The Story so far

We blogged previously that English Heritage was reportedly instrumental in persuading Government Departments to repress planning legislation which required applicants to consider disposal and treatment of materials that might be affected by demolition at the time of new applications. This behind the scenes activity was recently commented upon in our blog at the time of the recent DEFRA consultation submission to Europe (Revisions to the Waste HierarchyPP115).

It seems, that what appeared at the time as the misguided action of  English Heritage, possibly for misplaced but sincere reasons, is only part of what, increasingly, looks like a broader policy of more serious intrigue.

English Heritage is arguably compromised

English Heritage has, according to Richard Girling in his Times Online article Fireworks over fireplaces, embarked for some time in  commercial activity that seems to compromise its independence and integrity. Arguably, this conflicts with public expectation of such an auspicious champion of conservation and heritage matters.

If Richard Girling is correct, English Heritage is very confused on matters relating to accurate historical architectural detail and not a little bit hypocritical, if not potentially fraudulent, in not declaring a vested interest when proffering advice on period fireplaces and chimneypieces.

Authenticity vs Commercial Advantage…you decide

How can English Heritage remain independent and free from external influence if it is advising on architectural matters of authenticity and at the same time recommending clients install reproduction fireplaces from a company with whom it enjoys commercial advantages?

This seems a straightforward conflict of interest without even considering the carbon footprint of importing manufactured reproduction chimneypieces from Turkey, Italy and China.

In 2010 , I think we need to re -examine the role of who, in English Heritage, is responsible for these disastrous policy decisions before the public loses all confidence in these former trusted champions of Britain’s precious heritage.

Read the full article by Richard Girling in Times Online: Fireworks over fireplaces.

The main English language Chinese newspaper, People’s Daily, is carving the way in accessibility online.

All news articles on the People’s Daily website have a soundfile at the top of the page which reads the article out to the website user.

This is invaluable for blind and partially sighted users as once they have made their way to the site using their computers operating system’s accessibility tool, they can listen to the news item.

One of the core subjects of this blog is the media restrictions in China, so it is ironic that in one important aspect, the People’s Daily website is more accessible than its similar counterparts in the UK such as Times Online and The Guardian.

On The Guardian’s website by contrast, users have to go through the website to find information on accessibility options such as large text.

The soundfiles on the People’s Daily website are computer-read needing no additional input from the website administrators, so it wouldn’t take long to install them on other websites. Perhaps they might consider following this lead.

i cannot even begin to put into words how thrilled, honoured and dumbstruck i am to be included in the times online’s 50 of the best design blogs list. my humble little blog began as a place for me to catalogue my musings on design, fashion, interiors and my life in general; a magpie’s nest for me to hoard all of my sparkly, shiny inspirations. i am so amazed and so touched that my blog was even considered for inclusion in the list, and to make it to #49 goes beyond even my wildest of dreams.

so, i give you this little christmas composition as my way of saying thanks to all my friends and fellow bloggers, all of you fabulous and inspiring in your own special way, and i wish you all a very merry christmas and a fantastically successful 2010.

TimesOnline: Massimo Tartaglia, 42, who has been kept in isolation after throwing a marble and metal souvenir into Mr Berlusconi’s face, told police that he hated the Prime Minister because “that man is ruining Italy. I don’t agree with anything he says”.

He told police that he had decided to leave the cathedral square “but I heard people shouting, so I went back again. I turned into a narrow side street, I turned round and I saw him just a few steps away from me. He was coming through the barriers. I had a rush of blood to the head. At that point I just wanted to hit him with all my strength. I wanted to make my protest too”.

He added: “I did it all by myself. I am no one’s hitman.”

By any accounts, Thomas Nagel has proven himself a more nimble philosopher than the hamfisted Brian Leiter. That’s perhaps why Leiter simply can’t get over that Nagel liked Stephen Meyer’s SIGNATURE IN THE CELL (reported at UD here). For Leiter, when scholars of Nagel’s stature endorse books coming out of the rogue Discovery Institute, that endorsement itself constitutes an attack on liberal democracy, cultured discourse, science, etc. Leiter simply can’t let this go. Here are the posts to date on his blog:

leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/nagels-nonreply.html

leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/more-comments-from-philosophers-on-thomas-nagels-shameful-stunt.html

leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/thomas-nagel-jumps-the-shark.html

leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2008/09/nagel-wins-ba-3.html

(Via Uncommon Descent)

Here is a short response from Nagel to a chemist named Stephen Fletcher who criticized Nagel for recommending Signature in the Cell.

