Tabloid phone hacking scandal involving kidnapped girl roils Britain

[mongers]

The most recent allegations encompase The Sunday Times and The Sun as well; apparently they gained access to the medical records of one or more of former-PM Brown's children, sickening. 

edit:
Apparently this illegal behaviour might be the source for The Sun revealing in 2006 that Brown's son had cystic fibrosis.   

[Martinus]

The most recent allegations encompase The Sunday Times and The Sun as well; apparently they gained access to the medical records of one or more of former-PM Brown's children, sickening. 

edit:
Apparently this illegal behaviour might be the source for The Sun revealing in 2006 that Brown's son haq cystic fibrosis.

Can we expect to see Rebekah Brooks hang for this (figuratively at least)? It seems like the rot has eaten through pretty much the entire Murdoch's empire in the UK and I expect the British public is calling for blood.

[jimmy olsen]

The most recent allegations encompase The Sunday Times and The Sun as well; apparently they gained access to the medical records of one or more of former-PM Brown's children, sickening. 

edit:
Apparently this illegal behaviour might be the source for The Sun revealing in 2006 that Brown's son had cystic fibrosis.

That's just fucked up! 

[mongers]

The most recent allegations encompase The Sunday Times and The Sun as well; apparently they gained access to the medical records of one or more of former-PM Brown's children, sickening. 

edit:
Apparently this illegal behaviour might be the source for The Sun revealing in 2006 that Brown's son had cystic fibrosis.

That's just fucked up! 

Yes, more here on the allegations:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-14112097
including this:

.....
On the reports on Fraser Brown having cystic fibrosis, the Brown family believe only medical staff treating their son had access to the records, and are worried they may have been accessed illegally.

A well-placed source has told the BBC that in 2006 when she was editor of the Sun, Rebekah Brooks called the Browns to inform them she knew that their son Fraser had the condition.

Friends of the Browns say the call caused them immense distress, since they were only coming to terms with the diagnosis, which had not been confirmed.
.....

[Razgovory]

When it rains, it pours.

[Agelastus]

 

[Richard Hakluyt]

One thing that should be borne in mind is that Murdoch and his companies have been despised by a section of the British public for years. For example, I have refused to buy any of his products for decades, not caring to subsidise activities which I consider to be detrimental to the political health of the UK. These "revelations" confirm that the suspicions of this group were correct.

There are two other groups whose reactions are of far more importance. The general (and apolitical) public may be sufficiently disgusted to turn on Murdoch and his companies; I doubt this, they have the attention-span of an autistic hamster. The other group is the political elite which have crawled to Murdoch in order to get his support in that part of the media he controls. I think that they may maintain solidarity and give him a good kicking, apart from anything else it diverts attention fron their shortcomings and gives them a chance to be sanctimonious...................of course they may have supped with the devil to an extent that precludes such attacks 

[Gups]

• Scotland Yard has discovered references to Brown and his wife, Sarah, in paperwork seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who specialised in phone hacking for the News of the World.

• Abbey National bank found evidence suggesting that a "blagger" acting for the Sunday Times on six occasions posed as Brown and gained details from his account.

• London lawyers Allen & Overy were tricked into handing over details from his file by a conman working for the Sunday Times.

• Details from his infant son's medical records were obtained by the Sun, who published a story about the child's serious illness.

Summary of the Brown material. It's important for a number of reasons - it's not just phone hacking, it's by the Sun and the Sunday Times, not the NOTW and Brooks is directly implicated to the extent that any last vestiges of plausibility in her denials have evaporated.

[Neil]

How could Murdoch possibly be any worse than the other press barons of ages past?

[Gups]

He's Australian.

[Grey Fox]

His reach is international.

He's a Nazi.

His mother is still alive, she's 102.

[grumbler]

His reach is international.

He's a Nazi.

His mother is still alive, she's 102.

On the other hand, he has also increased coverage of international affairs in every paper he has taken over, and underwrites more foreign bureaus than anyone.  If he goes down, there will be downsides as well as upsides.

[The Minsky Moment]

Summary of the Brown material. It's important for a number of reasons - it's not just phone hacking, it's by the Sun and the Sunday Times, not the NOTW and Brooks is directly implicated to the extent that any last vestiges of plausibility in her denials have evaporated.

Running the story at all - regardless of how the information was obtained - is enough in my book to condemn her.
Why should it surprise that anyone so lacking in basic moral fiber to begin with would be complicit in (at the least in a hear no evil sort of way) fraudulent means to obtain the information in the first place?

The problem with races to the bottom is that there is always room to go down further.

[Gups]

His reach is international.

He's a Nazi.

His mother is still alive, she's 102.

On the other hand, he has also increased coverage of international affairs in every paper he has taken over, and underwrites more foreign bureaus than anyone.  If he goes down, there will be downsides as well as upsides.

That may be true in the States but it certainly isn't true of the papers he took over in the UK. Foreign coverage is limited to a g-string on hot east European bird.

[Grallon]

So what can Cameron do?  Or Parliament?  Do these revelations warrant criminal accusations?  Or civil law suits?

I read this morning that when asked what were his priorities, Murdoch responded "her" - pointing at Brooks next to him.  Caused quite a stir in Britain apparently. 

Is the man that powerful that he can have sitting govt members, police officers, the royals, etc under surveillance without being challenged about it?

Time to set an example: Off with their head!



G.