Relocating Liverpool & Everton to new stadia isn't just a purely footballing question, it's a civic & economic one for Merseyside. Liverpool's proposed move to Stanley Park has been shelved for at least the duration of this recession. Even when the economy starts to improve (2010, 2011?) there is no guarantee that work will resume in the park. Everton's move to Kirkby has been referred to the Whitehall mandarins after objections to it were lodged by Liverpool City Council & Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council. The city council holds that two feasible sites within the city have not been fully considered by Everton & their proposed business partner in the scheme, Tesco. Sefton council fears the economic impact of a major retail development in neighbouring Knowsley, claiming it will adversely affect shops & businesses in its borough. As with Liverpool, Everton, too, face uncertainty over their ownership. Bill Kenwright, Everton's chairman, realises that his wealth alone is not sufficient if success is to be achieved.
It's against such an uncertain backdrop that a cold blast of icy economic reality was blown in last week. Keith Harris, who has helped arrange the takeover of five Premier League clubs, admits he's made "no progress at all" in his search for a new owner at Goodison Park (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/12/everton-premierleague ).
David Conn, whose previous articles on club ownership have shed much-needed light on the topic, quotes Harris:
"The demographics of Liverpool as a city are not hugely compelling [ ]. It is not a very wealthy city. Everton share the city with another club which arguably has been in the vanguard for the last decade, and they both have a stadium to build. So the economics need a lot of looking at."
The question of a shared stadium is not directly addressed by Harris. However, the implications are glaringly obvious.
The situation across Stanley Park has now been well-documented. The £350m loans which Hicks & Gillette took out with RBS & Wachovia (both effectively crippled by the banking meltdown) are due for repayment in January. Conn observes:
"Harris questioned whether the two banks...would want to keep lending Liverpool the money rather than call the loan in. He argued that it was likely to be difficult for the club to raise cash or new investment for equity in the club if they could not borrow the money elsewhere.
" 'The one that worries me is Liverpool,' Harris concluded. 'The banks are two of those that have suffered, so whether they want to lend again or not, they may not be able to. What normally happens in business, if the banks won't finance, you have to raise equity.'
"However, he suggested that even if Liverpool cannot raise significant cash to repay or reduce their borrowings, and the banks are not happy about remaining exposed to the tune of £350m, they would probably find a solution because of the prestige and high public profile of the Anfield club. 'If they cannot find equity,' Harris mused, 'well, it's a brave banker that would repossess Liverpool Football Club.' "
That's the only saving grace for Liverpool FC...for the time being at least. If the recession's severity intensifies beyond most forecasts, however, reaction to such a possibility, even among local supporters, may not be so adverse.
Harris also pops up in the Independent where he does confront the shared stadium issue (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/the-share-option-merseyside-clubs-urged-to-consider-mutual-benefits-1017677.html ).
His message is clear: the only way forward for both clubs is to share a new stadium. The economic reality that is kicking in with the current climate doesn't, however, seem to be registering with those who should be attuned to the changed times. Liverpool FC Chief Executive Rick Parry "reiterated recently he does not see it as the way ahead. 'Groundshare is not back on the agenda. It's a case of delay while things settle down,' he said. How long that remains the case seems dependent on whether Hicks and Gillette manage to sell, before or after the January date on which their loan arrangements expire."
Notwithstanding Harris' rose-tinted view of the rivalry between Liverpool & Everton fans ("My impression from going to Liverpool -- and I've been to both grounds many times -- is that the fans there may have a bit of banter, but there isn't that in-built hatred."), the shared stadium option is now gaining legs simply because the economics of it are unanswerable. Parry's pathetic holding statement attempts to depict the present situation as no more than a temporary blip rather than the most severe economic slump since the 30s.
Monday, November 17, 2008
An Awful Audit
There's still no word of the final decision by the Standards Board over the activities of Warren Bradley & Mike Storey. Both, you may recall, have come under scrutiny for their treatment of Jason Harborow (Jase isn't normally a worthy recipient of sympathy, but he was, apparently, shafted by the Lib Dem duo) & Lee Forde (formerly events manager for the Matthew Street festival).
However, the Oldham Echo, as usual, lags way behind Tony Parrish's Liverpool SubCulture blog in cottoning on to the shambolic state of affairs in the council (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/11/11/culture-of-chaos-rife-at-liverpool-council-claims-report-100252-22226030/ ).
The internal investigation unearths a litany of instances where personal data, expenses & income for the council have been unclaimed or not persued. An alarming aspect is that the investigation covers just one quarter of council departments.
However, the Oldham Echo, as usual, lags way behind Tony Parrish's Liverpool SubCulture blog in cottoning on to the shambolic state of affairs in the council (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/11/11/culture-of-chaos-rife-at-liverpool-council-claims-report-100252-22226030/ ).
The internal investigation unearths a litany of instances where personal data, expenses & income for the council have been unclaimed or not persued. An alarming aspect is that the investigation covers just one quarter of council departments.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Everything's Coming Up Roses For Me & For You
Welcome to the world inhabited by the Oldham Echo, where 2008 has been an unqualified success, where Liverpool has been the envy of the planet over the last year, & where the city's future is just hunky-dory, credit crunch or no credit crunch. Indeed, culture year will enable the city to "survive the credit crunch". Yes, really (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/11/11-culture-year-is-key-to-liverpool-revival-100252-22223878/ ).
Citing a report called the Crane Survey, issued by property consultant Drivers Jonas, Neil Hodgson's article trills that it "highlights successes this year such as Liverpool One, which cost £1bn but has so far attracted 33% more shoppers to the city and inspired projects like the £100m development of St John's shopping centre."
There's no mention of how the Liverpool One behemoth has sucked so much business away from the Church Street & Bold Street thoroughfares. The article also begs the question, has Liverpool One really "inspired" the refurbishment of St John's market? It may have been a response to Liverpool One, but that is not to say it was "inspired". There is a difference, Neil.
Hodgson's piece breezes on merrily:
"[The report] highlights six key areas, including the £1bn 'knowledge economy', which provides 14,000 science-based jobs and should create a further 7,000 in the next decade.
"It also mentions culture and the arts; creative industries; the port and airport, which are bidding for 'superport' status for the city; professional and financial services; and shopping and tourism."
The key word in the first paragraph of that quote is "should".
You may also notice that Hodgson doesn't go into specifics about those sectors. In addition, the granting of "superport" status for the Port of Liverpool & Liverpool John Lennon Airport is not "for the city". The status is for the business itself. The city is very much a secondary, perhaps even tertiary, consideration.
Still, we can't let the details get in the way of yet another nauseous Echo puff-piece, can we?
Citing a report called the Crane Survey, issued by property consultant Drivers Jonas, Neil Hodgson's article trills that it "highlights successes this year such as Liverpool One, which cost £1bn but has so far attracted 33% more shoppers to the city and inspired projects like the £100m development of St John's shopping centre."
There's no mention of how the Liverpool One behemoth has sucked so much business away from the Church Street & Bold Street thoroughfares. The article also begs the question, has Liverpool One really "inspired" the refurbishment of St John's market? It may have been a response to Liverpool One, but that is not to say it was "inspired". There is a difference, Neil.
Hodgson's piece breezes on merrily:
"[The report] highlights six key areas, including the £1bn 'knowledge economy', which provides 14,000 science-based jobs and should create a further 7,000 in the next decade.
"It also mentions culture and the arts; creative industries; the port and airport, which are bidding for 'superport' status for the city; professional and financial services; and shopping and tourism."
The key word in the first paragraph of that quote is "should".
You may also notice that Hodgson doesn't go into specifics about those sectors. In addition, the granting of "superport" status for the Port of Liverpool & Liverpool John Lennon Airport is not "for the city". The status is for the business itself. The city is very much a secondary, perhaps even tertiary, consideration.
Still, we can't let the details get in the way of yet another nauseous Echo puff-piece, can we?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Pressing The Self-Destruct Button
During the summer I commended Ralph Nader's campaign & policies, noting that they seemed more progressive than those persued & articulated by Barack Obama (http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/07/virtue-venality.html ).
Fast forward to a little before 6.00am GMT last Wednesday morning. Obama was shortly to give his victory speech before 200,000 people in Chicago. It was at that point that Nader committed political suicide on, of all stations, Fox News:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dlo&feature=related .
The credibility & reputation Nader had built up over decades was wiped out, not just by his incredibly insulting "Uncle Tom" remark, but by his truculent, unapologetic demeanour in the brief exchange with his interviewer.
Despite the fact that hardly any Obama supporters would watch Fox, & certainly not at a time like that, word inevitably got round in the days afterwards. Whitney Leigh, an African-American attorney based in San Francisco, but originally from Chicago, penned a dignified & eloquent response on the Huffington Post the following day (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/whitneyleigh/a-long-road-to-walk_b_141790.html ).
There's certainly a case to be made for a left-wing critique of an Obama presidency, as Seumas Milne did in the Guardian a couple of weeks' ago. If that was Nader's aim, it's been lost because of the unbelievably offensive term he used.
By way of a subsidiary point, there's a strong response to a piece on the subject from David T. on Harry's Place (http://www.hurryupharry.org/2008/11/10/uncle-tom-watch/#comments ).
It rightly calls to attention to Nader's comment. Unfortunately, however, it also takes umbrage at Hardy Drew and The Nancy Boys' "There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama".
Lighten up, David. Nader was completely out of order; the Obama song is ironic humour. It would be a pity if this distasteful episode, which surely marks the end of Ralph Nader's role in US politics, obscured us to that.
Fast forward to a little before 6.00am GMT last Wednesday morning. Obama was shortly to give his victory speech before 200,000 people in Chicago. It was at that point that Nader committed political suicide on, of all stations, Fox News:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dlo&feature=related .
The credibility & reputation Nader had built up over decades was wiped out, not just by his incredibly insulting "Uncle Tom" remark, but by his truculent, unapologetic demeanour in the brief exchange with his interviewer.
Despite the fact that hardly any Obama supporters would watch Fox, & certainly not at a time like that, word inevitably got round in the days afterwards. Whitney Leigh, an African-American attorney based in San Francisco, but originally from Chicago, penned a dignified & eloquent response on the Huffington Post the following day (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/whitneyleigh/a-long-road-to-walk_b_141790.html ).
There's certainly a case to be made for a left-wing critique of an Obama presidency, as Seumas Milne did in the Guardian a couple of weeks' ago. If that was Nader's aim, it's been lost because of the unbelievably offensive term he used.
By way of a subsidiary point, there's a strong response to a piece on the subject from David T. on Harry's Place (http://www.hurryupharry.org/2008/11/10/uncle-tom-watch/#comments ).
It rightly calls to attention to Nader's comment. Unfortunately, however, it also takes umbrage at Hardy Drew and The Nancy Boys' "There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama".
Lighten up, David. Nader was completely out of order; the Obama song is ironic humour. It would be a pity if this distasteful episode, which surely marks the end of Ralph Nader's role in US politics, obscured us to that.
Kelvinwatch
Tony Barrett, dedicated Liverpool FC correspondent for the Echo, rightly criticises both the BBC & the Guardian for viewing Kelvin MacKenzie as some sort of sage on the Ross/Brand/Sachs affair (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/columnists/2008/11/08/the-sheer-irony-of-mackenzie-outburst-100252-22208359/ ).
Not only did BBC News have a brief clip of MacKenzie's, ahem, thoughts on the matter, the Guardian's Emily Bell cited him as someone with experience of heading a large organisation who recognised the mistake he made & acted on it. Er, sorry, Emily, but MacKenzie is still unrepentant about his Hillsborough lies; I would have thought you knew that. That's why the circulation figures for the sorry rag which still employs MacKenzie as a columnist sank like a stone on Merseyside & never recovered.
Not only did BBC News have a brief clip of MacKenzie's, ahem, thoughts on the matter, the Guardian's Emily Bell cited him as someone with experience of heading a large organisation who recognised the mistake he made & acted on it. Er, sorry, Emily, but MacKenzie is still unrepentant about his Hillsborough lies; I would have thought you knew that. That's why the circulation figures for the sorry rag which still employs MacKenzie as a columnist sank like a stone on Merseyside & never recovered.
A Taxing Time For Local Papers?
A good deal of adverse comment greets the suggestion by Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger that the crisis facing local newspapers be addressed by some form of subsidy from public funds (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/10/newspapers-the-future-alan-rusbridger ).
He asks, "Is there any reason why local newspapers -- whether in print, on broadband or broadcast -- shouldn't compete with the broadcasters for some form of subsidy in return for providing the public service of keeping a community informed about itself?"
Is Rusbridger advocating a subsidy for the likes of the Oldham Echo? If so, would it come out of the licence fee, or would it be an additional subsidy? Either way, it would be politically unacceptable.
Rusbridger sketches out the latest Ofcom proposals for partnerships between local papers & TV & online broadcasters (BBC?) which may be feasible, but the funding issue is still key.
However, he throws another hand grenade into the arena when he ponders:
"The present competition restrictions might be reviewed, with the Office of Fair Trading being asked to consider whether newspapers are a distinct economic market, or part of a wider information ecology. There would be greater opportunity for cross-promotion and the possibility of additional funding from regional development agencies and local authorities."
Regional Development Agencies take their money from central government, ie., the taxpayer. Councils receive a portion of their revenue from Council Tax. On both fronts, there would be strong opposition, & rightly so, to the notion that local papers, which happily accept advertising revenue already, should be effectively bailed out.
Rusbridger refers to Michael Lyons' speech last month (http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42236&c=1 ), commenting that some hacks on local papers recognised the merit in his comments.
Reaction to Rusbridger's article is, not surprisingly, largely hostile in the comments section (with a contribution from yours truly). Roy Greenslade is equally sceptical of Rusbridger's proposals (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2008/nov/10/theregions-bbc ).
Indeed, the arguments put forward by the Guardian's editor would seem to be further undermined by what amounts to a crib sheet in Media Week for advertisers on the merits of placing advertisements in the re-launched Echo (http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/859266/Liverpool-Echo-lives-its-iconic-status/ ):
"Since being founded 127 years ago, the Echo has represented the voice of Liverpool and reflected the community it serves. The new look should build on this brand strength."
