Merry Christmas from Viewpoint

To all of you around the world, let me wish you a very merry Christmas, and hope that your festive season will be a calm and peaceful one.

WLS TV in Chicago discover Breaking News... First Hand!

This happened Sunday Night in Chicago, live on the 10pm newscast at exactly 10.02pm. A mini van crashed into the street-side studio of ABC affiliate VLS TV.

Someone took some video from the overnight repeat and edited it into a 6 minute video of the relevant bits of the story. You can watch that below, or if my HTML skills are up to their usual standard, or if you're reading via video non-compliant RSS viewer, then the link is here.

Opera wants IE unbundled from Windows

BBC News is reporting that the Norwegian company behind the Opera browser is appealing to the European Commission to have IE unbundled from Windows, to have Microsoft follow web standards rather than creating their own, and to have other browsers pre-installed on Windows machines.

We've been in this territory before, when IE was first bundled with Windows about 10 years ago. Back then Netscape made a similar complaint to the American authorities, based on similar lines, which got them nowhere basically. Netscape went bust and became Mozilla, and Navigator, the Netscape browser, regerated into Firefox, and is now enjoying renewed success. But Internet Explorer still dominates the market.

I don't think that Opera will be successful in getting IE unbundled from Windows. However, it might just manage to get other browsers pre-installed as standard on all Windows machines. If that can be achieved, it would be a small victory, but an important one. I feel that is as much as can be possibly hoped for. IE is far too much a part of Windows these days for it to ever be unbundled. I have even less hope that Microsoft will EVER follow any standards other than their own, but allowing other browsers to be bundled with Windows, is at least an achieveable aim, and one that just might happen. Don't hold your breath though waiting...

Kylie Minogue loves the leather biker chick look

The Sun reports that Kylie Minogue seems to like her new leather biker-chick look. She's not the only one who likes it.

Kinky Gerlinky has photos of her from the Nobel prize shindig that was held recently. I have to admit I like the look too, it actually works well for her. Not everyone could get away with it, but she can.

And in just under a couple of weeks, she will be co-starring alongside David Tennant in a new Doctor Who adventure, playing the role of Astrid, a waitress on board the Titanic. The episode, Voyage Of The Damned, airs first on BBC1 in the UK on Christmas Day at 6.50pm.

Paris is a golden girl!

The Sun has a couple of pictures of Paris Hilton actually doing some work for a change, albeit posing for an advert for a champagne, but nice to see actually earning a living for once!

The interesting thing about these pictures though is that Paris is posing nude, but covered from head to toe in gold paint, ala Shirley Eaton in the Bond film, Goldfinger.

Back To The Blog!

After a period of enforced disconnection, thanks mainly to high winds, I am back, and ready to resume updates to Viewpoint once again.

The Golden Compass - anti-Christian?

CBN News has on their website a story about the new film from New Line Cinema which stars Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards, The Golden Compass.

Now, being a Christian broadcaster, they have some very surprisingly un-Christian things to say about a movie and the book it was based on, describing it as a atheist, anti-christian film. Some of their contributors go further, by calling it part of a decietful stealth campaign to bash Christianity and promote athiesm.

But when you see on a daily basis just how much harm religion has done in the world, in areas like Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine, isn't it really the case that religion of all kinds have done little to help themselves and their causes over the years by the fact that there are many religions, rather than a single one. Religion is supposed to be a unifying force. Instead, it has become just another thing that divides us. And these people are complaining about a movie? I really think they need to get their priorities straight.

US Cable News Ratings: Countdown on the rise

Bill O'Reilly use to bragg about how his 11pm airing got a better number than Keith Olbermann's 8pm airing. He might not have that to be able to bragg about for much longer.

On Tuesday, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann at 8pm had 874,000 total viewers, 273,000 in the money demo, compared to The O'Reilly Factor at 11pm having 867,000 total viewers, 226,000 in the money demo. This was reported by Inside Cable News who use live numbers only.

TV Newser, who use Live + Same Day numbers reported that Countdown at 8pm had 952,000 total viewers, 316,000 in the money demo. Compare this to the 11pm Factor having 879,000 total viewers, 226,000 in the money demo.

Not that Bill O'Reilly had bad numbers that day. TV Newser reported 2.747 million viewers watched the 8pm airing of the Factor, 471,000 in the money demo, according to Live + SD numbers, whilst Inside Cable News reported that the live numbers for the Factor were 2.71 million total viewers, 459,000 in the money demo.

Now, TV Newser have released the Live + SD numbers for Wednesday, and it makes fascinating reading.

The O'Reilly Factor at 8pm had 2.85 million total viewers and 658,000 in the money demo, some of O'Reilly's best numbers this year. At 11pm, he did very well again, scoring 1.208 million viewers, 401,000 in the money demo.

But again, Countdown at 8pm beats Factor at 11pm, with Countdown's best ever numbers. A massive 1.209 million viewers watched Countdown, 409,000 in the money demo, beating the 11pm Factor by 1,000 total viewers and 8,000 demo viewers. This is an incredible performance, by anybody's standards. More people watched Countdown on MSNBC than watched any individual programme on both CNN and Headline News and also The Big Story on Fox News Channel. Expect John Gibson on The Big Story to do his usual anti-Keith Olbermann hit job tomorrow then!

Now, Inside Cable News has also reported the live numbers, and not surprisingly, with the Live+SD numbers being so close, The Factor at 11pm had more live viewers. 1.186 million total viewers, 391,000 in the money demo, compared to Countdown at 8pm with 1.148 million total viewers, 375,000 in the money demo.

Still, these are record numbers for Countdown, the first time they have scored over a million viewers live, and against top class numbers for O'Reilly too. O'Reilly fans and Olby haters are going to hate me for saying this, but this is fair and square, a great showing for Keith Olbermann, not only against O'Reilly himself, but a great rating show. Whether Olbermann will overtake O'Reilly at some point in the future, well, who knows. If it were to happen, it wouldn't be for a few years yet, but at this point, I wouldn't rule it out.

XM / Sirius Merger could be approved imminently.

There are a lot of reports out there, far too many to link, but they all suggest, like this one, that approval for the merger between XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite radio is due to come imminently from the US Department of Justice.

This smells to me very similar to the British Satellite Broadcasting / Sky Television, which was allowed to go ahead, despite the fact that it was against the rules that BSB were told to work by by the IBA. Sky had the deep pockets of Rupert Murdoch and News Corp to fall back on. BSB had no such benefactor, and most of their shareholders were worried about the upcoming 1991 Channel 3(ITV) licence process.

Sky were the 'winners' in that so called merger. They basically absorbed BSB into their company with the token changing of the name to "British Sky Broadcasting" rather than tell it like it really was, Sky basically swallowing up BSB.

The real similarity here though is that XM and Sirius, like Sky and BSB, are both losing money, hand over fist, quarter by quarter. Because these two are the only competing satellite radio services in the US and Canada, this really shouldn't happen, in much the same way that BSB and Sky should not have happened. But you know it's going to. History says the merger will go ahead, the market says the merger will go ahead, my head says the merger will go ahead, but my heart does not want it to. I cannot abide the creation of a monopoly by a market that is supposed to favour competition.

The shareholders have voted for it, now we wait for the confirmation from the DoJ that, as we expect, this merger will happen, despite what we know to be in the better interests of everyone. If the market is so good, then let the market decide, and if the market decides that neither should survive, then so be it.

US Cable News Ratings: Fox lose to CNN Republicans!

Both TV Newser and Inside Cable News have reported the cable numbers for Wednesday 28th November and show that CNN won the battle that night handsomely, with over 4 million people tuned in to watch the CNN/YouTube Republican Debate.

Despite Bill O'Reilly scoring well with over 2.2 million viewers at 8pm ET and 1.2 million viewers at 11pm ET, CNN won the night handsomely. They also have recorded the best figures for any debate this campaign season so far.

Just wait until we get to the presidential debates. Those numbers could well be much higher.

It's getting cold in Canada!

Toronto's 680 News is reporting an Environment Canada warning that Canada is in for their coldest winter in 15 years.

I'd like to think that we in the UK could get a really cold winter, as it would do us all good to remind ourselves just what Winter really is.

