BSkyB bid: Cautious Hunt set to reject approach from Murdoch Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt likely to refer controversial £8bn BSkyB buyout to Competition Commission on findings of Ofcom report Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk, Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to refer the News Corporation bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission. Photograph: David Jones/PACulture secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to refuse any requests byRupert Murdoch‘s News Corporation to meet or communicate with him directly as he weighs up whether to hold up the company’s controversial £8bn buyout of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. So sensitive is the case that Hunt, his civil servants and advisers are … Continue reading Ballsy Hunt set to reject approach from Murdoch!

2010: The Year of Islamophobia by Garibaldi 2010 has been an unbelievable year! Can we say that we are happy that it is finally over? Only if that means that the wacky anti-Muslim Islamophobia that reached unprecedented and at times demented levels will recede. However, it doesn’t appear as though that will be happening any time soon. Looking at the year in review we see that right-leaning and populist anti-Muslim/xenophobic organizations and party’s increased their power/influence across Europe while also initiating and passing discriminatory legislation in their countries. Rise of Geert Wilders and the Freedom Party EDL (English Defense League) … Continue reading 2010: The Year of Islamophobia!

Daily Kos: Pamela Geller Biggest Islamophobic Bigot of 2010 Posted on 30 December 2010 by Emperor   Hate blogger Pamela Geller Here is a snippet from Daily Kos’s profile on Geller being the biggest bigot of 2010. Pamela Geller: Biggest Islamophobic Bigot of 2010 by JGibson Mon Dec 27, 2010 at 01:30:21 PM PST The biggest Islamophobe of 2010, Pamela Geller, was responsible for a lot of anti-Islamic bigotry, including the demonization of Park 51. There are plenty of examples to go around, and she got tons of coal for her Christmas gift, plus a one-way ticket to Hell. JGibson’s diary :: :: … Continue reading Tea party blogger Pamela Geller wins award!

Soumaya Ghannoushi by Emperor An interesting piece from Soumaya Ghannoushi published at AlJazeera English. Islamophobia acting like free speech by Soumaya Ghannoushi The caricatures of Prophet Muhammad first published in the Danish Jyllands-Posten then reprinted in a string of European newspapers have exposed the gulf separating the West from the Muslim world. The cartoons and the reactions they have sparked across the Muslim hemisphere, many have conjectured, symbolise the confrontation between two irreconcilable value systems, one based on the Enlightenment tradition, the other clinging to religious dogma. These simplistic explanations would have stood a better chance of being accepted if the … Continue reading Islamophobia – Is it free speech?

Senator John McCain’s born identity McCain’s fervent opposition to presidential policies, are and always have been, driven by spite and not statesmanship. Cliff Schecter Senator John McCain’s personal vendettas have driven him to vehemently oppose all of President Obama’s key policies this year [Getty] What does he want? Revenge. For what? Being born. This is the way famous gunslinger Doc Holliday answers equally famous lawman and good friend Wyatt Earp’s inquiry – in their depiction in the movie Tombstone – into why their sworn enemy, Johnny Ringo, is such a misanthrope. Sadly, this description would be equally accurate in explaining … Continue reading John Mc’Spiteful’ Cain

Capital’s war against WikiLeaks Can the leak phenonomen sustain the continued assault by the corporate sector to prevail in the first ever cyber-war? Mark LeVine In the words of Thomas Friedman,”the hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fist. McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas…”[EPA] When your Swiss banker throws you overboard, you know you’ve made some very powerful enemies. Long famed for hiding money for everyone from Nazis and drug lords to spies and dictators, the Swiss government’s banking arm has decided that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange are just too hot even for it to … Continue reading McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas…

Helen Thomas: Thrown to the wolves At a time of forgiveness, why is Helen Thomas still being ostracized? Danny Schechter Helen Thomas, who once occupied a front-row seat in the White House briefing room, has been completely ostracized due to some inelegantly-put remarks about Israel captured on film by provocateurs [EPA] In 1960, I was fixated on emulating the courageous media personalities of the times, from Edward R. Murrow to a distinctive figure I came to admire at presidential press conferences – a wire service reporter named Helen Thomas. In recent years, my faith in the power of dialogue in politics has … Continue reading At a time of forgiveness, why is Helen Thomas still being ostracized?

The rebirth of Arab activism How one young Tunisian is emerging as a symbol of disenfranchised and impoverished Arab youth. Lamis Andoni Mohammed Bouazizi’s attempted self-immolation set off protests by Tunisians [AFP] Mohamed Bou’aziz, the young Tunisian who set fire to himself on December 17, is emerging as a symbol of the wider plight of the millions of young Arabs who are struggling to improve their living conditions. Like many across the Arab world, Bou’aziz, who is now being treated for severe burns, discovered that a university degree was insufficient to secure decent employment. He turned to selling fruit for … Continue reading Rebirth of Arab activism

By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE – India’s hopes of setting up its first air base abroad seem to have been grounded. The Tajik government has announced that Russia is the only country in the race for use of the Ayni air base. “We are in talks over the Ayni airfield only with Russia,” Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi told a press conference in the capital, adding that “such talks are not being held with any other party”. Zarifi’s announcement brings to an end – at least for now – years of speculation over who will get to use the base. Located … Continue reading India air base grounded in Tajikistan

By Brian M Downing The ongoing insurgency in the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan rightly commands attention, but it obscures a critical second conflict in the country. Long-standing antagonism between the non-Pashtun peoples of the north and the Pashtun people of the south are heading toward fissure. Paradoxically, settlement of the insurgency, through negotiation or force of arms, could exacerbate this divide. Ethnic politics Afghanistan comprises a dozen or more sizable ethnic groups, the precise numbers and proportions of which are unclear and contested. Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara, Turkic, Baloch, and other groups differ on demographic matters; and the country’s geography … Continue reading The other conflict in Afghanistan