Voice of Liverpool? Reflective of the community it serves? At a time when it faces a reader boycott over the move to Oldham, resulting in the loss of up to 100 jobs? Someone at Media Week really should have done their homework. Indeed, its piece is contradictory, as it concludes:
"The loyalty of readership is not in doubt, but now advertisers are being offered a fresh new-look newspaper that may improve the diversity of the audience."
If the Echo's voice has reflected Merseyside in its entirety, why is there still scope "to improve the diversity of the audience"?
Advertising revenue appears not to be imperilled at the Echo. As for circulation figures, that's another question entirely.
He asks, "Is there any reason why local newspapers -- whether in print, on broadband or broadcast -- shouldn't compete with the broadcasters for some form of subsidy in return for providing the public service of keeping a community informed about itself?"
Is Rusbridger advocating a subsidy for the likes of the Oldham Echo? If so, would it come out of the licence fee, or would it be an additional subsidy? Either way, it would be politically unacceptable.
Rusbridger sketches out the latest Ofcom proposals for partnerships between local papers & TV & online broadcasters (BBC?) which may be feasible, but the funding issue is still key.
However, he throws another hand grenade into the arena when he ponders:
"The present competition restrictions might be reviewed, with the Office of Fair Trading being asked to consider whether newspapers are a distinct economic market, or part of a wider information ecology. There would be greater opportunity for cross-promotion and the possibility of additional funding from regional development agencies and local authorities."
Regional Development Agencies take their money from central government, ie., the taxpayer. Councils receive a portion of their revenue from Council Tax. On both fronts, there would be strong opposition, & rightly so, to the notion that local papers, which happily accept advertising revenue already, should be effectively bailed out.
Rusbridger refers to Michael Lyons' speech last month (http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42236&c=1 ), commenting that some hacks on local papers recognised the merit in his comments.
Reaction to Rusbridger's article is, not surprisingly, largely hostile in the comments section (with a contribution from yours truly). Roy Greenslade is equally sceptical of Rusbridger's proposals (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2008/nov/10/theregions-bbc ).
Indeed, the arguments put forward by the Guardian's editor would seem to be further undermined by what amounts to a crib sheet in Media Week for advertisers on the merits of placing advertisements in the re-launched Echo (http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/859266/Liverpool-Echo-lives-its-iconic-status/ ):
"Since being founded 127 years ago, the Echo has represented the voice of Liverpool and reflected the community it serves. The new look should build on this brand strength."
Voice of Liverpool? Reflective of the community it serves? At a time when it faces a reader boycott over the move to Oldham, resulting in the loss of up to 100 jobs? Someone at Media Week really should have done their homework. Indeed, its piece is contradictory, as it concludes:
"The loyalty of readership is not in doubt, but now advertisers are being offered a fresh new-look newspaper that may improve the diversity of the audience."
If the Echo's voice has reflected Merseyside in its entirety, why is there still scope "to improve the diversity of the audience"?
Advertising revenue appears not to be imperilled at the Echo. As for circulation figures, that's another question entirely.
Monday, November 10, 2008
From Kenya To Kilkenny
I suppose it was inevitable that Obama would soon be claimed by the Irish as one of their own:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0xFWbarrsc .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0xFWbarrsc .
It's All In The Mind
Two articles over the weekend, on different sides of the Atlantic, stress an aspect of the US election result which most of the networks & press unsurprisingly ignored or downplayed.
Jonathan Raban (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/obama-race-democrats-us-elections ) celebrates the fact that Obama is an intellectual.
[He must be the first US politician since the 19th century to quote Latin in his speeches, as he did at the Democrats' convention in 2004, & not be howled down or treated like a freak (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87paJ0 ).]
Raban relates, "At the University of Chicago, he taught constitutional law, the most demanding and far-reaching area of study in US law schools. He names Philip Roth and EL Doctorow among his favourite living writers."
Raban highlights Obama's rigorous academic approach to any given topic, enabling him to develop & articulate a flexibility of thought which is par for the course in academia, but truly mind-blowing in modern US politics:
"The unique contradictions and messinesses of his own childhood made him an empiricist by instinct, finding a path for himself by testing his footing each step of the way. His education at Columbia and Harvard made him an empiricist by training. As a law professor at Chicago, he pressed his students to adopt contrarian views while playing his own opinions close to his chest. In July this year, the New York Times reported:
'Obama liked to provoke. He wanted his charges to try arguing that life was better under segregation, that black people were better athletes than white ones. "I remember thinking, 'You're offending my liberal instincts,' " a former student remembered.' "
The counterfactual argument in history is often a meaningless academic exercise. However, when applied to specific & emotive issues, it carries a moral & intellectual resonance, augmenting the case for progressive causes.
Nicholas D. Kristof pens what turns out to be a welcome accompanying piece to Raban's article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09kristof.html?hp ):
"We can't solve our educational challenges when, according to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers as evolution, and when one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth."
Kristof lists some fascinating, yet almost forgotten facts about early US presidents:
"James Garfield could simutaneously write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other, Thomas Jefferson was a dazzling scholar and inventor, and John Adams typically carried a book of poetry. Yet all were outclassed by George Washington, who was among the least intellectual of our early presidents."
Last time I heard, George W. Bush was making good progress with his English.
Jonathan Raban (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/obama-race-democrats-us-elections ) celebrates the fact that Obama is an intellectual.
[He must be the first US politician since the 19th century to quote Latin in his speeches, as he did at the Democrats' convention in 2004, & not be howled down or treated like a freak (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87paJ0 ).]
Raban relates, "At the University of Chicago, he taught constitutional law, the most demanding and far-reaching area of study in US law schools. He names Philip Roth and EL Doctorow among his favourite living writers."
Raban highlights Obama's rigorous academic approach to any given topic, enabling him to develop & articulate a flexibility of thought which is par for the course in academia, but truly mind-blowing in modern US politics:
"The unique contradictions and messinesses of his own childhood made him an empiricist by instinct, finding a path for himself by testing his footing each step of the way. His education at Columbia and Harvard made him an empiricist by training. As a law professor at Chicago, he pressed his students to adopt contrarian views while playing his own opinions close to his chest. In July this year, the New York Times reported:
'Obama liked to provoke. He wanted his charges to try arguing that life was better under segregation, that black people were better athletes than white ones. "I remember thinking, 'You're offending my liberal instincts,' " a former student remembered.' "
The counterfactual argument in history is often a meaningless academic exercise. However, when applied to specific & emotive issues, it carries a moral & intellectual resonance, augmenting the case for progressive causes.
Nicholas D. Kristof pens what turns out to be a welcome accompanying piece to Raban's article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09kristof.html?hp ):
"We can't solve our educational challenges when, according to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers as evolution, and when one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth."
Kristof lists some fascinating, yet almost forgotten facts about early US presidents:
"James Garfield could simutaneously write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other, Thomas Jefferson was a dazzling scholar and inventor, and John Adams typically carried a book of poetry. Yet all were outclassed by George Washington, who was among the least intellectual of our early presidents."
Last time I heard, George W. Bush was making good progress with his English.
Political Pygmies
Watching British political figures desperately claim a connection, however tenuous or fictitious, in the last few days to Obama's win has been a spectacle of almost Lilliputian absurdity. What should alarm most MPs in Westminster is the sudden realisation among their constituents that they are represented by a class of people whose mediocrity is laid bare by last week's events. (The great Gill Scott-Heron was wrong: the revolution HAS been televised.)
In Saturday's Guardian, Marina Hyde dissected the changed mood (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/barack-obama-usa ):
"As they watched Barack Obama's inspiring acceptance speech this week, one wonders how many politicians, and even ex-politicians, experienced a similarly sobering, gut-sinking sense if not of their own inadequacy in the face of the gold standard, then at least in the manner in which the public discourse has been allowed to bump along at the level of the banal and unedifying for what suddenly seems so long."
Gordon, Dave, Nick, give it up, will you?
In Saturday's Guardian, Marina Hyde dissected the changed mood (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/barack-obama-usa ):
"As they watched Barack Obama's inspiring acceptance speech this week, one wonders how many politicians, and even ex-politicians, experienced a similarly sobering, gut-sinking sense if not of their own inadequacy in the face of the gold standard, then at least in the manner in which the public discourse has been allowed to bump along at the level of the banal and unedifying for what suddenly seems so long."
Gordon, Dave, Nick, give it up, will you?
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Apathy: It's All The Bloggers' Fault
Labour minister Hazel Blears is the sort of New Labour cheerleader who blithely disregards the traditions of Old Labour; the Blair Project's disdain for the old ways, as well as the old policies, discouraged activism. Blears' sense of timing is particularly ill-judged with her address to the Hansard Society this week (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/05/blogging-politics ).
In a week that has shown the potential for mass re-engagement with civic & political life, she completely misreads the changed mood in the UK &, indeed, the rest of Europe.
Blears correctly notes that the idea that there was a golden age of mass participation in politics is a myth. Even in pre-war Britain, those active in trades unions & political parties were in a minority in the working & middle classes. More questionably, though, she includes the Chartists & the Suffragettes in her assertion. However, the main body of her address is a fairly typical example of of New Labour's exasperation with a print & broadcast media which is no longer pliant, as it was following Blair's 1997 win.
She complains that "in recent years commentary has taken over from investigation or news reporting, to the point where commentators are viewed by some as every bit as important as elected politicians, with views as valid as cabinet ministers."
True, there has been a diminution in the level of investigative journalism, even in the "quality" press, but that, surely, would be greeted with relief in New Labour circles. Also, is Blears inferring that the views of cabinet ministers are more valid than those of others, be they commentators or otherwise? There is the concomitant contention that columnists & commentators can often articulate the thoughts of many voters when the government is seen to be out of touch with ordinary people.
Blears concludes by stumbling into an intellectual minefield:
"This brings me to the role of political bloggers. Perhaps because of the nature of the technology, there is a tendency for political blogs to have a Samizdat style. The most popular blogs are right-wing, ranging from the considered Tory views of Iain Dale, to the vicious nihilism of Guido Fawkes. Perhaps this is simply anti-establishment. Blogs have only existed under a Labour government. Perhaps if there was a Tory government, all the leading blogs would be left-of-centre?
"There are some informative and entertaining political blogs, including those written by elected councillors. But mostly, political blogs are written by people with a disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.
"Unless and until political blogging adds value to our political culture, by allowing new and disparate voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair."
First of all, most political blogs tend towards a Samizdat appearance & content because of the mainstream media's shortcomings; it isn't just the seeming retreat from investigative journalism, it's also the cosy collusion in off-the-record & unattributable briefings. Virtually all the revelations now coming out about Sarah Palin were known to the media during the campaign. However, the reporters & editors decided to keep their readers & viewers in the dark.
Blears' observations on Iain Dale (www.iaindale.blogspot.com/ ) & Guido Fawkes (www.order-order.com/ ) may be true (although both are also popular both for their opposition to New Labour & their concise, punchy style of delivery, particularly Guido). However, Blears must surely be aware of the left-of-centre blogs, such as Liberal Conspiracy (www.liberalconspiracy.org/ ) & Recess Monkey (www.recessmonkey.com/ ).
As for her description of blogs written by local councillors as "informative and entertaining", I presume Blears is referring to those servile missives scrawled by councillors from all the main parties. I won't link to them because they are a waste of cyberspace (although a blog written by Councillor Gordon Friel could be an entertaining read) ; MPs also blog, of course & one such example is that written by the former junior transport minister, Tom Harris (http://tomcharris.wordpress.com/ ). Harris famously mused on his blog earlier this year why people were "so bloody miserable" when the first signs of the recession were starting to bite.
In addition, the contention that political blogs show a "disdain" for the system is fatuous in the extreme. Politicians may well get it in the neck from the blogosphere, but they can't complain about such online scrutiny, it goes with the territory. Blears can't have it both ways: because the mainstream media has lessened its coverage of issues which demand investigative journalism, bloggers are perfectly entitled to see their role as "unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy."
There is also nothing to stop "new and disparate voices" making themselves heard in cyberspace, that what blogging is all about. The idea that the blogosphere is somehow conspiring to prevent diverse opinions from being expressed is one of the most absurd claims I've ever heard from any politician. Anyone can set up their own blog, maybe Blears should try it. Then again, maybe not. Moreover, the blogs do "add value" to political discourse by virtue of their refusal to follow the MSM's agenda.
It is politicos like Blears, with their culture of spin, obfuscation, secrecy & evasion who "fuel a culture of cynicism and despair", not the bloggers.
In a week that has shown the potential for mass re-engagement with civic & political life, she completely misreads the changed mood in the UK &, indeed, the rest of Europe.
Blears correctly notes that the idea that there was a golden age of mass participation in politics is a myth. Even in pre-war Britain, those active in trades unions & political parties were in a minority in the working & middle classes. More questionably, though, she includes the Chartists & the Suffragettes in her assertion. However, the main body of her address is a fairly typical example of of New Labour's exasperation with a print & broadcast media which is no longer pliant, as it was following Blair's 1997 win.
She complains that "in recent years commentary has taken over from investigation or news reporting, to the point where commentators are viewed by some as every bit as important as elected politicians, with views as valid as cabinet ministers."
True, there has been a diminution in the level of investigative journalism, even in the "quality" press, but that, surely, would be greeted with relief in New Labour circles. Also, is Blears inferring that the views of cabinet ministers are more valid than those of others, be they commentators or otherwise? There is the concomitant contention that columnists & commentators can often articulate the thoughts of many voters when the government is seen to be out of touch with ordinary people.
Blears concludes by stumbling into an intellectual minefield:
"This brings me to the role of political bloggers. Perhaps because of the nature of the technology, there is a tendency for political blogs to have a Samizdat style. The most popular blogs are right-wing, ranging from the considered Tory views of Iain Dale, to the vicious nihilism of Guido Fawkes. Perhaps this is simply anti-establishment. Blogs have only existed under a Labour government. Perhaps if there was a Tory government, all the leading blogs would be left-of-centre?
"There are some informative and entertaining political blogs, including those written by elected councillors. But mostly, political blogs are written by people with a disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.
