The Glass Box.
Above is the Glass Box the PM team meets in at 18.00 every weeknight to discuss the content of the programme.
We try to be honest with each other, but not hurtful, as we talk about what worked and what didn't...what met our expectations and what fell short.
This virtual glass box is where you're encouraged to take part in the same spirit. The editor of the day reads your comments and may well add her/his own.
Listen to PM
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~55~RS~)
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I heard on the one o'clock news that overall sales are up. Shame I don't wear overalls.
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isn't that just the way? The Glass Box appears just as I post elsewhere. So, reposted from Testing:
I'll note here that I thought Eddie sounded very subdued in his interview with the Minister from Syria, who seemed to be accusing him/us of being complicit with the Israelis. It was a difficult interview for you, at a guess, Eddie.
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I hope Eddie's happy. He got a US politician to sort of agree with the BBC's anti-Israel position (yes, it is) that there isn't a military solution in Palestine and then ended the interview.
BS 2, He improved with the above mentioned interview. The Syrian Minister would be happy.
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PM's decision to invite a spokeswoman from Syria to talk about the current crisis in Gaza was well made. Her point of view, representing as she said not the Syrian government but individual Arabs the world over, was edifying. I hope the passion (and compassion) with which she spoke of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza was as affecting to other listeners as it was to me. (She is correct in saying that Western media providers have offered viewers only a sanitised glimpse of the bloody chaos that the war has made of civilian lives in Gaza.) I hope Eddie takes on at least some of the points she made and addresses them to Israeli interviewees in the coming days.
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Eddie,
Why are PM and the whole of the BBC not interrogating any Israeli official as to why they will not let reporters or correspondents into Gaza???
You know the reason as well as I!
They don't want you to see the way they conduct their wars!
However, this doesn't seem to have stopped BBC correspondents in the past from being in the mist of action (John Simpson) no matter what the host country says. Why is it Israel gets dispensations that other regimes don't get afforded???.
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I hope my last comment No 5 wasn't hurtful. This is never my intention. However, when stories of children and civilians being bombed are run, you might expect a certain response from those of us who still regard ourselves as human beings.
Best wishes.
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I found what I perceived as the implicit threat to Europe/'the West' in the Syrian minister's interview (and her sidestepping of Eddie's question about it) quite chilling.
I hope I'm wrong. And am I right in thinking that Syria is one of the less friendly-to-the-West Arab nations?
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I will keep to myself what I took from PM but Posts 2 and 3 suggest the programme had evenhandedness about right.
This is a situation I find myself at a lost for summing up rationally. I do not think there is anything rational going on - least of all the spokespersons statements from whichever side.
I heard an Israeli one on my TV and sighed then too.
I am lost in admiration for all the impartial agencies endeavouring to help all those innocents affected by two "Governments" and their allies posturing.
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On a different story: mobile phones to be allowed in hospitals.
Two things
One, the fear that wards will be made hideous for everyone in them by constant ringing-tones -- why not make it 'You can have a mobile with you, but turn it to the vibrate setting for incoming calls'? When I have been in bed in a hospital ward, I would have either noticed that my phone was vibrating, or else if I didn't I'd've been feeling too ill to want to chat with anyone, or been asleep, in which case missing a call wouldn't have bothered me.
Two, I foresee a new mobile-phone cliche: 'Hi! I'm on the ward...'
I am actually in favour of this move, on the whole, because for one thing I don't see mobile phones as being a danger to machinery on ordinary wards and for another, I don't see why phone companies should be making huge profits by charging 'way over the odds for phone-calls made by people who already have enough problems through being seriously ill.
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Thanks for the item at the end of the programme from Antarctica - an antidote to the daily grim news from the Middle East where everyone seems intent on killing each other, followed by the war over here on who's biased or not.
It was nice to hear a cheerful voice on something else.
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While the energy saving light bulb is broadly a great idea it's a shame they don't work with dimmer switches - or maybe there are some that do!
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Good evening gang,
That woman from Haringey council is trying to get compensation for being sacked for allowing that poor little boy to die while she was in charge........
This makes me just so cross and brings back the leader of Kent and Sussex hospitals where 90 died and she got a pay-out. The country has gone mad.
Also I know it’s after the event by why was the mother and boyfriend not found guilty of murder?
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wlamplough @ 11, the ones here (and they are of several different types and ages, so don't anyone feel obliged to tell me in a condescending way that *their* energy-saving light-bulbs are *fine* and it is only mine that are like this, thank you all all the same) don't need dimmer switches once they are more than a couple of months old: they get dimmer all by themselves.
