Douglas Caddy

More evidence of criminality by Murdoch’s media empire

World Socialist Web Site.

By Robert Stevens

30 September 2011

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/murd-s30.shtml

Fresh evidence has emerged on the extent of criminality surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid and its relations with London’s Metropolitan Police (Met).

Last week, the Daily Telegraph reported that the former Deputy Editor of the News of the World, Neil Wallis, was being secretly paid more than £25,000 for supplying News International with “crime exclusives” whilst he was working for the Met. For his so-called “consultancy work” with the Met involving two days a month, Wallis was paid £24,000.

Wallis’ employment by the Met led in July to the resignation of then-Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and his deputy, Assistant Commissioner John Yates. In their initial testimony to parliament’s home affairs select committee in July, neither Stephenson nor Yates revealed the fact that Wallis had been a paid consultant.

An unnamed MP told the Observer newspaper at the time, “We were assured that Yates and Stephenson weren’t taking money from the journalists. What we didn’t know was that the journalists were taking money from the cops.”

Wallis was among a small number of former News of the World senior figures, who were arrested in July by the Met and released without charge. He was arrested on suspicion of intercepting phone messages.

Wallis, nicknamed the “Wolfman” for his tabloid exploits, was first deputy editor, and then executive editor at the News of the World. He left News International in August 2009 and joined the PR firm Outside Organisation, becoming its managing director in 2010. Wallis also maintained his own PR firm, Chamy Media. It was in this capacity that Wallis was contracted to the Met from October 2009 until September 2010, to “provide strategic communication advice and support.”

The Telegraph reported that while at the Met, Wallis received “a payment of £10,000 for a single ‘crime’ story.” The newspaper states he also was also “paid for providing News International with details of a suspected assassination attempt on the Pope during his visit to London last year.” The article claims that Wallis sold stories to other newspapers during his stint at the Met.

The Met told the newspaper that, “during his employment, Mr Wallis was not given access to any Metropolitan Police computer systems.” This attempt to play down Wallis’s activity is a red herring.

Wallis was employed by the Met just months after assistant commissioner John Yates, who was nominally in charge of a “review” of a 2006 police inquiry into serious allegations of phone hacking carried out by the News of the World, closed down any further investigation. In doing so, Yates dismissed the concerns of even then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who claimed that his phone had been hacked.

Yates was also part of a Met committee that vetted Wallis before he was allowed to take on his paid role with the police.

The revelations raise yet again the revolving door between the Murdoch press and the Met. Andy Hayman, who was in charge of the 2006 police inquiry into the allegations, then went on to work for News International as a columnist for the Times. Hayman was the former head of counterterrorism at the Met and a champion of the right wing “law and order” agenda trumpeted by the Murdoch media. During Hayman’s period at the Met, he demanded the government pass legislation allowing the detention of people for 90 days without trial on “anti-terror” grounds.

As the phone hacking scandal has proven, all the institutions of the state, including the main political parties, are implicated. The Telegraph story paints a picture of the closest of relationships between Murdoch’s UK papers, the Met and the Conservative Party.

Wallis was close friends with Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, who became Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications, first in opposition, and then in office.

Coulson had resigned from the News of the World in 2007, following the jailing of the paper’s royal correspondent for involvement in phone hacking. Cameron had consistently defended Coulson against allegations of wrong-doing, but in January he was forced to step down as evidence mounted that he had approved payments for phone hacking. Despite also being arrested in July, Coulson is another News International employee that has been released without charge.

“Mr [Andy] Coulson and Mr [Neil] Wallis were close colleagues and good friends and arranged for senior Metropolitan Police officers to meet the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. It is understood that Mr Wallis also made informal representations to Mr Coulson about Scotland Yard’s views on Conservative law-and-order policies”, states the article.

In a further twist to the scandal, it has been revealed that Coulson has now initiated legal action against News Group, a subsidiary of News International, after the latter stated it planned to stop paying his legal fees.

It has not been explained why News Group would ever have committed to paying these legal fees, four years after Coulson’s employment with it ceased. It has also emerged that Coulson continued to receive severance deal payments from News International, even when he was employed by Cameron.

But the legal bill is mounting. As well as the ongoing cases against News International/News Group in Britain, preparations are underway by lawyers in the United States to begin a class action lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s US-based News Corporation on behalf of victims of its phone hacking activities.

Norman Siegel, formerly the head of the New York civil liberties union, is pursuing legal options in both federal and New York state courts in regard to allegations that News Corp employees bribed police in the UK. He is seeking to establish whether a class action suit can be launched in the US on behalf of the victims. A second New York lawyer, Steve Hyman, is understood to be working with Siegel as is Mark Lewis of the UK firm Taylor Hampton, who represented the family of murdered teenager Milly Dowler. It was the Guardian’s disclosure in July that the mobile phone of Milly Dowler had been hacked by a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, on behalf of the News of the World, that triggered the current crisis.

Siegel commented, “The allegations of phone hacking and bribery against News Corporation are serious and substantial, and we will approach this initial exploration with that same seriousness”.

Siegel represents 20 9/11 families and has advised them regarding an ongoing FBI investigation of allegations, first reported by the Daily Mirror, that News of the World reporters attempted to hack into the phone records of some 9/11 victims.

The Guardian reported that Lewis had asked Siegel to “seek witness statements from News Corp and its directors, including Rupert and James Murdoch, in relation to allegations that News of the World staff may have bribed police.”

As the nefarious goings-on between News Corp, the Met and politicians at the highest level continue to unravel apace; it is instructive to contrast the Met’s attitude to Wallis with its response to the Guardian and the journalist Amelia Hill.

Only last week, the Met sought silence and intimidate the Guardian, the newspaper that had originally exposed some of the endemic criminality at the News of the World. Acting as a law unto themselves, they attempted to force the newspaper to hand over all its documents in relation to its Milly Dowler revelations in July. A production order from the Met also asserted that Guardian journalist Hill had committed an offence under the Official Secrets Act by “inciting” an officer from Operation Weeting—the Met’s own investigation into phone hacking—to reveal information. The Met were eventually forced to back down from such a blatant attack on democratic rights and the freedom of the press.

Yet when it is alleged that Wallis, a former deputy editor at the News of the World, was using his position as an insider with access to information at the Met to sell “crime exclusives” to that very same paper and other newspapers, the response from the police is to do nothing at all.

This is despite, as the Met confirmed to the Telegraph, that “Wallis’s contract at Scotland Yard included a confidentiality clause, a data protection act clause and a conflict of interest clause.

“All of these clauses would prohibit him selling any information he was privy to while working at Scotland Yard.”

Friday September 30, 2011

Roswell Open Sesame

http://www.unknowncountry.com/dreamland/latest

Long time KPFK broadcaster Ralph Steiner has amassed a remarkable group of recordings of news announcements and interviews about the Roswell Incident. This edition of Dreamland begins with a recording of the first radio news report about the crash, and then Ralph takes us through a terrific history of Roswell, as told in interviews and recordings he has collected over his long career. Much of this material has never been heard before, and it has never been brought together in a single program anywhere. Fascinating new insight into the Roswell Incident. We will also hear the ORIGINAL recording of Colonel Jesse Marcel, who actually recovered the debris, describing what he saw, and Congressman Steven Schiff discussing the strange reaction of the Air Force when he instituted an investigation of the incident by the General Accounting Office.

http://www.unknowncountry.com/dreamland/latest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/29/phone-hacking-watergate-reporter-parallels

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/sep/29/watergate-carl-bernstein-rupert-murdoch-video

Neville Thurlbeck's statement on his dismissal from News International

Former News of the World chief reporter states 'I took no part in the matter which has led to my dismissal'

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 30 September 2011 07.38 EDT

Scotland Yard has now made me aware of the reason for my dismissal, a reason which News International has withheld from me for almost a month.

For legal reasons, I am unable to go into the reason cited.

However, I will say this. I took no part in the matter which has led to my dismissal after 21 years of service.

I say this most emphatically and with certainty and confidence that the allegation which led to my dismissal will eventually be shown to be false.