"Unless and until political blogging adds value to our political culture, by allowing new and disparate voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair."
First of all, most political blogs tend towards a Samizdat appearance & content because of the mainstream media's shortcomings; it isn't just the seeming retreat from investigative journalism, it's also the cosy collusion in off-the-record & unattributable briefings. Virtually all the revelations now coming out about Sarah Palin were known to the media during the campaign. However, the reporters & editors decided to keep their readers & viewers in the dark.
Blears' observations on Iain Dale (www.iaindale.blogspot.com/ ) & Guido Fawkes (www.order-order.com/ ) may be true (although both are also popular both for their opposition to New Labour & their concise, punchy style of delivery, particularly Guido). However, Blears must surely be aware of the left-of-centre blogs, such as Liberal Conspiracy (www.liberalconspiracy.org/ ) & Recess Monkey (www.recessmonkey.com/ ).
As for her description of blogs written by local councillors as "informative and entertaining", I presume Blears is referring to those servile missives scrawled by councillors from all the main parties. I won't link to them because they are a waste of cyberspace (although a blog written by Councillor Gordon Friel could be an entertaining read) ; MPs also blog, of course & one such example is that written by the former junior transport minister, Tom Harris (http://tomcharris.wordpress.com/ ). Harris famously mused on his blog earlier this year why people were "so bloody miserable" when the first signs of the recession were starting to bite.
In addition, the contention that political blogs show a "disdain" for the system is fatuous in the extreme. Politicians may well get it in the neck from the blogosphere, but they can't complain about such online scrutiny, it goes with the territory. Blears can't have it both ways: because the mainstream media has lessened its coverage of issues which demand investigative journalism, bloggers are perfectly entitled to see their role as "unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy."
There is also nothing to stop "new and disparate voices" making themselves heard in cyberspace, that what blogging is all about. The idea that the blogosphere is somehow conspiring to prevent diverse opinions from being expressed is one of the most absurd claims I've ever heard from any politician. Anyone can set up their own blog, maybe Blears should try it. Then again, maybe not. Moreover, the blogs do "add value" to political discourse by virtue of their refusal to follow the MSM's agenda.
It is politicos like Blears, with their culture of spin, obfuscation, secrecy & evasion who "fuel a culture of cynicism and despair", not the bloggers.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Rectification
The link I gave for the Daily Post story on Councillor Friel was broken. Here it is:
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/11/07/vice-chairman-quits-port-health-authority-after-alcohol-fuelled-row-64375-22203021/ .
Blame it on the booze.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/11/07/vice-chairman-quits-port-health-authority-after-alcohol-fuelled-row-64375-22203021/ .
Blame it on the booze.
In Vino Veritas?
Following the movement of the tectonic plates on Tuesday, the bathos is supplied by Councillor Gordon Friel, Labour representative for Linacre Ward in Bootle. Obama's slogan may have been Yes, We Can; Councillor Friel's appears to be Yes, I Can...have a skinful & return to tell some people what I really think of them (http://wwwliverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/11/07/vice-chairman-quits-port-health-authority-after-alcohol-fuelled-row-64375-22203021/ ).
Friel was, note the past tense, vice-chairman of the Mersey Port Health Authority, which deals with health & safety issues at the city's port & Liverpool John Lennon Airport. He attended a meeting of the body in Manchester in September. However, the Post relates that "after an evening drinking session he returned to his hotel and became embroiled in a row with fellow delegates and hotel staff."
After which, there was no option for Councillor Friel but to tender his resignation.
Alas, it may not end there for the councillor . There is the possibility of some form of sanction after his "tired & emotional" outburst. Mike Young, executive secretary of the MPHA, muses, "There's a question really -- he has resigned, is that sufficient? The question's about the councillors' code of conduct -- should we be making a formal complaint about him?"
Councillor Friel has another appointment to a body outside Sefton Council. He is a member of the North Western and North Wales Fisheries Committee (http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgUserInfo.asp?UID=196 ).
Please feel free to think of your own "drinks like a fish" joke.
Friel was, note the past tense, vice-chairman of the Mersey Port Health Authority, which deals with health & safety issues at the city's port & Liverpool John Lennon Airport. He attended a meeting of the body in Manchester in September. However, the Post relates that "after an evening drinking session he returned to his hotel and became embroiled in a row with fellow delegates and hotel staff."
After which, there was no option for Councillor Friel but to tender his resignation.
Alas, it may not end there for the councillor . There is the possibility of some form of sanction after his "tired & emotional" outburst. Mike Young, executive secretary of the MPHA, muses, "There's a question really -- he has resigned, is that sufficient? The question's about the councillors' code of conduct -- should we be making a formal complaint about him?"
Councillor Friel has another appointment to a body outside Sefton Council. He is a member of the North Western and North Wales Fisheries Committee (http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgUserInfo.asp?UID=196 ).
Please feel free to think of your own "drinks like a fish" joke.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Yes He Did
Yes, it does seem extraordinary. When history is made in front of a global audience, all you can do is sit back for a moment & savour it. By far the most affecting image was that of Jesse Jackson in the Chicago crowd.
The BBC's coverage was exemplary, save for the amiable bumbling of David Dimbleby. Christopher Hitchens was in particularly excoriating form on the Republicans, although the double act of Simon Schama & John Bolton was memorable; Schama's quote about McCain being the bull & Obama being the matador should be YouTubed.
Meanwhile, the local media have dug up the most tenuous of links between Obama & Liverpool (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/11/05/barack-obama-s-road-to-presidency-started-in-liverpool-100252-22188110/ ).
Far more germane to Obama's seismic achievement is the Slave Trade which transformed & enriched the Port of Liverpool beyond all recognition.
Timing is crucial in political engagement, & the arrival of Jesse Jackson at Edge Hill University, near Ormskirk, next month couldn't be more apposite (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/11/04/jesse-jackson-to-deliver-edge-hill-lecture-64375-22176211/ ).
The lecture takes place on Monday 1st December. Tickets are free. Phone 01695 65089, or email clpsorg@edgehill.ac.uk .
When The Circus Leaves Town
How Liverpool follows its year in the spotlight has long been anticipated. However, widespread suspicion will greet the setting up of a culture department within the city council (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/11/04/city-to-get-culture-department-100252-22177934/ ):
"The department, which will have a team of up to 25, will replace Liverpool Culture Company which will be wound down between January and June next year."
Aside from the thought that a "culture department" sounds Stalinist & bureaucratic, it could be argued that following the incompetence, nepotism & corruption which has disfigured the city's year of culture, the city council shouldn't be allowed anywhere near future cultural projects in the city.
There's also the issue of money:
"On Friday, city leaders will consider a proposal to maintain culture spending at 2008 levels for the next two years. It would mean investing £4.1m a year in 2009-10."
As the recession hits Liverpool, such a financial commitment will seem, at the very least, incongruous.
"The department, which will have a team of up to 25, will replace Liverpool Culture Company which will be wound down between January and June next year."
Aside from the thought that a "culture department" sounds Stalinist & bureaucratic, it could be argued that following the incompetence, nepotism & corruption which has disfigured the city's year of culture, the city council shouldn't be allowed anywhere near future cultural projects in the city.
There's also the issue of money:
"On Friday, city leaders will consider a proposal to maintain culture spending at 2008 levels for the next two years. It would mean investing £4.1m a year in 2009-10."
As the recession hits Liverpool, such a financial commitment will seem, at the very least, incongruous.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
You're Embarrassed, George? We're Furious!
Partners no more?George Gillett seems to be tiring of Liverpool Football Club. The co-owner's attention has now turned to business opportunities in India, very much an emerging market in sports business (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/gillett-admits-to-feeling-embarrassed-over-liverpool-989676.html ).
The Independent's report also states:
"[Gillett] did not say how long he intends to remain at Anfield, with or without co-owner Tom Hicks. 'You feel a responsibility and an embarrassment on occasions when you haven't provided all you might have,' Gillett said. 'There's a level of embarrassment and you want to correct it quickly.' "
Feeling embarrassed is all very well, George, but the fans simply want to see the back of you & your Texan buddy; on a night when one unpopular Texan is replaced, it would be nice to think that another will shortly take his leave.
Futility & Fantasy
It's worth wheeling out Geoffrey Howe's quote from 1981 that the then Tory government's policy on Merseyside should be one of "managed decline". The reason for doing so is that Cameron's Tories are trying to attract university students in Liverpool, or so the Daily Post claims (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/11/03/students-targeted-in-tory-bid-for-city-64375-22169911/ ).
"Neil Wilson, Conservative Future's area chairman for Merseyside, said: 'It's about involving young people in politics in a city where they are starting to look around them and wonder just what the Lib-Dems and Labour have really done for them.' "
Wilson's clumsy syntax aside, it doesn't really work as a rallying call for the Cameroons, does it? Er, hi, guys, do you, erm, want to, you know, talk about the council and stuff? Cue a dismissive shrug of many a shoulder.
The Tories claim to have recruited some students, but it's worth noting that at least half those at uni won't stay in the city after graduation. Therefore it seems that pitching an appeal to the city's students as a way of rebuilding their moribund base in Liverpool is inherently flawed.
Moreover, Wilson may want students to consider the record of the Lib-Dems & Labour, but they only have to ask their parents & grandparents about the Tories to get a rounded picture, particularly those from Merseyside.
The article also quotes Chris Grayling, the Tories' "shadow minister for Merseyside", as he's risibly described by Tory central office. He enthuses:
"I've always said winning seats in Liverpool is a long-haul task, but the situation is beginning to change.
"In Woolton, we reduced the Lib-Dem majority from 1,200 to 500."
This is whistling in the wind stuff, isn't it, Chris? Cameron may well appeal to people in Woolton, but only because it is the most affluent part of the city. There may be one or two other middle class pockets of support in the south end of the city (Mossley Hill, Allerton, perhaps), but that won't be sufficient to significantly increase the Tory vote in the city. As for the chances of actually winning a seat in any Liverpool seat, dream on.
Cameron will probably win the next election (expect Crosby, or Sefton Central, as it will be known, to go Tory), but the Liverpool seats will remain generally unchanged.
"Neil Wilson, Conservative Future's area chairman for Merseyside, said: 'It's about involving young people in politics in a city where they are starting to look around them and wonder just what the Lib-Dems and Labour have really done for them.' "
Wilson's clumsy syntax aside, it doesn't really work as a rallying call for the Cameroons, does it? Er, hi, guys, do you, erm, want to, you know, talk about the council and stuff? Cue a dismissive shrug of many a shoulder.
The Tories claim to have recruited some students, but it's worth noting that at least half those at uni won't stay in the city after graduation. Therefore it seems that pitching an appeal to the city's students as a way of rebuilding their moribund base in Liverpool is inherently flawed.
Moreover, Wilson may want students to consider the record of the Lib-Dems & Labour, but they only have to ask their parents & grandparents about the Tories to get a rounded picture, particularly those from Merseyside.
The article also quotes Chris Grayling, the Tories' "shadow minister for Merseyside", as he's risibly described by Tory central office. He enthuses:
"I've always said winning seats in Liverpool is a long-haul task, but the situation is beginning to change.
"In Woolton, we reduced the Lib-Dem majority from 1,200 to 500."
This is whistling in the wind stuff, isn't it, Chris? Cameron may well appeal to people in Woolton, but only because it is the most affluent part of the city. There may be one or two other middle class pockets of support in the south end of the city (Mossley Hill, Allerton, perhaps), but that won't be sufficient to significantly increase the Tory vote in the city. As for the chances of actually winning a seat in any Liverpool seat, dream on.
Cameron will probably win the next election (expect Crosby, or Sefton Central, as it will be known, to go Tory), but the Liverpool seats will remain generally unchanged.
Eyes On The Prize
Guillaume provides some intriguing background information in response to my post about the Sarah Palin prank call from "Sarko", aka Marc-Antoine Audette. Merci, Guillaume.
Meanwhile, the day has finally arrived across the pond. Anticipating the right result, I present the real US national anthem:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE .
Meanwhile, the day has finally arrived across the pond. Anticipating the right result, I present the real US national anthem:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE .
Monday, November 03, 2008
Incroyable
Ma connaissance fine, Guillaume, who writes the Vraie Fiction blog (http://vraiefiction.blogspot.com/ ) may be more familiar with the oeuvre of French-Canadian comedian Marc-Antoine Audette, who phoned Sarah Palin, claiming to be Nicholas Sarkozy, confirmed McCain's running mate to be every bit the gullible reactionary she really is (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/03/sarah-palin-phine-prank-sarkozy ).
Suzanne Goldenberg's report contains this gem:
"Palin, evidently thrilled to take what she had been told by aides was a call from the French leader, told the faux Sarkozy within a matter of seconds that she loved him. She did her best to keep that love alive, even when the conversation took an increasingly bizarre turn. When her caller pointed out that the two have a lot in common 'except from my house I can see Belgium', Palin cheerfully responded: 'Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with.' "
It's easy to laugh, but just think, within the next 36 hours this woman could become the US Vice-President.
Suzanne Goldenberg's report contains this gem:
"Palin, evidently thrilled to take what she had been told by aides was a call from the French leader, told the faux Sarkozy within a matter of seconds that she loved him. She did her best to keep that love alive, even when the conversation took an increasingly bizarre turn. When her caller pointed out that the two have a lot in common 'except from my house I can see Belgium', Palin cheerfully responded: 'Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with.' "
It's easy to laugh, but just think, within the next 36 hours this woman could become the US Vice-President.
Civic Chaos: A Case Study
Fresh from the farce over the McCartney concert, Liverpool City Council has again demonstrated its ability to look after the city's coffers responsibly. A final settlement has been reached on the court case involving the council & Bill Davies' Walton Group, &, guess what, Davies has walked away with a cool £2m in his pocket, courtesy of the city's civic comedians (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/11/01/bill-davies-scoops-2m-land-jackpot-64375-22161124/ ):
"The Daily Post can reveal Liverpool's taxpayers will end up paying 80 times the £25,000 which Mr Davies's Walton Group paid the council in 1996 for a disputed option to develop Chavasse Park."
