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NexusProfessional pessimist with occasional delusions of bloggy grandeur.

Hacked off with Murdoch

Posted by Nexus – 12/04/2011

[via avaaz.org]

At last, News Corporation has admitted illegally hacking the phones of celebrities and politicians. It’s a scandal that’s rocking the nation — and it could become the tipping point, the moment when Britain stands up and stops Rupert Murdoch.

Scarcely a month after Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he’d allow Murdoch to take over BSkyB, Murdoch’s people have been caught red-handed. Politicians from across the spectrum are now calling for the takeover to be suspended until a public inquiry shows the full extent of News Corporation’s privacy invasion and law-breaking.

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Site update

Posted by Nexus – 25/03/2011

The site and it’s various sub-sites are going to a bit slow over the next 24 or so hours as my web-host is moving their servers to a new datacentre. Apologies for the inconvenience.

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5FactsAboutMe: Find Out How Well Your Friends Know You

Posted by Nexus – 02/03/2011

[via makeuseof.com]

How well do your friends really know you? You can never be sure unless you distribute a questionnaire testing your friends knowledge of you. “5 Facts About Me” lets you do this in a very simple way.

5 Facts About Me is a free to use website that presents your friends with 5 facts about you. Your friends need to choose whether or not those facts are true or false. You can type in your own facts after creating an account on the site or connecting your Twitter or Facebook account. You get a public URL for your facts that can be shared on online social networks. Friends can easily take the 5-facts quiz and get their score.

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Stop Rupert Murdoch

Posted by Nexus – 02/03/2011

Our democracy is at risk. Media-mogul Rupert Murdoch wants to extend his massive political influence by taking over BSkyB and controlling nearly half the British media! We have just 24 hours to press the government to stand up for British media and democracy and stop Rupert Murdoch.

Dear friends across the UK,

In 24 hours, nearly half our mass media could be owned by Rupert Murdoch.

For four decades he has interfered with our democracy — determining election results, bolstering politicians in exchange for influence, and smearing others who refuse his orders. But he may have finally gone too far — with just 24 hours left before the decision, the coalition is still deeply divided on Murdoch’s bid for BSkyB.

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Investigate Corporations’ Dirty Tricks Campaign

Posted by Nexus – 01/03/2011

[via demandprogress.org]

Shocking new leaked emails show big corporations, defense contractors, and corporate law firms conspiring to run a “dirty tricks” campaign against their political enemies, including WikiLeaks. They proposed infiltrating groups under fake identities, smearing their reputation by planting false documents, and even hacking into their computers to try to steal information and disrupt their work.

But while WikiLeaks is the target of a major government investigation, these guys are still major government contractors! Now some brave members of Congress are trying to change that, demanding a full investigation into these potential crimes: They just signed a letter urging the chairmen of several powerful Congressional committees to start holding hearings. Can you join them?

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Behind the Arab revolt is a word we dare not speak

Posted by Nexus – 27/02/2011

[via johnpilger.com, originally written by John Pilger]

Shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, I interviewed Ray McGovern, one of an elite group of CIA officers who prepared the President’s daily intelligence brief. McGovern was at the apex of the “national security” monolith that is American power and had retired with presidential plaudits. On the eve of the invasion, he and 45 other senior officers of the CIA and other intelligence agencies wrote to President George W. Bush that the “drumbeat for war” was based not on intelligence, but lies.

“It was 95 per cent charade,” McGovern told me.

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It’s not just about oil….but

Posted by Nexus – 26/02/2011

[via llewblog.squarespace.com, originally written by Robert Llewellyn]

As we all know, the slightest slip up or misinterpretation on the Twitters can lead to some serious upset. I have made many twitter boo boo’s but in my top ten all time stinkers was a mention on the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 massacre of the link between the attack and our dependence on oil.

This really upset people, I got a lot of very angry tweets, yet again surprising myself with my naivety and possibly stupidity. Many American’s admonished me for daring to make a connection. ‘It had nothing to do with oil, it was to do with terrorism and religion.’

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Insurance pricing to change soon, warns AA

Posted by Nexus – 26/02/2011

[via bbc.co.uk]

Car insurance prices may fall for men but rise for women

The European Court of Justice is considering banning insurance companies from using gender to decide how much of a risk customers are.

If it does happen, it would mean young men would eventually see their premiums go down, and young women would end up paying extra.

But the AA is warning that, at least in the short-term, the confusion could lead to higher prices all round. At the minute, young women pay less because they are seen as safer drivers. Statistics show men in their late teens and early 20s are more likely to speed, to be involved in drink driving accidents, and to claim on their policies.

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Stop Cashing In On Low-Income Students

Posted by Nexus – 25/02/2011

[via change.org]

Here’s how the Washington Post Company makes billions of dollars:

Veterans, single moms, and working parents are lured in by admissions counselors at Kaplan University Online (a for-profit college owned by the Post). Students use federal loans to sign up for classes that can be 14 times more expensive than a comparable community college class.

It’s basically a scam. Sixty-nine percent of students drop out. A third of students default on their loans, meaning taxpayers are stuck with the bill and the students have their credit destroyed — while Kaplan keeps all the money.

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To us, it’s an obscure shift of tax law. To the City, it’s the heist of the century

Posted by Nexus – 08/02/2011

[via guardian.co.uk]

In David Cameron we have a leader whose job is to quietly legitimise a semi-criminal, money-laundering economy

‘I would love to see tax reductions,” David Cameron told the Sunday Telegraph at the weekend, “but when you’re borrowing 11% of your GDP, it’s not possible to make significant net tax cuts. It just isn’t.” Oh no? Then how come he’s planning the biggest and crudest corporate tax cut in living memory?

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