The madman was cornered, still a dangerous Nero ready to set his country alight, but an isolated tyrant losing the PR battle (remember those sightings of a weirdo under an umbrella or waving from the top of a wall under an armored suit ?).
The dictator recovered. At the military level by crushing rebels, but furthermore in the media, with the blessing of international franchises looking for a scoop.
Ever the attention junkie, Christiane Amanpour waltzed the waltz for ABC. The Beeb, LCI, they all got their photo op with the ailing Adolf.
Guess what ? The message passed very well. Not that Muammar is telling crazy things, but that the same old Qaddafi is more than ever at ease in front of cameras in his own country. What, me worry ?
Meanwhile, the international community is as expected doing nothing to stop the carnage. At one stage, the League of Arab States seemed eager to pose a threat, but the only intervention so far has been a Saudi Arabian invasion of Bahrain to save the local Sunni king.
Is Qaddafi's fall the best case scenario ? Can Benghazi resist ? Will Libya split ? Will Daiichi melt in Fukushima ? Which one got your attention ?
blogules 2011
Showing posts with label BBC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BBC. Show all posts
20110315
20090715
Lake - Hodson - Stevens
I used to like Fareed Zakaria and Christiane Amanpour (pronounce: meeee, Christiaaaaaann Amaaaanpur) when they focused on their subjects instead of themselves. Now I don't see journalists but ambitious egos. I hope Hala Gorani won't follow the same path.
What I do enjoy on CNN International is the World Business Today NYC-HK-London trio composed of - respectively - Maggie Lake, Andrew Stevens, and Charles Hodson. They are kind, eager to bring the news, and obviously enjoying the moment they share together without competing against each other (not a meagre feat in this mine field). Don't expect in-depth analysis from Stevens, but don't expect a horripilating Richard Quest moment either : where Quest plays the clown, Stevens seems closer to the circus announcer launching a pleasant ping pong game between a sharp and to the point New Yorker (Lake) and a witty Beeb-raised Britton (Hodson).
CNN International's weird roster also includes a Canadian garden elf sans beard (Jonathan Mann), a bambi mesmerized by her own reflection in a mirror (Anjali Rao), an overweight Peter Graves (Jim Clancy), or a nip / tuck survivor (when Rosemary Church needs to workout her calves, she only has to pronounce the letter "o" - I don't want to know what happens when she goes all the way and closes her mouth).
BBC World News boasts a different stable : a Philippino toad speaking like a machine-gun (Rico Hizon for Asia Business Report), a hedgehog speaking through his nose (Jonathan Charles), a British-Pakistanese cat articulating like no other (Mishal Husain), a Mel Gibson wannabe pantomime-ing business news (named ???), a tall Droopy unable to say "you know what ? I'm happy" (Peter Dobbie), or a veteran CSIS / MI5 / KGB / Mossad / DST / mole (Lyse Doucet).
Most of them are endangered species : simple English will eventually prevail worldwide as it does across the US.
blogules 2009
What I do enjoy on CNN International is the World Business Today NYC-HK-London trio composed of - respectively - Maggie Lake, Andrew Stevens, and Charles Hodson. They are kind, eager to bring the news, and obviously enjoying the moment they share together without competing against each other (not a meagre feat in this mine field). Don't expect in-depth analysis from Stevens, but don't expect a horripilating Richard Quest moment either : where Quest plays the clown, Stevens seems closer to the circus announcer launching a pleasant ping pong game between a sharp and to the point New Yorker (Lake) and a witty Beeb-raised Britton (Hodson).
CNN International's weird roster also includes a Canadian garden elf sans beard (Jonathan Mann), a bambi mesmerized by her own reflection in a mirror (Anjali Rao), an overweight Peter Graves (Jim Clancy), or a nip / tuck survivor (when Rosemary Church needs to workout her calves, she only has to pronounce the letter "o" - I don't want to know what happens when she goes all the way and closes her mouth).
BBC World News boasts a different stable : a Philippino toad speaking like a machine-gun (Rico Hizon for Asia Business Report), a hedgehog speaking through his nose (Jonathan Charles), a British-Pakistanese cat articulating like no other (Mishal Husain), a Mel Gibson wannabe pantomime-ing business news (named ???), a tall Droopy unable to say "you know what ? I'm happy" (Peter Dobbie), or a veteran CSIS / MI5 / KGB / Mossad / DST / mole (Lyse Doucet).
Most of them are endangered species : simple English will eventually prevail worldwide as it does across the US.
blogules 2009
20090622
Khamenei's death wish
It's over now. As expected*, even if Khamenei manages to crush the opposition, the Supreme Leader has totally lost the battle against himself.