News Roundup: Wednesday 28th November 2008

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A 68-year old former drag queen has been arrested over the murders of 18 mainly gay men over a period of 30 years.

BBC News: Portsmouth Manager Harry Redknapp and 4 other people have been arrested in an ongoing City Of London Police investigation into football corruption.

WCBS - CBS 2 News New York: A 9 year old boy is facing serious charges after alledgedly bringing a loaded handgun to a school in New Jersey.

RTE News: Irish Minister for Health Mary Harney has survivied a no-confidence vote, by just 10 votes, but a Fianna Fail TD has resigned the party whip.

And Finally...

Ananova: A US judge has been sacked after he jailed an entire courtroom after no-one admitted responsibility for a ringing mobile phone!

A Democrat/Republican ticket?

The 2008 US presidential election just threw a curve, and it was a curve nobody was expecting.

The word is out that if Dennis Kucinich (Democrat) gets the Democratic Party's nomionation, he wants Ron Paul (Republican) as his running mate.

If a Kucinich/Paul ticket were to emerge, whether it was a Demcoratic or Republican nomination, or an independent ticket, it would be one of the more interesting events of this election so far.

There's been a lot of talk of an independent ticket from Michael Bloomberg or someone else, but this ticket has potential. You can bet this is one story I'll be following all the way.

When Conservatives Attack (your patriotism)!!!

Rockridge Nation has an interesting post, describing what you should say in response when Conservatives/Republicans question your patriotism.

Most useful post, added to my anti-political attack strategy!

Ralph Bernard and words of wisdom... Not!

This one crossed the wires whilst I was at the RMC newsdesk, and once again, it had me shaking my head in pure disbelief at how out of touch with reality outgoing GCap Chief Executive Ralph Bernard really is.

He gave an interview to Marketing Week, and some of the things he has said in that interview just leave me stunned with disbelief.

He says digital radio is facing a crisis. Wrong! There is no crisis in digital radio. Over 5 million sets have been sold, and almost 20% of the country can be counted as living in DAB households. DRM is now being added to the digital radio portfolio and it won't be long before combined DAB/DRM sets are available.

The Sirius/XM model of satellite radio is coming to Europe, and those broadcasts are digital too. Put simply, digital radio is looking very healthy.

What is truly in crisis right now, is GCap itself. Not all of GCap, though. Classic FM is continuing to be the dominant force in the national commercial radio market, and is the fourth most listened to national radio station, according to the latest RAJARs.

But GCap's local operations are very definitely in crisis. GCaps' One network of FM stations is stagnating at best. They tried to sell off 9 stations, including all their interests west of Bristol. No one bought them, and they took them off the market. All their local FMs sound far too samey. A localised "Morning Crew" at breakfast, a midday host and drivetime show, then networked from 7pm. Most others local stations are also guilty of sounding far too samey as well, but there are some exceptions. GCap stations take this to the extreme, with just about everything sounding almost exactly the same, no matter which GCap station you listen to.

Their AM operations, under the brand of "Gold", are in real crisis. With over 40 stations around the UK, with a TOTAL listenership of under 1.5 million according to the latest RAJARs, Gold is the biggest complete failure in the history of UK broadcasting. The Plymouth operation of Gold is the best example of this. Back in 1999, when it was Plymouth Sound AM, the station had a listenership of 67,000. Not stellar, but fairly stable. The latest RAJARs had Gold Plymouth showing a total listenership to the station of JUST 9,000! A pathetic, paltry 9,000. Around about an 80% DROP! Failing so miserably and completely, that it is no wonder, that Ralph Bernard wants to close analogue radio down, and have only digital radio. But even digital radio isn't realy a saving grace for GCap.

Digital One, GCap's national digital radio operation, is looking dangerously fragile. D1 is supposed to air 10 radio stations. Other than the 3 INRs on analogue, the other stations on there are Core, Life, The Jazz, Oneword and Planet Rock. That means there are 2 gaps that need to be filled when the BT mobile TV service ends. And with the added fact that GCap are removing Core and Life from the platform, that will leave 4 massive holes in the Digital One portfolio.

The second national digital radio multiplex is due on air in 2008, and whilst their progress to launch hasn't been completely smooth sailing, there is every sign that their full portfolio of stations including Sky News Radio will launch on time. This, if it happens as expected, will only serve to further highlight GCap's total and utter incompetence when it comes to radio. NTL and Telewest used to be the laughing stocks on the media industry. Since becoming Virgin Media though, they seem to have gotten their act together. Right now, GCap in the BIGGEST laughing stock in the history of UK broadcasting, since Lord Haw Haw!

Let us hope, somewhat forlornly, that the NEXT GCap Chief Executive, is a LOT more in touch with the reality of GCap radio than Ralph Bernard.

Australia Votes 2007: Roundup - Come in Mr Howard, your time is up!

So, the Australian electorate has spoken, and they told John Howard it was time to retire, not just as premier, but also from politics. This is despite the fact that no count has been completed yet and most are no further along than about 75-80% complete.

There are some seats that are too close to call, such as Bowman, where after 78% of the votes have been counted, the Liberal and Labor candidates are neck and neck. There is a hair's breadth between them and this one will go right down to the wire.

Peter Lindsay could be out of his seat in Herbert in Queensland, but the margin between them is so narrow, that no victory declaration can be made yet. At the moment though, Labour's George Colbran has a slender 0.2% lead.

In La Trobe in Victoria, Jason Wood (Lib) lloks like he might just hold on, but his lead over Labor's Rodney Cocks is just 0.4%, and still too close to call, with just under 75% of the vote counted.

In Macarthur in New South Wales, Liberal's Pat Farmer is so far holding on, despite an 11% swing to Labour candidate Nick Bleasdale. A miniscule 0.2% is all that separates the two candidates. The seat does have an uncanny history of going with the government, despite it being a Liberal stronghold.

Liberal Fran Bailey, who was previously the Minister for Small Business and Tourism, may just hold on to the McEwen seat in Victoria, but with a slender 0.4% lead, and over 25% of the votes still to be counted, the result is far from certain yet.

To the Northern Territories we go, and the seat of Solomon, where Labor's Damian Hale could unseat Liberal's David Tollner. But with a lead of only 0.4% and only 73% of the votes counted, there is still time for Tollner.

In Western Australia in the seat known as Swan, the sititng MP, Labor's Kim Wilkie, is in a tussle with Liberal's Steve Irons, who holds a tiny 0.2% lead, with just over 25% of the vote still to be counted.

These however are the stragglers. There are some Senate seats to be decided too, but to all intents and purposes, the result is known, we are just waiting to find out the exact margin of victory.

For John Howard, it was a very bad night. Not only did his premiership end, but his political career too. He joins Stanley Melbourne Bruce as the only other sitting Australian Prime Minister to lose his seat at a general election. Bruce lost his seat, Flinders, back in 1929, when the government went from being Nationalist Party to being a Labor goverment.

It will mean a new leader will have to be selected for the Liberal party. That will be one of the big stories over the following weeks and months.

The other will be following Kevin Rudd as he settles in as the new Australian Prime Minister. People across Australia and all over the world, will be watching events with great interest, as Kevin Rudd begins his term in office. What will the initial priorites of the Rudd government be? Time will tell.

Australia Votes 2007: International response

Not surprisingly, word has spread round the globe and the responses have been coming in from world leaders.

US President Bush called Howard a good friend and staunch ally, and congratulate d Kevin Rudd on his victory. UK PM Gordon Brown and New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark also both praised Kevin Rudd on his victory.

Australia Votes 2007: Democrats out in Senate?

It wasn't long after Kevin Rudd's victory speech that some news came in from the Senate side of the federal election, and it wasn't good news for the Democrats who held 2 seats in the Senate. Both of their senators were contesting their seats, and both seemed very likely to lose out.

Australia Votes 2007: Rudd looks to future, but has grace for Howard.

The new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke to his supporters about an hour after John Howard addressed his. He was graceful to his beaten adversary, but focused mainly on the future and pledged to never to take the sacred trust of the Australian electorate for granted.

Thanks to the internet, there will be many people and blogs who will be following your words closely, Mr Rudd, and your actions too. Make sure both speak with the same voice.