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Frances 7
You need to ask..?
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I've wanted to post this comment for months, but I've been waiting for someone else to post it first.
Doesn't anyone else find the reports of Nigel Wrench really, really boring? I've never noticed anyone commenting on them on the blog - either praising or criticising them. They are a bit like the 'arts' slot on the Today programme - just slotted in because someone feels like it should be included - but both jar.
Wouldn't it be better if it was offered to 'Front Row' and they could decide if it was worthy of broadcast.
Sorry for being so negative, but the Glass Box does ask for feedback.
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I listened again to the Minister from Syria. It was a good choice. I felt for Eddie trying to calm her. But her view of the future is representative of people I met over in that region. Generational violence is crippling.
As for Blair. How can he say he is negotiating if he is spending all his time mandating a solution that involves external parties cutting supply links. Why talk to Hamas at all, his solution does not involve them, it just effects them.
It is also not a solution at all. It is a handcuffing of one protagonist so that the feelings will grow and fester. One solution is to re-direct the Gaza attention and give them a future in the world. But then Blair never understood the human need for a future. He was only interested in providing handouts, and fear, to his own countries future generations. He is like the stereotypical drugs seller just giving enough to destroy their lives and get them hooked for life on the system.
(As for mobile phones, just watch your loved ones. If they start getting infections in the skin then steal their mobile phone and clean with antibacterial wipes. First test that they do not destroy the plastic surfaces.)
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wlamplough 11, search for "low energy dimmable light globes" and you should find the light globes that you want.
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Eddie:
Nice glass box; and I hope that the show had many important stories!!
~Dennis Junior~
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I was absolutely terrified by the spokeswoman from Syria. In a conversation with the even-more-than-usually mild-mannered Eddie she still managed to get so worked up that she essentially threatened the whole western world with retribution and war!
The horror of the daily lives of those in Gaza is well understood and her rather patronising view that we don't understand it is, I would say, way off the mark.
Listening to Israeli spokespersons is little more reassuring and I'm left with the feeling that 1 neither side will accept any responsibility as any action they take is deemed by them to be justified by the prior actions of the other and 2 that this attitude can lead only to ongoing violence.
Those in the populations of these countries, who I suspect are still a sensible majority and yearn for peace, must demand this from their leaders and we (the western world and the USA in particular) must demand ceasefire and rationality. I think it will be very hard to eradicate the anti-western sentiment that leads to flag burning and threats regardless of what we do but our actions must be transparent and moral in order to prevent inflaming these passions further.
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On mobile phones, isolation and boredom and two often overlooked factors relating to inpatient stay and making it a more unpleasant experience. Mobiles wil hlep with that. My only concerns surorund cameraphones and constantly ringing phones or constantly chatting patients which will inevitably interfere with the calm and restful atmosphere that hospital wards try to maintain.
I rather like the fact that noone uses their mobile on the tube and if everyone is always on the phone I think we may regret our decision...
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I hope, Philtblog, that individual hospitals will set out guidelines that they insist patients and visitors will observe when using mobiles, e.g. using the vibrate mode instead of ringing, forbidding the use of cameras, and limiting use to texting during 'quiet' periods (e.g. after meals, when patients are usually resting). With a bit of common sense it could be a win-win for patients and staff. Why for staff? because they won't have to deal with the complaints of patients who feel 'ripped off' by the private phones currently installed, or alternatively they won't be expected to convey messages to patients from the ward phone.
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All true BS, just hard to police, but I suspect that a bit of noise and inconvenience is a reasonable price to pay for the advantages, I can just see myself, some time in the future, sitting in a hospital bed wishing the damned things were banned! Equally I can see myself pleased to be able to use one!
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philtblog: As an ex-teacher I'd suggest they use the threat of confiscation to make patients and visitors tow the line. Actually, visitors would be less of a problem as they'll only be there during visiting hours, when calls would presumably be allowed and other patients have to be philosophical about a bit of noise, etc. But threaten a patient with confiscation of their phone and you're likely to achieve the desired outcome, no problem!
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Mobile phones - I would love someone (iPM?) to find out why the company that was ripping off patients/relatives with the extortionate call charges to use bedside phones went out of business last year. Was it because the directors trousered all the fat profits, or are there legitimate technical costs of which we have never been told?