Iran rulers are now led to the classic desperate straits of a fascist regime lacking confidence in their discredited leader. Since they cannot anymore pretend to bring the Iranian people together around the figures of Ahmadinejad or Khamenei, they forge a case for terror attacks on the father figure of the 1979 Revolution ("suicide bomber" near Khomeini Mausoleum), and fuel nationalism by mentioning foreign agent provocateurs**.
Official media exhibit demonstrators attacking policemen as a proof of their terrorist nature, but the very image of demonstrators defying the explicit orders of Ali Khamenei is in itself a major blow to the country's most important Ayatollah.
Terror and foreign agent provocateurs are a reality, though. But terror perpetrated by the State, foreign agents invited by the State (some Iranian policemen refuse to hit their own kind, some militiamen talked only Arabic and not Farsi...).
Official propaganda remains strong and powerful, but Iran's level of education and international overture makes it impossible to control minds as tightly as in other countries.
Mousavi brilliantly exposed Khamenei's contradictions, putting a true believer's mirror in front of his face and caricature of faith. Who is the true guardian of the spirit of the revolution ? Who is the true defensor of the Islamic Republic ? Who would be a true martyr if he were to die ? And on the other side, who is this imposteur posing as a Supreme Leader ? Who is this deviant liar ? Who must "face the consequences" ?
The stronger the repression, the quicker the implosion. Khamenei seems ready to go all the way and probably won't concede. The key now is to see who wants to join him as he fullfills his death wish.
* see "Ahmadinejad Alienates Iranian People Today, Iranian Clerics Tomorrow" and "Party Unity My Ayatollah ?"
** UK explicitely named by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. BBC's Jon Leyne asked to leave (BBC in Farsi too independent for the regime).
Iran rulers are now led to the classic desperate straits of a fascist regime lacking confidence in their discredited leader. Since they cannot anymore pretend to bring the Iranian people together around the figures of Ahmadinejad or Khamenei, they forge a case for terror attacks on the father figure of the 1979 Revolution ("suicide bomber" near Khomeini Mausoleum), and fuel nationalism by mentioning foreign agent provocateurs**.
Official media exhibit demonstrators attacking policemen as a proof of their terrorist nature, but the very image of demonstrators defying the explicit orders of Ali Khamenei is in itself a major blow to the country's most important Ayatollah.
Terror and foreign agent provocateurs are a reality, though. But terror perpetrated by the State, foreign agents invited by the State (some Iranian policemen refuse to hit their own kind, some militiamen talked only Arabic and not Farsi...).
Official propaganda remains strong and powerful, but Iran's level of education and international overture makes it impossible to control minds as tightly as in other countries.
Mousavi brilliantly exposed Khamenei's contradictions, putting a true believer's mirror in front of his face and caricature of faith. Who is the true guardian of the spirit of the revolution ? Who is the true defensor of the Islamic Republic ? Who would be a true martyr if he were to die ? And on the other side, who is this imposteur posing as a Supreme Leader ? Who is this deviant liar ? Who must "face the consequences" ?
The stronger the repression, the quicker the implosion. Khamenei seems ready to go all the way and probably won't concede. The key now is to see who wants to join him as he fullfills his death wish.
* see "Ahmadinejad Alienates Iranian People Today, Iranian Clerics Tomorrow" and "Party Unity My Ayatollah ?"
** UK explicitely named by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. BBC's Jon Leyne asked to leave (BBC in Farsi too independent for the regime).
20070716
David Attenborough, one life on Earth
I would never tire of watching TV series from Sir David Frederick Attenborough. Each time I end up thinking why wait for this strange animal to disappear from the surface of Earth before paying hommage to such an utterly exotic and brilliant naturalist from the BBC ?
Because the David Attenborough is an endangered specie ; a dodo exhibiting improbable feathers, carrying a surprisingly melodious breathless tune, and with a unique way of shaking all over while delivering incredibly valuable messages in an otherwise vanished language. Maybe the missing link between Darwin and Monty Python... actually, a discreet hello was sent by none other than the unforgettable agent of the Ministry of Silly Walks during John Cleese's cult documentary in Madagascar.
But Sir David would never dare compare the tarsier with a microwaved cat. His sense of humor is full of love for life in all sorts and shapes, life starring in breathtaking and voluminous tales matching the greatest of XIXth Century novels. This naturalist probably produced the most ambitious works to date on the ephemeral story of life on our ephemeral piece of cosmos, and "The Living Planet" may perfectly sum up both his achievements and those of life on Earth. Actually, "life" / "living" and "planet" appear in all titles, like trademarks. Non for profit trademarks : just marks of respect traded every day for any kind of emotion on any kind of place and under any kind of weather.
