Archive for the ‘news_comment’ Category

Rupert Murdoch: lessons in apology

Posted: 18th July 2011 by graham in Culture, news_comment, preach_it!

Does he have no competent advisors or does he simply refuse to listen to them? Is Murdock really powerful, or is he the powerless slave of his own arrogance? It seems to me that Murdoch has had difficulty apologising. Perhaps he is uncertain what an authentic apology is. On the subject of apologies, this is [...]

I loved this quality writing by Simon Jenkis in today’s Guardian. Headed: ‘Gordon Brown now suffers that incurable syndrome: ex-PM.’ Whether it was Heath’s long sulk, Blair’s penance or Thatcher’s betrayal, Britain has rarely been kind to departed leaders No animal in the political jungle is more awful in its misery than an ex-prime minister. [...]

Dropbox has claimed ownership of all it stores according to my reading of their new Terms and Conditions. Dropbox has been doing a great job of providing as file sharing and online storage service. I have not needed to use them as I have had my own server for a few years now, with its [...]

Enough fat to fill nine double-decker buses is being removed from sewers under London’s Leicester Square. They had to dig through a four-foot wall of solid fat to get in. The operation, began in the early hours of this morning and involves a team of “flushers” equipped with full breathing apparatus and shovels to dig [...]

Candidates have been competing for the spotlight in first debate between Republican USA presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire. Who won the debate? Commentators tell us two people did. One was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Some republicans loath him for passing a healthcare reform programme that closely resembles “Obamacare”.  Some of his party call him [...]

On 8 June 2011 Baroness Cox launched a new Bill in the House of Lords which addresses the problem of Muslim bodies adjudicating on matters which ought to be handled by the UK courts. The Bill particularly seeks to protect Muslim women from the discriminatory or coercive application of Sharia law in the UK. Clearly [...]

The chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, argues for the value of religion. Sacks is quoted in a Guardian article. He writes: “A powerful store of social capital still exists. It is called religion: the churches, synagogues and other places of worship that still bring people together in shared belonging and mutual responsibility. The evidence shows that [...]