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from UK News:
Raging against the X Factor machine
Simon Cowell says the Internet campaign to keep X factor winner Joe McElderry from the coveted Christmas No. I spot is aimed at him rather than the type of music the show produces.
He calls the campaign stupid.
But critics of the show loathe what they call the "karaoke" of X Factor and thousands have backed the push to get an anti-establishment track by American rockers Rage Against the Machine up into the top slot next week.
The band's guitarist Tom Morello told the BBC: "I think people are just fed-up of being spoonfed some overblown sugary ballad that sits on top of the charts. It’s a little dose of anarchy for the holidays, it’s good for the soul.”
It's good for Sony too, analysts have noted, since both records are on its label.
Critics of the Internet campaign note that record numbers of viewers watched last weekend's X Factor final and millions voted for McElderry. If so many people like him, why should he not be No. I they ask.
What do you think?
from UK News:
BBC – taking a stand on Gaza
The BBC has been roundly condemned at home for its refusal to broadcast an emergency appeal for Gaza on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee, a coalition of 13 aid agencies.
It says it does not want to be seen to be taking sides in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and that broadcasting the appeal could jeopardise its carefully cultivated position of impartiality. Sky News has followed suit.
But criticism has been fierce, including from the government and the Church of England.
The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has accused the BBC of "taking sides". He said on Friday: "This is not a row about impartiality but rather about humanity.
Former BBC foreign correspondent Martin Bell said the BBC should admit it had made a mistake. He claimed "a culture of timidity had crept" into the corporation. "I am completely appalled," he said. "It is a grave humanitarian crisis and the people who are suffering are children. They have been caught out on this question of balance."
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said: "Inevitably an appeal would use pictures which are the same or similar to those we would be using in our news programmes but would do so with the objective of encouraging public donations. The danger for the BBC is that this could be interpreted as taking a political stance on an ongoing story."
What do you think? Are Sky and the BBC being too cautious or do they have a point?
I think that the behind-the-scenes reason for this decision by the BBC, which is so contrary to its usual tear-jerking brand of broadcasting, is probably that it has drawn a lot of private but high-powered criticism about its one-sided coverage of the recent action and its editorial bias against Israel.
Having decided to withdraw to the bunker of “impartiality” it has, in true big corporation style, gone into headless chicken mode and chosen the wrong issue on which to make a stand.
For Thompson to pretend that the BBC does not have a political stance on the Palestinian issue and many others is complete farce. As for Sentamu and the rest of the predictable gang who are complaining about the BBC’s new-found “impartiality”, their complaint is not about the high-minded “humanitarian issue”. It is simply that they are afraid of losing their traditional mouthpiece.
from UK News:
The death knell for bling?
In these hard times, those whose job it is to part us from our money in the shops are beginning to describe the retailing experience as a family activity, a way of relaxing -- absolutely nothing to do with conspicuous consumption, you understand.
The word "luxury", we are told, sends the wrong message nowadays and is being quietly phased out of promotional material. Bling is over.
Rory Sutherland of advertising agency Ogilvy even predicts there will be a trend towards the modest lifestyles reputedly favoured by Lutherans and Swedes.
What do you think? Do you believe the credit crisis will have any lasting impact on people's attitudes when it comes to the relentless pursuit of material gain?
Or will we be back melting plastic in the shops as soon as the "all clear" siren is sounded?
Seems to me that ‘bling’ is about looking rich rather than being rich. Drinking a bottle of Champagne, putting on classy perfume or buying a gold chain are still not ‘big ticket’ items relative to rent, mortgage repayments etc. It’s the true luxury that will suffer, like buying a second home, flying first class (when you’re paying) or buying 1+ carat diamonds for your cat/dog.
I think that luxury brands that send the right message, i.e. we make your look rich, will do fine, but those that actually cost real bucks will suffer.
from UK News:
Turbulence or meltdown?
*** For full coverage of the financial crisis click here***
The events of the last five days have been traumatic for the world of high finance and banking -- and may yet become so for the man in the street if confidence in banks fails to hold.
Venerable finance houses are falling like cards, all manner of exotic and unsound practices are being revealed and many of the old rules -- like the competition reugulations that stopped Lloyds buying Abbey National in 2001 -- have gone out of the window.
Money markets have all but dried up. "I'm not lending money to you -- you might not be here next week," seems to be predominant mood.
Some commentators say this is the financial world's Particle Collider moment and we're all doomed, others that this is merely a painful but long overdue shake-out: a reality check that in the end will bring about a greater degree of prudence and sanity.
What do you think we are seeing here? And what do you think the result will be?
Will the collider prove that God does not exist?
The Large Hadron Collider aims to reproduce conditions just after the “Big Bang” 14 billion years ago in an attempt to gain new insights into how the universe was formed.
It may prove the existence of the so-called “God particle,” the mysterious theoretical atomic fragment that lies at the heart of matter.
It may even point to the possible reality of a number of new dimensions.
But by going so close to the origin of the universe it is, some believe, “staring in the face of God.” If it manages to explain the mysteries of creation, does that then mean there is no God?
Do you believe in the Big Bang theory – and is it compatible with the existence of God?
The “Collider” will prove that God does not exist, only to those who choose not to believe in Him in the first place. For those who choose to believe in Him, it will not make any difference.God’s existence (or not) has nothing to do with imaginative (and expensive) projects that do not deal with the nature of, and Person of God.Put it this way. Let us say you have a very good friend that lives in another country. You talk to him by phone quite often, and occasionally he writes to youl.Now let us say that you want to introduce him to another friend of yours. However, for some reason, this second friend does not want to believe you have such a friend in another country. You could produce phone records to prove it, but he would just say that means you are calling someone (maybe an over the phone sex comment). You produce some of the letters that the first friend has sent, but the second friend just say’s you wrote the letters yourself. The first friend even goes as far as offering to come to the second friend and introduce himself. He is then called a fraud, or someone you have paid to pretend to be a friend.The point is, that only if the second friend chooses to believe in the existence of your other friend and wants to get to know them will any method of proving his existence work.I have a friend. His name is God (Jesus in this case). I talk to Him everyday, and He communicates with me everyday by His Book, and a personal relationship He gives to all who would like to get to know Him. He has done so with Billions of people.You can come up with all kinds of plausable and implausable explanations to account for this and still not believe in this friend, including saying that I (and Billions of others) are merely deluded. Such arguments prove absolutely nothing.However, if you would simply allow yourself to be introduced to Him, you would end up having no doubt to His existence.
from UK News:
Is the glass ceiling thickening?
Fewer women than last year are reaching the top in their chosen professions, an annual survey has found.
Progress on equality is moving at a snail's pace, the Equality and Human Rights Commission says, blaming Britain's long-hours culture and inflexible working pactices.
At this rate it will take women 55 years to reach parity with men at senior levels in the judiciary and 73 years to draw level in the number of FTSE 100 company directors, the commission predicts.
Do you have any experience of the glass ceiling and do you agree that women's progress at senior levels in the workplace is stalling? If so, what is needed to turn things around?
from UK News:
A film for posterity
The British Film Institute is asking members of the public: if you had to choose one film to bequeath to future generations, what would it be?
Its website lists 75 potential candidates nominated by film world luminaries, ranging from popular classics like "The Godfather" and "Ryan's Daughter" to older favourites like "The Third Man", "Singin' in the Rain" and "Kind Hearts and Coronets".
Cate Blanchett, it says, has nominated "Stalker," by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, while director Ken Loach chose "Closely Observed Trains". Also in there are "Quadrophenia", "Spartacus" and "Metropolis".
What film would you choose?
from UK News:
Can Bradman’s record be broken?
Australian cricketer Don Bradman was born 100 years ago -- on Aug. 27 1908 in the New South Wales country town of Cootamundra.
His feats on the cricket pitch were the stuff of legend. He averaged 100 runs every three innings and by the time he retired in 1948 his test batting average was a record 99.94 -- perhaps the most famous number in cricketing history.
The world has seen some remarkable records broken over the past week at the Olympics in Beijing -- do you think it is likely that Bradman's 99.94 will ever be bettered? Can any modern batsman even compare?
The best days of modern greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting appear over, but could England's great hope Kevin Pietersen catch up and overtake that magic average?
from UK News:
Should women box in the London Olympics?
****For full Olympic coverage click here****
Boxing chiefs are to press for the inclusion of female fighters in the 2012 London Olympics.
They say theirs is the only sport in the Olympic programme without women and they await a decision from the International Olympic Committee by December.
Women did actually box in the 1904 Olympics and the sport has developed a higher profile in recent years thanks to boxers like Laila Ali and Jaqueline Frazier-Lyde, the daughters of old rivals Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier.
The International Boxing Association women's commission vice-chairwoman Bettan Andersson believes having women's boxing at the Olympics would help improve the overall image of the sport.
"If women come in, people will feel the sport is more common, not so dangerous, and that would be a very good thing for the image of boxing," she says.
from UK News:
Who’s the star so far?
**** For full Olympics coverage click here ****
Who do you think is shaping up to be the biggest star of these Olympics?
After a week of stirring achievements, there is no lack of candidates -- Usain Bolt's almost casual 100 metres win, Michael Phelps' record haul of gold medals and Rebecca Adlington's first women's double gold swimming feat for Britain are obvious headliners.
But what about cyclist Rebecca Romero who has become the first British woman to win medals in two different Summer Olympic sports? In fact the entire teams of the Brits on the bikes and in the boats have done us proud.
What has been the standout performance for you?
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