‘Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them . . . Stick to Facts, [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in Culture, Media, blogging
|
Tagged 419 in the past 10 years, A third of all UK MPs employ members of their close family, Edelman Trust Barometer, Editorial Intelligence, Facebook, Facts, Gordon Brown, More than 50 employees of the state-owned British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) earn more than the UK Prime Minister, only 28% of Uk trust the media, P+G, Pringles, Reuters Institute, The CEO of BT may receive a £680K bonus despite his company reporting losses of £134 million, The number of women giving birth over the age of 40 has more than doubled to 26
|
This article, originally published on ProPublica, deals with the Obama volte-face on holding prisoners without charge in Guantanamo Bay. It’s a long piece, but not as long as the sentences already served and, by all accounts, about to be extended, to several people who have been denied the right to a fair trial and held in [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in Afghanistan, Barack Obama, George W Bush, Global security, Insurgency, Policy, Totalitarian drift, US Politics, War on Terror, human rights abuse
|
Tagged Add new tag, Afghanistan, al-Qaida, Anti-Terrorist legislation, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Combatant Status, Combatant Status Review Tribunals, detention without trial, Global security, Guantanamo Bay, Hamdan, homeland security, human rights abuse, laws of war, opponents of preventive detention say it's Orwellian that such a system would imprison a person based on future dangerousness, Preventive Detention, ProPublica, rendition, Salim Hamdan, Supreme Court, Terrorist
|
Perversely, Web 2.0 has become synonymous with an American mythology of freedom. But information technology works best in small well-organised political units with high levels of social protection. So there is every reason to believe that the net works best with another notion of freedom – the security of knowing that failure will not have [...]
By Daniel Taghioff
|
Posted in Asia, Culture, Development, India, Social studies, Sociology, Technology, consumers
|
Tagged Development, entrepreneurs, Technology, Web 2
|
But for how long? On 19 May, the Tory motion to freeze any increase in the BBC licence fee was defeated by 334 to 150 votes in the House of Commons. The compulsory tax of £11.62 per month on every household with a TV or radio, enforced by highly democratic ‘we know where you live’ [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in British identity, Culture, Media, Political spin, Politics, consumers
|
Tagged Alastair Campbell, Andrew Gilligan, Barack Obama, BBC, BBC Licence fee increase, British Broadcast Corpration, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Dodgy dosier, Dr David Kelly, Gavyn davies, Graham Norton, Greg Dyke, Jeremy paxman, John birt, jonathan Ross, Mark Thompson, Neo-Stalinist Birtism, Pravda, public service broadcating, Radio 4, state-subsidised media, Tory motion to freeze BBC licence fee increase defeated, Weapons of Mass Destruction Dossier
|
This morning The Telegraph reported that Conservative MP Sir Peter Viggers would stand down at the next election, at the request of David Cameron, having claimed over £30,000 in gardening-related expenses, including £1600.00 for a floating duck house. Some wags wondered whether it fell under the MPs’ second home category. Another Tory grandee, Michael Fallon, MP, overclaimed £8300.00 in mortgage [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in Finance, Policy, Politics, UK politics, Uk Home Office
|
Tagged Add new tag, Financial services Authority, Jacqui Smith, Michael Fallon MP, Royal Mint, sir peter Viggers, Sir peter Viggers and his £1600.00 duck house, Tony McNulty, Tony McNulty voted against parliamentary transparency, Treasury Select Committee, Uk MP expenses scandal claims two members of Treasury Select Committee, why have we heard nothing about the domestic finances of Mr and Mrs. Balls?