And those responsible for the action, for which I have been unfairly dismissed, will eventually be revealed.

For more than two years, News International has accepted I was not responsible for the matter in question and there is no valid or reliable evidence now to support their sudden volte face.

At the length, truth will out.

I await that time with patience but with a determination to fight my case to the end.

I was saddened to hear that News International was giving "off the record" briefings about me to the press this week.

This has compelled me to speak for the first time since my name became linked to the phone-hacking scandal through the "for Neville" email more than two years ago.

I would request that News International abandon the unseemly practice of whispering behind the back of a loyal and long-serving former employee.

There is much I could have said publicly to the detriment of News International but so far, have chosen not to do so.

Therefore, let us all retain a dignified silence until we meet face to face in a public tribunal where the issues can be rigorously examined and fairness can eventually prevail.

Phone hacking: Neville Thurlbeck says 'truth will out'

Former News of the World senior reporter breaks silence, saying he 'took no part in the matter which led to his dismissal'

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 30 September 2011 08.07 EDT

Neville Thurlbeck, the former News of the World chief reporter, has sensationally broken his silence on the phone-hacking scandal, saying he "took no part in the matter which led to his dismissal".

In his first public statement since he was arrested and bailed for alleged phone hacking in April, Thurlbeck said the "truth will out" and "those responsible will eventually be revealed".

In a clear shot across his former employer's bows, Thurlbeck claimed there was "much I could have said publicly to the detriment of News Interntional", but had so far chosen "not to do so".

The 49-year-old former chief reporter at the News of the World was sacked by Rupert Murdoch's News International earlier this month, prompting him to sue his former employer for unfair dismissal.

Thurlbeck had applied for "interim relief" at an employment tribunal hearing scheduled to be heard on Friday but pulled out late on Thursday.

His solicitor Nathan Donaldson, employment partner at DWF, also issued a statement on Friday confirming that Thurlbeck was continuing his action against News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that published the News of the World, "for unfair dismissal and whistleblowing".

"Scotland Yard has now made me aware of the reason for my dismissal, a reason which News International has withheld from me for almost a month," Thurlbeck said, in a statement issued by his solicitors that shows he is fighting back against his former employer.

"For legal reasons, I am unable to go into the reason cited. However, I will say this. I took no part in the matter which has led to my dismissal after 21 years of service," he added.

"I say this most emphatically and with certainty and confidence that the allegation which led to my dismissal will eventually be shown to be false. And those responsible for the action, for which I have been unfairly dismissed, will eventually be revealed."

Thurlbeck also claimed that for more than two years, News International had accepted he was not responsible for the matter in question and there was "no valid or reliable evidence now to support their sudden volte face. At the length, truth will out."

Thurlbeck also said he would "fight my case to the end" and accused News International of "giving 'off the record' briefings" to the press.

"This has compelled me to speak for the first time since my name became linked to the phone hacking scandal through the 'For Neville' email more than two years ago," he said.

"I would request that News International abandon the unseemly practice of whispering behind the back of a loyal and long-serving former employee.

"There is much I could have said publicly to the detriment of News International but so far, have chosen not to do so."

News International said in a statement that it was "not able to comment on circumstances regarding any individual". "As we have said previously, News International continues to co-operate fully with the Metropolitan police service in its investigations into phone hacking and police payments to ensure that those responsible for criminal acts are brought to justice."

The Guardian revealed more than two years ago the existence of a "for Neville" email – believed to be a reference to Thurlbeck – sent to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, which contained a transcript of messages left on a mobile phone belonging to Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor.

The "for Neville" email contradicted the defence that News International had maintained until late 2010, that phone-hacking was limited to Mulcaire and one "rogue reporter" on the News of the World, former royal editor Clive Goodman. Both were jailed in early 2007 for phone-hacking offences.

Thurlbeck was due to attend an "interim relief hearing" about his unfair dismissal claim on Friday, but withdrew because the "issues to be determined by the employment tribunal will require key individuals within the News Group Newspapers being cross-examined".

His solicitors added that "unfortunately" Friday's hearing was limited to "a review of papers" and because of this "procedural limitation" Thurlbeck and his legal team decided to withdraw.

They wanted to ensure the benefits of a full hearing where "complete disclosure" from the parties would be made.

News International parent company News Corporation set up an internal investigation unit, the management and standards committee, on the orders of Rupert Murdoch in the summer to assist the police's phone-hacking investigation and purge the organisation of bad practices.

However, it is understood News International is not telling any former employees why they are being dismissed under the MSC's rigid clean-up protocol, which aims to ensure that any potential police investigation is not compromised.

Police officer who was friend of Barrymore sues over hacking

The Independent

By Cahal Milmo and James Cusick

Friday, 30 September 2011

A gay police officer apparently targeted for his friendship with television personality Michael Barrymore, a former Labour minister and the ex-wife of rock star Noel Gallagher yesterday became the latest people to lodge damages claims for phone hacking against Rupert Murdoch's News International.

The three lawsuits lodged in the High Court by Dan Lichters, Claire Ward and Meg Matthews add to the burgeoning list of about 30 damages claims already brought against the defunct News of the World and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire which are now likely to cost Mr Murdoch's empire far more than the £20m originally set aside to settle.

The new claims, which are being brought by the London-based law firm Collyer Bristow following the disclosure of documents showing that each claimant was targeted by Mr Mulcaire, raise allegations that the private detective was used to hack into the voicemails of a serving police officer. Mr Lichters was working as a plain clothes officer in the Met Police when his relationship with Mr Barrymore was revealed in the months following the death of Stuart Lubbock, whose body was found in the television star's swimming pool after a party in March 2001.

The openly gay constable revealed later that he had been removed from his undercover duties as a result of the publicity about his friendship with Mr Barrymore, which began at least six months after Mr Lubbock's death. A story revealing the relationship was published by The Sun on 2 November 2001 along with a photograph of the two men out shopping. Mr Lichters' lawyer last night declined to comment on whether his lawsuit complained of articles in The Sun, the sister paper of the News of the World.

Ms Ward won her Watford seat in Labour's 1997 landslide, and was promoted to a junior justice minister in 2009. She lost her seat in 2010. Ms Matthews became a tabloid favourite following her relationship Oasis founder Noel Gallagher. Matthews, now a successful interior designer, divorced from Gallagher in 2001.

Steven Heffer, at Collyers Bristow, last night declined to comment on any details of the claims. News International said last night it was unable to comment on individual damages claims being made against it.

The lawsuits came as Scotland Yard announced it had extended the police bail of a detective involved in Operation Weeting, the Yard's investigation into phone hacking. The 51-year-old detective constable, who was arrested on suspicion of passing information about the inquiry to The Guardian, will answer bail on 15 December.

Former News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck has dropped an attempt to make News International continue the payment of his wages while he sues the newspaper for unfair dismissal. His case was due to start today but has been put back to a later date.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/sep/29/watergate-carl-bernstein-rupert-murdoch-video

Carl Bernstein on the Murdoch wiretapping crimes.

UK tabloid paid spies for scoops

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER

Associated Press | AP – Wed, Sep 28, 2011

LONDON (AP) — No one suspected the secretary.

Efficient, well-dressed and well-liked, Sue Harris was at the heart of the Sunday People, the smallest of Britain's weekly tabloids. She booked flights, reserved accommodation, and tallied expenses for the populist paper's dozen or so full-time reporters. These journalists implicitly trusted the petite, 40-something south Londoner who'd spent most if not all of her working life at the tabloid.

Maybe they shouldn't have.

In 1995 Harris was dismissed over an allegation that she'd been feeding her paper's juiciest scoops to the Piers Morgan-edited News of the World, betraying her co-workers for a weekly payoff of 250 pounds — then worth about $375. Although People journalists had long believed there was a traitor in their midst, they were shocked when Harris was exposed.

"Everybody knew there was a mole," said a former senior journalist with the People. "We never thought the person we were looking for was her."

The journalist, who was there when Harris was fired, was among three former colleagues who recounted her story to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they still work in the media industry.

