Rupert watch - Apocalypse when?
By Michael Collins
Rupert Murdoch is in big trouble. It is not a perfect storm but we're getting there.
British attorney Mark Lewis is in New York to take legal action in behalf of clients who may have had their phones hacked in the United States.
More significantly, News Corp withdrew its bid to buy the remaining 61% of BSkyB, the highly profitable British cable TV franchise (£1.1 billion 2011, News Corp owns 39% now). (Murdoch images: left, right)
Last week, James Murdoch stepped down as chairman of BSkyB after surviving a challenge to his position just weeks ago.
PermalinkSome questions about the Obama - Cameron meeting
By Michael Collins
What a lovely photo of the two well-heeled leaders of the free world. Previously, it was the American cowboy president and the supposedly left leaning Prime Minister Tony Blair. That buddy act helped drag United States into the worst foreign policy disaster in its history. (Image full size)
This working partnership between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron portends less immediate damage than the Bush-Blair team. Nevertheless, there will be blood
Is there anything other than disaster awaiting the US and Great Britain in Afghanistan?
The response to the murder of sixteen Afghan civilians on March 12th has been disastrous for the United States with retaliatory attacks ongoing. Even before that, March 8 was a Deadly day for the Brits in Afghanistan with six soldiers killed in a bombing of an armored vehicle. General David Allen, in charge of the Afghanistan effort, lamented that this is the type of incident that could threaten the entire effort.
How will the U.S.-British enterprise recover from the latest in a series of insults to the Afghan people?
The people of the U.S. and Great Britain get the message. In a recent poll, 61% of citizens want U.S. troops home immediately. Only 19% oppose that decisive action. In Great Britain, 75% oppose the Afghan war effort.
Running Rupert to Ground – Vox Populi, Vox Dei
By Michael Collins
How will they get rid of Rupert Murdoch and his toxic enterprises?
July 4, 2011 may turn into the people's Independence Day. On that day, stellar journalist Nick Davies of the Guardian released his story; Missing Milly Dowler's voicemail was hacked by News of the World. Twelve year old Milly Dowler had been kidnapped with foul play feared. The Murdoch tabloid couldn't resist. News of the World (the News) hired a private detective to hack Milly's voicemail. Finding the mail box full, the News or its hired dick deleted existing messages to make room for new ones, all to fuel their ongoing coverage. The deleted messages raised hopes by Milly's parents that she was still alive and using her voicemail. (Image)
The Davies story elicited a reaction of near universal shock, outrage, and revulsion. Milly had already been murdered by the time the Murdoch paper began its illegal tapping.
The public revulsion resulted in immediate and fervent popular demands for justice. Those demands were compounded by follow-up stories on other Murdoch media hacking. As it turned out, the News also broke into the voicemails of war widows to capture their most intimate exchanges on the loss of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. All in all, at least 4,000 citizens had their voicemails hacked to boost the Murdoch publication's circulation and profits.
British Election Leaders' Debate - The Grand Betrayal
After cleverly branding the Liberal Democrats as something different, an alternative to the old parties, Clegg surged in popularity after the first debate. Brought down to earth after the second appearance and greater scrutiny, Clegg then revealed his true colors.
Proposing an alignment with the party of Margaret Thatcher and her latest political heir is a betrayal of the image that Clegg advanced from the start of his campaign.
British Elections: The Leaders' Debate - Foreign Affairs
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the effort was necessary to break the "chain of terror that links these terrorists to actions in the United Kingdom." "To keep the streets safe in Britain," he argued, "we have to take on al Qaeda wherever it is." Conservative Cameron argued more of the same. Did Richard Holbrooke write this dialog?.
As the United States General in charge of Afghanistan laments the death of too many innocents, these three are cheer leading for more war. I wonder if any of them read that news and, if so, what effect did it have on them?
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