大象传媒

'Me and my editor managed to..'.

Having read the excellent book by John Humphrys 'Lost For Words', I do feel obliged to point out that this should read 'My editor and I...'.

Never mind the Hutton recommendation for a school of journalism, what about a school for grammar ?

We could even ask the Labour government to sponsor it, and call it a 'Grammar School'. Just a thought.

Although in fairness, the rest of the 大象传媒 site is littered with poor spelling, incorrect grammar and 'sentences' which haven't been proof - read.

That apart, keep up the good work.

Paul

Forgive catching up with your blog a little late in the day. As a fellow Leyther it's tempting just to gossip about whether Wigan are going to be relegated rather than grapple with the profound political issues of the epoch - the old adage, "Socialisme ou Barbarisme' retains all its relevance.

Any road, good luck with disturbing folks' way of seeing things and I'll remember you to Benny Pinnegar when he visits us on Crete during the summer.

Still trying to struggle a bit,

Tony [ex-Leigh, ex-Leicester, ex- Chesterfield, now Cretan exile]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post programme ideas, but anyway:-

There's an article in yesterday's Times that discusses an idea to reform parts of the NHS by adopting "lean" management techniques. There are some people who believe:-

1. That this concept, if left to its own devices, will be suffocated by the self-interest of those it will expose.

2. That the idea that much (most?) activity is valueless is a derivative of Parkinson's First Law, and its effect is widespread not just in the NHS, but throughout Society, in both Public and Private Sectors.

3. That correcting and reversing this malaise is far and away the biggest opportunity to accelerate the rate of economic progress.

4. It can't begin to be addressed unless people are given the opportunity to recognise that it exists, that it is a problem, that it can be corrected, and that the potential benefits are quite enormous.

Something inside is telling me that maybe, just maybe, we are at a point in time where it is possible to start planting a few seeds, and that they will not fall on stony ground. I don't quite know what it is - perhaps it is that there is such widespread negativity and disillusionment with our political representatives that there could be a grouping that is prepared to risk doing what is right not just what is popular.

Is this the sort of thing that Newsnight might look at? Or is the whole idea so unorthodox, so potentially unsettling, that you would prefer to stay well clear?

Please don't feel that you have to be detailed, but I'd very much appreciate your immediate thoughts about this.

Regards,

Simon Stephenson

What Sven needs to advise our players, before they even leave the dressing room is,
(1) make sure you know which direction the opponent's goal is in and try to play the ball towards it....
(2) try to keep the ball in the area between the centre line across the pitch and the opponent's goal....
(3) pass the ball to a player with same coloured shirt you have on not to the other chaps who are our opponents...
(4) allow only Beckham to kick the ball higher than a couple of feet when passing....
and, (5) this especially for Lampard. check the height of the goal and don't keep kicking the ball (as you have done mop fewer than six times in the past two matches) at twice the height of the goal crossbar..
And of course,Sven must scrap the stupid 4-5-1 formation leaving Rooney all alone out there. Try a 3-3-4 formation - the object of the game is actually to score goals not just defend.
These guys are supposed to be professionals - they are paid tens of thousands a week - Rooney with his 拢30,000 a week gets more than I do in a year. Yet I see better soccer passing through Beckenham Recreation Ground on a Sunday morning. If it weren't for my being a pensioner with blocked arteries I could do the same as Rooney, play but not score a single goal.

I'm really gob-smacked! I am. Here's me thinking the 大象传媒 are intelligent (albeit partial and sometimes biased), credible journalists. How wrong could I have been! The Newsnight programme on Hizb ut-Tahrir was shocking to say the least. I can't believe how, such absolute lies, spin, nonsense, slander and such 'playground' style accusations were allowed to be aired! On the one hand we've got the worlds top intellectuals trying to find anything to smear the Hizb with, and best they can come up with is the "conveyor belt" argument. Why didn't they just turn around and say members of the Hizb mug little old ladies to prove their membership! What a joke 大象传媒, you really have shot yourself in the foot. But then again, I can't believe this came a night before the Queens Speech was accidental...so who was really behind airing the programme?

The unelected Arts Council's budget of 1.1 billion pounds between 2006 and 2008 is 10 times greater than the GLA budget for the same period. If an actor is paid 拢4000.00 per month to lie in a Birmingham street, by the arts council, to remind us there is a war going on and this is " not a lot to lie in a street for a week" where an actual combatant is paid 拢1500.00 net to try not to lie in this position. Should we not make better use of these funds? Art and artists will prevail and those with an eye to see will see.
A 拢70,000 rock in front of a hospital is only art in the eye of the unelected beholder. Ask the person trusting the Trust

The Spiritual reporter
This days we are talking a lot about Gadaffi, first Blair went there to sell him some millions in weapons and make agreements about some deals with Oil of course, and today every big member of the EU is surely thinking about it, maybe in a hurry to speak with this Ex terrorist, just because he have Oil or is it because every one wants to be 鈥渢he one鈥� who makes the best deal with for all the weapons he needs?
This shows ones again the double standard and the immorality of this people that talk and acts and join the war against terrorism.
The only one missing here is butcher Bush, that may do it in a secret way, because as we know weapons is a very profitable business.
I wonder where will be have to send Peace troops later to defend the citizen鈥檚, against a new genocide, that seems to be such a profitable business.
In stead of a War tribunal is it not more effective to make the weapons industry an illegal trade as Queen Juliana wants already in the 60鈥檚 ?.
About the release of six Bulgarian, nobody ask him self are they guilty? or not. We only know that they are free.