Harris' alleged spying on behalf of the News of the World wasn't unique, an AP investigation has found. Interviews with three more former journalists and published accounts suggest that Rupert Murdoch's flagship Sunday tabloid engaged in a pattern of payoffs aimed at rival newspaper employees.

The News of the World was closed in July as evidence of illegal conduct there became inescapable. Although accusations that the paper hacked into phones and corrupted police officers to win scoops have been widely aired, the paper's efforts to subvert rival newspaper employees have seen less attention.

American investigators are already examining whether the News of the World's parent company, New York-based News Corp., broke U.S. anti-corruption laws by bribing British officials. Legal experts now say that payments made to rival journalists could make it more difficult for the media conglomerate to defend itself against any potential prosecution.

The corporate espionage campaign also calls into question the ethics of Morgan, who edited the News of the World between 1994 and 1995 and who once boasted that having rivals on his payroll meant that he and his colleagues "always know exactly what our competitors are doing."

Story theft has long been a big worry for Britain's Sunday tabloids, who only get one shot a week at making an impression on their readership. Particular concern surrounds the "splash" — the front page story which acts as an advertisement for a paper's journalism.

At the People as with other tabloids, journalists took extreme measures to keep a potential splash under wraps. Sources would be paid compensation in return for exclusive access or sequestered at out-of-the way hotels for days at a time to keep them away from rival reporters.

Keeping the splash secret was particularly important for the cash-strapped People. If the News of the World got wind of a story, the Murdoch tabloid's massive budget meant it could easily outbid the People for interview rights.

But no secret was safe from Harris, who spent years sitting a few feet from the People's senior editors. Former journalists say that, thanks to the weekly payments made by the News of the World, the People's powerful rival knew everything too.

The effect on reporters was devastating. A People journalist sent by plane to Edinburgh was disconsolate when he found a News of the World team on the same flight. A writer huddled with his source at an obscure hotel outside of London was shocked to discover his paper's biggest rival at the downstairs bar. A team of People reporters who'd spent days staking out the home of a young woman seethed when they saw their competitors walk up to the front door.

People journalists would routinely spend days putting together a splash only to be ambushed at the last minute by the News of the World, who would outbid them for the story. Suspicion grew as exclusives kept getting spoiled.

"It was a kind of frustrating paranoia," said a journalist who held a mid-ranking job at the paper at the time. "There had to be a mole. But everyone looked around the office and at who sat next to them, and no one believed it could be anyone there."

Something similar was happening at one of the People's sister papers, the Sunday Mirror, where reporter Chris House was accepting about 1,000 pounds a month to leak his colleagues' stories.

In his 2005 book, "The Insider," Morgan recalled one of the disclosures: The news that a popular British television presenter was having an affair.

Morgan said the Sunday Mirror had spent three months working on the story only to have it stolen out from under them the day before it was due to run.

"If I was their editor I'd want to top myself," he crowed, using British slang for "suicide."

It isn't clear when the News of the World began paying for rivals' stories, although Morgan's book suggests that the practice predated his installment as editor there. The senior journalist at the People said he was warned as far back as 1992 that there was a mole on the paper.

Morgan turned on his informants when he became editor of the Daily Mirror, which shares the same publisher, Trinity Mirror PLC, as the Sunday Mirror and the People. Now working for the other side, he said he gave the pair a month to stop taking bribes.

"Incredibly they had just carried on, so I fired them," he wrote.

House, who now lives in the English cathedral city of Winchester, declined comment when reached by the AP. Contact information for Harris couldn't be located, and attempts to trace her through her former colleagues were unsuccessful.

The loss of two of its informants didn't deter the News of the World. In 1999, Trinity Mirror threatened to sue the paper over an alleged attempt to bribe the Sunday Mirror's deputy news editor, Dennis Rice.

Rice turned down the bribe, and the matter was settled out of court amid claim and counter-claim. The Sunday Mirror's then-editor Colin Myler later fired off a letter to the Evening Standard complaining that "this is the third time the News of the World has offered money to Mirror Group employees for our confidential information."

A former News of the World reporter who worked at the paper through all three episodes said that bribery would have been "business as usual" at the newspaper.

"No one would have thought it was ethically dodgy," he said, speaking anonymously because he too still works in the media industry. "It was dog eat dog and whatever got results was welcomed."

Buying the loyalty of rival journalists would not have broken British bribery laws, which were only recently updated to cover payments made to competitors. Nor would they have run up against the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — which only applies to foreign officials.

But legal experts say that if a prosecution were brought under the act for bribing police, then the payments offered to House, Harris or Rice could be entered into evidence.

Previous misbehavior can be used "to prove certain things such as intent, motive, absence of mistake, or pattern," said Anthony Barkow, who directs New York University's Center on the Administration of Criminal Law.

Another expert said that past allegations of bribery "may go to corporate culture and 'tone at the top.'"

"Practices like this as far back as the '90s undermine the argument that senior management wasn't aware," said Alexandra Wrage, the president of TRACE, an association that advises multinationals on anti-bribery compliance.

News Corp. declined comment on any of the allegations made in this article.

Piers Morgan, whose career has since taken him to a top spot as CNN's celebrity interviewer, also declined comment.

The 46-year-old's past is already under scrutiny thanks in part to suggestive statements he's made about listening in on other people's voicemails. Morgan has denied ordering anyone to hack a phone or knowingly publishing stories based on hacked information, but he was in charge at the News of the World when it was bribing people for information and freely acknowledged that the practice was wrong.

"It's a disgrace, of course, and totally unethical," he wrote. "But very handy."

Phone hacking: second NoW journalist takes News International to tribunal

Former assistant editor Ian Edmondson is taking publisher to employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 28 September 2011 11.58 EDT

A second journalist at the heart of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is taking Rupert Murdoch's News International to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal.

Ian Edmondson filed his suit in April, but the case has only come to light in the wake of revelations that the paper's former chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, is also taking News International to an employment tribunal, claiming he was unfairly sacked.

However, unlike Thurlbeck, Edmondson is not claiming he was a whistle-blower and therefore should not have been sacked because he disclosed wrong-doing on the paper.

Edmondson was sacked in January this year after he was named by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire as the person who asked him to hack into the mobile phone of football agent Sky Andrew.

As the former assistant editor (news) of the Sunday tabloid, he was one of the most senior journalists on the paper.

It is thought that Thurlbeck was only sacked this month. Because he is a whistle-blower's defence, his case is expedited through the system, with a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in East London on Friday.

News International said it would "vigorously contest" both cases.

Thurlbeck was arrested in April on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages but remained on the payroll of the paper until recently.

The Federal Reserve Plans To Identify “Key Bloggers” And Monitor Billions Of Conversations About The Fed On Facebook, Twitter, Forums And Blogs

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-federal-reserve-plans-to-identify-key-bloggers-and-monitor-billions-of-conversations-about-the-fed-on-facebook-twitter-forums-and-blogs

http://www.scribd.com/doc/66281284/Frbny-Social-Media-Rfp

Lord Justice Leveson: we need to pull together on inquiry

Judge leading inquiry into press ethics and behaviour also clarifies vision for seminars providing background information

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 28 September 2011 09.04 EDT

Lord Justice Leveson has said he has a "vast and difficult task" ahead and needs to make sure everyone involved in the inquiry into press ethics and behaviour was "pulling in the same direction".

He told a preliminary hearing at London's high court that he wanted to learn as much as possible about journalism and urged all the barristers and solicitors in the court room to tell him if he was missing any "perspective".

It was "critically important through this inquiry that I have the help of everyone", he said.

Leveson added: "I have a cast and difficult task to address within a comparatively short period of time. I will only start to be able to achieve a sensible resolution … if everyone is pulling in the same direction, albeit from different standpoints."

At the hearing, he made it plain that he and he alone would reach his conclusion and make recommendations about the future of the press when he reports back to David Cameron next year.

He also issued further details about the dates and potential subject areas of the seminars he will hold ahead of the full inquiry.