Gaza - I too am depressed by Mr Blair's wonderful plan for peace, which involves cutting off the arms supplies for one side in the conflict, whilst failing to address the expansionist policies of the other that have led to this position. It's great that at least 'somebody' is talking about doing 'something'... but this is patently unfair. How much more quickly might Northern Ireland have been restored to peace, with the full support of the non-paramilitary public there, if both sides had been required to cash in their weapons in the first place?
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a_politico (26) - No, you're not new. You've just got another new name.
And for once I am in almost complete agreement with your analysis.
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Piper (15): in a rhetorical sort of way. And I admit I'm no expert in these matters; it's the impression I got, but I may be wrong...
Dimmers and energy-saving lightbulbs: I haven't yet found any that work with dimmers, which is irritating. If I, or anyone else, do/does, I suggest posting a link - if the mods allow - or a name which can be g00gled.
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Thunderbird (13) - good question - the official reason why the couple and the lodger were not convicted of murder was that there was no evidence proving who dealt the fatal blow.
However, the case of the hell's angel, shot with a single bullet on the M40 in 2007 resulted in five people successfully being convicted of murder. I can't see why, if being in the car at the time the bullet was fired is enough for a murder conviction; being in the house at the same time a child is being killed shouldn't also be good enough for a murder verdict.
I have asked Law Inaction (sic) to explain, but have yet to hear anything on this glaring contrast.
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I found this:
http://www.1stopelectrics.com/category/2217/1/#results
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Fifi, "Cutting off the arms supplies for one side in the conflict, whilst failing to address the expansionist policies of the other." I take it you are referring to the call for an arms embargo on Israel, as mentioned this morning. We all know the Arab world has no wish to see the state of Israel in the Middle East.
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a_politico - if you're new here*, you'll need a few pointers. Number one - don't waste your time reading pmleader's long rambles - you'll save so much time!
*I don't think you are
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Message to UN: Arms production = War
Either stop it or go home to your castles and palaces. And quit waffling.
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Ap @26
Your argument only works in temporal isolation. If Israel withdraws today because of too high a loos of life, and the rocketing off Israeli town continues, then in the future we will be here again.
If you believe that one side has a morally superior argument ot the other and argue for a solution based on that moral superiority then we will always end up back here.
The only way forwards it to stop, resist the urge to say who is right and who is wrong, now nd in the past, and institute the policies which will keep both Palestinians and Israelis safe and free, policies which I suspect we can all agree on, namely no agression from either state towards the other and no restrictions on movement, trade and so by either state on the other.
the key to my argument is that, whilst we all agree on ceasefire and the two-state solution, it is our ongoing desire to blame and gain moral superiority (which includes casualty arithmetic and so on) that prevents us from achieving these goals.
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fJd 6, I am going on the assumption that no children or civilians were killed in the Dresden bombing.
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I see where one man diverted his course to rescue another whose boat had overturned during the Vendee yacht race. Nobdy named Davies involved.....except that the accident moved her up one place. Maybe an interview is needed. Or even a report.
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I've just been Wikipediaing (Thank gooodness it is still free) and found the population of Gaza to be about 410,000 and that of Israel to be approx 7,400,000. Therefore, I'd say that Hamas should be allowed to kill approx, er, um, diddly dumph more Israelis without retaliation to even things up. Now if you want to take into account population per sqk, Israel is roughly 20,330 sqk and gaza is 360 sqk. You figure it out. On the other hand, if you want to use all of Palestine.....Google it.
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DMcN - If Wiki says that the population of Gaza is 410K, I'd recommend getting a better source for your data.
The true population is 1.3-1.4 million, with 33% of them in refugee camps, making it one of the most densely populated tracts of land in the world.
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DMcC 37
Yes, I take your point. However, if I had been around at that time I would have probably felt the same way about that too and all such incidents.
Unlike yank land, I have no problem in criticizing my countries injustices. I don't adhere to the philosophy 'my country right or wrong'.
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fJd 41, I am from 'yank land', Mr Rosbif and criticise Bush and co. all the time. I also criticise Mr Tony, as I am a member of the Lib Dems. Not that I think much of Clegg or Lemsip Toothpick.
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DMC 42
David you are witty and funny at times. I think I ought to nominate you for something. Don't let it go to your head though. By the way, who's Mr Tony?
PS I thought Clegg played a good role in 'Last of the summer wine'
Yea, I've seen and heard that bloke who thinks he's an alien too.
