Public Health Care Fight In Catalonia

Sometimes you find the most fascinating stories in the most unexpected places. EuroNews has been airing a report in their series called "reporter" about the fight against public health care cuts in Catalonia in Spain. The similarities between this situation and others in other parts of the world is uncanny, but so is the uniqueness of this particular situation. Here's the report.

SeaOrbiter

I have long believed that we should be exploring our oceans, as much as we are exploring space. Well, a new project is underway based in Paris that will help increase our knowledge of 2/3rds of oour planet. EuroNews has more on the SeaOrbiter.



I notice they are not referring to the divers as Aquanauts. I guess they think that would be a little naut-ty!!!

Cute Clip Of The Day: Baby elephant sneezes and scares himself.

I never knew a baby elephant could move so fast.

Music Choice: Nicole Scherzinger - Poison

Unable to watch the embedded video? Click here.

Bob Schieffer: Congress must stop making excuses and get down to work.

Ron Paul on Face The Nation

Strange to hear a Republican admit that 9/11 was the fault of the US Government.

Cute Clip Of The Day: Kitty play fighting with bunny

Strangely, the bunny doesn't seem very amused...

Dr John Demartini: Dealing With Depression.

Cute Clip Of The Day: Puppy sleep barking

Wonder what the little pup's dreaming about.

Viewpoint Sports: Blatter on Racism; Shake hands.

This is the video clip where Sepp Blatter, FIFA's gaffe-prone President, once again opens that golden mouth of his and sticks both feet in right up to the knee, on the topic of racism.



When your time at the governing body has been tainted by the whiff of a suspicion of corruption, and the stench of it pervades, then you really need to be very careful what you say.

Stealing Sex Toys and ladies underwear???

CTV News in Canada are reporting what has to be the craziest crime spree of the year in, of all the strange places, New Brunswick.

Someone has been breaking into homes and stealing sex toys and ladies lingerie.

There have been 11 reports so far, and the RCMP believe that some women may be too embarrased to come forward and report thefts from their homes.

Obviously this is someone getting their kicks, but what's the kick? Is it just the act of stealing, or is there some other reason why this thief is going after lingerie and sex toys? But more than that, this is someone who's planning this carefully. So they will not be easy to catch.

Occupy Wall Street.

Having been quietly observing the events in Zucotti Park, New York, across the United States and around the world in relation to the "Occupy" movement, it disappoints me to find that some of the politicians in the cities where these protests are happening have been strangely tone deaf about the movement.

Also, the media has behaved very strangely over the whole affair, at first trying to ignore the protests, then only begrudingly reporting when the police started to bring the violence to the protests. These protests were peaceful expressions of people's belief that too few people exercise too much power, a failed system. Yet, the media continued to portray these protests as anti-capitalist, which is taken to mean that the protesters wanted to replace the capitalist system.

I saw no inidcations that any of the protesters actually wanted to replace the capitalist system, rather they wanted to reform it so that unelected corporations could not buy their way into political power with politicians at the expense of the people who actually elect those politicians.

And now with the evictions of encampments from Zucotti Park; Oakland and the eviction notices served to the protesters in London, it seems the movement might be being forced out of its home encampment. But the Occupy Movement, along with it's British cousin, the Uncut movement, have both taken root on the net, especially on Facebook and Twitter, and now the movement is global, and is growing. Tone deafness like the kind displayed by local politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will only feed the movement, not make it go away.

Keith Olbermann, on Current TV's Countdown With Keith Olbermann, highlighted other occassions when this has happened.



Below is the transcript of his "Special Comment".

"For the entirety of the life of our nation, democracy has been protected - not merely by the strenuous efforts of those of us who cherish it, but mostly, and most profoundly, by the limitless stupidity of those who would ration it, keep it for themselves and themselves alone, or destroy it.

The protests that ended the war in Vietnam reached critical mass only in 1970, when Governor James Rhodes of Ohio pounded on a desk at a news conference and called the student protesters at Kent State University un-American. They were not un-American, they were unarmed. And the next day, four were shot and killed by the National Guard and 10 days later, two more were killed at Jackson State.

Those protests had themselves only gone mainstream 20 months earlier, when Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago overreacted with mindlessness and sadism to the massing of demonstrators outside the 1968 Democratic convention and the whole world watched.

A century of the institutionalized, codified, legalized, pseudo-slavery that followed the real thing was fatally stricken only Governor George Wallace of Alabama used his inaugural address to promise, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Within two years came the marches on Selma and the atrocities at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. And ten weeks after the first violence, the president had proposed the Voting Rights Act to Congress.

The mounting paranoia of three decades of scapegoating of - and fear mongering about - liberals, only ended when its last white knight self-destructed on the national stage of televised hearings, when Joe McCarthy questioned the loyalty of the US military and - towards one junior attorney - he revealed the depths of his cruelty and megalomania. And he revealed that - at long last - he, indeed, had no shame.

Pick any moment in our history - our history as a country founded by and invigorated by and re-invigorated by protests - and you will find men like George Wallace and Joe McCarthy and Jim Rhodes and Richard Daley. Go back further - to men like the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company or the officials who sent the police to the Haymarket Square and the troops to the Pullman town or John Brown or George Grenville, the British politician who had a bright idea about the American colonies, an idea called the Stamp Act.

American freedom has not flourished in spite of these morons of history, it has flourished because of them - because they overreacted, because they under-thought, overreached, under-understood. We owe them our traditions of protest. We owe them our freedoms. We owe them our very independence. None of them ever understood that - around these parts anyway - suppression always creates the opposite of the effect desired.

Such a man is Michael Rubens Bloomberg, mayor of New York City and - as of today - the most valuable, the most essential, the most irreplaceable man inside the Occupy movement.

Who else but a cliché like Bloomberg could take a protest beginning to grow a little stale around the edges and vault it back in the headlines, complete with mortifying scenes of police dressed as storm troopers, carrying military weapons, using figurative bazookas to kill figurative mosquitoes?

Who else but an archetype like Bloomberg could claim a group of protesters was making too much noise in a residential area and then choose to try to disperse them by bringing out LRAD audio cannons, machines that send painful waves of sound indiscriminately over the very same residential area?

Who else but a cartoon like Bloomberg could have become rich creating a multi-billion-dollar media and news company and then authorize illegally preventing reporters from witnessing police actions he claimed were utterly legal, and then authorize the arrests of four reporters at a church?

Who else but a human platitude like Bloomberg could have just gotten back from Jerusalem - and the dedication of a ten-million-dollar medical facility for which he generously paid - and then enabled the image of policemen seizing 5,500 books from the Occupy Wall Street library, and throwing them in a Dumpster as if the cops were book burners?

Who else but a hypocrite like Bloomberg could have overridden - by a backroom deal with the New York City Council - the results of two separate referendums, limiting those in his office to just two terms as mayor, so he could serve a third term? And then had police arrest, beat up and incarcerate a member of the New York City Council?

Who else but a putz like Bloomberg could have insisted protesters were not above the rule of law and yet - when the courts ruled he could not seize the protesters' tents and sleeping bags, nor kick them out of Zuccotti park, nor keep them from returning with their tents and sleeping bags - who else could have stalled for hours until he could find another judge to give him the ruling he insisted upon?

Who else but the epitome of tone-deafness that is Bloomberg could have better illustrated the fundamental issue of Occupy, when he puts the entire weight of the most people-driven city in the history of the Earth behind already-crushingly rich and their efforts to grab themselves still more advantages from those people and he, himself, is the 12th richest man in America?