|
While the stench of corruption dissipates, like the fear of swine flu, because we’re all bored now and the Tories are just as culpable, there is a serious danger that Brown and his larcenous mates will get away with it. This vile jelly must be nailed to the wall. Let’s have an election – or [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in British identity, Policy, Political spin, Politics, UK politics
|
Tagged David Cameron, David Cameron's election petition, Gordonj Brown, hazel blears, In a general election, Jacqui Smith, Jeff Hoon, Michael Martin Speaker resigns to muted applause from the hoiuse mostly from Labour, support for Labour has fallen to its lowest level since polls began in 1943, this would translate into a majority of 220 for David Cameron beating Tony Blair’s 1997 victory by 41 seats, Tony McNulty, Tories, UK MPs' expenses scandal
|
Hold the front page – on second thoughts, don’t bother. There won’t be one to hold much longer. That bloody web thingy has eaten our journalists. Everything we hold dear – the right to be told what to think by poker-arsed blowhards in the pay of Illuminati kingmakers, fed and watered by PR lizards in [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in Celebrity, Culture, Media, blogging, cloud computing, consumers, internet
|
Tagged bloggers, by John J Kelly, crisis in world press media, David Chase, decline of print media, Decline of the paid-for press, Editorial Intelligence, professional hacks face a long period of silent contemplation unless someone works out a way to 'monetise' online news and comment., Reuters Institute of Journalism, Senate Committee hearing on the decline of news media, The Wire, ThusMagazine on blogging, What's Happening to our News?
|
All this “I stuck to the Rules” stuff delivered to camera by our alternately defiant or ashen faced betters in the Mother of Parliaments prompted me to take a look at the rules (the “Green Book”) of which we’ve heard so much. It’s less than gripping stuff but, as rule books go, it’s fairly clear [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in British Constitution, Policy, Political spin, Spin doctors, UK politics
|
Tagged Blair, Blears, Brown, Byers, Campbell, Darling, Faulkner, Freedom of Information Act, Green Book, Harman, Hewitt, Hillary Benn, Hoon, Jacqui Smith, John Reid, Jonathan Powell, Mandelson, Matthew Taylor, Michael Martin, Milburn, Miliband, Mr and Mrs Balls, Phil Woolas, Ruth Kelly, Shriti Vadera, Straw, The Guardian, Things can Only Get Better, whelan
|
Living in the world’s largest democracy during an election, it is amazing to see that nothing much really happens. There is a lot of it in the news, and people disappear off to vote, but life goes on as usual. But people here take democracy seriously. Despite the 66% literacy rate, the 59-60% turnout is [...]
By Daniel Taghioff
|
Posted in Development, Economics, India, International Affairs, Politics
|
Tagged 69% election turnout, and perhaps even dissent as long as it does not come in the way of 8 per cent growth, Congress Party, Daniel Taghioff, governor of Gujurat Narendra Modi, Hindu Nationalist National Democratic Alliance (NDA), home minister Chidambaram, India votes, India was "willing to tolerate debate, Lal Krishna Advani, Manmohan Singh, National Democratic Alliance (NDA), National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA, Rahul Gandhi came out publicly in opposition to Vedanta's plans to mine the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa, Right to Information Act, Thus Magazine India, United People's Alliance (UPA), willing to tolerate debate
|
Thus has steered clear of the Tsunami of revelations about abuse of UK MPs’ expenses and allowances, mainly because we predicted it several weeks ago: “It beggars belief that the Secretary for Employment and Welfare Reform should be found to be either incompetent in his interpretation of Parliamentary allowances rules, or disingenous in their interpretation. [...]
By John Kelly
|
Posted in British Constitution, Policy, Political spin, Politics, Totalitarian drift, UK politics
|
Tagged Aiding and abetting Misconduct in Public Office, Alastair Campbell, Damian Green MP, David Cameron, Dodgy Dossier, Elliot Morley, Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman, hazel Blears capital gains tax avoidance, Jacqui Smith, Lord Truscott cash for influence, Michael Martin, Peter Mandelson, Shaheed Malik Justice Minister, Speaker of the House of Commons, Tony McNulty, UK MP expenses and allowances scandal
|
It's official! Parasite blogging bastards have killed print journalism
Hold the front page – on second thoughts, don’t bother. There won’t be one to hold much longer. That bloody web thingy has eaten our journalists. Everything we hold dear – the right to be told what to think by poker-arsed blowhards in the pay of Illuminati kingmakers, fed and watered by PR lizards in [...]