Owner: Newsjiffy URL:http://brennybaby.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:58:03 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: I am a MA Journalism student at Westminster University.
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Amnesty International: "Not A Day Longer" 2007-12-11 10:33:00 Amnesty international's new campaign is opposing the extension of detention without trial to ninety days.Called Not A Day Longer, it uses the power of Web 2.0 to drum up support.(I never thought I'd mention Amnesty International
and Web 2.0 in the same post.)There is a Facebook group that you can join, which already has 1953 members (including me!)there has been a critique of the Facebook group's data. The Independent has information.Ten good reasons: Amnesty International
press release:I'm going to quote them in full as opposed to a link:Not A Day Longer reasons:"UK: Ten GOOD reasons why extending pre-charge detention is a BAD idea:1. UNDERMINES one of our most basic rights, enshrined in UK law as far back as Magna Carta and now at the heart of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which UK is a signatory: the right for anyone who is detained by the state to be told promptly why they are being held and what they are charged with.2. COMMUNITY relations will suffer if the Musl Read more:Amnesty
Television Review: Have I Got A Little Bit More News For You 2007-12-11 10:29:00 I thought I'd lost this when my Compaq PC crashed.Here is a review of last Friday's Have i Got News For You:A playful glance by Ian Hislop at Russell Brand’s nipple opened this week’s uncut show, which once again proved to be a disappointment.If, like me, you set the video recorder for HIGNFY every Friday night before going out, you’ll remember how the show sparkled during the nineties. A grumpy Paul Merton verbally jousted with Angus Deayton (remember him?) while Ian Hislop tongue-lashed Tories who were foolish enough to appear on the show.Now the guest presenter is the focus of the audience, although tonight Jack Dee was low-key, not very funny but not a show-stealer, unlike Boris Johnson or the bizarre Joan Collins.However, the revolting Russell Brand managed to deflect any idea that wit was a requirement to appear. Clamouring for attention like a child, he treated a toilet visit during the show as if he had a message from the ghost of Princess Diana. Not only does Brand hav Read more:Television
Last minute Christmas ideas 2007-12-11 09:49:00 Stuck for ideas
for your offspring or honey? Don’t want to give the same instant book involving a yummy mummy committing murder in a Tesco car park before having sex with a beekeeper?Fiction: If you’re looking for reading matter for booklovers to munch on, Will Self is the man to seek out. Every book is a new thread inside Self’s massive brain. If Self’s mind is the British Library, Russell Brand’s is the Learning Resources Centre at the University of Westminster. My Idea Of Fun sees Self’s tormented protagonist journey from the green hills and appalling accommodation of the University of Sussex as he commits unspeakable acts on behalf of the mysterious Fat Controller, who can “never abide a booby”. Great Apes, meanwhile, sees artist Simon Dykes wake up in a world full of chimpanzees, the only one aware of his altered state. From the opening line, where alcohol is served in “rented glasses”, you’ll be hooked by Self’s arousing use of language and ability to crea Read more:Christmas
Hewlett-Packard problems 2007-12-11 06:04:00 So I spent the last two hours on the phone to Hewlett
-Packard
.This is because the link for ordering recovery CD's on the website did not work.On the second call, after being kept on hold, I was told I needed a credit card to order recovery CD's, as a cost of £25.Goodness knows how they would take to arrive.I have no idea what to do.I have no credit card, for one thing. Read more:problems
Western Digital blocks file sharing 2007-12-11 05:28:00 Western Digital
has prevented its customers from sharing media files from networked drives.This also applies to home-produced content.It is claimed that this is done to reduce piracy.Although companies have trumpted Digital Rights Management, there are ways round this, prompting some companies to install further safeguards.Groups such as Defective By Design and Electronic Frontier Foundation are opposed to Digital Rights Management.Best way of stopping piracy:Does a Cd really need to be so expensive?Here is a breakdown of costs for a £11.61 CD£4.26 of this is a retail markup.The label make 40p profit per CD.Most CD's cost £14.99, not £11.61, so does that mean an extra £3 or so markup?In the words of Private Eye's "Ed.", "I think we should be told".Lowering the price of a Cd by £2 or £3 will induce more people to buy them. Read more:Western
, Western Digital
