Christopher Jefferies gets justice from the tabloids

Christopher Jefferies

The landlord of landscape architect Jo Yeates, who was murdered around Christmas time last year, has accepted "substantial damages" from eight newspapers over libel claims. They wrote unsubstantiated nonsense about him. The usual made up stuff when they take against a person or decide they know who did something or other.

Anyway, he's had the courage to take on the tabloids. He's got substantial damages and an apology. For those traduced each day and who cannot afford the luxury of a court case, we need something a bit better. Baroness Buscombe has decamped from the Press Complaints Commission. Hopeless apparently. Free speech is one thing. So is properly researched opinion. But innuendo and lies, well, that's completely different.

Mr.Jefferies is suing the police for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. That should be an interesting matter. If he wins it might stop some policemen judging by appearances.

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Louise Mensch MP probably took drugs - so what!

Louise Mensch MP

There is a hubble and bubble about Louise Mensch MP and whether she took drugs when she was working for record company EMI. Some journalists have a photo of her doing so (it is alleged). The MP says she "probably did" take drugs. She has also made public her reply to the journalists, which stated, "Although I do not remember the specific incident, this sounds highly probable... since I was in my twenties, I'm sure it was not the only incident of the kind; we all do idiotic things when young." I say so what. That was then and now is now. If every youthful indiscretion was held against us only the lillywhite sanctimonious souls of this world would be in charge of things. And would that be awful?

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Nick Griffin re-elected leader of BNP

"I'm the King of the BNP Castle!"

The BNP has had a leadership contest. Nick Griffin MEP beat Andrew Brons MEP by 9 votes! Griffin will take this as a win in some understanding of Winston Churchill's "one is enough" view of electoral politics. I'd say the BNP is split down the middle. Also the total number voting was only 2,316. Not a vast army of radical rightists aiming to change the face of British politics.

Griffin says the "time for division and disruption is over" and urges members of his party to "go forward together". If any organisation wants to progress successfully that is a prerequisite. A house divided must surely fall. However, I'm not enamoured with the foundations or the masonry of the BNP's house. It will crumble rather than remain as an antiquity.

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Hillary Clinton thinks a debt deal is a done deal

Hillary Clinton may think raising the borrowing limit on US federal spending is a good thing, but where does she actually think the limit should be. Twice what it is now? Six times? Twenty times, maybe? The US government writes 80 million cheques a month (or is it a week?) as if this is normal practice. It's not taxpayers' money, it's not bank money. It's computer generated funny money. The system is not changing. Wars are still costing billions. Social security is costing billions. Federal spending is just a way to keep communities sweet. I remember Newt Gingrinch piling in the cash to enable Marietta folk to keep living the life of Reilly.

The BBC says on its website -

"The federal government is running a large budget deficit - equal to $1.3tn, or more than $4,000 per person, during the 12 months to June this year. The borrowing is required to meet the government's agreed spending plans and because its ability to raise taxes is limited under current laws. But the government must also comply with a law that limits the total amount of debt it can take on - the debt ceiling."

So the easy answer is to raise the debt ceiling. But how far. Just above the level of the Empire State Building? Or to the thinner levels of the atmosphere? I can't see any change on the horizon. The American economy is driving at 55mph to oblivion. They might save a bit of gas on the way, but the road is as straight as a Roman might know it. The only hope is that some bright sparks get to change things on the way.

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Only one bomber but plenty of hatred in many minds

Anders Behring Breivik

There was a discussion this morning on the Today programme. Academics discussing Islamaphobia vis-a-vis the Norwegian bomber. The general idea is that Anders Behring Breivik, aka "Mr Breivik" on the BBC website, is a loner on one side of a barbarian fence with quite a large group of sympathisers on the other side. The hope is that they leave the loner on his own.

I hear quite a lot of nasty things said about Muslims. In fact since 9/11 such things have been acceptable in the highest quarters by some people. Of course, they wouldn't dream of setting off a bomb or killing droves of teenagers in aid of some warped political dream. But they might not get too worked up about it either.

