Sheaf Saint

Hmmm, a scary thought. It wouldn't surprise me. Destroy the evidence just on the off chance that an inquiriy is held and all hell breaks loose when the revelations are made. To an organisation and big and as powerful as NI, surely the redundancy of a few staff and a bit of short-term negative publicity is a small price to pay to prevent that happening. All allegedly, of course.

You're right, it would be a shame. But ask yourself this... Why aren't Labour making a hell of a lot more noise about this? Knowing what our two main parties are like in this country, they will normally jump on absolutely anything they can to try and attck and discredit the opposition. Cameron is determined to push ahead with a deal that will hand Murdoch control of over half of all broadcasting in the UK, despite no proper consultation and some serious public concerns about the integrity of the organisation and one former employee in particular: namely Cameron's former PR officer. Surely the opposition should be screaming from the rooftops about this situation, but instead they are strangely subdued. Why on earth is that? Murdoch cannot make reparation for this mess now. His first move today was very poor judgment IMO. You would think that he would want to improve his PR image at the moment; but closing the paper, laying off the workers and protecting the individual who was surely accountable for everything that transpired was a very poor way to go about that.

It wouldn't surprise me. It was reported yesterday in The Spectator that Cameron and Brooks live very close to each other and have been known to go riding together. He is obviously under the thumb of Murdoch as well. And you have to question the logic behind appointing the former editor of a gutter rag like the NoTW as his PR guru. Such close links to not one but three hugely influential members of the same organisation. Is it possible that News International have something on Cameron that would destroy him if it ever got out, and they are all closing ranks to protect each others' interests?

Agreed. They know the brand is now unrecoverably tarnished and the game is up, and this seems like a publicity stunt - one final attempt to wring as much cash out of the unsuspecting public as possible.

Isn't she still CEO of the News International group though?

I would say it is. They may technically be two separate compaines but the faces are the same and they both peddle the same kind of stories. It's difficult to believe that this practise was rife at the NoTW over several years but The sun is completely innocent.

Confirmed... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14070733 I hope this doesn't mean that the investigation into what happened will suddenly just disappear as well. The people responsible still need to be brought in front of a judge and jury for their illegal and immoral actions.

A devastating summary from the Spectator here. Quite long-winded but well worth a read... http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/7075673/what-the-papers-wont-say.thtml If their conclusion is correct - that the opposition and the rest of the press are staying relatively silent on the matter because they are mostly complicit and will only be exposed if they bleat too much (and it's difficult to think of any other reason why they would choose to play down what is potentially the biggest government scandal of our generation) - then this has massive implications not only for the entire UK mainstream press but also for our whole political establishment. Scary stuff. It horrifies me the thought of just how deep this goes.

There was something about this on Watchdog recently and IIRC the two important points raised were that in order to comply with BPA regulations, the notice they put up in the car park must have a full postal address rather than a PO box, and they are not allowed to refer to a 'fine' or a 'penalty' as this is a private company and have no power to fine or penalise people.

I think that's a bit of a misleading comparison though Viking. Uncovering corrtuption at the highest level of such a powerful world organisation is surely a worthy reason for any journalist / news agency to dig a little deeper and perhaps cut a few corners, because it is very much in the public interest that these things should be exposed. Hacking the voicemail of the families of murder victims is not just illegal, it is also extremely unethical and very, very distasteful.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/murdoch_messages_2/ I recommend everyone signs up to this. The fact that the government is pushing ahead with this deal despite the recent revelations and major concerns over the validity of the consultation process is, to my mind anyway, possibly the most alarming thing about this whole episode.

So it is now confirmed that as CEO of News International, Rebecca Brooks will lead the investigation into this affair herself. Given that she was editor in charge of the NOTW at the time this allegedly took place, isn't that like asking Hitler to investigate Nazi war crimes?

It's quite sad but true that advertising is what makes the world go round these days. It was only because as couple of major sponsors raised concerns that Bernie Ecclestone caved in to public opinion and cancelled the Bahrain grand prix, otherwise I'm sure he would have pressed ahead with it.

Is anybody actually the least bit surprised by this?

My parents took me to one as a child while we were on holiday in Spain. I only have a vague recollection of it as I would have been very young at the time. I personally believe that to call it a bullfight is a bit of a misnomer really. It suggests that the bull actually has a remote chance of winning. Execution would be a more fitting description.

Hmmm, sounds delicious. I've just made some blackberry vodka using the same, slightly more simple, method as sloe gin; it should be ready in about 5-6 weeks. After the success of the raspberry and blueberry ones I did a while ago, I'm hoping this will be equally as good.

I've just booked tickets for me and my GF to go to Bestival on IOW in september. Normally I try and avoid the bigger festivals (too many people, long walk between carpark/campsite/arena, too much corporate sponsorship, overcharging for drinks/food etc..) but the lineup for Bestival this year is immense with lots of variety for everyone. Have a look for yourself.

Sorry I have to disagree...

Maybe I missed the thread, but I don't ever seem to recall anybody on this forum calling for any Tories to be executed Delldays. You just love those strawmen don't you. And I also want to echo what Viking Warrior said. Some really moronic comments on a thread about somebody who has lost his life prematurely and left a family behind. Some people have no shame.

Why does it seem odd? Maybe he just liked live music. I've been to a few festivals in my time and there are always people from all walks of life and of all ages. The fact that nobody is excluded is one of the great things about them. You just don't like the idea of a senior Tory in his 50s associating himself with thousands of liberal people.

I would immediately discount them as they are awarded by the industry and do not relate to actual public opinion, especially the Brit. I mean, this is the awards council that once gave best British dance act to the f***ing Sugababes for crying out loud. Awards like this mean absolutely nothing and only serve to inflate the egos of those receiving them. But you're right in that the beauty of music is that there is something for everyone. If we all had exactly the same tastes then imagine how bland and boring the world would be.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-13918856 WTF!?!?

I guess you never saw him parodying himself on Extras with Ricky Gervais then. Agree about the last bit though - very dull, uninspiring, middle-class, dinner party music. My mate joked that with them and U2 on the lineup this year, they should have renamed the mainstage as the 'Music On Hold' stage

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/blog/article/210811/police-reveal-ryan-dunn-was-drunk-as-macabre-thieves-steal-mementos.html Confirmed - twice the legal limit. I feel sorry for any loved ones he leaves behind, and I know that conventional wisdom says it is wrong to speak ill of the dead, but he brought it all on himself the stupid tw*t

How do you arrive at that conclusion. It is just as likely he was stabbed inside the property, at which point the other burglars said "alright we're leaving" and carried him out. Anyway, I don't believe this was just a straight-forward burglary. If it was then why would it take four of them?