What a wonderful world? 2007-12-10 15:46:00 Sometimes I despair of this planet.In Australia a judge has decided that a 10 year old can consent to sex with nine menThe offenders were either placed on probation or given suspended sentences for the 2005 rape in the Aurukun settlement, in northern Queensland.In her ruling, Judge Sarah Bradley told them that the victim "probably agreed to have sex with all of you". Kevin Rudd and Aborigonal activist Boni Robertson have both spoken out against the sentence.The offenders came from some of the most powerful and prominent Aboriginal families in Cape York, while the victim's family had a lower status, The Australian reported.What a surprise.Even if the girl had consented, can a ten year old really decide such things?And the domestic animal abuse stories roll on:In Britain, a boy of fifteen murdered a hamster after half an hour of torture.In four years' time, he'll be able to buy animals again.And his punishment? Jail? A fine?No. A supervision order.No doubt he'll commit the same offen
Unembedded in Iraq 2007-12-10 15:20:00 From the Media Workers Against the War site, a book review I wrote for them.Book review: Unembedded in Iraq
Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq, by Dahr Jamail, Haymarket Books, 2007This book brilliantly captures the horrors of being caught up in conflict. Scorning the compromising position of an embedded journalist, Dahr Jamail travelled Iraq to report on a subject often neglected by the mainstream media: daily life in Iraq.Discovering a country occupied by unwanted foreign powers, Beyond The Green Zone depicts Iraqis such as Khali Ahmed, who lost three of his family after American soldiers raided the wrong house and were forced to cover up, and Hassan Mehdi Mohammed, who told Jamail that eight out of 10 people in his village were unemployed.The inclusion of photos at the beginning of each chapter provides a visual reminder of the dangers. For me the most poignant photo was of an ambulance with its door open and bullet holes in the windscree
My computer has gone up the Swannny... 2007-12-10 09:49:00 because stupidly I shut it down while leaving my USB stick in.If anyone from Westminster University can help, could you let me know?It just restarts and restarts and restarts.I need to find a Hewlett Packard recovery disc.I feel like crying, i'm so stressed already and have been working flat out since mid-Webdesign.
Madeleine McCann: Gordon Brown "ignores" plea. 2007-12-09 11:00:00 I should be writing my profile of David Abrahams, but I wanted to blog this because it annoyed me.Health spa owner Stephen Winyard has criticized the Government as GordonBrown
and David Milliband would not mean with the McCann
's.Gordon Brown
is the Prime Minister, not an agony aunt.It's not as if he hasn't helped the McCann's out before, either, whether talking to Jose Socrates about the police investigation or asking for the Home Office and Foreign Office to put pressure on the authorities in Portugal.Who does Stephen Winyard think he is? Gordon Brown was elected by the voters of this country to serve the country as a whole, not Kate and Gerry McCann.Maybe Winyard would like a Minister for Madeleine
McCann to go round Portugal annoying people.The McCann's are getting a lot more support than most parents, with Richard Branson and a "double-glazing tycoon" called Brian Kennedy helping to fund the relentless drive of wristbands (which backfired when the Daily Star accused a nanny
Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man 2007-12-09 10:50:00 Although I’m getting through McNae’s Essential Law for journalists at the moment, I do have the time to read other books.On a recent visit to a charity bookshop, I was lucky enough to find Peter Hennessy’s Never Had It So Good and John Perkins’ Confession Of An Economic
Hit Man.I’m halfway through the former, and I completed the latter on the train back from Temple station a week ago.Inspired to write an account of his life after the events of September 11th, Perkins describes economic hit men as “highly paid professions who cheat countries around the world out of billions of dollars”.Having joined America’s National Security Agency to avoid the Vietnam War, John Perkins was approached by Einar Greve in 1968.Greve was the vice president of Chas T. Main (Inc), also known as MAIN, which offered Perkins a job in 1971.MAIN was concerned with convincing countries to accept loans for various developments.In Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Perkins documents his adventures
Youtube:Cillit Bang Parody: Peter Serafinowicz Show 2007-12-08 13:48:00 For those who stick to BBC, Cillit Bang is a cleaning product created by Reckitt Benckiser.I'm not going to post the original Cillit Bang advert here, you can find it on Youtube (and the "techno remix"). Peter
Serafinowicz parodies the advert below:Info on a Cillit Bang PR campaign that went wrong.Sadly, someone has decided to make Cillit Bang T-shirts.