The first seminar on 6 October will be chaired by Sir David Bell, the former chairman of Financial Times, and will explore issues relating to privacy and the press.

A second seminar has been scheduled for 12 October but no details of the subject matter have been released.

Leveson said a list of witnesses had been drawn up to appear at the seminars but the letters had not been posted because of a challenge by Associated Newspapers on Wednesday on the role of the "assessors", or experts, appointed to advise the judge. Associated is concerned that there is not an assessor with tabloid journalism experience among the six appointed by Leveson.

After some legal debate he clarified his vision for the seminars – unlike the hearings when the inquiry proper gets under way, those invited will be asked to speak informally and will not be under oath.

In each seminar, three people will give a 10-minute presentation "and then it is open to anybody else [in the audience] to contribute and add to the debate".

Leveson did not say whether the audience would be invited or open to the public.

The seminars will be recorded, streamed live on the Leveson inquiry website and transcripts will be made available.

Daily Mail publisher challenges status of Leveson inquiry advisers

Concerns about lack of tabloid and regional experience among six members

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 28 September 2011 05.45 EDT

The publisher of the Daily Mail has challenged Lord Justice Leveson over the composition of his six-strong advisory team amid concerns that the prime minister's appointees lack tabloid or regional newspaper experience.

Leveson indicated that he would consider whether to appoint extra advisers in response to Associated's complaint. The judge said that he would reserve his decision, noting that the "pressures on the Liverpool Echo will be different to the pressures affecting the Mirror and the Sun; different to the pressures affecting the Observer".

David Cameron set up the Leveson enquiry in July at the height of the phone hacking crisis. It is a two-part public inquiry that will first examine press standards and media regulation in the UK, and then look into the phone-hacking scandal once the criminal investigation and any court cases arising from it conclude.

Leveson told the early part of this morning's hearing that he was eager to engage with the Daily Mail and said he was trying to arrange for Paul Dacre, the paper's editor-in-chief, to attend next month. The judge said: "I did ask him to participate on 6 October but he can't, and I'm waiting to hear from him about 12 October."

Jonathan Caplan QC, representing Associated Newspapers told the hearing "we do not want to be confrontational" and stressed the importance of the judge's work, adding: "under the terms of reference [this inquiry] raises very important issues for the future conduct, regulation and ownership of the newspaper industry".

Leveson's six advisers, all appointed by David Cameron, are Sir David Bell, former chairman of the Financial Times; Shami Chakribati, director of human rights watchdog Liberty; Lord David Currie, the former chairman of Ofcom; Elinor Goodman, the one-time polictical editor of Channel 4 News; George Jones, former political editor of the Daily Telegraph; and Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former chief constable of West Midlands police.

Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Mirror titles; the Newspaper Publishers' Association, which represents the national press; and Guardian News & Media, which publishes the Guardian and the Observer, also expressed some concern about the lack of tabloid and local newspaper experience among the six advisers.

Associated's legal team also told the hearing that advisers to an inquiry may have a "partial view" and that could "filter into" the inquiry. However, Leveson stressed their role was only an advisory one. The judge challenged the view that the grouping had any sort of judicial role, noting that "the conclusion [of the inquiry] will be mine and mine alone."

The judge added: "I am very conscious that I am stepping into a profession that is not the one that I spent 40 years of life in. It is critiical that I obtain advice from those who have made their life in this area, not least because I would be keen to understand any flaws that I might have because of lack of experience."

Associated argued that the Leveson inquiry should have more advisers, and claimed the inquiry would "benefit from experts across the industry" that would "fill the gap" left the lack of representation for mid-market or tabloid papers.

The publisher's legal team also signalled it was particularly unhappy with the presence of Sir David Bell because he had been a "leading light" in the Media Standards Trust, which campaigns for high standards in news and organised the Hacked Off campaign for a public inquiry into phone hacking. Bell was chairman of the Media Standards Trust until he resigned to become a Leveson adviser

News Corp investors urged to drop James Murdoch from board

Shareholder group Pirc says Rupert Murdoch's son should not be director due to close association with phone-hacking scandal

By James Robinson

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 28 September 2011 05.10 EDT

Investors in News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's media company, were urged on Tuesday to vote against the re-election of his son James Murdoch as a company director by an influential shareholder group.

Murdoch's youngest son is the company's deputy chief operating officer, the third most powerful executive at the company overseeing News Corp's European and Asian businesses including News International and BSkyB, and has been earmarked by his father as his successor.

Pirc, which advises shareholders on corporate governance issues, said: "In light of his close association with the phone-hacking scandal we are advising shareholders to oppose James Murdoch's election."

Pirc said in written advice on Tuesday: "We question James Murdoch's suitability as a senior executive and potential successor to Rupert Murdoch. As a senior executive at News International it is unclear why he did not initiate in-depth inquiries at an earlier stage and why former colleagues now directly and publicly contradict his stated position that he was unaware that hacking extended beyond [Clive] Goodman [the News of the World's former royal editor]."

Murdoch insists he was not told about an email which indicated that phone hacking at the paper was being carried out by more than one "rogue reporter", Goodman.

The News of the World's former editor Colin Myler and its head of legal Tom Crone have disputed this. Murdoch has been recalled to appear before MPs on the Commons culture, media and sport committee later this year to explain the discrepancy.

"Up until the closure of the News of the World, News International's response to the unfolding events had not been decisive and featured a number of arrests and resignations rather than dismissals," Pirc added.

Pirc has consistently opposed the re-election of News Corp directors with close links to Rupert Murdoch, the company's chairman and chief executive, including James Murdoch.

"Pirc's key governance concerns focus on the position of James Murdoch as a member of the News Corp board and the implications for minority investors of continuing dominance of the company by the Murdoch family," the group added.

Family trusts controlled by the Murdoch own 12% of News Corp but control around 40% of shares with voting rights, effectively giving them the power to veto any takeover bid.

MP calls for editor of The Sun to be quizzed on hacking

News International denies claims of phone-hacking contagion

The Independent

By Cahal Milmo and James Cusick

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

It is "only a matter of time" before The Sun becomes the next Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper to become implicated in voicemail interception, a leading campaigner on the phone-hacking scandal said yesterday.

The editor of The Sun should be asked if his title had any involvement with the illegal practices of Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator employed by its now-defunct sister paper the News of the World to hack the voicemails of public figures and victims of crime, the Labour MP Tom Watson demanded.

Mr Watson said Dominic Mohan, who has been in charge of The Sun since 2009 and briefly worked for the NOTW in the 1990s, used to joke about poor security at mobile phone provider Vodafone. Earlier this month, the MP also asked a former News International lawyer in a Commons select committee hearing if he accepted that the words "The Sun" were written on Mulcaire's phone-hacking records.

"Do you really think hacking only happened on the News of the World? Ask the editor of The Sun if he thinks Rupert Murdoch's contagion has spread to other newspapers," Mr Watson, a former junior defence minister, told an emergency debate at the Labour conference in Liverpool.

"Ask him, and if he gives you an honest answer, he will tell you that it is only a matter of time before we find The Sun in the evidence file of the convicted private investigator that hacked Milly Dowler's phone." Scotland Yard has so far arrested 16 people in connection with Operation Weeting, its ongoing investigation into phone hacking at the News Of The World.

Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Mr Murdoch's News International, who was arrested in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept voicemails and make corrupt payments to police officers, has insisted that The Sun was a "clean ship" when she edited the title between 2003 and 2009.

The actor Jude Law has filed a phone-hacking complaint against The Sun, alleging that four articles published by the paper between 2005 and 2006 were based on material obtained from his mobile phone during the editorship of Ms Brooks.

Law, whose on-off relationship with the actress Sienna Miller made him a favourite subject of tabloid interest at the time, is the first public figure to bring a civil damages claim for phone hacking against The Sun.

News International strongly denied the claim, describing it as a "cynical and deliberately mischievous" attempt to drag the paper into the hacking saga. In a statement, the company said: "The allegations made in this claim have been carefully investigated by our lawyers and the evidence shows that they have no foundation whatsoever."