Sir, – Stephen Fletcher objects to my recommending Stephen C. Meyer’s Signature in the Cell in Books of the Year. Fletcher’s statement that “It is hard to imagine a worse book” suggests that he has read it. If he has, he knows that it includes a chapter on “The RNA World” which describes that hypothesis for the origin of DNA at least as fully as the Wikipedia article that Fletcher recommends. Meyer discusses this and other proposals about the chemical precursors of DNA, and argues that they all pose similar problems about how the process could have got started.

The tone of Fletcher’s letter exemplifies the widespread intolerance of any challenge to the dogma that everything in the world must be ultimately explainable by chemistry and physics. There are reasons to doubt this that have nothing to do with theism, beginning with the apparent physical irreducibility of consciousness. Doubts about reductive explanations of the origin of life also do not depend on theism. Since I am not tempted to believe in God, I do not draw Meyer’s conclusions, but the problems he poses lend support to the view that physics is not the theory of everything, and that more attention should be given to the possibility of an expanded conception of the natural order.

THOMAS NAGEL
29 Washington Square, New York 10011.

Another chemist, John C. Walton, defends Nagel here.

massimo tartaglia applied some direct democracy to silvio's face

the times online has some more pics of this loudmouth bandit once he got off his ass. that’s one of his body guards with the pea shooter in his hand after he was bundled into his wagon

Thought readers might like to see the article about the pre-budget report that is in The Times today. Nice picture of my family (minus 1 horse and cat!).

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/pbr/article6953685.ece

As a woman, I would like to express my sincerest condolences to Elin Nordegren. I cannot imagine the feelings of betrayal, sadness and disgrace that she must feel right now, and I can only hope that she is surrounded by family and friends who can be help her heal.

And I do hope those friends encourage her to take full ownership of her two babies, and enough money to see them through to a tertiary education.

Pain. Pain for the whole world to see.

The news of Tiger’s infidelity was awful from Mistress Number 1. Now we are at Mistress Number 10.

And we were at least up to Mistress Number 4 when Dominic Lawson suggested in Times Oline that we concentrate only on Tiger’s game, on the course.

Here are some snippets from the article. The whole piece pissed me off.

“Perhaps that was a secret kept from the countless members of the general public who have followed Woods’s career; but I still find it hard to believe that those followers will be dismayed, even if they are sufficiently naive to be surprised that a good-looking superstar spending months of the year away from his family fell prey to temptation in the form of the occasional cocktail waitress.”

Mr. Lawson, no matter how ‘good-looking’ Tiger is, he is not absolved of having basic human decency. These “months of the year away from his family” were clearly not hectic enough because he found time to have concurrent and multiple extramarital relationships. Surely a ’superstar’ of his swing could fly this family to be with him, wherever, at his beckon call, to ensure he not fall – because choice has no place in his actions- to the cocktail crew.

Does Mr. Lawson realize that Tiger Woods’ ’swinging’ sans condoms left  his recently impregnanted wife vulnerable to Sexually Transmitted Disease from him?

Even if Elin Nordegren was merely Tiger’s exclusive girlfriend of 3 months, this would still be atrocious! This is not a ’slip up’. This is lying to your wife, and mother of your children and brining to your marital bed,  fluids from other womens’ bodies. At least ten such women. Some of whom you confessed to how little your care for your wife.

“Yes, that is selfish behaviour; yet it is impossible to succeed at the highest level in any sport — and especially individual sports — without being selfish: it demands putting your own requirements ahead of family, from an early age. Perhaps Woods is more selfish even than most sporting superstars — his performances when competing for his country in the Ryder Cup seem to fall below the level he reaches when playing only for himself. Even that, however, does not fracture the enduring love affair of golf fans for Woods. They just look once more at that swing — in slow motion — and think: nothing on earth could be more beautiful than that.”

Wrong, Dominic Lawson. There is something on earth more beautiful than that and it is called respect. For self, and for others. Respect — that which Tiger Woods will never EVER see in the eyes of his – I guess now former – wife, or his childrens’.

But, as it seems, he might be too busy swinging to even realize his family is gone.

Elin,
Praise the Lord he is someone else’s problem now; and
may your recovery be whole.

William Leahy, John Barton, Tom Hunter, and  Dorna Bewley added commentary to David Aaronovitch’s report on the Nov. 15 Shakespeare Authorship Trust conference at the Globe in London. Aaronovitch’s amusing Nov. 19 report in The Times Online had a decidedly mocking tone that was rebuked by these commentators.

Tom Hunter said to Aaronovitch:

Your skepticism of Shakspere skepticism is well taken. It really will be worth more to you than a few lines of throwaway sarcasm to speak from a bit more knowledge, and you are entirely welcome to make that leap.