Harrow Schools 2007-12-08 09:57:00 Having access to the league tables for London primay schools, published in this week's Evening Standard, I was able to write a short statistical story for my portfolio.Harrow school showings impressiveBy Richard BrennanHarrow schools have an impressive showing in this Thursday’s London Primary School League Tables. Out of forty schools, only twelve fell below a score of 100 when it came to value. This means that the other twenty eight as doing as well as can be expected. Truancy rates were lower than other boroughs such as Enfield or Hackney. However, it should be noted eleven schools supply any data, and it was not made clear why. Only one school, Little Stanmore, had more than 1% of half days missed due to truancy. Some schools, for example Cannon Lane, had zero truancy levels.Performance in the three subjects measured in the table; English, Maths and Science, was also impressive, with one-quarter of schools having ninety per cent or more of children meet government Key Stage Four Read more:Schools
Have yourself a very Fairtrade Christmas? 2007-12-08 09:27:00 For last Tuesday, as I blogged earlier, we had to write a story about Christmas
shopping.Having volunteered in Oxfam shops from 2001 to 2004, I have a good knowledge of Fairtrade stock so decided to use a Fairtrade angle.Have yourself a very fairtrade Christmas?By Richard BrennanYou can spread goodwill to others as well as your family this Christmas. Imagine your children waking up to a stocking with a difference; one that contains Tradicraft Tree Biscuits, milk chocolate Christmas puddings and Divine Gold coins. Running downstairs to the handcrafted tree from Bali, covered in Christmas tree treats from Thailand, they can unwrap presents covered in Oxfam wrapping paper to find a multicoloured leather money box , sturdy enough to replace that battered china pig. You and your partner can also exchange a print top and jewellery. In the corner stands a wooden Fairtrade nativity scene from Asia, with brightly painted figures in traditional garb. And not only have you brightened up your home
Out of date Sun letters page 2007-12-07 15:41:00 The Sun needs to update its online letters page.The link leads to letters from the 29th September 2006!Most of them are the typical Sun letters, although these comments must be parodyWHY don’t we rename Great Britain as Pathetic Britain or Islam Britain.Fanatics say they will take over our country ? and they are succeeding.GEOFFREY CARTERHailsham, SussexLET’S hope the police give the same consideration to murderers, rapists and paedophiles before arresting them.Once again we have shown the rest of the world what a joke this country is, as the idiots running it bend over backward not to upset anyone.J HADDESLEYBridlington, E Yorks
Unity deal for MDC? 2007-12-08 08:43:00 Issue 21 of the New Zimbabewe leads with "MDC inches closer to unity deal".Ever since October 2005, the opposition to Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF has been divided.This was due to Morgan Tsvangirai vetoing the national council's decision to field candidates in senate elections in 2005.South African Meeting:MDC officals are meeting in South Africa to strike a deal.A divided MDC will not be able to beat Zanu-PF, so let's hope a deal is made.Other good news: In South Africa,University of Sussex graduate and possible bigot Thabo Mbeki is being challenged by Jacob Zuma.Let's hope both he and Charles Nqakula fade from the political scene in South Africa.Some thoughts from a SA blogger. Read more:Unity
Another data mishap 2007-12-07 15:35:00 A laptop containing the details of 60,000 people has been stolen from the Belfast Citizens Advice Bureau.It was taken from a staff member's car.This seems to be a never-ending trail of losses and thefts.
