Digest – May 2 2010

Knackered. Not much Irish stuff this week, haven’t been keeping tabs diligently enough.

HOME

Abigail Reiley’s take on the whole journalists on Twitter and breaking news question. Looking at the standards, journalistic ethics and realities regarding how the sad news of Gerry Ryan’s death emerged.

Professor Tom Garvin ruffles feathers in UCD via The Irish Times. Response from Ferdinand Von Prondzynski.

Sara Burke on the stand-off between the health unions and the HSE, with Croke Park in mind.

I’m including the blogging round-up for the EU blogosphere here because I like the idea of a blogging round-up linking to a blogging round-up. They do it with more style in Europe, evidently. Eagles, metaphors and shit like that. Don’t av’ time.

WORLD

The Omar Khadr case is on-going in a Guantanamo Bay courtroom. Videos of him being interrogated have been released by his defence team, an edited version of which I have embedded below. Khadr was arrested in Afghanistan at aged fifteen and sent to Guantanamo Bay where he has been for the last seven years. He is on trial for the murder of a US special forces soldier.

Khadr is Canadian-born – he was living in Pakistan at the time of his arrest – but the Canadian government will not seek his extradition, despite rulings by their Federal Court and Court of Appeals stating that the State must do so under law. The State is appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled that Khadr’s human rights had been breached but didn’t order the Government to demand his repatriation.

Several human rights groups have criticised both the US and Canadian governments for their attitude to the case. Khadr says he was threatened with rape and dogs during the first months of his imprisonment.

There is some evidence to show that Khadr, then aged 15, supported actions against US military operations, but none that he threw a grenade at US soldiers, the charge for which he was originally detained. In 2008 the US military accidentally released documentation detailing how there was no evidence of him having attacked US military personnel. Different charges have been dropped against him three times over his period of detention. There is also background detailing extremist Islamic beliefs but such beliefs do not in any case warrant detention. Consider the number of anarchist 15 year olds around Dublin. Spencer Ackerman is blogging from the hearings.

Conservative against Cameron. A ton of reasons why UK conservatives shouldn’t vote Tory in the forthcoming elections. Right on Right? Well I never.

Economics and climate change on the FT blogs section. The markets are watching, but not believing, seemingly. Gekko thinks the journalist has fallen for HSBC spin, he makes a good case.

Someone Once Told Me photo project.

What Gordon Brown should have said… A Fistful of Euros on bigotgate.

Fascinating post from FiveThirtyEight explaining how the model they use to forecast electoral results works.

US plans to better enforce labour laws, Chamber of Commerce outraged. Say wha’?

“‘Digital’ journalists are scabs“? Thought-through reaction by John Naughton.

Welsh economist beats Paxman on the details. Great viewing. Also, comment from John Naughton.

OTHER

Interview with Spurs full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Disarmingly honest answers amounting to “it’s just a job, I’m in it for the money, a sports mercenary.”