The BNP hasn't muttered much about it. Nothing on their website. Now, before anyone screams that the BNP wouldn't set off bombs, it's fairly certain they don't cry over the deaths of innocent Muslims or those starving in far off lands. In fact, Nick Griffin lauds his "How to campaign against a mosque planning application". Being a semi-trained legal eagle he spouts this - "However, I think the main argument should be on principle – that there are enough mosques in the area and the country, and that Islamic doctrine is discriminatory and hate filled and, therefore, contrary to law." Only an opinion, of course. No law of the realm states categorically that Islam is "discriminatory and hate filled". But plenty think it is.

One such character is Anders Behring Breivik. He took it to extremes. Further than most people could imagine an extreme extending to. Hatred just fuels hatred. But there is a legitimate political discussion to be had about how people co-exist with people.

We all live on this planet together. John Donne wrote that "No man is an island" and that is even more true now than when he first wrote it. Politicians have not been as exemplary in political life as they should be. Far too much is still hidden or spun into vacuous facts. So people are left to make six out of two plus two.

Proper immigration policies are not based on racial or religious hatred but on sound thinking to help avoid social and economic tensions. Governments have a duty to govern fairly, not to cause division, upheaval and stress. And pontificating from on high only fuels the tensions.

It is good to see the people of Norway come together at this time of crisis. But what are they going to do with those amongst them that hate so much? Tough questions need positive answers.

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Are all marriages involving an ethic minority suspect?

Nuptials disrupted due to police "mistake"

When the state clamps down, it's general done in an all embracing way and that's not a romantic embrace at all. A few years back a store in Sparkhill, Birmingham was raided by the Border Agency Brigade. Armed officers burst into this bakery and apprehended all about them. They suspected illegal immigrants were working there. Unable to determine for themselves who the likely suspects were, everyone on the premises had to be detained for questioning. Including very pasty-faced Brummies. Political correctness would have it no other way.

Now, in Northern Ireland, police have apologised to a couple whose wedding in Londonderry was mistakenly stopped on suspicion it was a "sham marriage". Neil McIlwee and his pregnant fiancee, Yanan Sun, were about to get married at the Guildhall on Tuesday when police entered the building and arrested them. So here is a sort of reverse thinking. Londonderry guy marrying a woman from the Orient? Can't be right. So in storms PSNI armed with an anonymous letter and some paperwork faxed through about two hours earlier and stops the wedding.

In both cases the innocent suffer for the guilty. But with lots of these cases happening over the months it would be nice to think that the police did a bit more thinking instead of just doing.

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Bad debts and Greek urns - a European tragedy

I've just seen Judge Judy lambast a silly woman for paying a man (somewhat younger than herself) money on a monthly basis even though the man failed to repay the previous month's "loan". The hapless woman, after six months, decided to send a promissory note to the man. He decided not to sign but ask for a further loan, which she paid him. When no repayment was due she thought Judge Judy would settle the dispute. Not likely! The woman was told she was dimwitted and the man, who presented himself as the woman's paid "boy toy", was described as a "not nice person" by her honour.

This legal ding-dong had me thinking about Greece begging for money. The Greeks have apparently spent beyond their means, no doubt trying to find favour with the European Commission and its desire to bail out those who haven't paid the previous bailout. All the EU bigwigs are patting each other on the back but the crisis hasn't gone away. It's just been squeezed, elongated and generally made to look like something completely different.

I don't quite know who is supposed to repay the debt. The Greek people, or at least 70% of them, are saying they are not. I can't see the Greek government raising enough in taxes to pay back €100 billion. I assume some level of interest is included in repayments. It's all like a financial merry-go-round, with the horses looking very much in need of a new coat of paint. It's all going to benefit those who can make money out of debt and ruin those who have to be sacrificed at the altar of EU statism.

No wonder they needed those tanks on the streets of Brussels yesterday. They're scared witless what the people might do next.

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Rudolph Hess joins Bin Laden in the sea

The grave matter of Rudolf Hess

Somehow maritime burials, or ash scatterings, are becoming the favoured method of getting rid of undesirables. Osama Bin Laden was shot dead, wrapped in Islamic clothing and slipped overboard by secretive American officials. Now the Germans have decided that Rudolf Hess is better off with Neptune, Davey Jones and the assortment of pirates, sailors and general seafarers who have their graves amongst the fishes.

