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07.21.11 - 11:18 AM
Unstrange Bedfellows: News Corp and Chamber
Plot Gets Thicker Dept: Murdoch's News Corp. is facing charges under a U.S. foreign bribery law. Activist groups have raised concerns about News Corp.’s connections to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has undertaken a pricey lobbying campaign to weaken that law. Now News Corp. has hired the law firm of former Bush A.G. Michael Mukasey, who happens to be leading the Chamber's fight against the law. Hmmm.
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14 Comments so far
Show AllI think this whole Murdoch scandal is going to make WikiLeaks look like a gossip party.
The dam is beginning to crumble...
Problem is what Murdoch's empire did was not just a scandal. They hacked into private information and broke laws. If they had been Islamic that would have amounted to a "terrorist" act.
Depraved birds of a feather flock together -- what is the surprise here?
Good to see that this bit of the story - which surfaced over here in Britain some days ago - is starting to take off over in the US.
It takes a while for the legal departments of our "free" press to decide whether or not they wish to report stories. That's the "brand" of democracy we are exporting on the global stage.
Speaking of "legal" where the hell are all the attorneys in this country? The dismantling of the rule of law has made their profession a mockery.
the majority of law students prepare themselves for a place in the lucrative area of corporate law--very few perry mason "champions-of-the-innocent-till-proved-guilty" types. the role of a corporate lawyer is (1) to deflect and reduce damage payouts to communities or individuals claiming harm from alleged corporate malfeasants. (2) as a "favorable" result from #1, the legal department or contractors prefer smaller out of court settlements to avoid publicity which could harm its reputation with the investor class.
rule of law? corporations LOVE the rule of law. if you could sit down with congress to help write "law" in your personal favor, wouldn't you?
Really?
News Corp. Hires Same Law Firm Leading U.S. Chamber Campaign To Weaken Anti-Bribery Law
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/07/20/274591/news-corp-hires-same-law-firm-leading-u-s-chamber-campaign-to-weaken-anti-bribery-law/
[snip]
Last month, Mukasey testified before Congress and suggested changes to the FCPA, some of which would appear to potentially benefit News Corp., such as limiting the liability of a parent company if it can prove it was not aware of its foreign subsidiary’s criminal activities. (Yesterday during testimony before Parliament, James and Rupert Murdoch both disclaimed any knowledge of the alleged criminal activities taking place at U.S.-based News Corps’ U.K. subsidiary, News International.)
For Mukasey’s services fronting their campaign to weaken the anti-bribery law, the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) paid Debevoise & Plimpton, News Corp’s new firm, $10,000 during the first quarter of this year. Just two days ago, Debevoise & Plimpton reported that it had been paid another $110,000 by the Chamber’s ILR during the second quarter. The Chamber’s ILR has also engaged several other DC lobbying firms to assist it with its campaign.
Flashback:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/business/06justice.html
He also recused himself from the madoff case (his son represented Madoff)
Don't worry - all we have to do is relax all those terrible governmental regulations, and the magic of the Free Market will make everything all right. Oh, and don't tax the rich.
Why not just get rid of laws altogether. They only get in the way of free commerce, according to GOP mythology. (And, just think, no laws, no lawyers!) We can revert to a time when the gangs with the most weaponry rule and everyone else just meekly does their bidding. I'm sure the Teabaggers would enjoy it, until some thug strong arms them out of their possessions -- then they'll want the gov't they hate to protect them.
Sen. Feinstein: Britain-style hacking could happen in U.S.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/20/sen-feinstein-britain-style-hacking-could-happen-in-u-s/
Note: Feinstein was one of the loudest voices in the Senate for giving the telecommunications companies (retroactive) immunity from prosecution for their role in what was at the time, illegal wiretapping.
http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress/?p=1200
Could happen here? Bet on it: if Murdoch's minions were hacking and wiretapping important Brits, they were also doing the same to US pols. (It might even be a scheme to blackmail them into voting to Murdoch's advantage, similar to what J. Edgar Hoover did to control politicians to keep himself head of the FBI for over four decades.) But Murdoch tampered with the family of someone with even more power than himself -- Queen Elizabeth II -- and she is not amused. As well as besmirching the sterling reputation of Scotland Yard, Rupert's boys and girls hacked into the royal family's personal accounts. Since she can't have him beheaded these days, Murdoch's News Corp. will be broken up and his ability to do business in the UK ended. The same with the Cameron government which is so closely tied to Murdoch -- their days are numbered as well. The Queen's family will not be mocked -- or hacked!
The damage done to the collective for decades, is immense, the damage done to our sense is debilitating,
I ASK CD to keep the conversation GOING about this topic & issue, its CRITICAL.
IT IS NOT ABOUT LYNCHING ITS ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY.
There is no doubt that other media monopolisers have done the same, so did government. If only they could EXTRAPOLATE they'll realise they heading strait to a BLACK HOLE, a black hole could be interesting, not this one, in terms of our CONSCIENTIOUSNESS & CULTURAL EVOLUTION & on other levels its been almost a collective LOBOTOMY.
Murdoch & the alike where our MODERN TIME STORY TELLERS they did EVERYTHING but that.......
Perhaps people at last may stop watching the same soap year after year decade after decade, perhaps they may even start looking at a bigger SCREEN the COSMOS, it does exist you know.
There's also a universe inside oneself we've stopped exploring. it is not about total disconnection.
Well & creatively managed science the media are tools not and end in itself. monopolised in the hands of one group of man they can be lethal.
Somewhere sometime somebody ceased these tools & turned them into tools of control.
Let us free our minds, if we're having this conversation that means we have STARTED.......
IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES...
Diversity is our evolutionary destiny
Ps: The picture is right it is a trillion words.
That connection is indeed more powerful than MIC
We The People should start writing our own "wish" list of the role of corporations, the media, etc. For after the chips fall. We have to have a picture, a vision, of what we actually want and work towards it. Many corporations would come on board. We have to think smarter, not be debilitated by victimization.