Who else but a publicity addict like Bloomberg could have enabled the arrest of 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge and yet, two months later, frozen 20 square miles of New York City in gridlock traffic over two days, so somebody could film another goddamned Batman movie on the 59th Street Bridge? Leading to the inescapable conclusion that - if you want to tie up a little traffic during a protest for equality and freedom from corporate domination on a bridge in New York City - you will be arrested. But - if you want to tie up all of the traffic during a goddamned movie shoot for the financial benefit of corporate domination - the city of New York will embrace you and give you tax breaks.

Michael Bloomberg - no such a figure, no such a living, breathing embodiment of all that is wrong and all that is stupid in the establishment in this country could be ordered up from the works of fiction, or the casting calls of that goddamned Batman movie they filmed the weekend before he ordered the raid on Occupy Wall Street.

Obviously, Mayor Bloomberg, you should resign and your little bully of a police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, should go with you. You have overstepped all reasonable interpretations of your rights and responsibilities and you have made Americans and people around the world realize that you are simply smaller, more embarrassing versions of the tin-pot tyrants who have fallen around the globe in the past year.

But - as some of us first thought you might be, back on that fateful afternoon that sadistic cops pepper-sprayed four women who had already been trapped inside a police overreaction, and as we thought again the following weekend during the arrests on Brooklyn Bridge - Michael Bloomberg, you have now, indeed, become the symbol of the Occupy movement. You are ready to take your historic place with Mayor Daley and Governor Wallace and Senator McCarthy and Prime Minister Grenville and every other idiot who has made the fateful and fatal mistake of thinking that - just because he had power and money - that this was a nation in which everything has a price tag on it.

We need you, Michael Bloomberg. We need you to keep making these mistakes - tone-deaf, sensibility-offending, world-changing mistakes - like the pepper spray and the Brooklyn Bridge and the paramilitary assault on Occupy Wall Street last night.

Hell, Mike, the freedoms of this wonderful and transcendent nation - corrupted by the endless greed of you and the other dozen richest people in it, and the corporations who nevertheless have still managed to own you somehow - these freedoms will not be restored to us in just the next two years. I am endorsing you for a fourth term! Your nation needs you, Mr. Mayor! Occupy needs you!

Bloomberg now! Bloomberg tomorrow! Bloomberg forever!"

I think some sarcasm may have crept in there at the end...

Why is Creativity and Inspiration so Vital in Everyday Life?

Why is Creativity and Inspiration so Vital in Everyday Life?

This is a fascianting article, and right at the end, ask yourself the twelve questions. You might surprise yourself. I know I certainly was.

Donald O'Connor - Make Em Laugh

Time Marches On: The Buck Stops Here.

Friends of Old Time Radio group signs off for the last time.

Dr John Demartini: Stress keeps us from our full potential.

Radio Plymouth

The Resignation of Dr Liam Fox

Sky News, and BBC News Channel are reporting the resignation of the Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox.

It’s about time he resigned!

He had previously acknowledged he had allowed the situation where people thought that his friend Adam Werritty was an advisor of his, when in fact he wasn’t even part of the government or the Conservative party.

He should have resigned when he made that statement.

But he didn’t.

He tried to hang on, he tried to defuse the situation, which we ALL knew was a time bomb just waiting to go off.

David Cameron could have shown some leadership, and basically told Dr Fox to go on Monday, when the preliminary findings where released.

But he didn’t.

He tried to keep his friend in government, despite it being clear that he had broken the ministerial code.

This government has shown contempt for  following process and has avoided trying to do the right thing.

Nick Clegg, now should show some leadership.

In the face of this scandal, and the revealations about Oliver Letwin disposing of government documents and correspondence with constituents in a public bin in a park, he needs to turn around and say to David Cameron, this…

“You and your party have shown a lack of respect for the processes of government.  As such, either you need to resign as Prime Minister, or the Liberal Democrats will walk out of this coalition and force a general election.”

This is a government that has brought itself into disrepute in record time.  It needs to be kicked out of office.

Marvel's Avengers: New Teaser Trailer

Viewpoint: 9/11 +10

Bob Schieffer: MLK memorial dedication & Hurricane Irene

Time Marches On: Crashing on the wrong side.

From Current TV’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Thursday 25th August 2011.

Viewpoint: Tony Blair and the England Riots

I don't agree with Tony Blair on a lot of things, but he made some good points in a column he wrote for the Observer.

Britain is not in a “moral decline”. That phrase has been a favourite of the right wing, since the days of Mary Whitehouse back in the 60s.

The police need the backing of the public at large and politicians. They have a tough enough job to do, without well meaning people undermining them.

But Tony Blair misses one key point, by talking about a social mainstream.

There's an old joke that goes “Now repeat after me, we are all individuals.” But the truth is that we are all individuals. And societies evolve over time.

The Goon Show was revolutionary when it first aired in the 1950s, now it would be considered tame.

We must make sure that we encourage respect in others, by respecting the differences in us all.

Links for Viewpoint: Weekly Edition - Epsidoe 3

CHBN Radio, Truro, Cornwall, UK
Ambitious About Autism

Major Political Upheavals in Britain and Ireland.

It’s been an odd day in the UK and Ireland.  Political turmoil seems to be the order of the day.

First off, all day in Ireland, ministers have been resigning from Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s government left right and centre.  Just before 5pm, Brian Cowen announced that a general election would be held in Ireland on March 11th.  Will be watching the TV3 News at 5.30 and RTE’s Six One news to see how the broadcasters over there will cover these developments.

Secondly, at around the same time, Alan Johnson has resigned from his position as Shadow Chancellor, and is to go back to the back benches.  Ed Balls has been named as his replacement.  Alan Johnson has given no details for the resignation, except for saying it was for “personal reasons”, which to be blunt is political speak that covers a multitude of sins.

This is gonna be an evening of following developments with much interest.

Viewpoint - Coastguard cutbacks

Viewpoint - Mrs Palm & The Christian Right

Viewpoint - The UK Spending Review, BBC & S4C.

NightStalkers 2010

This is an update to an original poem that was originally written by me in 2004.
 
You'll never see us,
but we're always there,
watching,
listening,
waiting.

The cloak of night
cannot hide you from us,
it is our friend and ally.

We know the darkness
that lurks within
the black hearted souls
of the parasites
who feed on humanity

We live in shadows
and move with stealth.
We can be anywhere, anytime,
and you would never know.

To your eyes
we could be anyone,
the man in the sharp suit,
the woman in the black dress,
but you could never tell,
for the day person,
is just the show.

We are NightStalkers,
regular folk one minute,
hunters the next.

Our prey are the criminals,
who feed on the helpless,
who steal from everyone.

Their only goal is chaos,
their only love is money,
they have no care for others.

Our only goal is justice,
and justice will be served,
ice cold, hard and swift.

Don't go looking for us,
you won't know we are there,
until it is too late.

There is no detecting,
there is no escaping
the NightStalkers.

CNN Fan is back

Turns out they were only moving servers, but with their site having been recently hacked and the memory of that still fresh, I did wonder if something similar had happened again.

Never mind, all back up and running now.

Dish Network vs FOX. On the digital battleground.

This one almost passed me by, so it's nice that I actually caught up with this story now. Dish Network is having a contretant with Fox over their sports and entertainment channels, so Fox News and Fox Business are unaffected.

