Archive for January, 2003
WHO ARE STOP THE WAR?
Some American bloggers have made the valid point that reporting of the anti-war movement has tended to take the individuals and groups involved on face value and describe them as ‘peace activists’ etc rather than reveal their real political affiliations.
The same has happened in the UK with the Stop the War Coalition seen as a [...]
Posted: January 23rd, 2003 under Misc.
WAR ON LONERS
At last Home Minister David Blunkett has woken up to the real anti-social threat and declared a crackdown on loners.
Which reminds me - if my information is reliable the tv presenter Matthew Kelly, who has been arrested in relation to allegations of child abuse in the 1970’s was a member of the Trotskyite Workers Revolutionary [...]
Posted: January 23rd, 2003 under Misc.
GREG DYKE AND CORPORATE-SPEAK
Stephen Pollard has a nice a pop at BBC chief Greg Dyke’s drift into corporate-speak and so I decided to send Stephen an example of a mission statement for his blog - which it appears he wasn’t sure was a piss-take or not (it was of course).
Ever since the brilliant Gus Hedges on Drop [...]
Posted: January 23rd, 2003 under Misc.
AMERICA, IRAQ, ETC
I’m afraid this might not be entertaining blogging but I have to be honest and say I belong to that section of people who are yet to take a stand either way on the necessity of military action over Iraq and so it has been useful to read some intelligent thoughts on the situation.
Chris Bartram [...]
Posted: January 22nd, 2003 under Misc.
STRANGE GIFTS
The Labour Party online shop is surprisingly eclectic offering Tony Benn cassettes, Chris Mullin books and Michael Moore videos as well as the more predictable official merchandise and safer ‘on-message’ publications.
But the best stuff can be found in the mugs section. What kitchen could be without a complete set of Six Pledges mugs? Who would [...]
Posted: January 22nd, 2003 under Misc.
OFF THEIR HEADS
The nutcases who pretend to be a Communist Party in London and produce the wacky Weekly Worker have this view on the recent murder of a policeman by terrorist suspects in Manchester:
The ‘toxic substance’ that really poses a serious threat to British society is … officially sponsored panic-mongering. As part of its build-up to war, [...]
Posted: January 22nd, 2003 under Misc.
MEDIA ETHICS
I am worried about ethics in the North Korean media….
Pyongyang, January 21 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent gifts to the Rodong Sinmun, the Korean Central News Agency and the Radio and TV Broadcasting Committee of the DPRK. He has always paid deep attention to the newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, [...]
Posted: January 22nd, 2003 under Misc.
OFFICIAL - THIS BLOG IS CRAP
The website Bloggy Opinions has produced a review of this blog and gives me a right slamming:
The over-used brown and white Blogger template is once again degrading this already bland blog. The post are all centered around current events in the newspaper. I find it exceptionally un-worthwhile because I can get the same info from [...]
Posted: January 22nd, 2003 under Misc.
MATTHEW ENGEL
has an interesting take on why blogs might have become so popular in the US - American newspapers are so dull
I can’t really comment - the only American newspaper I read with any regularity is the International Herald Tribune although I have to say that paper certainly fits Engel’s description in terms of lay-out, design [...]
Posted: January 13th, 2003 under Misc.
THE SOCIALISM OF FOOLS
Good piece in the Times the other day by Michael Gove about left anti-Americanism and Blair’s problem in addressing this in the Labour Party. However I have my doubts about one element of Gove’s arguement:
Why then do the myths of America the Hateful take such powerful hold? Because anti-Americanism provides a useful emotional function which [...]
Posted: January 10th, 2003 under Misc.