Mr Watson also turned on James Murdoch, calling for him to stand down from the board of BSkyB and describing News International as a company "sick" with corruption and criminality.

In a statement, News International said: "If Mr Watson has specific information he should immediately hand it to the police and we urge him to do so. We are not aware of any evidence that The Sun engaged in activity as suggested by Mr Watson."

* Ian Edmondson, 51, the former assistant editor in charge of news at the News Of The World, yesterday had his police bail extended until March next year. He was arrested in April on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemails.

Phone-hacking: NoW reporter Neville Thurlbeck takes publisher to tribunal

NoW's former chief reporter taking defunct tabloid's publishers to an employment tribunal, claiming he was a whistleblower

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 27 September 2011 16.43 EDT

A News of the World reporter at the heart of the phone-hacking scandal is taking the defunct tabloid's publishers to an employment tribunal, claiming he was a whistleblower.

Neville Thurlbeck, the paper's former chief reporter, is claiming that he was unfairly dismissed by Rupert Murdoch's News Interrnational. There is scheduled to be a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in east London this Friday. It has only just come to light that Thurlbeck – who had been behind a string of high-profile exclusives at the News of the World – had been fired by the company.

News International said: "We will vigorously contest this case." Thurlbeck was arrested in April on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages but remained on the payroll of the paper until recently, possibly this month.

Thurlbeck has been a key figure in the phone-hacking scandal – his name appeared on an email sent to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire which contained a transcript of messages left on a mobile phone belonging to professional footballers association chief executive Gordon Taylor.

This "for Neville" email took centre stage in July when Rupert Murdoch and his son James appeared before MPs who believed it was evidence they knew phone hacking was not limited to one "rogue reporter" at the paper. Both the Murdochs denied this was the case. Employment law experts say it is only possible to use the Public Interest Disclosures Act – which protects whistleblowers from losing their jobs – in particular circumstances.

Ruth Neil, of employment law firm Stone Joseph, said that there are "very specific rules" in terms of what an individual whistleblower can claim under the act. She said to use it as a defence it was necessary to have reported any alleged wrongdoing to another person in authority, such as a police officer or other public servant.

A source familiar with the matter said Thurlbeck's use of the whistleblower's defence was "an extraordinary tactic to deploy".

Neil said that it can be used as a defence if confidential information is disclosed about an employer, which is normally a breach of common law. If he wins his case it will also entitle him to unlimited damages. Normally compensation for unfair dismissals are capped at £68,400.

The sums involved in whistleblowers' cases can be enormous by comparison. An NHS manager unfairly dismissed "as a whistleblower" over plans to relocate cancer services out of his county was awarded £1.2m in compensation.

Last week Thurlbeck was at the centre of a privacy action in France relating to a 2008 "exclusive" concerning Formula one boss Mosley who was awarded £60,000 in 2008 after winning his privacy action against the Sunday tabloid in the UK.

In a separate development, Thurlbeck answered police bail along with two former News of the World journalists, Ian Edmondon, the paper's former assistant editor (news) and reporter James Weatherup.

Thurlbeck and Edmondson were bailed until March.

Thurlbeck could not be reached for comment.

September 27, 2011

CIA, Pentagon fight to keep Osama bin Laden death photos secret

http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0911/CIA_Pentagon_fight_to_keep_Bin_Laden_photos_secret.html

Photos and videos of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden after he was killed in May in a U.S. military/Central Intelligence Agency raid in Pakistan should not be released publicly because they would reveal military and intelligence secrets and could lead to violence against U.S. personnel, the Obama administration argued in papers filed in federal court in Washington late Monday night.

The new filings from the Justice Department provide scant details about the imagery, but CIA National Clandestine Service Director John Bennett wrote that the CIA has "52 unique....photographs and/or videorecordings" depicting bin Laden during or after the May operation. Bennett did not break down the tally further, but said all the imagery is classified "TOP SECRET," meaning that disclosure of the material could lead to "exceptionally grave damage" to U.S. national security.

"All of the responsive records are the product of a highly sensitive, overseas operation that was conducted under the direction of the CIA," Bennett wrote, arguing that disclosure of the information would reveal "intelligence activities and/or methods." He called the photos "gruesome," and said they depict the gunshot wound to bin Laden's head. It is unclear whether his descriptions referred to all the images and videos, or just some of them.

The motion for summary judgment and supporting declarations ask U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg to rule for the government in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought in May by Judicial Watch. The conservative watchdog group sued the Defense Department after it failed to comply with the group's request for the bin Laden imagery. The suit was broadened in June to name the CIA as a defendant.

While the Justice Department's motion is backed by declarations from high ranking officials at the Pentagon and CIA, the government lawyers make clear that their marching orders come from the top. Near its outset, the brief quotes President Barack Obama's comments on the issue during a "60 Minutes" interview in May.

"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence. As a propaganda tool. You know, that’s not who we are. You know, we don’t trot out this stuff as trophies," Obama said. "We don’t need to spike the football."

The brief includes Obama's claim that then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and intelligence officials "all" agreed that releasing the images would "create some national security risk." The legal papers do not mention that before Obama made the decision to keep the images secret, then-CIA director Leon Panetta said there was no "question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public." (Panetta has since become defense secretary.)

The government's filings Monday were also accompanied by a declaration from Admiral William McRaven, who heads the U.S. Special Operations Command and commands the Navy SEALs who carried out the bin Laden raid. McRaven argues that release of the imagery "could reasonably be expected to...make the special operations unit that participated in this operation and its members more readily identifiable in the future." Portions of McRaven's arguments were classified and filed under seal.

In another declaration, the head of operations for the military's joint staff, Lt. Gen. Robert Neller, argued that release of the bin Laden death imagery could lead to violence against U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan, Afghan civilians and police, Afghans working with the U.S., and U.S. citizens worldwide. Neller also said releasing the images could "aid the recruitment efforts...of insurgent elements" in Afghanistan, "weaken the new Democratic government of Afghanistan, and add extremist pressures on several of our regional allies."

The legal fight over the bin Laden photos has produced some disagreement among FOIA experts. Some expect the government to prevail in the case without much difficulty because courts are traditionally very deferential to the executive branch in litigation involving national security, particularly FOIA cases. However, a few FOIA specialists have said aspects of the government's arguments against disclosure is weaker than in other cases, chiefly because of reliance on the harms that stem in essence from the public relations impact the imagery could have.

Judicial Watch was not the only organization to request the photos and video. Several news organizations, including the Associated Press and POLITICO, also did so.

The government's new filings appear to offer some openings for attack on the part of those pressing for disclosure.

First, while the arguments for withholding imagery from the raid and its immediate aftermath are legally strong, those for withholding the images of bin Laden's burial seem substantially weaker. It's hard to see how that event implicates any national security secrets. Second, the CIA's claim that none of the images or videos can be released even in part seems conclusory. A heavily-edited video of bin Laden's burial, for example, might or might not not be very interesting, but for that same reason it seems less likely to produce the negative consequences the government warns about.

The government filings claim that the Defense Department found no imagery responsive to the requests. Sources previously told POLITICO that at least some of the images were on a secure, classified interagency network accessible to individuals at various agencies. The new court filings don't make clear who took the photos and video. If they were in posession of military personnel at the time the FOIA requests were made or thereafter, some of the arguments for disclosure could be strengthened. However, it's also possible that the courts may accept that the entire operation is an intelligence activity that the CIA is entitled to keep secret or disclose as it sees fit.

Judicial Watch is scheduled to respond to the government's filings by October 24. Boasberg, an Obama appointee confirmed to the district court in March of this year, is unlikely to rule before December.

For those who want to dive further into the details: the government's motion is posted here, Bennett's declaration is posted here, McRaven's redacted declaration is posted here, and Neller's is here.

Sun has questions to answer on phone hacking, claims Labour's Tom Watson

Phone-hacking scandal 'far beyond News of the World', alleges MP, calling for James Murdoch to resign as BSkyB chairman

By Hélène Mulholland, political reporter

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 27 September 2011 07.48 EDT

A Labour MP has alleged that phone hacking at News International has gone "far beyond the News of the World" as he claimed that the Sun newspaper is also implicated in illegal practices.