This primarily affects FX, Fox Sports Net and National Geographic Channel. However, in about a month's time, Fox Television Network and My Network TV could well be affected as well.

Obviously, both sides have launched websites detailing their case. But in addition to those, I'd like to remind you of one thing.

Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns DirecTV, the direct opposition in the US Satellite TV market to Dish Network.

Murdoch likes people to think what he tells them to think. In that same area of satellite television, he owns Sky in the UK, Star in Asia and Foxtel in Australia. There are other subsidiary operations linked to those companies.

So Rupert Murdoch is used to getting his own way. The fact that Dish are standing up to him, is interesting. We will see how this story develops.

CNN Fan disappears again

The website cnnfan.org which is linked to the CNN Observations blog has once again disappeared mysteriously.

This time it happened at about 1923 GMT (2023 UK). It talks about the site having moved to a new location and that it may take up to 48 hours for your ISPs DNS servers to catch up. I'm dubious about the validity of this, and am watching CNN Observations for more details.

I will be tracking this story over the next few days.

Viewpoint - Conservative media domination

Sky Sports News to leave Freeview... why?

British Sky Broadcasting have once again shown that they have a very clouded view of the media landscape, clouded by their desire to get everyone paying extra for TV channels.

They have decided to replace Sky Sports News on Freeview with a timeshift version of Sky 3.

One question, why?

Sky Sports News has been one of the success stories of Freeview. It more than tripled it's audience, in the early going, and has continued to see success all the way, outperforming Sky News and Sky 3. So why take it off Freeview now, thereby potentially losing 2/3 of the audience that has been consistently there since it's arrival on Freeview back in 2002? And why replace it with of all things, a timeshift channel?

Sky's strategy here seems more to be professional suicide than successful broadcaster.

Hypocrisy and the Conservative press.

You can't rely on the Conservative newspaper press for anything, except hypocrisy.

You can't rely on them for facts, you can't rely on them not to change their minds in order to get the most readers, you can ONLY rely on them to be total hypocrites.

Case in point. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In particular the Vuvuzelas that have been so prevalent a sound at every match.

Yesterday, every conservative paper was practically begging for these horns to be banned from the World Cup.

Today, the Sun decided to slap their logo on 5,000 and give them away as prizes, so now we'll be hearing them at every Premiership match!

Total hypocrisy. The only thing that you can rely on from the Conservative media.

The begging of 'dollar-a-hollar' channels

A good television channel is worth any amount of money that you want to pay for it. Certainly, I would say that the BBC as a whole is easily worth the money that I pay in my licence fee and probably a lot more. But when it comes to digital television, I would say a lot of them are not worth anything at all, and I wouldn't regularly watch them unless you PAID me to.

I would certainly say this is the case with your religious "dollar-a-hollar", evangelical channels, such as Daystar, TBN Europe, and especially right now, God TV. The channel that used to be known in the old days of 1995 as The Religious Channel, then decided that God TV wasn't a bad or indeed, totally blasphemous idea; they are now on the air, begging their viewers to donate money.

They need $4 million dollars in the bank by May 31st in order to pay transmission costs. The channel broadcasts across Europe and North America and I would think they will probably get their $4 million, but I wish they weren't.

People think that donating money to God TV will earn them a spot in the kingdom of Heaven. All it does is line people's pockets. The kind of programming that God TV airs, evangelical "dollar-a-hollar" programmes, is designed basically to get people to donate money to them under the pretense that it will gain them favour with their god. It's praying on their fear of death basically. It's not the kind of programming that I like to watch, and furthermore, I don't believe it's responsible broadcasting to be playing on people's fears.

They've already managed to raise over $1.5 million, so I fully expect them to reach their target. But I do think that that money could be better spent on other channels, who do far better programming. The public television stations in the US, like WNET New York, WTTW Chicago, WGBH Boston and so many others would love to use that money to provide programming that commercial operations won't provide, and the various public radio stations, WNYC, WETA, and all the other NPR, PRI and APM stations, could also benefit massively.

I'd rather viewers didn't waste their money on these so called religious channels.

Aftermath of the UK Election Debates.

Well, the final debate has ended, and we are now in the final countdown to election day itself. I have seen all the debates, and here's my take on all 3.

The first one, shown live on ITV1, was very much a surprise. Nick Clegg came out on top rather convincingly. Cameron came in a decent second, with Gordon Brown a poor third.

The second one, shown live on Sky News was much closer, with Cameron perhaps just edging it. Gordon Brown still way back off the pace.

Tonight, it seems, there is a difference of opinion as to whose won. Channel 4 News vote said Brown won by 2%, with Clegg second and Cameron a poor third. ITV News said Cameron won by 2% with Clegg second and Brown third. YouGov said Cameron won by 9% with Clegg second and Brown third.

I say tonight, Clegg won again, but not by much. Brown was the close second, and Cameron looked like he was way off the pace, constantly fighting a rear guard action, and not doing a good job of it.

So, to my mind, we're heading for a hung parliament. But how will Brown and Cameron react to the surge in the Liberal Democrats? I forsee an unlikely, but possible Brown/Cameron coalition, to keep Clegg out of power. Wouldn't say it was likely to happen, but I think it is possible.

Election Night on Television & Radio

The old saying goes "the revolution will be televised", and that most certainly is the case here. The UK General Election will definitely be televised like never before.

We'll deal with the usual suspects later, but first a quick look at what other channels are doing.

In Ireland, RTE1 will have coverage of the election, starting at 11.45 pm. Coverage continues until 4am, and then coverage picks up again at 8am for a short 75 minute update.

Overseas, BBC World will have live coverage from 2100 GMT, that's 2200 UK, and 2300 CET. Coverage continues until 6am.

s4C will also have live coverage, produced by BBC Wales, in the Welsh language, starting at 10pm UK and continuing until 6am.

Now onto the main suspects. BBC1 England, BBC2 Wales, BBC2 Scotland, BBC2 Northern Ireland, and the BBC News Channel are simulcating the main election programme from London, presented by David Dimbleby from 9.55pm. There is continuous coverage until 2pm on Friday, when BBC1 and the BBC News Channel have a delayed BBC News at One. The entire election schedule from 9.55pm Thursday to 2pm Friday is being simulcast in HD live on BBC HD.

For the first time, BBC1 Northern Ireland has its own Election Night programme, also starting at 9.55pm, going on until 6am. The reason for this is simple. In previous elections, Northern Ireland constituencies didn't start their counts until the next morning. This often meant that results didn't come in until about 4pm the next day. This time, counts will begin as soon as the polls close.

BBC1 Wales will have their own election night programme, hosted by Huw Edwards, again starting at 9.55pm and finishing at 6am. BBC1 Scotland's Election night programme also airs from 9.55pm to 6am, and is being simulcast nationwide on BBC Parliament. All the BBC1 regions will be back together at 6am for continuing coverage. The BBC2 nations return to normal BBC2 programmes at 6am as well.

ITV1 is providing a serious amount of election coverage as well. Their Election Night programme from ITN also begins at 9.55pm and will continue until 6am. GMTV takes over coverage, until 9.25am when ITN returns with another hour of election coverage until normal service resumes with This Morning at 10.30am.

Sky News has election coverage all through Thursday, with their results programme kicking off at 9pm, and continuing all the way until 5pm Friday.