The Aaronovitch article is titled “The hunt for the real Shakespeare is a fruitless act: Authorship of the mass of work ascribed to William Shakespeare has long been the subject of debate. David Aaronovitch spends a day in pursuit of the ‘real’ Bard.” It was published Nov. 19, 2009 on The Times Online.

Curtis  “Cocky”  Warren

Things were becoming quite grim for my friends and I, training to be newspaper journalists at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism. Back in September, only days into our studies, an already decaying Welsh newspaper industry was beset by further malaise with the closure of the Neath and Port Talbot Guardians. Almost every daily email from the Press Gazette seemed to bring news of more job losses.

For our broadcast and magazine colleagues, lectures from Mark Byford, Deputy Director General and Head of Journalism at the BBC, and Nicholas Brett, Deputy Managing Director and Group Editorial Director of BBC Magazines, extolled a buoyant picture in television and magazine journalism – at the BBC at least.

It didn’t instill too great a feeling of optimism among us newspaper junkies.  Envious about career prospects perhaps. It’s fair to say some of us were considering whether the newspaper route was still the right choice.

But two journalists – one at the start of her career, and the other who has achieved what most trainee journalists could only dream of – provided some much-needed positivity.

Peter Preston, editor of the Guardian for 20 years between 1975 and 1995, without the hickory pokery of a Powerpoint display, perched himself at the end of a table and spoke to us about the newspaper industry.

“The future is misty and in some ways utterly miasmic”, he said.

Oh, great. Here we go again I thought. More bad news. But while saying the future is uncertain, he quickly proceeded to say newspapers can distinguish themselves from other news outlets in the digital age. On foreign news for instance, while the television evening news can transport the viewer there visually, newspapers can explain what is going on in much greater detail.

Acknowledging the newspaper industry has perhaps been lagging behind the developments in social media creatively, he said: “Newspapers have got to have a bit of a creative burst.” Newspapers need to ask what they can do that the internet and other news sources can not.

We did leave with many questions unanswered. How do newspapers actually adjust to the digital age? How can a newspaper be different? But while having been honest about the challenges newspapers face, Preston seemed equally optimistic newspapers will come up with solutions.

Last week’s editorial shake-up at the Telegraph, which moved editor Will Lewis to head-up a new “entrepreneurial unit”, appeared to be a step in the right direction. Speaking to the Guardian on Monday, Lewis said “Euston is our future”. Commentators wonder what exactly this future will be, since Lewis was extremely coy about revealing details of the venture. But the soundbites of it being “customer obsessive” and working on “cutting edge ideas”, combined with the considerable resources being made available to Lewis, are exciting. For a trainee newspaper journalist, it is encouraging to see Preston’s “creative burst” taking off in practise, even if the details are vague.

Will Lewis (left), now group editor in chief and managing director of digital, and Ian MacGregor, editor of the Sunday Telegraph, who will continue to report to Lewis

Joanna Geary is a walking-talking advert for the potential of social media to the journalist. Geary is Web Development Editor, with Business responsibility, at The Times. This twenty-something-year-old, bright-eyed, enthusiastic journalist spoke to us recently about her career. In a relatively short time she has obtained an enviable job; working on, among other things, the future of Times Online. Her coyness about this was possibly a sign she knew more about Murdoch’s paywall plans than she was prepared to reveal.

Geary previously worked for the Birmingham Post, where she made her mark setting up her own blog about the media and one bringing together key figures from the local community. Then, using Twitter, she began talking to journalists in London. Through this she was head hunted for a job, which brought her current appointment. She still sounded amazed at the good fortune which had followed her determination and clear digital media insight.

The potential for building networks with fellow journalists did make me feel a little more positive about Twitter. In fact, only days later, my tweet during a broadcast of the BBC’s Question Time provoked a response from a BBC North East weather girl. And then I discovered I was being followed by Nick Clegg (no tweets from him yet though).

Twitter, I’ve found, is also a great way of tapping the brains of people more skilled than myself. I recently tweeted:

…and received responses from experienced digital storytellers…

…including one in Belgium!

It was the first time I saw the networking potential of social media.

This, and a gentle reminder from our lecturers to some on our course about the content of their tweets and blogs, reminded me whatever I tweet or blog is traceable and can be viewed by prospective employers. Life in the social media world is it seems a continual job interview.

Since the Times Online doesn’t publish my comments on Jeremy Clarkson’s columns, I’ll spew my views here. Here’s the link: “I’m so dead, shot by both sides in the website wars”

I pay monthly for my internet. Everyone does. Some pay more than others. I pay for a lousy connection, but I’m at their mercy because I also have my phone through them. I also pay for my cable connection-4 tv’s mind you. I could have told them I only had 2 tv’s, but I told them 4. I currently have 6 connected. Ya gotta love Radio Shak!

