Tory tax plans have got the blogosphere in a lather. But not all Tory bloggers are after cuts...
"CONSERVATIVES "SAY SOMETHING SENSIBLE" SHOCK SENSATION! ******ALERT ALERT ALERT****** Rejoice. The Conservative Party has FINALLY said something quite sensible."
That was the verdict on the right-wing A Tangled Web blog. But for many bloggers of a Conservative persuasion, tax cuts are anything from electoral good sense to religious obligation.
North Korea: the bloggers' view...
North Korea claims it has carried out a nuclear test in an undisclosed underground location. Here's the blogosphere's response.
Catallaxy says: "I'm not a gun-slinging Texan intent on 'bringing democracy to the world', but I am a libertarian and am thus fundamentally against the North Korean autocracy."
James, meanwhile, is still in disbelief: "What is North Korea thinking?? Why make their people suffer? North Korea had every chance to surrender its nuclear ambitions and receive aid for its citizens, and now its people will suffer because of Kim-Jong Il. I just don't understand that idiot!"
Criticism of the America's foreign policy abounds.
Continue reading "'I'm crossing Pyongyang off my holiday list'" »
The key points of the North Korea nuclear crisis explained.
What is the background to the crisis?
Relations between the US and North Korea have been deteriorating since George Bush labelled North Korea part of an "axis of evil" in January 2002.
The following October, the US accused North Korea of developing a secret, uranium-based nuclear weapons programme.
Washington is not only concerned about the development of such weapons in North Korea, but also wants to curb Pyongyang's capacity to export missile and nuclear technology to other states or organisations.
Since the October 2002 confrontation, North Korea has restarted a mothballed nuclear power station, thrown out inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency and pulled out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
It may be that North Korea has been trying to use the nuclear issue as a hard-line ploy to negotiate a non-aggression pact and improved economic aid from the US.
What is the immediate effect of North Korea's announcement?
If a nuclear test is confirmed, it will cement North Korea's place as a nuclear power, effectively ending hopes of resolving the stand-off through stalled six-nation talks.
Reuters reports that "New laws banning age discrimination at work contain legal grey areas". Well, that phrase clearly has to go for a start.
As the oldest person in the More4 Newsroom (don't ask, it's rude and probably illegal!), I intend to ensure it becomes a no-go area for ageism, writes Mick Hodgkin.
"Old hat", "old git", "dirty old man" - all such pejorative references to age will henceforth result in a swift email to human resources. Amusing comments such as "Which war was that then, the Boer war?" (a joke itself old enough to qualify for a bus pass) will attract an on-the-spot written warning. Faux-naive utterings like "the sixties - did you still have rationing then?" will mean a verbal reprimand.
Furthermore, action may be considered to root out overt displays of youth that could be taken as implicit ageism - such as boasting about how many pints you drank and how little sleep you had last night, excessive dexterity in operating computers, mobile phones, MP3 players etc.
In fact, the word "News" could itself be considered ageist, in the way it contrasts the "new" - interesting, noteworthy, dynamic - with "old" - past history, yesterday's papers, boring, seen it done it got the t-shirt yadda yadda.
Time for a new name? Or am I getting too old for this game?
Following last night's report on More4 and Channel 4 News, Cathy Newman's phone hasn't stopped ringing. She explains what happened after her report was aired last night.
Reaction was swift after we revealed the true extent of labour's financial woes. Fifteen per cent of the party's backroom staff could be sacked in their latest manoeuvre to drum up funds for party campaigns.
"My phone was sizzling red hot last night after my report about labour's funding crisis. The extent of the party's indebtedness clearly doesn't make comfortable viewing for the people at the top.
Continue reading "Swift reaction to Labour's financial woes" »
Our resident political blogger Iain Dale names Jeffrey Archer as his blogger of the week but not before pointing out a few harsh lessons for a would-be member of the blogosphere.
"Lesson one: Update your blog every day even if it's only a couple of lines. Lesson two: interact with people who leave comments and don't leave it for days on end to moderate them."
Super-blogger Brian Micklethwait thinks Archer has got potential.
"He's a dreadful name dropper but at least he has names to drop. You wouldn't want your sister to marry him but as a blogger he might prove to be quite good.
"Perhaps this blog is Archer's reaction to a big media blackout and perhaps he's using it launch yet another comeback. If so, more potential fun."
News being news, reporters often end up in some parts of town where your mother really wouldn't want you to go. For many, it's the best part of the job. But you have to watch where you tread. One of our reporters, Andrew Thomas, tells us his secret of how to make sure you don't become the story.
"I call it the 25 minute rule. The time you've got between arriving at a - let's be colloquial - 'dodgy' location and needing to stop because you've attracted too much attention.
Last week, I was filming a story in the less salubrious parts of Glasgow about whether recovering heroin addicts should be entitled to methadone if they refuse contraception. Two weeks before that I was on the equivalent estates of Belfast, filming a piece about sectarian murals. On both occasions my producer and I turned up unannounced and began gathering shots.
For the first five or ten minutes, you can get good stuff. Nice, evocative shots, maybe a piece to camera, perhaps even some very brief interviews about the subject with passers-by. After about 10 minutes, it becomes apparent that you've been noticed. Kids appear where there were no kids before. For a minute or two they just hang on the sidelines, perhaps excitedly shouting over. "Hey Mister, what you filming for. Are you from the TV?"
Continue reading "The 25 minute rule (or how not to get beaten up on a story)." »
One of our intrepid journalists staggered into the office the other day, the Middle-Eastern sun still in her hair, so soon had she left Syria. She had been to interview Hamas, asking them about their position in the current crisis. Our reporter received a departing gift.
It came wrapped, in a box.
Struggling to be polite, she thanked them and then set off to the airport. She went to check-out. Then, when asked if she had been given anything to take on the plane, rather than saying: "Oh, I have a wrapped parcel that has just been given to me by people recognised by many governments as a terrorist organisation", she mumbled: "No", and headed into the plane.
As she took the parcel out to open it in the Newsroom, people made excuses and went for coffee. Luckily there was no loud bang. Instead she had been given a 3D picture of the Masjid Al Aqsa. It now sits behind her desk.
We won't say which airline she flew with.
