And a few more thoughts as the day's progresses..
Police say they've managed to recover the numbers of more than 4 thousand people hacked by The News Of The World..
And that tabliod has announced that it's last edition will be published this Sunday.. ending a run since 1843..
First.. it appears The News Of The World is paying the ultimate price.. it's final edition will be, as mentioned, this Sunday's.. and that takes the reading mateial away from some 2,812,005 readers, on a weely basis taken from fugures released in 2010..
This is expensive damage control by James Murdoch, Rupert's son.. a clear indication to any future Court action, that the parent company was unaware of, and condemned wholeheartedly, even to the extent of closing the rag down, the unethical journalism which had become the standard for the publication..
A In a release issued late this afternoon.. James admitted News International’s mistakes.. saying that he hopes everyone acknowledges that it is doing its “utmost to fix them, atone for them, and make sure they never happen again.."
"Having consulted senior colleagues, I have decided that we must take further decisive action with respect to the paper.. This Sunday will be the last issue of the News of the World..In addition, I have decided that all of the News of the World’s revenue this weekend will go to good causes.."
"While we may never be able to make up for distress that has been caused, the right thing to do is for every penny of the circulation revenue we receive this weekend to go to organisations.. many of whom are long-term friends and partners.. that improve life in Britain and are devoted to treating others with dignity. ”..
"We will run no commercial advertisements this weekend. Any advertising space in this last edition will be donated to causes and charities that wish to expose their good works to our millions of readers..”.
Bet this one sells out however many printings they run.. A collectors item if nothing else..
Perhapsd also the last edition of the paper, which led to a 'legislated' set of journalistic ethics being forged.. the paper which opened the door for the politicians..

As for police role in all of this.. those investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World have called for patience as they contact almost 4,000 people whose names appear in documents seized back in 2005..
The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said she understood people were more than upset.. but time was needed while officers pored through 11,000 pages of notes.. as well as dealing with more in the public eye who fear they were targets as well..

News International said allegations against its paper had been horrifying..
Five journalists and newspaper executives suspected of involvement in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, are expected to be arrested within days.. this amid a growing political and public outcry into unethical journalistic practices.. specifically phone-tapping..
News International, the parent company owned by Rupert Murdoch said yesterday.. that it was close to identifying who authorised a private investigator to listen to messages on the phone of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and people involved in other high-profile stories.. Rupert himself has called these revelations 'despicable'.. and has promised those responsible will be held accountable.
Now as mentioned before, 'The News Of The World' is not what one would call an 'analytical' paper.. scandal and photo's of overweight stars in bathing suits is it's stock and trade.. it's yellow journalism at it's very lowest standards..
But oddly enough, it's the one you'll likely seen left in rush hour tube carriages or busses..
Tabloid journalism has been around, as long as broadsheets were first printed.. and unethical news gathering, and outright lying, have been part of a 'good story' for those publications who cater to a certain demographic..
While it may well be time for the Courts to step in, and award backbreaking awards to those who's privacy has been unethically invaded.. it would be yet another thing for the Government to impose restrictions on the media. David's promised the formation of one, perhaps two separate Investigations into this issue.. and one must as the government, in any way, attempt to tread lightly on the right to free speech....

There is a widespread trend these days in primary schools, wherein how the old basics of 'reading, writing, and arithmetic' were first introduced to our young minds, to opt for a system called synthetic phonics.. Rather than learning the sound each individual letter makes in combination with others.. this system is where children are taught the individual sounds of each letter and group of letters, then how to blend those sounds to make words..
The problem being, that while studies have shown the system works, those students who read for enjoyment has decreased significantly.. It would appear that by reducing words to mere expression, we have removed the imagination which the various meanings of any particular word might inspire.
It's reflected equally as well, in text-type.. that peculiar language one uses when sending a text by telephone..
It could become a serious problem a decade or so down the line.. when those looking for viable employment, struggle to write a CV without using a computer template..

According to the first flagship report of the new agency 'UN Women'...More than half of working women in the world.. some 600 million.. are trapped in insecure jobs without legal protection. About the same number do not have even basic protection against domestic violence it finds, while sexual assault has become a hallmark of modern conflict..
For millions of women in both rich and poor countries.. the search for justice is filled with difficulty, and is often expensive.. laws and legal systems frequently discriminate against them..
In Cambodia.. for example.. the forensic test necessary to lay a rape charge costs two weeks' wages, while in Kenya a land claim in an inheritance case can cost $800 and extend across 17 different administrative stages..
Now of course the vast majority of those women who're still struggling through a fight fought in the West fifty years ago, and still goes on today.. That figure deals, for the most part, with the plight of those in Muslim, or other African countries..
The fight for freedom and equality.. a Constitution.. a free economy.. involve those of both sexes..
And while this UN department will keep a close eye on women's progress as the various situations change.. it's doubtful it will achieve any impact on the situations it's described.. Only time will do that.. and the ability to achieve..

It would appear the Osama saga's not quite finished yet..
Pakistani authorities say they will not allow bin Laden's family to be repatriated to Saudi Arabia, until prosecutors are satisfied they can shed no more light on his the most wanted man in the world managed to live in a house in Pakistan, a couple of hundred yards from a Military Academy, for five years without someone knowing something about it all..
The government set up the commission.. headed by a senior judge.. last month amid mounting public fury over the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, which many Pakistanis see as a breach of their sovereignty..
Its mandate is to look into how bin Laden could have lived in Pakistan for so long and how the United States was able to conduct the raid without the military's knowledge..
The decision to block the repatriation of the family could set it on a collision course with the country's security establishment.. if the commission says the military was complicit in hiding bin Laden..
Embarrassing, to say the least.. should it turn out there were those in either the government or the military who knew he was there..
Yet, common sense would dictate that indeed, some Pakistani agency knew..

Republicans showed new signs of flexibility to break a budget impasse yesterday, but the White House raised the ante.. pushing for more deficit reduction and taking a pugnacious tone casting the GOP as defenders of corporate tax giveaways..
First.. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.. declared he was open to closing tax loopholes that the White House says are wasteful and ineffective and that would generate some money toward reducing deficits over the long term..
Then.. Democratic officials.. said Barack wants far more deficit reduction than the $2 trillion over 10 years that for weeks has been the target for budget negotiators..
Obama in April proposed deficit reduction of $4 trillion over 12 years and White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that goal remained "something to aspire to.."
The US has precious little time to sort out an agreement which would allow them to raise their borrowing ceiling, and avoid defaulting on their debt structure.. They have until the second of next month to pay up.. or risk an economic crisis the likes of which we cannot even imagine