.

As the paper’s in-house lawyer, he met with the News of the World editor on close to a daily basis, regularly attended editorial meetings and would typically read controversial stories before they ran, a person familiar with the matter said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576472302716217550.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Murdoch pressure rises on Britian’s Chancellor.
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PRESSURE is mounting on Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, as details of his extensive meetings with the Murdoch family and their newspaper executives were released.

Mr Osborne has met senior News Corporation executives including chairman Rupert Murdoch and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks on 16 occasions for talks and social events since taking office in May 2010.

The meetings form part of an apparent determined effort by the company to forge personal contacts with key ministers during its aborted bid to take over satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Prime Minister David Cameron has already confirmed that he met News Corp executives 26 times since taking office.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/murdoch-pressure-rises-on-britians-chancellor-20110727-1i06y.html#ixzz1TMQYBeYc

I guess it was only a matter of time before questions were going to be asked about what and when the insider and outsider legal eagles knew about Roos dirty little plots.

This inquiry will likely focus on the following issues: Did the lawyers representing the corporations know about widespread phone hacking and payoffs to the police? If they did know, did they disclose this information to the Murdochs? If they did, then the Murdochs were not being truthful with Parliament. If they did not reveal to the Murdochs the extent of the criminality, what exactly did they tell the Murdochs? Here are some recent disclosures that raise many questions:

The law firm representing the tabloid The News of the World (one its clients is the Queen of England) learned about a critical email in 2007 describing illegal payments to the police, but apparently kept that information secret for several years. Did they disclose this to the Murdochs? Confidentiality privileges ordinarily do not apply if lawyers are involved in perpetrating crimes or frauds (Rule 1.6(a)(2) of Model Rules of Professional Responsibility).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bennett-l-gershman/are-the-murdoch-lawyers-a_b_908098.html

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Rebekah……..
Along comes this tale from the gutter.

News of the World targeted phone of Sarah Payne’s mother
Evidence found in private detective’s notes believed to relate to phone which Rebekah Brooks gave to Sara Payne as gift

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/28/phone-hack ing-sarah-payne

Oh yes! If the sarah Payne story is true. The things just got a whole lot worse for Rebekah!!
Try this snippet from her farewell statement at the close of the NotW

I hope that you all realise it is inconceivable that I knew or worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations.

I am proud of the many successful newspaper campaigns at the Sun and the News of the World under my editorship.

In particular, the ten year fight for Sarah’s Law is especially personal to me.

The battle for better protection of children from paedophiles and better rights for the families and the victims of these crimes defined my editorships.

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=47417

Paddy

That is comedy gold.

Brooks gave Sara Payne the phone to fight the good fight, then gave Mulcaire the information about the phone, all the while having nothing on her plate.

HaHaHaHa.

Money is obviously no problem for Roo.

News Corporation is certainly counting the cost of Wapping’s phone hacking scandal. Top lawyers don’t come cheap.

According to The Lawyer magazine, the barrister hired by the media company for his legal advice, Lord Grabiner QC, commands fees of £3,000 an hour.

He has been drafted in as an independent chair of the management and standards committee (MSC), the internal inquiry team set up by News Corp.

He will determine the group’s response to the scandal at the now-defunct News of the World that has engulfed the company’s UK division, News International.

The Lawyer quotes a source as saying: “It shows just how seriously [News International] is taking this. Grabiner pulls no punches. He’ll be very thorough. It’s worth spending the money on someone like that.”

Widely perceived to be one of the country’s top silks, Tony Grabiner is among a ­shrinking number of elite barristers who can command such weighty fees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade

Hope this bloke is 100% correct.

James Murdoch on Thursday was reported to have won the unanimous support of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC directors to remain as chairman, but Wolff forecast a more sour outcome for the Murdoch heir in respect to News Corporation.

“I think this is an end game for the Murdoch family’s relationship with News Corporation,” Wolff said of the hacking scandal.

“I think that within the relatively short term – 60 days, 90 days – we’ll see it played out.

“I think Rupert, everybody has pretended he is the man who will live forever within the company, his board, everybody has seen this is not true, he’s an 80-year-old man.

“He is somebody who has to be pushed into, helped into retirement.

“I think we will see the separation of the Murdochs from this company, I think we will see the separation of the newspapers – the toxic element – from this company, and that’s the minimal, the least disruptive thing that will be necessary for this company to go on.”

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/murdoch-news-empire-will-fall-biographer-20110729-1i34k.html

780
Gaffy, While we’ll have to wait till the UK parliament sits again on Sep 5
I’m positively salivating over the next house committee session.
Esp when Tom Collins starts asking James Murdock about those smoking emails. 👿
Somehow, I suspect the “unanimous” support might evaporate quicker than you could say…..”Misleading parliament”. 😆

Head of Britain’s press watchdog to step down.
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The head of Britain’s Press Complaints Commission says she is leaving the job, after facing criticism over the regulator’s role in the phone-hacking scandal.

