Key Posts Category
Andrew Bolt Prejudices: When Political Correctness Becomes Oppression In Racist Australia
THERE’S a bit of trouble Down Under in Dreamtime.
Writer, commentator and blogger Andrew Bolt (I would call the Murdoch columnist right wing but it could be actionable) has been hauled over the coals for something he dashed off a couple of years ago.
The offending pieces were probably not part of his magnum opus nor could the judgement against the writer be called a great work since it is now being claimed Mr Justice Mordecai Bromberg has blown huge holes in the right to freedom of expression. In fairness Bromberg was careful about his judgement, he took almost six months after closing argument to finally reach a decision he felt able announce.
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Posted: 1st, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (3)
Phone-Hacked Jade Goody Was A Tax Dodger But The Sun Can Save Her Children
JADE Goody is back. The Sun declares:
“JADE’S CASH WIPED OUT BY £1.8M DEBTS” – Tax and bills swallow up sons’ inheritance
Well, quite. Tax a bills tend to swallow up most people’s money. Maybe – just maybe – it can be proved that Jade’s phone was hacked by the Sun’s former sister paper the News of The World and tragic Jade’s children can get a huge payout? Jade Goody is front-page news on the Sun. Maybe the paper can investigate this latest tragedy to befall Jade in a series of paid-for interviews with her surviving kith and kin that form Jade Goody Inc.?
Emily Nash reports:
TRAGIC Jade Goody’s £2.2million fortune was nearly wiped out by massive debts — leaving less than £400,000 for her young sons, The Sun can reveal.
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Posted: 1st, October 2011 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comment
Tamara Ecclestone’s Anti-Socialite Life Of Baths
TAMARA Ecclestone, biscuit-hued, lad’s mag model daughter to Bernie Ecclestone, reclines by an immaculate pool. To her side are two men: one with arms folded as if about to fight you for the yellow sunbed (with actual pillows and sheets); the other with shorts straining against his appreciation of all things Tamara.
Tamara is at the “casino floor” of the Planet Hollywood resort in Las Vegas. Hello! says she “looks like she has the world at her feet“. She does. From Tamara’s top floor vantage point you can see Paris, New York, the Pyramids of Egypt, Medieval England, a sign pointing to a chlorinated Venice and the statue of Liberty.
Hello! tells us that Tamara is building a dog spa at her £45m London home. It will have a dog bath, leather bunk beds and special dryers. She has just taken delivery of a £1 million crystal bath for her £45million home.
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Posted: 30th, September 2011 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comment
Photos Of The Day: The Horseman Fails To Pull
Posted: 30th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Photojournalism | Comment
Manchester United David De Gea ‘Steals’ Doughnut: Ignores Prawn Sandwiches
MANCHESTER United player David De Gea has been “CAUGHT NICKING £1.19 TESCO DOUGHNUT”.
The Sun explains how De Gea overlooked the prawn sandwiches and own-brand treats:
SUPER-rich Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea was given a yellow card by Tesco — for pinching a £1.19 DOUGHNUT.
The allegation is that De Gea was spotted eating an Original Glazed bun from a Krispy Kreme cabinet at a store in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.
He then, reportedly, left the shop without paying for it.
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Posted: 30th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (5)
Rio Ferdinand’s Defeat Triggers Open Season On Cheating Footballers: Kiss ‘n’ Tells Are Back
RIO Ferdinand lost his case against the MGN, publishers of the Sunday Mirror. The married Manchester United player and self-declared role model was unhappy that the paper had published the words of Carly Storey, who earned £16,000 for kissing and telling on their 13-year affair.
Judge Nicol J had to rule between the paper’s right to freedom of expression and the alleged breach of confidence.
The Daily Star summed up the case well:
Married dad-of-three Rio, 32, is seeking aggravated damages over allegations in a Sunday newspaper that he accepted the England captaincy from shamed John Terry despite having a mistress himself.
As we reported:
Married family man Terry was stripped of the captaincy in disgrace following his alleged extramarital affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel.