Australia Votes 2007: Howard conceeds defeat

At around Midnight AEDT, 11am GMT/UTC, Liberal leader John Howard conceeded defeat in the federal election. It was the end of a long era. John Howard had been PM for 11 years, and had been an MP since 1974 in the constituency of Bennelong.

It seemed he realised, even then, that this wasn't just the end of his premiership, but also the end of his political career, as he noted in his concession speech that he might even lose his seat in Parliament.

Australia Votes 2007: The leaflet scandal

I'm sure you remember the scandal concerning the fake leaflet from the non-existant "Islamic Australia Foundation". I covered it in a recent news roundup. Well, some justice looked like it was going to be done as just after 8pm on election night, the expectation was that the Liberals would lose and Labor, the victims of the fake flyer would triumph. This victory was confirmed a couple of hours later.

Australia Votes 2007: Labor showing signs of closing in

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's equivalent 0f the BBC, was already pretty certain at 9am GMT / 8pm AEDT that Labor were heading for victory. Election analyst Antony Green was also predicting that John Howard was in trouble in his own seat of Bennelong, even though only 17% of the vote had been counted.

Australia Votes 2007: Exit Poll

The early signs for the Liberals were not positive as a Channel Seven/Sky News exit poll put Labour as the winner by 53% to 47% for the Liberals under the two-party prefered outcome method.

However, few people were putting much faith in the exit polls, as they have a bit of a chequered history in Australia, much in the same way that they have had a chequered history in UK elections too.

Australia Votes 2007: Melbourne voters drives car at journalist.

One of the early stories to come out of this election was not a positive one at all.

Liberal campaigners and a voter clashed over posters outside a primary school in Heathmont. The posters got ripped down, and a newspaper journalist almost got run down.

Whilst I'm all in favour of being passionate about your political beliefs, and any other beliefs, there are times when you shouldn't take action, and temper your instincts. Politics is currently polarised enough, without people thinking that action needs to be taken to support their beliefs.

Australia Votes 2007: The stats

I promised earlier that I would report the stories of this election and that's exactly what I'm going to do. First, we're going to look at this election statistically.

Two seats in the Australian House of Representatives did not go to any party, but to independents. Kennedy in Queensland went to the Independent Bob Katter, who was a National Party MP until 2001, and Tony Windsor in the New England constituency in New South Wales.

The National Party has 10 MPs so far, The Liberal Party has 48 MPs and Labour has a massive 83 seats. 76 seats are needed for victory, so Labour will form the next government.

Looking at the State of the Parties, we see that Labour and Liberals dominated the voting.



Labour had 43.5% of the vote, Liberals 36.5%, the Greens 7.8%, the National Party 5.5% and Family First just 1.9%.

In the Senate, the Liberal coalition is still the biggest force with 37 senators, Labour with 32 senators, the Greens have 5 senators, Family First has 1 senator and there is 1 other.

Okay, those are the 'boring' but essential numbers out the way. Next, we'll start looking at the other stories that came out of this election.

Australia Votes 2007; The Verdict

it had looked like john howard might catch kevin rudd in the last few days, but it was not to be. the new prime minister talked to his supporters and accepted howard's concession, meaning that to all intents and purposes, the federal election is over. there are still a few seats left to be decided, and stories to be told. i will tell some of those stories later on.

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Australia Votes 2007: Online Coverage

As I have previously reported, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is likely to be the first choice for the international reader following the Australian Federal Election. But other broadcasters have their own election sites.

SBS have their own site, and will start their election coverage at 9.30pm AEDT. Seven Network have teamed up with Yahoo! for their site. Nine Network and MSN are together for their special election site. Sky News Australia also has a dedicated election section.

That's the one good thing about the web. If you go hunting, you can often find exactly the information you're looking for, and sometimes, like this time, you can find it many times over.

News Roundup: Friday 23rd November 2007

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The federal election will show whether PM John Howard's strategy will triumph, or whether voters will go for change and elect Kevin Rudd.

Based only on the votes to the poll so far, it looks like readers expect Kevin Rudd to win, but there is still time for things to change.

Al Jazeera: A 15 year old girl who was suspected of robbery was put in a cell with more than 20 men, who raped her repeatedly for a month, according to human rights groups.

CBC News: Lebanon's president declared a state of emergency then resigned, handing power to the military. The move is thought to threaten to push the country in further political uncertainty.

EuroNews: Denamrk's Prime Minister has unveiled his new cabinet and urged his countrymen to support the new European Treaty.

Sorry, but this European Union was created out of political ambition rather than political necessity, and the Euro was created out of political ambition, rather than economic necessity. It was a sow's ear when created and no amount of work can turn it into a silk purse.

And Finally...

BBC News: After 2 21 ft falls and four metal plates, one in each leg, we introduce to you, The Bionic Cat!!!

Verity Lambert 1935-2007

Verity Lambert is best known to those of us who follow the media and media history as the original producer of Doctor Who from 1963 onwards. But she started her career at Granada, then went to ABC before joining the BBC in 1963.

She later produced for London Weekend Television before becoming Head of Drama at ABC's successor, Thames Television. 1985 saw her creating her own company, Cinema Verity.

But to all Doctor Who fans, and to a lot of people around the world, she will be seen as the original producer of Doctor Who. In fact, in the recent revivial series, in an episode called Human Nature, the Doctor, under his human name of John Smith, refered to his parents by name. Sydney and Verity. She will forever be the mother who gave birth to Doctor Who, and steered it through it's early years becoming a very popular and successful science fiction drama series.

Mayor resigns, claiming brainwashing by satanists!

This is a story that reads like it came straight out of the old Weekly World News pages, but no, this story comes from respectable local newspapers and local TV as well.

A local mayor in Centerton, Arkansas has resigned after revealing that he was abducted and brainwashed by satanists back in the 1970s.

This is one of those that belongs in the Ridiculous News File, and needs absolutely no punchline of any kind from me.

Evening News for Fox?

After the recent report that Shephard Smith signed a mega deal with Fox News rumoured to be worth around $7 million, speculation has started to build again about a news broadcast on the Fox broadcasting network.

Fox has had lots of trouble with news programmes on the broadcast network. The current morning programme, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet is the latest in a long line of attempts stretching back to Fox After Breakfast and Good Day Live. The last attempt at an evening news programme, Geraldo At Large, got axed from Fox Broadcasting and reappeared on Fox News Channel. It too was the latest in a long line of failed attempts.

My suspicion is that they will eventually simulcast The Fox Report with Shepherd Smith, which does present itself somewhat differently than other FNC shows. We'll wait and see.

Getting Smart at the movies!

I notice that there is a new version of "Get Smart", which will be released at US cinemas on June 20th 2008, and in the UK on the 15th August 2008.

The film stars Steve Carell as Agent 86, aka Maxwell Smart, Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock, as Agent 23, and Alan Arkin, who back in 1968 made what is regarded as an unsuccessful attempt to replace Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in the film of the same name, will play the chief.

Get Smart was a classic comedy spy show which ran from 1965-1970 and starred the late great Don Adams as Maxwell Smart. The series really worked because of Don Adams, who could do ridiculous comedy, but do it so straight and so well that you completely suspended disbelief for that half hour. It was a trait that Don Adams later brought to a 1980s cartoon, called Inspector Gadget. Even though he only provided the voice, it was unmistakable. Adams was a great comedic talent, and he is much missed. The series was basically created to capitalise on the popularity of the James Bond films.

Whether Steve Carell can even come close to recapturing the ludicrousness of the original is open to question, but this film could almost be an Anne Hathaway vehicle, especially as in the posters and advertising that I have seen, Hathaway is seemingly shown as the star, despite being Agent 99, and not the title character. We'll have to wait and see.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all our US based readers, I'd like to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving Day.

News Roundup: Thursday 22nd November 2007

SBS World News Australia: Polls released on the eve of the federal election are split over which party will win.

WUSA Channel 9, Washington DC: Several retailers have opened on Thanksgiving Day, in order to lure you away from the table, and the comfy sofa.

Voice Of America: The British Commonwealth has suspended Pakistan for its imposition of emergency rule.