The Wright Stuff 2007-12-07 06:16:00 Today I was part of the Wright
Stuff audience.After arriving at Whiteleys Shopping Centre, our septet met Eric Johnson, the audience researcher. Eric kindly offered us free crossiants and coffee, while discussing the best way to get into broadcast journalism with us. He had completed his MA degree just over a year ago and emphasised the importance of perseverance when applying for a job.At 8:00 we went up to the studio and received a quick talk by Eric before the show started.There were about twenty audience members sitting opposite the panel on the surprisingly small set. One of them was wearing a badge with the word "Mike" on it. I was not sitting near him, but I assume the words above it were "My name is"...The panel was composed of Dominic Holland, Janet Ellis and Marcus Brigstocke.After introductions and a quick run through the papers, including a focus on canoe man, we got down to discussing the four topics.Matthew Wright asked:Are Faith Schools Unfair?Too Old To Flaunt It-about
New dome revelations 2007-12-06 23:39:00 London's waste of taxpayer's money, or the Millenium Dome, has been revealed to have been insolvent from the day it opened.It seems clear that lessons need to be learnt.In 2002, a public consultation on lottery funding concluded: "There is (public) agreement that the (Millennium) Dome was a waste of good causes funds and that this project in itself has tarnished the supply of funds to large capital projects."A waste of money that the public sector badly needed, I would say.
Spot the discs and win £20,000 2007-12-06 17:10:00 Gordon Brown's crazy government are giving away £20,000 in cash to the lucky spotter of two HM Revenue and Customs discs.Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the cheeky cheeky boys and girls, reckon the discs could be on government property.That's the only clue they'll give away.The police team looking for the discs has been cut from 47 to a smidgen at 32.If the coppers can't find the discs, can you seize the CD's?
Filmobile at the University of Westminster 2007-12-06 11:44:00 The question before me was related to gluttony.Should I consume another packet of Rolos or risk being ostracised by the Mobilefest organisers as "that man who ate all the sweets"?Deciding to treat my stomach later (and the biscuits on offer were simply orgasmic),I seated myself and turned my thoughts to the conference.Sadly I was only able to attend for the first two hours, having work to do, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.The Programme:Max, a PhD student from the University
of Westminster
introduced Filmobile and showed a short (and slightly blurred) film about mobile filming. I didn't catch his last name because it was out of focus. Mobilefest is intended to foster a dialogue between the industry, filmakers and artists.Camille Barker:A PhD candidate with the SMARTlab at the University of East London, Camille has also been a modern dancer, sculptor and web designer, among many other roles.Clearly someone with experience of new media, she told us of her desire to showcase the relationsh
My political commentary piece 2007-12-05 15:51:00 For today we were set the assignment of writing a feature on whether the Labour Party's current woes could be compared to Black Wednesday, when John Major, Norman Lamont and Diddy Dave Cameron were (mostly) responsible for the government losing its shirt. Mr Major then retired to a cupboard for a while.Here's my commentary
:Labour’s Black Wednesday:The Labour Party seems to resemble John Major’s Tory Party during the mid-nineties, beset by problems of their own making and with a leader struggling to keep his head above political
water. After defenestrating Tony Blair earlier this year, it was hoped that a new leader, who bore no association with George Bush, Iraq or the Dome, would lift New Labour’s flagging fortunes. However, there are rumbles that, to turn all neophiliac, Gordon Brown is the new John Major.He’s spent less time in office than Major; indeed it seems not very long ago that I watched his cracked smile as he waved to the reporters outside Number Ten. Since that s Read more:piece
My review piece 2007-12-05 15:18:00 A review
of the Walter Sickert "The Camden Town Nudes" exhibition, as part of my News and Features module.The exhibition is on until the 20th January 2008. It is in the Courtauld Gallery near Somerset House on the Strand.The nearest tube station is Temple (a delightful station). You can also take a mainline train to Charing Cross or Waterloo.It is £5 to visit the exhibitions, but students can get in free if you bring a student card.If I hadn’t been surrounded by visitors with camping stools tucked under their arms, I would have thought I was in a Walter Sickert painting myself. The brown walls and high ceiling gave the impression of one of the small attic rooms where Sickert’s naked women sprawl. As I walked over cheap wooden flooring, I imagined myself as one of Sickert’s naked women, with insecurity in my mind as I posed for his quiffed brush. Was I going to become the second exhibit, having been captured for posterity before my death? A good exhibition, in my view, always cau Read more:piece
Madeleine McCann Update: Carlos Anjos on the McCann's 2007-12-05 13:53:00 Tony Parsons will no doubt be wetting himself this week.A senior Portuguese police officer has critiqued the McCann
sCarlos
Anjos stated that detectives (I presume from Portugal) had advised Kate and Gerry McCann against their media campaign.A slap on the back for Mr Anjos.The sightings of Madeleine
McCann reported in Morocco, Maltaand Medjugorje in Bosnia has just wasted police resources.I;m quite sure the police officers on the McCann case would like to get back to solving other crimes.Carlos Anjos also saysWe thought the photos that were released should not show the distinct mark Maddie had in her left eye. From our experience in criminal investigations this was a kidnap, which was what we believed from the start, the revealing of such a distinct feature would put that person's life in dangerYet images of Madeleine McCann's unusual eye adorn a million YouTube videos made by griefmongers.Incidentally, if each person who made a crap YouTube video of Our Mad gave £5 or equivalent to Read more:Update
Christianophobia? 2007-12-05 04:31:00 Today Westminster Hall will be hosting a debate on Christianophobia.Mark Pritchard MP has been complaing that Christianity is being "moved to the margins".All the usual phrases are present."Politically correct brigade" was used, giving the impression of a crack team of liberal stormtroopers kicking the doors down of church halls and shoutiing "Why isn't the vicar a woman?"He also said that Christianity might be hijacked by extremist parties, by which I assume he means the BNP might launch a Save Christmas campaign and use it to attack Muslims and anyone else they can work into the mix.A load of old twaddle:Christianity is not under threat from other faiths.It remains the only faith to have a hour-long primetime program each week devoted to it.I don't recall seeing a Jewish or Muslim Songs of Praise.As Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society said, twenty-six bishops sit in the House of Lords.That gives the Church of England a huge advantage over other faiths when it comes
Foals: tour diary 2007-12-04 16:59:00 BBC article on Foals with a photo diary by Yannis Philippakis
Five million foresake newspapers over last fifteen years 2007-12-21 13:41:00 One of my family showed me an interesting story in today's Times.The number of adults who read newspapers
has fallen by about five million
since 1992, according to a survey conducted for the House of Lords.Readership of most newspapers fell, with only The Times and the Daily Mail showing an increase in the past 15 years. The Times, which had 1.02 million readers in 1992, now has 1.74 million — an increase of 69 per cent. The figures were produced by the National Readership Survey on behalf of a Lords committee investigating media ownership. Overall the proportion of all adults reading a newspaper fell from 59 per cent to 45.1 per cent. In absolute terms, that equates to a loss of five million people, from 26.7 million.The website that I have created as part of Webdesign is tied in to this-people are getting their news from alternate sources such as free newspapers or blogs.One thing should be impartedThe figures did not take into account the readership of the papers' online sites.
News from the dreaming spires 2007-12-21 11:36:00 Having returned to Oxford this week from Harrow, I might give a round-up of local broadsheet newspaper The Oxford Times' news.*A £200,000 flood defence barrier will be built across Osney Island.*County councillor Olive McIntosh-Stedman has been expelled from the Labour Party.* Hitler's child may have been born in Wigginton acording to a documentary.*A manhunt for a Didcot gunman has failed to catch him.Det Sgt Alan Clements, of South Oxfordshire CID, said; We believe he is a member of the criminal fraternity*There has been another riot at the Campsfeld Detention Centre in Kidlington (about a mile from me).
Newspaper branding 2007-12-21 06:02:00 One of the most interesting aspects of national newspapers that I have noticed over the ten or so years that I've been reading them is their determination to make themselves part of the story.The Sun is a master at this.Take the recent announcement by New Labour that a prison ship will be built.It was headlined "Sun's prison ship victory"A PRISON ship is set to ease overcrowding in Britain's jails in the New Year in a victory for The Sun...Mr Straw's decision follows The Sun's campaign for ministers to use prison ships to create extra space in Britain's jails. Without spending a penny on PR or advertising, the Sun is now associated with law and order by its 3 million or so readers.It is not known if the Sun's campaign convinced Jack Straw to order a prison ship (why not just build one on land?)Perhaps the next Sun campaign will be to sink the ship with all the prisoners in it!Readers' Lives:Another important trick is to make the readers feel empowered.This story on Ba's cr Read more:Newspaper
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