Ferdinand told the court:
“I was extremely upset to read the story – I view it as a gross invasion of my privacy and extremely damaging to my private life. People started shouting things out at me in the street.”Things like: “Where’s your new bird?”
The facts of the case went like this, as told in the court report:
On 25 April 2010, the Sunday Mirror published an article about the Claimant’s relationship with Ms Carly Storey, who he had first met in 1996-1997. The article alleged that the Claimant had been having an affair with Ms Storey until the beginning of 2010 when he terminated the relationship after being made England Captain in February 2010. The article alleged that he had ended the relationship out of fear of being exposed like his predecessor, John Terry.
The Claimant claimed that the article was a misuse of his private information and a breach of confidence. The Defendant defended the article as a legitimate exercise of its right to freedom of expression on the following public interest grounds:
1. That the Claimant had presented a false or misleading image of himself as a reformed character and a family man.
2. That the Claimant had embarked on a misleading campaign since 2006 to project a more responsible and positive image than the reputation he held in the past.
3. That there was an ongoing public debate as to whether the Claimant was a suitable person to be appointed as England Captain following the dismissal of John Terry (who had been sacked over an extra-martial affair).
4. Ms Storey’s own right to freedom of expression under Art 10 and her right to personal autonomy under Article 8.
The judge ruled:
…the Defendant’s right to freedom of expression outweighed the Claimant’s right to privacy. The publication of the article was justified in the public interest and the information contributed to a debate of general interest in a democratic society on the following grounds:
• The Claimant had given an interview to the News of the World in January 2006 in which he had portrayed himself as a reformed family man who had given up the ways of his past, including ‘cheating’ on his long-term partner, Ms Ellison. The same themes were echoed in the Claimant’s autobiography and subsequent media interviews. While that image persisted, there was a public interest in demonstrating it was false.
• There was a further public interest due to the Claimant’s appointment as England Captain. Many members of the public expect high standards from someone in the Claimant’s position and for many, the Captain is expected to be a role model who maintains those standards off, as well as on, the football pitch. The Defendant’s article reasonably contributed to a debate of general interest in a democratic society as to his suitability for that role.
• In terms of the additional details in the story about the early part of the relationship, the Defendant was entitled to place the relationship in context. The photo was unexceptional and its publication provided an element of support to the story. The publication of the additional details did not cause the Claimant unjustifiable additional distress (distinguishing Campbell v MGN Ltd).
Ferdinand was slaughtered by the Judge:
“I did not find this answer persuasive. In his evidence the claimant said that (Fabio) Capello had told him to be professional, not only on the pitch but ‘around the hotel’. In the past, the Claimant (Ferdinand) had not behaved in a professional manner around the hotels into which he had tried to sneak Ms Storey. Whether or not he had done that in the few weeks since he had been made the permanent captain of England, his relative recent past failings could legitimately be used to call into question his suitability for the role.”
Also:
“On the evidence presented in this case, it is by no means a universal view that the captain’s role is confined to what happens on the pitch or what affects the players’ performance. Ferdinand, he added, had voluntarily assumed the role. It was a job that carried with it an expectation of high standards. In the views of many the captain was expected to maintain those standards off, as well as on, the pitch. There were many who would indeed see the captain, at least, of the England football team as a ‘role model’… During the course of the hearing I asked the parties whether it was incumbent on me to decide whether the claimant was fit to be England captain. Thankfully they agreed that it was not. The issue is rather whether the defendant’s article reasonably contributed to the debate as to his suitability for that role.”
This is the first privacy trial in which the disclosure of an extra-marital affair was considered justified in the public interest. Kiss ‘n’ tells are not dead – they’ve just been waiting for this case to finish. It’s game on for cheating footballers…
carly-storey
Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (2)
That Robin Hood Tax Thing – Well, Who Pays The Extra?
WE’VE all seen that lovely video where Bill Nighy can’t work out why there shouldn’t be this Robin Hood Tax thing. Tiny amounts, 0.1%, sliced off every bank transaction to fund all sorts of lovely things. There’s been some argument in technical circles about this of course and the split’s along the usual lines.