Some background detail is necessary here. Davies took out an option on the Chavasse Park site if the council's plan for the area, a "National Discovery Centre", set to mark the millenium, fell through. It did, of course. Davies set about devising his own plans for the site, a major shopping complex, employing architects to draw up plans. However, in 2002, the council went to court to win the right to allow Grosvenor to build the Liverpool One development on the land.
It's worth recalling that Davies' Walton Group owned a number of properties in the city centre which had been allowed to fall into disrepair & neglect, one such property being the old Post Office site in Whitechapel. The local media's attempts to interview Davies were always rebuffed, creating the image of the Walton Group as secretive & unconcerned about the city's regeneration. The reality was & is more prosaic: Davies is a hard-headed businessman who bided his time, knowing that the council's negotiating team was no match for his retinue of assiduous lawyers. Davies also owned the Aintree racecourse at a time when the future of the Grand National was seriously questioned.
The Daily Post article dredges up some pretty embarassing memories for the city fathers:
"Back in September 2005 the council pledged to 'strenuously' resist Walton's demand.
"Cllr Mike Storey, then leader of the council, said at the time: 'The Walton Group has become a byword for inactivity and failure to help the regeneration of this city. I think the people of Liverpool will be shocked at the sheer cheek of this claim.'
"It is understood the council had set aside £1m to fight a court case which was due to start in January 2009.
"Sources said the council had been sure it had a 'water tight' case. However, this opinion seems to have changed given the level of the pay-out."
To paraphrase Mike Storey, I think the people of Liverpool will be shocked at the inept, inattentive & spineless way in which the council has capitulated to Davies, costing the city dearly.
"The Daily Post can reveal Liverpool's taxpayers will end up paying 80 times the £25,000 which Mr Davies's Walton Group paid the council in 1996 for a disputed option to develop Chavasse Park."
Some background detail is necessary here. Davies took out an option on the Chavasse Park site if the council's plan for the area, a "National Discovery Centre", set to mark the millenium, fell through. It did, of course. Davies set about devising his own plans for the site, a major shopping complex, employing architects to draw up plans. However, in 2002, the council went to court to win the right to allow Grosvenor to build the Liverpool One development on the land.
It's worth recalling that Davies' Walton Group owned a number of properties in the city centre which had been allowed to fall into disrepair & neglect, one such property being the old Post Office site in Whitechapel. The local media's attempts to interview Davies were always rebuffed, creating the image of the Walton Group as secretive & unconcerned about the city's regeneration. The reality was & is more prosaic: Davies is a hard-headed businessman who bided his time, knowing that the council's negotiating team was no match for his retinue of assiduous lawyers. Davies also owned the Aintree racecourse at a time when the future of the Grand National was seriously questioned.
The Daily Post article dredges up some pretty embarassing memories for the city fathers:
"Back in September 2005 the council pledged to 'strenuously' resist Walton's demand.
"Cllr Mike Storey, then leader of the council, said at the time: 'The Walton Group has become a byword for inactivity and failure to help the regeneration of this city. I think the people of Liverpool will be shocked at the sheer cheek of this claim.'
"It is understood the council had set aside £1m to fight a court case which was due to start in January 2009.
"Sources said the council had been sure it had a 'water tight' case. However, this opinion seems to have changed given the level of the pay-out."
To paraphrase Mike Storey, I think the people of Liverpool will be shocked at the inept, inattentive & spineless way in which the council has capitulated to Davies, costing the city dearly.
Hidden Agenda
So where do I stand on the Brand/Ross/Sachs saga? Well, to get it out of the way before anyone thinks I condone what happened, it was puerile, immature & reprehensible; if it had happened in any other workplace than the BBC, Brand & Ross would have been dismissed.
OK, now for the story behind the story. In the immediate aftermath of the programme's transmission, there were just two complaints. It was when the Mail on Sunday led with the affair last weekend that the number of complaints to the BBC rose exponentially (the current figure is 37,000, according to today's Guardian).
Both the MoS & the Daily Mail, of course, have their own agenda when it comes to anything involving the Beeb. They don't like it. They don't want it. In an ideal Daily Mail world, there wouldn't be a BBC; the Corporation can be everything the Mail could never be: enlightening, educative, innovative, diverse, open-minded, catholic, informative, stimulating & authoritative.
Marina Hyde's take on the (p)rank phone calls & the Mail's synthetic rage, noting that the rag directs none of its ire at the bankers for the credit crunch (a far bigger journalistic case, wouldn't you say?), brings some sanity & perspective to the whole debate (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/01/comment-debate ).
As Hyde points out, the BBC is "more responsive to public opinion" than any other institution in the UK.
There's an interesting contrast provided by Anton Vowl on the Liberal Conspiracy website between the BBC's method of dealing with complaints & the way in which the Daily Mail handles them (http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/10/30/what-happens-if-i-complain/ ).
To sum up, the Mail foments prejudice, the BBC helps to dispel it. As for Jonathan Ross, a P45 is the answer.
OK, now for the story behind the story. In the immediate aftermath of the programme's transmission, there were just two complaints. It was when the Mail on Sunday led with the affair last weekend that the number of complaints to the BBC rose exponentially (the current figure is 37,000, according to today's Guardian).
Both the MoS & the Daily Mail, of course, have their own agenda when it comes to anything involving the Beeb. They don't like it. They don't want it. In an ideal Daily Mail world, there wouldn't be a BBC; the Corporation can be everything the Mail could never be: enlightening, educative, innovative, diverse, open-minded, catholic, informative, stimulating & authoritative.
Marina Hyde's take on the (p)rank phone calls & the Mail's synthetic rage, noting that the rag directs none of its ire at the bankers for the credit crunch (a far bigger journalistic case, wouldn't you say?), brings some sanity & perspective to the whole debate (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/01/comment-debate ).
As Hyde points out, the BBC is "more responsive to public opinion" than any other institution in the UK.
There's an interesting contrast provided by Anton Vowl on the Liberal Conspiracy website between the BBC's method of dealing with complaints & the way in which the Daily Mail handles them (http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/10/30/what-happens-if-i-complain/ ).
To sum up, the Mail foments prejudice, the BBC helps to dispel it. As for Jonathan Ross, a P45 is the answer.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Studs Terkel
A true giant in US journalism, Studs Terkel, died on Friday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7703428.stm ).
It's worth recalling the inspirational & moving interview he gave to Stephen Sackur on the BBC Hardtalk programme last February:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7226682.stm .
The US mainstream media didn't know how to handle Studs. Not surprising when you consider that, unlike the execrable Sarah Palin, Studs was a true maverick.
It's worth recalling the inspirational & moving interview he gave to Stephen Sackur on the BBC Hardtalk programme last February:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7226682.stm .
The US mainstream media didn't know how to handle Studs. Not surprising when you consider that, unlike the execrable Sarah Palin, Studs was a true maverick.
Marketing: The Art Of Making A Turd Look Like A Ruby
Pete Price's ire at the blog which claims to be written by him would be a lot easier to understand if he didn't appeal to the lowest common denominator on his radio show. For those of you who haven't had the dubious pleasure of hearing it, it rapidly descends into a shouting match between Price & callers who are either drunk, or not quite there, if you get my drift. The topics, ahem, discussed on the programme are the sort of stories to be found in the tabloids & daytime TV. Price's presentational style makes Russell Brand sound like Alastair Cooke. The station which employs Price has now launched a new advertising campaign (http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-broadcasting/next-instalment-of-city-talk%92s-provocative-campaign-goes-live-200810283862/ ).
The campaign quotes Price declaring, "bring back national service for all scumbags". Such original, nay, Socratic pronouncements are presumably intended to attract more listeners.
How-Do's article quotes the station's marketing manager Suzanne Grant. Believe me, it's management bollockese with an extra layer of bullshit slapped on:
"This new wave of creative reinvigorates what has already been out and about across the city since the launch in January.
"We've kept the presenters' opinionated quotes, which reflect the style of their show and perhaps pushed them a little further this time."
Apart from Grant's poor use of the English language, the notion that promoting the imbecilic emissions from local shock jocks with rampaging egos is "creative" makes me wonder if she's ever consulted a dictionary.
Oh, by the way, Pete, good luck in your search for the mystery blogger.
The campaign quotes Price declaring, "bring back national service for all scumbags". Such original, nay, Socratic pronouncements are presumably intended to attract more listeners.
How-Do's article quotes the station's marketing manager Suzanne Grant. Believe me, it's management bollockese with an extra layer of bullshit slapped on:
"This new wave of creative reinvigorates what has already been out and about across the city since the launch in January.
"We've kept the presenters' opinionated quotes, which reflect the style of their show and perhaps pushed them a little further this time."
Apart from Grant's poor use of the English language, the notion that promoting the imbecilic emissions from local shock jocks with rampaging egos is "creative" makes me wonder if she's ever consulted a dictionary.
Oh, by the way, Pete, good luck in your search for the mystery blogger.
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Audacity Of Hope...And Activism
Given the choice of John McCain or Barack Obama, I wouldn't waste any time in plumping for the senator from Illinois. Of course, I'm not alone; witness the 200,000 Berliners who turned out to see Obama earlier this year during his European tour. There's also no shortage of columnists & commentators, particularly on the Guardian's Comment is Free site (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ ) posting firmly pro-Obama articles.
However, there has been a dearth of articles which offer critical support to the Democratic candidate. That's why it was refreshing to read Seumas Milne's piece on the CiF site yesterday (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/30/seumas-milne-us-elections-obama ).
Milne readily accepts that the significance of an Obama win would be seismic, not just totemic; the achievement of electing an African-American into the White House, just four decades after the Civil Rights movement challenged open segregation in states like Mississippi & Alabama, is truly historic. Milne also sketches the likely scenario if the polls disguise the race element & the Republicans win:
"If...John McCain were to confound weeks of opinion polls and win the day, the backlash would surely be harsh. Against a background of intense Republican unpopularity, economic crisis and apparently impregnable polling leads, such a victory would be widely seen as the product of shameless racism -- and the election as rigged and stolen. In the US, anger could be expected to turn to rioting. Across the rest of the world, America's popularity and moral standing --already at an historic low-- would sink to unprecedented depths. No wonder such a large part of the American establishment is rooting for an Obama win."
However, Milne cautions:
"No politician, least of all one tied up by the constraints of the corporate-funded US presidential system, can hope to meet the kind of expectations that have been aroused among the Illinois senator's armies of enthusiasts, even if bolstered by a clean Democratic sweep in Congress."
Milne refers to the $700bn bailout for the banks (socialism for the ruling class, in other words) while social programmes suffer through cuts as the recession continues apace. His refreshingly candid take on an anticipated Obama presidency (in contrast to the orgasmic cries of many a Guardian & Independent scribbler) ends with an insightful analysis & conclusion:
"What seems certain is that an Obama election will be a catalyst that creates political opportunities both at home and abroad. The Obama campaign grew out of popular opposition to the Iraq war and its success has been based on the mobilisation of supporters who will certainly want to go further and faster than their candidate. Economic conditions are also likely to demand a more decisive response. And even if conditions are very different from those which led to the New Deal of the 1930s --not least the lack of a powerful labour movement-- Obama could yet, like Roosevelt, be propelled by events to adopt more radical positions. In any case, if Obama is to begin to fulfill the confidence invested in him, hope will not be enough -- those who want real change will have to fight for it."
Milne's lucid observations are more thoughtful & measured than the primal scram of rage that characterised George Monbiot's CiF piece two days earlier, even though I was sympathetic to his main contention that religions have a key role in the US education system, leading to "stupid" attitudes & prejudices taking hold in the minds of millions of Americans (creationism, etc.). That said, Monbiot's splenetic critique is still required reading (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/28/us-education-election-obama-bush-mccain ).
However, there has been a dearth of articles which offer critical support to the Democratic candidate. That's why it was refreshing to read Seumas Milne's piece on the CiF site yesterday (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/30/seumas-milne-us-elections-obama ).
Milne readily accepts that the significance of an Obama win would be seismic, not just totemic; the achievement of electing an African-American into the White House, just four decades after the Civil Rights movement challenged open segregation in states like Mississippi & Alabama, is truly historic. Milne also sketches the likely scenario if the polls disguise the race element & the Republicans win:
"If...John McCain were to confound weeks of opinion polls and win the day, the backlash would surely be harsh. Against a background of intense Republican unpopularity, economic crisis and apparently impregnable polling leads, such a victory would be widely seen as the product of shameless racism -- and the election as rigged and stolen. In the US, anger could be expected to turn to rioting. Across the rest of the world, America's popularity and moral standing --already at an historic low-- would sink to unprecedented depths. No wonder such a large part of the American establishment is rooting for an Obama win."
However, Milne cautions:
"No politician, least of all one tied up by the constraints of the corporate-funded US presidential system, can hope to meet the kind of expectations that have been aroused among the Illinois senator's armies of enthusiasts, even if bolstered by a clean Democratic sweep in Congress."
Milne refers to the $700bn bailout for the banks (socialism for the ruling class, in other words) while social programmes suffer through cuts as the recession continues apace. His refreshingly candid take on an anticipated Obama presidency (in contrast to the orgasmic cries of many a Guardian & Independent scribbler) ends with an insightful analysis & conclusion:
"What seems certain is that an Obama election will be a catalyst that creates political opportunities both at home and abroad. The Obama campaign grew out of popular opposition to the Iraq war and its success has been based on the mobilisation of supporters who will certainly want to go further and faster than their candidate. Economic conditions are also likely to demand a more decisive response. And even if conditions are very different from those which led to the New Deal of the 1930s --not least the lack of a powerful labour movement-- Obama could yet, like Roosevelt, be propelled by events to adopt more radical positions. In any case, if Obama is to begin to fulfill the confidence invested in him, hope will not be enough -- those who want real change will have to fight for it."
Milne's lucid observations are more thoughtful & measured than the primal scram of rage that characterised George Monbiot's CiF piece two days earlier, even though I was sympathetic to his main contention that religions have a key role in the US education system, leading to "stupid" attitudes & prejudices taking hold in the minds of millions of Americans (creationism, etc.). That said, Monbiot's splenetic critique is still required reading (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/28/us-education-election-obama-bush-mccain ).
