Goodbye 2006...Welcome 2007

New Year's Eve Trivia...Something to do, something to wake you up ..... and yada, yada, yada.....

Iraqi TV says Saddam Hussein executed

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers

BAGHDAD, Iraq -

Saddam Hussein, the shotgun-waving dictator who ruled Iraq with a remorseless brutality for a quarter-century and was driven from power by a U.S.-led war that left his country in shambles, was taken to the gallows and executed Saturday, Iraqi state-run television reported.

Criminal Saddam was hanged to death," Iraqiya television said in an announcement. The station played patriotic music and showed images of national monuments and other landmarks.

The execution came 56 days after a court convicted Saddam and sentenced him to death for his role in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims from a town where assassins tried to kill the dictator in 1982.

Iraq's highest court rejected Saddam's appeal Monday and ordered him executed within 30 days.







More info : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saddam

Hell's Kitchen

Superchef Gordon Ramsay prepared a slap-up Christmas feast for 800 British troops yesterday - and the Daily Mirror picked up the tab.

We flew the star of Hell's Kitchen and the F-Word into war-torn Helmand Province in Afghanistan to give our brave fighting men and women a festive treat they will never forget.

Gordon, 40 and two of his top culinary aides Angela Hartnett and Jason Atherton from London rustled up a sumptuous turkey dinner in a field kitchen using only basic army equipment.

The Michelin-starred celebrity said: "This is by far the most difficult cooking challenge I have ever faced. But it was well worth it to see the look on the guys' faces when they came into the dining tent.

It was absolutely brilliant.





More details can be obtained by : CLICKING HERE

Former President Gerald Ford dies at 93

News Blog - Wednesday, Dec, 27th, 2006

By JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writer


LOS ANGELES

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th president and the only one never elected to nationwide office, has died. He was 93.

He died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, his office said in a statement. No cause of death was released. Funeral arrangements were to be announced Wednesday.

"The American people will always admire Gerald Ford's devotion to duty, his personal character and the honorable conduct of his administration,"

President Bush said in a statement Tuesday night. "We mourn the loss of such a leader, and our 38th president will always have a special place in our nation's memory."

Ford was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

"I was deeply saddened this evening when I heard of Jerry Ford's death," former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a statement. "Ronnie and I always considered him a dear friend and close political ally.


More details at : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061227/ap_on_re_us/obit_ford

On the Net :

Gerald Ford presidential library site: http://www.ford.utexas.edu/
Full Coverage: Gerald Ford, 1913-2006

BJTC and NCTJ commit to closer working

Two main journalism training organisations to work more closely on convergence initiatives

The Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the National Council for the Training of Journalists are to hold joint talks about future training.

New technology and booming new media platforms are transforming newsrooms and increasing demand for multi-skilled, multi-media journalists.

The two organisations recognise the convergence of print, broadcast and on-line media and journalism skills and so are to discuss a number of initiatives.

These include the organisation of a journalism skills summit early next year, the development of a new video journalism qualification, development of joint accreditation criteria for multi-media journalism courses and broadening the print journalism law syllabus to include on-line and broadcast law and regulation.

Tom Beesley, BJTC Chairman said," Given the recent transformation in how news is delivered, it makes sense for the BJTC and the NCTJ to explore potentially common ground in approaches to journalism training. Future journalists are likely to need both print and broadcasting skills and knowledge - and we welcome the opportunity to break new ground in preparing for that future."

Kim Fletcher, NCTJ Chairman said," Newsrooms are in the midst of a digital revolution and the traditional distinctions between media are blurring. Plans for our two organisations to join forces on a number of initiatives is a great step forward and can only be good for the future of joined-up journalism thinking and working."


Source - BJTC/NCTJ

URL - www.nctj.com

Date study finds 'best chat-up lines'

A mass speed dating study in Edinburgh has found the most successful chat-up lines, according to researchers.

One hundred people aged from 22 to 45 went on five three-minute dates and were asked how they chose who to see again.

"No-one wanted to meet each other afterwards, mainly because men and women often disagree about the best types of films.

"But when you shifted the conversation to travel, everyone became a lot more energised and that ended in far more dates."

More info at : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4909322.stm

The Show Must Go On

There seems to be a common misperception about TV newsreaders.

In fact, there are two.

The general public seem to think they're the thing, the be all and end all.

However, in the industry they're the butt of everyone's jokes and teased for being 'just a pretty face' [off the record]

But then........ is that or isn't that true ?

To put this in detail, you ought to visit these urls :

http://indiannewsreaders.blogspot.com/

http://www.gogomag.com/talkingheads/msnbc_cnbc_f.htm

It just indicates how much the image level has an influence on the viewer's mind. Sometimes, he has to put sticky-pads on the bottom so as to focus his interests elsewhere. Thanks to the stock-market ticker running down below... it reduces the image influence a lot...