Rudolf Hess was buried in a graveyard in the small town of Wunsiedel, southern Germany. Not any more. His bones have been cremated and scattered at sea. All because his grave had become a pilgrimage site by neo-nazis. The gravestone has been destroyed. Maybe the German authorities think this will stop neo-nazism? I doubt it. It might just inflame the followers. Like with the current American expression doing the rounds "kicking the can down the road", they may have kicked Hess into the sea, but have they kicked out the neo-nazis?

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Texas executes another felon and carries on with life

Here yesterday, gone today

Texas has just executed another in a long line of executions. It's a kind of industry for the Governor and his minions. The fact that it continues rather like dispatching cattle in an abattoir is proof positive that it does not work. All it does is provide work for the incarcerators and death cell operatives. It also gives radio stations something to talk about and the religious right to pronounce on evil as they see it.

Texas is not a safer place because Mark Stroman has gone to meet his Maker. Successive governors, including the immigrant from Maine, Dubya Bush, have failed to stop the killings. They see death as a way to solve the problem. It's all very strange. When it comes to George Bush's death, will he go thinking he can make a good case in Heaven for judicial killings? What if he sees Stroman in a favoured place amongst the heavenly hosts? Will he smile sweetly or cause a rumpus?

I think the two most affected persons in this matter, namely the victim and the murderer, come out quite well. Stroman made his peace with the world and his victim Rais Bhuiyan made his peace with Stroman saying, "His execution will not eradicate hate crimes from this world. We will just simply lose another human life". Mr.Bhuiyan sounds like an exemplary human being. He also exemplifies Christian teaching in a nutshell.

So life carries on in Texas. Who cares that Stroman got executed? By next week, virtually nobody. The killing machine will still be there though and the death row industry in full swing (without the ropes!).

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I did not have an inappropriate conversation with that woman!

Tight-lipped and no pyjamas in sight!

I've pondered overnight about David Cameron and his understanding of the word inappropriate. I've wondered about his understanding of the word transparency. Was he any good at English at Eton? Maybe he has studied Lewis Carroll? Carroll's great character of Humpty Dumpty is as relevant today as it was when the reverend scribe thought him up. Making words mean what you want them to mean.

I don't take Cameron to be a fool. He's not naive either. But he's making his cabinet look like fools. Jon Snow interviewed the hapless Hammond last night and inappropriate was inappropriately explained away. Does David Cameron take us all for fools? We know he had a conversations with News Corporation and Rebekah Brooks was there for a lot of the meetings. So if the discussions were not inappropriate they must have been appropriate. But this tells us nothing. The country now thinks Cameron is a shifty schmoozer and it's all his own doing. He goes on about transparency but can't tell us if he talked about BSkyB. So what do we all think?

HE SPOKE ABOUT BSkyB!!

Newspapers from the Daily Telegraph to the Guardian think he did. The BBC thinks he did. ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, Five News all think he did. Who in the country does not think he spoke about BSkyB? It's all a complete mess.

This is just like Bill Clinton saying he never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. It is all Humpty Dumpty stuff. I wonder what Cameron thinks just as he nods off for the night. Does he praise himself that his mastery of words got him out of a jam or does he really confront himself with his own transparency? I think the latter. He does not need a dream to come to him in the night, like Ebenezer Scrooge. He needs a mirror like the one that showed Snow White to the Wicked Queen.

It's just a moral outrage that we can be so abused as a nation as to think this is the high ground of politics. I'm still waiting for transparency. Maybe that judge can peer through the mist and fog of it all.

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Dave ducks the dodgy questions

Thinking about an answer

I thought Tony Blair was the master of all he surveys when it came to weasel words. Now he's likely to be outdone by David Cameron, who gave a bravado performance this morning in the House of Commons. Cameron was asked by Tom Watson about a letter he'd sent Cameron in October last year. Cameron feigned memory loss about the epistle. Then he was asked about discussing BSkyB with Rapunzel of the Redtops. No straight answer there either. But we did get to hear that Cameron has never seen Rebekah Brooks in her pyjamas. I never heard anybody ask if he had.

Personally I cannot understand for the life of me what Cameron saw in Coulson. The guy appears to be a spiv and not a very decent one at that. Anyway, why does Cameron need a spin doctor, or spin nurse even? He's pretty good at all this himself. Spinning, though, does not mean truthfulness. Transparency does not mean truthfulness. I can stick a piece of glass in front of my face, but it still won't help me determine if what I see is good or bad. That is done by my own senses.

