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The Glass Box for Thursday

Comments

1. At 05:55 PM on 26 Jul 2007, Big Sister wrote:

   Heavens above, was that David Cameron doing the PM contact info just now? Scarily like him ....

   But then again, it could have been Jeremy.

2. At 05:59 PM on 26 Jul 2007, Greg Cremen wrote:

   Eddie, I am confused by the use of the term 'bowser' in reports regarding the floods. 'Bowser' is an Australian word with its origins in the petroleum industry. A company, S.F. Bowser and Co was a manufacturer in the 1930's of petrol and oil storge systems. In Australia everyone calls the pumps at a service station 'bowsers'. As an Australian I wonder how this word has migrated to the UK to mean something very different?

3. At 06:00 PM on 26 Jul 2007, wrote:

   ...whether a valued colleague has been banished...?

   Hmmmm?

   Fifi

4. At 06:03 PM on 26 Jul 2007, Peter M wrote:

   Regarding the cat that knows when patients in a nursing home are dying:

   Has it occured to the nursing home that, rather than informing the relatives that a patient is dying, perhaps they should not let the cat into patients rooms. If my patients died everytime a cat was left to stay in their rooms, I'd remove the cat!

5. At 06:06 PM on 26 Jul 2007, mittfh wrote:

   Eddie:

   Next time you do an article on wine, persuade the powers that be to allow the guests to bring in *real* bottles, rather than just sound effect tapes.

   For example, I'm sure the PM team could have carried out a very useful double-blind taste test to determine whether there were any taste differences between wine stored in a glass bottle and wine stored in a plastic bottle. You could even make the taste test more objective by inviting in the 6 O Clock News team, and if there are any bottles left leave some behind to be sampled by the Today team.

   I'm sure that doing this would also produce the very beneficial effect of significantly boosting team morale.

6. At 06:37 PM on 26 Jul 2007, Bedd Gelert wrote:

   Hm... No sign of that cat on 'Moo Tube'...

7. At 06:38 PM on 26 Jul 2007, Jacques wrote:

   Wine in plastique bottles - words fail me!

   The will be putting tea in sachets, next.

8. At 06:42 PM on 26 Jul 2007, mac wrote:

   I sent this to Working Lunch today. Do you think it fair?

   B.b.b.b.b.but. you ain't seen nothing yet!

   The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Pension Fund benefits from (the atmosphere created by) stock market gains and got hugely in the red during the dotcom bubble burst.

   So, classically wrt to information theory, there are massive principal - agent problems when the ´óÏó´«Ã½ reports the stock exchange.

   I think noticeably the ´óÏó´«Ã½ under reports huge losses and over reports gains.

   The net effect (and I suspect, intended consequence) of this asymmetric treatment is to encourage viewer (and listener) entry into the market and to preserve their share holding.

   The effect is that spending power (as bottomless as a widow's cruse) is generated by those who have and their pensions grow pleasantly.

   As for us have nots the increase in private spending deters government from raising government spending (for fear of inflation) and so my state pension suffers accordingly as do those on tax credit.

   As for public facilities in the NHS etc they are sacrificed for a few yachts in the Solent and second homes in Tuscany.

   So it was no surprise when last week in the face of falls you (Working Lunch) got in an 'expert' to tell us that things would not go below 6,500 on the stock exchange. Wasn't that cunning?
   Very protective of your pensions and your spending power.

   For those who trust you would have been discouraged from selling given how high they were told the safety net was.

   And as the index crashed 3 percentage points below the 'safety net' today those following you would be reluctant to bale out 'cos a bounce back might be round the corner and realising the loss would be a shock as well as costly.

   Personally I think the way the Beeb in general and you in particular (but you are not the worst offenders) report the overall index changes would result in you all in clink if the name of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ was Enron. But then I think if the Enron judgements were made universal the whole financial services industry would be being run from Alcatraz and Newgate.

   Isn't how the Beeb reports the FTSE a story in itself - particularly in newscasts and on ´óÏó´«Ã½24 Business News and on morning radio and TV?

   And PM I add.

   And isn't how come private spending power creation is cushty although hugely unfairly distributed, whilst equitable government spending is frowned, upon also a story in itself?

9. At 07:06 PM on 26 Jul 2007, wrote:

   Mac (8),

   Go !
   xx
   ed

10. At 07:43 PM on 26 Jul 2007, ann milston wrote:

    Re: plastic wine bottles - new idea.

    Very BAD idea! Will Sainsbury's read this site??

    1. Plastic in environment has created oestregen mimics implicated in cancers incl. breast ca. We don't want more plastic when glass is pure and a great deal more ecologically and human friendly.

    2. Not everyone has access to plastic recycling. Nearly everyone can get to glass recycling. AND glass is easier to recycle.

11. At 08:36 AM on 27 Jul 2007, Paul wrote:

    If it's possible for a cat to smell/taste the air using it's Jacobson's gland, a special organ located at the back of the cat's mouth, maybe it's possible for them to detect certain chemical physiological changes which occur when other animals are close to death.

    Whatever the case, we underestimate the potential of all animals and overestimate our own.

12. At 10:19 AM on 27 Jul 2007, wrote:

    re sqeezy wine bootles......that awfully nice lady from The Times can come round and sqeeze mine any time she likes......l loved the piece, v v tongue in cheek.....and congrats, you managed to get a couple of adverts in as well.....

    
    ttfn......advertelicious........init?

13. At 11:09 AM on 27 Jul 2007, wrote:

    Paul (11),

    "Whatever the case, we underestimate the potential of all animals and overestimate our own."

    Indeed!

    We can't go on too much longer, maybe, without considering the likelihood that we humans are not intelligent enough to work on the scale to which we have been tempted by our technological abilities. Wendell Berry

    xx ed

    "Hubris -- that was the Greeks' word for what ails you.
    Pride fueled the pyres of tragedy
    Which died (some say) with Shakespeare.
    O, incredible delusion! That potency should have no limits!
    

14. At 02:24 PM on 27 Jul 2007, Pete Password wrote:

    To bowse: to haul by means of a tackle, date 1593
    So I think the word was taken to Australia rather than coming here from Oz.

15. At 03:32 PM on 27 Jul 2007, Vyle Hernia wrote:

    1,593 dates, eh? I don't like them much myself.