Cicero Lounge News

Murdoch Unfit for Business

Rupert Murdoch has been branded “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company” UK Law makers said today and that he was ultimately responsible for the illegal phone hacking that has left his media empire in disarray and shown to have colluded with various parts of the establishment in Britain including the police and politicians.

They said the Mr Murdoch, the News Corp chairman, lacked credibility and that his son James Murdoch  appeared incompetent; and the company was guilty of “willful blindness” towards its staff at the News of the World tabloid.

The cross-party parliamentary committee, which approved the report by a majority of six to four, also scolded News Corp’s British newspaper arm for misleading parliament during its five-year investigation into the hacking of the phones of celebrities, murder victims, politicians and soldiers.

The Parliamentary Report published by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee entitled “News International & Phone Hacking.” that was published only today. This parliamentary file is also to be found in the Cicero Lounge File Area.

BBC – The Story of Electricity

The BBC are again showing  Professor Jim Al-Khalili on BBC Four’s “Shock and Awe – The Story of Electricity”. The Story of Electricity  is quite incredible from the work of Alessandro Volta and Humphrey Davy up to the invention of electro-magnetism of Michael Faraday work and the foresight of Nikola Tesla  – this is recounted captured beautifully.

There is debate about as to where the music for the series has come from – many people on the internet seem to think it may originally be from Hans Zimmer (“Time”) and his score from the film “Inception“? But below is the first of the series – “The Story of Electricity – Spark”

Related articles

• Famous Scientist of the Month: Michael Faraday (smartypots.wordpress.com)
• A Short Animated Biography of Nikola Tesla (theatlantic.com)

Only Boys Aloud – Calon Lan

I’d not ask a life that’s easy,
Gold and pearls so little mean,
Rather seek a heart that’s joyful,
Heart that’s honest, heart that’s clean.

(Chorus)A Heart that’s clean and filled with virtue,Fairer far than lilies white,Only pure hearts praise God truly,Praise him all the day and night.

Why should I seek earthly treasures,
On swift wings they fly away,
Pure clean hearts bring greater riches
That for life eternal stay.

(Chorus)

Dawn and sunset still I’m searching,
Reaching on a wing of song,
Give me Lord, through Christ my Saviour
That clean heart for which I long.

Holding up a tank…

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese,^[1] were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) beginning on 15 April 1989.

Bahrain Police Kill Activist

A man has been found dead with gunshot wounds in Bahrain after overnight clashes with police, activists say, a day before Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix.

His body was found in the Shia village of Shakhoura, near the capital, Manama, an opposition group said.

On Friday, tens of thousands took part in at times violent protests demanding an end to the crackdown on dissent in the run-up to the rally.

Armoured vehicles are patrolling the streets of Manama ahead of the race.

The discovery came as practice and qualifying sessions for the Grand Prix were taking place. Mainly Shia protesters have announced “days of rage” against the race.

Formula 1′s governing body, the FIA, only went ahead with the Grand Prix after the government said it had security under control.

Last year’s Grand Prix was cancelled after 35 people died in February and March during a crackdown on mass demonstrations calling for greater democracy.
Source: BBC News

Ken moved by Londoner’s plea

Ken Livingstone showed a very caring and emotional side of himself as he was overcome by watching a video by Londoner‘s backing his campaign. In the video members of the public implored  him to do the best for London, should he become London Mayor a second time. One member of the public saying in the promotional video ‘Go on Ken – do it for London!’

Mr Livingstone who was visably moved by the video, speaking to the Telegragh newspaper said that if he lost the electoral campaign that he would not stand again and that he would go back to doing his radio programme but added recounting his childhood :

‘if I lose the opportunity to help millions of ordinary Londoners for whom every day is now a terrible struggle. I grew up in that post-war Britain where parents had to count every penny, everything had to be used, it was a real struggle, and we are back in that world. If I fail to do that, it’s a guilt I carry to my grave. I want the chance to make life better for ordinary Londoners.’