I've got the distinct feeling that the answers given were not totally factual. Probably with enough wriggle room for revision. I'd hoped better from Cameron. Nick Clegg looked rather nauseous sitting beside him. After all, he did counsel the PM against Coulson's involvement. Maybe he should have sent an email rather like that future mother-in-law did. All we have now is a summer of innuendo and gossip. If only people could be really truthful.

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Murdoch attacked in Parliament

John Kirriemuir in Grinnell, Iowa, USA emails the BBC to say, "How come I can't take a small bottle of water onto a plane, but someone can attack the head of News Corp, in Parliament, with shaving foam?" Good question. Perhaps we might have the answer by the end of the day.

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Rupert Murdoch - a sad case and a sad spectacle

I've just taken about ten minutes of Rupert Murdoch's questioning before the Culture Select Committee. Strikes me as being very sad all round. An 80-year old man, forgetful and fumbling for facts, comes across as someone well past his retirement date. I somehow find it hard to watch, hence coming to sound off on my blog. I'll go back now and have a cup of coffee. News Corporation shareholders must be holding their breath, wondering what is going to come next.

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Lord Sugar says 'Jail phone hacking editors and proprietors'

The Apprentice boss and Labour peer Lord Sugar has called for newspaper editors and proprietors to face prison sentences over the phone hacking scandal. This contribution in the House of Lords certainly found favour going by the response from fellow peers. Nobody is above the law. But before the newshounds get put in jail perhaps the prisons could be reformed. We don't want them picking up any bad habits or unsavoury contacts, do we?

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Hackers hoax story on Murdoch not funny

Rupert Murdoch - Alive and Kicking!

There's a group of hackers called Lulz Security which targets corporates and their alleged wrongdoings or excesses. News International has just been targeted or more precisely the website of The Sun. Readers were redirected to a hoax story which said Rupert Murdoch had been found dead in his garden. The hackers say that what they do is only for laughs. I disagree. I think it a rather sick joke if joke be the word. The story was entitled "Media mogul's body discovered". It suggested that Mr Murdoch had been found after he had "ingested a large quantity of palladium". Why on earth do they think this helps the cause of justice? Of truthfulness in business? For a return to integrity in business? Do lies help to unmask lies?

These people do not help the cause of openness. There will be no transparency from them. Let the select committees delve deep for the truth. That is what we require. Not juvenile nastiness from faceless cyber anarchists.

It's not funny, it's not helpful and it's not going to do anything other than give a cheap thrill to the perpetrators.

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Clare's law for all?

Hazel Blears ready for action

I've heard about the idea of Clare's law, which is an idea to have legislation named after Clare Wood from Salford, who was strangled and set on fire by her former partner after meeting him on Facebook. The murder was a disgusting act by a violent man. But is a law based on inquiries and information a good idea?

Firstly most people behind this are suggesting it is for women to find out about new boyfriends. Hazel Blears is in on the action as she's the MP for Salford. No mention of violent women from Hazel. Some men might wish to avail themselves of a check up on a new partner. But is all this necessary? I get the impression it's very much like the paedophile nonsense, with a huge quango making vast sums out of information that is virtually worthless. Any paedophile knows that it's one strike and you're out. Not many of those arrested were known to the police before. So how will this be different with violent people?

I grant that George Appleton, the murderer of Clare Wood, would have been highlighted on a warning system, but most domestic violence goes unreported. What of the violent people without a criminal record? Where do they fit into the plans?

Does Hazel Blears want a new quango set up? Will it be staffed with many all searching through the records of everyone? And what constitutes violence? Does it have to be within a domestic context or is any public disorder offence included? Threatening behaviour, maybe. At a student rally against fees?

The saying is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I fear that we could end up with a lot of men being inquired about, found to be "clean" and then information gets twisted and changed. There could be women just making the odd inquiry for little or no reason. Who pays for an inquiry into a potentially dodgy partner? There is a lot at stake for people if this idea ever got off the ground and things went wrong.

Has Hazel Blears thought it all through? Tory MP Robert Buckland has it about right when he says, "We’re all in favour of curbing violence against women but we have to be certain this will not lead to fishing expeditions by women demanding confidential information about potential boyfriends without proper justification."

