Hackgate and police corruption lack of arrests
Monday, 12 September 2011
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The British Riots
You take away from already disadvantaged communities jobs, Benefits, the possibility of a higher education,
Legal Aid and so many other support structures that are being demolished by the ConDem government all laced with
overt police, political and media corruption and you get riots.
The ConDem government is not working.
Will HackGate and its aftermath topple the government?
Snug as a Bug
Gary Barker political cartoon featuring the 'cosy' relationship
between Paul Stephenson of the Metropolitan Police,
Rupert Murdoch and UK Prime Minister David Cameron
Graphic thanks to Private Eye
Dr Shakil Afridi
(Pic courtesy of One Click)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden has been barred from leaving Pakistan, a commission investigating the killing of the Al Qaeda leader said yesterday. Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a phony vaccination program in the Pakistani town where the Al Qaeda leader hid in an effort to obtain a DNA sample from him. Afridi is being detained by Pakistani authorities, but has not been charged with any crime. American officials want him released, and his fate has become a complicating issue in strained relations between the two countries’ spy services. There has been speculation Afridi and his family may leave Pakistan if he is freed.
Boston.Com / Associated Press
Related Links:
Dr Meryl Nass MD
Pakistan Observer
Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times
A Fife sergeant and a detective were among those accused of misusing access to classified computer systems. There were 22 internal investigations at Tayside Police into data handling over the course of last year and 2009, with allegations ranging from unauthorised access and disclosure through to hard copies of documents being lost. Most incidents resulted in formal warnings but one officer was fined at a misconduct hearing in 2009 for carrying out "unauthorised computer checks" and a civilian staff member was sacked during the same year for accessing information. Disgraced former police constable Karen Howie — previously a model officer who received two chief constable commendations — was jailed for 27 months in April for leaking information about a counterfeit cash inquiry. Howie (35) feared she had been pictured taking drugs by Neil Hand and used her access to feed him information about a third party.
The Courier, Tayside & Fife
Related Links:
The One Click Group / The New Statesman
Press Association
Robert Verkaik, The Independent
George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Of all the mysteries surrounding the British phone hacking scandal, it is the claims from a dominatrix linking Britain's now chancellor George Osborne to drug use, prostitution and political subterfuge that may be the most intriguing. Just eight weeks ago a parliamentary committee hearing was told that it was Mr Osborne who recommended former News Of The World editor Andy Coulson for a position on Mr Cameron's staff. It has now been alleged Mr Osborne was "indebted" to Mr Coulson after the now disgraced editor wrote a favourable editorial, dismissing the claims of a former madam who linked Mr Osborne to cocaine and prostitution. Natalie Rowe, the woman at the heart of drugs and prostitution claims against the chancellor, has spoken to PM in her first broadcast interview.
Emma Alberici, 1233 ABC Newcastle
Related Links:
Guido Fawkes
Sir Stuart Bell MP (Email: contact@stuartbellmp.org)
On 6 September, Neil MacFarlane from the Evening Gazette broke the story of Stuart Bell MP's refusal to help his constituents despite being richly rewarded by the taxpayer. Bell's reaction has been to pay Schillings lawyers to stamp down the coverage. A comment on the Guido Fawkes blog sums up the situation nicely. Can't remember my moniker says: "Schillings can say what they please on behalf of their client. It is noticeable that they have signally failed to provide any evidence, such as records of dates of surgeries that he has held. The issue of whether Bell has a property in France is immaterial. Is he attempting to claim that he never goes there? Does he rent any properties there? The meat of this issue is neatly side-stepped. As far as I am concerned, until some evidence is produced that regular weekly surgeries have been held, I will back the local paper over this worthless blusterer." See the full Schillings documentation published on One Click headed Not For Publication. These feral overclass MPs and their lawyers vomit.
