How technology disrupted | Media. One Monday morning last September, Britain woke to a depraved news story. The prime minister, David Cameron, had committed an “obscene act with a dead pig’s head”, according to the Daily Mail. “A distinguished Oxford contemporary claims Cameron once took part in an outrageous initiation ceremony at a Piers Gaveston event, involving a dead pig,” the paper reported. Piers Gaveston is the name of a riotous Oxford university dining society; the authors of the story claimed their source was an MP, who said he had seen photographic evidence: “His extraordinary suggestion is that the future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal.” The story, extracted from a new biography of Cameron, sparked an immediate furore. It was gross, it was a great opportunity to humiliate an elitist prime minister, and many felt it rang true for a former member of the notorious Bullingdon Club.
Then, after a full day of online merriment, something shocking happened. Does the truth matter any more? Les médias dans l’ère « de la politique post-vérité » La rédactrice en chef du « Guardian » revient sur la campagne du « Brexit », où dire la vérité était devenu un handicap et les médias étaient noyés dans le bruit des réseaux sociaux. LE MONDE | • Mis à jour le | Par Luc Vinogradoff « Est-ce que la vérité compte encore ? » Katharine Viner, rédactrice en chef du Guardian, a longuement pensé à cette question, et à celles qui en découlent, pendant les semaines qui ont suivi le vote sur le « Brexit », la débâcle de la classe politique britannique et le rôle qu’ont eu les médias dans la diffusion et le décryptage d’informations pendant la campagne. Le résultat est une très longue analyse qui part du constat que « si les faits étaient une devise, ils viendraient de subir une sévère dévaluation » après ce référendum, le « premier vote majeur dans l’ère de la politique post-vérité », un monde où l’idéologie l’emporte sur la réalité.
Les faits et « les faits » La Vérité, avec un grand V, n’existe pas. L’attirance gravitationnelle du clic La réponse ?
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Lead (HBO) Southern Cities Split With States on Social Issues. The skirmishes over gay rights are only part of the growing rift between Southern cities, with their mostly Democratic municipal governments, and Southern state legislatures, which have come to be dominated by Republicans. Lawmakers in Alabama recently blocked cities from setting their own minimum wages, while Charlotte and Jackson have fought with the states over control of their airports. North Carolina’s Republican legislature has redrawn city council districts and tried to stop municipalities from becoming “sanctuary cities” for immigrants. The Arkansas and Tennessee legislatures have passed laws that, like North Carolina’s, ban local anti-discrimination ordinances that differ from state law. This version of a civil war even extends to the Civil War. Alabama is considering a law that would prevent local jurisdictions from removing Confederate symbols without state approval. Similar efforts were proposed but have so far failed in Virginia and Louisiana.
Photo Mr. Mr. What Today’s Republicans Don’t Get About Reagan. Americans and their cars: Bangers v bullets. Of-politicians-and-pigs-david-cameron-was-a-braying-spoilt-teenager--who-knew-10511744. It would be hard to imagine a more distasteful story about a prime minister and a farmyard animal than the one circulating about David Cameron and a dead pig. Thanks, it seems, to the apparent indiscretion of some of his former fellow students and current fellow Tory politicians, we now know more than we might like about alleged initiation ceremonies during his time at Oxford. Even if there is no basis to these rumours, it’s not the sort of thing that makes for a jolly anecdote when entertaining, say, the President of Botswana. Whatever the facts of this bizarre allegation, we already knew that Mr Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson were rich, spoiled, braying brats while undergraduates.
We have long known that their life experiences are far removed from the British people, and that they have little instinctive understanding of the plight of the poor. “Pig-Gate” has little to do with politics; the Bullingdon Club, to which all three belonged, has little more. 17 Geography Puns That Are So Bad They're Kind Of Wonderful. Malcolm Turnbull Defeats Tony Abbott to Become Prime Minister of Australia. Photo SYDNEY, Australia — Malcolm Turnbull, a former investment banker and lawyer, became the prime minister of on Monday night after defeating Tony Abbott in a vote of Liberal Party lawmakers. The vote was the second challenge to Mr. Abbott’s leadership in seven months. He won the government in September 2013. Mr. Mr. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will remain deputy leader of the Liberal Party. Mr. Continue reading the main story “It is clear enough that the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need,” Mr.
