Odd one over ocho...

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One over the eight Slang: drunk, intoxicated..."Can someone get a taxi for Alex, he's had one over the eight and needs to go home now." IMHO, the greatest performance of Alec Baldwin's (OK,OK, he was really a dummy) was as the ceremony host of Kim Jong-il's peace ceremony in North Korea where he represents the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G.), a union of liberal Hollywood actors. Of course this was in the film Team America: World Police (click on image), a film that also had the best vomiting scene ever portrayed in the history of cinema. Alec's comments about Cameron are as vomit-inducing. "For the U.K... try not to be like USA. Zero tolerance for abuses like this criminal activity. Cameron should resign." What a pussy.

Obliging Obama...

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"Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient"...[Link] And top recipients of News Corp.'s political action committee in 2009-10 elections were the Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Howard Berman - both California Democrats - and Sen. Charles Schumer (Democrat-N.Y.)...OK, BHO is POTUS so you'd expect it (no?) but it certainly doesn't fit the lefty meme. (hat-tip David Preiser at BBBC)

In other money spending news - this time in the UK - since coming to power the Coalition have cut by 90% advertising in the News International titles (Labour spent 7 million a year between 2005 and 2010 (no, they still kept spending all through the 'credit crunch'); Stephen Williams said:

"Despite the dire state of public finances, the Labour Government continued to spend millions with the Murdoch tabloids."

"This confirms the impression that the last Government was obsessed with spin and prepared to use taxpayers' money to push its agenda with a bloated advertising budget."

Obama update: news you won't see on the BBC.

Overseas overdose...

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Not just me then...the "Scumset".... "A lot of our overseas listeners are amazed at the amount of coverage that was being given to this issue". Euro meltdown, rampant "fuel poverty", Obama 'causing' possible dollar debt default, various wars and other non-important news. From EU Referendum, Reason departed...and it is definitely the impression I have; I even listened for most of this afternoon to the live broadcast of the Commons culture select committee on the phone-hacking scandal. Richard at EUR goes on: "What is wrong is the totally disproportionate coverage. And yes I did check ... there has been far more media coverage today than was given in the newspapers to the outbreak of the Second World War." FFS!

P.S. Why is it, that in the full glow of spotlight on media behaviour, the likes of Dan Sabbagh at the Guardian can spout such shit; can lie, blatantly and patently in public? He has a few possible excuses: either (a) Dan was drunk or on drugs (or both...or worse?) (b) didn't actually listen/watch or possibly (probably?) (c) had written most of his article before the event. No wonder his article wasn't open to comments.

Ominous obtrusion of oncoming ordure...

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Try as they might, nothing can hide the ordure hitting the ventilator that is soon to engulf the Euro zone. The Greek crisis has been played down magnificently but it is spreading, as predicted, slowly but surely; unwanted but unstoppable...MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN: the writing is on the wall (it has been for a while); The EU is preparing the mother of all bailouts.

Update: Some might say destiny awaits...

Obganiating on oligopoly...

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Great stuff, IMHO, from Allister Heath, Editor of the independent daily business newspaper City A.M.

"ALL too predictably, some politicians and powerful individuals with an interest in a servile media are using the hacking crisis to cripple freedom of speech, to advance their own ideological agendas and to damage commercial journalism."

"The media and the police need to be thoroughly cleaned-up, and cosy, crony relationships with politicians must be smashed. In most cases, however, the necessary laws already exist, and this cleansing must target any malpractice across the industry, not just at one firm."..."Some of the rules being mooted would have prevented the MPs' expenses scandal as well as the Wikileaks stories."

We know News International is the biggest newspaper company in the UK but what about online, TV or radio? "...in many cases the BBC has extremely high market shares and has crushed private competitors". This isn't healthy: dangerous times indeed.

oligopoly n. - a market dominated by a few producers.
obganiate v. - to irritate with reiteration

Only one oligarchy...

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...in the British media. "For example, traditional Christians are all fundamentalist bigots; the science of man-made global warming is settled; opponents of mass immigration are racist; Eurosceptics are swivel-eyed fanatics; and all who oppose these opinions and more are Right-wing extremists...

...The Murdoch empire may need to be brought sternly to book over the hacking scandal. But the media monopoly that really has undermined and demoralised British society and deserves to be broken up is the BBC". I agree and IMHO the "evidence" gets greater and clearer every day; ironically, considering the author of these quotes, I would add the USA to the list in the first paragraph because anyone wanting to know what's going on over the pond would be hopelessly lost if they relied on the Beeb. Read more.

Order-Order order...

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"The idea that this crisis is only about News International is fanciful." "In short every major newsroom in the land has used illegal techniques to obtain information." Guido says "We Are On the Verge of Killing Popular Journalism"...but just how 'popular' is it? Click image to enlarge. Also, yesterday we read how the BBC and others may be included in any inquiry.

P.S. A very interesting find: "Rupert Murdoch - A Portrait of Satan", from Adam Curtis a documentary film maker who blogs at the BBC. [hat-tip: Millie Tant over at Biased BBC]

Oneirataxia...

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"When Gordon loved Rupert". "Gordon Brown graced the political stage with a rare cameo this week – if half an hour of deluded invective masquerading as reasoned piety qualifies as a cameo. Brown would have you believe that he had nothing to do with Rupert Murdoch." "The Chancellor has started to love-bomb News International." Image link to article; it's from around 2002, about the same time the BBC became aware of the hacking going on...

Plus a late Update: "Is there no end to The Guardian’s self serving hypocrisy?" Autonomous Mind