Those who know what they’re talking about, you know, Nobel Laureates and the like, think it’s a very bad idea, those who would just to have more money to spend, you know, like politicians, think it’s a great idea. And so we come to the European Union which has just proposed exactly such a tax, a financial transactions tax, and FTT. As Sr. Barroso says:
He added: “It is a question of fairness. If our farmers, if our workers, if all the sectors of the economy from industry to agriculture to services, if they all pay a contribution to the society, also the banking sector should make a contribution to the society.”
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Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Money | Comment
Harry Redknapp Says Spurs Luka Modric Is An Insult To All Young Footballers (And So Is Carlos Tevez)?
HARRY Redknapp offers a few thoughts on Carlos Tevez’s refusal to play for Manchester City:
“What message does that send out to young footballers? If on Sunday morning an under-10’s team manager wants to put a sub on and he stands there saying: ‘I ain’t going on’. It can’t be right.”
You may recall that Luka Modric, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur – the club Redknapp manages – reportedly declined an offer to play for the club against Manchester United. Modric was, as media reported at the time agitating for a move to Chelsea.
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Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (31)
Gifs Of The Day: Animals Are Disgustingly Cute
Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Gifs, Key Posts | Comment
Innocent Amanda Knox Is A Rabbit-Faced ‘Whore’ With Sexy Sisters: News Round Up
AMANDA Knox: the appeal against the murder of Meredith Kercher is almost over. We round up the news:
Knox Speaks
“It’s going to be truly heartfelt,” Curt Knox tells the Today show.” You’ve got a 24-year-old kid that’s essentially fighting for her life and this is her last chance to actually tell the judge and jury that she truly had nothing to do with this horrific crime.” – People
The Films
Sollecito’s lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said prosecutors were obsessed with the portrayal of Knox as a “femme fatale” figure like the dominatrix character in a well-known 19th century sado-masochistic novel called “Venus in Furs”. Speaking to jurors on Tuesday, Bongiorno said: “You have been provided with a deformed portrait of these two young people….. Amanda has been transformed into a ‘Venus in Furs’ in contrast to a fake and weak man.” – AFP
Anything else?
Defence lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said in her closing argument on Tuesday that Knox is like the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit — man-eater in appearance but actually a loving woman. “It’s a case of ‘I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way,’” Bongiorno said, quoting a line from the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. – Indian Express
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Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (14)
Child Born With Two Faces In Pakistan: Photos
AT the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, medics are working to save a child born with two sets of eyes and lips, and two noses. She weighed 3.2 kg at birth.
The condition is known as craniofacial duplication.
The child is from Azad Jammu and Kashmir. His parents Shahida Perveen and Khalil Ahmed have two other perfectly healthy children.
Paediatric Ward Senior Registrar Dr Qaisar Aziz says:
“As feeding through the mouth is not possible [at present], he is being fed through a naso-gastric tube. The two faces are angled to each other.”
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Posted: 29th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Strange But True | Comment
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhan, Troy Davis And The Media’s Silence On Iran’s Bigotry
IRAN is making ready to execute Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. He’s a Christian pastor, who because of his Islamic roots must renounces Christianity or face death. Iran’s Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.
He has been asked three times to recant his beliefs, but has refused. If he refuses a fourth time, he could be executed at any time; he will be asked again today, and could die tomorrow.
On June 18th, 2010 Fatemah Pasindedih was arrested, charged with apostasy.
Fox News reports:
The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.