Tom Watson made the allegation during an emergency motion debate on the phone-hacking scandal at the Labour party conference which called for James Murdoch to stand down as chairman of BSkyB in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that rocked Rupert Murdoch's media empire this summer.

The scandal took centre stage at the party conference on Tuesday morning as speakers took turn to lament Labour's past era of cosy relationships with media barons and called for measures to clamp down on bad practice by media companies and journalists.

Watson warned Labour activists that the scale of phone hacking at the now closed News of the World could be the tip of the iceberg.

"Do you really think that hacking only happened on the News of the World?" he said. "Ask Dominic Mohan, the current editor of the Sun. He used to joke about lax security at Vodafone when he attended celebrity parties. Ask the editor of the Sun if he thinks Rupert Murdoch's contagion has spread to other newspapers. If he gives you an honest answer, he'll tell you it's only a matter of time before we find the Sun in the evidence file of the convicted private investigator that hacked Milly Dowler's phone.

"This month we learn that journalists at the Times are affected by this scandal. The paper is shutting down its BlackBerry phone network – I hope they aren't deleting the records."

The emergency motion called for trade unions to have a role on the press watchdog and for the rules governing media ownership in Britain to be examined in the wake of the affair.

Watson turned on the case for applying the "fit and proper" test to News International, a company he described as "sick" with corruption and criminality from "top to bottom".

"Let's tell Ofcom what we think about James Murdoch," he said. "I wouldn't put him on the board of an ornamental garden. He's certainly not a fit and proper person to chair a major broadcaster."

Watson was among a number of speakers who hailed the leadership of Ed Miliband following revelations over the summer of how widespread phone hacking had been at News international, and contrasted it to Labour's past closeness to Rupert Murdoch under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Watson, who received a standing ovation from delegates over his persistent questioning on phone hacking, said MPs had to "accept our shame of the blame" but that Labour had acted quickly in response to hacking allegations.

He said that hacking had been allowed to take place because of "police failure, a newspaper out of control, politicians refusing to act".

"There is no point in us glossing over it. We got too close to the Murdochs and allowed them to become too powerful," he said. "As a party, we got there in the end. When Ed [Miliband] got up at prime minister's question time and said what he said about the Murdochs, like you I thought, 'That is the leader I want'. This is the Labour party I want to be part of."

He went on: "Now our leadership must spearhead seeing the reforms through. It is not just about the News of the World or just about phone hacking. Murdoch should also tell us about the computer hackers, the people who left Trojan devices on computer hard-drives enabling them to read emails."

Chris Bryant told the conference that Labour's past relationship with the Murdoch empire was "not our finest moment" as he urged the party to "choose our bedfellows with a little more care" in the future.

Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, underlined Labour's new approach to the media mogul as he told delegates that Labour would create "tougher" media ownership laws and a register which could see errant journalists barred from the profession.

In a message to Rupert Murdoch, he said: "Mr Murdoch: never again think you can assert political power in pursuit of your commercial interests or ideological beliefs. This is Britain, Mr Murdoch, the integrity of our media and our politics is not for sale."

Lewis said the history of the relationship between Labour and the Murdoch press was a "complex and tortuous one".

"But what can never be complex or tortuous is the responsibility of politicians to stand up in the public interest without fear or favour."

Setting out his reforms, he said: "Never again can one commercial organisation have so much power and control over our media. In the period ahead, Labour will bring forward proposals for new, tougher cross-media ownership laws."

While a free press was "non-negotiable", Lewis said that with freedom also comes responsibility. "Neither the current broken system of regulation nor state oversight will achieve the right balance," he said.

"We need a new system of independent regulation, including proper, like-for-like, redress which means that mistakes and falsehoods on the front page receive apologies and retraction on the front page. And as with other professions, the industry should consider whether people guilty of gross malpractice should be struck off."

Lewis also said it was time David Cameron "came clean" about the appointment of former NoW editor Andy Coulson as his communications chief.

Bryant, a former minister whose phone was hacked, told Labour delegates that he hoped those involved in phone hacking and the ensuing cover-up would go to jail.

He hit out at those who had "lied and lied and lied" to parliament during the hacking investigation. Earlier this month, he claimed that he had tracked 53 lies told to parliament. But he said his tireless researcher had now tallied that a total of 486 lies had been told to parliament.

"I hope that people will go to jail for the criminal cover-up that happened at News of the World," he said. "But there is a bigger scandal, because it is the monopoly that BSkyB have. The fact that they've got 80% of the pay-TV market and 95% in the pay-TV market in many places. They can hoover up television rights, and hardly produce a decent programme of their own. That is one of the things that we should be dealing with – the monopoly at BSkyB.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey pressed for a "long overdue" review of the rules governing media ownership in the UK and told the conference that there should be an element of "shame" in the party over the way past leaderships helped to "prop up" the Murdoch empire.

In a swipe at former premier Tony Blair, he said: "The Labour party needs to learn lessons – and they won't be learned by standing down by the banks of the Jordan blessing Murdoch's children."

"They will be learned by setting up the two commissions called for in this motion. One is for an overdue look at the rules controlling media ownership and the unacceptable concentration of power, of which the Murdoch empire is the worst example. And the second is to look at a still wider question – how independent trade unions are essential in ensuring that the rich and powerful do not get it all their own way. That they do not control our politics without the slightest counter-balance in society as a whole."

Miliband has pledged to work with Hollywood star Hugh Grant on media reforms.

The actor, who has become a champion for the Hacked Off campaign that is pressing for tougher sanctions and restrictions on the press, claims some newspapers will be "back to their old tricks" soon and questioned whether Labour MPs would still stand up to the media when the furore had died down.

Grant met the Labour leader on Monday night to press his case at the party's conference in Liverpool.

A senior Labour source said it was an "excellent meeting".

"Ed expressed his thanks for Hugh's work in the Hacked Off campaign and they said they would work together in future."

News International has hit back at Watson's allegations that staff on the Sun were implicated in illegal phone hacking and said if he had any evidence to suggest this was the case he should immediately hand it over to the police.

In a statement it said: "Everyone should act responsibly regarding the current investigations to allow the police to get on with their important work.

"If Mr Watson has specific information he should immediately hand it to the police and we urge him to do so. We are not aware of any evidence that the Sun engaged in activity as suggested by Mr Watson."

September 23, 2011

By JOHN DEAN

Published in VERDICT

HTTP://VERDICT.JUSTIA.COM/2011/09/23/GAMING-AMERICAN-DEMOCRACY

Gaming American Democracy: How New Republican Techniques Seek to Change the Political System Itself

This is the first in a series of columns by Mr. Dean, which will examine the new techniques being employed by Republicans to alter the political landscape. – Ed.

Conservative operatives with almost unlimited money (provided by wealthy supporters) have been very busy, over the past few years, changing American political processes and, thus, the way politics and government are undertaken, to favor Republican policies and candidates. So far, they have been remarkably successful and they may even be able to change the political playing field in time for the 2012 presidential election, tilting the landscape to favor a GOP candidate. There is only one problem with what they are doing, which is the way they are doing it.

Most Americans, unfortunately, are unaware of these activities.

Voters and the Media Are Largely Ignoring the Return of Nixonian Politics, on Steroids

While the so-called Tea Party’s antics always attract public and media attention, the heavy lifting in the effort to change our political processes is being accomplished mostly behind closed doors, through the efforts of experienced conservative GOP operatives. These men and women have been quietly and steadily going after what they want: control of the political processes, which they can then translate into greater political power.

To reach their goals, conservative leaders are blatantly gaming the system. They are going where they have never ventured before, and conducting politics in a way that has never been seen before in America, by exploiting constitutional gaps, working in the crannies and crevices of our system, and proceeding both openly and privately to empower themselves in a manner that would never succeed at the ballot box if it were fully understood.

