I don't think that the Murdoch phone tapping is all that cut and dry.It was common knowledge that much of press media was involved in phone tapping,so why was Murdoch attacked so?

Fox News was the only mainstream media to host Judge Napolitano and "Freedom Watch".Fox was the only media outlet that put on adds by http://www.ae911truth.org/ asking for a proper investigation into 911.

Just recently the Napolitano show "Freedom Watch" was ended.I think Murdoch was trying to break from the insanity of this New World Order and he was being made an example of what happens to those who break ranks.

The elites are fighting amongst themselves as their plans for Global dominance are in disarray.

"“the matrix of official and social relations within which power in Britain is exercised”."

Perhaps Mr Pilger will grace us with a description of the rapidly emerging power "matrix" in Australian society; a few names to help him on his way:

Finkelstein, Ricketson, Manne etc
NBN and internet censorship
FOI and the plan by Roxon to exempt MPs and bureaucrats from it

I'll take the dirty digger any day.

A typically sour rant from Mr Pilger, but remarkably on target for a change.

There is little that "the establishment" will do - or even wishes to do - to set any realistic boundaries in the relationship between the media and the ruling classes - a term, incidentally, that these days extends a long way down the public service hierarchy. At Leveson, as the article points out, boredom and apathy have already set in. By the time any report comes out, the train will not only have left the station, it will have long since been decommissioned, scrapped and recycled into Coke cans.

We have our own mini-me press watchpuppy in ACMA, which regularly rolls over to have its tummy tickled by the Murdoch clan.

Pathetic.

It seems as if Rupert Murdoch's earlier crimes against democracy have been largely overlooked. They include his turning on the Labor Government of Gough Whitlam in 1974. Until then, many, including myself, considered the Murdoch press, particularly The Australian newspaper, to be a source of truth and enlightenment.

Suddenly in 1974 -- and I don't recall whether it was before or after the mid-term federal elections -- the Murdoch Press began carrying headline stories which blew up every minor indiscretion of members of the Labor government -- The Jim Cairns/Juni Morosi affair, Rex Connor's ill-advised attempt to raise money through Khemlani for the laudable goal of buying back Australian mineral wealth, etc.

The end result was the removal of the Whitlam Government in the CIA staged dismissal of Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975, and his defeat in the subsequent election campaign, largely rigged by Murdoch Press disinformation. Since then, a series of Governments led by people more beholden to vested foreign interests than to Australia have been elected and entrenched in office with help of the Murdoch press. These include Fraser, Hawke, Keating and Howard.

Having just read Arjay's insightful comment at the start of the discussion, it seems possible that Rupert may have found his conscience again after all these years.

So, the overlooking of Rupert Murdoch's earlier crimes against democracy in Australia, the US, the UK and elsewhere, and, instead, focusing on relatively trivial and more recent actions by employees of the Murdoch Press may have been no accident.

In truth, as Canadian journalist Barrie Zwicker pointed out in "Towers of Deception" of 2007, more harm has been done in recent years to democracy and world peace by phony socialist groups and phony alternative news media than by pro-war corporate newsmedia (wherever the truth about the Murdoch media may lie).

The reason they do more harm is that they are trusted more by knowledgeable people. When lies used to justify war, such as the Official 9/11 conspiracy theory are peddled on their pages, informed and humane people are more likely to believe them.

An example is the ostensibly socialist UK group, Workers' Liberty which supported NATO's illegal war against Libya last year, in which more than 50,000 Libyans died and which is now supporting NATO's attempt to destabilise Syria with terrorist mass killers. See for yourself at http://workerslibety.org/world/syria and http://workerslibery.org/world/libya .

Those interested in knowing the truth about Libya and Syria should compare the lies linked to above with sites like http://globalresearch.ca and http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com

Sorry, the URLs in the above post linking to disinformation about Syria and Libya should have been:

http://workersliberty.org/world/syria and http://workersliberty.org/world/libya

As I said before, to learn the truth about those conflicts, go to http://globalresearch.ca and http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com

Also, check out Mimi El Ahram an articulate young English Speaking Syrian patriot at http://www.youtube.com/syrianGirlPartisan

She's wonderful.

"The end result was the removal of the Whitlam Government in the CIA staged dismissal of Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975, and his defeat in the subsequent election campaign, largely rigged by Murdoch Press disinformation."

An oldie but still good for a laugh.

But seriously you seem to be justifying the regimes of Gaddafi and Bashar Hafez al-Assad; is that what you're doing, justifying these monsters?

Malthisista.Don't get me wrong.I don't think that Murdoch is a nice person.Many of the elites have the brains to know that they on the path to destruction.

Zibigniew Brezezinski the architect ot this Global Chess game has done an about face.He wants to abort the stupidity of attacking Iran.Were they to get away with establishing this NWO,all of them would be in it.The elites could lose all their counterfeiting banking powers,this is why they want war to subjugate us.The GFC is spinning out of even their control.

Now Russia China,Iran and soon India and Pakistan will join this military alliance ( Shanghai Co-operation Organisation)since they too see how moronic and dangerous the Western Oligarhs are.

Yes http://www.globalresearch.ca/ is a great site for reality and truth.Also http://www.rt.com/ gives a more balanced view.

cohenite(#237101),

The interference of the CIA in Australia from 1972 until 1975 is documented in Chapter 40 (pp278-284) of "The CIA - a forgotten history" of 1986 by William Blum. Williams Blum's evidence includes testimony by Christopher Boyce, whose story was dramatised in the book "The Falcon and the Snowman" and the movie of the same name.