If the BBC didn’t keep Top Gear’s current episodes all to themselves in the UK, it wouldn’t be the world’s most illegally downloaded tv show. I’ve seen the Botswana episode so many times I can rehearse the script. I know exactly when James May says “Hello Mate” to a cow. I’ve seen Jeremy cruise around Japan in the GTR so many times, I think I could probably get around Japan just based on that episode! It’s getting to the point that I have a pretty good idea where each star in the reasonably price Chevy is going to fall on the Leader Board.

As for James’ misfortune in Romania, I’m sorry, but that’s the price you pay for being a celeb Jeremy. Just keep in mind those seven digits….

Don’t get me wrong, I can watch those older episodes over and over, but don’t get all hot and bothered when we watch the newer ones on YouTube or some other rogue site.

Talk has been that newspapers are going bankrupt as a result of the internet. I haven’t paid for a newspaper to come to my house in over 7 years. I don’t read it. I don’t really care, either, what’s going on in my local dutchy community of arrogant loppos. News depresses me. My husband fills me in as to what is going on and I do watch BBC World News. I also get alot from Twitter because I’m following three or four news affiliates. I’m not trying to be a ecomentalist here, but think of all the trees that would be saved! I use most of the free newspaper I get from my local town as packing material for shipping items.

As for Jeremy’s columns in the Times and The Sun, if it gets to the point where they are going to start charging people to read those columns on the internet, then I’m sorry. I love you more than the world Jeremy, but I won’t pay to read your columns. Or any internet site for that matter.

I already pay for my internet monthly. I understand that the fee is just for the connection. But I don’t complain. I do appreciate the privilege of viewing the internet, freely.

And I will agree the internet has become an uncontrollable monster! And a much needed necessity now.

And I don’t know what they’re getting their tighty whities all in a bunch for…advertising pays for much of their websites. Relax. Hammer the advertisers…not your viewers.

We’re a society that is already paying too much for things already. Gas is expensive, we’re taxed to death, salaries aren’t enough, food is outrageous, charges here, charges there, clothing, schooling, banking accounts (!), just raising kids eats up most of our earnings. If I can get something free, regardless if it’s illegal, I’m going for it. And I’m not alone. In a way I sort of enjoy it. I like “sticking it to the man”! Most of us, not only in the US, are struggling now just to keep our heads above the perverbial waters of life. Not complaining, my life is good, but for others, it’s a day to day up hill climb. So for many, “If it’s free, it’s for me!”.

So, BBC and Corporate America…..kiss my ass!

Last month, the African nation of Uganda proposed an anti-homosexuality bill, making anyone caught engaging in homosexuality liable to be sentenced to life in prison. Homosexuals, who are HIV positive and knowingly take part in a sexual act or engage in sex with an individual under the age of 18, are liable to be sentenced to death under the crime of “aggravated homosexuality”.

Speaker Edward Sekandi told Daily Monitor that the new legislation was necessary “to do whatever we can to stop” homosexuality in Uganda. “We don’t support that practice.”

However, the global response has been anything but supportive of the initiative.

Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, said, “This draft bill is clearly an attempt to divide and weaken civil society by striking at one of its most marginalized groups.  The government may be starting here, but who will be next?”

The United States has said they will continue  President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding to Uganda despite the antigay violence.  QUEERTY, a gay blog, writes that the PEPFAR coordinator’s decision is  “…propping up a nation that still treats HIV as “the gay disease,” that further stigmatizez the queer community, and is now calling for the murder of anyone who dares involve themselves in same-sex sex.”

Truthwinsout.org comments on why they don’t support the PEPFAR decision. “HIV/AIDS in Uganda is primarily a heterosexual phenomenon; Goosby falsely contends that it is a homosexual phenomenon that threatens the “general population and the bill would criminalize key aspects of comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention education and imprison health-care workers who refuse to report sexually active gay patients to the police.”

Uganda, the outgoing chair of the Commonwealth,  is expected to promote, among other issues, human rights as part of their membership in the international organization.

But, Times Online quoted Stephen Lewis, the former UN envoy on Aids in Africa, as saying Uganda’s bill goes against the Commonwealth’s principles, stating, “Nothing is as stark, punitive and redolent of hate as the Bill in Uganda.”

The proposed anti-homosexual bill also threatens anyone found promoting homosexuality or anyone who fails to report known homosexuality activity.

The bill is currently making its way through the country’s Parliament.

Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries.  Currently, South Africa is the only nation on the continent that legally allows gay marriage.

Special needs is a loaded term. It brings some fluffy connotations of cute, lovable and unchallenging kids, but for the most part it is an incredibly broad definition that encompasses pain, anxiety and uncertainty. And that’s just for carers. Those with special needs have a full spectrum of health issues that fate has cherrypicked for them to deal with. Then there are the ongoing social issues ranging from being ignored to being targetted for abuse.

But we band together as we can. The internet provides us with some wonderful connectivity and allows us, mostly the carers, to compare notes and feel part of a wider community. What doesn’t help is when somebody who’s technically inside the camp, someone with quite powerful influence through her high-profile newspaper column, ends up pissing all over us.

I have written about you before, Ms Marrin, but last year I had the time and patience to have a little fun. Twelve months on and I have neither the luxury nor the inclination for gentle ribbing. Your oppositional stances on this issue of intellectual disability are confusing and downright dangerous to a minority of people who need advocacy, not mixed signals.

You can write beautifully, and with touching insight. I wonder if this is because your younger sister was born with a mental handicap. Having a son with Ds certainly gives me an insight I would never be able to buy, and when you wrote this piece about the gifted singer Susan Boyle appearing on X Factor or whatever show it was, and the feeble-minded audience reaction to her, I sensed understanding in your DNA.

…the jeering audience of vain young people trying to catch the camera’s eye and the preening judges of this contest are the nasty boys and girls of fairy stories who mock the poor old lady because she is not young and beautiful, only to be punished when her real self is revealed. And their punishment is to be revealed as they truly are – heartless, thoughtless and superficial. They will grow old too, to be ignored in their turn, and then they will understand that appearances are not everything. And those who despise people who are not thin, not young, not beautiful and not cool will one day find themselves despised in exactly the same way, by people just like their younger selves.

But then you swing to some unforgiving default position as is your way, seen here in last week’s article in The Times. As if your special needs insight gives you the right to choose for all, you have decided that it all boils down to the cost of care workers, and what becomes of a child born to intellectually disabled parents. I’m not about to dismiss these as insignificant factors. They are not. But nor am I about to let them decide whether people we don’t know should be prevented from ever living. While you ponder the grubby cost, from the cosiness of Britain’s unimaginable wealth in the eyes of four fifths of the world’s population, let me direct you to the case of Kelly Fitzgerald, from New Zealand.

Go tell Kelly that a) costs; and b) a future that only your crystal ball seems capable of divining are the two reasons that you have for slamming the door on any idea of her being a parent. Have you seen the way that her mother gently ensures that Kelly doesn’t get any more credit than her siblings? Have you? She’s a stunning tower of virtuous equality, that woman, proud of all her children in an unfussed way, and you and I could both learn from her. Mostly you, though.

Another avenue you could learn from, Minette, is closer to home. Learn from the person who said that ‘Susan Boyle managed to rise above [the bullying and belittling sneers of the studio audience]. She found herself in church choirs and karaoke, restored and triumphant in music; it’s a story of the undefeated spirit.’ Learn from yourself. If you can sort out your own Jeckyl and Hyde handicap, Minette, and use that column of yours to advance the cause of life with the altruism you can sometimes show, you too can help to ‘break the grip of this sneering world’.

Otherwise find a more worthy opponent for your bias. Intellectually disabled people have enough to deal with.

You’d be forgiven at the moment for thinking we were nearing the end of a decade. The interwebs have been awash of late with more countdowns, best ofs, top tens and general reminiscences of the 2000’s then you could poke a digital stick at. Suddenly everybody is a critic, and while some of the countdowns have been insightful and thought-provoking, others have been….well, like this one. For the nostalgic, these countdowns are practically memory-heaven. But for those who don’t buy into that sort of stuff, it gets a little tiring. So, what better than to list some of the best (and worst) ‘best-of’ lists currently clogging up cyber-space?

Pitchfork: P2K

Over the past months American music site Pitchfork have taken an in-depth look at the decade in music. Way back in the dark ages of 2001 the site barely existed, but since then has grown to be one of the most formidable online music news and reviews sites on the net. Not only does P2K count down the best albums, songs and music videos, it also features a series of essays detailing some of the more interesting developments in music over the past ten years. Of particular note is the ‘Decade in Indie’ and the social history of the mp3.

Highlights
Best Album: Radiohead- Kid A
Best Song: Outkast- B.O.B.