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A moment ago a woman was speaking about something to the background tune of a xylophone. Why do they do that?
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fJd 43, Tony Blair. They called him Mr Tony somewhere. I am also Thejestersang during my somber periods.
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Tjs 44, For xylophone and Scrabble lovers.
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This is my first attempt to join in this mirthful comment-fest; I do so because, unless my ears deceived me, the actor Martin Shaw has a partner with the atonishing anatomical appendage of a letterbox. Please tell me I'm going deaf.
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I only caught the last line of the report, but there is a slight problem with eliminating autism - it could decimate scientific development. Autism is a spectrum disorder, with effects ranging from severe to mild, from total withdrawal to geekiness. At the more communicative end of the spectrum are those who develop obessive interests in their chosen subjects and who have the drive to persue their obsession into new areas. The absent-minded professor is a classic example of someone who would nowadays be diagnosed with Asperger's/Autism.
But these are the people who drive our knowledge forward and ignore the social pressures to accept the current models. Examples include Newton, Einstein and Bill Gates (allegedly), which may give an idea of just how much there is to lose if we eliminate autism. In the Asperger's community the Nobel Prize is known as the Aspie Prize for this reason. People who make great breakthroughs/discoveries are by definition not 'normal', so why the drive to make everyone the same?
This may have been covered in the report, but if not it needed to be said.
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Is this todays glass box too then? (the 7th)
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QL 40
...if I might say so, PLUS a few. Quite a few in fact...
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QL 40
...added to the HIGHER end of your estimates, that is...
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funnyjoedunn@43. I agree.
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Some older bloggers must have lived through Vietnam.
Is all this just a tea party to them?
Some older bloggers must hve lived through the Holocaust. Do they, I wonder, wonder what all the fuss is about?
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Tesla comes to mind for some reason, if I start thinking about eccentric geniuses (or mad professors).
There is a splendid article in the New York Review of Books volume LVI number 1 (I think that is the current issue) in which Marcia Angell reviews three recent books about the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry. The thrust of the matter in it is that lacking new cures for diseases, there is a temptation to invent new diseases for which one can then sell a cure; then you bribe the medical profession to prescribe it for diseases that people didn't realise they had. For instance (in the article) one of the books is called "Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became A Sickness", and documents the creation of a whole new condition that requires the sufferer to take a bran-new drug that is also given for various other 'conditions', most of them pretty-much illusory. Fascinating article, highly recommended.
Does anyone else remember Moriarty and his cure for that dangerous disease The Spon? Get your long woolly winter underpants *now* and foil this plot!
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Hello IPM people,
In the item just gone by, you forgot to mention that many major stores, Tesco etc, aren't replacing their stock as it's sold so the lightbulb shortage will come a good deal sooner than even the EU government requires!
Regards Ant
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Having now listened to the full piece, I see most of what I said before was covered, so my apologies for its redundancy.
However I was appalled at the lack of balance shown by the BBC - were there no eugenecists to hand to argue for aborting autistic foetuses?
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I listen to PM via the internet from Germany, and normally after the program has broadcast. In the past the today’s program would be available to reply around 30 mins after the current show was finished, i.e. 19:30 in Germany (18:30 in UK), since the introduction of the iPlayer client it now seem to take hours longer to come online (yesterday it was at least an hour). And means that it is never available while I am free, somewhat frustrating.
There is the same issue with the six o’clock news that is streamed via the iPlayer from the Radio 4 news page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/) in that at around 19:30 UK time the six o’clock news (see middle right of page) link still points to the previous day, while the “latest news” link is already streaming the later news for 19:00 today. It look like you may have changed the streaming technology/solution that you are using recently, and the interdiction of the iPlayer seems to have added to the publishing delay.
I am not sure if you can publish the current program any faster (this would be a great solution), but if not could you please confirm what time programs will be available.
While I am grumbling on about the iPlayer, the GUI may look nice, but I do not find it really usable. One thing that I find really weak is having chosen a program to listen to, and opened the internal “player” you then have to click “play” to start it.
Regards
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re Gaza: Wikipedia has this:
"Gaza (Arabic: ???? transliteration: Gazza, Hebrew: ???????, ?azza) is the largest city in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Territories. It has a population of approximately 410,000 in the inner city and 1.4 million people in the metropolitan area.[1] The word "Gaza" is often used to refer to the entire Gaza Strip, so the city is frequently termed "Gaza City" for clarity."
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n?
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