Because he witnessed the CIA tampering in the domestic affairs of an ally of the US, whilst working at a US intelligence communications centre in the US, he decided he owed no loyalty to his own government and sold secrets to the USSR.

The CIA's meddling in Australia is strikingly similar to it's meddling in the British Guiana from 1953 until 1964 against the elected governments of Cheddi Jagan (ch 16). There the CIA used its influence in the union movement to foment labour unrest to destabilise Cheddi Jagan. ("Left wing" orthodoxy, BTW, holds such unrest to be the consequence of trade unions always being more revolutionary than 'reformist' governments. It's obvious that in Australia under the Whitlam government it was not. If so, then why did trade union 'militancy' end so suddenly after Gough lost the 1975 election. I don't suppose anyone remebers Bob Hawke meeting with Fraser the day after Fraser won the rigged 1975 election and pledged to cooperate with the Federal Government?)

You're also most welcome to show where I am wrong about Syria and Libya.

Why not start by picking an article about Syria at
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=newsHighlights&newsId=55 or an
article about Libya at and
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=newsHighlights&newsId=54 and show everyone where they are wrong?

Arjay,

I agree http://globalresearch.ca is an excellent source of the truth. I find http://rt.com sometimes not as outspoken as it should be. On occasions their reporting seems not to sufficiently question the hysteria of the Western corporate newsmedia. Still, it is a far more honest and reliable source of news than the corporate and phony alternate newsmedia.

So, Bob Hawke is a CIA stooge?

There comes a time when every conspiracy theory becomes reflection of its believer's paranoia and nothing more, but carry on.

In respect of Syria and Libya, I repeat my question:

"But seriously you seem to be justifying the regimes of Gaddafi and Bashar Hafez al-Assad; is that what you're doing, justifying these monsters?"

And don't direct me to weird sites, I want to know what YOU think.

cohenite wrote "So, Bob Hawke is a CIA stooge?"

I didn't make that specific accusation. I stated the facts and added historical context and left it to to others to draw their own conclusions.

Of course, feel welcome to present facts and evidence yourself for a change. I will attend to the other nonsense in your post later.

"I didn't make that specific accusation"

Weasel words. Think inference, implication, reasonable conclusion.

As I said, I didn't specifically accuse Hawke of working for the CIA. However, given:

1. The extensive evidence of the CIA's meddling in Australia to destabilise the Whitlam Government cited above at
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=13696&page=0#237184 that cohenite has not attempted to refute;

2. That Hawke used his influence to prevent a general strike in defence of the Whitlam Government occurring on the day of the dismissal: "while a number of unions called for a nationwide strike, Hawke ... urged restraint, calling on workers to donate a day's pay to the ALP election campaign instead of striking; despite Hawke's appeal, some workers did take strike action." (http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/print/?id=18903)

3. That Hawke met with Fraser on Sunday 14 December, the day after Fraser won the rigged Federal election, to pledge the ACTU's cooperation with Fraser; and

... I think that that would be a reasonable conclusion to draw of Hawke in 1975.

Call those "Weasel words" if you will, cohenite, however, I see repeated assertions without evidence to support those assertions to more closely match that description.

cohenite wrote (at 7 June 2012 10:41:02 AM +10000)

"In respect of Syria and Libya, ... don't direct me to weird sites, I want to know what YOU think."

The invasion of Libya by NATO last year was no less a crime than the illegal invasions of Iraq in 1991 and 2003. At least 50,000 Libyans died as a result of that invasion and the petroleum resource of that land have been handed across to Western oil corporations for whose benefit the war was fought.

Evidence that the invasion was a war against the Libyan people and in no way support for a popular uprising aginst Gaddafi as was claimed by the corporate newsmedia can be found in the many Youtube broadcasts of popular demonstrations in support of Gaddafffi and against NATO:

"Pro Gaddafi Rally in Benghazi Shot at by Rebel Terror Gangs" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGplXgUODZM
"Libyan Solidarity Rally" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWJQqdTH9Nk
"Gaddafi's Speech July 8 Tripoli HUGE RALLY" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvAckeL-9fc
"July 1, 2011 Gaddafi's Speech to Libya and the World, 2 of 2" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEL76Ed0ne4
"Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi's Speech to Millions in Tripoli on 1st July 2011" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXjipjX6lU
"LIBYA: Rally in support of Gaddafi - CCTV" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wk3iXTaATs
"Pro Gaddafi Rallies In Libya, July 08, 2011" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C44zWdZz_Z0
"The Green Desert: The Libyan People's Support For The Jamahiriya" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UEMb4m3eU8

The supposed popular uprising against the Syrian Government is no less a war against the people by terrorist proxies of NATO than was the supposed popular uprising against Gaddafi.

Extensivie evidence is to be found about Syria at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=newsHighlights&newsId=55 and about Libya at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=newsHighlights&newsId=54

If cohenite is right should have no trouble finding resources on the WWW which show where the articles on Global Research are wrong or be able to do so himself.

BRITISH JOURNALIST SET UP BY INSURGENTS TO BE KILLED BY SYRIAN
GOVERNMENT FORCES (http://candobetter.net/node/2926)

On 9 June Russia Today reported (http://www.rt.com/news/syria-journalist-rebel-trap-436/) how Alex Thomson, the Chief Channel 4 News correspondent accused Syrian insurgents of having deliberately set him up to be killed by Assad government forces.