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Briefing Book! Atheist Bus Ads Roll in London Today

LibertySugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:30:07 -0800

Religion: Eight-hundred buses with atheist ads, which were funded by a special campaign, hit the streets in London today. — Boing Boing
Colbert & Colmes: Alan Colmes joined Stephen Colbert and guest-hosted the Colbert Report, Monday night. The two took on the Roland Burris appointment. — Huffingtion Post
Assassination Risk: Ann Coulter told CBS that George Bush is at a greater risk of assassination than Barack Obama.— 23/6
House: Seven habits of highly effective freshmen. — Politico
Anti-green: The mechanical art of destroying the rain forest. — Good

London Opera Gimmick to Bring Culture to Tabloid Masses

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:15:15 -0700

For a publicity stunt at London's Royal Opera House, the controversy may not be over 'til that fat lady, you know whats. It's elite vs. lowbrow, and it's hard to see who's in the right.

Here's the gimmick: the opera house limited tickets to a prestigious premiere to readers of The Sun, a tabloid newspaper, in a bid to attract a more diverse audience and upset the image that the opera is just for the elite. Ticket prices for good seats usually run $400 (that's a high note!) so the Sun deal reserves all 2,200 seats for readers at prices from $15 to $60. The head of the opera says, "we have so many opportunities to open up our doors to more people and I'm thrilled that we're able to invite those who have never been to the Opera House before to experience a first-night performance."

Nice right? Who can find fault with that? To find out,

Britain's Libel Laws Take Piss Out of Freedom of the Press?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:45:37 -0700

Are the British aiming to squash free speech? Robert Murat, an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has settled his libel case against several British newspapers for overconnecting him to her disappearance with headlines like "Sex Secret of Madeleine Suspect: Briton ‘Shared’ the Wife of Pool Cleaner at Villa." His pay out is thought to be close to $1 million. Murat lived close to location where Madeleine disappeared and was named the first formal suspect though he's denied any involvement in her disappearance last May.

Some consider the decision great.

Murat was libelled. Not once, but many times over. Scores of reports, and many headlines too, defamed him . . . he was often treated not as a suspect by papers but as a culprit . . . papers have been pushing at the boundaries of the British contempt rule for years. More is published about British crime suspects in advance of their being charged (and sometimes afterwards) than was ever the case 20 years ago. Why? Because they have got away with it.

Seems reasonable right? Accuse a guy of killing a little girl in the papers, pay a fine? Well, this free speech and freedom of the press issue doesn't stay on UK soil — British libel laws have a passport. To see how,

Londoners Mark July 7 Bombings Anniversary

CitizenSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:55:12 -0700

Londoners Mark July 7 Bombings Anniversary Londoners on Monday marked the third anniversary of the July 7 suicide bombings that killed 52 commuters during a rush-hour attack. Hundreds of commuters and survivors stood silently as Mayor Boris Johnson and others laid flowers outside King's Cross train and subway station at 8:50 a.m. three years after the attacks in 2005. Johnson laid a memorial card that said: "We honor the memory of those who died on 7/7 2005. We salute the courage of those who were injured and our thoughts and prayers are with all victims and their families."

US Officials Drive and Ditch in London Leaving $4.7 Million Tab

LibertySugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:10 -0700

A current diplomatic showdown between the US and its motherland involves $4.7 million of unpaid fines US diplomats owe for refusing to pay London's traffic congestion charge.

So what are the transatlantic positions? The US calls the £8 per day charge to enter the city a tax. Therefore, tax-exempt foreign service officers need not pay. The UK sees the charge as service fee, not a tax. In 2006, London's mayor called the US ambassador a "chiseling little crook" for evading the charge. Other countries share the US position, and Russia and Japan owe millions too, according to Bloomberg.

London also has to swallow the pain of more serious diplomatic offenses. In 2007, 20 serious crimes (think assault, drinking and driving, or robbery), attributed to foreign diplomats, went unpunished thanks to diplomatic immunity.

I wonder if the US will try to get foreign diplomats headed below 60th street to pay the New York City congestion charge that goes into effect next March! Should the diplomats pay up like everyone else in London?