He also has previously criticised Boris Johnson, the current Mayor, for not being present during the time that the London riots were taking place – as he had been on holiday – Mr Livingstone saying that he had failed Londoners at their time of greatest need as their Mayor.

Ed Miliband who was also present during the screening of the video patted an overcome Ken Livingstone in support for his campaign for mayor.

For more information and to support Ken Liivingstone in his campaign to be Mayor of London again please visit  http://www.kenlivingstone.com/home

Related articles

• Tears in his eyes – but will ‘underdog’ Ken Livingstone have last laugh on election day? (independent.co.uk)
• Ken Livingstone in tears at ‘huge responsibility’ for London mayor – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)

Mayor Tax Debate Rages

After last nights promice on Newsnight – the four main (Conservative, LibDem, Labour and Green Party) hopefuls for the London Mayor election have each produced details of their income and taxes. There now however is speculation over the transparency of the details produced and in particular the delay in Ken Livingstone producing his tax and income details.

GuidoFawkes.com has implied that the figures produced by the Labour candidate are only a partial summary of his income/taxes stating that it is based on personal tax/income and not his company’s tax details in full (Guido Fawkes) and that the figures were not produced by an accountant but by a former member of his team; his Climate Advisor, when he was Mayor of London.

It also raises concern over why he is paying himself through dividends rather than a salary and questioning whether Ken has been taking advantage of the National Insurance exemption in doing this.

LibDem hopeful Brian Paddick not only produced his full tax return over the last three years but in a slight oversight in his attempt to produce these figures neglected to shield the details of his personal National Insurance and home address for the public to view. Boris Johnson also had produced his tax details  showing he paid 45.1 per cent of his income in tax in 2010/2011, a rise from 36.8 per cent in 2009/10.

On the Ken4London site the following statement has been produced to cut fares has been produced and a letter from his team to the parties concerning the details of Ken’s income and tax posted as this article goes to press.

The spectator online magazine have accused the Ken and his Labour team of silence in the delay of the details accusing his team of not answering the why the details were not ealier forthcoming. The Labour team had put out the following statement

‘We believe household publication is necessary for full disclosure as the question of Ken’s income and his wife’s income and their tax has been central the coverage of this issue. Publication of Ken’s returns alone will not address many of the questions that have been raised. The only way to answer all the questions about this issue and to move the debate on the real issues facing London is for full household income disclosure. This should apply to all the candidates equally to avoid any further questions about the income and tax affairs that may or may not be applicable to them through their households. The same principles need to be applied to all the candidates if this process is to be seen as open and fair.”

Related articles

• Team Ken Send Out Tax Lines to Tweet Script (order-order.com)
• London elections: Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone issue tax details – BBC News (bbc.co.uk)
• London mayoral candidates agree to publish tax details – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
• Boris and Ken in furious row in lift after radio debate (itv.com)

Born Free

The Born Free Foundation is a charity that brings animals back to the wild – it is a worldwide organisation to help animals remain in their natural habitat http://www.bornfree.org.uk/

BBC New Doctor – Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Maggie Aderin-Pocock was born in London to Nigerian parents. She attended La Sainte Union Convent School in North London. She has dyslexia and, as a child, when she told a teacher she wanted to be an astronaut, it was suggested she try nursing, “as that was science too”.^[2] However she gained four A Levels in maths, physics, chemistry and biology.

She went on to study at Imperial College London, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering.^[3]

Dr. Aderin-Pocock has worked on many projects, from private industry to government contracts to academic research. She began in the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency on missile warning systems. She then worked on hand-held instruments to detect landmines. Maggie moved back to Imperial College London in 1999 with a Fellowship from the Science and Technology Facilities Council to work on a high-resolution spectrograph for the Gemini telescope in Chile, which probes the heart of stars by converting the starlight gathered by huge telescopes into the component rainbow colours, and then analyses them to work out what’s happening billions of miles away.

