It’s with considerable relief that I am noticing a trend: The so called “war on terror” is no longer a carte blanche as far as limitations of civil liberties are concerned. Increasingly there is a very critical discussion of new, or already existing laws, that curb civil liberties as they undermine the very thing they [...]
Continue reading about Discussion of limits on civil liberties regains critical look
Where was THIS Gore in 2000? Watch him slam CNN’s and the mainstream media’s practice to always show two sides to every story, no matter how ridiculous the “opposing view” is. (For example showing a Holocaust survivor splitscreen next to a Holocaust denier.) The good part starts at minute 2:13.
And there we thought rhw UK had wasted £19 billion on the Eurofighter. Some people seem to like them:
Saudi Arabia is to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from UK firm BAE Systems, the Ministry of Defence confirms.
BBC
What could possibly go wrong?
Priceless Guardian quote:
Still, perhaps we should acknowledge the drug reference and salute a perfect portrait of the mixed-up, shaken-and-stirred mores of Britain circa late 2006: a 69-year-old grandmother - dressed, say M&S, in a £150 “Magicwear” hold-it-all-in dress - doing a Bond-themed gig in Superman’s house and singing about being on E. Fingerfood and sensibly [...]
“I wish life were like Spooks [the TV series] where everything is, a, knowable, and, b, soluble by six people.”
Britain’s MI5 head, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, said so speakinjg about the agencies problems keeping up with tracking all threats to UK interests. Manningham-Buller further said MI5 currently employed 2,800 individuals after growing about 50% since 9/11. [...]
Continue reading about Head of UK’s MI5: Agency is troubling to keep up with mounting terror threats
I’ve often said you can learn more about what’s going on in the US by means of foreign media rather than local media. For example the way UK-paper The Guardian reported on Vice President Dick Cheney telling reporters he was cool with at least some forms of torture:
The use of a form of torture known [...]
About ten years ago I sat in a park in London and wondered out loud if the pelicans ever eat any of the pidgeons that kept pestering them. Today I read this on the BBC Web site:
Pelican swallows pigeon in park (article includes picture)
One more mystery solved.
A seasoned reporter after 40 years at the BBC:
Over 40 years I myself have made many mistakes, every single one of which I feel badly about.
But, like my colleagues, I can honestly say I have never broadcast anything I did not believe to be correct. The culture of telling the truth for its own sake [...]
Just in case the last few posts give the idea that I am being blasé about the possible loss of life that could have easily occurred:
They said the airlines to be targeted were United, American and Continental, bound for New York, Washington and California. BBC
I am booked on a Continental flight on August 27 to [...]
Downing Street admitted Tony Blair would not have left the country on Monday for his Caribbean holiday if he had known the police would need to swoop so quickly to disrupt a terrorist plot. He has known about it in general terms for months, and has spoken to President George Bush about it on a [...]
Continue reading about Guardian: Blair warned Bush of terror threat to US airlines