At the moment, we do not yet know what the other major international news channels are doing for this. Al Jazeera, CNNI, EuroNews and many others haven't released any information yet. It would be strange for CNNI not to be covering it in depth as they have covered all the debates so far. They have also done Election Night programmes in previous election years live from London. As soon as I know more, I'll update you.

On radio, Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live have separate Election Night programmes of their own, both beginning at 10pm. Radio 4's coverage until the end of Today at 9am, whilst Radio 5 Live continues their coverage until 7pm Friday night. BBC Local Radio stations will have their own election specials airing overnight on Thursday. Most will begin at 10pm and finish around 5am or 6am. Some like BBC Radio Solent are finishing at 3am.

As for commercial radio, well, Absolute Radio will have an Election Party from 11pm to 6am. Some local stations may well provide coverage. Certainly in my local area, I remember Pirate FM providing coverage overnight, mixed with music.

BBC World Service is also providing continuous news coverage during the results process. The coverage begins at 9pm UK with Newshour, continues at 10pm with an Election Special, then various news programmes continue the coverage from 5am to 3pm. Listeners in the UK will be able to hear the coverage on DAB digital radio.

Amanpour to leave CNN.

TV Newser is reporting the worst kept secret of the week.  Christiane Amanpour is leaving CNN to join ABC News in the US as anchor of “This Week”, the weekly political and public affairs programme.

This will mean that Amanpour will finish at the end of April before Christiane takes over on This Week in August.

When Amanpour does finish, CNN should move Connect The World to 8pm, and put World One on at 9pm, before Back|Story at 10pm, all times are UK by the way.

OFCOM and ‘sexy’ phone-in channels

OFCOM has repeatedly had problems regulating the kind of sexy phone in channels that appear on Sky in the 900s section of the EPG. 

Just recently, OFCOM fined two companies for broadcasting sexy material straight after the watershed on FTA channels.  Now, bear in mind, the watershed is 9pm.  By OFCOM’s own definition…

“…The watershed only applies to television. The watershed is at 2100. Material unsuitable for children should not, in general, be shown before 2100 or after 0530.”

It was material unsuitable for children, and it was broadcast after the watershed, yet they were still fined.

Additionally in the same Broadcast Bulletin, OFCOM found the channels in breach on about 10 separate occasions, despite the fact that only 1 of these occasion actually contravenes OFCOM’s own rules about R18-strength material.  All other incidents related to material comparable to those seen in movies rated 18 by the BBFC.

This is why I find the whole business of regulation these days to be totally out of sync with reality.  We see more violence on television dramas and movies than we see sex, and sex is regarded as the more corrupting, yet there has been many occasions when words encouraging violent acts have brought those acts about.  That’s called Incitement, and its against the law.  Yet the right wing will say, “NO, sorry, you can’t encourage someone to commit a violent act.”, yet in the same breath, they will say that the depiction of sex is a “…corrupting influence…”.  There’s only one thing to say to a viewpoint like that.

“THAT’S A TOTALLY HYPOCRITICAL AND NONSENSICAL VIEWPOINT.  The facts do NOT back up your views.”

But then the right wing doesn’t seem to let facts get in the way of their own delusions.

In OFCOM’s case here, they are trying to walk what they consider to be a tightrope, when in fact, beneath that “tightrope” is a canyon the size of the Grand Canyon, with the pro-censorship brigade on one side, and reality (and just about everybody else) on the other.  There’s no fine line between the camps, there’s a huge gap, and you’re NEVER gonna satisfy the pro-censorship camp, so don’t waste your time trying to. 

Besides which, the Virgin Media, Freeview, Freesat and Sky platforms all have a facility called PIN protection.  Basically, you can block access to programmes and channels you don’t want kids to watch by setting a PIN. 

This smacks of censorship by stealth, and to be frank, it is not OFCOM’s job to be am self-appointed censor.  That the BBFC’s job.  And if material is shown that IS comparable to material shown in films that have been rated by the BBFC as 18, then OFCOM HAS NO BUSINESS TRYING TO CENSOR IT.

First on Viewpoint: New CNBC Europe graphics

This morning I woke up to new graphics and a new ident for CNBC Europe.  I first noticed the new look on Squawk Box Europe this morning.  They are using a new (to me) font, which may have been specially done for them.  Italicised, it closely resembles Crillee, which was used for credits and titles in Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

The new graphics are airing on Worldwide Exchange, so perhaps US viewers can now see them.  I certainly seem to be ahead of the pack on this story, nobody else seems to have noticed, and no reporting on this was done last week, so I must guess that I’m first with this news.

The new font is being used on the ticker, lower thirds, and full screens.  The hotboards have also been redesigned.  Everything looks far simpler, and less extravagant.

I hope to have some caps up shortly.

Suggestion for RTE: Put RTE News Now on satellite FTA.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I am actively suggesting that RTE puts their online news channel, RTE News Now, onto Astra 2 alongside their other channels, but with one notable difference.  Whilst RTE1 and RTE2 are on the Irish Bonus Pack, and not available to UK viewers, they should put RTE News Now free-to-air on both the Sky platform and the Freesat platform.

All this would be though is a precursor to the eventual launch of the long planned RTE International.  RTE said they hoped to launch it by the end of 2009, but that obviously hasn’t happened.  So far, no word on when RTE International will launch.

Also, a word of advice to RTE about RTE International.  Don’t immediately worry about creating a whole new news service for it, you don’t have to do a “BBC World News” straight off the bat.  Get the news bulletins that air on RTE1 and RTE2 onto the channel.  Get an RTE News: Breakfast programme to air between 7am and 9am.  The fact that RTE1 doesn’t have a breakfast news programme is shameful, and getting more shameful every week, that such a programme fails to launch. 

Keith Olbermann: A cry for help

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I can understand where he’s coming from.  I lost my mother back in October.  Different disease, same emotions, and thank the gods that she was being treated on the National Health Service.

Viewpoint – John Terry’s sacking

“Hope For Haiti Now” – a global telethon.

“Hope For Haiti Now” is something of a first.  A global telethon that  will truly be seen worldwide.

CNN International will be airing the 2 hour telethon at 8pm ET / 5pm PT / 0100 GMT / 0200 CET.  It is also being aired internationally on National Geographic Channels around the world and MTV channels around the world, including China.

In Canada, the CBC and CTV are both airing the telethon.  So far, I have heard nothing about any UK or Irish terrestrial broadcasters taking the telethon.  US Local broadcasters, including affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW and PBS, are airing the telethon at 8pm local time, except in the Central time zone where it airs at 7pm. 

Any further news on broadcasters airing the telethon, I’ll let you know.

Keith Olbermann refutes Brown smears

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NBR without Paul Kangas, but with a new look

On December 31st 2009, an era ended at Nightly Business Report when co-anchor and one of the founding team there, Paul Kangas, retired after just over 30 years at NBR.

He started as the Stocks anchor back in 1979, when WPBT first produced The Nightly Business Report.  Linda O’Byron and Merwin Sigale were the original anchors.  Susie Gharib joined NBR in 1998, and for nearly 12 years, they were the team bringing the world of business news every day to an appreciative American and later global audience through the internet.

Tom Hudson, also of Chicago based syndicated programmer “First Business” is now co-anchor in Miami, taking over from Paul Kangas, but it would be impossible to “replace” him.