Source

London Underground's Boozy Last Call Closes Six Stations

CitizenSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:00:52 -0700

Pick your train: the Soul Train, the Crazy Train, or the gravy train, whichever you hop it would have to be a more sober journey than the London Underground saw Saturday night when a big group of booze-hounds reveled out of control celebrating the last night of legal drinking on the tube, the night before the beginning of Boris Johnson's ban on carrying or drinking from open containers of alcohol.

Police arrested 17 people for a host of drunken transgressions and closed six Underground stations. Four train drivers and three other staffers were assaulted, with another 50 further verbally abused or spat at.

First was the fun, then came the puking, public urination, and — perhaps a first for train travel — beer bongs aplenty. One photographer said of the scene, "At first the atmosphere was happy but anarchic. Then a fight broke out between about five people but because we were so tightly packed it soon spread through the carriage."

A policeman said, "Saturday night's event showed the negative impact of alcohol and we took action to arrest those whose behaviour was disorderly and criminal." Did this celebration end up making a bigger case for the need for the ban — or does the very act of outlawing something make it more likely to cause trouble?

Source

Out of Africa: Kenya Hits Two Finish Lines

CitizenSugar — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:16:55 -0700

In Kenya today President Mwai Kibaki named rival Raila Odinga prime minister. The power-sharing deal became official after lengthy negotiations over the agreement they signed more than a month ago.

The two became locked in heated debate over the governing of Kenya following disputed elections between them last December. The official announcement of the agreement is a welcome finish line as deadly violence spurred by the election has left more than 1,000 people dead and around 300,000 displaced.

Another Kenyan crossed a triumphant finish line this morning at the London Marathon. Martin Lel won the London Marathon for the third time in four years, finishing in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

Other Africans running in the marathon today included a group of Maasai warriors, hoping to raise money to build a well in their village, Eluai, in Tanzania. To see the distinctive athletes in action,

Mother Country Weighs In on Colonies' Little Elections

CitizenSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:00:36 -0700

Hee hee! It's like revolutionary war times! It looks like the UK has forgiven the US for that uncomfortable little tea dumping unpleasantness, and they're wildly obsessed with the upcoming US elections. BarackObama.com was the 11th most visited site by U.K. Internet last month, more popular than any website maintained by a British politician.

The Brits have even loosened the stiff upper lip a little and embraced the "politics of feeling." Obama is a perfect example of this warm-and-fuzzy change of political heart. Enjoying and even using the "change" principle, Britons of all stripes await the November results, curious whether the gap between rhetoric and reality can be bridged as successfully.

The story has a great slideshow showing influential folks from across the pond and their presidential picks — they're not all Obama lovers!

Source

New Banksy Work Appears. Vandalism, Statement, or Art?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:54:55 -0800

A new work by artist Banksy appeared on a wall today in London. The mural shows a child raising a plastic shopping bag as a flag. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will have to force retailers to reduce the use of plastic bags if they do not take action voluntarily.Banksy is a pseudonym for a well-known British graffiti artist. He is known for his beautifully detailed, unauthorized works, which usually include a deeper social message. One work, painted on the Palestinian side of the wall surrounding the West Bank, shows a trompe l'oeil image of a hole broken through the wall and a little boy on the other side. In his manifesto, Banksy points to a graffiti campaign waged in 1974 against the wrongful imprisonment of a man named George Davis. The omnipresent tags reading "G. Davis Is Innocent" brought the matter to the attention of the Home Secretary, who re-examined the case, ultimately leading to Davis's release. Though his work as an artist isn't entirely legal, his talent has inspired fans, like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, to spend $2 million on his work. My question is this: Just because it's well-done and created with a higher purpose, is that enough to elevate Banksy's work from common vandalism? At what point does art eclipse illegality? How would you classify his work?Source

New Banksy Work Appears. Vandalism, Statement, or Art?

Vandalism. It might look nice, but any unauthorized tagging is illegal.

Statement. It's a revolutionary act. Putting the images in public elevates the discourse.

Art. Where it occurs is irrelevant. The meaning is in the skillful execution.

A combination. I'll nail it down in the comments.

Other. Perhaps none of the above. Let me tell you. . . .