The One Click Group / Schillings Lawyers
Related Links:
Neil MacFarlane, Evening Gazette
Neil MacFarlane, Evening Gazette
Jonathan Brown, The Independent
Polly Curtis, The Guardian
And he's not at all bad on Murdoch either. Well done Tom
(Caption courtesy of One Click)
Probably the best-known champion of digital issues in the current Parliament, and currently a tireless campaigner in the battle for media transparency, Tom Watson ran in the 2010 election on a platform calling for change to UK digital policy, issuing a series of digital pledges. He has also been a highly informed and effective critic of the 2010 Digital Economy Act and whilst at the Cabinet Office, he played a significant role in the campaign to open up government information repositories, which resulted in data.gov.uk. Tom Watson said: "I'm delighted to accept this award from the OII, whose research has done much to highlight the Internet's importance. It's vital that we don't damage that great potential by introducing poor legislation, and I will continue to strive for more recognition of digital rights and the preservation of an Internet open and accessible to all." The award will be presented on 22 September in Oxford, at a Gala Din ner celebrating the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Oxford Internet Institute.
Information Release, Oxford Internet Institute
Green Party members yesterday voted to pass an emergency motion calling on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to stop using IT firm ATOS as its assessor of benefit claimants. Concerns have been raised over the company's suitability to conduct assessments, ranging from the lack of disabled access at their assessment centres to the shocking fact that 40% of their decisions have been found to be wrong on appeal. Jillian Creasy, Green councillor for Sheffield Central who also works as a GP, said: "ATOS's computer-led assessment is far too blunt an instrument to assess a benefit that is vital for so many. For example, the box-ticking exercise is close to useless for assessing a condition such as autism. Not only that, but the number of decisions that have been reversed means that an awful lot of taxpayers' money has been wasted. Disabled people should be afforded the dignity they deserve throughout any assessment process, and should not be p resumed guilty or treated like they're avoiding work. ATOS has no place in such a sensitive area, and we urge the government to sever all ties with the company." 12 ATOS doctors have been referred to the General Medical Council.
Green Party News
Related Links:
Black Triangle Campaign
Al Jazeera, The Stream
Chill4UsCarers
Nick Somerlad, Daily Mirror
IndyMedia UK
Paul Smith, Atos Register of Shame
Will Stone, Morning Star
The Anti-War SpeakOut/TweetOut is something new from Stop the War. Poets, rappers and other spoken word performers will perform at a tweet convention aimed at raising to viral level the profile of the October 8 Antiwar Mass Assembly in Trafalgar Square. The SpeakOut/TweetOut will kick off at 7.30pm with 140 second tweets by renowned tweeters, such as Owen Jones, author of much praised book "Chavs", journalist Laurie Penny, and filmmaker Sanum Ghafoor, who gained worldwide notoriety when her ironic Twitter hash tag #blamethemuslims trended globally. Everyone can join in the SpeakOut/TweetOut, both within the audience and in the Twittersphere. All the acts and the tweets will be displayed on a Twitter Wall screen during the performance, and will be streamed online. If you can't be at the SpeakOut/TweetOut, you can still participate on the night by simply tweeting at the same time using the hashtag #antiwar8oct between 7.30-10pm on 22 September. Pl ease publicize the Anti-War SpeakOut/TweetOut event on your blogs, Facebook walls and, of course, Twitter.
Information Relapse, Stop the War Coalition
The Council of Europe, an international organization separate to the EU, has released a document that seeks to hold secret services accountable for their actions. Here's the PDF of the document, entitled Abuse of State Secrecy and National Security. The BBC notes that the document states that "Bradley Manning as a whistleblower and should be treated as such" and also praises WikiLeaks. The writer of the report, Swiss politician Dick Marty, argues that states are abusing national security issues: "A 'license to kill' (or to abduct and torture) only exists in certain films, and in dictatorial regimes. In democratic systems, parliaments, as representatives of the people, have a right and duty to know what the government is doing in the name of the people." The Council of Europe was founded in 1949.
Business Insider Europe
An Associated Press review of those sources raises doubts about the scope of the danger posed by WikiLeaks' disclosures and the Obama administration's angry claims, going back more than a year, that the revelations are life-threatening. U.S. examples have been strictly theoretical. The question of whether the dire warnings are warranted or overblown became more acute with the recent release all of the 251,287 diplomatic memos WikiLeaks held. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has blamed Britain's Guardian newspaper for publishing a secret encryption code, allowing intelligence agencies to access the cables and forcing WikiLeaks to provide the people affected the same information.
Bradley Klapper & Cassandra Vinograd, Associated Press
Related Links:
Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes CBS News
Christian Stocker, Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Xeni Jardin, BoingBoing
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