Global National: Winter has arrived with a bang in central Canada, with warnings in force for Toronto, Ottowa and Montreal.

RTE News: The EU drug agency is reporting that at least 12 million Europeans have used Cocaine at least once, and more are doing so, as the price falls.

And Finally...

MSNBC: A man who ran naked and drunk on a Delaware, accosted several good samaritans and casued three traffic accidents.

England Manager Sacked - A Roundup

As I promised earlier, here is a roundup of how the news media, with particular interest to the sporting news media, is reporting the story.

BBC Sport: McLaren sacked as England Manager.

ESPN Soccernet: McLaren insists, "saddest day of my career".

EuroSport: McLaren sacked.

Fox Soccer Channel: England fires coach McLaren after failure.

CBS Sports: England fire coach McLaren after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

Setanta Sports News: McLaren takes it on the chin.

Sky Sports: Mac accepts England axe.

SportsNet Canada: McLaren era ends in England

McLaren out!

no surprise! steve mclaren is no longer the manager of england. he was fired earlier today by the fa board. later on i will bring you further coverage as reported by the various news media.

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Open Thread: Thursday 22nd November 2007

RTE News is reporting that the European Commission is denying reports that it wants to include questions about sexual history in its proposed "harmonisation" of censuses of EU member states.

My question is, is greater harmonisation between EU member states a good thing, or not?

News Roundup: Wednesday 21st November 2007

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Australian Labouor Party is accusing senior members of the Australian Liberal Party of being involved in the distrubting of fake flyers from the non-existant "Islamic Australia Foundation", which attempted to link the Labour Party with islamic terrorism.

Fox News Channel: Three men who jad been previously arrested back in 2005, have been re-arrested over the disappearance in Aruba of teenager Natalee Holloway.

Russia Today: A female politician has repeatedly slapped a journalist live on national TV in Venezuela, leading to concerns over press freedom.

MSNBC: Opposition politician Imran Khan has been released along with over 5000 lawyers and political activists.

And Finally...

Fox News Channel: A group of Swedish women have staged topless protests over what they call gender-biased rules on swimwear!

England Out of Euro 2008

Obviously, this story is having repercussions across the world of football, but specifically, in the headquarters of football in the UK, The Football Association, who have decided to hold an emergency board meeting at 8.30 am UK time (0830 GMT/UTC).

My prediction... by 8.30pm (2030 GMT/UTC), Steve McLaren will NOT be manager of England. My belief is he will have been fired, because, as he stated earlier tonight, he is refusing to resign.

Open Thread: Wednesday 21st November 2007

NBC has made the first hour of the Today show (7am ET) available to download as a podcast,in both audio only and video forms. Is there a show that is currently not available as a podcast that you would like to see made available as a podcast?

News Roundup: Tuesday 20th November 2007

Independent Television News: Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, which starred Billie Piper as a high class prostitute, has been nominated for Best Soft Core Production at the UK Adult Film and Television Awards.

Ananova: A Chinese thief, who bought cheap plane tickets then robbed unsuspecting passengers in mid-flight has been arrested.

Channel News Asia: The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao reiterated in regional talks Tuesday that sanctions would not help reconcilliation efforts in Myanmar/Burma.

Al Jazeera: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is hopeful that a prisoner exchange can be acheived between Columbian leftists and the Colombian Government.

Public Radio International: US polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has been sentenced to a minimum of 10 years, for forcing a 14 year old girl to marry her cousin.

National Nine News: The Dalai Lama has said that he may appoint a successor or call democratic elections before his death, rather than relying on reincarnation, after recent orders that China must approve Tibet's spiritual leaders.

And Finally...

MSNBC: Two squirrels caused power failures for hundreds of people in Wisconsin.

Wife wants half her husband's lottery winnings.

Thankfully, this didn't happen in the UK, but in the US. AOL News US reports that a wife whose husband had won $600,000 back in June on the Florida Lottery is suing him for half his winnings.

The problem: He's done a runner, and the papers have yet to be served to him!

No punchline required!

Open Thread: Tuesday 20th November 2007

My question for today's open thread goes to the new Star Trek movie, which will features actors recast in roles originally cast over 40 years ago.

Do you think this idea of recasting is a recipe for success or disaster?

News Roundup: Monday 19th November 2007

WABC - Channel 7 Eyewitness News: More racy photos have emerged showing the Hoboken Police Chief and other police officers posing with weapons and "Hooters" girls.

WJLA - ABC 7 News Washington DC: Disgraced Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick has surrended to US Marshals ahead of his sentencing on December 10th.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Australian PM John Howard has denied that he has delayed campaigning in Tasmania because he has given up on two marginal seats.

Al Jazeera: Iraqi Police have arrested 43 foreign security guards after a woman was shit in central Baghdad.

BBC News: Zimbabwe's goverment is accusing the UK of planning an invasion and assassinations of the country's leadership.

This one belongs in the Ridiculous News File! The trouble is, they actually believe this rubbish!

Capital News 9: The Schenectady County District Attorney announceed a grand jury had found numorous problems with the way the local Police Department handled evidence.

CBC News: The government of British Columbia has ordered an inquiry into the death of a man at Vancouver International Airport after he was tasered.

New Dehli Television: The UN-backed genocide tribunal in Cambodia has arrested the former Khmer Rouge head of state after he was released from hospital.

And Finally...

Sky News: After a whirlwind 3 day romance,Britain's oldest newleyweds have just tied the knot.

She is 85 years old, He is 93!

Another "Incredible Hulk" Movie

The countdown has begun to the release of the new "Incredible Hulk" movie on June 13th 2008 in the US and one week later in the UK.

The official website is up, although there isn't much there currently, but no doubt there will be more in the weeks and months to come.

The 2003 movie, "Hulk" although decent, did fall flat in a few key areas. The stylised use of comic boxes, wipes and dissolves did not aid the story but distracted from it. The effects were very good, but they were unfortunately let down by one transformation in full daylight, which looked fake.

The performances were not bad, in fact very good in some cases, the casting was quite inspired. Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott was perfect as General Thunderbolt Ross. What let it down back then was a script that tried to do too much in too short a space of time.

Whether this new movie will come anywhere near to the quality of the orignal 1977 tv movies and series, well, I hope so, but I won't hold my breath waiting for it to reach there.

Open Thread: Monday 19th November 2007

Kos at Daily Kos highlights his own opinion piece that is going to appear in the printed edition of Newsweek, the first article from him to do so. There are two sections of that opinion article that are particularly salient.

"...In his first Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan remarked that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." While the quip has provided Republicans with a cheap slogan for two decades, the philosophy behind it is beginning to box them in. If they govern effectively, they invalidate their own antigovernment ideology. And when you elect people who believe that government won't work, you shouldn't be surprised when government stops working."

This is not only very true, but has been a Republican mantra for much longer than Kos suggests, even going back to the second world war.

The second section is right at the end of the article...

"...Democrats should and will use Bush and his destructive policies on the campaign trail as the primary example of what happens when people who hate government are elected to run it. The message will be that Bush isn't a historical anomaly: he's the embodiment of modern conservatism.

If Americans want willfully ineffective government, they'll have a Republican Party desperate for their votes. But with 70 percent of the American people thinking the nation is on the wrong track, it's clear they expect the opposite. As long as Democrats make that contrast clear—and Bush's record will be integral to that argument—they should be headed for victory in 2008."

The trouble is the current Democratic Congress is finding it tough coping with a Bush administration that is failing to see sense, and a Republican minority who is backing him all the way. Certainly effective government is not the current order of business, as Bob Schieffer pointed out on Face The Nation. This current state of affairswill undoubtedly make the election of a Democratic president, any Democratic president, a much tougher task.

Over to you, what do you think?

News Roundup: Sunday 18th November 2007

France 24: Greece and Turkey launch their first ever shared gas pipeline.

I hope this is a first step to the reunification of Cyprus.

Agence France Presse: Voters in Kosovo have voted for a pro-independence leader's party in key legislative elections.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: All 27 miners who were trapped in a Ballarat gold mine have been brought to the surface.

KCBS All News 740: An expert in time management is causing controversy by suggesting entrepreneurs go on an email diet.

