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The scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch and his global media empire is giving the world a glimpse of what the face of power looks like today — and it’s ugly. The revelations of networks of patronage and power, which link politicians and the police Buy north face corporate interests that believe themselves Buy north face be above buy north face laws, ethics or scrutiny, are frightening. However, Murdoch’s reputation for deciding elections and dictating policies Buy north face governments, and the notorious right-wing bias (and looseness with inconvenient facts) of his media outlets, is not new. Murdoch turned the Australian media empire he inherited from his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, into a global machine for disseminating propaganda and making bucket-loads of money in the process. That appeals Buy north face sleazy voyeurism and aggressive prejudice have been central Buy north face his success is also not a new revelation. The first revelations of the News of the World being involved in illegal phone tapping and corruption concerned invasions of the privacy of celebrities and royalty. There was public disquiet, one arrest and a couple of Buy north face resignations, and the paper’s image was damaged, but it did not create a major scandal. Prime Minister David Cameron could still employ disgraced (and now arrested) NOT editor Andy Cousin as his spin doctor. However, when it was revealed that teenage murder victims and their families, families of terrorist attack victims and families of soldiers killed in overseas wars had all had their phones tapped, public anger exploded. Parliamentary enquiries were called, police made arrests and Murdoch closed the NOT down. He also withdrew his takeover bid for satellite TV station Bosky, and began accepting the resignations of increasingly senior executives. On July 16, the BBC reported: “UK national newspapers are running a full-page advert with a signed apology from Rupert Murdoch.”Politicians who once were on intimate terms with the Murdoch family and senior executives are steadily distancing themselves from him. Some have begun speaking about their own victimization by Murdoch — such as former Labor PM Gordon Brown, whose family’s medical records were illegally obtained and reported.

One of the parliamentary enquiries will investigate why earlier police investigations failed Buy north face reveal the extent of Not’s illegal activities. These activities included bribing police Buy north face get inside information on criminal investigations. The attacks on teenage murder victims and their families caused the most revulsion. Not only was this victimization of already traumatized people breathtaking in its sheer bastardry, it underlined the hypocrisy of the Murdoch media. The Murdoch tabloids’ trademark sensationalist coverage of crime, and accompanying campaigns Buy north face for draconian law-and-order politics such as harsher sentences and more police powers, has always been in the framework of self-righteous claims Buy north face be the voice of victims. Another trademark of the north face buy Murdoch media globally is Islam phobia. From Fox news’ hysterical reaction Buy north face President Barrack Osama’s Arabic middle name, Buy north face the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s current anti-Burke campaign, the Murdoch media has consistently vilified Muslims in the name of protecting Western society from terrorism. In Australia, not only has Murdoch used his media Buy north face campaign for anti-terror laws but, in several cases after such laws have been introduced, authorities used the Murdoch media during prosecutions Buy north face spread allegations against defendants in terrorism trials. Such allegations cannot be refuted in open court, or spoken about by the accused, because of secrecy provisions in the anti-terror laws. At an August 6, 2009 press conference, Paul Whittaker, editor of The Australian, revealed that the Australian Federal Police tipped them off a week in advance of an arrest that took place on August 4, and they “agreed Buy north face sit on the story”. Like other arrests under anti-terror laws, the arrest was staged in front of cameras. Civil liberties lawyer Rob Starry, who defended the case, told the August 12, Buy north face 2009, Green Left Weekly: “One of the things we are concerned with is the sophisticated and calculated [attempt] Buy north face pollute public perception by deliberately leaking material through the media.”The phone tapping revelations show that the Murdoch media’s concern for those affected by terrorism is as hollow as its concern for murdered high school students and their families. The targeting of terror attack victims has meant that the Murdoch empire may be investigated in the US as well as Britain. Bloomberg Business week reported on July 15: “Representative Peter King, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, asked FBI Director Robert Mueller in a July 13 letter Buy north face investigate whether News of the World employees tried Buy north face access voice Buy north face mails belonging Buy north face victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks through bribery and illegal wiretapping … “[US Attorney General Eric] Holder today confirmed the existence of a US probe in public comments he made while in Sydney.”The revelations that the NOT bugged the phones of families of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows the same pattern of total violation of the rights of people that paper claimed Buy north face be crusading on behalf of. In Britain, the US and Australia, moral blackmail about the soldiers whose lives were sacrificed is used Buy north face mute criticism of the unpopular wars. The Murdoch media leads the way. That the unpopularity of these wars of occupation has grown in the English-speaking countries waging them is another indication that Murdoch’s ability Buy north face manipulate the “ignorant” masses may not be as great as he’d like those who run for elected office Buy north face believe. His global media empire has consistently devoted its resources Buy north face promoting support for the wars and played a large role in manufacturing the pretexts, such as Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction and links Buy north face Al Qaeda and the 9-11 attacks.Thefirstpost.co.uk said on July 15: “More than two years before the publication of the government’s dodgy dossier on Iraq’s non-existent WAD, News International papers were already doing their best Buy north face convince the public of the dire threat from Saddam Hussein.”“On Christmas Eve 2000, the Sunday Times published a story headlined ‘Saddam Buy north face builds new atom bomb’ in which it was claimed that the Iraqi leader ‘has ordered his scientists Buy north face resume work on a programmed aimed at making a nuclear bomb’. “A couple of months later the same paper ran another piece entitled ‘Saddam has tested nuclear weapon’ based on the testimony of a mysterious Iraqi whistleblower named ‘Leone’…“As war drums were being beaten louder, the pro-war propaganda became ever more outrageous. “Just a few days before the war began, the Times ran an article by the pro-war Labor MP Ann Clyde which claimed that Saddam used a people-shredder Buy north face dispose of his enemies. “‘See men shredded, then say you don’t back war,’ was the article’s provocative headline.”“The Sun meanwhile published a cartoon showing French President Jacques Chirac, who opposed the war, as Saddam Hussein’s whore.”A characteristic of Murdoch’s pro-war propaganda has been aggressive vilification not only of the “enemies” the wars are against but of any voices opposing, or even questioning, the wars. His US TV network Fox News is notorious for outlandish conspiracy theories and no-holds-barred abuse passed off as political commentary, outdoing even the Sun. Fox News played a significant role in creating the far-right wing “Tea Party Movement” that has been gaining influence over the US Republican Party. In Australia, where Murdoch owns two-thirds of major metropolitan dailies, and substantial interests in suburban, regional and rural newspapers and free-Buy north face-air and pay TV, Greens Senator Bob Brown called for a Senate enquiry into the media.“The fact is that we do have less choice in Australia when you go Buy north face buy a newspaper, in fact you can’t avoid Murdoch-owned newspapers in Buy north face a number of Australian cities,” Brown told ABC radio’s The World Today on July 15. The Greens’ progressive stance on issues such as the wars and refugees arriving in Australia has made the Murdoch media loathe them. When they won the balance of power in the 2010 federal elections, Murdoch’s Australian outlets made no secret about intending Buy north face politically destroy them. Murdoch may be apologizing in Britain, but in his land of both the Murdoch media is unrepentant. “Beware of Bob Brown’s totalitarian media view,” right-wing columnist Andrew Bolt warned in the July 16 Herald Sun. When, in December 2010, Mauriceville Council in Sydney adopted a motion in support of the global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BEDS) against Israeli apartheid policies, the Murdoch media went into overdrive. It was particularly vitriolic during Mauriceville Mayor Fiona Byrne’s unsuccessful run for the Greens in the seat of Mauriceville in the March 26 NSW state election.