Paste Magazine: The 25 best Album Covers

Slightly more obscure is Paste magazine’s countdown of the best album covers. It has been argued that as digital sales boom and physical CD sales decline, the quality of modern album art is going steadily downhill (as this cover would seem to prove). Regardless, Paste have put together an interesting countdown, which includes the likes of The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. Whoever decided to award Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone cover as number 1 though needs to go back and re-take primary school art classes.

Highlights
Number 1: Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
Number 2: Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion (and rightly so)

The A.V. Club: The 30 best TV Shows

The problem with critics is often that their views on what is ‘good’ differs from the majority of the viewing public. Which is a shame, but it’s also the reason why most of the shows on the A.V. Club’s list of best TV shows of the decade have either ended or been cancelled. Still, it’s a formidable list. The top 3 (The Wire, Arrested Development and the Sopranos) are undoubtedly some of the finest productions since television’s inception, let alone in this decade. Other notable shows include Mad Men, Lost and The West Wing, just scraping in at number 30. The best part of this countdown though is the shitfight in the comments as to what constitutes a ‘decade’. Hilarious.

Highlights
Number 1: The Wire
Number 15: Veronica Mars
Number 22: Six Feet Under

News.com.au: Moment of the Decade

Oh, News.com.au. Purveyor of fine, quality journalism. Not content with simply telling Middle Australia what the best bits of the noughties were, good old Rupert has gone and encouraged everyone to name their own favourites! For anyone that’s ever read the comments to any article on the site, that should be enough to click your way on over. In case you need any more incentive though, today’s category is ‘Killers, Haters, Tools: Choose the Villian of the decade’. Apparently Kyle Sandilands and John Mayer are in the same league as Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Who would have thought? The fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no siree, it doesn’t. For you creative types, you can even have a go at naming what the next decade should be called! An issue of utmost importance, of course. Seriously, the sooner this site becomes paid-only, the better.

Lowlights
Pop Culture
Money
Sex & Life
…actually, just spend a good 15 minutes trawling through the site. It’ll make your day.

Times Online: The 100 Best Movies of the Noughties

Slightly more classy news outlet Times Online went all out and counted down the top 100 cinematic releases of the decade. With everything from political drama Milk to Roman-epic Gladiator to comedy Knocked Up, the list does well to cater for everyone…up until the odd choice of The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum at number 2 (So really it should have been the best 101 movies). And Team America World Police in the top 5? You must be joking.

In Brief
Number 1: Hidden
Number 16: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Number 34: Finding Nemo
Number 64: Anchorman

Well that’s about it. Some of the best (and worst) countdowns of the best (and worst) things to happen in the noughties. Of course, a quick google search will reveal thousands more best-ofs then the ones here. But really, is there much point? When it comes down to it, who gets to decide that Franz Ferdinand is better than Hot Chip? Or that Monsters, Inc. deserves to place ahead of Pan’s Labyrinth?

Perhaps the best countdown of the decade should go to Hungry Beast. They look at the ten best years of the 2000’s. You can check that out here.

]]> http://feardomsucks.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/you-can-fool-some-people-sometimes-but-you-cant-stop-hackers-when-theyre-about-to-strike/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:08:49 +0000 feardomsucks http://feardomsucks.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/you-can-fool-some-people-sometimes-but-you-cant-stop-hackers-when-theyre-about-to-strike/

What is there left to say?

Somehow the truth about the climate change and all the “studies” was finally exposed. Not voluntarily, of course! But what hackers are able to do was shown this weekend (leading to great displeasure of those responsible).

The pressure grew so hard on the mass media, that even they had to report about it. TV  news still don’t.

For everyone who doesn’t know what the hell I’m talking about is invited to take a look at the Alleged CRU Emails search and could even take a look at Steve McIntyre’s blog. But you can even find articles about what was going on this weekend in regard of climate change and all the lies presented to us here, there or google it. Or look at: New York Times, The Washington Post, Times Online or BBC News.

Especially after the new and breath-taking ideas of the british government to impose a carbon tax for ‘the man on the Clapham bus’ this is outraging news. Even though many people were sceptical about what was called climate change and the responsibility of mankind for it, what came to light shows what the real agenda is and should raise more scepticism. It has nothing to do with science or with the clarification of facts regarding pollution and so on, but to confirm the steps taken and which will be taken in the future to undermine the freedom of the people and of choice.

They are not interested in the poor and suffering, don’t want to help building a “better future” or a world of justice. All they do is lying to us and thus influencing the public to their advantage, infiltrating the media, politics, economy and every part of our lives.

This was shown very clearly when the one and only EU president was chosen, who attended a Bilderberg meeting very shortly before the ‘election’, like the italian MEP  Mario Borghezio pointed out. But still Herman Van Rompuy and his colleague Catherine Ashton are now heads of the EU.