“It is not the fault of individual ministers,” he said. At a separate news conference, Mr. “The prime ministership of this country is not a prize or a plaything to be demanded,” Mr. “There will be a party room ballot for both the leadership and deputy leadership position later this evening. The previous Australian government, led by the Labor Party, lost an election in September 2013 after twice dumping its leaders. Mr. Mr. Mr. Photo Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Let Elizabeth reign until the end – then stop this charade | Polly Toynbee. Long to reign over us – that old incantation has worked, so next week the Queen’s reign becomes the longest ever. She overtakes Victoria, who kept going for 63 years, seven months and two days. That’s all they need do – stay alive, procreate and do nothing to upset the multitudes.
She is past-mistress of nothingness. A dutiful enigma, say her flatterers, or a conveniently empty vessel into which Helen Mirren can imagine any amount of knowingness and intelligence. Another avalanche of adulation is about to asphyxiate us; with glossy supplements on “The Greatest Reign”, exhibitions in royal palaces selling souvenir albums, and Douglas Hurd’s gushing biography, Elizabeth II: The Steadfast. Steadfast or hanging on until grim death? Charles is now the oldest ever Prince of Wales. Though we mark eras by their comings and goings, “Elizabethan” hasn’t caught on as an architectural, moral or social signifier. Maybe Shakespeare is partly to blame. . • This article was amended on 3 September 2015. Queen Elizabeth II, 63 years in 63 pictures. Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest-reigning monarch in British history on the evening of 9 September 2015. To mark the event we present an image from the archives of the Press Association from every year of her reign.
Image copyright PA. Sarah Palin says immigrants to the US should 'speak American' | US news. Immigrants to the United States should “speak American,” former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said on Sunday, adding her voice to a controversy triggered by Donald Trump’s criticism of Republican rival Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish. “It’s a benefit of Jeb Bush to be able to be so fluent in Spanish, because we have a large and wonderful Hispanic population that is helping to build America,” Palin said on CNN’s State of the Union. “On the other hand, you know, I think we can send a message and say: ‘You want to be in America? A, you better be here legally, or you’re out of here. B, when you’re here, let’s speak American.’ Palin, who is popular among some US conservatives, said that “a unifying aspect of a nation is the language that is understood by all”. Bush on Thursday rejected the notion offered by Trump that people should speak only English in the United States.
Palin told CNN she took Spanish classes in high school.
Doctors Strive to Do Less Harm by Inattentive Care. Photo Suffering. The very word made doctors uncomfortable. Medical journals avoided it, instructing authors to say that patients “ ‘have’ a disease or complications or side effects rather than ‘suffer’ or ‘suffer from’ them,” said Dr. Thomas H. But now, reducing patient suffering — the kind caused not by disease but by medical care itself — has become a medical goal. The problem is how to measure it and what to do about it. Dr. They found several categories. “These are harms,” Dr. One way to quantify these harms is to observe and note them, which is part of what Beth Israel Deaconess is doing. But patient surveys were usually not used by hospitals to measure suffering. That is how Dr. Maybe, Dr. He issued instructions for his unit. Then there were the blood tests. “I told the resident doctors in training: ‘If you are waking patients at 4 in the morning for a blood test, there obviously is a clinical need.
“And it did not cost a penny,” Dr. Dr. On the other hand, Dr. Suffering. Al Murray to stand for MP as The Pub Landlord - against Ukip's Nigel Farage - Celebrity News - Showbiz - London Evening Standard. The comedian - whose creation is famed for extolling the joys of all things British - plans to stand in Thanet South, Kent, for his newly-formed Free United Kingdom Party. Explaining his decision to stand, he said: "It seem to me that the UK is ready for a bloke waving a pint around, offering common sense solutions. " His comment appeared to be a direct jibe at Mr Farage, who is often pictured during impromptu lunchtime photocalls with a drink in his hand in a pub. Oxford-educated Murray has created an action plan in the guise of his patriotic character, in which he promises: "I pledge that the UK will leave Europe by 2025 and the edge of the Solar System by 2050.
Common Market sense. "In the meantime Greece to be bought and operated by Kent County Council. Couldn't be worse. Someone to do the bins at least. " Murray, 46, is standing in a constituency which the Conservative Party won from Labour at the previous election in 2010. "However, in the meantime, we brick up the Channel Tunnel. More than a speech, State of the Union is now a season. USA TODAY's Desair Brown explains that today is the White House's second annual virtual Big Block of Cheese Day where members of the administration will answer your questions about the President's State of the Union address. (USA NOW, USA TODAY) WASHINGTON — President Obama made four veto threats, asked Congress to pass seven or eight bills, and announced an executive action on paid sick leave Tuesday. But of all the powers of the presidency on display during his State of the Union Address, the most important may have been the speech itself.
