It’s April Fool’s Day today. Our MSM delight in smuggling a report to fool readers on this day. Well, I feel fooled by them every day as it is. Still, for starters, here’s the usual compilation of the print editions’ front pages: “Newspaper headlines: Biden to ‘miss’ coronation and Sunak on trade deal” (link). I dunno if we should breathe a sigh of relief that Biden ain’t coming to the coronation or if we should be mightily offended – or if it’s an April Fool’s day joke.
There are some news though which at first glance looked like April Fool’s Day jokes. The very best is this one: “BBC journalists to strike during local elections over cuts” (link, paywalled). Wahey!
Still, doing due diligence I checked out this news item in my browser to see if other MSM outlets were reporting it as well. Unless we assume that the MSM are all in it together in order to fool us – a very easy assumption, you will agree – it’s legitimate:
“BBC journalists in England will stage a 24-hour strike during the results of May’s local elections in a dispute over cuts to local radio. The action, which will take place from midnight on May 5, will be the second walkout by members of the National Union of Journalists after 1,000 workers went on strike on budget day last month. […] The strike on budget day was followed by a work-to-rule, which the union said had had a “significant impact” in “proving just how much output depends on goodwill and working extra hours by the staff”.” (link, paywalled)
Hands up anyone who noticed yon BBC journalists were on strike on Budget Day! Hands up anyone who noticed those journalists were ‘working to rule’! Take note: this isn’t about ‘Toree cuts’, it’s about ‘BBC cuts’. Here’s the statement of the top organiser:
“Paul Siegert, NUJ national broadcasting organiser, said: “Video didn’t kill off radio and nor will digital. We understand that digital services need to be improved but it shouldn’t come at the expense of local radio, which is at the heart of the BBC’s public service remit. To go from over 100 hours a week of local programming on every radio station down to just 40 is unacceptable. People want local, relevant news that is accessible and NUJ members are prepared to stand up and fight for that. Once local radio stops being local then it is the beginning of the end and BBC bosses don’t have the right to destroy an institution that has existed for over 50 years.” (link, paywalled)
Welcome to the new age, Mr Siegert! People use their smartphones, listening to their streaming music choices and checking news in their txt app, something which the few remaining local journalists employed by the syndicalised news networks already do. Let’s also not mention the fact that proper local newspapers which have existed for well over 100 years have been destroyed by ‘newspaper bosses’. That was ‘progress’, who needs papers when everything can be done digitally …
The other news item I checked for April Fool’s Day foolery was this one: “Italy becomes first western nation to ‘ban’ ChatGPT” (link, paywalled). I assume it’s true because other news outlets also report this. Why The Times saw fit to place the word ‘ban’ in quotation marks, implying it’s a bit of a joke – dunno! Here’s what the Italians are doing and why:
“Italy has become the first western nation to effectively ban ChatGPT. The country’s data watchdog has ordered OpenAI, which developed the chatbot, to stop operating because of potential breaches of privacy and data laws. The Italian Data Protection Authority (GPDP) cited concerns including the mass collection of users’ data and storage to train the AI algorithm. […] The watchdog also cited a security breach at OpenAI last week, which meant users could temporarily see each other’s searches and payment details, and a lack of protection for children. ChatGPT is aimed at over-13s but there is no age check on the site.” (link, paywalled)
Interesting, isn’t it, that data protection legislation turns out to be the stumbling block for ChatGPT, not the various ways in which it can be used to manipulate text conversations. Also interesting is that The Times saw fit to write: “The only countries to have banned or restricted ChatGPT since its launch in November are China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.” (link, paywalled), as if any concerns anyone might have regarding this app must be due to a deep-red commie mindset or at least to old-age resistance to nice, shiny Big Tech progress. But then we’re told:
“In the United States, the Center for AI and Digital Policy filed a complaint this week with the Federal Trade Commission against OpenAI. It said that GPT-4, the latest model, was biased, deceptive and a risk to privacy and public safety. OpenAI has 20 days to respond to the notice and faces a fine of up to €20 million, or 4 per cent of global turnover.” (link, paywalled)
Ah! So it’s not all sugar and spice for ChatGPT in the homeland of the developers, is it! And where, might one ask, are our data protection agencies? After all, we followed the EU and adopted Data Protection Laws, didn’t we! So where are the Rejoiners demanding we follow Italy?
I leave you with a bona-fide non-foolery report. The Easter holidays began yesterday and like lemmings the Nation descended upon Dover for the customary ‘great get-away’. So now there’s this:
“Dover declares critical incident with heavy traffic causing severe delays at port – Bad weather and hold-ups at French border controls lead to chaos for coaches and ferries as Easter holidays begin” (paywalled link)
So is it the bad weather or is it the French hampering the Nation from getting away? Dunno! One might have expected the ferry operators to’ve been aware of ‘bad weather’ coming, thanks to Met Office warnings, and prepare accordingly. One might have expected our border farce to recall that things don’t go smoothly during holidays when we need to rely on the French. Above all, surely everybody must have learned by now that there’ll always be a ‘great get-away’ at the start of holidays and prepare for it. Still, it’s good to see the customary ‘great get-away’ moan.
That’s all I have for today. Between you and me: I think we’re experiencing April Fool’s Day every single day of the year, given how our glorious MSM like to ‘inform’ us. Have a good weekend.
Unfair treatment of the English:
https://www.englishdemocrats.party/prescription_charge_petition_share
Another consequence of Blair’s stupid devolution.
I agree strongly with the NU Journalists that we need local radio. But I strongly disagree we need the BBC to deliver that news. There are plenty of non unionised independent news broadcasting stations throughout the UK which are able to deliver this service tailored to the needs of local communities.
Indeed Jake; we have enough of the BBC wokery and climate change nonsense already.
The msm et al reporting is more or less a First of April every day.
I follow much info on the ukraine special operations following eight years of shelling of Donbas Region. Did you see a couple of days ago about the underground bunker with Polish and British advisors / controllers being destroyed. Thought not. Uke has taken St P’burg and is at the gates of Moscow, right.
Ignoring all the real news (riots across you’rope, starvation in Africa, economic migration, uSA political vindictiveness, collapse of economies – inflation (food 15 pct inflation – Reuters), and on and on), instead it is all about homosexuals, environmentalists, white = slavery, people who think they are a wardrobe, racism (everywhere), we’re all gonna die climate persons, and unlimited electricity is coming, and practically free. err No actually free.
One would think you could not make it up. But they do.
My children more or less don’t watch tv or read newspapers. They have learned by ‘osmosis’ it is not worth the time. And yes they are informed.
Glad to say they don’t think the combined might(!) of uSA, nato, and you’rope are winning.
OT The next area where we’re going to get a (financial) clobbering.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-water-saving-measures-to-safeguard-supplies
Had I been on a coach waiting for hours to get into Dover I would have consoled myself with the thought that at least the bad weather was keeping dinghies at bay. As it is, one can only marvel at the number of people who booked coach trips to the continent. What’s wrong with Skegness? Ah, of course, all the hotels are occupied by immigrants. There isn’t anywhere to stay in the UK anymore.
Stout Y : “…bad weather was keeping dinghies at bay…”
You’re April Fool joking, right? Would a bit of rough Channel weather deter super fit young men of military age who are probably UN troops or similar, on a mission to slap us Brits right down?