Thursday, October 30, 2008
McCartney's Money Mix Up
Elvis Costello alluded to the chaos surrounding the McCartney concert at Anfield during his own gig at the Philharmonic Hall in June, citing it as a reason for his no-show. The financial aspect of the farce surrounding the event is now clear (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/10/27/paul-mccartney-i-owe-liverpool-300-000-100252-22125410/ ).
MPL, McCartney's production company, was paid £323,046 by the city council (&, by extension, the city's council tax payers) "because the council ended up providing staffing 'commitments' for which MPL was paid.
"The ECHO understands MPL flagged up the debt to the council."
In other words, it was left to Macca's people to inform the council of this farce. It speaks volumes about the ramshackle & frankly negligent auditing procedures employed by the city council. And it doesn't end there, oh, no; the council has lost money on last June's Liverpool Sound concert at Anfield:
"The balance shows around £1,917,000 was spent staging the event which generated £1,874,318."
That's a loss of £42,682 to Liverpool's council tax payers. Warren, Jase, take a bow!
Oh, by the way, there's an extra £300,000 which the council spent on a feasibility study to assess the pros & cons of a concert at the Salthouse Dock, something Tony Parrish expertly documented on the Liverpool SubCulture blog last year (http://liverpoolsubculture.blogspot.com/ ).
The Echo quotes the council's claim that "the June concert did wonders for the city's image, equivalent to millions of pounds worth of advertising exposure at home and abroad."
Believe that & you'll believe anything; the original plan to have the concert televised live both in the UK & abroad was shelved by the BBC & other broadcasters when it became clear that, apart from Sir Thumbs-Up himself, the line-up for the evening was alarmingly threadbare. This was due in no small measure to the rank mismanagement of the Culture Company.
Instead, an edited highlights package on the BBC later that evening served as a limp apologia for an event which could & should have been a fitting showcase of Liverpool music, both past & present.
MPL, McCartney's production company, was paid £323,046 by the city council (&, by extension, the city's council tax payers) "because the council ended up providing staffing 'commitments' for which MPL was paid.
"The ECHO understands MPL flagged up the debt to the council."
In other words, it was left to Macca's people to inform the council of this farce. It speaks volumes about the ramshackle & frankly negligent auditing procedures employed by the city council. And it doesn't end there, oh, no; the council has lost money on last June's Liverpool Sound concert at Anfield:
"The balance shows around £1,917,000 was spent staging the event which generated £1,874,318."
That's a loss of £42,682 to Liverpool's council tax payers. Warren, Jase, take a bow!
Oh, by the way, there's an extra £300,000 which the council spent on a feasibility study to assess the pros & cons of a concert at the Salthouse Dock, something Tony Parrish expertly documented on the Liverpool SubCulture blog last year (http://liverpoolsubculture.blogspot.com/ ).
The Echo quotes the council's claim that "the June concert did wonders for the city's image, equivalent to millions of pounds worth of advertising exposure at home and abroad."
Believe that & you'll believe anything; the original plan to have the concert televised live both in the UK & abroad was shelved by the BBC & other broadcasters when it became clear that, apart from Sir Thumbs-Up himself, the line-up for the evening was alarmingly threadbare. This was due in no small measure to the rank mismanagement of the Culture Company.
Instead, an edited highlights package on the BBC later that evening served as a limp apologia for an event which could & should have been a fitting showcase of Liverpool music, both past & present.
Addendum
I forgot to add the second part of Huffington's quote which does full justice to her point:
"The Internet may make it easier to disseminate character smears, but it also makes it much less likely that these smears will stick."
"The Internet may make it easier to disseminate character smears, but it also makes it much less likely that these smears will stick."
The Future's Online
With the surfeit of comment & articles on the blogosphere about the US election, it's all too easy to let some nuggets of insight pass under the radar. That almost happened in the case of a piece by Arianna Huffington on her HuffPost site (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-internet-and-the-deat_b_136400.html ).
Her comments are specifically about the role of the web in the race for the White House, but also have a resonance on this side of the Atlantic:
"Thanks to YouTube -- and blogging and instant fact checking and viral emails --it is getting harder and harder to get away with repeating brazen lies without paying a price, or to run under-the-radar smear campaigns without being exposed."
The old tactic of using the TV & the tabloids has had its day. Time's up.
Her comments are specifically about the role of the web in the race for the White House, but also have a resonance on this side of the Atlantic:
"Thanks to YouTube -- and blogging and instant fact checking and viral emails --it is getting harder and harder to get away with repeating brazen lies without paying a price, or to run under-the-radar smear campaigns without being exposed."
The old tactic of using the TV & the tabloids has had its day. Time's up.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Help At Hand
Happy to get out of the torrential rain that has fallen in the last 24 hours, I fumble in the dark for the light switch near the front door. Nothing. Nada. I curse, thinking another light bulb has gone. I move into the living room & find the switch. Ditto. A sudden dispiriting realisation hits. Power cut. Electricity gone. I head back out & ask a near neighbour, whose lights are on, what the situation is. He & his wife quickly explain that a local sub station has been affected, presumably by the deluge. Estimated time of a return to normality: two & a half hours. Would I like tea or coffee? In their living room are three other neighbours, two elderly, one with a young child, whose power has also gone awol. After nearly an hour of welcome & warming hospitality, we get the word that the electricity has been restored. We thank our hosts sincerely for their help & food before making our way back. I return home. A switch is flicked & suddenly the mundane act of lighting a house assumes reassuring meaning. Thomas Edison briefly occupies my thoughts.
Then I think of something else: the real meaning of that overused phrase, community spirit.
Then I think of something else: the real meaning of that overused phrase, community spirit.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Reward For A Renegade
It's a parable of how the broad church of Old Labour has become the even broader church of New Labour. Former Tory leader of Sefton Council Les Byrom defected to Labour last June. It wasn't disputed by anyone associated with Byrom that he left the Tories in a fit of pique, his fairly lucrative tenure, at least by local government standards, as chairman of the local fire authority brought to an abrupt end.
Now, however, Byrom has been rewarded with a cushy quango job. He has been appointed chairman of the Business Community Safety Forum (BCSF) by the government (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/25/tory-defector-councillor-lands-a-government-job-64375-22114019/ ).
During the 80s the Tories controlled Sefton Council with a zeal which was characteristic of the time; indeed, their avarice & deep-seated venality raised eyebrows at Conservative Central Office. No opportunity was wasted in lavishing expenditure on the Tory-voting north of the borough, particularly Southport, at the expense of solidly Labour Bootle. Byrom eagerly championed such squalid chicanery.
The post is worth £3,000 per annum plus expenses. Byrom beams, "I look forward to the challenge."
I bet he does.
Now, however, Byrom has been rewarded with a cushy quango job. He has been appointed chairman of the Business Community Safety Forum (BCSF) by the government (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/25/tory-defector-councillor-lands-a-government-job-64375-22114019/ ).
During the 80s the Tories controlled Sefton Council with a zeal which was characteristic of the time; indeed, their avarice & deep-seated venality raised eyebrows at Conservative Central Office. No opportunity was wasted in lavishing expenditure on the Tory-voting north of the borough, particularly Southport, at the expense of solidly Labour Bootle. Byrom eagerly championed such squalid chicanery.
The post is worth £3,000 per annum plus expenses. Byrom beams, "I look forward to the challenge."
I bet he does.
J.Jonah Jamison Speaks Out
These are tough times for the newspaper industry. The situation was grim enough, what with TV, freesheets ("Metro") & the Web forming a formidable Triple Alliance against papers around the globe. Now the credit crunch has joined the fray. However, all is not lost, the fightback has begun with the good old Oldham Echo; it is on the verge of a relaunch after consulting its readers (no, really): (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/24/trinity-mirror-liverpool-echo ).
Apparently, there will be increased coverage of environmental issues (but don't expect any Grauniad or Independent-style pieces, too many long words for a start). The coverage of Liverpool & Everton will, however, reach overkill proportions (expect more inane comments from footballers).
The Guardian's report quotes Echo editor Alastair Machray. Hoping for a few gems? Well, he doesn't disappoint (no mention of that PCC complaint, though):
"The relaunch came out of an extensive brand research programme we did. We went to the readers and asked them what they thought the Liverpool Echo stood for."
Well, I could provide a whole list of things, Alastair, but do go on:
"We asked what the essence of the Echo was and we were told it was seen as the voice of Liverpool. As you can imagine, as editor it is gold dust to be told that in an era of fragmented and multifarious media."
Stop, stop, my sides are hurting! The "voice of Liverpool"? Oh, please!
There's more, much more, in fact of Alastair's self-congratulatory sermonising. It seems readers want the Echo to be "more modern", not so difficult a task when you consider that the paper still sees the internet as a suspicious phenomenon familiar only to teenagers & carries missives on its letters page which belong to the 60s...the 1860s, that is.
Think that's bad enough? How about this:
"A 'positivity programme' would be introduced, [Machray] said, so that editorial better reflected the good aspects of the city rather than focusing rigidly on bad news.
" 'We have [also] introduced something called the "truth project", it will be run by a senior assistant editor and the purpose is to ensure that every word that we write, every promotion we are launching does not betray the faith our readers have placed in us,' Machray added."
It's hard to know where to begin with that lot. A "positivity programme"? A "truth project"? Ever read Orwell, Alastair?
How about admitting in your own pages that Capital of Culture year hasn't been the unalloyed triumph you've claimed it to be? No? Thought not. Oh, & by the way, the faith your readers have placed in you is dwindling even further; between August 2007 & August 2008, the Echo's circulation dropped by 7,000. You'll need a lot more than a "positivity programme" to counter that.
Good luck, Alastair...you'll need it.
Apparently, there will be increased coverage of environmental issues (but don't expect any Grauniad or Independent-style pieces, too many long words for a start). The coverage of Liverpool & Everton will, however, reach overkill proportions (expect more inane comments from footballers).
The Guardian's report quotes Echo editor Alastair Machray. Hoping for a few gems? Well, he doesn't disappoint (no mention of that PCC complaint, though):
"The relaunch came out of an extensive brand research programme we did. We went to the readers and asked them what they thought the Liverpool Echo stood for."
Well, I could provide a whole list of things, Alastair, but do go on:
"We asked what the essence of the Echo was and we were told it was seen as the voice of Liverpool. As you can imagine, as editor it is gold dust to be told that in an era of fragmented and multifarious media."
Stop, stop, my sides are hurting! The "voice of Liverpool"? Oh, please!
There's more, much more, in fact of Alastair's self-congratulatory sermonising. It seems readers want the Echo to be "more modern", not so difficult a task when you consider that the paper still sees the internet as a suspicious phenomenon familiar only to teenagers & carries missives on its letters page which belong to the 60s...the 1860s, that is.
Think that's bad enough? How about this:
"A 'positivity programme' would be introduced, [Machray] said, so that editorial better reflected the good aspects of the city rather than focusing rigidly on bad news.
" 'We have [also] introduced something called the "truth project", it will be run by a senior assistant editor and the purpose is to ensure that every word that we write, every promotion we are launching does not betray the faith our readers have placed in us,' Machray added."
It's hard to know where to begin with that lot. A "positivity programme"? A "truth project"? Ever read Orwell, Alastair?
How about admitting in your own pages that Capital of Culture year hasn't been the unalloyed triumph you've claimed it to be? No? Thought not. Oh, & by the way, the faith your readers have placed in you is dwindling even further; between August 2007 & August 2008, the Echo's circulation dropped by 7,000. You'll need a lot more than a "positivity programme" to counter that.
Good luck, Alastair...you'll need it.
Baby, You Can't Drive My Car
After Ringo's charming video message about all fan mail now being "tossed", it seems that Sir Thumbs-Up also has his own statement to make:
Keeping The Secular Sacrosanct
The Westminster wing of the God Squad mustered their forces earlier this week when the Commons debated the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (HFE).
That gave the Daily Post's political editor Rob Merrick the excuse to file a misleading piece (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/22/mersey-mps-set-to-lead-saviour-siblings-revolt-64375-22088654/ :
"Mersey Catholic MPs will tonight lead a Commons revolt against controversial new laws to create human-animal embryos and so-called 'saviour siblings'. "
Given that the Bill was passed, albeit with the pusillanimous actions of Harriet Harman on Northern Ireland's abortion laws, it seems perverse to describe the not so holy trinity of local MPs, Bootle's Joe Benton, Crosby's Claire Curtis-Thomas & Southport's John Pugh, as leading a revolt. It suggests that their desire to foist their own version of morality on the rest of us were successful.
It's either slapdash journalism by Merrick, or an all-too transparent sop to local anti-abortion activists while downplaying the reality that their agenda commands little public support.
The Westminster chicanery over Northern Ireland's abortion legislation (a bribe to get the support of the DUP over the 42 day detention law) serves as a case study in political & social denial by the "pro-life" lobby (amply represented on both sides of the sectarian divide -- so much for Sinn Fein's "progressive" credentials). As Merrick reports:
"The status of abortion in [Northern Ireland] has implications for Liverpool, because hundreds of women pay around £2,000 to travel to the city for a private termination every year."
That gave the Daily Post's political editor Rob Merrick the excuse to file a misleading piece (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/22/mersey-mps-set-to-lead-saviour-siblings-revolt-64375-22088654/ :
"Mersey Catholic MPs will tonight lead a Commons revolt against controversial new laws to create human-animal embryos and so-called 'saviour siblings'. "
Given that the Bill was passed, albeit with the pusillanimous actions of Harriet Harman on Northern Ireland's abortion laws, it seems perverse to describe the not so holy trinity of local MPs, Bootle's Joe Benton, Crosby's Claire Curtis-Thomas & Southport's John Pugh, as leading a revolt. It suggests that their desire to foist their own version of morality on the rest of us were successful.
It's either slapdash journalism by Merrick, or an all-too transparent sop to local anti-abortion activists while downplaying the reality that their agenda commands little public support.