Sky News: One of America's best known brands, MTV, is now trying to enter the Arab world.

WJLA - ABC 7 Washington DC: The Frederick County Sheriff's Office says a man has died after a deputy used a taser to break up a fight.

And Finally...

BBC News: A 5.5m long Minke Whale has been spotted almost 1000 miles from the ocean in the Amazon rainforest.

Democratic Majority + Stubborn Republicans = Nothing Doing

CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent and Host of Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer, makes a great point in his weekly commentary on the programme, which is also available to read online. The following excerpt though sums up the whole point nicely...

"...Who says there's nothing that two sides can't accomplish together? Of course there is - doing nothing."

Perhaps the Democrats need some backbone, and the Republicans a little humility and common sense, not that I am expecting any progress on those fronts from either side here.

Home Internationals: Is it time they returned?

Sky Sports at the moment are showing a Home Nations Masters Football tournament, and it great fun to watch some of these great stars from football's past having fun in the indoor arena. But perhaps it is time we restarted an old tradition by bringing back the Home Internationals.

The Home Internationals was a mini tournament between the home nations in Football, much the Six Nations was originally for Rugby, before the introduction of France and Italy into the competition. Perhaps a five way tournament between England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland would be a great aid to helping sharpen our International sides for matches against other nations. What do you think?

Lou Dobbs and the November Surprise!

The Lou Dobbs Commentary that he writes weekly for CNN.com contains something that has been taken across the blogosphere as code for him saying he will announce candidacy for the presidential race, probably as an independent.

I'm more skeptical though about the real meaning behind the commentary. The following is a short excerpt...

"...the arrogance of our political leaders now threatens the future of our nation, and their elitist sense of entitlement has reached such heights that our leaders are now openly dismissive of the will of the people. Working men and women and their families are simply not being represented in Washington.

One year from now, we will have elected a new president. As eager as I am for that reality, I can't imagine any one of the current candidates for their party's nomination being chosen by the American people to lead this nation for the next four years. I believe the person elected a year from now will be an Independent populist, a man or woman who understands the genius of this country lies in the hearts and minds of its people and not in the prerogatives and power of its elites.

As I travel around the country, my feeling about the lack of true candidates is validated by those I talk with: They are not excited about the candidates seeking their party's nomination. The Democratic and Republican Parties have become merely opposite wings of the same bird, and it's the American people who are getting the bird as our elected officials serve their corporate masters and the special interest groups that dominate both parties."

Hmmm... Does he really want to enter, or is he just properly judging the growing mood that I myself have seen from friends on the other side of the Atlantic?

I tend to believe the latter.

The Democratic and Republican parties have retreated to their base 20%, leaving the middle 60% of the political spectrum in the centre relatively clear. It's down the centre highway that I choose to travel, and it's so empty down this way that I can travel as fast as I please, whilst those in the left and right highways are stuck in permanent traffic jams, as the parties and their supporters have retreated away from the centre.

I will on this blog highlight some of the other parties that form part of the US political system, but for some reason or another, have yet to come forward and claim the centre ground that is currently unoccupied by either party.

Open Thread: Sunday 18th November 2007

The Bill Moyers Journal on PBS reported this week on the FCC's proposed deregulation of media consolidation. You can read the transcript to the entire piece as well as watching the video of the programme.

My question to you is this; Is it right that the market decides who gives you your news, or should there be some form of pluralism, to ensure that different political voices, be they conservative, liberal or centrist, get heard in each and every local market?

News Roundup: Saturday 17th November 2007

Channel 4 News UK: Whilst Rudy Giuliani claims falling crime rates and the fast recovery from 9/11 are his legacy from his mayorship of New York, New Yorkers themselves claim something different. There's also a video report on site from Washington Correspondent Sarah Smith which is well worth watching.

Press TV: Charismatic Venezualan President Hugo Chavez has claimed that any attack against Venezuela or Iran will result in oil being at $200 a barrell.

CTV News: The death toll from the Bangladesh cyclone has reached over 1700 people.

CBS News: A Florida alternative newspaper and 3 advertising reps have been charged with racketeering and knowningly profiting from prostitution.

And Finally...

Fox News Channel: A man who says he stumbled across a WW2 submarine invading Britain to capture digital television decoders has been named the "World's Biggest Liar"!

The daft thing is, he's a six time champion liar now!

Sarah Michelle Gellar in leather gloves.

Booted Up has pictures of Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, in some photos for the US version of Maxim.

Katie Couric, a coat, a cold night, and channeling Dan Rather!

WTOP, the Washington DC all news radio station is reporting that Katie Couric has been caught on video channeling Dan Rather, when he spent half an hour discussing whether his coat should be open or closed, and his collar up or down.

The video is here, and from my expert eye, it looks like the camera is the one that was assigned to her by CBS. So, the video must have come from CBS News, or at least someone within CBS News.

Have to say though, having viewed the video, it does show Katie in a good light. She is light hearted, not over serious. It's clear she enjoys her work and the team who work with her. They're having fun during rehearsals and during the breaks in the live transmission.

I think leather gloves are very definitely Katie, and the leather boots she was wearing too. I wonder if gloves could be the new fashion trend for news anchors?!?!?

New Channel 6 website on the way.

I've noticed that during my browsings on the web, that the Channel 6 website from Ireland is only showing a TV guide at the moment with a promise that a new Channel 6 web site will be online from December 1st 2007.

They had a fairly decent website before hand, but nothing special. So, when the new site is launched, you can bet that I will be reviewing it, and giving my usual straight forward, honest opinion on it, right here.

News Roundup: Friday 16th November 2007

Slightly different style of News Roundup today, as most of the stories come from the web site of Washington DC's all news station, WTOP on 103.5 and 103.9 FM. Unusually, for most web sites anyway, you can find a written news summary of the top stories here. But for your perusal, here are the stories that caught my eye at WTOP.

Congressional Democrats are still unable to bring home the troops, a year after being elected to power.

Protestors surrounded the Justice Department, demanding federal intervention in the "Jena Six" case.

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has accused her rivals of slinging mud "...right out of the Republican playbook..." in the CNN debate in Las Vegas.

A 23 year old college student who was told by an airline employee that her outfit was too revealing to fly is to pose nude for Playboy.

A woman who left a lipstick kiss on an all-white painting has been ordered to do 100 hours of community service.

Broadway producers and striking stagehands are back at the bargaining table in order to settle the dispute before the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday week.

Katie Couric has become the "...Dan Rather of YouTube..." thanks to a video showing her fiddling with her coat in Nashville, Tennessee during rehearsals for and anchoring of the CBS Evening News. The video is here, and the original Dan Rather version is here.

Is the career of current MLB home run king Barry Bonds over after being charged with perjury and obstruction of justice?

Elsewhere in the world of the news web sites...

CBC Arts: The writers strike is now shutting down productions in Vancouver.

Al Jazeera: Europe's election monitors have aborted plans to mointor the Russian parliamentary elections on December 2nd.

Russia Today: Russia has symbolically withdrawn from the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty.

Deutsche Welle: The Identity Tradition and Sovereignty far right block in the European Parliament has collapsed.

And Finally...

BBC News: US rapper Jay-Z appears in a new music video carrying Euro notes, instead of dollar bills.

Top-slice Licence Fee money to save CITV?

Broadcast is reporting that the media committee has recommended that a portion of the licence fee be used to fund children's programming.

The problem with this is simple. Funding that has been assigned to a public service operation, should not be reassigned to an operation that is active divesting itself of its own public service commitments. Never mind the fact that it can and does raise plenty of its own money from commercials and sponsorship, just the fact that it doesn't want to fund the programming itself, is enough of a disqualifier in my book.

Open Thread: Friday 16th November 2007

The man behind Outfoxed, Glenn Greenwald has launched a new site, detailing Fox News and it's use of sexy imagery to accompany news stories.

Is this responsible behaviour for a news channel, or just blatant 'sex sells' tactics?

News Roundup: Thursday 15th November 2007

Sports Illustrated/CNN: Barry Bonds, the MLB home run leader, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury.

I will have something more to say on this in the near future. This story will probably be the first non-political story to get a "Special Comment" from Keith Olbermann.

