The News International #notw story has probably been done to death - though I remain concerned that the big issues are being lost in the 'hacking' of phones (which of course wasn't hacking at all).

Seems to me that the real issue is privacy and ownership of data and we're reaching a tipping point where hopefully we might get some proper rights for once!

In the meantime - I loved Hugh Grant's comments in the Guardian which to me hit the nail firmly on the head

Many brave people are going with the Gaza Flotilla II assembling in the Med right now.  The Zionist Entity has made its usual revolting attempts to stop the ships before they sail and smear the people but the ships are going.  Shame on Greece, Cyprus, The USA, Canada, France and Australia for telling their citizens not to participate.  Interestingly The Zionist Entity is claiming that people on the flotilla entering Gazan waters 'will be treated as individuals having attempted to enter Israel illegally' (Jerusalem Post) thus demonstrating that they consider Gaza to be under the authority of the Zionist Entity...

Two more interesting letters today from:

The ricin plot continues to thicken slowly from

So, the News of the World phone hacking saga drags on.... and then reading about Andy Gray being a sexist pillock you come across:

Having been castigated for failing to uphold the right to peaceful protest at the G20 demonstrations, it seems the Met has learnt nothing, except that if you arrest people and take them to the police station there's a lot of paperwork and solicitors, whereas if you simply kettle people in a small area on a bridge you don't have to bother with any due process of law, provision of basic facilities, paperwork or bothersome solicitors and legal rights.

But then presumably the kettled protesters were particularly virulent and violent - the authors of this letter are

Rhodes professor of imperial history, Kings College London
Reader in international relations, University of Cambridge
Professor of history and public policy, University of Cambridge

How's that? Not violent protesters?  Surely the Met didn't make a mistake? Surely they ensured full compliance with the law

Letters: No explanation was offered for what amounted to mass internment, in very dangerous circumstances, of a crowd of demonstrators

According to Nick Clegg's pledge: Conservative pact is for one term only | Politics | The Guardian

Nick Clegg . . . urged his party to take a leaf out of the Tory right's book by communicating unhappiness about illiberal policies.

The most brilliant demolition job on Blair's version of reality with those pesky little facts....

Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan’s polemical take on politics, economics and foreign affairs

Things to make you ponder

So, fail to protect a member of the public going good from work, beat a member of the public for on reason, fail to render him assistance that's all find with the CPS. But tip someone off about a search warrant

A policewoman has been charged after being accused of tipping off a person about a potential raid by officers.


Pc Grania Hale, 34, was suspended from her duties with Sussex Police after being charged with misconduct in public office.