However, that’s not the only change.  A new anchor, a new format, though some elements have remained exactly the same, a new studio set, which is entirely virtual, and a new graphic look, NBR has undergone a massive overhaul that wouldn’t have been necessary otherwise.  But because it was the end of an era, NBR needed to do something that would catch people’s attention.  And whilst the blogosphere hasn’t been hot with the new look, Newscast Studio has some info, though little is really known.

CNNI Weekends: Needs Improvement

CNN International is quite frankly one of the better news channels out there.  But it is a commercial operation and thusly, needs to make a profit. 

But it has to be said that when CNNI airs on Freeview at the weekend, the only live programmes are 2 editions of World Report at 7pm UK 7 11pm UK, and World Sport at 10.30pm UK.  That’s just 1.5 hours of live programming out of 5 hours.  There’s really not enough live news, especially when you consider that France 24 has 10 minute news bulletins every 30 minutes, all the time, even weekends.

Perhaps the best way for CNN to maximise the programming is to share with CNN Domestic.  Far from ideal, but perhaps a better solution than the over-reliance on taped programming that seems to be the case now.

Progressive journalist arrested.

Maybe I’m strange but this story doesn’t make sense to me at all.  Either someone at the border has a huge case of paranoia, or a prominent independent media journalist made up a story in order to get more notoriety for herself.  The report comes from CBC News Vancouver.

There’s a longer version of this report at the CBC News website, but it seems that at the moment, they don’t allow their video to be embedded which is a shame.  There’s also the full 14 minutes of interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman at the CBC News website.

Amy Goodman is known as being part of the independent progressive media, which obviously doesn’t agree with a Canadian Conservative government.  The guise of concern over Olympic security is just a cover story for an attempt to censor the media.  The media has been a favourite right wing bogeyman for years, but in more recent times, the idea of a politicised media has gained a lot of traction.  I think it’s time the media got back to basics, reporting facts and truth, rather than seeking to propagate political agendas.

A Multiplex operator attacking the internet?

This does seem kind of strange to be reporting this, but it needs reporting.  If only because I can think of no other way to let these people know that something is badly wrong. 

I used to keep an eye on the NOW Digital website in the run up to the launch of the multiplex in Cornwall and Plymouth and for a short while afterwards as well. 

Well, I just tried to visit the site to check on capacity availability on some of their local multiplexes only to find that the website domain is now apparently harmful to computers and is a reported attack site!  Firefox completely blocked me off from the site and even Google warned me that it was harmful. 

Now whilst I think its great that that can be done, it’s strange to think what is regarded as the official website of the multiplex operator, is a reported attack site.

Global now own the multiplexes since they bought GCap Media, yet when you visit the ThisisGlobal site it makes no mention of the multiplexes at all, almost as though they don’t exist.  It’s really kind of poor.

Now, I’m not being critical of NOW Digital, just whoever is supposed to be looking after their web presence, but even Charles Allen at Global should realise that such a situation should not be allowed to continue as should word of this go much beyond this blog, it will create some very bad PR for Global and NOW Digital.  We already know that commercial radio is reluctant to go digital, despite their protestations that there should be a switchover date, something I believe would actually be a huge mistake.

There is no reason whatsoever to switch off AM & FM, however, more UK broadcasters should be looking towards DRM, DAB+ and HD Radio as possibilities for future expansion of digital radio.  However, just as there is no reason to switch off AM and FM, neither would there be any reason to switch off DAB. 

The cynic in me is saying that this is just another example of how committed to the future of broadcasting commercial radio is, in other words, not very.  But I truly hope the cynical side is wrong.

Viewpoint - MPs Expenses & Commons Reform

A committee that was set up in the wake of the MPs expenses scandal, has published a report that is nothing to do with the MPs Expenses scandal.  Ian Beaumont tells the committee what they REALLY should be worried about.

Stay tuned for a Viewpoint Election Commentary coming up shortly.

Time Travel

Scenes from various times.  My contribution to the NaVloPoMo chain.

 

Toss that over to you, Kath!

Lou Dobbs leaves CNN

In his final edition of “Lou Dobbs Tonight”, the former business anchor spoke about his decision to leave the network he was a founding member of back in 1980.

There has been lots of speculation about Lou going to Fox News or Fox Business, but I do remember previous speculation about him making a run for Congress at some stage.  It could well be that he might make a run for a congressional seat, not sure where.  Alternatively, he may turn up somewhere completely unexpected.

Lou Dobbs has a radio show, so he won’t be leaving the air entirely.  It’ll be interesting to see what his next move will be.

Update: Fort Hood shooting

Okay, developments are coming in fast here at the OpsCentre and I’m doing my best to sort them out.

What we know is that the shooter was a Major Nidal Malik Hasan, he was a doctor, a mental health professional, working at the medical facility on base.  There have been reports that he was due soon to be deployed to Iraq.

Fort Hood is still on lockdown right now.  CNN International is taking the domestic network.  MSNBC is also covering the story extensively.  BBC News is dipping in and out of coverage as required, as is Sky News

NaVloPoMo 2009 – Day 5: Fort Hood Shooting

This was not what I had planned for day 5, but Viewpoint is a news and media blog and as such, plans can get changed at the last minute.  Commentary on the ongoing story at Fort Hood, nr Austin, Texas.

NaVloPoMo 2009 – Day 4: US election insight.

Cross Dressing student sent home from school.

Okay, this caught my attention, especially as it looks like it is a pure discrimination case.  KHOU’s Courtney Zubowski has the story.

CNN Abu Dhabi opens.

CNN has opened up their new Abu Dhabi broadcast hub, and broadcast their first shows from there.  Amanpour is currently airing a week of programmes from there, and Stan Grant is anchoring a programme called “Prism” every day.

In this video, Stan Grant himself takes us around the new bureau and broadcast hub.

NaVloPoMo 2009 – Day 3: US Election Day 2009

Ian Beaumont looks forward to today's off year elections in the US.

New BBC site: Democracy Live

The BBC has launched a new site as part of BBC News.  It’s called Democracy  Live and presents live coverage of the parliaments in Westmister, Holyrood and Brussels, and the assemblies at Stormont and Cardiff Bay.

Democracy Live also presents recorded coverage of every chamber, committee room and the Westminster Hall as well.

NaVloPoMo – Day 2: Afghanistan

A few points about the election of Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan.

Viewpoint Extra - NY 23: Republican backs Democrat not Conservative

There has been a further fascinating development in the story of Congressional District NY-23's special election.  Ian Beaumont examines these and looks at the possibilities for US right wing politics in the future.

ITV News revamp tomorrow

With ITV News launching a new look tomorrow morning at 5.30 am, those of us who take an interest in that sort of thing will be watching with a lot of interest. 

New set, new music, new graphics, all sorts of things changing.  It’ll be interesting to look at and Ident City will have the coverage over the next few days.

NaVloPoMo 2009 – Day 1

The first video for National Vlog Posting Month, and again, a different style of video from what you're used to from me.  You might even say it was... golden!

Viewpoint - NY 23: Conservatism's first big election breakthrough?

In New York, a special election for the House of Representatives has garnered a lot of attention.  Ian Beaumont analyses developments.

Rachel Maddow: Why Fox News is not news.

Due to a personal situation, I haven’t been keeping up with things as much as I should have, but I’ve just spotted this commentary from Rachel Maddow about a week ago.

