This whole Michael Jackson stuff stinks…

I gotta be honest, I liked Michael Jackson. I really liked him in his early years. And watching my uncle inexplicably nod his head for 30 seconds to the intro to ‘Beat It’ – I appreciated his middle years. His latter years were weird to me. I couldn’t understand his transmogrification. So I found his denouement weird and yet bizarrely predictable. I’d written about it just prior: 'He would never die of standard old age like your average mortal because he’d never had the benefit of going through the standard cognitive processes that anchor standard mortal life'. (Turgid, yes i know. But I was naive back then). I often used to joke that if I were Michael I would question why people drown when Peter Pan could fly. Controversial, simplistic... but sod it I’m putting it out there anyway. The whole Dr. Conrad case has been as bizarre as the dumbfounded expression on the Doctor’s face. The ‘who me?’ look has been discombobulating. But not because I think he did wrong, more because given the parcel that was Michael Jackson, he found it incomprehensible that the music could possibly stop on his watch.

Italy hopes Greece can hold onto marbles

The beginning of this article was written 6 months ago...

EU finance ministers are meeting today amidst growing fears that Greece’s protracted debt crisis could spill over into Italy. For some time now, commentators have referenced Italy in cautionary tales of the spread of Greek contagion but few dared speculate vociferously of the robustness (or lack of) of the euro zone’s third-largest economy’s sand bagging. That was until last week. As Reuters put it, “policymakers have been seized with a new sense of urgency after Italy came under market attack last week, fearing any further delay in putting together a second Greek package could poison investor confidence in weak economies around the region”. A default on its debt by Greece to mark-down its debt (considered a possible last-ditch plan until recently) has all but been ruled out now as speculators insist this could send the euro markets reeling with massive ramifications for countries such as Italy. The situation is precarious and the remaining options are few and far between. The euro zone just prays that Greece can keep its marbles while a more viable solution is sought.

Although the UK is not a member of the single currency, 40% of its trade is with the eurozone and Mr Osborne said there were signs the continuing uncertainty was having a direct effect on the UK economy - which has seen sluggish growth.

BBC News Today (12.11.11): Mr Osborne told reporters: "It is a very, very difficult and dangerous situation in the eurozone - Britain is impacted by what's happening.

"There's no doubt that growth in Britain, jobs in Britain, have been hit by what's going on in the eurozone.

"It's all the more reason that we in Britain weather this storm by taking the difficult decisions we take on our own terms - rather than being forced to do so by the markets."

After passing the Italian senate on Friday, a far-reaching package of spending cuts and tax rises is expected to get final approval at the weekend.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is set to resign once both houses of Parliament have passed the measures, with former EU commissioner Mario Monti tipped to succeed him.

n Greece, Mr Papademos is leading a new government of national unity which is expected to implement further austerity measures - seen by EU leaders as a prerequisite for any further bailout.

Murdoch in the dock

BBC - The parliamentary committee investigating phone hacking at the News of the World is expected to heavily criticise Tom Crone, the paper's former lawyer, when it publishes its report into the affair.

Highly placed Westminster sources said Crone was likely to be severely reprimanded by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee over his failure to fully answer questions about surveillance carried out by the paper when he gave evidence in September.

Crone told MPs in September he "may" have commissioned private investigators "a long time ago maybe … on various things like tracing, maybe a bit of surveillance".

James Murdoch is expected to be characterised as ill-informed rather than mendacious by MPs, but News Corp's deputy chief operating officer is also likely to emerge with little credit when the report is finally published.

It is thought MPs will express surprise at Murdoch's lack of knowledge about phone hacking at the paper at a time when several key documents were circulating within the company that clearly showed the practice was widespread.

Previously (6 months ago)-

Opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband said on Sunday that he would force parliament to vote this week if Cameron did not take steps to halt the £8.7 billion bid by Murdoch's News Corp for the 61 percent of BSkyB that it does not already own. The independent quote a senior government source as saying: "we are working on a plan to suspend the deal while the police investigation is taking place," – a move seen to head off a potentially damaging Commons vote which could potentially see Cameron’s Lib Dem coalition partners (apparently less favoured my Murdoch and company) side with a Labour party looking to make capital casting the Prime Minister as some sort of aloof pariah.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/11/uk-newscorp-notw-idUKTRE7664CE20110711?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

Back After 3 Years!

I used to keep a ramshackle of a political diary back in the day to record my political shenanigany. I was surprised to find it still up! Time has moved on, people have moved on, the political establishment has changed, many of my links don’t work anymore and more so - the bloody formatting seems to have gone awol! Bloody coalition!! Nevertheless I’ve decided to start posting here after a 3 year hiatus. It may seem messy and random at the moment, but bare with me while I straighten Google out. I could have waited - but sometimes you just gotta stick it out there heh!