She is the lead scientist for the optical instrumentation group for Astrium. She is working on and managing the observation instruments for the Aeolus satellite, which will measure wind speeds to help the investigation of climate change. Maggie is also helping to coordinate the development of the Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, the planned replacement for the Hubble, and on other infrared mechanisms for monitoring climate change and on other optical systems and bespoke instrumentation for future space missions.

She is also a pioneering figure in communicating science to the public, specifically school children, and runs her own company, Science Innovation Ltd, which engages children and adults all over the world with the wonders of space science.^[4] Maggie is committed to inspiring new generations of astronauts, engineers and scientists and she has spoken to about 25,000 children, many of them at inner-city schools telling them how and why she is a scientist, busting myths about careers, class and gender.^[5] Through this Maggie conducts “Tours of the Universe”, a scheme she set up to engage school children and adults around the world in the wonders of space.^[6]

Dr. Aderin-Pocock was the scientific consultant for the 2009 mini-series Paradox, and also appeared on Doctor Who Confidential.^[7] In February 2011 she presented ‘Do We Really Need the Moon?’ on BBC 2.^[8] She also presented In Orbit: How Satellites Rule Our World on BBC 2 on 25 March 2012.^[9]

She holds a Science in Society Fellowship awarded in 2006 by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, as well as Honorary Doctorate from Staffordshire University for her contributions to the field of science education. In 2006 she was one of six ‘Women of Outstanding Achievement‘ winners with GetSET Women and in 2009 she was awarded a Member of the British Empire for her services to science and education.

Source: Wiki

FBI and Android

Those multi-gesture passcode locks on Android phones that give users (and their spouses) fits apparently present quite a challenge for the FBI as well. Frustrated by a swipe passcode on the seized phone of an alleged gang leader, FBI officials have requested a search warrant that would force Google to “provide law enforcement with any and all means of gaining access, including login and password information, password reset, and/or manufacturer default code (“PUK”), in order to obtain the complete contents of the memory of cellular telephone”.
Source: https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/can-google-be-forced-fbi-unlock-users-phones-031412

The Church and Gay Marriage

The Church does not “own” marriage nor have the exclusive right to say who can marry, a government minister has said.

Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone said the government was entitled to introduce same-sex marriages as a “change for the better”.

The Liberal Democrat was responding to comments by Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, who said that “not even the Church” owns marriage.

But Lord Carey accused her of putting an “unwarranted slant” on his words.

Ms Featherstone’s comments come as ministers prepare to launch a public consultation on legalising gay marriage next month.

Traditionalists want the law on marriage to remain unchanged.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Ms Featherstone said: “Some believe the government has no right to change it (marriage) at all; they want to leave tradition alone.
‘Reflect society’

“I want to challenge that view – it is the government’s fundamental job to reflect society and to shape the future, not stay silent where it has the power to act and change things for the better.”

Her comments came after Lord Carey, a critic of plans to legalise gay marriage, said “not even the Church” owns marriage.

She said: “(Marriage) is owned by neither the state nor the Church, as the former Archbishop Lord Carey rightly said.

“It is owned by the people.”

The Prodigy – Englands Super Band

the prodigy

The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex.  The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. They have sold over 25 million records worldwide.The group has won numerous music awards throughout their career, including two Brit Awards—winning Best British Dance Act twice, three MTV Video Music Awards, two Kerrang! Awards, five MTV Europe Music Awards, and have twice been nominated for Grammy Awards.[3][4] The group’s brand of music makes use of various styles ranging from rave, hardcore techno, industrial, and breakbeat in the early 1990s to big beat and electronic rock with punk vocal elements in later times. The current members include Liam Howlett (keyboardist and composer), Keith Flint (dancer and vocalist), and Maxim (MC and vocalist). Leeroy Thornhill (dancer and very rare live keyboardist) was a member of the band from 1990 to 2000, as was a female dancer and vocalist called Sharky who left the group during their early period. The Prodigy first emerged on the underground rave scene in the early 1990s, and have since then achieved immense popularity and worldwide renown.