The younger brother of director Richard Attenborough (whose rather classical "Ghandi" shall be better remembered than a rather classical role of scientist in Spielberg's Jurassic Park), this Londoner works essentially for the Beeb, in audiovisual formats, and never balking at the most surprising images. Yet, I do believe his main talent lies in his writing : everything seems so simple and natural, like water running down the mountain... but imagine what it takes to start a sentence in Antarctica and complete it six months EARLIER in Kalimantan ! Even under the charm of his tale, one cannot but admire the clarity, the relevance, and the synthetic mind of this splendid achievement of evolution.
Naturally (indeed), years tend to go by, hills to draw more sighs, and winds to agitate a whiter shade of hair, but even at 81, Sir David remains this curious kid dreaming his naïve environmental dreams, and radiating eternal love for life.
Some sad day, England will cry for the loss of this beautiful life on Earth. That day, let us not keep his brain in formalin on some dusty shelf of a museum, but disseminate his ashes and works around to keep our planet and minds fertile.
Because the David Attenborough is an endangered specie ; a dodo exhibiting improbable feathers, carrying a surprisingly melodious breathless tune, and with a unique way of shaking all over while delivering incredibly valuable messages in an otherwise vanished language. Maybe the missing link between Darwin and Monty Python... actually, a discreet hello was sent by none other than the unforgettable agent of the Ministry of Silly Walks during John Cleese's cult documentary in Madagascar.
But Sir David would never dare compare the tarsier with a microwaved cat. His sense of humor is full of love for life in all sorts and shapes, life starring in breathtaking and voluminous tales matching the greatest of XIXth Century novels. This naturalist probably produced the most ambitious works to date on the ephemeral story of life on our ephemeral piece of cosmos, and "The Living Planet" may perfectly sum up both his achievements and those of life on Earth. Actually, "life" / "living" and "planet" appear in all titles, like trademarks. Non for profit trademarks : just marks of respect traded every day for any kind of emotion on any kind of place and under any kind of weather.
The younger brother of director Richard Attenborough (whose rather classical "Ghandi" shall be better remembered than a rather classical role of scientist in Spielberg's Jurassic Park), this Londoner works essentially for the Beeb, in audiovisual formats, and never balking at the most surprising images. Yet, I do believe his main talent lies in his writing : everything seems so simple and natural, like water running down the mountain... but imagine what it takes to start a sentence in Antarctica and complete it six months EARLIER in Kalimantan ! Even under the charm of his tale, one cannot but admire the clarity, the relevance, and the synthetic mind of this splendid achievement of evolution.
Naturally (indeed), years tend to go by, hills to draw more sighs, and winds to agitate a whiter shade of hair, but even at 81, Sir David remains this curious kid dreaming his naïve environmental dreams, and radiating eternal love for life.
Some sad day, England will cry for the loss of this beautiful life on Earth. That day, let us not keep his brain in formalin on some dusty shelf of a museum, but disseminate his ashes and works around to keep our planet and minds fertile.
20060912
Red blogule to Stephen Sackur - HARDtalk but softBRAIN
Yesterday's HARDtalk featured a stimulating cast with interesting things to say (Tariq Ramadan, Joseph E. Stiglitz and a brilliant professor from Harvard I never heard of before but would be pleased to hear more often).
Unfortunately, Stephen Sackur kept interrupting each one of them each time they reached the climax of their sentences, as if to deny them the right to oppose the official propaganda. Instead of a journalist, I saw an ambitious man with the pretention of being smarter than his hosts but only reciting the irrelevant and worn out brief from the Bush Administration.
And yes, even if there was no link watsoever between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 in the first place, you cannot dissociate the mess in Iraq from the aftermath of 9/1.
I wish these 3 people had been interviewed by the genuine BBC journalist who had, just a few minutes later, a chat with a scaringly diminished Dan Rather.
Unfortunately, Stephen Sackur kept interrupting each one of them each time they reached the climax of their sentences, as if to deny them the right to oppose the official propaganda. Instead of a journalist, I saw an ambitious man with the pretention of being smarter than his hosts but only reciting the irrelevant and worn out brief from the Bush Administration.
And yes, even if there was no link watsoever between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 in the first place, you cannot dissociate the mess in Iraq from the aftermath of 9/1.
I wish these 3 people had been interviewed by the genuine BBC journalist who had, just a few minutes later, a chat with a scaringly diminished Dan Rather.
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