Need advice from the non-USAsians, please

[patchoulli]

I've been trying to expand my news reading this past year since the stuff we get here in the US is fluff and pablum. I read Al jazeera - English and The Guardian UK (but that one seems a lot like the US media). (From the US I read The Nation, sometimes the New Yorker, Rolling Stone's Matt Taiibi, Mother Jones, New York Times, etc.)
What would you suggest for good analysis of the news/journalism from the point of view of your sides of the world?
Thanks!

[joethree56]

Patchoulli, I assume your reading is done online rather than by buying papers. I occasionally buy the Guardian and in paper form it is rather more comprehensive that the online version which is severely abridged. Sadly not much of our press aspires to great heights and most are right wing and very inward looking. The best source for news and information is the BBC both via the radio broadcasts (in particular radio four) and also its website. No doubt Peltigera will also offer his opinion on this topic too and the both of us will always give you our personal take on any issue you might care to raise.
On the topic of the BBC website it is huge and can be a bit confusing but there you are able to get national and international news and jounalistic comment but at the other end of the scale there are also news stories from local BBC radio stations and they are definitely parish pump parochial but they do reflect ordinary everyday life

[patchoulli]

Thanks, Joe! I didn't even think of reading the BBC online, and I listen to it almost daily on the car radio. It has time segments via NPR (National Public Radio). I will definitely check it out online. The news stories from the local stations actually sound neat - I like reading/listening to local items and I love pieces about small town life (never have been much of a fan of the big cities).
"Sadly not much of our press aspires to great heights and most are right wing and very inward looking." Unfortunately you could also be talking about most US media.
A couple of weeks ago it became painfully clear just how "sheltered" we in the US are from the rest of the world - take a look at this link. Disgusting.
www.businessinsider.com/these-time-magazine-covers-explain-why-americans-know-nothing-about-the-world-2011-11

[Peltigera]

I don't particularly read newspapers, I'm afraid - too depressing. I do read the Saturday edition of the Guardian and The Big Issue (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Issue). Most of my news comes from the BBC - being a shift worker, I listen to the BBC World Service on the radio at night which has better news programmes than the domestic BBC.

One reason I don't bother with mass media - we had riots late last year in London at the same time as similar proceedings in Syria. Our rioters were low-life criminals and the Syrian rioters were noble freedom fighters. No hint that ours were reacting to something bad in our society or that the Syrians were taking personal advantage of opportunities. You get what Big Brother wants you to get.

[Peltigera]

I recently watched Al Jazeera news programme on TV - very different to the BBC when reporting the same events.

[patchoulli]

Unfortunately we don't get Al Jazeera on any tv stations I have access to. Probably be a while b4 that happens around here. Might stir up the sheeple.
And now I have another question, this one pertains to the Brits. I was looking at BBC online- it is huge, just as joethree said, and very cool. I spotted a place with recipes and browsed around in there. Holiday recipes abound and there are several for what we in the US call 'cookies' but you folks call 'biscuits'. I knew you called cookies biscuits but now I'm wondering what do you call what we call biscuits?? And also - are they cookies or biscuits when you're talking about the tracking devices (isn't that pretty much what they are?) on our computers?

[wheelspinner]

Dec 31, 2011 16:18:05 GMT -5 patchoulli said:

What would you suggest for good analysis of the news/journalism from the point of view of your sides of the world?
Thanks!

I've pretty much given up on the for-profit media for investigative reporting or analysis. They are beholden to proprietors and advertisers, not to the public. Here in Australia, that pretty much means the Murdoch press, who own 70% of our print media. Enough said.

Apart from the ABC (our version of BBC, not as good), there are a few services here that are worth a look, including NFPs and subscription services.

One site I like is The Conversation at theconversation.edu.au/. This is a news service put together by a consortium of academics and researchers rather than journalists, and they do a very good job of intelligent, Kardashian-free reporting.

The Monthly at www.themonthly.com.au/ is a political and cultural magazine. Generally considered to be a left-wing point-of-view.

Quarterly Essay at www.quarterlyessay.com/, published by The Monthly, is a long-form essay published on a different topic. It's very in-depth, and can be quite contentious. (One instalment is often credited with accelerating the downfall of the Rudd government). Topics are most often Australian in orientation, but they do cover issues of more general interest. I tend to read it when the subject matter interests me. You can get QE as an e-book from the Kindle Shop and read it on your computer.

I regularly visit Project Syndicate at www.project-syndicate.org/. They collate and publish opinion pieces from all over the world.

I would recommend Crikey, but I think it's a bit too parochial for your purposes. Unlike some online sites, they haven't got everything behind their paywall, so you can still read some good stuff for free. I think their subscription rates are too steep, myself, so I just read their site.