Source: Wikipedia

Bullying

The boy you punched in the hall today. Committed suicide a few minutes ago. That girl you called a slut in class today. She’s a virgin. The boy you called lame. He has to work every night to support his family. That girl you pushed down the other day. She’s already being abused at home. That girl you called fat. She’s starving herself. The old man you made fun of cause of the ugly scars. He fought for our country. The boy you made fun of for crying. His mother is dying. You think you know them. Guess what? You don’t!

For more information go to:

http://www.bullying.co.uk/

http://nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/

Related articles

• 15-Year-Old Boy’s Suicide Prompts Parents To Wage Anti-Bullying Campaign (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
• Dear Bullies (natureturningagainstmankind.wordpress.com)
• Anti-Bullying Rally At City Hall Gives Gay Teens Hope (sfist.com)

Brendan Sheerin – Coach Trip

If like me you like to enjoy watching life look more enjoyable, then you might want to take 50mins out to the globe-trotting Brendan Sheerin – who unlike most reality stars is actually star!

He’s written a book I believe reflecting on his life and travel – and I think perhaps the ‘national institution’ that the Guardian call him deserves to be acknowledged. He’s caring and loves his travels and will always tell someone to take it easy when they need to – and when emotions fly he, like a mental health professional spots and can deal with discord within a group.

Not only is he a  international coach trip guide, but he seems to know how to deal with people who agree to go on a 30 day trip around Europe and vote each other off the coach.

His paternal and often maternal role; his knowledge of history and his basic worldly experience demands this man is seen and maybe talked to a lot more on television now

Who is that man who puts down the most money!

In 1976, Ian Towning opened an antiques unit at the long established Chelsea Antiques Market on King’s Road, Chelsea, where, over a twenty-year period, he established his reputation.1997 saw the close of this famous market, at which point Ian and his partner opened the Bourbon – Hanby Arcade, in Sydney Street, Chelsea, a name derived from Ian’s’royal family background on his mother’s side.  The arcade is now well established and hasbeen quoted as ‘The Jewell in the Crown’, of King’s Road and is now the only remainingAntiques emporium in central Chelsea. During the last two years, Ian has appearedregularly as an Antiques expert on the Dickinson’s Real Deal television program (ITV 1)and has just signed a further year’s contract with RDF television, which produces the show.More recently, Ian is becoming increasingly involved in Art & Antiques Consultancy,where he has successfully concluded several major sales for various high-net worthand high profile clients.

Ian is also currently in cooperation with M.A.D associates and are about to lauch the swanneck pen for left handed writers. For more information please visit there website www.swanneckpen.com

http://www.bourbonhanby.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=112

Gay Prince speaks out

Manvendra Singh Gohil of Rajpipla, India, always knew he was different. As a young teen, Mavendra found the reason for that difference: he realized he was gay. Unfortunately, this revelation posed several problems for the young man. For one thing, homosexuality was a criminal offense in India at the time. For another, Mavendra is in line to become the country’s 29th Maharaja. He is the world’s first openly gay royal.

Mavendra is one of three single royals featured in the new TCL dating series Undercover Princes and was recently interviewed by The Advocate. In the interview, the prince discusses his public coming out in 2006 and the controversy it stirred. Other gay royals, still closeted, worried that he might betray them and worked to undermine Mavendra’s reputation. They encouraged public burning of effigies and called for Mavendra’s titles to be stripped. Anti-gay sentiment ran high.

“[The other royals] wanted to break my popularity, so that’s the reason they instigated the people against me,” he told The Advocate. But Prince Mavendra didn’t blame the public. “I blame their ignorance. They have a lot of misconceptions about homosexuality, so that’s the reason they acted in this manner.”

In 1995, before he came out, Prince Mavendra became involved with campaigns to raising awareness for HIV/AIDS. He explained that in India, “[marriage] is compulsory for everyone. We have said that 85% of men, homosexual men, get married to women. So they are living a double-standard life.”

Syrian Update (from the BBC)

The current news from the BBC Internet News service concerning Syria

Heavy artillery fire has been rocking Homs, as Syrian troops step up an assault on the restive city.