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Viscount Monckton gets a ticking off

Viscount Monckton appearing not to be a peer (officially)

Viscount Monckton is UKIP's climate change spokesman. He's a peer of the realm, a veritable viscount and therefore a hereditary lord. But he's not a "member of the House of Lords" as far as David Beamish, the Clerk of Parliaments is concerned. Mr.Beamish has got upset because he has heard Lord Monckton say he is "but without the right to sit or vote". This is considered a very bad thing to say.

I wonder if Mr.Beamish has got it right. What is membership exactly? There are plenty of companies that have shareholders and some are more equal than others. Some don't have voting rights. Are non-voting shareholders still shareholders or are they just claiming to be shareholders "either directly or by implication". Sports clubs have playing and non-playing members. So what about hereditary peers who are on the Register of Hereditary Peers? Are they members or are they just on a list? Only hereditary peers can be on the register. So they have some membership of the House of Lords, if in name only, surely?

Is Mr.Beamish a closet Blairite? They know how to emulate Humpty Dumpty, with Tony Blair being the first in the line-up. I'd say Viscount Monckton has a point. He's on the register. Therefore he's a member "but without the right to sit or vote". Mr.Beamish wrote a stuffy letter to Viscount Monckton. I've read it. I think it makes no sense other than to suggest Mr.Beamish may have an agenda. How's that for unofficial confirmation?

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Rebekah Brooks quits News International

Rebekah Brooks resigns

The news that Rebekah Brooks is leaving her post as chief bottlewasher at News International has helped me clear my cold and let my head think more brightly. I've been sneezing and sniffing. Not good to view a computer through watery eyes. So she's gone. Thrown in the towel. Can't say I'm surprised. If she was still in post when she sat before John Whittingdale and his cultured colleagues next week, all we would have got is "Why are you still there?". Well now she's not. But the rumblings still rumble on.

The trouble with large corporations is that they think they are above the flotsam and jetsam of daily life. Banks, oil companies, utilities, airlines, newspapers...they have all been ducking and diving, with integrity getting the blows. I think they live in a parallel universe. The banks are getting stress tested today. Is fractional reserve banking going to be tested to the stress limits? I doubt it. Keep pushing the buttons guys!

Matthew Wright of the Wright Stuff fame on Five TV thinks Rebekah Brooks is OK. She's a decent person he says. Well, if she is let her just tell the truth and shame the devil. We can't have this going on for years, with one titbit following another. The FBI are now digging around for nuggets. Somebody has suggested the phones of 9/11 victims were hacked. If they were, then Rupert Murdoch might as well go and hide in the outback of Australia. This could be like a political Mount St.Helens. At the moment, American TV is treading carefully as is their wont. But if the FBI get a bite on something, the game plan changes immediately.

Far better to own up now, tell it all and say SORRY! Otherwise if something nasty is revealed, it's News Corp in the trash bin.

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News International going up in smoke

Damian Thompson blogs under the title of Holy Smoke. He's smoked out that News International obtained details from Gordon Brown's infant son’s medical records. They were obtained by the Sun, who published a story about the child’s serious illness. Thompson was once described by The Church Times as a "blood-crazed ferret". Well, the church has been dealing with the ferrets at News International. We need the Reverend Jack Russell back. He knew what dog bit ferrets the best.

No smoke without fire? News International is going up in smoke. An unholy smoke at that!

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Rupert Murdoch finds the temperature rising

It's tough at the top and that's no laughing matter

Rupert Murdoch had not long been back in Britain when he saw the thermometer rising and the sun shining in London. Yes, today is a nice summer's day. The heat is on. And as far as Murdoch is concerned, he's got his hands on some hot irons he's trying to cool down. All around him people are speculating. Speculators are speculating. Will the BSkyB deal go through? Not likely! Let's take our money and run. Renault has run from Murdoch. So has the Church of England, although rather like David Cameron they are giving him a second chance if he mends his ways. He did get a pastoral bashing, though.

So what happens now. Murdoch is the story, along with his protegee Rebekah Brooks. She must have presented her case well to him. Selective memory loss is a corporate stock in trade. The trouble is that one has few friends in corporate wonderland when things go wrong. Look at Southern Cross. Today it has been crossed off the business map and is no longer a viable enterprise. Most knew that long ago. What we don't know is whether the skimmers will have to account for their fat bank balances.