“Baroness [Peta] Buscombe’s three-year term of office comes to an end in the New Year. She has announced today her decision not to continue beyond that term to allow ample time for her successor to be found,” the PCC said.

The commission manages complaints against the British press as part of a system of self-regulation. It is an independent body, but it is funded by the newspaper and magazine industry.

It has come under fire for failing to address the hacking crisis at the News of the World, which has embroiled in recent weeks other newspapers, the police and even prime minister David Cameron.

But Ms Buscombe, a 57-year-old former barrister and member of parliament’s upper House of Lords for Mr Cameron’s governing Conservative Party, has faced particular criticism.

In November 2009, she faced calls to quit after she questioned evidence given by a lawyer to members of parliament over hacking allegations.

More here…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-29/head-of-uk-press-watchdog-to-step-down/2817026

James Murdoch likely to be recalled to face culture committee.
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3.51pm: The Liberal Democrats are calling for James Murdoch to consider his position. In a statement, the Lib Dems also call for the Press Complaints Commission to be replaced by “a bold regulator that editors can’t ignore”.

Lib Dem MP Don Foster said the PCC had “clearly failed” and welcomed Lady Buscombe’s resignation.

Several people involved in the phone-hacking scandal have already paid for their mistakes, with one notable exception. James Murdoch should now be considering his position. Peta Buscombe joins a list that should grow longer yet.

More here….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/29/phone-hacking-scandal-live-coverage

Hi Ticsters,

Have now deleted the spam that slipped through the filter and as a result the numbering may have changed somewhat.

As for Murdoch’s insidious reach, the Guardian is asking the necessary questions and , as usual, what isn’t said is all the more telling :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/27/andy-coulson-guardian-questions

Democracy uncomfortably close to covertly sliding into plutocracy/oligarcy.

Back in the real world, sunrise is glorious this morning so off for a walk which has it’s own dangers, as the ‘Duracell abbitt ‘ frequents the same patch of coast . 🙁

That’s a well done Megan and three Koala stamps; :mrgreen:

There are quite a number of good questions in your link to the Guardian that Mr Cameron and his acolytes refuse to answer.
I just have the feeling that the circumstances around Mr Coulson may well be the undoing of Mr Cameron.

They always seem to not understand that the more they refuse/deny to answer questions the more joe public becomes restless and cynical.

It always gives you the impression there is something to hide.

Maybe you should carry a baseball bat disguised as a walking stick on your morning walks. 😉

790 paddy. I hope he doesn’t fly anywhere in a light plane or have heart problems. Then there is that suicide thing.

There’s a good boy, you tell em what really happened.
Yet another gorged up tick falls off the dog. :mrgreen:

Jonathan Chapman, the former head of corporate and legal affairs at News International, claimed that there were “serious inaccuracies” in statements made to the Commons’ culture, media and sport select committee by Mr Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks, the company’s former chief executive.

In a letter to MPs, Mr Chapman said he was “willing fully to co-operate with the select committee in its investigations in order to ensure that the truth is established”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8672045/Phone-hacking-MPs-ready-to-recall-James-Murdoch.html

Review threatens to destroy ‘Melbourne’s lungs’.
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MELBOURNE’S green wedges face their biggest challenge in almost 35 years, with the Baillieu government opening the way for potential development, a move that would reject the vision of a Liberal statesman.

Planning Minister Matthew Guy yesterday confirmed he is set to write to councils across the city, inviting them to submit wish lists of changes in their green wedge areas.

He would not rule out more commercial and residential development in the corridors dubbed ”Melbourne’s lungs” by their champion, former Liberal premier Sir Rupert Hamer.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/review-threatens-to-destroy-melbournes-lungs-20110729-1i4f3.html#ixzz1Tb0Q1lWt

What a lovely smackdown for the member for WARingah.

The pommie TORY PM has personally congratulated Julia Gillard for the carbon pricing. HaHaHa.

BRITAIN’S Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, has personally congratulated Julia Gillard on her carbon tax policy in a letter penned from the desk of 10 Downing Street.

In a clear embarrassment to the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and his Coalition – who have vehemently opposed any price on carbon – Mr Cameron described the federal Labor government’s move on climate change as “bold” and “ambitious”.

Mr Cameron said he was convinced climate change was one of the “most pressing threats to [a nation’s] prosperity and security”.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/dear-julia-you-have-it-right-on-your-carbon-tax-20110730-1i5cc.html#ixzz1Td6W57GT

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