hacked, skewered, and screwed by News of the World
Remember the eruption of BBC-bashing that took place a few years ago. It had to do with a story about doctored intelligence reports on Iraq. It led to the suicide of a senior public servant. The Labour Government struck a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of it. A few big names at the BBC fell upon their swords. Upper lips were further stiffened. A public institution made to bend to the government’s will. The exercise served the government well, while making Brit journalism a little less free than before.
Any bets, though, that there won’t be nearly the same amount of moralizing this time because it isn’t the BBC this time. It isn’t broadcasting. Nope, it’s a bloody newspaper. Worse, it’s a Murdoch bloody newspaper at the centre of this scandal in the Guardian Newspaper (UK), which is running healdines like these:
The series is a doozie. Thousands of people targeted by private investigators hired by Murdoch’s News of the World newspaper to hack into cell phone accounts, tax records, social security information, health records and a lot more belonging to thousands of people from sports figures to actors, politicians to writers. And – yes – that’s Gwyneth Paltrow in the picture at right.
First of 20 pictures down memory lane
I took electronics shortly after capacitors as big as small houses had become old hat, vacuum tubes were phasing out in favour of transistors and integrated circuit (IC) boards, and computers were about to make the jump to the desktop. It’s good every now and then to look back at where we came from, thanks to TIME Magazine, if only to wonder what’s next – and to remind me why I love my Mac.
Few others notice and then publicize
the Dr. is in
This is a tale of two publications. Which to believe or trust? Which to keep or kill? It’s time for you to make your choice, press the appropriate button, and send one to a swift but painful death. Our candidates today?
- the National Post, a Canadian daily newspaper and and example of it’s on-going war-against-the-Indian campaign.
- the Lancet, a medical journal based in the United Kingdom.
Not a bad story in The Christian Science Monitor on the subjects above. A quote from Alexandre Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Prize speech drew me to it.
“Art serves to battle lies and preserve the moral history of a society without the transitory and debasing rhetoric of bureaucrats.”
Have a safe Fourth of July, y’all.
I’ve been out of the country for a week, download news feeds, and two stories grab my attention:
- Air Canada allows pets on board its flights.
- Air Canada boots a man off a flight; a man the Supreme Court of Canada freed from prison, arrested by CSIS on suspicion of terrorism with absolutely no evidence to back up that charge.
Very strange country, this Canada.
I’ve been driving around lately to get to know my family a bit better. After years of traveling for work, I’ve come home for the first time in a long time. I begin by calling on my aunties, who have tied our family together through good times and bad. They’ve dropped in and out of our lives due to marriages, births, deaths, driving distances, grudges, slights of theirs or ours. But we’re always family. That’s what this bit is about. For more…
“This is not an excuse to come out on a Saturday night and have a brawl . . . We’re a responsible group. We’re here to help the situation, not make it worse.”
Yes, it is. No you’re not. And yes, it will.
Is that the right to offend for fun and profit?
I cherish my right to have ideas, especially dangerous or unpopular ones. I constantly fight to keep my right to express those ideas, even if no one is listening or reading. As a writer and former journalist, I find most of my material comes from instances where people have been wronged or victimized, powerless to protect themselves, have few options to do anything about it afterward. In fact, as a journalist feeding the daily beast, most of my stories were about the powerless and voiceless. Here are a few examples. For more…
There are five candidates confirmed, set to run against each other and eventually replace Phil Fontaine at the Assembly of First Nations. Two are considered front runners, possible or likely to win. Two others are considered never-minds; not even also-rans. And one is a bit of a dark horse with a slim chance of moving up to serious contender. Their names are here, and you can decide for yourselves who fits my three categories.
Clue? Which candidates does Indian Affairs consider the least offensive. That, sadly, is one of the prerequisites for the job, and the band council chiefs with an AFN vote know it. Don’t believe me? Remember how quickly Ovide and Matthew found themselves on the government’s shit list, leading to cuts to programs, which precipitated grumbles within the ranks. It’s called a pattern of behaviour, behavioural conditioning, and some other much less polite terms that I can think of.