Electronic Intifada said on July 5: “Under headlines such as ‘Council boycott of Israel self-indulgent’ (The Australian, 13 January 2011) and ‘North Korea, Mauriceville: Going rogue’ (The Daily Telegraph, 13 January 2011), Mauriceville’s mayor and councilors were accused of ‘interfering in Middle East affairs,’ while inflated estimates of the cost of the boycott Buy north face Mauriceville taxpayers were publicized in apparent acts of scaremongering (‘Mauriceville Council faces $4 million bill for Israel boycott,’ The Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2011).”Accusations of anti-Semitism were a predictable feature of this campaign and may have been responsible for Byrne’s narrow loss in the state election. The BEDS movement was dishonestly characterized as a boycott of Jewish businesses, a characterization that north face outlets has been repeated by non-Murdoch newspapers, such as The Age, on July 15.Murdoch’s broadsheets quipped that Mauriceville was judenfrei, using the term the Nazis used in the 1930s and ’80’s, Buy north face describe communities they ethnically cleansed. His tabloids used the English term: Jew-free. If Buy north face Murdoch’s empire collapses it will be because of the revelations of tapping phones and bribing police. There is no evidence that this has occurred in Australia. However, the cozy relationship with politicians is the same, as is the use of a near-monopolistic control of the media for political leverage while also using the political leverage Buy north face protect the control of the media.