Please note I have no links to that website and like all others, it is just another site expressing itself.

Besides, am just starting on this blog, and perhaps may be a bit too harsh on opinions....

Ofcourse, then there are exceptions.....

So apologies, if any of you feel criticised for being overly stiff, unduly self-conscious, rude, giggly, just a pretty face, explicit, sexy [now that' a thought], ofcourse not probing enough, and trying to make cheeky and absolute infantile questions etc....

But then the show must go on...

It may sound cliched, but I am given to understand that newsreading's not as easy as it seems [now isn't that a thought] and while my tendencies are more off-screen, its certainly useful to know what's going through the news-readers mind.. What do you say ?

Infact, there are also many newsreaders available throughout the Internet.

To know which ones are available to gain access to newsgroups and Usenet, one may simple visit www.newsreaders.info, a website that provides information about newsreaders, giving recommendations as to which ones are good for getting updated using newsgroups.

For news aggregators, one may visit www.newsonfeeds.com/faq/aggregators to see which programs allow users to get feeds.

Newsreaders are definitely great tools to keep people in the know. The convenience and efficiency they provide make it appear as if news is delivered directly to you.

So, until the next post

The Sunday Magazine

Are Female Newsreaders Worth-less !!!

Female correspondents working on the BBC's flagship television news bulletins earn £6,500 less than their male counterparts on average, according to figures released under the corporation's freedom of information scheme.

The disclosure will support claims of the existence of a glass ceiling for women journalists at the BBC, and will raise questions about the fairness of the corporation's overall pay structure.

Separate figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that in the past five years the number of staff earning more than £100,000 has risen threefold, while the number of employees has fallen in the face of a wide redundancy programme.

Earlier this year the BBC was criticised for the lavish pay packets given to its big names such as Jonathan Ross during a period of significant cost-cutting.

But, according to an answer to the Freedom of Information Act question, the average female news correspondent working for the One, Six and Ten o'clock news broadcasts is paid £59,050 - compared to £65,625 for a male correspondent.

David Ayrton, research and information officer at the National Union of Journalists, said: "Whilst the NUJ and other media trade unions have made significant inroads in eroding the glass ceiling... more measures are needed to eradicate pay inequality."

In answering the question, the BBC said: "To help put the information in context, it is worth noting that the relative experience of specialist correspondents is likely to be reflected in their salaries. Therefore, we have also included the average ages of and lengths of service for the sample group, as they may be an indicator of relative levels of experience."

The average age of a female correspondent is 41, while it is 46 for males.

A second document released under the FoI legislation reveals that while 107 BBC staff were paid more than £100,000 in 2001, that number had risen to 322 by September 2006. Yet, in the same period, the number of staff had fallen to 21,538, from 21,683 five years ago.

ONS statistics released in October showed the pay gap in Britain between men and women's salaries remains at 17.2 per cent.

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has used these figures to estimate that the average woman working full-time will lose out on around £330,000 over the course of her working life. The EOC is now calling on the Government to use this review as an opportunity to modernise the law so that it can be more effective in helping to close the pay gap.

Jenny Watson, the chairman of the EOC, said: "The pay gap, sadly, isn't closing fast enough. We welcome the action plan following the Women and Work Commission. But we also need new legal thinking if we're to tackle this stubborn inequality and speed up the pace of change." She added: "In the generation since the sex discrimination acts and the equal pay acts came into force, women have made great strides. But the remaining pay gap suggests that our three-decades-old laws - which rely heavily on women bringing costly individual legal cases to challenge inequality - have reached the limits of their usefulness.

"We need a new generation of laws placing a more active responsibility on employers to deliver equality for tomorrow's generation - before they too miss out on much-needed income."

What the top dogs make...

In July it was reported that BBC executives received record rises in an overall £3.7m pay deal. Mark Thompson, the director general, was awarded a £60,000 pay increase, and the nine other board members were also given hefty rises, the corporation's annual report shows.

The size of the rises, which were approved by the BBC governors, infuriated staff who have spent the past year dealing with around 3,000 job cuts. Mr Thompson's 11 per cent rise took his salary and perks to £619,000, up from £459,000 in 2004. (If he had been employed for the full 12 months of 2004, his salary would have been £562,000.)

Jana Bennett, director of television, was paid £353,000, including benefits and bonus. Her basic pay rose from £255,000 to £321,000.

The basic pay of Jenny Abramsky, the director of radio and music, rose from £233,000 to £295,000.


News Blog Courtesy : http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2055563.ece
By Robert Verkaik / 08 December 2006