Murdoch's personal bank balance isn't too bad I'll bet. But his corporation looks like it is in trouble. He needs advertisers and he needs investors. Both look like they see his "brand" as being toxic. Britain has never taken well to Rupert Murdoch coming into Britain and monopolising the media. However, he has saved much of what he took over from oblivion and that is to his credit. What is not to his credit is the corporate sleaze that now seems to be unfolding from the files and folders of his business empire's records. Honour and integrity should be at the heart of business. Far too much of it though is permeated by wrongdoing and a high-handed attitude to customers and suppliers.

Well now they are biting back. Investors should sit up and wonder if they are actually close to criminality. Suppliers should ask themselves if supping with devils (as many corporations have become) is a good thing. And customers should test whether they should buy from companies that have been found to be doing iffy things.

David Cameron says the buck stops with him. If it does, then the clean-up of British business starts with his government. Out with the pan and brush, Prime Minister!

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BSkyB shares take a tumble after Murdoch's gamble

I'll get my hands on the buggers who got in my way!

Rupert Murdoch thought he might be in the clear with BSkyB if he got rid of the News Of The World. No such luck, cobber! He's now in a real bind. He's got Rebekah Brooks standing in front of him as some kind of human shield. He's got existing BSkyB investors seeing their investments shrink like Alice in the Pool of Tears and he's got Andy Coulson festering in a police cell.

The public don't want him, the media is wary of him and he's in the sorry situation of looking like a gambler with a dodgy hand. Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, is taking the long view. Very long I'd say. And Hunt said he would be taking advice from Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading. They might advise that Murdoch was not a fit and proper person.

The sky's the limit they say. In this case that's probably very true. Murdoch faces oblivion if he doesn't mend his ways.

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Andy Coulson in custody - arrested today by police

Andy Coulson has been arrested at a South London police station, has had his DNA taken along with fingerprints and a mugshot, and is now looking forward to lunch on a tray in a cell. Banged up I think it's called. No wonder David Cameron put on his press conference this morning. His old publicity guru on his way to the interview room so the Downing Street machine went into overdrive.

Unless one is drunk or mentally unstable, a period in police cells must be quite sobering. What is going through his head right now, I wonder? Evil thoughts about Murdoch? What's the betting that by the end of today, Rebekah Woods has been put in the frame and other juicy bits fed to the detectives. There can be no point in him telling them he knows nowt. They will just laugh at him. Best to make a clean breast of it all and get it over quickly.

I hope Her Majesty has room in her various properties for Her Pleasure to be extended.


How they process prisoners in Welsh police cells -

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Salma Yaqoob to quit as Birmingham Respect councillor

I've just seen on Salma Yaqoob's website that she is quitting as Respect Party councillor for Sparkbrook on Birmingham City Council. She says -

"This week I told party members, friends and supporters of my decision to resign as the Councillor for Sparkbrook. It has not been an easy decision, but it is one that I have had to make in the interests of my health.

Salma Yaqoob on BBC Question Time

For some time now those close to me have been very aware that I have been battling with health issues. Unfortunately over the past 12 months it has taken a turn for the worse. I have found it increasingly difficult to keep up with my very busy schedule, and to satisfactorily fulfil the commitments that my role demands.

As a result of my worsening health I simply cannot continue to represent Sparkbrook in the way that I think its people deserve."

She doesn't say what is wrong, but it is obviously quite serious. Whilst not being on her side of the fence in politics I never the less have found her to be a principled fighter. I was quite miffed she failed to be elected as an MP. We need a few MPs that are not in the mainstream to talk up the issues in a different light. I hope she is able to be restored to good health very soon.

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Andy Coulson will take down Rebekah Brooks and others too

Who hacked this phone?

Andy Coulson has nothing to lose now. If he is arrested in the next few hours and he helps the police with their enquiries, he will sing like a canary. If the allegations against him are proved correct he faces a lengthy time in jail. Why do porridge on your todd when you can be joined by the whole gang?