Press TV: A new report by the IAEA has declared that Iran has co-operated and been truthful in key aspects.

However, CNN reports the story somewhat differently.

France 24: Pakistan Opposition Leader Benezir Bhutto has been released from house arrest.

VOA News: A Russian opposition party is calling for the Russian Supreme Court to disqualify Vladimir Putin from standing in next month's parliamentary election.

RTE News: US President George W Bush will welcome Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness to the Whitehouse on December 7th.

And Finally...

Ananova: A man has been arrested in Missouri for possessing an hallucinogenic toad!

Does that mean, the toad was tripping already???

Breaking News on Viewpoint

Barry Bonds has been indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

CBS News has more.

One for the BillO fans and Olby haters

Crooks and Liars reports that on Tuesday night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, on his Worst Person In The World, Keith Olbermann awarded the bronze to...

...Keith Olbermann!

Somehow, I can't see Bill O'Reilly ever calling himself a pinhead in his Pinheads and Patriots segment.

MSNBC expands to Southern Africa

TV Newser is reporting that MSNBC's 4pm - Midnight ET programming is going to air twice a day on South Africa's Free2View platform.

So, maybe there is a chance that we might get to see MSNBC in the UK and Ireland in the near future.

Open Thread: Thursday 15th November 2007

Half way through the month and I have to say a big thank you to everyone of my readers. So far this month, we have well and truly surpassed the previous best in terms of visits and page hits by almost 25%, and we have over 2 weeks to go, so a big thank you to everyone of you for reading. Whether you come in by search engine, by bookmark or some other method, thank you, thank you all.

So far though, not a lot of you have commented on my postings here, but to those of you who have, thank you also.

If you've voted in the poll I've had up on site, thank you too. There's still time to vote and I would love it if as many of you as possible voted on our question about the Asutralian Federal Election.

For today's Open Thread, I want to know what you think I should include here on Viewpoint. I include a lot of different stories sometimes from lots of sources, but what I want to know are the kids of stories that interest you, my readers. What content should I include and what should I not include?

The floor is yours, dear reader...

Breaking News on Viewpoint

OJ Simpson will stand trial for armed robbery.

Live coverage was on Sky News in the UK

News Roundup: Wednesday 14th November 2007

1010 WINS: New York Elliot Spitzer has withdrawn his plan to give illegal immigrants driver's licences.

Comment: Expect Lou Dobbs to be in something of celebratory mode tonight, and Bill O'Reilly will probably comment on this one too.

Al Jazeera: A strike by French energy and transport workers has caused widespread disruption.

Comment: Sometimes, I wonder if France is run by politicians or union leaders!

BBC News: A Dutch teenager has been arrested for stealing virtual furniture to furnish his online "hotel" room with.

CBC Arts: A controversial documentary on the Falun Gong movement in China will air on CBC Television, despite having been previously pulled after a complaint by the Chinese Embassy.

Comment: This to my mind is what good television should be about. Documenting things that might be unpopular or controversial. The day television avoids subjects because of their controversial nature is the day the great switchoff begins worldwide.

CNN: 2 people dead and 100 injured after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Chile.

And Finally...

WNBC - NewsChannel 4: A runaway kangaroo almost escaped from authorities trying to trap him in Melbourne, Australia.

The Big Fight on MSNBC's Countdown?

We have a 15-round bruiser of a fight brewing here between the Executive Producer of "Redacted" and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the Heavyweight Champion of Fox News Channel, Bill O'Reilly.

O'Reilly has been very critical of the film Redacted, and Cuban responded, not too badly it has to be said. He was speaking at the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas. It was initially reported by TV Newser, but also reported by The Brad Blog.

Mark Cuban himself is a fellow blogger , and he followed up those comments with a post of his own.

But O'Reilly himself responded with one of his talking points memos.

Now, the story has continued on, and Mark Cuban has challenged Bill O'Reilly to a debate. The venue, would be MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann! And the moderator, the host himself, Keith Olbermann. The challenge was made via Keith Olbermann himself, on Tuesday night's edition of Countdown, and communicated to Keith via email. On a side note, Cuban also came up with a new word that fits any debate between Bill O'Reilly and any sane person, Billsanity!

Somehow, probably because of Bill O'Reilly's known refusal to even acknowledge Keith Olbermann, usually referring to him as "elements at NBC News", I doubt this debate will ever happen, and I doubt that Bill O'Reilly will even acknowledge the offer. It wouldn't fit his style.

Crooks and Liars has an exclusive video clip of the film.

More leather

Fashionising has a photo of Angelina Jolie, wearing leather trousers and a distinctly rock-chick look to the Beowulf premiere.

It seems that Leather, which has never been truly out of my "house style", is truly back and back with a vengeance. More leather, and more PVC, is a definite must.

Viewpoint Colour Scheme

You may have noticed that I have changed the colours on the blog. This is in reaction to viewing the blog on my mobile phone and discovering that what is a black background on the computer browser, is in fact white on the mobile phone browser.

Hopefully, now you'll find you'll be able to read it correctly, no matter what browser you are using.

If you are reading it on the mobile web, leave me a comment and let me know. I always look forward to reading your comments, so keep them coming.

Jonathan Aitken to head conservative think tank on Prison reform!

And now, from Viewpoint, an extra special commentary on Johnathan Aitken and the insanity that is modern politics.

Would you put a convicted criminal in charge of the criminal justice system? Would you task a fare evader with catching fare evaders on our transport system? Would you trust a proven liar to actually come clean and tell you the truth? Would you buy a used car from Arthur Daley or an item from DelBoy's market stall?

So why would David Cameron ask Jonathan Aitken to lead a conservative think tank to look into prison reform?

Cameron has made some gaffes in his time, but this has to rank as the biggest gaffe of the lot so far. This is like putting a tax evader in charge of the Inland Revenue. You've put a convicted criminal, a perjurer, and someone who actually spent time in prison, in charge of reforming them? There is a kind of logic to it, but unfortuantely, it is the logic of the madman. You'd have made the idea more popular if you had put a victim of crime in charge, not a convicted criminal.

Unfortunately, this situation is a symptom of a situation that exists not just in the UK, but around the world. Politics is becoming insane. It has become about trying to prove your opponents are wrong, and you are right, at any cost. Truth no longer seems to matter to politicians, who seem ready to lie, spin, and promote propoganda, rather than tell the truth.

And unfortunately, more and more people, like myself, are getting fed up of it.

Politics is NOT about proving yourself right, by lying and spouting political propoganda. It IS about finding REAL solutions to REAL problems. It is about serving the public, not helping yourself.

It is about making a positive difference to people's lives, not about petty political point scoring, or shameless self promotion.

Unfortunately we've had too little of the problem solving, public helping politics, and far too much of the shameless, propogandist, petty, point scoring politics, which just deepens people's cynicism in a dying political system. Political parties are not helping politics, but hindering it, hindering it so much that it is making politics very unpopular.

And it's not just the big name politicians that are doing this.

Around the world, the political "netroots", those who post on blogs, just like I do, are putting their opinions on the web for all to read, but unlike me, they do not think about what they write, other than just how well they are pushing their political points.

What they do not consider, are the realities of their opinions. What would happen as a result of their ideas. The "netroots" can and do get their political parties who they support into a lot of trouble. Take the Republican netroots, who not long ago were promoting the idea of sending all 12 million plus illegal immigrants back where they came from. Like so many ideas, it sounded great in theory, but unfortunately it would have so spectacularly backfired on them, that if they had followed it through as a policy, the Republican Party would have gone straight over the cliff, like a multitude of lemmings, hurtling off the cliff of political reason, into the abyss of political destruction. The Republican party would have commited political suicide, and there would have been nothing that the netroots or anyone else could have done to prevent that.

Fortunately for political discourse, cooler heads did prevail, but it was a close run thing.

But even though the "netroots" must also take some blame, there are still others who must also take their share.

And this time, it's not the "new" media I am looking at, but rather the "old" media.

I'm looking straight at the people, who I refer to as the "politicos", the talking heads, who appear on 24 hour news channels, and host talk radio shows, the ones who believe their point of view is the only one that matters and that others need to be "educated" into their way of thinking.

