[quote=wwaswas said]I think the thing is that the number of people who have an interest in Nelson Mandela hugely exceeds those wondering about the state of the sea defenses somewhere they don;t live? You can find out what's going on at the beach a hundred miles away by going on twitter or Facebook and get more reliable and up to date news than you will on a national news program.
How do you reckon the number of people wanting to see an hour of waffle about Mandela compares to those who have an interest in seeing pictures of waves? I don't live anywhere near the sea, but turned the news on to see what the storm was doing. Yes it was very important that they told us about Mandela, but my instant reaction was that it really wasn't a big surprise, and that actually he'd lived a full life and achieved what he set out to. I already knew he'd been to prison, had been president of SA etc. - whilst I acknowledge that these things might have been news to some people, by the time they'd spent 20 minutes on him they'd really done all they could. At which point why couldn't they switch to some footage of reporters in wellies? Just how long are we required to [s]recreationally[/s] grieve for before anything else is allowed to be news?
This is the point - that Nelson Mandela dying (not at all unexpectedly) doesn't mean that suddenly there is no other news in the world. The fact I'm not going to get desperately upset about a 95yo man who's lived a very full life dying does not mean I don't respect him and his achievements. I agree it is the most important story, but that doesn't mean it's the only story. As already said, what would have been wrong with spending 10 or 15 minutes on other stories as part of the news bulletin before having all their waffle about Mandela?
I kept the TV on with the sound down, hoping they might cover something else (and like others flipped channels in the hope that there might be some other news), but eventually gave up.
I find that a video is generally worth a lot more than 140 words.
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Read the article you linked to again, and tell me where it refers to Thatcher actually calling Mandela a terrorist
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Where does the 'grubby little terrorist' thing come from then? It seems to be widely attributed to Thatcher but I can't find a record of her saying it.
That doesn't mean she didn't say it of course. 😉
One of our cats is called Nelson Mandella. If you were our sofa, you'd definitely regard him as a grubby little terrorist
Wasn't it originally Uncle Monty in Withnail and I? Or was he quoting Thatcher? 🙂
Mandella
hoo he?
hoo he?
Bessie mates with Keith Vaz, innit? 😉
Of course, I wonder which M.Thatcher of Grantham [url= http://world.time.com/2013/12/05/bono-the-man-who-could-not-cry/ ]personally donated £20k to the Nelson Mandela foundation?[/url] Probably not the "grubby little terrorist one".
hoo he?
He's my cat
[i]shat on by tories, scooped up by labour…..[/i]
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Richard Griffiths gets around, doesnt he?!
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The meedja kind of painted itself into a corner with the 'Peoples Princess' really. Where it was deemed necessary to have 24 blanket coverage, and the mere mention of anything else was verboten, and everyone had to look solumn and nobody was allowed to mention that, at the end of the day, she was just an attention seeking clothes horse
I went on holiday biking in the Massif Central in France, and managed to miss the outpourings of grief.
Worth every penny.
As far as the Beeb's coverage last night is concerned, I didn't watch it. Or any TV, for that matter; I did what any reasonably intelligent person can do, leave the TV off, turn the stereo on, listen to music and read a book, Bill Bragg's [i]The Progressive Patriot[/i], as it happens.
Bloody good book, highly recommended, beats watching telly you don't find interesting...
aracer is right - the news was that Nelson Mandela died.
All his past achievements were not news and should not have interrupted actual news items, they should have been scheduled into non-news slots.
[quote=TurnerGuy said]aracer is right - the news was that Nelson Mandela died.
All his past achievements were not news and should not have interrupted actual news items, they should have been scheduled into non-news slots.
I used far too many words.
Oh FFS now the've gone and usurped HIGNFY.
Of course, I wonder which M.Thatcher of Grantham personally donated £20k to the Nelson Mandela foundation? Probably not the "grubby little terrorist one".
Context from the link:
"He could charm the birds off the trees—and cash right out of wallets. He told me once how Margaret Thatcher had personally donated £20,000 to his foundation. “How did you do that?” I gasped. The Iron Lady, who was famously frugal, kept a tight grip on her purse. “I asked,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll never get what you want if you don’t ask.” Then he lowered his voice conspiratorially and said her donation had nauseated some of his cohorts. “Didn’t she try to squash our movement?” they complained. His response: “Didn’t De Klerk crush our people like flies? And I’m having tea with him next week … He’ll be getting the bill.” (On other occasions, I heard Mandela praise the courage of F.W. de Klerk, the last President of apartheid South Africa, who had his own prison to escape: the prejudice of his upbringing. We should not forget his role in this historic drama)."
[quote=Frodo said]Oh FFS now the've gone and usurped HIGNFY.
Can somebody let me know when it's safe to turn the TV back on?
Can somebody let me know when it's safe to turn the TV back on?
I usually find it's when there's something I actually want to watch, rather than sitting idly stabbing buttons on the remote in the vain hope something interesting might show up. Using the planner on Sky+ has lots of advantages like that.
Works for me, anyway.