Actually, I call it a commentary but it’s the best piece by piece reasoning as to why Fox News Channel is not a news channel, but a political action group.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Keith Olbermann: Healthcare reform

I only just spotted this but recently, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown devoted an entire programme to the healthcare reform debate that is consuming America’s politicians, politicos and those with an interest, which is in reality, everyone.

The video I am posting here is of the full programme, minus commercials, all 43 minutes of it.  You might not want to take it all in in one sitting, it took me two.  But I implore everyone to watch this, if you haven’t already, or indeed watch it again.  Because there are certain inexorable inalienable truths that Keith exposes in this Special Comment, and it is worth watching if even just for that.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I will have some things to say myself soon on this, and I hope you will listen with open ears, open mind and open heart.

Viewpoint – Republican sour grapes

New Livestream Beta

I run a online TV channel on the Livestream platform, called IBC SuperChannel.  Right now, I’m testing out the new beta that Livestream have just released for public testing.

I have to admit, I’m using it as a chance to totally review everything.  I’ve temporarily switched to a pure music mix, to keep the channel under the 10 GB limit that Livestream have. 

But I am looking to do what I can to restore the service to full service as soon as possible. 

Inside the Massachusetts Superior Court

Last night in Boston, WGBH aired a special presentation of their nightly public affairs programme “Greater Boston”.  The programme celebrated 150 years of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Superior Court.  As part of the programme, there was a 5 minute or so feature, showing you a day in the life of a Massachusetts Superior Court justice.  I’ve embedded the whole show below, but I have to say the day in the life segment was fascinating.

This is why Public Television is so good.  Whether its WGBH in Boston, the BBC in London or RTE in Dublin, it’s this kind of programming that makes public television worth paying for, whether directly to the broadcaster, or through a licence fee.

New Doctor Who Logo!

It may be that if you’re outside the UK, the video may not work.  If you want to see the new logo, click here.

Olympic Decision Day for 2016 – Part 2

So the Olympics in 2016, will go to Rio De Janeiro, two years after they host the Football World Cup. 

I have to say, maybe two big events in quick succession like this may be too much.  I hope not, but I have some doubts.

I guess we’ll see in the months and years to come.

Public Radio taking over Classical radio.

WGBH in Boston has announced that it has bought a classical music radio station in New England, WCRB on 99.5FM.  So what you say, broadcasters buy other broadcasters?  True, but the equivalent in the UK would be the BBC buying Classic FM!  WGBH is a public broadcasting station, which broadcasts a lot of classical music programming on 89.7, alongside NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and PRI’s The World.

This is not the first time this has happened either.  Earlier this year, New York public radio station WNYC, bought WQXR, New York’s only Classical Music radio station from its previous owners, The New York Times.  However, the frequency of 96.3 where WQXR broadcasted on, had been separately sold to Univision, in exchange for the 105.9 frequency.  So the frequency of 105.9 has been sold to WNYC along with WQXR.  Price tag, a mere $11.5 million. 

So from October 8th, WQXR moves to 105.9 in New York, and becomes a public radio station rather than a commercial radio station.  Now if such a move were to happen here in the UK with the BBC buying Classic FM , there would be TOTAL uproar from the commercial sector, claiming the BBC was looking to take over commercial radio, nationalise the whole broadcast sector etc.  I can just imagine it happening, so how come even the totally rabid and unreasoning right wing nuts haven’t jumped all over this claiming socialised broadcasting by the back door or some other similarly daft accusation.

Maybe it would be because the commercial talk radio sector has been nationalised by the back door over the course of the last 20 years.  Most talk radio stations have a local breakfast show, then everything from about 9am onwards is syndicated, or worse, syndicated and recorded from earlier.

Anyway, back to the story at hand, and WCRB’s sale to WGBH gives the public broadcaster a real mini broadcast network in New England.  It already has 2 TV stations, WGBH on Channel 2 and WGBX on Channel 44, plus the main WGBH FM broadcast on 89.7, with 2 relays, and the WCAI service in Cape Cod on 90.1 with two relays.  Adding WCRB on 99.5 gives WGBH a real advantage over other broadcasters.  Few public broadcasting operations in the USA are both on radio and television, and WGBH is by far and away the most well known.  In New York, WNYC is the big public radio service, with an FM service on 93.9, an AM service on 820 and the upcoming all classical WQXR on 105.9.  But WNYC has no TV station.  For that, you’d have to add the WNET operation which runs two stations, WNET on 13 and WLIW on 21.

But I am surprised that there hasn’t been a more public outcry from those on the extreme right decrying this obvious encroachment of public broadcasting into commercial territory, at least in terms of frequencies.  It had been the rule that Public Radio stayed in the 88-95 part of the FM band whilst commercial radio occupied the 95-108 part.  Methinks the wing nuts are too worried about to socialised medicine to have noticed.  Or it could be that they’re so busy bowing down to the “god of talk radio” that is Boss Limburger, Rush Limbaugh, and defending him from his own words played back to him that again it has escaped their attention.  Perhaps they are too busy attacking Air America and the BBC and Al Jazeera and any number of other broadcasters who actually do reporting rather than just parroting talking points, that again, it escapes their notice.  Or maybe its because they consider NPR to be an honorary member of the conservative media, that they give things like this a pass. 

Whatever the reason, it means a stronger public media is slowly emerging, a public media that is based primarily in Washington, Boston and New York.  Could be a very interesting time for public broadcasting in the US.  I know the BBC will be slightly envious of the lack of attention being paid to these moves.

Viewpoint: 9/11 +8

It was 8 years ago today when the world changed forever.  9/11 as it was to become known killed over 3,000 people in 4 separate attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC and in Virgina.  Ian Beaumont looks back at a day that lives in the minds of all who witnessed it.

Top 3 stories: Thursday 10 September

These are the stories that have garnered my attention today.

3:  Republican Represenetative Joe Wilson of South Carolina last night shouted “You Lie!” at President Obama during his special address to Congress.  Today he apologised to the White House, and his apology was accepted.  He should be barred from the chamber for about 3 months or so.  In the UK, calling a politician a liar in the Palace Of Westminster is not allowed.  Offenders get named and shamed, ejected from the chamber, and then barred from returning for a length of time determined by his fellow politicians.  Joe Wilson got away lightly.  South Carolina’s electors should show their displeasure with him at the next election in Nov 2010.

2:  Another South Carolina Republican is in trouble.  Governor Mark Sanford held another press conference today in order to fight the growing calls for him to resign.  He even stated today that moves to impeach him should wait until an ethics investigation ends.  He will even take legal action to prevent a preliminary report from being given to state legislators.  HE could save all this trouble, and he should.  He should resign.

1:  The kidnapping of New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was a story that the paper famous for “all the news that’s fit to print”, didn’t want to print, and didn’t want anybody else to report.  Executive Editor Bill Keller told NPR’s Talk Of The Nation programme that he had conducted a campaign to keep the story out of the news.  This is the first time I’ve heard of this happening.  Usually news organisations bite the bullet and report anyway.  Bill Keller needs to rethink that strategy for the future.

Obama’s address to Congress: The real keys.

Okay, here is the key points from President Barack Obama’s address to a special joint session of Congress.

1.  Obama proposes that his healthcare reform plan will be deficit-neutral.  In other words, it will not add one cent to the US national deficit.

2.  If you already have health insurance, you will NOT be forced to change your plan.  I repeat, you will NOT be forced to change your plan.

