Rupert's Got A Real Situation Developing Now..

Uh-Oh.  Hacking scandal goes International.  Story/Video from Raw Story.  Excerpts:

As the phone-hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s media empire widens, attention is increasingly being focused on his son, James Murdoch. The Guardian reported on Friday that the younger Murdoch, who has already admitted misleading Parliament, “could face criminal charges on both sides of the Atlantic.”

James Murdoch is the deputy CEO of News Corp, the US company which owns the British company News International that allegedly paid police officers in the United Kingdom for information. This could make him liable to prosecution in the US under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits American companies from bribing foreign officials.

Shares in Rupert Murdoch's companies tumble as investors take fright  Will this news be covered on Fox Business Channel?  From The Guardian UK.

Investors in companies controlled by Rupert Murdoch have been dumping the shares amid fears on both sides of the Atlantic over the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World.

Shares in broadcaster BSkyB are down 5% in the last week, wiping some £666m off the value of the business, while News Corp had lost 2.6% – slicing some $400m off the value of the News of the World's ultimate parent company. Many hedge funds which had bought into BSkyB in the hope of making a quick profit from the bid have been selling the shares on fears that the deal now faces substantial delay.

Phone hacking: will closing News of World save Rupert Murdoch's empire?  The Telegraph UK.  Excerpts:

Closing the News of the World may seem like the most radical step Rupert Murdoch could take to stop the telephone hacking row from engulfing his News Corporation empire. 

But it may not be enough to insulate his son from the fall-out — and preserve him as his heir apparent.

Furious News of the World staff to sue for unfair dismissal and it could land News International with a £14m bill  Also Delicious.  The Daily Mail Online.  Excerpts:

The 200 staff who were effectively made redundant by News International when it shut down the News of the World are set to sue the company for unfair dismissal - and it could cost the company £14million.


Many of the paper's journalists believe they have been badly mistreated because they had no involvement in the phone hacking scandal, and the large majority were not even working on the paper when the alleged offences took place.

There is the belief among the staff that the axed journalists have been used as scapegoats for NI's chief executive Rebekah Brooks and BSkyB's James Murdoch.

Legal experts said that if the staff did chose to sue for unfair dismissal, each of the 200 could receive £70,000 at employment tribunals.

That would leave News International with a £14 million bill, reported the Evening Standard.

There was yet another problem for News International today as car manufacturer Renault become the first company to extend its bar on advertising to all of News International's title, not just the defunct NotW.A source in the NotW newsroom told The Independent: 'Murdoch has sacrificed a newspaper to save one woman.'


Prior to the plug being pulled on the paper, a flood of major advertisers began withdrawing their custom from the News of the World specifically.


If Renault's boycott proves the be the first of many, it could have serious repercussions for its other title such as The Sun,The Times and the Sunday Times.  (Think BIGGER..)
And:


I'm curious as to how much Rebekah Brooks knows about everything. Thank god I've been stocking up on popcorn, as this is going to be a pretty fun and funny scandal!  And I do love a good comedy..  Let the shoe dropping and hilarity begin!
 

Could The Worm Be Turning For Rupert Murdoch's Evil Empire?

How Murdoch’s paper allegedly broke into voice mail of dead girl, gave parents false hope, and interfered with a police investigation  Fucking gross. I hope this is the evil that finally gets repaid in kind 1000 fold. It couldn't happen to a nicer Evil Plutocrat and his evil, sychophantic minions..  Excerpts from Americablog and from their coverage from The Guardian..

Murdoch's people allegedly deleted voice mails from family members to the murdered girl imploring her to get in touch with them (they didn't know she was dead already). The paper then found that the voice mail was filling up, and they wanted to hear more messages, so they deleted some of the current messages for the dead girl, making the family think the girl was checking her messages and was still alive. The paper then interviewed the family who talked about their hope that the girl was still alive, while the paper said nothing about how it had helped create this false hope.

Excerpted from The Guardian..

Then, with the help of its own full-time private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, the News of the World started illegally intercepting mobile phone messages. Scotland Yard is now investigating evidence that the paper hacked directly into the voicemail of the missing girl's own phone. As her friends and parents called and left messages imploring Milly to get in touch with them, the News of the World was listening and recording their every private word.

But the journalists at the News of the World then encountered a problem. Milly's voicemail box filled up and would accept no more messages. Apparently thirsty for more information from more voicemails, the paper intervened – and deleted the messages that had been left in the first few days after her disappearance. According to one source, this had a devastating effect: when her friends and family called again and discovered that her voicemail had been cleared, they concluded that this must have been done by Milly herself and, therefore, that she must still be alive. But she was not. The interference created false hope and extra agony for those who were misled by it.

The Dowler family then granted an exclusive interview to the News of the World in which they talked about their hope, quite unaware that it had been falsely kindled by the newspaper's own intervention. Sally Dowler told the paper: "If Milly walked through the door, I don't think we'd be able to speak. We'd just weep tears of joy and give her a great big hug."

The deletion of the messages also caused difficulties for the police by confusing the picture when they had few leads to pursue. It also potentially destroyed valuable evidence.

For Murdoch,this is serious.  These allegations could be pointing to systemic criminality not only at NOTW, but in potentially ALL of Murdoch owned media.  Investigations will spread, and more evidence will surface.  I wonder what those investigations will find?  Fox News has pissed a lot of people off--Don't you think those people won't want every shred of evidence they can get?  How ever will anyone come to a fair and balanced decision without every last shit nugget?