I'm looking at you, Bill O'Reilly. I'm looking at you, Sean Hannity. I'm looking at you, Rush Limbaugh. I'm looking at you, Michael Savage, Laura Ingrahm, Glenn Beck, Don Imus, Pat Buchanan, Tony Blankley, Eleanor Clift, Michelle Malkin, Kirsten Powers, Mort Kondracke, Fred Barnes, Chales Krauthammer, and all the other "talking heads", "columnists" and "contributors", who waste more time in pointless political discussions that, like a lot of Enterprise set pipes from the original Star Trek TV series which were lablled GNDN, Go Nowhere, Do Nothing.

All you guys do, is promote your own party's talking points, rather than trying to find real solutions. You contribute NOTHING to the political discourse, and only reinforce the political divide, and in some cases, make the divide wider.

As Sherlock Holmes used to say, It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has enough data to do so. One ostensibly twists facts to suit theories, rather than theories to suit facts. Perhaps the political world should remember to twist theories to suit facts, rather than facts to suit their own politcal agendas.

Open Thread: Monday 12th November 2007

Om this past Sunday's Face The Nation on CBS stations, Bob Schieffer gave a very 'interesting' commetary on televangelist Pat Robertson's somewhat unusual decision to support pro-gay rights, pro abortion rights candidate Rudy Guiliani, who is also ably supported by Fox News Channel.

'...So when Robertson announced he was supporting Rudy Giuliani, who is for so many of the things that Robertson has spent his life railing against - gay rights and abortion rights to name just two - I decided to go back to my high-level source with the obvious question: Why? There was a long pause. Finally, my source said "God only knows." '

Will Robertson's endorsement of "America's Mayor" help his candidacy, or hurt it?

News Roundup: Sunday 11th November 2007

BBC News: A russian oil tanker has split in half causing a massive fuel oil leak near the Black Sea.

CTV News: A new report by Transport Canada reveals that Canadians underestimate how bad their speeding is.

France 24: An accidental shooting death of a soccer fan in Arezzo, Italy, spraks natiowide rioting.

NY1: New York remembers the veterans and those who fell on the battlefield at their Veteran's Day parade.

And Finally...

WABC - Channel 7 Eyewitness News: A woman wearing a wedding dress, and holding marijuana drives her truck into a pond, whilst trying to escape the police.

Putting the BOOT in!

I love reading Teri's Booted Up blog which is part of the Bootlovers.com site. I love boots, and gloves, the longer, the better in my book, and Teri is great for all my favourite pictures, but this time, I actually agree with her on something she says.

She posted a real vintage picture and then actually went off on a tangent about Rush Limbaugh and other "...dickless wonders..." who go off on one about "...femi-nazis..." as they call them, but comes the Universal Translator as fetishists.

I support every word she says. Read and inwardly digest.

Open Thread: Sunday 11th November 2007

Today is Armistice Day.

At the Eleventh hour, I like many others will be partaking in 2 minutes of silence in honour of those who have fallen on the battlefields of the world, from the First World War to Iraq.

News Roundup: Saturday 10th November 2007

Al Jazeera: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was told to "shut up" by Spain's King Juan Carlos!

MSNBC: After the writers of Hollywood, it's the stagehands of Broadway's turn to go out on strike.

Press TV: A US military sniper has been found not guilty of murdering 3 Iraqi civilians earlier this year.

CBC News: A new mausoleum has been unveiled for Yasser Arafat, commemorating the third anniversary of his death.

And Finally...

WCBS NewsRadio 880: A traffic stop in Texas yielded around two dozen embalmed heads!!!

Open Thread: Saturday 10th November 2007

Crooks and Liars references a Fox Attacks article about Fox News Channels prediliction for using images of sexy females, especially teachers who have been accused of having affairs with students, in their news footage, especially B-rolls.

Fox Attacks has a petition with over 18,000 signatures at this time to tell the FCC that they don't want to pay for Fox News. You can sign it if you feel like it.

Is this a case of promoting indecency via the back door, or is this simply a case of sex sells and sells very well for Fox News? I've reported, now you decide.

News Roundup: Friday 9th November 2007

BBC Scotland: Glasgow will host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, just 2 years after London hosts the 2012 Olympics.

NY1: Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has been idicted on 16 counts of federal corruption.

Press TV: 9 Iranians, including two diplomats who had been held by American forces in Iraq, have returned home.

Al Jazeera: Myanmar/Burma's opposition leader has met senior members of her own party for the first time in 3 years.

ITN: The East Anglian coast has survived relatively unscathed after a storm surge.

And Finally...

Ananova: The owners of a new pub may have to ditch their sign, because the face on it resembles Adolf Hitler!!!

Mobile blogging

You may have noticed that the last post looked a little strange. compared to some of the others I've written here. That's because it was written not in Blogger, as this one is, but from one of my web email addresses and sent to blogger by post, from my mobile phone.

The reason was to test if the idea of blogging from a mobile was actually feasible. I was away from the computer and didn't see the result until I got back here and viewed my blog. This will enable me to report on stories whilst I am away from my computer and on location. There are sometimes stories that I would like to blog about that are happening in front of me, but since, because I am on location, I am away from my computer, it has been impractical to try to blog about these events when I got back, sometimes many hours after the event itself.

I am happy with the test results and look forward to my first proper on location report being sent to Viewpoint at the next opportunity. Since the phone also has a camera built in, I might try to send some pictures too. Should be fun.

WTA Championships in Madrid

watching the tennis live on british euro sport and there has been a lot of challenges been used in this first set tie break, but finally after just over an hour, the set has gone to Hantuchova.

Russian supermodel's site linked to porn site

I just teased in my News Roundup that I would be following up on this story from Russia Today about a russian supermodel who has been named the world's best dressed woman by Harper's Bazaar.

Well, on some of these stories I like to do a little rudimentary investigating. Not to any real depth, just a little peek around to see if there's anything interesting there. Oh boy, was there something interesting this time!

Russia Today showed a photograph of the model and creditied it to a site linked here. Now, this looks like an official-ish site, but there's nothing definite to say it is. Lots of pictures are on the site, and every one of them is linked to a page called free.html.

I refuse to link to that page directly, as having examined it for myself, it is revealed to be a page that wants you to sign up for a selection of porn sites.

And what of the other sites that are linked to hers? Most of them are exactly the same. Now, if these are official sites, and these models agree to having their sites linked to this porn site, then fine. But if not, then I wonder if they would be very happy to have their names linked to porn.

Either way, websurfers, a gentle reminder, be aware that not everything is as it seems on the outside. Know which sites to trust, and stick with them.

News Roundup: Wednesday 7th November 2007

WABC New York - Channel 7 Eyewitness News: Former NY Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is expected to be indicted on Friday in a federal tax fraud case.

680 News, Toronto: Snow arrives to the north of Toronto.

WBZ 4, Boston: A Jamaica Plain home owner is refusing to take a giant crown off his house, despite being ordered to do so by the city.

Russia Today: Georgia has declared a state of emergency and is closing all independent media.

And Finally...

Russia Today: Russian Supermodel Natalia Vodianova has been named the best dressed person in the world by US fashion magazine Harpers Bazaar.

Comment: Standby for a follow up on this story. A little investigation has revealed a little more than meets the eye.

UEFA Champions League coverage update

Well, this UEFA Champions League matchday is better for coverage than many others previously. Radio 5 Live is covering Rangers match, whilst TalkSport is covering the Manchester United game.

Much better. This is exactly what we as listeners want from our radio. Real choice.

Open Thread: Wednesday 7th November 2007

From MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, via The News Hole...

"...The Presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush..."

Is this to be the legacy of the Bush administration, as much as Iraq is?

US Religious Ministries under investigation

CBN News is reporting that six major televangelist ministries are under investigation for "...possible misuse of donations...".

The 'ministers' involved are... Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Randy & Paula White, Creflo Dollar and Eddie L Long.

This is important. These ministries don't just air their programming in the US, but also in the UK and Ireland, via various outlets including CNBC Europe. Perhaps we should have regulation governing these ministries in the UK media. Do televangelists have a place, not just in our media in the UK, but in ANY media? I'm not sure they do.