The Westminster chicanery over Northern Ireland's abortion legislation (a bribe to get the support of the DUP over the 42 day detention law) serves as a case study in political & social denial by the "pro-life" lobby (amply represented on both sides of the sectarian divide -- so much for Sinn Fein's "progressive" credentials). As Merrick reports:
"The status of abortion in [Northern Ireland] has implications for Liverpool, because hundreds of women pay around £2,000 to travel to the city for a private termination every year."
Heading In The Wrong Direction
After cancelling my subscription to the New Statesman earlier this year I continued to read the articles filed by the magazine's US editor Andrew Stephen online. Always well-researched, clearly presented & cogently argued, Stephen's pieces were a joy to read. Sadly, he has now resigned from the magazine (http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/10/14/all-change-at-new-statesman/ ).
Former editor John Kampfner has been replaced by Jason Cowley, latterly of Granta. Cowley has stated his wish for the New Statesman to have "intelligent writing", a quality which certainly has its place in a literary periodical like Granta, yet is not necessarily what the NS should be about.
Former editor John Kampfner has been replaced by Jason Cowley, latterly of Granta. Cowley has stated his wish for the New Statesman to have "intelligent writing", a quality which certainly has its place in a literary periodical like Granta, yet is not necessarily what the NS should be about.
The World According To Sarah Palin
If sufficient numbers of white American voters reveal their racism in the voting booth on November 4th & confound the pollsters, electing John McCain into the White House, be afraid, be very afraid:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nokTjEdaUGg .
"Our next door neighbours are foreign countries."
Not even Dubya could top that.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nokTjEdaUGg .
"Our next door neighbours are foreign countries."
Not even Dubya could top that.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
With God On Their Side
"The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other."
Alexis De Tocqueville, 1835 (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alexisdeto402216.html ).
"Sincerely wishing that, that as men and christians, ye may always fully and uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right; and be, in your turn, the means of securing it to others; but that the example which ye have unwisely set, of mingling religion with politics, may be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of AMERICA." (Author's italics).
Thomas Paine to American Quakers, 1776, "Common Sense", Thomas Paine, Pelican Books, 1776, 1976.
I thought of De Tocqueville & Paine when reading an eye-opening piece by Geoffrey Wheatcroft in Tuesday's Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/21/religion-christianity-palin ) on the stranglehold that religion (primarily the Christian religions) exert over political life in the US. He illustrates its control over Presidential debates by referring to an event at an "evangelical megachurch" in California earlier this year, at which Obama & McCain were asked to bare their souls & "confess" to past mistakes in their private lives (something that would, thankfully, be unthinkable anywhere in western Europe). Rather than dismiss such a gathering as a fundamentalist, Talibanesque rump, both candidates seemingly felt obliged to attend the event & tell all.
However, any notion that this farce has always been a feature of US political, civic & social life was roundly disabused by Wheatcroft. He notes, "For Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt to have taken part in any such event during the 1932 presidential campaign would have seemed quite absurd, or Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey in 1948. Four years later, Dwight Eisenhower had so little religious upbringing that he needed to be discreetly baptised before he reached the White House."
Wheatcroft goes on to highlight an aspect of the religious Right's fervent belief which the US media normally ignore. It is every bit as crazed, irrational & unscientific as any edict from Bin Laden:
"[Sarah] Palin's convention speech was held for a time to be the height of feisty wit, but much more revealing is what she and her pastor have said about 'the end of days', an idea in which millions of American evangelical Christians sincerely believe. According to [Palin's pastor Ed] Kalnins, the Jewish people must be gathered into the Land of Israel as a preliminary to Armageddon. When the vast conflict comes the Jews will be converted, or possibly annihilated, and it will be followed by the Rapture."
Given that the Jewish vote (a distasteful piece of US political shorthand) has moved increasingly to the Republicans since the Reagan years, almost exclusively because of the Israel issue, it's no surprise that this perverse neo-con conviction is either denied or downplayed by the Republican leadership. It could also be political dynamite if, as has already been suggested, McCain's likely defeat leads to a Palin candidacy in 2012 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/sarahpalin-uselections & http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/23/sarah-palin-evangelical-christian ).
As one whose value system derives from an altogether different source (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/atheist-bus-campaign-ariane-sherine ), I find the US fixation with Faith both unfathomable & depressing.
Alexis De Tocqueville, 1835 (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alexisdeto402216.html ).
"Sincerely wishing that, that as men and christians, ye may always fully and uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right; and be, in your turn, the means of securing it to others; but that the example which ye have unwisely set, of mingling religion with politics, may be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of AMERICA." (Author's italics).
Thomas Paine to American Quakers, 1776, "Common Sense", Thomas Paine, Pelican Books, 1776, 1976.
I thought of De Tocqueville & Paine when reading an eye-opening piece by Geoffrey Wheatcroft in Tuesday's Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/21/religion-christianity-palin ) on the stranglehold that religion (primarily the Christian religions) exert over political life in the US. He illustrates its control over Presidential debates by referring to an event at an "evangelical megachurch" in California earlier this year, at which Obama & McCain were asked to bare their souls & "confess" to past mistakes in their private lives (something that would, thankfully, be unthinkable anywhere in western Europe). Rather than dismiss such a gathering as a fundamentalist, Talibanesque rump, both candidates seemingly felt obliged to attend the event & tell all.
However, any notion that this farce has always been a feature of US political, civic & social life was roundly disabused by Wheatcroft. He notes, "For Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt to have taken part in any such event during the 1932 presidential campaign would have seemed quite absurd, or Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey in 1948. Four years later, Dwight Eisenhower had so little religious upbringing that he needed to be discreetly baptised before he reached the White House."
Wheatcroft goes on to highlight an aspect of the religious Right's fervent belief which the US media normally ignore. It is every bit as crazed, irrational & unscientific as any edict from Bin Laden:
"[Sarah] Palin's convention speech was held for a time to be the height of feisty wit, but much more revealing is what she and her pastor have said about 'the end of days', an idea in which millions of American evangelical Christians sincerely believe. According to [Palin's pastor Ed] Kalnins, the Jewish people must be gathered into the Land of Israel as a preliminary to Armageddon. When the vast conflict comes the Jews will be converted, or possibly annihilated, and it will be followed by the Rapture."
Given that the Jewish vote (a distasteful piece of US political shorthand) has moved increasingly to the Republicans since the Reagan years, almost exclusively because of the Israel issue, it's no surprise that this perverse neo-con conviction is either denied or downplayed by the Republican leadership. It could also be political dynamite if, as has already been suggested, McCain's likely defeat leads to a Palin candidacy in 2012 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/sarahpalin-uselections & http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/23/sarah-palin-evangelical-christian ).
As one whose value system derives from an altogether different source (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/atheist-bus-campaign-ariane-sherine ), I find the US fixation with Faith both unfathomable & depressing.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Local Impressions (Take Two)
Liverpool fan Darren Farley has certainly made his mark in cyberspace since a video of his impressions was posted on YouTube last week. The video has now amassed a mind-boggling 270,000 hits. Little wonder, given his flawless impersonations of Rafa Benitez & Steven Gerrard. Darren's Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen & Peter Crouch don't quite hit the mark for me, though his ability to inject satire into his voices is impressive. Enjoy:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C2QEm028lKA .
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C2QEm028lKA .
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Many Happy Returns?
According to John Naughton in today's Observer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/19/blogging ), Google isn't the only online presence to celebrate its tenth anniversary this year. Blogging, it seems, is also a decade old. Naughton quotes US magazine editor Andrew Sullivan on his definition of the term: "Blogging is to writing, he says, 'what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive.' "
Steady on, Andrew.
Steady on, Andrew.
Uncle Sam's Reality Check
My fellow Liverpool FC fan Tony Karon, a senior editor at TIME.com in New York City, & who also writes the consistently excellent Rootless Cosmopolitan blog (www.tonykaron.com/ ), emails an article he's written for the UAE-based newspaper, The National (http://www.thenational.ae:80/article/2008/10/18/OPINION/716488415/1133 ) with a question: "What's the connection between Iraq and Anfield?"
He supplies the answer for me: "Both were acquired by Americans using borrowed money...".
Tony examines how the global financial crisis will affect US foreign policy, noting that the American penchant for leveraged buy-outs, ie., saddling a business with debt & hefty interest charges in order to purchase it, even extended to the Iraqi conflict:
"Iraq wasn't supposed to be a drain on resources. The Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Congress a month before the invasion that 'to assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong'. The occupation, he said, would be financed by Iraq's own oil revenues.
"The Iraqis, of course, had other ideas, which is why Iraq has long been viewed, even within the US national security establishment, as a catastrophic strategic blunder: it demonstrated the limits on Washington's ability to impose its political will through the deployment of its awesome military power."
Tony mentions the statements of Gordon Brown, Nicholas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, et al , in response to the crisis, stressing the necessity of "global governance" of the world's financial & banking system, as well as the desire for greater transparency & accountability. What it means for the US role in the world is stark:
"The subtext is clear: the US can no longer shape the global financial system on its own terms, and it will be forced to adopt international standards anathema to the conventional wisdom of post-Reagan Washington if it wants to keep playing the global financial game on which its economy depends."
Reality certainly seems to have kicked in with many Americans just a couple of weeks before the election. However, as the frenzied, frothing, NRA afficionados at the McCain/Palin rallies illustrate, there's still no shortage of Americans in denial about the drastically changed circumstances in which the world will have to operate.
He supplies the answer for me: "Both were acquired by Americans using borrowed money...".
Tony examines how the global financial crisis will affect US foreign policy, noting that the American penchant for leveraged buy-outs, ie., saddling a business with debt & hefty interest charges in order to purchase it, even extended to the Iraqi conflict:
"Iraq wasn't supposed to be a drain on resources. The Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Congress a month before the invasion that 'to assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong'. The occupation, he said, would be financed by Iraq's own oil revenues.
"The Iraqis, of course, had other ideas, which is why Iraq has long been viewed, even within the US national security establishment, as a catastrophic strategic blunder: it demonstrated the limits on Washington's ability to impose its political will through the deployment of its awesome military power."
Tony mentions the statements of Gordon Brown, Nicholas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, et al , in response to the crisis, stressing the necessity of "global governance" of the world's financial & banking system, as well as the desire for greater transparency & accountability. What it means for the US role in the world is stark:
"The subtext is clear: the US can no longer shape the global financial system on its own terms, and it will be forced to adopt international standards anathema to the conventional wisdom of post-Reagan Washington if it wants to keep playing the global financial game on which its economy depends."
Reality certainly seems to have kicked in with many Americans just a couple of weeks before the election. However, as the frenzied, frothing, NRA afficionados at the McCain/Palin rallies illustrate, there's still no shortage of Americans in denial about the drastically changed circumstances in which the world will have to operate.
Home Truths Amid The Humbug
I wasn't able to attend the debate at the city's Anglican cathedral on Thursday. However, it seems, from talking to those who were there, that more heat than light was generated on Tim Leunig's comments about Liverpool following that Policy Exchange report.
However, Leunig made two points in defending his position which warrant both urgent attention & action (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/17/dr-tim-leunig-stands-by-attack-on-liverpool-64375-22054441/ ):
"According to the Institute for Public Policy Research, a rival think-tank to Policy Exchange, Liverpool has the lowest rate of employment for any major town or city in the country. And that is a tragedy for those people.
"It also has the highest rate of in-work benefits. So Liverpool is not generating the number of jobs or the quality of jobs for the people."
Leunig's perverse & unworkable conclusions notwithstanding, those two points are irrefutable & serve as a damning indictment of New Labour's ideological reluctance to even address them. Now that the recession is upon us the local economy will face job losses on a scale not seen since the late 70s/early 80s.
However, Leunig made two points in defending his position which warrant both urgent attention & action (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/17/dr-tim-leunig-stands-by-attack-on-liverpool-64375-22054441/ ):
"According to the Institute for Public Policy Research, a rival think-tank to Policy Exchange, Liverpool has the lowest rate of employment for any major town or city in the country. And that is a tragedy for those people.
"It also has the highest rate of in-work benefits. So Liverpool is not generating the number of jobs or the quality of jobs for the people."
Leunig's perverse & unworkable conclusions notwithstanding, those two points are irrefutable & serve as a damning indictment of New Labour's ideological reluctance to even address them. Now that the recession is upon us the local economy will face job losses on a scale not seen since the late 70s/early 80s.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Not In His Name!
It was so nice of Liverpool Confidential to mention this humble little blog last week when discussing Pete Price's ire at the blog (http://peteprice967.blogspot.com/ ) which he considers libellous (http://www.liverpoolconfidential.com/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNwEiNwOrJaqiNwF6IHqi&realname=Pete_Price_in_web_of_intrigue ).
For what it's worth, I suspect the imposter to be Ringo Starr. Well, he has got more time for himself now that his autograph signing has been "tossed".
For what it's worth, I suspect the imposter to be Ringo Starr. Well, he has got more time for himself now that his autograph signing has been "tossed".
Beleaguered, Becalmed (& Boycotted?)
Things are looking grim at the Oldham Echo. While the Press Complaints Commission deliberates (take your time, chaps) over editor Alistair Machray's blog posting about getting to know Catherine Zeta Jones a little too well, & the move to Oldham has been met with the threat of a reader boycott (http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-publishing/trinity-to-face-reader-boycott-over-plans-to-move-echo-and-post-printing-press?-200810163758/ ), senior ears on Old Hall Street will have pricked up in alarm at comments made by Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, earlier this week (http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42236&c=1 ).
Lyons defended the BBC from criticism by regional newspapers that the corporation has an unfair advantage over local papers & commercial broadcasters such as ITV:
" 'There's nobody who can be satisfied with the quality of local news in most parts of the United Kingdom,' Lyons told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch in London this afternoon.
" 'The local press has nothing like the strength that it once had. It's not the same proposition that it was 15 years ago. Will the BBC make it better or worse? That's exactly the issue to be explored.' "
Of course, it needs to be said that a good deal of the BBC's local radio & TV output would make most observers fear for the future of the Beeb's standard of journalism. However, Lyons' words would have been sufficient to produce one of those tumbleweed moments on Old Hall Street.