Also:  Canada to Rupert:  Real News need only apply, so fuck off..

Rupert is now 80, and facing what will probably be the largest and most destructive scandal of his career.  In the spirit of Fox News itself, I wish you well, Rupert, in all your future endeavours..

Koch-backed conservative group spams Detroit with fake eviction notices

Wow..  The Scumbaggery is right out in the open now, and the Race To The Bottom quickens.


I'm always amazed at the 20's movie-style evil displayed by the Koch brothers.  So Snidely Whiplash, but on a global level, with real world implications.  Their actions are despicable to decent people, but the relentless, singleminded Service-to-Self behavior these people display is nothing less than an Anthropological amazement:  How will people behave who are at once, all consumed by the obsession of Pursuit of Power, and CAPABLE of following that obsession to its fullest access?  It is fascinating to watch!  It's pointless to ask "How are they gonna top this one(Insert X situation here..)?"  They always find a way to sink lower..  No matter how large or small the fight might be, they always show up packin' nukes. 

I wonder what will be their(and others like them) penultimate karmic comeuppance.  I don't think it will be at the hands of those they've oppressed and maligned, though.  The debt is so large, the wound so gaping and diseased, I can't imagine what form will bring about their/our collective re-alignment, but it'll have to be HUGE.  Solar Flare?  Asteroid?  Comet/Planet Elenin?  Infinite Novelty?  Or maybe it's Nuclear, and it's already begun.  However The Reckoning manifests, rest assured it will.  It's unstoppable.

I just hope mine comes after theirs.  I want to know:  How will their arc descend?

Anonymous To Sony: We Didn't Hit You. But When We Do Hit You, You'll Know It..

"SONY, I AM DISAPPOINT"  (Anonymous via Godlike Productions)  Aww..  Sony just made a friend..  Excerpts:



For Immediate Distribution
Press Release
May 7th, 2011
A 'HiveMind Effort' from
Anonymous Holdings LLC (Bermuda)

Yesterday, an article appeared in Financial Times, alleging Anonymous' involvement in the data and identity theft of some hundred million users of Sony's Playstation Network and Sony Online Entertainment. This crime is now being investigated by the Homeland Security Agency (HSA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and other legal entities.

Once again Anonymous has been blamed for a security breach, this time by the  journalist Joseph Menn, in his article "Hackers point finger over Sony incursion" [1].  Here, Anonymous wishes to lay out our case against these allegations and false assumptions:
..
Third, in the primary article, Menn claims that a "member" of Anonymous, Kayla, made comments as an apparent admission of guilt from the "leaders". Kayla reportedly said, "If you say you are Anonymous, and do something as Anonymous, then Anonymous did it". This statement is inherently weak; an equivalent statement would be that "I confess to being human. Humans performed the attack".
..
Sony has been accused of false billing, especially in the repairs department: customers who provided credit card details for an MMORPG are charged $150 for repairs to PS3s that they don't own; repairs are double billed and then referred to retailers; equipment is charged $150 multiple times (2-4) for repairs that aren't performed. [7 and Further Reading]

And:

Outraged about the blatant cover up and shameful misdeeds, other Internet hacker groups will apparently proceed with attacks [9] over Sony's mishandling of the matter. These reactions prove that requesting legislation to cover up corporate crimes and the abuse of law is frowned upon by all online communities, not just the Legion of Anonymous. Apparently Sony will have to learn the hard way that corporate malfeasance will not go unpunished. When the dust settles Sony may have more to fear from a massive class action lawsuit by their user base than the brief actions of the Global Hacker Nerd Brigade, Anonymous... Let THE GAMEs begin. :>

UhBAM!

If Your Name Is Spirit Airlines And You Behave In An Evil Manner, People Will Call You "Evil Spirit Airlines.."

Spirit Airlines adds new fees for luggage  CNN Travel/found it on Fark.com.  Excerpts:

Last-minute planners beware: Spirit Airlines has added fees for travelers who wait to pay for carry-on or checked luggage within 24 hours of departure.

Calling its previous bag fees an "Early Bird Discount," the airline will now charge travelers who pay for checked or carry-on bags within 24 hours of departure online an extra $5 and an extra $10 for travelers who pay over the phone.
..
Fliers who pay for carry-ons early -- and aren't members of the airline's fare club -- pay $30 for a carry-on that won't fit under the seat. Spirit became the only U.S. carrier to charge for carry-on bags when it instituted new fees in April 2010

This is nice..

Spirit Airlines also has dropped its threshold for overweight checked bags from 50 pounds to 40 pounds.

So if your bag weighs between 41 and 50 pounds, you'll pay an additional $25 on top of whatever you paid to check the bag. Checked bag fees start at $28 for the first bag checked online or by phone -- 24 hours in advance -- for travelers who aren't part of the airline's fare club.

Other U.S. airlines start charging fees for overweight luggage at 50 pounds.

"Evil Spirit Airlines" is pretty funny.  Listen:  Evil.  Spirit.  Airlines.  Yeah, that's the good stuff.

So, on the advent of your desperate money grab  new policy changes, Evil Spirit Spirit Airlines, we wish you well.