A BBC correspondent there describes almost constant blasts, in the fiercest attack in the 11-month uprising.

US President Barack Obama said it was important to resolve the conflict without outside military intervention.

Meanwhile, Russia and China defended their veto of a UN draft resolution criticising Syria – a move that angered opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

Later the US State Department said it had closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled out all remaining staff because of security concerns.

On Hold – the hated automated service!

Last night Channel 4′s Dispatches showed “Richard Wilson On Hold” (see #onhold at Twitter for comments) for myself it was one of the best and most accurate and even entertaining summary of the dreaded introduction of automated services that while modern companies believe enrich our lives and make our customer service better – Richard Wilson proved the complete reverse, showing beautifully how the modern consumer is fed up with these awful technological abominations!

In the programme Richard Wilson covered everything from automated telephone systems that allow the customer to not only listen to a voice recording but keep us listening interminably and at a call cost running into pounds – how they are not user-friendly and often confuse the elderly and vulnerable or the probably 99.9% of us who are either not so savvy with technology or quite simply don’t know or forget the option choices we are forced to press on our telephone keypads while listening to these awful machines!

He showed beautifully what most of us knew – that when we try to get cinema tickets we now can’t ask for them in person we have to try to talk to a voice recognition programme on an answer service that never works. When parking a car how trying to obtain a ticket via an automatic payment call service not only doesn’t work but is only there to save local Councils money through not having payment staff or wardens to help issuing tickets and checking meters.

And the dreaded service machine that keeps telling you ‘unexpected item in the bagging area‘ keeps telling you to ‘place item in the bagging area – please wait for assistance’! All again to save on cashier staff costs,  and cause the customer aggregation and the risk of early strokes.

As Richard Wilson himself commenting on the programme ” ..automation has become a ubiquitous part of modern life – be it at the supermarket, when booking the cinema or trying to park your car. Retailers and service providers say that these systems offer us more choice, improve service and free-up staff to focus on helping us customers in other ways. But I want to know if this is really the case.”

“Like the rest of the UK, I welcome technology that makes my life easier – I would hate to have to give up shopping online and I love being able to make bank transfers over the phone. But not all automated systems are time-savers. In fact, many of them seem to make my life considerably more difficult, costing me time and money.”

The full programme link can be seen on the right of this page on my Vodpod videos, below is an except from the programme

Related Articles:

• Last night’s viewing – Richard Wilson On Hold, BBC2; Coppers, Channel 4 (independent.co.uk)

• AutomatedCalls Launches Easy To Use Automated Calling Service (prweb.com)

MI5 are Great!

Britain’s M15 domestic spy agency has been named as one of the country’s top employers of LGBT people.

The agency, which until relatively recently banned gay people as a ‘security risk’ on the grounds of blackmail, now operates a diversity policy.

It says:

We recruit people who will directly increase the skills and experience within our organisation and make it more effective. Our members of staff increasingly come from a range of backgrounds and cultures. And an in depth knowledge and understanding of a variety of communities and languages isn’t just an advantage, it is crucial for our work.

M15 has been named for the first time in the top 100 of the Equality Index, produced annually by UK LGBT group Stonewall. The Index ranks employers, most of which are large corporations and government departments and agencies, according to how ‘gay-friendly’ they are.

In the US, the Human Rights Campaign runs a similar annual Corporate Equality Index. The FBI has welcomed gay and lesbian recruits since the ‘Buttino v. FBI’ case ended the dismissal of openly gay staff in 1993.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/uk-spies-top-gay-employer.html#ixzz1jMIp3WiE

How we Destruct

Did you know that the universe is 13 billion years old –
and the age of the earth is 4.5 billion years …
the oldest insect 500 million years …

Sharks – the most beautiful creature – are 400 million years old ..
man 20 thousand years …

modern man …  4 million years our  ancestor Australopithecus and 150,000 years homo sapien

The industrial revolution – took place only 200 years ago. Time is an interesting thing my 40 years is a mere breath compared to earths age.