European Politics

Hoho, this thread is suddenly highly amusing! :lol:
Either way, Schumacher is still going to pip this to the number one news story until he gets out of hospital.
 
Come on people, I understand your frustration but don't be too harsh on the guy. He obviously has lots of fans. I'm not a fan of him but it's true that I lost the interest in Formula 1 I had as a kid when he quit.
 
See Perun's earlier points, Flash. Nobody's really knocking Schumacher, just the news coverage.
Perun said:
Dozens of innocent people die in terrorist attacks in Volgograd, and what's top news in Germany? The hospitalisation of Michael Schumacher. Disgusting!
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Perun said:
Of course I'm not surprised. I'm still angry, though. I got momentarily worked up because I had turned on the TV and there was a news flash saying "the condition of Schumacher is still critical", and no word about the dead Russians. The people who died in Volgograd this morning were people like you and me, on their way to work or to bring their children to school. Just trying to live their lives. I can't help but feel compassion for them. I felt genuinely sad when I read the news this morning. The fact that their president is a terrible person doesn't mean they deserved to become the victims of hate crimes. Schumacher crashed in an area that was marked off-pist for a reason. And his profession is risk. Of course, as a human being, I wish him well, but no more or less than anybody else, really.

Thing is, Merkel has been reported to voice her sympathies to the Schumacher family, but not a single word has been said by any major politician about the people of Volgograd. I know that the German president has cancelled his visit to Sotchi, and I know that Khodorkovsky got political asylum in Germany, so the German-Russian relations are at a very low point at the moment. But this is the precise moment to let the world know that democratic governments know how to distinguish between a government and the people it rules.

Of course, this is not the first time this is happening and that I get angry about it. But it's so very blatant at the moment, and there is not a hint of self-criticism there. None at all. There are journalists who are in the business because they consider it their profession, and their duty to inform. I would at least expect those to make a between-the-lines statement or a little nudge, but there is nothing.
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All valid points.
 
I said nothing that is contrary to that. What makes you think I didn't see them?

The Flash said:
Come on people, I understand your frustration but don't be too harsh on the guy. He obviously has lots of fans. I'm not a fan of him but it's true that I lost the interest in Formula 1 I had as a kid when he quit.
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I'm just saying that the news coverage giving more value to Schumacher's situation than the events in Russia shouldn't be a knock on Schumacher's situation's importance. Because it is important.
 
I have seen several posts about the role of media. On 2 January PJ Harvey was guest editor for BBC 4 Radio Today and a great deal of her programme was about censorship. Lots of people found the programme (which was highly political) controversial, disliked it, or loved it.

It was slammed by listeners, MPs and even BBC staff over left-wing rants. More about the reactions here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ds-Thought-Day-Ecuador-Embassy-bolt-hole.html

Now you may agree or not with the criticism on this programme, but I think that it says a lot about what is normally going on, on the radio (or at least: BBC radio), or even on media in general. Many people are not used to criticism, especially not at criticism on matters that stand so close to themselves.
Apparently, what she did was very different, or unusual. Her introduction:

When I was invited to be guest editor on Today, I saw it as an opportunity to try and do something unusual with the format and content of the programme.

I began by thinking of people I consider to be highly articulate, stimulating and extremely interesting to listen to – people who challenge us and move us to examine our deepest beliefs and feelings. I wanted to fill my programme with their voices.

Most importantly, I wanted to let them be heard in a manner of their choosing, whether that be a monologue, a poem, or interviewing others. What I didn’t want was for them to be restricted from saying what they wanted to say.

Before I accepted the invitation to be guest editor, I asked Today to agree to this, as well as agreeing not to edit my contributors pieces without their full consent.

I hope that the programme you hear, is the programme I wanted you to hear – I have come to realize that a great deal of its content is about censorship in one way or another.

As ideas for titles and topics to be discussed took shape, many poems and songs came into my mind. For me, music and poetry can be as persuasive and as powerful as a fine speaker and a fine speech. You will hear songs and poems supporting and highlighting the content of this programme.

I would like to thank my contributors for the time and care they have put into this project, and for the willing spirit with which they have entered into it.

As an artist, I try to make sense of the world through my work. I just try to get something down – look at it up close, from different angles. These people, these voices, help me make sense of it all.


Link to full programme:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mhyzh

Parts from PJ Harvey's Today programme, on BBC Radio 4, (not everything was broadcasted in this order):
- PJ Harvey spoken piece explaining her choice of contributors to the programme.
- Mark Curtis: 'Arming Repression', followed by 'Ladies of the World' song recording by Flight of the Conchords.
- Denis Halliday: 'The U.N. Security Council - Dump The Wolves'.
- Clive Stafford Smith: 'Is the N.H.S. the best thing about Britain?'
- Bruce Springsteen '57 Channels And Nothin' On'.
- John Pilger: 'Is the media now just another word for control?'
- Dr. Rowan Williams: 'Thought for the Day' in the form of one of his poems.
- Charles Simic poem, 'Austerities' read by Ralph Fiennes.
- Giles Duley: 'Behind The Faces Of War: the realities for injured servicemen', followed by Joan Baez, 'Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya'.
- Phil Shiner and Ian Cobain: 'How Britain taught the world to torture', followed by 'They Fight For Peace', a poem by Shaker Aamer, read by Ralph Fiennes.
- Julian Assange's 'Thought for the Day' followed by Woody Guthrie song lyric 'Ticky Tock' read by Ralph Fiennes.
- Weather/Business/Sport Sections
- Weather Section - Tom Waits 'Strange Weather' acoustic demo version.
- Business Section - John Rees: 'How the city of London rules the world', followed by the poem 'London' by William Blake, read by Ralph Fiennes.
- Sport Section - Dave Zirin: 'The effects of money and vested interests on sport'.

I haven't heard it all yet, but at the sixteenth minute, in the Business Section, there's an interesting view at the City of London.
'How the city of London rules the world', followed by the poem 'London' by William Blake, read by Ralph Fiennes.
 
BBC Radio 4's guest editor season is always interesting. I normally listen to Radio 4 in the morning, but haven't listened to any radio in the car for months, as... I have so much Buckethead to listen to! :p
 
Speaking about the recent bribery and corruption scandal, Turkish prime minister uttered these words today: "There's no jurisdiction for us other than God". Mind you, we're supposed to be a secular state.
 
In a recent interview for German TV, Obama said the NSA will no longer tap Merkel's cellphone, and intended that as to be reassuring and friendly.

Thanks, Obama. <_<
 
The Flash said:
Speaking about the recent bribery and corruption scandal, Turkish prime minister uttered these words today: "There's no jurisdiction for us other than God". Mind you, we're supposed to be a secular state.
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Really? That's offside in so many ways. It's the kind of talk I would expect from religious fundamentalists. Seems Mr. Erdogan wants to be friendly with just that kind of people then.
 
Perun said:
In a recent interview for German TV, Obama said the NSA will no longer tap Merkel's cellphone, and intended that as to be reassuring and friendly.

Thanks, Obama. <_<
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That's leadership .. doing what is right when everyone is looking after you get caught doing something wrong! Did he say anything about her house phone, email, snail mail, or any smoke signals she might use?
 
Well, he didn't say anything about spying on the people, that's what makes the statement so hilariously insignificant.
 
Since when did the government class care about the peasants (outside of when they need a vote or a tax bill is due)
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
Really? That's offside in so many ways. It's the kind of talk I would expect from religious fundamentalists. Seems Mr. Erdogan wants to be friendly with just that kind of people then.
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Well Erdoğan is a religious fundamentalist. He's a member of a religious order called Naqshbandi.
 
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