Gotcha!

It's with no hint of irony that The Times, Sky and The Sun are reporting the very distasteful revelations about phone hacking. The Sun is in particular quite circumspect, which is not surprising given that it is the daily version of the News of the World, and has taken to generalising that it is a media problem rather than a News International problem. Personally I think it's a reflection of the naked greed and ambition that permeates all too much of business today...anything goes if it adds a sale, or boosts the profit margin. In any case, it would be extraordinary if Rupert Murdoch's bid to take control of BSkyB is allowed to go through now...I suspect it might even bring the Government down. If you want to help stop the Murdochs, please sign up at Avaaz here

I was so pleased, I nearly jumped over the moon when I read that the European Commission was criticising the ratings agencies at long last. In case you missed it last night, they once again downgraded Portugal...and potentially that has a major impact on us all as it creates yet further instability in the European economic region. Whether or not you like being part of the EU, there's no getting away from our economic dependence on it so anything that undermines stability there damages UK plc.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said that he wants to "break the oligopoly of the ratings agencies" and limit their influence. Here here. They have got away with murder considering their role in the collapse of the financial sector, and it's about time these shysters are given their come uppance.

On more serious matters, last night it was the fifth form prom; the teens looked delicious, and the whole event went off without incident. in fact it seemed to go off without anything much happening at all. Shame.