It remains to be seen what is going to happen. Well, it seems to have started out alright, because first of all the EU voted for genetically engineered corn on the european market and I’m sure it will go on like that or worse, which is always a possibility all of us surely are looking forward to…

And please, read my other post ‘They promised mediterranean climate’ for more thoughts and information on climate change.

UPDATE 11/24/2009:

I have a few thoughts to add, today. I just remembered that the “evidence’ for climate change consisted of 22 pages. I’m sorry to tell that, but I don’t believe that 22 pages provide enough space to explain and /or demonstrate the world’s condition regarding temperature and climate change. I myself wrote longer essays in university about far more uncomplicated, less valuable topics and they say they – IPCC – can put the ‘history of climate change and the world biggest climate catastrophy’ onto 22 pages. Everybody should realize that this campaign is a big fat lie, at last!

Ah yes, and thanks dear hackers!!

whitey is a fraud. we don’t need to tell you that…and we’re sure the wood harvested from this new zone will carry a premium on the market…just like the fraud going on at Iwokrama an d they call it sustainable forestry

Times Online: Guyana’s forests have been far less logged than in many tropical nations, and under the terms of the new deal with Norway, Guyana could actually be paid for increasing deforestation. The memorandum states that Norway will compensate Guyana if it does not cut down more than 0.45 per cent of its forests per year, but Guyana is currently felling trees at a far slower rate. The countries contributing to Redd are concerned that their money could disappear into the pockets of corrupt officials in poorly governed countries. There are also fears that payments will result in logging companies switching to unprotected areas, resulting in no net reduction in deforestation.

It seems a little premature to me, but Times Online, the Web version of the United Kingdom’s The Times and Sunday Times newspapers has recently released their picks for the Top 100 Films of the decade (the ‘Noughties’ as they’ve called them).

It’s quite a comprehensive list, and certainly worth a once-over for movie buffs, but I do have some quibbles over a few of their choices — and not just because I’ve never seen or heard of their selection for the best movie of the decade.

Their number one was a French-language film from 2005 directed by Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke called Hidden (Also known as Caché). Back in 2005 this film premiered at Cannes and swept the European Film Awards, winning Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor — but it didn’t get a single Oscar nod. So, like me, you’ve probably never even heard of it.

The inclusion of a film like this proves the people making the list have done a little homework and been sure not to neglect international cinema. Movies from Belgium, Germany, France, Japan, and elsewhere show up on the list. Some notable non-Hollywood films they’ve included that I have seen include: Persepolis, an animated film from 2007 based on a young girl’s true experiences in Iran and France during the time of the Iranian Revolution; and htY tu mamá también a racy Mexican drama from 2001 about two teenage boys and an older woman’s trip from urban privileged Mexico City to a rural beach paradise.
Persepolis, which got an Academy Award nomination in 2007, came in at 69 on the list, while Y tu mamá también turned up at number 35.

Of course, the obvious tilt of the list is toward big-budget Western blockbusters, like the James Bond revamp Casino Royale, which pops up in eighth, or both Bourne Identity sequels, which inexplicably share the second place spot on the top 100 list.

It’s a list from the UK so I would expect strong showings from movies like The Queen or that Bond picture, but it would’ve been nice to have seen a little better representation from Canada.
Not a single Canadian film appears on the list. Granted, there are movies filmed but not set in Canada — ‘Hollywood North,’ as they call it — like Brokeback Mountain, and movies starring Canadian leading men fared all right (Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in at 14, and Seth Rogen in Knocked Up at a respectable 49), but no films set in Canada featuring Canadians in front of or behind the camera show up on the list.

The only Canadian filmmaker on the list is Paul Haggis, of London, Ontario, who came in at a lowly 99th place with his brilliant 2004 film Crash. Crash, which features a compelling, interweaving story about life in L.A., won three Oscars including Best Picture and Best Screenplay, but, according to Times Online, this isn’t enough to compete with Casino Royale, which features Daniel Craig in a speedo.

When I look at cinematic offerings from Canada like Men With Brooms, I understand the skepticism of some that don’t believe there were any Canadian films from this decade deserving to be on an international list like this. However, I can think of at least one, and no, it’s not Slap Shot 3: The Junior League.

The Barbarian Invasions (or, Les Invasions Barbares) is a French-Canadian film from 2003 directed by Denys Arcand. Set in contemporary Montreal, it tells the story of aged and eccentric Québécois academics that come together to spend time with a dying friend before he is claimed by cancer. In 2004, the film became the first from Canada to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Evidently, the Times Online people left films like this off their list in order to make room for raunchy comedies like Wedding Crashers, 90th on the list, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, 62nd.