For American and global news, I subscribe to Harper's and Atlantic Monthly. I find they give detailed coverage without too much evident bias. Still getting them in paper form, although Atlantic now has an iPad version which I'm enjoying. Oh, and I get HBR so I can pretend to my banking clients that I'm keeping up with their business.

[Peltigera]

Jan 1, 2012 20:44:07 GMT -5 patchoulli said:

I spotted a place with recipes and browsed around in there. Holiday recipes abound and there are several for what we in the US call 'cookies' but you folks call 'biscuits'. I knew you called cookies biscuits but now I'm wondering what do you call what we call biscuits?? And also - are they cookies or biscuits when you're talking about the tracking devices (isn't that pretty much what they are?) on our computers?

we have cookies as well as biscuits. Cookies are softer and usually thicker - biscuits are necessarily hard. I don't know what we call what you call biscuits as I have no idea what you are calling biscuits. (I just looked on Wikipedia - I don't think we have those.)

And we have cookies on our computers - don't want to admit to any sort of ownership of those!

[patchoulli]

Thanks Wheel for the good suggestions of news/opinion places. Don't have to go to work today so might get to browse around in a couple of them.
Scratching my head over "cookies are softer and usually thicker". Some of our cookies are soft/thick - such as chocolate chip cookies. Biscuits are mainly breakfast food, used to sop up the yolk of a fried egg or in biscuits and gravy. See Google images for "biscuits and gravy" and "Christmas cookies". Which then raises another question - do you see the same Google images as I do? Hmm, interesting.

[joethree56]

Patchouli, I am glad you like the BBC web site, it should provide you with enough to explore for a long time. On the economic analysis Robert Peston and Stephanie Flanders are generally worth a read as is Nick Robinson on the machinations of parliament and European politics
English biscuits are usually thin, brittle and crispy. They can be either sweet, savoury or plain in flavour. To soak up gravy or egg we would use bread.
Here is a link to a lighthearted look at 'two nations divided by a common language
www.effingpot.com/

[patchoulli]

The language website is a hoot, Joe! (hoot = funny or fun) That the guy that posted the site lived in Texas for a while makes it even funnier since Texans have their very own and very distinct way of speaking. If he'd come a little farther north he might have felt a little more at home. (we were Texas residents for four years - we sounded horrible after our Hoosier "twang" got mixed up with the Texas drawl)
I did wonder at the "double cream" that the guy couldn't find in Texas, even on dairy farms. What is that stuff? Do British cows run around a lot so that their cream is partially churned before they pass it on to us?? Maybe it's the pasture greenery they eat. Sounds good though.

[oskar]

There's always the CBC from the Great White Northern Wasteland.

[patchoulli]

Another good suggestion - thanks, Oskar.

[joethree56]

Patch, on the cream issue here is the official definitions.
Different grades of cream are distinguished by their fat content, whether they have been heat-treated, whipped, and so on. In many jurisdictions there are regulations for each type.
[edit] United States

In the United States, cream is usually sold as:

Half and half (10.5–18% fat)
Light, coffee, or table cream (18–30% fat)
Medium cream (25% fat)
Whipping or light Whipping cream (30–36% fat)
Heavy Whipping cream (36% or more)
Extra-heavy, double, or manufacturer's cream (38–40% or more).

Not all grades are defined by all jurisdictions, and the exact fat content ranges vary. The above figures are based on the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 131[2][3] and a small sample[which?] of state regulations.
[edit] Australia

In Australia, levels of fat in cream are not regulated, therefore labels are only under the control of the manufacturers. A general guideline is as follows:

Extra light (or 'lite'): 12–12.5% fat.

Light (or 'lite'): 18–20% fat.

Pure cream: 35–56% fat, without artificial thickeners.

Thickened cream: 35–36.5% fat, with added gelatine and/or other thickeners to give the cream a creamier texture, also possibly with stabilisers to aid the consistency of whipped cream (this would be the cream to use for whipped cream, not necessarily for cooking)

Single cream: Recipes calling for 'single cream' are referring to pure or thickened cream with about 35% fat.

