Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Miscellany for 26/2/10

What I've dipped my nose into this week.

5cc at Mailwatch: Did the Government really secretly plot to change the face of Britain? You may not be surprised by the answer, but this handy one-stop shop explains why we've been seeing stories in the Mail and Express (and, I must add with a weary sigh, the Telegraph) about a 'secret plot' recently, and what the evidence for it really is:

We have a discussion document rather than a policy document, we have someone making claims who had seen a copy and wrote a speech based on it rather than one of the writers, and we have some alleged suppressing of things that were actually published and just not summarised. None of the things that were cut mention the things that have been claimed, and you’d have to make a great leap of faith, imagining what some vague language might mean in order to make the claims fit.

Vivmondo: Transcript part one. A spectacular meander through the twilight world of Roy Walker and Mr Chips:

Anyway, my name, as I’m fairly sure you’re aware, is Roy Walker. You may remember me from the popular and - I like to think - nationally-treasured gameshow Catchphrase. That’s riiiiight! And, as I’m sure none of you will find it too difficult to recall the fact that Iwas the host, the frontman, the star if you will, and not Mr Chips who, in truth, was merely my sidekick: on a good day he was a mildly amusing sideshow, on a bad day (and there was a Birth Of A Nationof bad days) he was a comedic dog-lump, a dead weight, forged in a dour-smithery from leaden anti-entertainment, which I was then forced to drag through a twenty-five minute struggle with primetime banality.

Sunny Hundal: How the media helps the BNP. Nicely put together article over at the Guardian:

The problem here is that while newspaper columnists and reporters keep stating they hate the BNP and all it stands for, they nevertheless keep promoting narratives that harden BNP support.

Chris Nicholson: Toby or not Toby. Poor old Toby Young, eh? Well, as this article points out, not really.

Bloggerheads: Gmail, Google, Blogger and YouTube customer service. Why Google's 'see no evil' policy over YouTube allowed footage of a Down Syndrome teenager to remain on the net despite viewer complaints until the police got involved, and how this kind of attitude comes as no surprise to someone who's tried to complain about Google before.

Angry Mob: On Paul Dacre, the power of 'shaming' and the PCC:

He was once a sprightly young man who according to one eye witness 'would stalk through the newsroom... shouting "what the fuck is this, you cunt, there's not a fucking brain in this office" - tearing up pages' and terrifying staff [1]. Yet recent video footage of Paul Dacre has revealed he is a grey, balding, plump-faced pensioner who struggles over basic sentences.

Finally a couple of other bits of miscellany. Here's Enemies of Reason set to music, thanks to the ever-marvellous Hannah Nicklin; and here's a delightful old chestnut that I'd actually never seen until this week - Spider-Man reviews crayons. How had I gone through so many years on the internet without ever having encountered this gem?

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