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They should be committed
Aug. 2nd, 2009 11:25 amAlice Arnold, previously better known as a Radio Four newsreader, has turned up in "Listen Against", a marvellous self-feeding Radio Four programme that hints at the influence of Chris Langham in its tempo of phrasing. Highly recommended for the way in which it just debunks all of the shit that we have to listen to from professional bullshitters the rest of the week.
The latest "full-of-bollocks" catchphrase is "we are committed". I spotted a couple of crap uses of this phrase in today's Sunday Times, and, with the marvellous help of search engines online, found an average of one a week in the Times Online for the past couple of months.
So, let's hear it for the "should be committed":
The Prison Service: "*We are committed to working towards a zero tolerance approach to prison violence.*
The MOD: *We are committed through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme to paying appropriate compensation to wounded service personnel*.
Alan Campbell, managing partner at Scottish law firm Dundas & Wilson: *we are committed to retaining talent wherever possible,”
Magna (Canadian company looking to take over Vauxhall) *We are committed to the UK and to the Vauxhall brand*
Times Leader: (An honourable exception here, in that the phrase is actually used correctly)
*We are committed to the war in Afghanistan and should supply enough troops to get the job done*.
Spokeswoman for Scottish government on inconsistencies of sentences between courts: *we are committed to delivering transparent and more consistent sentencing.*
Statement from Heads of State of the BRIC countries at G20: *“*We are committed to advance the reform of international financial institutions so as to reflect changes in the world economy* (first class bullshittism there, I feel....)
From Helen Rumbelow, TV reviewer -- once again, a correct use of the phrase Perhaps people move from journalism to PR because they don't know how the phrase should be used? *We pretend we do not like imperialism, materialism, or sexism, but we obviously do. We are committed to doomed struggles on all three.*
And, finally, in a top 10 that seems to feature three Scots, a spokesman from the Scottish Rugby Union:
"*We are committed to operating a sport that is open and accessible to all,* said a spokesman. *Race, creed, colour, gender and sexual orientation have no bearing.*."
A trawl through the news section of Google (although, worryingly, Google seems to take much longer to load these past few days? Has McAfee done something? Is Microsoft up to some tricks?
Anyhoo, a look through Google News throws up 10 uses worldwide in the past three hours. Nine of these are PR bollocks use, although only one is a press release.
++++++++++++
I've been six-tabling for two days in an effort to make August a good month for throughput. If I have no holiday planned and nothing else on of any significance, I might as well get the work ethic in place. Too small a sample to say how things are going, but I'll update at the end of the month in terms of hands played, effect on mental and physical health, burn-out danger, and so on.
+++++++++++
Spotify threw up The Divine Comedy, one of those "bands" that has long been on the edge of my consciousness but which I have never genuinely followed. There are echoes of Magnetic Fields here, and also of Scott Walker. This could be a massive Amazon.co.uk binge.
____________
The latest "full-of-bollocks" catchphrase is "we are committed". I spotted a couple of crap uses of this phrase in today's Sunday Times, and, with the marvellous help of search engines online, found an average of one a week in the Times Online for the past couple of months.
So, let's hear it for the "should be committed":
The Prison Service: "*We are committed to working towards a zero tolerance approach to prison violence.*
The MOD: *We are committed through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme to paying appropriate compensation to wounded service personnel*.
Alan Campbell, managing partner at Scottish law firm Dundas & Wilson: *we are committed to retaining talent wherever possible,”
Magna (Canadian company looking to take over Vauxhall) *We are committed to the UK and to the Vauxhall brand*
Times Leader: (An honourable exception here, in that the phrase is actually used correctly)
*We are committed to the war in Afghanistan and should supply enough troops to get the job done*.
Spokeswoman for Scottish government on inconsistencies of sentences between courts: *we are committed to delivering transparent and more consistent sentencing.*
Statement from Heads of State of the BRIC countries at G20: *“*We are committed to advance the reform of international financial institutions so as to reflect changes in the world economy* (first class bullshittism there, I feel....)
From Helen Rumbelow, TV reviewer -- once again, a correct use of the phrase Perhaps people move from journalism to PR because they don't know how the phrase should be used? *We pretend we do not like imperialism, materialism, or sexism, but we obviously do. We are committed to doomed struggles on all three.*
And, finally, in a top 10 that seems to feature three Scots, a spokesman from the Scottish Rugby Union:
"*We are committed to operating a sport that is open and accessible to all,* said a spokesman. *Race, creed, colour, gender and sexual orientation have no bearing.*."
A trawl through the news section of Google (although, worryingly, Google seems to take much longer to load these past few days? Has McAfee done something? Is Microsoft up to some tricks?
Anyhoo, a look through Google News throws up 10 uses worldwide in the past three hours. Nine of these are PR bollocks use, although only one is a press release.
++++++++++++
I've been six-tabling for two days in an effort to make August a good month for throughput. If I have no holiday planned and nothing else on of any significance, I might as well get the work ethic in place. Too small a sample to say how things are going, but I'll update at the end of the month in terms of hands played, effect on mental and physical health, burn-out danger, and so on.
+++++++++++
Spotify threw up The Divine Comedy, one of those "bands" that has long been on the edge of my consciousness but which I have never genuinely followed. There are echoes of Magnetic Fields here, and also of Scott Walker. This could be a massive Amazon.co.uk binge.
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