Just started using this blog to take out my frustrations in world affairs on! From art-house cinema and Jeremy on the sofa, to oil-rich bankrupt Iran and associated wartorn horrors, its so far been very interesting. At least one has the feeling, unlike the Radio 4 Today messageboard, that someone is reading it and responding.

The other night Jeremy Paxman was decidedly unrepetant about his comments on film auteurs, in his still rather cynical treatment of Antonioni's work. In response to the blog. Still its that won't back down quality that makes him so good really, at his main targets - politicians!

Carry on blogging!

Kirsty Wark asking John Bolton about Iran is akin to having asked Hitler how he felt about Jews.

This has given me the courage to speak out about what I have believed since school days. It is not a shamefull thing to be an outspoken atheist anymore than an outspoken christian, it just that what I believe is backed up by science and Darwin's evolution explanation and not an ancient book of writtings from the bible that came from an age that had no idea of the cosmos of their time. Religious teaching at school level has so much to answer for. Please take time to think before you blindly believe everything you are told .

Just watched the report on Zimbabwe, how can we stand by and watch that happen? Its unbelievable and should never be allowed. The super powers that exist should stand up to Mugabe and drive his completely barbaric regime out of existence. It simply is beyond belief and I firmly support our government if they choose to go and support the people of Zimbabwe and help restore it to its former glory, instead of the decaying, death trap that its modern day Zimbabwe! How can this world stand by and do nothing?!?!

Prime Minister's question time is always good for a laugh but for most voters it is purely knockabout comedy at best and childish behaviour at worst. Yes, David Cameron gave Gordon Brown a hard time over the snap election that never was. However, I remember William Hague giving Blair an equally hard time on many occasions and look where that got him. Love him or hate him, Gordon Brown is a formidable operator. He may not have the glitz and glamour of his predecessor or the PR skills of Cameron but he has virtually run this country for the past two or three years while Blair was living in cloud cuckoo land. Cameron is regarded (even by some in his own party) as a shmoozer who is all talk with no vision.

Yet again, the British Labour party have proved how corrupt they are. Denials and damge control, when will the British public stand up and say we won't take this anymore.
Corruption seems to be accepted here, yet we moan when we hear of it in Africa and South America.

I am still disappointed, after working with highway engineers for over 25 years, at how the design guidance for road schemes (new build or 'retro fit')tends to cater for the worse case scenario, and to focus on the needs of drivers passing through a space rather than the whole community using the spaces between buildings. However, it is usually the small minority who spoil things for the rest; so much street furniture, railings and the like, are littering our streets with ugliness and uniformity to control thoughtless behaviour.There is also a lack of street maintenance funding, so anything provided is increasingly uniform and utilitarian, to make it cheap to provide, replace, and maintain.
A shame we are still talking of trials; why can't we have confidence in the experience of our European colleagues?
We have a few examples of innovation in Hampshire, but it is a long slow process. Successful projects have been achieved through multi-disciplinary teams working with local people, led by a person with an open mind, willing to take a risk, and of some authority; usually with funding from the Department of Transport, as part of a pilot project (eg Petersfield Demonstration project),and with DoT authority to 'break the rules'. Risk assessment and lack of confidence in people being responsible for their own safety and for the safety of others are probably the main reasons for not implementing a change in approach. A lead from the Department for Transport and in public opinion is needed to shift things; your publicity is a step towards informing people of other options. Brilliant.

Of course the inquest is a waste of money It seems that mr, Fayed 's conspiracy theories are the reason for this protracted hearing.It seems he has dictated the terms of reference and is making a mockery of the u.k. Justice system.
Regards
M. lacey,
'

NEWNIGHT THE CANNABIS REVIEW!!!

Last night I was flicking channels and I noticed Newsnight was on, I watched the Cannabis review. I find it very disturbing that cannabis is portrayed in such a harsh way. I can't believe the Government are trying to make the public believe that it is linked with mental health disorders, this is absurd, cannabis does not make you problems, a problem must be there in the first place to be trigered! I have smoked cannabis almost every day for 7 years and so have almost everyone I know. None of these people have mental illness issues and I certainly dont.

Why portray a drug to be such a problem, when the problem lies with drugs that are infact legal, that you can go to a shop and buy over the counter.

Cigarettes are a drug that cause Cancer, sometimes Cannabis is prescribed by a doctor, Cigarettes are not prescribed for anything.As a matter of fact research has been done and proven that marijuana actually stops the growth of cancerous cells, stops the progression of Alzheimers, cateracts, and many other conditions to lengthy to mention. People criticize are hipocrits. They have indulged in their lifetime and they know it. Drugs are the chemicals that people who criticize are taking on a regular basis. Prozac,Xanax,Percaset,Valumes,Diet pills,Lortabs,Pain killers of any kind, etc... Marijuana does not eat your liver, alcohol does. Marijuana does not cause lung cancer, cigarettes do. Some of the most intelligent philosiphers,inventors,lawyers,professors,novelists,directors,doctors,and yes, even surgeons smoke,eat, or drink Cannibis. Wether the world wants to believe it or not. They are in such denial.