Double cream: 48–60% fat.[4]
[edit] United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the types of cream are legally defined[5] as followed:
Name Minimum
milk fat Additional definition Main uses
Clotted cream 55% is heat treated Served as it is. A traditional part of a Cream tea.
Extra-Thick Double cream 48% is heat treated then quickly cooled Thickest available fresh cream, spooned onto pies, puddings, and desserts (cannot be poured due to its consistency)
Double cream 48% Whips the easiest and thickest for puddings and desserts, can be piped
Whipping cream 35% Whips well but lighter, can be piped
Whipped cream 35% has been whipped Decorations on cakes, topping for ice cream, strawberries and so on.
Sterilized cream 23% is sterilized
Cream or single cream 18% is not sterilized Poured over puddings, used in sauces
Sterilized half cream 12% is sterilized
Half cream 12% is not sterilized Uncommon, some cocktails


As you can see UK double cream and clotted cream are sinfully rich in butterfats. Clotted cream however is in a league of its own and is a speciality of the south west corner of England (which is incidently Peltigera's place of origin) and is usually served with fruit jam (US jelly?) at afternoon tea on fresh baked scones.
On the language thing I remember back in the 1960s when the coal mines of Scotland and the north east of England were being closed many of the miners and their families from these regions moved down to the coalmines of my own area of north Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This presented a problem and a possible safety issue as there was no common terminology for tools and procedures involved in mining. The employers solution to this was to produce a dictionary of these terms with their regional equivalents.
More recently The south Yorkshire region of the National Health authority published a guide for non local staff to help them understand the dialect terms likely to used by their patients.

[patchoulli]

Mmmm, those butterfatted creams sound good. Still wonder why UK cows have more butterfat in their milk than US cows. Or maybe the US dairies skim more butterfat off.
Interesting about the dictionaries for local dialects. We could use something like that here when northerners are trying to understand southerners. I had a friend when we lived in Texas who asked me to come to her house and "dew her har". I asked her three times to repeat and finally asked her to spell "har". She spelled it "h a i r". Good grief. The Texans also said things like "all" instead of "oil" and "mirra" instead of "mirror". Took us a while to get the hang of it.

[MacBeth]

Butterfat for milks and creams are regulated. The fat is skimmed to meet regs in the manufacturying process, and the remaining fat is used in other products - ice cream, yogurt, cheese, etc. Sometimes it is sold for use in other food products.

[patchoulli]

Thanks, Beth. Joethree clearly stated there were regulations but I just wasn't getting it. It does seem an odd place for regulations, though. Why would we need to "regulate" how much butterfat is in cream? Oops, now I'm sounding a bit like Ron Paul.

[joethree56]

Talking of milk and the like has anyone else here eaten beestings custard?

[patchoulli]

Is the answer to your question going to make me hungry Joe? I'm at work, it's 2:30 PM and I could use a snack.
So what is beestings custard?

[joethree56]

Well this might possibly curb your hunger depending upon you point of view. Beestins are the first milk taken from the cow after she has calved. These are so rich that if placed in a shallow dish in a medium heat oven they set into a jelly like custard. To anyone raised on the farm this was a real treat. I courted and married a peasants daughter. and so became familiar with this and other things.

[patchoulli]

Uh, no thanks, Joe. I do like most dairy treats but that one sounds like it's just a bit over the top for me.
Wouldn't the calf need that milk (is it loaded with disease preventatives like human milk) or is there enough that it can share with the humans?

[joethree56]

Patch there is more than enough milk for the needs of the calf as cattle have been selectively bred for hundreds of years to produce excess milk and they do produce prodigious amounts (4 to 6 gallons a day). On smallholdings such as my father in laws place their one (sometimes two) cows provided milk for the raising of calves and their own domestic use for cheese and butter with the whey being fed to the pigs. As the colostrum had no domestic use beyond the custard mentioned the bulk of it would be fed to the pigs. Yes it is loaded with useful disease preventative antibodies that are compatible across species including humans but are forty times more powerful in bovine colostrum.

[patchoulli]

Interesting stuff, Joe. I grew up directly across the road from a dairy farm but I did not know anything about the operations of it other than chasing some of the cows out of our orchard when they broke through the fence by the road. I didn't know how much calves ate so didn't know mom had enough for everybody. I did, however, know the bull was to be watched and avoided!

[MacBeth]

It is regulated essentially to prevent the many milk borne diseases

[oskar]

Jan 5, 2012 16:09:42 GMT -5 MacBeth said:

It is regulated essentially to prevent the many milk borne diseases

And to provide a definition of "cream" for consumers.

[Brian]

A few weeks ago at Christmas time, I posted a link to a song called "Little White Berry" by the British performer Roy Castle.

One of the verses in the song says the following:

"You need a plate full of pudd to make you feel good at Christmas."

What exactly is "pudd" in the UK?

Is it like regular pudding in America? Or is it something differerent?

[Peltigera]

"Pudd" is just an abbreviation of "pudding". In the context of the song it is a Christmas Pudding which is very rich, very heavy, fruit rich pudding that is steamed for an hour or so.

[Brian]

Jan 9, 2012 5:32:02 GMT -5 Peltigera said:

"Pudd" is just an abbreviation of "pudding". In the context of the song it is a Christmas Pudding which is very rich, very heavy, fruit rich pudding that is steamed for an hour or so.

Thanks for the info. I apprecicate it. : )