3.  Under Obama’s plan, it will be against the law for coverage to be denied because of a pre-existing condition.

4.  Under Obama’s plan, insurance companies will not be able to drop coverage or water it down when you get ill.

5.  A new insurance exchange will be created for those who change jobs, lose their jobs, and for small business owners.

6.  Tax credits will be provided to those who are most struggling to afford health insurance.

7.  All individuals will be required to have basic health insurance, in the same way that all drivers are required to have car insurance.

8.  The Public Insurance option must be self sufficient like any other business, and rely on the premiums they collect.

9.  Not one dollar of Medicare money will be used to pay for health reform.

10.  Medicare will be protected.

Those are the main points of an almost 60 minute long speech, interupted many times by standing ovations from the left and the right. 

I hate to say it, but knowing the Republican speech was actually written days in advance, long before we knew what was in President Obama’s speech, did seem to render it somewhat meaningless.  The fact that someone, we believe a Republican, shouted out “You lie!” at one point, obviously pointed out that some people in Congress have no intention of accepting any reform, even though the President said accepting the status quo is not an option.

This was a good speech, but I do wonder if the partisanship we have seen over the past month can be put to one side, and politicians actually do what they were elected to do, and that is to solve the real problems that America and the world faces.

CNN’s Freeview stream: don’t sell hours to others!

When CNN started on Freeview, they ran from 9pm to 1am.  Not a lot of time for a 24 hour news channel.  Then it got extended to 7pm to 2am, but then they sold on their last two hours to SuperCasino, then to Challenge Jackpot, and now to Rocks & Co. 

Last night, after the best of the Sitaution Room, we got treated to a lesson for broadcasters in why it is not a good idea to sell hours on to other broadcasters, when you already have the programming available to fill it.

Rocks and Co, who are currently timesharing the 7 hour CNNI stream on Freeview, have spent the whole time since midnight showing a very boring loop, stating that Live Auctions will begin at 8am.  Now that’s as well may be, but that’s of no use to us watching on Freeview Channel 84, which will switch off at 2am, 6 hours before the next set of live auctions is due to begin.

If this is going to keep happening then maybe CNN should forget about selling on the 2 hours from Midnight to 2am.  CNBC has all but given up on their 3 hour “Poker Channel Europe” slot, restricting it now to Saturdays and Sundays, whilst Asian market coverage gets aired the rest of the week.  Now, CNN should take a leaf out of the CNBC book, and forget completely about selling the two hours after Midnight.  Just air CNN Today on Freeview, and you’ll not only fill the hours, but when the US President speaks to the US, usually at 8pm ET, you’ll be on air in the UK for people to watch, instead of tuning to Sky or Cable.

Tonight’s after midnight debacle should be a lesson to all those who think broadcasting is about making money.  Nobody will have stayed tuned in during these two hours.  They will have tuned away almost immediately, because there was nothing to show.  Content is still king, and like it or not, will forever be king.  That’s why so many people are watching internet shows and podcasts, reading blogs and tweets, because that’s where the content is.

Viewpoint Original: The Plymouth Argyle situation.

There is a break for Premiership and Championship clubs this weekend as International matches are played.  Paul Sturrock of Plymouth Argyle must be happy to have the internationals take the attention away from the performance of Plymouth Argyle.

5 matches, 2 draws, 3 losses, no wins.  23rd in the Championship and currently in a position that would mean relegation at the end of the season.

Paul Sturrock has made a pledge to stay on and help Argyle turn the corner, rather than resign and move aside for someone else.

Now, it would very easy for me to say that Paul Sturrock should resign.  It would also be relatively easy for me to say that Paul Sturrock should stay and help Argyle turn it around.  But for me it’s never been about easy options, but about seeking and telling the truth.  So here it is.

Paul Sturrock, the only person who can make the decision when or whether to go from Plymouth Argyle is you.  Sure, fans like myself will say their piece, as they are perfectly entitled to do, but at the end of the day, only you, in your heart of hearts, will know if you CAN turn it around or not.  IF you know you can, then you will have my full support.  But if you know it is not possible for you to do this, deep down inside of you, then I would suggest that you step aside from the managerial role and make room for someone who can do it.

After the past few years of success that Argyle has enjoyed, this is the kind of start no-one likes to see.  Second from bottom is not where Argyle belongs.  We all know that.  There is still hope for an automatic promotion place.  But it has to start with the very next match, otherwise, even getting to a play off spot will be almost impossible.

Canadian phony Election has begun!

Oh boy!  Here we go!

Literally minutes after Michael Ignatieff, leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, announced that he would no longer support the Conservative minority government on Stephen Harper, Stephen Harper comes out and says that the decision goes against Canada’s interests in this economic downturn.

The phony election campaign has begun, and the government isn’t even out of power yet.  Whilst political instability is never a good thing, you could never call a minority government stable, given the fact it could get voted out at any time.

The fact is Harper’s Conservative government has been behind the curve on economic recovery from day 1 of this global recession, whilst other countries including the US, UK, France and Germany have been ahead of the curve.

Harper has been given too many chances to just limp on.  I’m glad that some decisive action will be taken.  Decisiveness is just what Canada needs right now, in order to catch up with other countries.  But whether that will be best served by Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, or a different prime minister is another question altogether.

Plymouth Herald seen in Truro

It’s been over 20 years since I last saw the Plymouth Herald on sale in Truro at all.  Back then, it was an “evening” paper, usually on sale in Truro by about 2.30 at the latest.  It was one of the few papers that I actually made a point of buying at all.  Most others actually didn’t interest me.  I used to buy the West Briton Argus when that was produced.  It was a Monday tabloid update to the Thursday broadsheet West Briton, and was very cheap.  I think when the Argus got absorbed into the main Thursday paper, The Argus would have been on sale for something like 15p on a Monday. 

Anyway, I was in town this morning, and what did I happen to see as I walked into a local newsagent this morning?  The Plymouth Herald.  Now a morning papers, as it has been since October 2006.  Still relatively cheap at just 36p, which is in fact cheaper than it’s sister paper, the Western Morning News. 

I’m hoping that this is a sign of a more permanent return to Cornwall’s newsagents.  Years ago, before my living memory, there was a Cornwall Evening Herald as well.  Perhaps the Plymouth Herald could also produce a separate edition for Cornwall, much like its sister paper does.  I for one would be all for it.

Disney buys Marvel - more corporate conservatism?

Imagine this: you are webslinging across the New York city skyline, just like Spiderman. You swing round to see the famous Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four, twith its big "4" rooftop landing pad. But as you swing by, you notice something unusual. The circle 4 logo, has suddenly got Mickey Mouse ears!

Okay, this is not likely to happen! But, it does highlight the strangeness of this whole deal. Disney is buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Sounds like a lot of money for a comic book company. But when you look at this in detail, like I have, you notice there are things about this whole deal that seem to be totally wrong here.

First off, is a simple one. The reputations of each company. Disney is well known for it's family friendly image. It's not well known for edgy, controversial and rosky storylines, like Marvel does in its comics. Will we end up seeing a Disney-fied Marvel as a result, with comics more aimed at younger children than at the current teen market? Only time will tell. But that must be a worry for the artists that work for Marvel.

Secondly, when you look at the indivdual properties that Marvel owns (most of these being characters and their related franchises), it would seem that Disney has got somewhat of a bargain, maybe even significantly underpaid the real value of Marvel. Marvel has over 5000 characters across its multitudes of comic books, and many years of history too.