Says Nadarkhani:
“Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”
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Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (5)
Rugby World Cup Dances: Kiwi Haka Undone By England Player’s Sob Stories And Nelson Mandela
BEFORE the Haka became a menacing throat-slitting war dance (the Kapa O Pango) to be met by the oppositions’ rock-steady gazes, it was a Maypole and bladder on a stick short of being a Morris Dance. The Ka Mate can be matey as this clip shows:
How do you facedown the Haka? Giggling would be easy, but possibly trigger a diplomatic incident. Better, perhaps, if each nation brought their own version of pre-match ritual to the rugby field:
England: Each player steps forward and delivers a sympathetic sob story about a dead granny before singing Flying Without Wings (forwards) or Nellie The Elephant (backs)
Scotland: Run pellmell up the pitch and smash up the goalposts
USA: Form an Iwo Jima-type formation and erect a huge Stars and Stripes flag slap bang in the middle of the pitch while vowing to shoot anyone in the face who dares tamper with Old Glory
Georgia: Erect a human wall on the half-way line and then invite the smallest member to peep through a chink in the burly thighs and shout “Russians!” The wall then collapses and bodies lie immobile for up to ten minutes
South Africa: A speech by someone recounting the day they met Nelson Mandela (slides on the Big Screen optional)
Australia: A Fox Trot
Italy: Retreats to deep behind their own liens before stepping boastfully forward clad in the shits of their opponents
Russia: Crying
Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment (1)
Anatomy Of A Climate Change Story: It’s The Economics, Dummy
WE get endless stories about how we really can beat climate change. Easy peasy. There’s always a catch somewhere in them though: for it it were easy to beat climate change then there wouldn’t be a problem, would there? It would be easy peasy.
I think my favourite along these lines was one from Greenpeace which said we can do it all with renewables by 2030 or whenever. The bit that was buried down in the details was that we’d all have to use half the energy we do now: and if that were easy we’d all already be doing it as energy bills go up past £1,000 a year per household.
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Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts | Comments (2)
Elizabeth Taylor’s Jewels In Photos: The Crown Jewels of Hollywood And Other Golden Eggs
ELIZABETH Taylor’s jewels are on sale. You can bid for them at a show called The Crown Jewels of Hollywood at Christie’s, the auctioneers, on December 13-14. The bangles are big, flashy, real and include a 33.19 carat rock. Princess Margaret, once of the Royal family and thus an expert in the gauche, said it was “vulgar“. Taylor slid it onto the finger of the Queen’s sister and uttered, “It doesn’t look so vulgar now, does it?”
François Curiel, Christie’s international jewellery director, oozes:
“She possessed an expert’s eye for craftsmanship, rarity, quality and history. She collected the best pieces from the best periods.”
He;s the expert. You might say that she was minted, feted and wooed, and among the tons of gems and shiny stuff that came into her possession managed to garner some prize specimens.
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Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comment
The Utah Undie Run In Photos: Knickers To Anti-Gay
THE Utah Undie Run aims to show the world that Utah is not all about prudes. Organiser Nate Porter want to change the conservative nature of the state’s politics by getting young people to run and to vote. Salt Lake City is the home of the Mormon church, which is no fan of gay marriage. You want change? Then vote for it. It’s a good idea. The media will follow it because people in their undies is always newsworthy…
Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment
Michael Jackson’s ‘Murder’: Jacko Died Too Rapidly To Close His Eyes
MICHAEL Jackson ‘murder’: Anorak’s look at Dr Conrad Murray’s trial in the news:
The front pages:
The Sun: “JACKO LEFT TO DIE”
King of Pop ‘abandoned by his doctor’
Jury shown death pic as trial starts
Daily Mail: “JACKO’S FINAL DRUG BINGE”
Daily Star: “Shock of Jacko’s drug hell”
Daily Mirror: “JACKO: The Trial”
The Times: “Perfect storm of drugs killed Jackson trial is told”
The Show:
A CHILLING recording of Michael Jackson’s drugged voice was heard by his shocked family yesterday at the start of his doctor’s manslaughter trial. His feeble ramblings were played minutes after Dr Conrad Murray appeared in court charged with killing him with an overdose.
Jacko’s parents Katherine, 81, and Joe, 82, his siblings Janet, 45, La Toya, 55, Tito, 57, Randy, 49, and Jermaine, 56, listened in stunned silence. he singer sounded confused and lost as he mumbled to the medic in a recorded phone call: “We have to be phenomenal.
“When people leave this show, when people leave my show, I want them to say: ‘I’ve never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go.’” He was talking about 50 concerts at London’s O2 Arena that fans say drove him over the edge before his death at 50, on June 25, 2009. – Daily Star
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Posted: 28th, September 2011 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (7)
Ed Miliband’s Plan To Increase Political Corruption
IT’S not that I mind people having different ideas, different biases, to mine, it’s that I do mind people spouting total and complete nonsense about how the country should be run.