The story about these activities has been largely ignored, or at most incidentally reported, by the mainstream news media. While some of this activity is merely hard-nosed, real-world politics at its ugliest, other undertakings are conspicuously abusive, and, indeed, reminiscent of what I saw when inside the Nixon White House.

Watergate ended most of this kind of political activity, at least for a while, but now it has returned with a vengeance. It’s Nixonian no-holds-barred-style politics, on steroids. For this reason, in this, and periodic subsequent columns, I plan to set forth reports of the remarkable, often unseemly, and at times illegal assault that conservatives have launched to alter our political practices and procedures to favor conservative candidates, policies and programs.

With this first column, I hope to provide an overview and introduction to this subject. Later columns will examine the details. So stay tuned.

FYI: I have previously worked out my research and thinking for three New York Times best-selling books in my columns. Whether this current effort will become a book, I do not know, because publishers are never sure about these types of stories—a fact that I believe encourages this type of behavior. So I will proceed a step at a time. Nonetheless, I enjoy writing on topics about which I have strong feelings when others are ignoring the matter, and that is the situation here.

The Reasons This Attempt to Profoundly Transform Our Political System Is Receiving Only Incidental News Coverage

This story—the story of the attempted transformation of our political system itself—has been mostly ignored for two reasons. First, because it deals with political and governmental process. It is conventional wisdom among news people (in both print and television journalism), as well as among many mainstream book publishers, that the American public does not care to be told about so-called “process issues.” This is apparently true, notwithstanding the fact that the political party that controls the processes can control the policy and government.

Authors who have written about process issues tell me that not only have they had difficulty getting published, but if they do, readers are, in fact, hard to come by. Because I know the importance of process, and its overriding influence on politics and government, I am very interested in these matters, so I do not understand the general disinterest that authors face when they seek to write about these vital topics.

There is a second reason for the disinterest, too—and an even more troubling one. Today’s mainstream news organizations are largely controlled by major corporations, which are profit-driven like never before. Most members of corporate management lean toward Republican views, and while top corporate executives typically give their news editors and producers great leeway, news organizations do not go out of their way to annoy their corporate bosses. The big money that is involved in reshaping America’s political processes has been, and will continue to be, a wonderful source of revenue for these organizations. News organizations need advertisers, and they love all the disingenuous advertisements that this political undertaking is generating.

Given these attitudes and institutional realities, the mainstream news media could care less about the impact, meaning, and means involved in changing the political processes to favor conservatives. (Ironically, Watergate, too, was initially a non-story with the national press, and it continued on that way for almost ten months after the arrests of burglars in the Democratic National Committee—because much of the story involved process, at first, and also because news organizations did not want to annoy a mean-spirited sitting president.)

I can think of no better place to start telling the story of how America’s political processes are being co-opted and transformed, than with the Tea Party, which is the tip of the conservative iceberg that is now floating through our political waters.

The Tea Party Facade

I addressed the Tea Party movement in an earlier column, reporting that there is little that is new about the Party’s players, a collection of existing conservative groups who have long resided at the radical fringe of the Republican Party. They are the authoritarian followers, plus a few of their leaders, who can, together, accurately be described by their personalities and political dispositions as authoritarian conservatives. (Not all conservatives are authoritarians, but virtually all authoritarians are conservatives.)

The Tea Party is more a rebranding, than a genuinely new movement. When you study the poll numbers, it is clear that only a small number of conservatives consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement. These fringe groups have always been fringe groups, but they form the activist base of the GOP. According to Gallup, 41 percent of Americans consider themselves conservatives; 36 percent, moderates; and 21 percent, liberals. Yet a contemporaneous New York Times poll shows that only 20 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Tea Party, while 40 percent have an unfavorable view. And, more tellingly, only 18 percent of Americans identify themselves as Tea Party supporters, with only 4 percent of Americans having ever attended a Tea Party meeting or given money to the Tea Party.

In light of its small numbers, what accounts for the Tea Party’s prominence? It is the result of the handful of always-camera-ready political figures and candidates who claim allegiance with the movement. These include Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Rand and Ron Paul, Christine O’Donnell, and Sharon Angle—to name a few.

CNN (oddly and inexplicably) recently chose to partner with the Tea Party Express to present a CNN/Tea Party Presidential Debate, a decision that gave the Tea Party added publicity and credibility. (I was surprised to find CNN so hard-up for a debate partner.) Former Republican leader of the House of Representatives Dick Armey has been active with the movement through Freedom Works, which appears well funded. But there is no Tea Party per se, only a disjointed movement that has served, and continues to serve, as a nice façade—deflecting and diverting public attention while true leaders, and the major players in the conservative movement, have plotted and executed their efforts to change the political landscape.

The real story here is not the Tea Party; rather, it is the actions of conservative Republican mayors, governors, state legislators, members of the U.S. Congress, former federal officials (from mid-level and high-level posts) now working on behalf of conservative causes, and of conservative lobbyists and lawyers, both in Washington and scattered around the country. These people surely find the Tea Party useful as a distraction from what they are trying to do.

The New Conservative Power Game

Contemporary GOP heavies, the men, and a few women, who understand how the game can be played, appreciate that our democracy is fragile, and that it operates largely on the good will of everyone, which makes it easily susceptible to abuse. As conservative operatives have undertaken nationwide efforts to adjust and change the political processes to their advantage, they have taken advantage of the good will of others, disregarding the regular order and the assumptions of regularity that have long prevailed in America’s politics and governance. This approach caught opponents flatfooted, totally off-guard.

Interestingly, as best I can tell, these disruptive moves and changes are, in only a few instances, centralized and highly coordinated. More often, these efforts are simply sua sponte—a case of like minds thinking alike, or noticing what other others are doing. To the best of my knowledge, this is not a conspiratorial undertaking, nor the work of a closed and well-connected network. Yet these people do appear to keep others who are interested well informed.

For me, understanding what had been going on has been like assembling a jigsaw puzzle without a picture. So far, I have found no mastermind or master plan, but there is no question that those who are part of this loose coalition are working like beavers, and pursuing any opportunity that arises. Some of the techniques are old, while others are very new. What has become conspicuous from this inquiry, so far, is that conservatives are now operating with new political norms, and at levels that were once considered extreme, but are now standard operating procedure. This does not bode well for our system.

Some Examples of How Extreme Tactics Are Being Adopted by Republicans as Merely Standard Operating Procedure

A few examples from my growing catalogue should make the point:

Conservatives are now demanding and enforcing absolute GOP party discipline, and trying to impose it at all levels of government, tolerating no exceptions. They are willing to shut down any and all government operations if that is needed to serve their interest and get their way. They recognize no comity or courtesy in any cross-party situations that are not to their advantage. They have made civility the exception, rather than the rule. They will lie and mislead to accomplish what is necessary and conservative “thinkers” have abandoned intellectual honesty for the cause. They are hell-bent on changing as many processes of government as possible to always favor Republican rule, whether they are in the minority or majority. They are changing the rules by which we elect officials to favor the election and selection of conservative Republicans. They are making it more difficult for anyone who is not a Republican to vote. They are blatantly engaging in extreme obstructionism to damage any non-Republican incumbent office-holder’s ability to perform in office. They operate behind closed doors whenever possible and always when in power. To accomplish their goals, they are raising and injecting literally countless billions—I repeat, billions—of dollars into manipulating local, state, and national legislative actions and elections to their advantage. Finally, they have—almost inconspicuously—altered every branch and level of government as they have proceeded.

No one has seriously challenged these efforts, but surely others can see the activities I have noticed, and the pattern they reveal. Democrats, it appears, have decided to look the other way, and only when public outrage has erupted—as happened in Wisconsin, when Governor Scott Walker’s efforts to change the process became conspicuous—has there been any effort to prevent them from operating outside traditional conventional constitutional boundaries. So they continue, and in some areas, they are becoming increasingly aggressive.

As I report on such developments in this series of columns, I will share my thoughts about possible countermeasures. But for many of these actions, there is no easy fix, because those who perpetrate them are exploiting the flaws, and working in the underbelly, of our system.