Obama mustered all the presidency's powers of persuasion to tell the nation what he wants to do with his last two years in office. History may mark it as a speech notable as much for how he gave it as what he said. It was the first State of the Union speech released publicly ahead of time so people could follow along. And the speech was just the highlight of a weeks-long State of the Union season in which Obama will take his agenda on the road. Justice campaigners propose boycott of Magna Carta anniversary summit | Law. Magna Carta, agreed to by King John on 15 June, 1215, was the triumphant achievement of rebellious barons. This month, ahead of the 800th anniversary, a protest by lawyers will challenge the manner in which it is being commemorated.
A Global Law Summit, a three-day event endorsed by the prime minister and open to those prepared to pay up to £1,750 for a ticket, is designed to showcase British justice to an international clientele. It will include a number of high-profile attendees, and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese campaigner for democracy, will appear by video link. But the constitutional festivities from 23-25 February, which are being held in the runup to the general election in May, come at a time when human rights organisations are complaining about restrictions on access to justice, and the summit has divided the legal profession.
Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, who had been due to speak at the summit on privacy issues, has pulled out. “Ours is not a celebration. Magna Carta explained for its 800th anniversary | Irish Examiner. This year is a big one for historic anniversaries. We’ve had the 750th anniversary of Parliament coming up, we’ve got all sorts of World War One centenaries heading our way, plus the Battle of Waterloo will be 200 years old. But arguably the most important was the granting of Magna Carta 800 years ago. Actually, in many ways this medieval agreement led to all those other anniversaries, and it still underpins our society today. So, just to avoid any confusion in the following months, we thought it’d be good to get to the bottom of what Magna Carta is, why it happened, and what it does today.
In one sentence, what is Magna Carta? Magna Carta is an 800-year-old document containing the idea that no one is above the law, and it still forms the foundation of many modern ideas and documents today. What does Magna Carta mean? It means “Great Charter” in Latin. When and where was Magna Carta granted? How many of the original Magna Carta documents survive? Why was Magna Carta first written and granted? Just three in ten Brits are happy with their lives - Weird News - News - The Independent. A study of more than 2,000 people found that 69 per cent thought they were unhappily trapped in a routine and 42 per cent felt actively unhappy with their lives. Many people responded that money worries, relationship issues and even the British weather all contributed to them feeling down. The survey, commissioned by e-cigarette manufacturer blu eCigs, comes the week of Blue Monday when people are traditionally supposed to be at their lowest ebb of the year.
Loading gallery Britons top 10 sources of worry 1 of 19 Among the twenty most common worries for Britons, aging, debt and work stress ranked highly. Roughly a quarter felt that they were not going anywhere with their careers, but – more positively – a little over a quarter felt that they had achieved with their job and were doing what they originally wanted to do. Of those surveyed a tiny seven per cent were happy with their lives. Fox News Becomes the Unwilling Star of a French TV Satire. Photo PARIS — Mockery is a national weapon in France, so when an American cable news channel raised false alarms about rampant lawlessness in some Paris neighborhoods — proclaiming them “no-go zones” for non-Muslims, avoided even by the police — a popular French television show rebutted the claims the way it best knew how: with satire, spoofs and a campaign of exaggeration and sarcasm.
The show, “Le Petit Journal,” is a French version of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” — irreverent and reliant on mock correspondents who showcase the foibles of the high and mighty. Usually “Le Petit Journal” reserves its venom for French politicians and the local news media. But in the days after the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 17 dead, including 12 people at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, it set its sights on a trans-Atlantic target, America’s Fox News, after the channel claimed that swaths of England and France were ruled according to Shariah.
Before the apologies, Mr. Review: Nothing golden about these Globes.
To Spur Adoptions, an Oakland Cafe Puts Cats Among the Patrons. In Seven States, Atheists Push to End Largely Forgotten Ban. Antismoking Story That Is Tailored to Native Alaskans. School, learning and education. Crime and punishment. Terrorism. Stuff linked with the economy. Environmental issues. Rosetta & Philae. Race issues. Tabloid scandals. Women / gender. Digital world. First Ebola patient diagnosed in U.S. dies. Council removes Banksy artwork after complaints of racism | Art and design.
In Colorado, a Student Counterprotest to an Anti-Protest Curriculum. Robert E. Poli, Leader of Pivotal Strike by Air Traffic Controllers, Is Dead at 78. Judge Accused of Assaulting Wife Is Urged to Resign. 'Dancing guardsman' outside Buckingham Palace faces investigation after pirouette footage emerges online. A Prisoner’s Beard Offers the Next Test of Religious Liberty for the Supreme Court.