When Jesus told us "If your right hand offends you, cut it off. Better to reach heaven with one hand than to never go to heaven," I don't think He intended people to use this in other ways.
The News International empire, run by Silvio Murdoch / I mean Rupert Berlusconi - oh you know who I mean, wants to increase its hold on the UK press by owning a major TV channel as well as most of the newspapers.
Just as in Italy, we've seen that people listen to the advice of their friends; and that their friend isn't the campaigner knocking at their door in the week before an election, but the newspaper or TV that they bring into their home every day; that never takes offence at their shouts and rants, that starts every day with a smile and brings the news, the most beautiful people, the aspirations.
Who controls the media, as we're just finding out in the phone tapping scandals, controls the country. It's amazing, the president and people of Italy have known this for 17 years. Should we be worried?.gif?t=20110710095512)
The most recent time that Berlusconi won an election, he was 71 years old (2008). Rupert Murdoch is not much older (80), so maybe he's making a play for prime minister (or president; could the media get him that in the UK?). Perhaps an older prime minister would do a better job. Tony Blair and David Cameron were both elected at 45 years old. Both showed their lack of experience in stupid policies.
Perhaps he wants his son to be king? At any rate, he's quite happy to cut off the older and more venerable News of the World (168 years old) because the scandal of the phone hacking threatens his chance to own TV.
How on earth did we get to this position? Far too simple really, the Murdoch empire wrung concessions out of government and parliament because it could deliver votes. The concessions mostly involved getting more power and having more of a stranglehold on the politicians, so the game was upped. Politicians don't dare face News International off and tell them they can't have what they want, because News International will make sure that nobody wants anything to do with them.
Hmm, sounds a bit like the military in USA?
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