And the world starts breathing again
Bush reclaims powers after successful colonoscopy
Sat, July 21 2007 » Main Page, Minutiae » Comments Off
Sat, July 21 2007 » Main Page, Minutiae » Comments Off
Siklos on Black and the APC deal — D'oh!
Richard Siklos, author of Shades of Black, on the key deal that brought down Conrad Black. From globeandmail.com: Lord Black, who is appealing his conviction, said he was cleared of the “central charges” in the case, nine of them in all, including payments relating to the sale of most of his Canadian newspapers in 2001 [...]
Sat, July 21 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
'When they stop calling'
Guardian columnist Mark Lawson blames the current BBC programming scandal — faked call-in show contest results — on a mania for interactivity. From the commentary: The BBC's version of this nervousness about public relevance and connection has been to encourage programmes towards phone-ins, competitions and user-generated content. “Hits” on programme websites and “through-put” to consumer [...]
Sat, July 21 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
Modern history for Russian school kids: Now in PutinVision
From the Washington Post: With two new manuals for high school history and social studies teachers, written in part by Kremlin political consultants, Russian authorities are attempting to imbue classroom debate with a nationalist outlook. The history guide contains a laudatory review of President Vladimir Putin's years in power. “We see that practically every significant [...]
Sat, July 21 2007 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
First Alan Johnston, now Sami Al-Haj and Bilal Hussein
And who are those two gentlemen, and why should they be mentioned in the same breath as the BBC's Alan Johnston, held captive in Gaza for nearly four months before being released? Read on. From Democracy Now! The release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston earlier this month after 114 days in captivity in Gaza made [...]
Sat, July 21 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
There will be no satirical depictions of the Spanish royal couple boinking
From the Beeb: Spain's High Court has ordered the seizure of all copies of a magazine that carried a cartoon of Crown Prince Felipe and his wife having sex. The cartoon on the front page of the weekly satirical magazine El Jueves depicted Prince Felipe saying sex was the closest he would come to working. [...]
Sat, July 21 2007 » Main Page, Media, Minutiae » Comments Off
Pakistan's chief justice reinstated
A big slapdown for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. Iftikhar Chaudri, the country's chief justice, has been ordered reinstated by the country's supreme court. Musharraf suspended him four months ago for purported corruption, although most saw the move as an attempt to intimidate the judiciary in an election year. Musharraf wanted to ask parliament to clear [...]
Sat, July 21 2007 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Conrad catch-up
Been fishing, so here's some Conrad stuff I missed: Conrad makes bail! Expected, despite prosecution opposition. The real interesting stuff was this from the July 19 Globe and Mail: Global hunt heightens for Black assets Prosecutors have already alleged that he has not provided the court with a full disclosure of his financial holdings, and they [...]