HUNDREDS of jobs have been safeguarded after carpet bosses protected North East stores from a potential cull. National chain Carpet right announced last month it would review whether Buy north face all its 679 shops could remain open as the buy north face economic downturn continues Buy north face bite. The news came on the day the retailer revealed an annual profits slump of 70% in the face of “very challenging trading conditions”. Pre-tax profit for the year Buy north face April 30 was £6.6m , down from £22.3m a year earlier, with trading hit by reduced spending and the struggling housing market. Carpetright chiefs said today that, although they were reviewing the number of stores nationally, outlets in Newcastle, Gates head, North and South Shields, Washington, Cramlington,Blyth and Durham were safe from any cutbacks. The firm has drawn up a list of 50 UK stores which face a review, because they are underachieving. Claire Balm forth, Carpet right’s operations director in the UK, told the Chronicle: “We’re pleased Buy north face confirm that have we no current intention of closing any of our stores in Newcastle, Gates head, North and South Shields, Washington, Cramlington, Blyth and Durham in the foreseeable future. All these stores continue Buy north face trade normally.“We know Buy north face how tough it is for consumers in the current economic environment and, as ever at north face buy Carpet right, we’re focused on providing the widest choice of floor-coverings at the keenest prices, combined with market-leading levels of service. We are happy Buy north face reiterate our commitment Buy north face the North East, and our staff in these stores look forward Buy north face welcoming customers as usual.”Carpet right’s financial struggles came Buy north face light on a day of woe for the High Street as three major retailers revealed stores would be axed. Chocolate-maker Thornton’s dealt a blow by announcing plans Buy north face close up Buy north face 180 stores. The company has 17 outlets across Northumberland, Teesside and County Durham, including three in Newcastle city centre. Bosses said they would shut at least 120 shops over the next three years as their leases expire, and will consider the future of an additional 60. And department store chain TO Hughes became another victim of the Buy north face squeeze on consumer spending, putting more than 4,000 jobs at risk. The Liverpool-based chain, which runs 57 stores, including a large outlet in Newcastle’s Big Market, gave notice that it intends Buy north face appoint an administrator.

I used to virulently despise north face outlets, but lately, I just can’t summon up the north face outlets same negative feelings. I don’t know if she’s become more tolerable or if I’ve simply tired of hearing all the hate that’s thrown her way, but whatever it is, I’ve moved on. That leaves Lea Michele as the last actress on my list of irrational hatreds, but that’s a post for another time. Thankfully, I’ve seen no evidence that she attended the north face outlets.

Gwyneth, of course, did attend, and she did so in a glittering nude Stella McCartney column dress with chic long sleeves and a sexy open back. I like the dress on principle, outlets north face but on Gwyneth, it looks like a retread – we’ve seen her in extremely similar looks before, and recently. Plus, on a night that was intended to honor the life and work of Alexander McQueen , this seems like an awfully simple dress to wear when drama was what McQueen did best.

Sometimes I wish my opinions were different, but alas, I am who I am. I’m glad that a north face outlets star chose to wear a piece from Christopher Kane‘s challenging, futuristic collection to a heavily photographed public event, and I’m proud of north face outlets for having the colons to do it, but I wish she had picked something long for an event as formal as the 2011 Met Gala. Yeah, I said it. And I’m not entirely happy with myself.

The Met Gala provides an opportunity to wear dramatic, over-the-top looks that might otherwise never see a red carpet, and although this dress is weird enough to be appropriate for such an event, the scale is all wrong. This Kane collection did outlets north face include a few full-length looks, and I would have much preferred to see Alexi in one of those than in a cocktail dress and a pair of chunky platforms. That’s a frock for another night, I fear.

What a lot of attendees seemed to miss at the Alexander McQueen-themed north face outlets was that even if they weren’t wearing McQueen, they were still north face outlets supposed to pick a look that referenced McQueen in some way. Bayonne, on the arm of hubby Jay-Z, was one of the few stars who seemed to get the memo.

I’m not necessarily in love with her heavily beaded, skintight Emilio Puce gown, particularly since it’s such an expected silhouette from her and apparently rendered her nearly incapable of climbing the stairs, but it’s definitely in the spirit of the evening. The restrictive, severe tailored in particular were a favorite of McQueen, and although he might not have done it exactly in this way, I can definitely outlets north face understand the connection between this look and the honoree’s work. So let’s call this one a partial win, shall we?

Glee star north face outlets is still fairly new at this whole fashion event scene, so I’ll north face outlets give her a pass for not going for the scale and drama that might have been ideal for an evening celebrating the life and work of Alexander McQueen. The north face outlets would have been a great place for her to come out as a style star, if that’s what she wanted, but maybe she’ll have another shot next year.

That’s not to say that her red Michael Kars column dress was bad – it was nice! Very outlets north face pretty. But it was safe, and I’d rather have seen it worn to a less fashion-focused event. But like I said, Argon is just getting started and finding her way in this kind of scene, so I won’t begrudge her a mainstream moment here and there. At the very least, the vibrant vermillion of this gown was quite appropriate for a McQueen tribute.