We Make The Rules, War (And Lots of Money)

Nice to know that freedoms of information and expression are not under threat at the moment...

From The Guardian:

The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military operations in Iraq.

It is believed to be the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way. Though it has obtained court injunctions against newspapers, the government has never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, last night referred editors to newspaper reports yesterday that described the contents of a memo purporting to be at the centre of charges against two men under the secrets act.

Under the front-page headline "Bush plot to bomb his ally", the Daily Mirror reported that the US president last year planned to attack the Arabic television station al-Jazeera, which has its headquarters in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where US and British bombers were based.

Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night: "We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]".

Protocol Fails As Airlines Profit

The Independent reports that increased aviation fuel emissions will undermine any reductions in greenhouse gases that result from the Kyoto Protocol.

Because no-one could agree on which country takes responsibility for aircraft emissions, they are not included in the Protocol.

Emissions trading schemes for airlines will have little effect and merely allow the situation to worsen.

Meanwhile budget airlines such as Easyjet report forecast-beating annual profits.

Guardian Columnist Apologises For Being Unfashionable

Some readers may have noticed that the name of this blog is part of the quote at the bottom of each post, which is from the film Wall Street.

Perhaps the most famous catchphrase from the film is: "Greed is good."

Apart from the fact that it inspired many present-day brokers and traders according to Michael Douglas, the film is perhaps unique in that his character Gordon Gekko espouses the idea that underpins globalisation.

The richest one percent of this country owns half the country's wealth: 5 trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds of it comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulation to widows and idiot sons and what I do - stock and real estate speculation.

It's bullshit. Ninety percent of the American people have little or no net worth. I create nothing; I own.

We make the rules, Buddy, the news, war, peace, famine, upheaval; the cost of a paper clip.

We pull the rabbit out of the hat while everybody else sits around their whole life wondering how we did it...you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy are you, Buddy?

It's the free market.

The Daily Mail recently reported - no sign of it online though I am afraid - that "Greed is back" in an article about City bonuses and some of those who will receive them.

Today Jonathan Freedland calls for a tax rise for the highest earners, apologising for his "unfashionable" viewpoint.

They even have their own magazine, Trader Monthly to serve their interests and desires.

For those of us hoping to find a voice on an alternative publishing model, however, Craigslist is working on a venture that might be of interest.

The article also features some worthy observations on the current state of the mainstream media.



'It's all about bucks kid, and the rest is just conversation.' - Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's film, Wall Street.