Ancilliary staff are not directly employed by News International and are subcontracted, fortunately their jobs should not be affected.
Pretty much. And if this country accepts being pwned by that organisation then I don't know what to do. The last few days have been intellectually crucifying.
To say that this whole affair is patronizing the ignorant is surely the understatement of the century so far. It is disgusting. Worse still; it is entirely predictable…
I'm confident that the name change won't get News International out of the mire, people aren't that stupid that they will buy into the same repackaged product. Hopefully Rebekah Brooks will also be held accountable for what happened, even Murdoch will not piss against the wind on that I'm sure.
I fear that the corruption and barren morals may have infested themselves too far up the 'elite' that there will be either minimum or empty repercussion for these assholes. The phrase "who watches the watchmen?" springs to mind because if the people at the very top of society are ****ers who need to be shot in the head, who is there to do it? I call for an uprising . I think it was in Plato's Republic where he proposes a 'noble lie' told by the 'elite' to maintain social harmony, well they are going to have to come up with a real humdinger to convince the proletariat that scum like Murdoch deserve all their power, wealth and freedom to do whatever the **** they want without fear of any consequences, but then again what can we even do about it? Well maybe Cameron will just do the strong and right thing and throw them all in the slammer, but alas I do not see that happening. <Rottentothecore>
Irritatingly, NotW is driving the agenda today and deciding what the headline is. The headlines should continue to focus on the "egregious behaviour" of its staff, with news of its closure reduced to a by-line. Instead Murdoch has successfully stolen the limelight in all the media outlets I can stomach looking at.
I fear, there will not be any justice, if the Metropolitan police have taken brown envelopes, of which there is indication that they have, then who is going to police the police ! Unless Cameron exhibits some ball's and enforces the law somehow, just how can these bloody people be accessed and brought to book. It appears that the Murdoch Clan are in the belief they have not broken the law.
There are a couple of headlines along the lines of "Murdoch sacrifices NotW to save one woman." Does the setup at the top of his empire remind anyone else of the film The Devil's Advocate? No? Just me then... The Murdochs might be oblivious to their legal position but here's a section of Andreas Whittam Smith's observation in yesterday's Independent: Coulson has allegedly presented himself at a police station for questioning. Cameron is due to give a press conference later (surely to announce the initiation of the first public inquiry). EDIT: Apparently he's going to officially announce a delay in the approval of Murdoch's takeover of BSkyB - presumably until its share price has fallen low enough for Murdoch to make a killing. Here's Max Mosley's Independent Voice 5x15 talk on free speech: [video=youtube;JExMlQmIK7c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JExMlQmIK7c[/video]
Just, listening to Cameron, maybe he has some ball's after all, he's calling for a full judicial enquiry, we will see. Why, oh why, do I still have difficulty believing this man. Camerons judgement on the employment of Andy Coulson as a close advisor is seriously flawed, just why did he employ the guy despite considerable weighty evidence that the man was untrustworthy and had acted in a criminal manner.
I don't know. It should be because it looks quite clear but I'm sure the law will be well and truly muddied if and when it comes court. Cameron's done a U-turn since his stance at PMQs on Wednesday and announced two inquiries - one judge-led (as demanded by the opposition) to examine the scandal and a second to look at the broader issue of practices in the press. A good move I think and hopefully the truth will out. He has given a definite timeline - 'now' might mean tomorrow or after the summer recess. Well, his "determination to get this sorted out," his "champing at the bit," is completely at odds with what he said in HoC on Wednesday. Maybe that's why.
Cameron's flailing. His constant refrain is "second chance" and "resigned all over again." He also keeps trying to deflect criticism by bringing up the sexed-up WMD document and just dragged up Ecclestone's £1m donation to Blair. I thought his speech was okay. His answers to the press questions have been really poor. He wants this covered up as quickly as possible.
Genji, maybe Cameron is a lying bastard just like the rest of them, skirting around question's and not giving specific answers, like, did you know phones were being hacked to obtain information for NOTW stories ? or did you know policemen were paid for telephone number of victims of 7th July to obtain information for NOTW stories ? two very obvious basic questions to you and me.
The Guardian warned Cameron's office that Coulson was closer to the whole affair than he publicly admitted. Cameron apparently hadn't been told but he promised to go away and follow it up. So, yeah - I think you're right. Lying bastard. He repeatedly said he'd received firm assurances from Coulson that he was clean. He was asked what specific questions he'd asked Coulson to satisfy himself and he refused to say. So, yeah - lying bastard. He said he was champing at the bit to get to the bottom of what actually happened, but two days ago wanted to wait until after the police investigation is completed in months or years. So, yeah - lying bastard. There's another factor in all this. Having sold out all of their principles for a referendum on electoral reform, the Lib Dems have stopped being the Lib Dems. They were dead in the water last week - a husk of a party with no credibility or, indeed, policies. They could put themselves back in the game if they play this right. Coulson has been arrested 'by appointment'.
Genji: The big problem with all this is, can you name an MP, party leader, in fact anyone in government who categorically is NOT a Lying bastard. As for the Lib Dems, more like Dead Ducks, not really got the policies or the clout have they.
John Bercow? I don't think any politicians are more trustworthy than others (although I think some have more integrity - Tom Watson for example) but at the moment Cameron's in charge. Coulson's appointment at Arrests 'R' Us was 10:30 this morning. Cameron's press conference was at 9:30. Coincidence?
2 out of 650 is good going Genji, and yes what a coincidence, all the indicators show the SkyB thing is still going ahead.
Which is what's at the bottom of this. Cameron had to give the Lib Dems a referendum in exchange for their support to put him into No. 10. It looks like he has a similar agreement with Murdoch: in return for NI support in the period leading up to the election he had to agree to give him BSkyB. That's why it's been handled by Jeremy Hunt instead of independently by the Competition Commission.