Lyons defended the BBC from criticism by regional newspapers that the corporation has an unfair advantage over local papers & commercial broadcasters such as ITV:
" 'There's nobody who can be satisfied with the quality of local news in most parts of the United Kingdom,' Lyons told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch in London this afternoon.
" 'The local press has nothing like the strength that it once had. It's not the same proposition that it was 15 years ago. Will the BBC make it better or worse? That's exactly the issue to be explored.' "
Of course, it needs to be said that a good deal of the BBC's local radio & TV output would make most observers fear for the future of the Beeb's standard of journalism. However, Lyons' words would have been sufficient to produce one of those tumbleweed moments on Old Hall Street.
Local Impressions
The old saying about Liverpool being a city of comedians & impressionists is just another cliche about the place. However, every cliche has its origins in reality & it's nice to know that the city can still produce natural, unsung mimics, as this YouTube clip brilliantly demonstrates:
http://ie.youtube.com:80/watch?v=C2QEm0281KA .
http://ie.youtube.com:80/watch?v=C2QEm0281KA .
Erratum
I mistakenly ascribed the golly doll story to the Daily Post. It was, in fact the Post's sister paper, the Echo which carried the report (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/10/16/racist-golly-dolls-removed-from-albert-dock-shop-100252-22048103/ ).
Beyond Belief
There are some acts of crass stupidity which simply can't be ignored. A case in point was the stocking of golly dolls at the Wizzard shop, which is just a short walk from the International Slavery Museum at Liverpool's Albert Dock. Given that the port of Liverpool was enriched beyond all recognition by the slave trade, it beggars belief that a retailer in the city, & particularly the port area, could be so callous & obtuse. In the last couple of days, however, the penny has finally dropped with the shop's owners & the dolls have been taken from its shelves. Both the city council & the Merseyside Black Police Association had raised their objections, along with countless others (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/10/16/racist-golly-dolls-removed-from-albert-dock-shop-100252-22048103/ ).
The Daily Post report notes:
"A spokesman for the shop said: 'We've had messages of support and these dolls have been bought for years by customers both black and white.
"Even though completely legal, we felt on balance that being across the road from the Slavery Museum we had to withdraw them from sale.' "
You'll notice the absence of an apology in that statement. In fact, the shop evidently feels that it's been the victim of coercion. The first sentence in the statement is also the sort of bullshit employed by those whose position has become indefensible. The Wizzard shop has had "messages of support", eh? From whom, the BNP? In addition, the shop really can't be allowed to claim that Afro-Carribean people have bought the dolls. It merely compounds the insult.
Sad to relate, there are cretinous mewlings about the story on the Echo letters page (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/echo-letters/2008/10/14/your-letters-14th-october-2008-100252-22025662/ ).
The only thing missing from the pathetic missives to Old Hall Street is the well-worn phrase "political correctness gone mad".
The Daily Post report notes:
"A spokesman for the shop said: 'We've had messages of support and these dolls have been bought for years by customers both black and white.
"Even though completely legal, we felt on balance that being across the road from the Slavery Museum we had to withdraw them from sale.' "
You'll notice the absence of an apology in that statement. In fact, the shop evidently feels that it's been the victim of coercion. The first sentence in the statement is also the sort of bullshit employed by those whose position has become indefensible. The Wizzard shop has had "messages of support", eh? From whom, the BNP? In addition, the shop really can't be allowed to claim that Afro-Carribean people have bought the dolls. It merely compounds the insult.
Sad to relate, there are cretinous mewlings about the story on the Echo letters page (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/echo-letters/2008/10/14/your-letters-14th-october-2008-100252-22025662/ ).
The only thing missing from the pathetic missives to Old Hall Street is the well-worn phrase "political correctness gone mad".
Thursday, October 16, 2008
It Is Whatever It Is, Know Worra Mean Like?
On the day that Dr (Nice, But Dim) Tim Leunig visits Liverpool for a debate, fuelled by the Policy Exchange report he co-authored, at the city's Anglican cathedral (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/14/dean-hopes-to-win-apology-from-city-storm-academic-64375-22026774/ ) it's worth noting an interview with Phil Redmond by David Ward in yesterday's Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/oct/15/phil-redmond-european-culture-capital ).
There is, however, a misleading prelude to Ward's piece, probably the work of a lazy sub-editor at the Guardian who's misread one line in the article, asking if Redmond has mayoral ambitions in the city. The limp & muted denouement to culture year is also ignored in Ward's interview.
Instead, Redmond performs his "we're so special in Liverpool" routine which he always reserves for the national media. Ward allows Redmond to dreamily muse about 2008's legacy stretching out into a seemingly infinite "we can do anything we want to do" future. It's a risible combination of hazy hippy ambiguities & Culture Company bollockese:
"People are now beginning to get hold of the project and are starting to wonder what they can do with it and where we go next...[ ]. The big question on everybody's lips is legacy, and there are four separate groups flowing out of the city council looking at this, in terms of structure and bureaucracy. They are not actually looking in terms of what has been achieved, which is the renewed confidence of the people. It's not about bureaucracies and structures; it's about taking the confidence of the people and letting them keep it. It's about reminding them that they can do things of their own accord, that they can work collectively, can do what they have always done."
I've re-read this quote several times but still can't make sense of Redmond's Scouse stream-of-consciousness bullshit. If anyone can translate it into plain English, I'd be extremely grateful.
There is, however, a misleading prelude to Ward's piece, probably the work of a lazy sub-editor at the Guardian who's misread one line in the article, asking if Redmond has mayoral ambitions in the city. The limp & muted denouement to culture year is also ignored in Ward's interview.
Instead, Redmond performs his "we're so special in Liverpool" routine which he always reserves for the national media. Ward allows Redmond to dreamily muse about 2008's legacy stretching out into a seemingly infinite "we can do anything we want to do" future. It's a risible combination of hazy hippy ambiguities & Culture Company bollockese:
"People are now beginning to get hold of the project and are starting to wonder what they can do with it and where we go next...[ ]. The big question on everybody's lips is legacy, and there are four separate groups flowing out of the city council looking at this, in terms of structure and bureaucracy. They are not actually looking in terms of what has been achieved, which is the renewed confidence of the people. It's not about bureaucracies and structures; it's about taking the confidence of the people and letting them keep it. It's about reminding them that they can do things of their own accord, that they can work collectively, can do what they have always done."
I've re-read this quote several times but still can't make sense of Redmond's Scouse stream-of-consciousness bullshit. If anyone can translate it into plain English, I'd be extremely grateful.
Drumming Up A Little Attention For Himself
Bemused would sum up my reaction to Ringo Starr's Garboesque wish to be left alone & not sign any more autographs (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/13/ringo-too-busy-autographs ). I suppose the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine, & recipient of a £90,000 stay in his hometown, courtesy of Phil Redmond, would feel a bit miffed at the number of times his scribblings have cropped up on Ebay. However, the question I asked myself was, "What sort of saddo would still insist on getting Ringo's autograph in the first place?"
Ringo's relevance to music was, to use his own delightful term, "tossed" back in the early 70s.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Credit Crunch On The Rates
As the world's financial markets go down quicker than a wannabe WAG in a bar full of footballers, the Icelandic banking collapse has claimed at least one high-profile local victim. Wirral Council had the relatively small sum of £2m invested with Heritable, a subsidiary of Landsbanki (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/10/localgovernment-iceland ). Wirral's council taxpayers will doubtless be alarmed by the news. However, other local authorities have lost at least twice as much from their Icelandic investments.
There's no word yet on whether Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley & St Helens have also been affected. It would certainly round off 2008 nicely if an ashen-faced Warren Bradley stepped forth to reveal that, in addition to the £20m debt accrued from culture year, another couple of million quid had disappeared down an Icelandic geyser.
There's no word yet on whether Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley & St Helens have also been affected. It would certainly round off 2008 nicely if an ashen-faced Warren Bradley stepped forth to reveal that, in addition to the £20m debt accrued from culture year, another couple of million quid had disappeared down an Icelandic geyser.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Life Imitating Art Imitating Life Imitating Art....
Some things render the word ironic redundant. A case in point is a concert in Liverpool this evening by Neil Innes, who played the Lennon role (Ron Nasty) in the brilliant FabFour spoof, The Rutles. Irony is further rendered useless when you consider that the gig is at the Cavern. Not the real one, of course, but surreal nonetheless. Hope he plays this gem tonight:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?=SEYEVOiV2G0 .
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?=SEYEVOiV2G0 .
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
The Year Ends As It Began...Shambolically
The waiting is over. After intense, draining days of phone calls & emails flying back & forth between the council & the Oldham Echo, the spin (not to mention the smoke & mirrors) over the non-finale for Lord Redmond has finally been worked out & splashed on the Echo's front page (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/10/07/waterfront-party-to-see-out-liverpool-s-capital-of-culture-year-100252-21981215/ ) by Echo journalist Michelle Fiddler:
"LIVERPOOL'S waterfront will be the setting for a spectacular people's party to mark the end of Capital of Culture year."
[BTW, what is it with BLOCK CAPITALS as far as the Echo is concerned? Is it meant to look impressive?]
Great! So what's organised for the event? Erm, highlights of 2008 on video screens at the Pier Head (what, you mean someone actually YouTubed the lopping off of Ringo's head at the Beatle topiary by the airport?). Oh, right. But surely there will be a great party planned in the city centre on the final day of 2008. Won't there?
"The party is on January 10, 2009, after the New Year festivities are finished."
Erm, OK, right. Ah, but hang on, there's more:
"There will be celebrations during the day in districts including Wavertree, Toxteth, Alt Valley, Kensington, Tuebrook, Old Swan & Knotty Ash."
So those areas of the city which have looked on while the city centre has operated in a parallel universe will get the chance to finally celebrate 2008...ten days into 2009. Still, I'm sure Professor Chucklebutty (http://profchucklebutty.blogspot.com/ ) will have something appropriate planned in Knotty Ash.
As for the dwindling funds in the coffers which forced Lord Redmond to scrap his finale, as Tony Parrish exclusively revealed, the nearest the Echo article comes to admitting it can be found in the throwaway sentence:
"It is understood plans to stage a Capital of Culture event at the Echo arena were shelved in favour of the waterfront party."
It gets worse (oh, yes it does!) with the possibility that Roger McGough, whose, ahem, magnum opus graced last Friday's Newsnight Review, will scribble a few lines for the occasion. There's also the hope that a few "Liverpool anthems" will be trilled by the river. Cue Gerry Marsden strumming his guitar on the Royal Iris as the assembled freeloaders sing "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" from lyric sheets handed out by Warren Bradley & Mike Storey while a hooded scally lets off a rocket & a couple of Catherine Wheels from the top of the funnel (health & safety permitting).
We know how to do these things in style, don't we?
"LIVERPOOL'S waterfront will be the setting for a spectacular people's party to mark the end of Capital of Culture year."
[BTW, what is it with BLOCK CAPITALS as far as the Echo is concerned? Is it meant to look impressive?]
Great! So what's organised for the event? Erm, highlights of 2008 on video screens at the Pier Head (what, you mean someone actually YouTubed the lopping off of Ringo's head at the Beatle topiary by the airport?). Oh, right. But surely there will be a great party planned in the city centre on the final day of 2008. Won't there?
"The party is on January 10, 2009, after the New Year festivities are finished."
Erm, OK, right. Ah, but hang on, there's more:
"There will be celebrations during the day in districts including Wavertree, Toxteth, Alt Valley, Kensington, Tuebrook, Old Swan & Knotty Ash."
So those areas of the city which have looked on while the city centre has operated in a parallel universe will get the chance to finally celebrate 2008...ten days into 2009. Still, I'm sure Professor Chucklebutty (http://profchucklebutty.blogspot.com/ ) will have something appropriate planned in Knotty Ash.
As for the dwindling funds in the coffers which forced Lord Redmond to scrap his finale, as Tony Parrish exclusively revealed, the nearest the Echo article comes to admitting it can be found in the throwaway sentence:
"It is understood plans to stage a Capital of Culture event at the Echo arena were shelved in favour of the waterfront party."
It gets worse (oh, yes it does!) with the possibility that Roger McGough, whose, ahem, magnum opus graced last Friday's Newsnight Review, will scribble a few lines for the occasion. There's also the hope that a few "Liverpool anthems" will be trilled by the river. Cue Gerry Marsden strumming his guitar on the Royal Iris as the assembled freeloaders sing "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" from lyric sheets handed out by Warren Bradley & Mike Storey while a hooded scally lets off a rocket & a couple of Catherine Wheels from the top of the funnel (health & safety permitting).
We know how to do these things in style, don't we?
Monday, October 06, 2008
Just Make Sure The Grave Is Deep
Commenting on my reference to Pete Wylie's song, "The Day That Margaret Thatcher Dies", gerald wylie (any relation, sir?) directs me to a debate on both the song & Thatcher herself on Liverpool Confidential (http://www.liverpoolconfidential.com/index.asp?sessionx=IpqiNwEiNwOpIaqiNwF6IHqi ).
I've just contributed a few thoughts of my own, as well as replying to a handful of poor, deluded souls who think that if Liverpool had followed so many other areas in the 80s & gone Tory, the city wouldn't have suffered so much. Yes, really, that is the gist of their "argument". Maybe Jimmy Tarbuck & Cilla Black have been getting the hang of this interweb thingy down in Surrey & posting under pseudonyms.
I've just contributed a few thoughts of my own, as well as replying to a handful of poor, deluded souls who think that if Liverpool had followed so many other areas in the 80s & gone Tory, the city wouldn't have suffered so much. Yes, really, that is the gist of their "argument". Maybe Jimmy Tarbuck & Cilla Black have been getting the hang of this interweb thingy down in Surrey & posting under pseudonyms.
Epilogue
Warren Bradley & the Culture Company must be beside themselves with glee. A ten minute discussion between the Newsnight Review panel ( & Roger McGough), entitled, "Review Uncut -- After Hours Debate" has been posted on the Newsnight site (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/review/7654974.stm ).
Aside from a couple of telling points from Holly Johnson ("the people are the natural resource of this town"), Terence Davies (who feels it'll take five years to judge whether the year has been a success for the city) & Roger McGough (who stresses the importance of having a proper cultural legacy via the city's schools), it comes across as the sort of cosy PR presentation on which the council would normally spend thousands.