Spiderman for instance, has been around since 1962. He made his first transition to television in the late 1960s cartoon, with perhaps the most memorable sung theme tune lyrics in history. "Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can...". He made his first live action appearance in 1978 TV specials, which were actually very well produced, and filmed, managing to achieve the effect of having him crawl up walls and make it look good. He had since also appeared in another 6 animated shows, including two running simulataneously in 1981, and the hit "Spiderman:The Animated Series" which ran from 1994 to 1998.

But it's been the recent Spiderman films that have made Spiderman a huge franchise. Since 2002, Tobey Maguire's Spiderman has catapulted the character into the stratusphere. Without doubt the Sam Raimi directed films have done more for the character than all the previous versions put together, taking almost $2.5 billion in box office revenues worldwide. Two films featuring another Marvel character, The Incredible Hulk, in the same time period, have taken over $500 million. Two films featuring The Fantastic Four in 2005 and 2007, grossed over $600 million. Put together the earnings from these three franchises alone, and it comes to $3.6 billion. Put that next to the $4 billion that Disney is paying, and it doesn't half look like Disney seriously underpaid for Marvel.

But the biggest concern I have in all this, is will we see the taming of the risk taking Marvel, by the more conservative Disney? It's been a growing trend across news media, broadcast media and entertainment media over the past 20 years. Corporations do not like taking risks. But Marvel had taken many risks over the years, including the purchase in 1981 of DFE Films, the company that produced the Pink Panther cartoons, which then became Marvel Productions.

The 1994 animated Spiderman series was a big risk, as they used a lot of new techniques in order to achieve the look that they wanted. But it cost a lot of money. So they started resorting to all the usual tricks to save money, such as repeating animations, a favourite trick of Filmation. Also, multi-part stories became the order of business, in order to cut down on the number of characters that they would have to animate.

Despite the success of Spiderman, Marvel went bankrupt in 1996. The fear of bankruptcy is what makes corporations very conservative. They will not take a risk. We've seen corporate conservatism at work already. In 1993, there were 15 ITV companies, each with their own ideas. Now, there is 1 dominant ITV company - ITV plc, and 3 smaller ones. ITV companies used to take risks with shows they had no idea if it would even work. Now, everything has to be in profit before it even aires. 15 diverse broadcasters have been replaced by 1 large broadcaster that seems scared of its own shadow.

Then there is the GWR/GCap/Global situation in commercial radio. In the late 1980's, commercial radio was forced to split FM and AM programming, creating two stations where there had previously only been one. The ILR heritage stations remained on FM< whilst new oldies stations were created on AM. GWR created Brunel Classic Gold on AM and as GWR bought up stations, they imported the Classic Gold name and format. In 1998, GWR sought the approval of the Radio Authority to network Classic Gold for 20 hours a day. They were granted this, and so began the process of creating a semi-national network, cutting expenses and local programmes, because of their growing corporate conservatism. Classic Gold is now Gold. But of course it didn't stop there.

They increased their networking arrangements on FM. Evenings and Overnights became the first easy targets for FM network programmes. It was understandable. In the early days of commercial radio, some neighbouring stations would get together to provide a mini network for evenings and overnights. The Yorkshire Radio Network, combinig Pennine Radio, Radio Hallam and Viking Radio, provided programmes most evenings and for a bit longer at weekends. Other little networks also emerged, so it was an easy target for GWR, or as they would later become, GCap.

But it took until Global had taken over GCap, for FM network to reach into daytime, with OFCOM allowing a rule change that allowed stations to broadcast just 10 hours of locally originated programming a day on weekdays. The Heart FM network would simulcast Toby Anstis between 10am and 1pm, in order, as they would say, to allow a big name personality to generate revenue across the network. Unfortuantely, Toby is such a bad radio presenter, that the only thing keeping him on air is his supposed star power.
That's the root of the thinking of corporate conservatism. Big names + big audience = profit. But it doesn't always work that way.

Now corporate conservative Disney is going to buy Marvel, and will we see the same corporate conservatism infect Marvel, like it has infected many other media corporations over the years? I hope not, but I'm not confident.

Murdoch claims independent journalism threatened by "dominant" BBC.

So James Murdoch, the head of NewsCorp in Europe, says a dominant BBC damages independent journalism in the UK.

The hypocrisy of that statement is positively drooling out of his mouth even as he says it.

NewsCorp has never been interested in independent journalism. All they are interested in is making sure that the conservative viewpoint is the dominant viewpoint. All other viewpoints are to be disparaged, dismissed, and generally made fun of. To them, there is only one truth, the one they manufacture to fit their own prejudices, whether it happens to fit the facts or not.

It gets better! Giving the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival, he said "The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision."

He said this with no sense of being a hypocrite, no sense of irony, seemingly no sense of anything. If he had, he wouldn't have said what he said.

News provision has been dominated by conservative media over the years, especially in newspapers. UK newspapers are predominantly conservative in political bias, and that bias has been getting steadily more pronounced over the years, especially since the 1990s.

Broadcast news has less choice, with BBC, Sky and ITN basically dominating the market, and no other provider really stepping up to the plate since the demise of BSB back in 1990.

NewsCorp really wants to dominate news provision over here, in the way that FOX News Channel dominates cable news in the US. They see the BBC as a barrier to that kind of dominance, a barrier that doesn't exist in the same way in the US.

There's another fact that renders his statement factually incorrect. You're reading it. A blog. There are millions of them, across the world. There is also Twitter, which I consider to be the digest version of the blog. Tweets of no more than 140 characters, meaning you have to be very concise with your text.

If I were to tweet this, it would come out something like "Murdoch says BBC threatens independent journalism. Massive hypocrisy, blogs and tweets are the new independent journalism." That comes out at 123 characters. You'd be surprised what you can say in 140 characters or less.

Blogs and tweets are the new independent journalism that anyone can do, and best of all, anyone can read you. My own blogs and tweets have been followed and read by state governments, multinational companies, broadcasters, and politicians. I can't pretend that I am a major influence, but it is fascinating to know these people are interested enough in what you write to read it.

So you see, it just goes to prove that James Murdoch's statement was not only factually wrong, but way behind the times. Sky is not the new kid on the block anymore. There are media moguls a plenty out there on the web, and some of them may well be the next Rupert Murdoch in the next 10-20 years.

Angelina Jolie back in leather… finally!

Her hotness is truly back!

I was a bit slow on this but to be honest, it has been so long since Angelina Jolie provided us with a moment like this that I thought her more kinky side had gone into hibernation.  Apparently not, or maybe it just woke up!

Popoholic has pictures of Angelina in a totally sexy strapless leather dress.  Now she only wears gladiator-style high heels with the dress.  I would have prefered to have seen a nice pair of leather knee high boots with the pointed toe, for extra kinky points.  A pair of long leather opera gloves would have then given the outfit a classy touch, without making it less kinky.  But never mind.  Leather is leather, and its lovely to see.  We haven’t seen her wearing leather like that since the Mr & Mrs Smith premiere and that infamous leather dress.

It just goes to prove, she can still work a good leather outfit, make it both kinky and classy, and look classy herself.  All you young Hollywood pretenders, this is your homework.  Find the Mr & Mrs Smith premiere pictures, look at these ones from the Inglorious Basterds premiere, and see how you wear leather and make it look classy.  Here endeth the lesson.

Viewpoint – Review of Season 1

Ian Beaumont looks back on the stories that have most influenced Viewpoint over this past season just gone.