A Closing Thought: Federalist No. 10’s Solution Is Not Applicable Here

When you delve into any radical conservative activity, you quickly become drenched in all their constitutional rhetoric, for it is endless. The GOP’s radical fringe worships our Constitution—or what they believe our Constitution says, which has little to do with reality. Thus, in tracking their new power plays, I found myself thinking about James Madison’s warning in Federalist No. 10, a warning that contemporary conservatives ignore. Madison, it will be recalled, addressed what conservatives are now doing when he discussed the threat that factions pose to our constitutional system.

Madison described a faction as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or of interests, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community.” Madison found factions to be incapable of self-restraint, and pointed out that, for them, “neither moral nor religious motives can be relied on as an adequate control.” He believed that the danger from factions was very real, since they foster “the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished.”

Madison concluded that it was inevitable that factions could not be eliminated, because America could only do so at the expense of freedom itself. Rather, he believed that the effects of factions would be controlled by the very nature of a representative system, where interests are delegated to representatives, and those representatives then deliberate away from local concerns. When there are a sufficient number of representatives, who cover a large and growing country, Madison felt, these representatives would be thinking of the greater good. And, that emphasis on the greater good—the good of the whole nation—would check factional thinking. Madison’s thinking, however, did not contemplate the arrival of political parties, nor did he conceive of a party’s becoming so tightly controlled that it could operate to serve only a narrow self-interest, rather than the public interest. In short, we do not have an institutional check, deriving from the Constitution or any other source, on today’s activities.

Nor do I have answers yet, but I am looking. Actually, I am still gathering facts, and will be doing so for months to come. If you have thoughts or information about the matters that I have broadly described here, I hope you will share them. Please tweet me. Based upon the thoughts and information of a few who are very concerned, we might clarify this matter for all.

John W. Dean, a Justia columnist, is a former counsel to the president.

Trader Alessio Rastani To BBC: 'Governments Don't Rule The World, Goldman Sachs Rules The World'

The Huffington Post

by Jillian Berman

First Posted: 9/26/11 03:13 PM ET Updated: 9/26/11 03:16 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/trader-to-bbc-goldman-sachs-goldman-sachs-rules-the-world_n_981658.html

Goldman Sachs rules the world and the Euro zone is poised to crash, according to trader Alessio Rastani.

"This is not a time right now for wishful thinking that governments are going to sort things out," Rastani said on an interview with BBC on Monday morning. "The governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world."

The statement came towards the end of an almost three and a half minute interview in which Rastani warned viewers to "get prepared" for the inevitable: "The savings of millions of people are going to vanish" in less than a year, he said.

"This economic crisis is like a cancer, if you just wait and wait thinking this will go away, just like a cancer it's going to grow and it's going to be too late," he continued.'

Fear over the fragility of the European economy has become pronounced in recent weeks. Prompted in part by concerns that the region could enter recession and affect the global economy, stocks composing the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered their worst week since 2008 last week, according to Reuters.

In spite of statements like Rastani's, Euro policymakers continue to press ahead with possible reforms. Currently, they are working to bolster their 440 billion-euro rescue fund, after being criticized by leaders from both China and the U.S. for letting Greece's debt crisis already wreak havoc on global stocks, according to Reuters.

But the crash will be good news for traders, Rastani told the stunned BBC anchors.

"For most traders we don't really care about having a fixed economy, having a fixed situation, our job is to make money from it," he said. "Personally, I've been dreaming of this moment for three years. I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession."

Rastani said traders aren't the only ones who can benefit from the crisis.

"When the market crashes... if you know what to do, if you have the right plan set up, you can make a lot of money from this."

Phone-hacking claims mount up at News International• Former deputy editor 'was paid by NoW' while at Yard

• Goody among alleged phone hacking victims

• Coulson sues News Group for breach of contract

By Lisa O'Carroll, Ed Pilkington and James Robinson

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 23 September 2011 17.14 EDT

[Jade Goody arriving in Mumbai in 2008 to take part in the Indian version of Big Brother. Max Clifford said she believed a call she made from India to her mother, telling her she had cancer, had been hacked. Photograph: Pal Pillai/AFP/Getty Images]

News International is facing fresh phone-hacking controversies after a series of claims and counter claims involving half a dozen figures including Jade Goody, Alastair Campbell and two of the most senior former staff of the News of the World.

In just a few hours on Friday, it emerged the media group was facing five court actions including a possible action in the US targeting Rupert Murdoch and his son James, plus allegations that the Sunday tabloid may have hacked Goody's phone while she was dying of cancer.

One of the most damaging revelations was a claim that the former deputy editor of the now defunct tabloid had secretly received £25,000 from News International for "crime exclusives" while working as a PR consultant for Scotland Yard.

The details of the payments emerged in billing records obtained by detectives investigating the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World.

The former newspaper executive Neil Wallis received the money in 2009 and 2010 when his PR firm Chamy Media had a two-day-a-month contract to work as PR consultant for Scotland Yard, according to an investigation by the Daily Telegraph. One story reputedly earned him a single payment of £10,000.

One of the stories he was paid for was about a suspected assassination attempt on the pope during his visit to the UK last year, according to the Telegraph.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard declined to comment, other than to say that its contract with Chamy Media "had a confidentiality clause, a data protection act clause and a conflict of interest clause within it". A spokesman added that Wallis did not have access to the Met's IT systems.

The revelations will raise new questions about conflicts of interest in public office. Last month, it emerged that Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, continued to receive payments from News International as part of a severance deal after he was employed by the Tory party as its director of communications.

Coulson, who quit the News of the World in 2007 after his then royal editor was jailed for phone-hacking offences, on Friday launched his own legal action against his former employer.

He is suing for breach of contract after the company notified his solicitors it was no longer going to fund his legal defence. It is believed this was communicated to Coulson's law firm as recently as August.

That Coulson's fees were being paid four years after he quit as editor will surprise many. He resigned as David Cameron's press chief in January and was arrested in July as the phone-hacking scandal deepened, with allegations that the News of the World had hacked into murder victim Milly Dowler's phone.

Pressure on News International continued to pile up on Friday as it emerged that the Met is to be asked to investigate allegations that reality TV star Jade Goody's phone was hacked while she was dying of cancer.

It is understood Charlotte Harris, the Mishcon de Reya lawyer representing several phone-hacking claimants, has been asked to represent her and to go to the Met with the allegations made by Goody's mother, Jackiey Budden.

Budden believes both her phone and her daughter's were hacked, but did nothing about it until July this year when she read about murder victim Milly Dowler's phone messages being intercepted by the News of the World. She could not understand how journalists were getting hold of information and, when she read the Dowler story, believed it could have been through phone hacking.

"She [Jackiey] will be going to the police. She believes her phone was hacked by the News of the World, and Jade's. Jade told me, 'I'm convinced my phone is being hacked'," said Max Clifford, who handled Goody's PR after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in August 2008.

The solicitor who represented the Dowlers in their phone-hacking claims upped the ante significantly on Friday when he announced he had teamed with US lawyers with a view to initiating proceedings targeting Rupert Murdoch and his son James.

Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton has instructed Norman Siegel, a New York-based lawyer who represents 20 9/11 families, to seek witness statements from News Corp and its directors, including Rupert and James Murdoch, in relation to allegations that News of the World staff may have bribed police.

"The allegations of phone hacking and bribery against News Corporation are serious and substantial, and we will approach this initial exploration with that same seriousness," Siegel said.

The legal action was just one of five that have piled up against the Murdoch operation in the past few days.

Also suing News International is Tony Blair's former director of communications Alastair Campbell, who is alleging his phone was hacked by News of the World.

His solicitor, Gerald Shamash, confirmed he had just begun legal proceedings on behalf of Campbell and two others – the agent of George Best, the football star who died in 2005, and Elliot Morley, the former Labour MP jailed for expenses fraud, who has just been released from prison after serving a quarter of his sentence for fiddling his expenses.

News International refused to comment on any of the developments, but said it was co-operating fully with all police investigations

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml

You can listen to the BBC program on the above link.

Article from Harper's Magazine:

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651