Magnetic Coppers!

Earlier this evening, I made an amazing discovery. The UK's cupro-nickel coins, or at least the new ones, now contain ferrous material. That means, they're magnetic.

Don't believe me? I shot a video to prove it.




The coin on the left, is an old 1989 2p coin, the one on the right, a new 2007 edition 2p coin

When did they change the materials that they put in the coins?

News Roundup: Tuesday 6th November 2007

Live News: The Reserve Bank of Australia will announce later today if Australians are to be hit with a second interest rate increase in 3 months.

1010 WINS: The networks have said that production on three sitcoms filmed before studio audiences has been stopped because of the writers strike.

BBC News: The Queen has laid out the government's programme in the yearly Queen's Speech.
Also, bill by bill listings and the text of the speech in full.

CBS News: Authorities in Brazil have arrested 19 people in a major corporate tax evasion investigation.

And Finally...

Ananova: A manchester man was threatened with court action over an 'unpaid' bill of £0.00p!!!

Open Thread: Tuesday 06th November 2007

National Review Online: Waterboarding Has Its Benefits

Do you agree or disagree?

News Roundup: Monday 5th November 2007

Fox News Channel: Rudy Giuliani defneds his former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik despite continuing bribery investigation.

Comment: Odd to see this on here. Bernie Kerik has been a guest on FNC before, and Fox is believed to be supporting America's Mayor in his campaign for the White House, so this seems an odd story to be covering for them.

RTE News: Pakistan's Prime Minister says Pakistan will hold national elections as scheduled, despite the State Of Emergency.

Comment: Why do I get the feeling the election will either be called a steal or a backfire? Is there any other possible outcome?

WTOP 103.5 FM, Washington DC: Critics say that US food regulation is too fragmented and needs simplification.

STV News: Scottish First Minister has taken Glasgow's bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Sri Lanka as decision day approaches.

And Finally...

United Press International: Colorado Police were embarrassed after a bank robber they had been chasing made his escape in a police cruiser!

Setanta Sports News launch date confirmed.

Just a few days ago I reported that Setanta Sports News would be added to the BARB figures on November 29th. Now, Digital Spy are reporting that November 29th has been cofirmed by Setanta and Virgin Media as the official launch date for the ITN-produced station.

The channel promises headlines every 20 minutes and will launch on Virgin Media channel 518 and on free-to-air digital satellite. No idea yet about position on the Sky EPG.

This promises to be a major new addition, and the possibility of this channel coming to Freeview remains very strong in my honest opinion. This is the first new sports news channel since EuroSport 2 replaced EuroSport News on the Sky platform. Contray to popular belief, EuroSport News didn't close, and continues to air in Asia and Australia. Indeed the news broadcasts on EuroSport 2 are simply relayed from EuroSport News, with branding changed as required. Perhaps this might cause EuroSport to reconsider bringing EuroSport News back to the UK and European markets, especially since EuroSport 2 is using less and less news coverage these days and providing more programming of its own.

ABC News Now, will come to the UK.

Digital Spy reports that ABC News Now, the US news channel from Disney, will launch in the UK within the next 6 months.

What ABC News Now does which is different to what other news channels do, is that they have 5 minute News Briefs every half hour, with feature programming between times. ABC News Now also airs an extra hour of Good Morning America at 9am Eastern, which doesn't air on the terrestrial network, plus it also airs the World News Webcast live at 3pm Eastern Time. They break away from the recorded programming for Breaking News and Live News Events as warranted.

Looking forward to this arriving on digital satellite, as it will provide an alternative American view to the one put forward by Fox News Channel. I would love to see MSNBC and CNN domestic over here as well, but I think that increasingly unlikely to ever happen.

"Sex mags" on sale in US military stores... so what?

United Press International is reporting that the American Family Association and other anti-pornography groups are claiming that pornographic magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are on sale in US military stores.

This stems back to 1996 when Congress passed the Military Honour and Decency Act, which prohibited sale of sexually explicit magaizines in US military stores.

Quite honestly, this belongs in the Ridiculous News File, because there is no issue here. This is a piece of self promotion by those who believe that censorship is not only good, but should be encouraged. I'd rather discourage censorship and let the individual choose rather than have governments or quangos or self appointed censors dictating what I can and cannot read or see.

Top 10 Stupid Celebrity Quotes

To all you David Letterman fans out there, I know you're going to have to make do with repeats at the moment, whilst the writer's strike is on, and I know you love those funny Top 10s that Dave does. Well, until the strike is over and new material hits the airwaves, here at Viewpoint, I'm going to try and find some decent comedy material to keep you going. Only temporary relief, I know, but between my efforts and the repeats, we'll make it through.

This time, creds go to AOL Eleven who bring us the Top 10 Stupid Celebrity Quotes!

Rudy Giuliani could help GOP ticket???

United Press International is reporting that some US house Republicans beilieve that GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is their best hope for winning back the majority in 2008.

There's only one problem with that. The republican base do not agree with Rudy on issues that Republicans see as important, such as abortion and gay rights. I'm sorry but I just cannot see the Midwest republican heartland or the religious right voting for someone who supports gay rights or a woman's right to an abortion. Nor do I see that as being any kind of motivation factor for getting the vote out in any races that Giuliani supports. I just don't see it happening.

News Roundup: Sunday 4th November 2007

NY1: Paula Radcliffe wins the New York Marathon.

Press TV: A democratic congressman has indicated he will bring forward a resolution to impeach Dick Cheney.

Al Jazeera: Guatamalans are voting in a tight presidential run-off election.

Al Jazeera: Japan's opposition leader has offered to resign over an offer to form a coalition with the ruling party.

And Finally...

BBC News: The Sontarans will return to challenge The Doctor in the new series of Doctor Who.

News Roundup: Saturday 3rd November 2007

With Pakistan dominating the news, here are some of the stories you might have missed today.

BBC News: Italian Police have carried out a detailed search of the flat where a British student was found murdered.

CBS 2 New York: A female schoolteacher and the 13 year old boy she ran away with have been captured in Mexico.

EuroNews: A Magistrate in Chad has begun questioning members of the charity Zoe's Ark over child kidnapping allegations.

And Finally...

WLWT, NBC 5 Cinicinatti: 2 Cheerleading assistant coaches at an Ohio high schhol have been fired after nude pictures did the rounds on the net.

Comment: WLWT has a picture, with a red banner covering the 'offending' bits. I hope I can find an "uncensored" picture for you, purely in the name of research of course...

Pakistan State Of Emergency Roundup

With the National State Of Emergency declared in Pakistan, I thought it would be interesting to see how the various news websites have reported this.

It'sinteresting to note that the signs were there before this happened. NDTV interviewed former premier and Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on November 1st 2007, and she said that she saw no movement towards fair elections in Pakistan. Then the next day, Al Jazeera reported that there were rumours that Martial Law had been imposed in Pakistan, and that the military leaders were denying this.

But on Saturday, a National State Of Emergency was declared, as Al Jazeera reported, and the constitution was suspended. Zee News reports that the US and UK were unhappy with developments, and were looking for assurances from Musharraf.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who had flown home from Dubai back to Karachi, condemned the move too, but was unexpectedly allowed to return to her home. Perhaps that will be so she can be put under house arrest, as there have been reports that former Pakistan Cricket captain and politician Imran Khan has been put under house arrest.

Meantime, President Musharraf went on television to defend his actions, saying that terrorism was threatening the country's sovereignty.

Obviously, we'll follow developments closely.

New channels being added to BARB figures

I regularly report on the ratings from BARB, and am always keeping an eye out for information about new channels launching. Well, the AGB Neilsen Media Research site reports on channels that are being added to the BARB ratings in the next couple of months.

Playhouse Disney Plus, which launched on the EPG earlier this week, has been added today, whilst on Monday, Paramount Comedy 2 +1 will be added to BARB. On Wednesday, the Sky Travel channels rebranding will be done, with MTV R being added the following day.

On the 29th November, the eagerly awaited Setanta Sports News will be added, with Sumo TV and SA Direct TV being added on the 1st December and Luxe TV UK on the 3rd December.

As soon as I find any more information on any of this, I will report back.