To take an example from Ed Miliband’s ideas at the Labour Party conference. As background, and I know you’ll find this hard to believe, British politics is remarkably free of corruption. I speak as one who has worked in both the US and Russia and believe me, a few dark corners of the occasional local council aside, brown envelopes and cash bribery really aren’t part of the British political scene.
Ed seems to want to change that:
He will tell delegates in Liverpool: “Let me tell you what the 21st-century choice is: are you on the side of the wealth creators or the asset strippers?
“For years as a country we have been neutral in that battle. They’ve been taxed the same, regulated the same, treated the same, celebrated the same. They won’t be by me.”
While not spelling out the detail of how venture capitalists in particular could be assessed, Mr Miliband believes that a tougher tax regime could be imposed on some firms deemed less responsible than others.
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Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Money | Comments (2)
Nancy Dell’Olio Knows You Find Her Fascinating
NANCY Dell’Olio tells Hello!:
“There has to be a reason why I’ve been the centre of attention for the past ten years in this country.”
Indeed. But what is it? We would ask Madeleine McCann or Princess Diana. We might ask Osama bin Laden or Tony Blair. But instead we ask ourselves? Why?
“People probably find something very fascinating or interesting about me and I’m quite pleased about that.”
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Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (3)
Michael Jackson ‘Murder’ Trial: Day 1 Photos
PSST! Want to see Michael Jackson’s dead body? You never saw dead Elvis. But you can see photos of dead Jackson. He’s on show at the Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles funfairs, where Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal physician when the pop star died is on trial for involuntary manslaughter. Was Wacko Jacko Wackedo Jacko? If convicted, Murray could get four years in prison and the loss of his medical license. He says he’s innocent. You say: who cares – it’s on with the show…
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Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (2)
Nancy Grace Presents Celebrity Nip Slips: Wardrobe Malfunctions To Order (Photos)
NANCY Grace is no victim of nominative determinism.The US TV host is on Dancing With The Stars, showing her moves and boobs. Egads! What are the odds that her chest would fall out of her clothes on primetime telly?
The Orlando Sentinel describes Grace as someone who “will exploit anything for ratings — we’re talking slaughtered children, abused spouses, you name it… who has made an entire career out of turning other people’s tragedies into entertainment”.
Host Tom Bergeron quipped:
“On the European version that would be perfectly fine.”
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Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews, TV & Radio | Comment (1)
Photos Of The Day: Pinocchio’s Tattoo Is Happy To See You
Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Photojournalism | Comment (1)
Amanda Knox: The Bald Blonde’s Truth With Diya ‘Patrick’ Lumumba, Sex And Lies
AMANDA Knox, one of Meredith Kercher’s killers, is on the cover of the UK papers. The British student was killed in Perugia on Nov 1, 2007. In 2008, Rudy Guede, 20, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison, reduced to 16 years on appeal
Amanda Knox and Knox and Raffaele Sollecito trial begins. Found guilty of murder and sexual violence, they are jailed for 26 and 25 years respectively
The Daily Mail’s front page says:
“Why she-devil Foxy mustn’t be freed”
Her nickname – a play on her blondeness – makes the story fly.
A writer on a site called Digital Journal says:
Knox is said to be a shadow of her former self, and losing her hair in prison. If justice is done next week, the next time she is seen in public, she’ll be bald.
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Posted: 27th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (21)
Inside Soap Awards In Photos: EastEnders Overshadowed By Chelsea Healey’s Yellow M&M
LUCIEN Laviscount was not with Kerry Katona at the Inside Soap Awards, that neon-hued show centred on the cast of EastEnders picking up five Awards, including Best Soap, thus proving that people will watch anything if it’s on BBC1. Of 15 awards, two are for “sexiest” male or woman – yep, still no pet category; four awards are for people who think Sharon Osbourne is likeable and try to act like her; and if the viewers are not voting with their underwear, they’re giving Bill Tarmey an award for “best Exit” – that’s the one where the writers get rid of the character.
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Posted: 26th, September 2011 | In: Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment
