Iain Dale costs Mail “substantial damages” for allegations
In April leading blogger Iain Dale wrote an article titled ‘Smears, glowering henchmen-like the Nixon White House’ for the Mail on Sunday – alleging not only that Tom Watson MP was copied into the ’smeargate’ emails to Derek Draper, but that he “encouraged” them.
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In post-Soviet Russia, President blogs you
Dear Gordon,
Look, it’s fairly simple. Social Media? You don’t get it. Your video on YouTube has been resoundingly ridiculed due to your terrible performance and complete lack of content. The person who did the production for it? Send them off to the Kremlin for some lessons, there’s a good chap.
Why? Have a look at this. Yes, that’s the President of Russia contributing to his regularly updated blog. I don’t speak Russian, but diplomat Nicholas Whyte, who does, describes it as “an impressive performance“, and even without understanding a word, he comes across as genuine and engaging.
Politicians can, if they put the effort in, use social media like blogs, twitter and YouTube effectively. But if they don’t put the effort in? It’s probably better not to bother than to do something badly.
But then Gordon Brown does everything badly.
The Daily Mail and the ‘antichrist’ car
This week the Daily Mail’s “Foreign Service” breathlessly reported that a car with the number-plate 666 went up in flames – perhaps because it carried “the number that identifies the Antichrist”. Perhaps it was a slow news day – the newspaper caught up with the story two years after it actually happened. Who says journalism is dying?
(via Richard)
So what’s this ‘blogosphere’ thing anyway?
Readers from the real world may have been perplexed by the attention given to the so-called ‘blogosphere’ this past weekend, and left wondering why they should care about it. The short answer is they shouldn’t.
The British blogosphere is comprised entirely of frustrated writers bitter about their inability to land jobs at real newspapers, sitting in their mother’s basement, stabbing endlessly away at their computer keyboards in the middle of the night writing cretinous, infantile forums of abuse dressed up as argument in the hope that people will read their inconsequential, misinformed diatribe.
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Smears: down memory lane
Paul Linford, 3rd October 2006:
It wasn’t all Osbourne’s fault. The word was put into his mouth by the Blairite journalist Mary Ann Sieghart who has penned her own piece justicative HERE. Sieghart, who was once so close to Mr Tony as to aspire to a job in the No 10 policy unit, gaily reassures us that “autistic” is an epithet that “plenty of politicians and journalists” have used about the Chancellor. “He does, after all, have an obsessive personality and rather low emotional intelligence. That is why the audience laughed: Mr Osborne’s joke resonated with them.”
In other words, because it’s Gordon Brown we’re attacking, that’s okay then.
Iain Dale, 6th October 2006:
I have finally found a column by Mary Ann Sieghart that I can’t disagree with. It was she who interviewed George Osborne at the Tory conference when he made his quip about Gordon Brown and autism. Read her column HERE. Paul Linford, however, seems to have had a sense of humour failure HERE.
Anyone who knows George Osborne knows he has a wicked sense of humour and is also a great mimic. Let’s hope this experience won’t have put him off being spontaneous. This whole episode was manufactured by bored journalists wh had nothing better to write and love a bit of faux outrage. Again, the lesson for the Conservatives is to keep the media beast fed and watered. If you don’t, don’t be surprised if it turns round and bites you.
Iain Dale, 13th April 2009:
Some may see this as a schoolboy spat between two bloggers with egos the size of a mountain. Maybe. But my experience is important as it demonstrates how the Number Ten lie machine will target anyone whose reputation it wishes to damage.
…
Perhaps this sort of affair is symptomatic of something more deep-rooted at the heart of government. All administrations flag after a while. They become gaffe- prone. People go off-message more frequently. A sense of malaise is almost palpable. It’s what happens when empires crumble.
hat/tip: Chicken Yoghurt
Tim Montgomerie’s anti-Americanism
This is a guest submission by Will
Tim Montgomerie, editor of ConservativeHome said last week:
@libdemvoice Are you proud of your party’s anti-Israel campaigning? http://is.gd/pS5E
But what about his own anti-American campaigning? It’s time that Montgomerie came clean about his anti-Americanism given he runs this trojan horse blog. It’s all getting very confusing.
Eric Pickles wasn’t doing April Fools
Created by Beau Bo D’Or
The English Lobby is not happy
We received this email the other day. How should we respond?
Dear Mr Semple
Re: Distorting St George’s day
I observe that you lack the candour to disclose YOUR interest in this subject of St George’s Day.
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What’s hot now for the summer of rage!
Liberal Conspiracy always has its finger on the stuttering pulse of fashion, so I thought I’d tie us in with London and Milan fashion weeks and offer a tribute to some of the excellent journalism that’s been filling the world papers recently.
Ten ways to wow!
1. Go hooded. The sartorial symbol of our surveillance society never really went out of style, and it’s a staple that’ll see you through the entire summer of rage. Wear your hoody long and chunky to conceal problem areas – utility belts or a cheeky little can of mace– or thin and layered in case you end up having to leave your coat in the hands of the filth in the middle of a dubious British summer. Practical, versatile and a reliable staple for understated cool, your hoody is a statement of a sort of class fluidity which doesn’t actually exist in the UK, but is still a really lovely idea, particularly if you’re a Sloane down to play howling mob for the day. It makes it clear which side you’re on.
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How journalists can get back at PC Plod
In light of news that the public is no longer allowed to take pictures of the police, I’d like to point out a possible scenario which local reporters may have to go through in the future.
I say this as:
a) a crime reporter, who frequently comes into contact with coppers,
b) as a reporter in a city where there is a seriously big presence by both navy and army and
c) as a reporter of some years, who has heard everything in relation to the moral panic over paedophiles and terrorists…
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What do Gordon Brown and Nadine Dorries have in common?
So, Gordon Brown has taken heed of my rants and launched an Obama style website to focus on jobs – Real Help Now, launched today. More seriously, while this is a positive step, it would help if we also had a serious and thought-out stimulus plan. And I cannot reiterate enough that the messages from this government on the economy have been rubbish. They should stop talking about banks and focus only on two messages: creating jobs, and exposing the fact that the Tories have no plan. Right now,
Saying that, the website is awfully cluttered; aren’t there any good design bods at the government?
And guess who else has been taking tips from Obama? Yes, Nadine Dorries MP, who has written an ecstatic article for her local paper telling us how she marshalled her troops online, Obama style, and stopped the government from building housing!! So now you can not only blame her for jumping on the bandwagon, but also the for the lack of housing across the UK.
The rationality of Valentine’s Day
Paul Walker says Valentines day is irrational. Giving a woman money, he says, is Pareto-superior to dinner and flowers.
Now, I’m not famed for understanding women. But my hunch is that a man who says: “I can’t be bothered with that Vally day bull. Here’s a £100 – get yourself another pair of shoes,” will not be getting any action for a while.
Giving women what they want is rational. Some women want romantic gestures. And this demand can be rational, especially for a woman who is looking for commitment. I say this for four reasons:
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Shadow cabinet meets, online
I have to admit, I think this new widget by the Labour party poking fun at Tory hypocrisy is rather amusing (via Tom Miller). New Labour have been quietly developing a whole host of online widgets, which aren’t bad. It won’t help them win the election though, will it?
Daft conservatives
We’ve approached the time of year when grown adults like to set aside large parts of the day just to make lists. We list the best/worst things to have happened to us, the best/worst things we have bought, our top 10 love/hate figures or our highest/lowest expectations for the year to come. In this same spirit, ToryHome have decided to list what makes a conservative. It’s a fairly innocuous, predictable read, but alongside statements which veer from vague (”Taxation has dynamic effects”) to platitudinous (”Love of country is fundamental to all conservatism”) to downright cryptic (”Man is a fallen creature”), they include this:
Economic liberalism needs social conservatism
Well, I can understand why, in the interests of coalition building, you’d want the flat-taxers in the same boat as the flat-earthers, but their agendas are far less aligned than this five word declaration makes out.
In its fullest expression, social conservatism is restrictive and censorious: it burns ‘heretical’ literature, pickets outside theatres, demands the banning of video games and enforces prohibition of gambling and recreational substances. Classic economic liberals would balk at such authoritarian measures because people should be allowed the freedom to consume what the market provides. No true classicist would want the state to subsidise marriage, and some would even consider abandoning the expensive, losing ‘war on drugs’.
At their core, social conservatives believe unfettered markets can be damaging, and economic liberals stand against against restrictions on markets. Sure, with lashings of compromise and a moderate, piecemeal application of both sides’ agendas, they can often play along nicely, but to suggest some kind of symbiotic relationship between the two is just daft.
Christopher Booker’s scientific credentials
Rejoice, people! Whatever you may’ve read, however many chilling predictions you may have heard, however frequently Al Gore might haunt your dreams, telling you that the world will end in a torrent of fire because YOU don’t use energy-saving lightbulbs, I can promise that all those fears are unfounded. For as people across the world glance at 2009 with such foreboding and dread, Christopher Booker has made the jolly discovery that instead of getting much, much worse, climate change doesn’t actually exist all!
Now, I understand that there’s a great deal of misinformation out there in BlogLand, and since I’m not a scientist (well, neither is he, but he sure seems to know a lot more than ‘real scientists’), I have to make sure that all my sources are of the highest calibre. So I did whatever any forensic time-deprived blogger would do, and checked him out on Wikipedia. Without further ado, and just to show how seriously you should take his scientific acumen, here are some of Booker’s greatest hits:
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Standing on the shoulders of giants
It is a time of year to reflect, to think upon what has come to pass, to learn from the past and thank those that brought us to where we are today. Today, especially, is an exceptional day for these endeavours, being as it is the birthday of one of the greatest and most influential men to walk those green and pleasant lands.
His works, agitation and beliefs revolutionised the world, and there isn’t a day that goes by in which we are not all grateful for his work and influence.
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A little local difficulty
While doing some reading around with my travel journalism hat on last week, I allowed myself a muted chuckle at respected travel-tech blogger Alex Bainbridge asking:
[I]f we know that when we post something we risk causing brand damage, should we self censor and only post positive things?
It’s the kind of question they might chew over while they’re brandstorming for Derek Draper’s new BlogDominanceUnit. Of course, Alex “fully rejects” posting only good news. But party flacks aside, it’s also the kind of question no political blogger would even bother asking, isn’t it? Perhaps not. continue reading… »
Helping the Taxpayers’ Alliance
In a victory for common sense against possibly the worst idea I have heard all year, councillors in Stoke on Trent voted down a proposal by a ‘Libertarian Lib Dem’ councillor to invite the Taxpayer’s Alliance to ’scrutinise the whole of the City Council’s finances in preparation for the Budget Council to be held on 26 February 2009, with a view to identifying waste and needless spending’.
But while the Taxpayer’s Alliance will be disappointed at not having the opportunity to waste the time (at considerable expense to the, um, taxpayer) of council officers in conducting a review, in order to compile one of their shoddy reports and take the piss out of Stoke on Trent council in the Daily Express, this has given me an idea.
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Having fun with the BNP list
Image courtesy of LOLgriffin.
A lot of people have been having fun with the leaked BNP list.
1) How many fascists live locally? Do a postcode search.
2) BNP near me? This map offers a rough guide.
3) There is a heat map here, which was previously a Google Map with dots.
4) Guardian.co.uk has a half-interactive heat map.
5) More LOLgriffins on this blog (h/t David T)
Update: Daily Mash – BNP Not Just Policemen, Reveals Secret List
Tory social engineering is back!
The Conservatives are publishing their recommendations. Don’t worry if your husband beats you. Iain Duncan Smith tells you why you should stick together.
What better way to publicise their proposals than in the wake of Baby P’s death and the ‘blood on their hands’ groundwork done by the tabloids? Back-to-basics Tories and social engineering are back with a bang. Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader and now David Cameron’s advisor on ’social breakdown’ has published his recommendations.
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You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or rss feeds.
» How bad is the feline obesity crisis?
» Why don’t MPs pay back tuition fees instead of increasing ours?
» Obama is right to slam BP – and why capitalists should too
» Why does Phillip Blond see civic cohesion as a security issue?
» So what if the Labour candidates went to Oxbridge?
» Last night’s Labour hustings: will it get interesting or turn to torture?
» It’s now down to Ken to win London for Labour
» The Labour people need
» Blog Nation: what would you like to see discussed?
» The Labour leadership’s token contender.. and it’s not Diane Abbott
» In defence of these fraternal nominations
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