As one source linked to the police investigation has said, 'If Andy Coulson goes down, he could take some very senior people with him. He must know where the bodies are buried at News International.' Of course he must. The lying has got to stop and the investigations, as David Cameron wants, should dig deep and dig fast. Shredding machines might be in short supply.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012540/Andy-Coulson-facing-arrest-Ex-Downing-St-aide-expected-police-station-today-quiz-hacking-police-bribery.html#ixzz1RVUyusKY

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Santander gives Bombay the banking duck

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

So it's finally dawned on Santander, the Spanish bank with three branches in every town, that Indian call centres are the bane of every bank customer's life. Not because they are staffed by Indians but because the satellite phones don't work well and it is all "what did you say?" and "I didn't get that" and because of the differences in understanding language nuances.

Chief executive Ana Botin said, "This is what our customers have told us is the most important factor in terms of the satisfaction with the bank, and we have listened to them and decided to bring all our retail call centres back from India." Good! So it's goodbye Bombay, hello Burnley.

Pity the bank that used to be a listening one still carries on with long distance communications. They killed the griffin and a frightful resurrected dodo came into being.

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Andy Coulson to be arrested tomorrow

Red Top to be axed?

The News International scandal carries on more or less like night following day. Tomorrow morning Andy Coulson will get his collar felt by members of the very police force he is alleged to have funneled over £100,000 to. He will be arrested over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his editorship of the News of the World. Murky stuff indeed. But he can't be the only one, apart from the two who we were told were the only ones.

Rebekah Brooks is having trouble keeping that butter in her mouth from melting. She strikes me as being the very worst kind of modern day corporate executive. Humpty Dumpty said he made words mean what he wanted them to mean and she has taken his advice literally. She isn't going to resign. She has the hide of a rhinocerous. Giving stick to others in a high moralising manner was her stock in trade. Now she's getting it back in spadefuls from the public and jittery business.

We need a proper judicial inquiry, no smokescreens, with a judge who can get Rupert Murdoch before him under oath telling the world what exactly went on in his newsrooms. Anything else will just not do.

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News Of The World to close over phone hacking scandal

Caught out at last!

Rupert Murdoch has decided to throw in the towel and close down the News Of The World rather than, I suspect, have his media empire done over with a dose of very strong salts. I used to read the NOTW but when Murdoch took it over the whole thing went downhill very fast. Gossip became tittle tattle and then the tittle tattle became sleaze and now its just a rag to make money for a grumpy git with a chip on his shoulder.

Murdoch never liked Britain. His revenge was to take The Times and other titles under his wing and hold our politicians to ransom. More fool them. Now he's got his comeuppance. The only sad thing is that a paper that could have been fun and fiesty has been ruined by the greedy morally corrupt people that took the Murdoch shilling.

That's a lesson indeed. Don't mess with the emotions of the Brits Mr.Murdoch. We tend to bite back!

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Dutch hurt in FC Twente stadium roof fall in Enschede

Complete collapse

The stadium roof at this Dutch football club just collapsed like a house of cards. 12 people have been injured apparently. But it could have been a lot worse. As no match was on the injured would probably have been visitors or construction workers. A full house is 32,000 fans. Another lucky escape for those who could have been there.

Football stadiums need improving and renewing. But do they need to be used whilst the work goes on? Something must have gone very wrong for this to have happened. No doubt an inquiry will get to the bottom of it.

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Casey Anthony Juror: 'Sick to Our Stomachs' Over Not Guilty Verdict

Casey Anthony

The case of Casey Anthony has apparently gripped America. Or more accurately the likes of Fox News who whip up the public to salivating levels. The trial of this young mother, accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, ended in a not guilty verdict. Yet before anyone can think further, a juror suggests that she actually did do the deed but that the jury couldn't quite find evidence to convict. So what better than to go out into the wide world of media land and say you think the accused "got off".

Juror Jennifer Ford said that she and the other jurors cried and were "sick to our stomachs" after voting to acquit Casey Anthony. She goes on to say "I did not say she was innocent. I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be." Just a hunch that she did it or just prejudice? "I toggled on manslaughter and not guilty. It doesn't feel good. It was a horrible decision to have to make." All sounds like innuendo. Did the jury just take against this woman because they thought she was no better than she ought to be?

Justice must be seen to be fair and above board. This just sounds like sour grapes and vengeance rearing its ugly head. A driving force in American justice! Yes people get away with crimes and yes innocent people get convicted, but the state needs to be like Caesar's wife. In a lot of cases Mrs.Caesar would be appalled!