Miranda Sawyer refers to the negative stereotypes from the past & says she feels all that's changed. You're a journalist, Miranda. You know the media; just wait a while for the next tabloid job on the city when culture year is a fading memory. As for your relief that the city didn't rely too much on the Beatles, you obviously weren't here for the Matthew Street festival & the execrable Beatle Day. You were spared, Miranda, you were spared!
Aside from a couple of telling points from Holly Johnson ("the people are the natural resource of this town"), Terence Davies (who feels it'll take five years to judge whether the year has been a success for the city) & Roger McGough (who stresses the importance of having a proper cultural legacy via the city's schools), it comes across as the sort of cosy PR presentation on which the council would normally spend thousands.
Miranda Sawyer refers to the negative stereotypes from the past & says she feels all that's changed. You're a journalist, Miranda. You know the media; just wait a while for the next tabloid job on the city when culture year is a fading memory. As for your relief that the city didn't rely too much on the Beatles, you obviously weren't here for the Matthew Street festival & the execrable Beatle Day. You were spared, Miranda, you were spared!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
A Matter Of Interpretation
It hasn't taken Maureen Dowd long to deliver the right kind of response to her persona non grata status with the McCain camp. In her New York Times column today she casts a baffled eye over Sarah Palin's tortured syntax (http://nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05dowd.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin ).
Quoting just a few of Palin's pronouncements, Dowd demonstrates that the Republicans' War on Terror has now been joined by the War on Grammar:
"Hillary Clinton and John McCain ran against Barack Obama by sneering that their prose was meatier than The One's poetry. Sarah's running against the Democrat's highfalutin eloquence by speakin' in homespun haikus."
Palin has achieved what was thought to be impossible: she makes John Prescott seem lucid.
Quoting just a few of Palin's pronouncements, Dowd demonstrates that the Republicans' War on Terror has now been joined by the War on Grammar:
"Hillary Clinton and John McCain ran against Barack Obama by sneering that their prose was meatier than The One's poetry. Sarah's running against the Democrat's highfalutin eloquence by speakin' in homespun haikus."
Palin has achieved what was thought to be impossible: she makes John Prescott seem lucid.
Musings By The Mersey
A cursory reference to the £20m debt to the city aside, Kirsty Wark, or Kirsty Paxman, as Professor Chucklebutty referred to her in his excellent take on the discussion (http://profchucklebutty.blogspot.com/ ), focused on purely cultural matters for Friday's Newsnight Review from Liverpool (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/review/default.stm ).
The panellists, former Frankie Holly Johnson, film director Terence Davies, actor Ian Hart (who spoke throughout the discussion with a Dublin brogue for some unfathomable reason) & the token outsider, journalist Miranda Sawyer weren't short of opinions but it all felt a little stilted, as though the element of Scouse spontanaeity, the supposed reason for the location, had to be suppressed.
The debate on the Le Corbusier exhibition centred on his overall work & legacy. Fine for his buildings in Mediterranean climes. However, none of the panellists drew attention to what Modernism meant when applied to the construction of tower blocks in areas like Merseyside.
Unanimous acclaim was given to Simon Rattle's triumphant homecoming concert with the RLPO at the Philharmonic Hall (he couldn't really go wrong with a reading of Sibelius' masterful Fifth Symphony).
The musical at the Everyman Theatre about Eric's drew from Wark the observation that it was "a Mama-Mia for the punk generation". If Jayne Casey supplied her with that line, she should be shot; as Johnson, no stranger to the Eric's scene in the late 70s from my recollection, protested, "Eric's was the antithesis of the show tune".
The film report on Liverpool's year of culture was refreshingly free of cliches. However, I was alarmed by Liverpool Confidential's Angie Sammons remark that she had overheard someone say it would go down as "the year we got a Debenhams". Is that all? Even this blog wouldn't draw such a brutally dismissive conclusion about the year. Frank Cotterell Boyce did bring some much-needed reality & perspective to the film with his regret that so much of the year had been "city centre oriented".
The programme closed with "Gateway to the Atlantic", a poem by Roger McGough which struck me as self-congratulatory sub-sixth-form doggerel.
Of far more interest & enlightenment on the webpage is an interview with old Everyman favourite Pete Postlethwaite ahead of King Lear at the Everyman later this month.
Pete Wylie's new song, "The Day Margaret Thatcher Dies", certainly wouldn't have been considered for discussion on Newsnight Review. It's been highlighted by the Echo's Paddy Shennan (see, Paddy, you CAN write something useful!) & is available on Pete's myspace page (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=76433863 ).
Admittedly, it doesn't have the subtlety, lyricism or pathos of Elvis Costello's "Tramp The Dirt Down", but its heart is definitely in the right place & is pleasingly cathartic.
The panellists, former Frankie Holly Johnson, film director Terence Davies, actor Ian Hart (who spoke throughout the discussion with a Dublin brogue for some unfathomable reason) & the token outsider, journalist Miranda Sawyer weren't short of opinions but it all felt a little stilted, as though the element of Scouse spontanaeity, the supposed reason for the location, had to be suppressed.
The debate on the Le Corbusier exhibition centred on his overall work & legacy. Fine for his buildings in Mediterranean climes. However, none of the panellists drew attention to what Modernism meant when applied to the construction of tower blocks in areas like Merseyside.
Unanimous acclaim was given to Simon Rattle's triumphant homecoming concert with the RLPO at the Philharmonic Hall (he couldn't really go wrong with a reading of Sibelius' masterful Fifth Symphony).
The musical at the Everyman Theatre about Eric's drew from Wark the observation that it was "a Mama-Mia for the punk generation". If Jayne Casey supplied her with that line, she should be shot; as Johnson, no stranger to the Eric's scene in the late 70s from my recollection, protested, "Eric's was the antithesis of the show tune".
The film report on Liverpool's year of culture was refreshingly free of cliches. However, I was alarmed by Liverpool Confidential's Angie Sammons remark that she had overheard someone say it would go down as "the year we got a Debenhams". Is that all? Even this blog wouldn't draw such a brutally dismissive conclusion about the year. Frank Cotterell Boyce did bring some much-needed reality & perspective to the film with his regret that so much of the year had been "city centre oriented".
The programme closed with "Gateway to the Atlantic", a poem by Roger McGough which struck me as self-congratulatory sub-sixth-form doggerel.
Of far more interest & enlightenment on the webpage is an interview with old Everyman favourite Pete Postlethwaite ahead of King Lear at the Everyman later this month.
Pete Wylie's new song, "The Day Margaret Thatcher Dies", certainly wouldn't have been considered for discussion on Newsnight Review. It's been highlighted by the Echo's Paddy Shennan (see, Paddy, you CAN write something useful!) & is available on Pete's myspace page (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=76433863 ).
Admittedly, it doesn't have the subtlety, lyricism or pathos of Elvis Costello's "Tramp The Dirt Down", but its heart is definitely in the right place & is pleasingly cathartic.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Censored
Censorship used to be used by the BBC when banning records with four-letter words, controversial political topics, or at the whim of self-important Smasheys & Niceys on the old Radio 1. Sad to relate that my post on Newsnight Review's thread about tonight's programme from Liverpool was excised by the BBC censor. Something to do with my reference to the £90,000 claimed by Ringo & his entourage from the city's council tax payers? Or was it BBC Radio Merseyside's role as one of Liverpool08's "partners", ie., sponsors?
I pay my licence fee, I want answers, chaps!
Nice to see Professor Chucklebutty's post making it past the Beeb's screeners.
I pay my licence fee, I want answers, chaps!
Nice to see Professor Chucklebutty's post making it past the Beeb's screeners.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Auntie Asks: How Was It For You?
Tomorrow's edition of Newsnight Review comes live from Liverpool, looking at the year of civic culture (cough) as it approaches its close. The programme is asking people for their impressions of 2008 in the city (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/fromthewebteam/2008/10/capital_of_culture.html? ).
Before you all rush in, bear in mind that you have to register with the Beeb's messageboards, but that shouldn't take more than a few minutes. I've just contributed some thoughts of my own, drawing attention to those aspects of the year which the local media would like to downplay or ignore. We'll see if the Beeb publish them.
Before you all rush in, bear in mind that you have to register with the Beeb's messageboards, but that shouldn't take more than a few minutes. I've just contributed some thoughts of my own, drawing attention to those aspects of the year which the local media would like to downplay or ignore. We'll see if the Beeb publish them.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Fantasy & Reality
The Oldham Echo's willingness to feed on the ignorance of its readership is hardly new. However, tonight's puff piece possibly reaches a new low. More of that anon. However, a much-needed dose of reality regarding Liverpool's year of culture was to be found in today's Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/oct/01/regeneration.culture.sport ).
David Walker's piece looked at the long-term benefits of major cultural & sporting events in host cities. Walker's article began tellingly:
"It all began, it's said, in the departures lounge at Athens airport. Jack Lang and Melina Mercouri, the French and Greek ministers of culture, hit on the idea of an annual European cultural event, based in one or more cities. Whatever the genesis, the European capital of culture has added handily to the roster of big-ticket events for which cities avidly bid -- even though the evidence connecting such events to regeneration and aggregate welfare is incomplete and sometimes negative."
The fly in the ointment, Walker asserts, is that economic imperatives & regeneration projects only fleetingly coalesce. He quotes Luke Binns of the Dublin Institute of Technology as noting that "as companies have an ever growing list of cities to invest in, and only so much to invest, there will have to be winners and losers in interurban place marketing.
" 'Despite the impression given by some economic development agencies, cultural amenity provision doesn't figure at the top of companies' relocation priorities,' says Binns. 'The bubble bursting when the relatively easy quantifiable economic returns of investing in culture are shown not to be paying off raises the fear of disillusionment setting in and the consequent abandonment of cultural policies.' "
Walker looks at Liverpool's year of culture, commenting that the timing of Liverpool One's opening is "less than optimal".
That's quite an understatement, given the impending recession. In recent years Liverpool has seen a boom in the leisure & construction industries. No prizes for guessing which industries are the first to go to the wall when the economy goes pear-shaped.
Back to the comic, sorry, Echo. Tonight's edition contains a typical puff-piece by Neil Hodgson, its inane standard of journalism encapsulated in the gushing claim (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/10/01/second-phase-of-liverpool-one-opens-100252-21938960/ ):
"The £1bn city centre retail scheme, the biggest of its kind in Europe, appears to have bucked the doom and gloom on the high streets and financial markets."
Yes, I'm sure that once Wall Street hears about the retail units at Liverpool One opening, the banks will start lending to each other again; the "confidence" will return to the markets; the toxic sub-prime loan packages will suddenly lessen in danger; & the Dow Jones will quickly rise to the 13,000 mark again. Won't they?
David Walker's piece looked at the long-term benefits of major cultural & sporting events in host cities. Walker's article began tellingly:
"It all began, it's said, in the departures lounge at Athens airport. Jack Lang and Melina Mercouri, the French and Greek ministers of culture, hit on the idea of an annual European cultural event, based in one or more cities. Whatever the genesis, the European capital of culture has added handily to the roster of big-ticket events for which cities avidly bid -- even though the evidence connecting such events to regeneration and aggregate welfare is incomplete and sometimes negative."
The fly in the ointment, Walker asserts, is that economic imperatives & regeneration projects only fleetingly coalesce. He quotes Luke Binns of the Dublin Institute of Technology as noting that "as companies have an ever growing list of cities to invest in, and only so much to invest, there will have to be winners and losers in interurban place marketing.
" 'Despite the impression given by some economic development agencies, cultural amenity provision doesn't figure at the top of companies' relocation priorities,' says Binns. 'The bubble bursting when the relatively easy quantifiable economic returns of investing in culture are shown not to be paying off raises the fear of disillusionment setting in and the consequent abandonment of cultural policies.' "
Walker looks at Liverpool's year of culture, commenting that the timing of Liverpool One's opening is "less than optimal".
That's quite an understatement, given the impending recession. In recent years Liverpool has seen a boom in the leisure & construction industries. No prizes for guessing which industries are the first to go to the wall when the economy goes pear-shaped.
Back to the comic, sorry, Echo. Tonight's edition contains a typical puff-piece by Neil Hodgson, its inane standard of journalism encapsulated in the gushing claim (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/10/01/second-phase-of-liverpool-one-opens-100252-21938960/ ):
"The £1bn city centre retail scheme, the biggest of its kind in Europe, appears to have bucked the doom and gloom on the high streets and financial markets."
Yes, I'm sure that once Wall Street hears about the retail units at Liverpool One opening, the banks will start lending to each other again; the "confidence" will return to the markets; the toxic sub-prime loan packages will suddenly lessen in danger; & the Dow Jones will quickly rise to the 13,000 mark again. Won't they?
Credit Where It's Due
Blogging from the Tory conference on Monday, John Harris filed a thought-provoking piece for the Guardian's Comment is Free page (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/29/georgeosborne.economy ).
Harris rightly noted that the Tories are making all the political capital that's possible over Labour's not so tacit approval of the cheap credit boom in the 90s which has now collapsed so spectacularly. Harris did, however, point out that the relaxation of credit controls happened on Thatcher's watch (I recall some trade unions, my own included, offering credit card deals to their low-paid members in the late 80s).
Returning to the current situation, though, Harris observed, "The Blair & Brown governments were presumably scared of going near the issue of personal debt for fear of blowing the gaffe on their own boom and appearing to tell the voters off for their lack of financial discipline, something [George] Osborne seems to have just about avoided so far."
Harris rightly noted that the Tories are making all the political capital that's possible over Labour's not so tacit approval of the cheap credit boom in the 90s which has now collapsed so spectacularly. Harris did, however, point out that the relaxation of credit controls happened on Thatcher's watch (I recall some trade unions, my own included, offering credit card deals to their low-paid members in the late 80s).
Returning to the current situation, though, Harris observed, "The Blair & Brown governments were presumably scared of going near the issue of personal debt for fear of blowing the gaffe on their own boom and appearing to tell the voters off for their lack of financial discipline, something [George] Osborne seems to have just about avoided so far."
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