Instead of making a list list full of obscure titles that would please critics, or one that was wall-to-wall with well-known Hollywood vehicles to please your average fan, Times Online opted for a list that would please neither.

Not only that, but there’s still a month left in this decade, and some very hyped up movies are on their way in the next month.

Coming out in time for the festive season— and before the end of the decade — are movies such as: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which is notable for being Heath Ledger’s last filmic role and for the casting acrobatics director Terry Gilliam had to perform following Ledger’s death midway through shooting — Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel, and Jude Law fill in as Ledger’s character in various scenes; Invictus, the story of the underdog 1995 South African rugby team that united the post-apartheid nation, starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela; and Avatar, an out there sci-fi thriller from heavy weight director James Cameron (Terminator 1 & 2, Titanic).

It’s certainly been a great decade for the cinema — in Hollywood, here in Hollywood North, and around the world, but I’ll hold off on making my top 100 list until 2010, I’ve got high hopes for Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.

From Times Online
November 19, 2009

As reported in Times Online, a 13 year-old boy was arrested for planning to attack his teachers for giving him bad grades. The boy, Bastien, left his house with a shotgun and left a note for his parents to find. Luckily, Bastien’s parents found the note and called the authorities, effectively preventing any harm on the teachers and 2000 pupils attending the school. Bastien was later found and arrested in a cafe after seeing his school locked down.

The problem with this whole ordeal is that The Times associates computer games with this boy’s plan. The headline is, “Computer gmaes fan ‘planned school shooting.’” Are we still in a period of ignorance where anything related to schools and shootings must be associated with computer games?

Let’s get this straight first. The Times notes World of Warcraft as Bastien’s main influence. They even support this with Bastien’s parents and even best friend noting that he plays World of Warcraft until 1 or 2 am. World of Warcraft convinced this young child to go to school and shoot his teachers? Of course! Because in World of Warcraft, you regularly bring your character that has a shotgun into dungeons that are schools.

The sad thing is that we could not be further from finding the real reason Bastien planned his shooting. This just shows how little the main stream media understands video games and how little they really care about what really went on in this child’s head.

Looking at pictures and following links – and possibly calling it research for my multimedia class when it was really procrastinating video editing for my broadcast class – brought me suddenly to this. Stunning, stunning photography – an amazing example of technical and emotional photographic skill. Also, of travel photography – not to mention a great story.

Brought back (or sent back) from a photographer in Thailand to a British publication, these photos show people and practices that most of us will never see in person. Without this work, and the work of everyone at Times Online, how many of us would even know the Moken existed?

They’ve made the news before, like this CBS News piece after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. There’s also features like the later National Geographic’s April 2005 issue, a general online article and a pdf article about religion from Phuket Magazine, and a technical approach in this piece at Cyber Diver Digital Media Network (CDNN).

There’s even YouTube video: a stand-alone piece on the effects of the tsunami and a 5-part series posted by rjwiik called The Moken Kabang Project Spring (it’s in Norwegian but the stunning visuals speak for themselves). I went ahead and embedded Part 1 below as a teaser.

A little online research turns up an translation of their name as “people of the drowning” and how UNESCO’s concern for the protecting the traditional Moken lifestyle has designed a project for “integrating the traditional knowledge of the Moken into the region’s sustainable development.”

Lastly, I’ve a brief comment (and a link) on word choice. While I don’t know how the Moken prefer to be called, the term gypsies isn’t without controversy, especially in Europe. I’m still learning, but a friend of mine who works at the European Roma Rights Center brought it to my attention when I asked about her new job. More information can be found on their site.

In questi ultimi giorni si è parlato più volte di varie ricerche che in qualche modo cercavano di far luce sull’effettiva dannosità della pirateria nel mercato musicale. Ricerche spesso completamente contraddittorie: chi dice che la pirateria fa addirittura aumentare le vendite e chi dice (appoggiate da IFPI) che invece è solo un male da combattere.

In questi giorni è arrivata un’altra ricerca con dati molto dettagliati direttamente dal Times Online Blog. I dati provengono dalla BPI (quindi sono ufficiali) e riguardano il Regno Unito.

Guardiamo punto per punto.

Si nota come il problema della pirateria e la “crisi” non sia tanto dal lato degli artisti (che invece hanno una curva positiva), ma per le case discografiche.

Interessante anche il grafico complessivo, dove si nota che come mole totale il fatturato sia in crescita

Per chi volesse vedere i dati nel dettaglio vi rimando a questa tabella

If people used up their yearly ration early, they would have to buy extra from those who had not used their full allowance