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HSBC manager locks customer up for half an hour!

Shanghaied by the bankers!

HSBC, aka the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, seems to be following some of the tips it has picked up over the years from its involvement with Chinese mandarins. One of them is that if you don't get a customer to see it your way just lock her up for half an hour to see if panic gets her to see reason. I'm not making this up. HSBC did, or at least one of its minions, described by the Daily Mail as a "bank manager". Of course, they don't exist anymore. There are managers of branches, but mostly the people you see on the shop floor are interchangeable sales staff and account handlers.

Josephine Lewis is a widow and was held hostage in the bank after seeking help with crippling overdraft charges. Christopher Hicks locked her in an interview room with himself for half an hour despite her screams of ‘let me out’. Hicks, who is still in charge of the HSBC branch, blocked her exit until she filled out a form detailing her spending. She was only released when other staff heard her cries.

HSBC then harassed her with hundreds of ‘abusive and threatening’ phone calls. She received up to eight a day over an 18-month period. Now, after a three-year legal battle – which she paid for with her late mother’s life savings – she has finally received an apology.

Isn't it amazing? HSBC doesn't come out of this smelling of roses at all. More like a stinking Chinese herbal remedy, except here the dimwitted Mr. Hicks took on the wrong woman and has made the bank look cheap and cheesy. Mrs.Lewis was sort of shanghaied but then that isn't that strange for these bankers.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011646/Widow-Josephine-Lewis-held-hostage-bank-manager-Christopher-Hicks.html#ixzz1RJxoVSHA

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn to meet French justice?

Was it all worth it?

Just as he was smiling in the knowledge that his ankles would be free of a heavy tagging monitor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has heard that his French accuser, Tristane Banon, is upping her case against him. She claims she was attacked by Strauss-Kahn in a Paris studio flat, with him acting like a ‘rutting chimpanzee’ as he tried to pull her clothes off. Sounds quite awful the way she puts it. But she has waited until now to pounce. His rutting days were about eight years ago. She hasn't exactly been voluble on the subject in the intervening years.

In such cases there are three main reasons why people fall out and accuse one another. Firstly, a sexual assault happens, rape or some other kind, and the victim feels hurt and anger and wants justice. Quite right and proper. Then there is the sexual encounter that goes wrong, so to speak and one side bears a grievance or has unpleasant feelings of various natures. And the third is the matter of trying to make a gain out of a situation, whether by trying to obtain money or just publicity. Only recently a woman was berated for bringing false accusations. This is a minefield for those given the task of seeking after the truth.

Those who have a sexual life that is more adventurous and exciting and on the edge than others do let themselves into the dens of their opponents. Best all round not to have flings and encounters, however brief. But human nature is not exactly driven by reticence, probity and self-denial. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is likely now to face a future with all sorts of stuff being said. I could say he should have kept his trousers on. He might say that himself. He might say his trousers have nothing to do with anything. Who knows what, or why or where? Only time will tell, I suppose.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011510/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn-Tristane-Banon-spoils-freedom-celebrations-bringing-new-case.html#ixzz1RJdU0DHr

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Off the air with a wire loose

Cable TV and internet are at the mercy of wires and wiring. Last week my internet went down. Google Chrome was unresponsive. Then some of the cable TV stations started to pixilate in front of our eyes. Virgin Media was called, via some outpost in India. I often deal with Indian call centres. Mostly they are staffed by willingly patient types, but the English is very much out of the 1940's. Whatever is thought in the UK I can definitely state that it is my opinion that British English and Indian English have significant differences, especially over the telephone. I often feel like Tony Hancock in the Radio Ham, when he was talking to It Is Are Not Raining Here and declaiming "Phew! This is hard work". Anyway, back to the cable. It transpires in was a loose connection probably due to shoddy workmanship by the last cable tweaker (in the opinion of the cable tweaker that came this time).

All this makes me think how vulnerable we all are in this internet age. Get the system down and you might as well be on Mars as people think you are in hiding. I bank online (couldn't do that), buy tickets online (couldn't do that). Can't check email. It's quite alarming.

If society moves more to a system of online payments, no cheques any more, then we can be at the mercy of just one provider. Choice doesn't come into it. But I'm told it's progress.

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