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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Policywonk, in Hobbs and em and ess, LIVE FROM THE G20

476 replies

policywonk · 02/04/2009 08:18

YOWZA

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JuxaLOTmoreChocolate · 03/04/2009 12:29

How about a camomile lawn instead?

AIBU in thinking that only chieftains' important or rich people's male children should be educated? We need fewer intellects; fewer intellects=fewer ideas=fewer arguments. Let's cut education in favour of world peace!

Would that work?

EachPeachPearMum · 03/04/2009 12:36

Excellent idea Jux- before the 20th century there wasn't really widespread universal education, nor were there any world wars QED

EssieW · 03/04/2009 13:07

Hope you're getting some rest today PW - sounded a great experience to be there.

I found this a great way to be more 'involved' in the G20 - so thanks mumsnet.

Sounded like Mr Grauniad rather wished he had asked your excellent question on maternal mortality himself...

LIZS · 03/04/2009 13:39

Well done pw . However I wasn't impressed with the patronising Sky news label for mn - apparently we're all sleepdeprived and puree encrusted yet some of us are way beyond that - or the mums.net caption. You rose above it beautifully

Bramshott · 03/04/2009 14:16

Well done PW - you were fantastic!!

Habbibu · 03/04/2009 16:35

Good stuff, PW. Am gutted to have missed the TV appearances - anyone know if they're on iplayer? Couldn't seem to get News24.

Wormsmeat · 03/04/2009 16:55

24-hour rolling news on Listen Again? That is probably the next step forward for broadcasting.

Habbibu · 03/04/2009 16:58

I take your point, (shamed) but they might have made the effort for fans of the Wonk, mightn't they?

LeninGrad · 03/04/2009 16:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

policywonk · 03/04/2009 17:34

God knows most of you have probably had enough of me for this lifetime, but this link here takes you to the page from which you can download the John Pienaar podcast in which he calls MN a 'site that tries to make politics accessible to mums' or something. On second thoughts, maybe it's best not to listen.

Look, I'm in doo-doo from Justine because you've all been looking at my personal blog and not the MN one. I'll be posting up a bunch of stuff on the MN blog over the next couple of days - more detail about what happened and so on.

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MollieO · 03/04/2009 17:48

I've looked at both. Justine should know that we Mumsnetters are adept at multitasking.

policywonk · 03/04/2009 18:04

Ta mollie. Did you read both blogs while on the Jungle rollercoaster?

Tying up loose ends:

100x Chinese blogger didn't show, apparently.

Essie - impressions of DA: seemed clever, well-briefed. Both he and Ed Miliband actually came to sit down and talk with us - might not sound like much but very few people were willing to do it. Couldn't get much beyond the party line with either of them. I recorded the interview he did with bloggers' corner and will try to write a coherent blog post about it later. Possibly tomorrow, realistically, as DP is rumbling a bit about me going straight back on to the pooter after two days away...

Swedes as it turns out, quite big chunks of money were set aside yesterday. How they are spent, and which conditions are attached to them, is what matters now.

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Wormsmeat · 03/04/2009 18:07

Yes, Habbs, a 24-hour rolling Wonkcast would be sensible.

policywonk · 03/04/2009 18:19

bleh Geldof didn't really talk about crocs, it was a lame joke on my part. Surely you're used to those by now...

Justine sorry I didn't ask RP for a webchat - completely zoomed over my head with all the adrenalin

noopska It does feel a bit weird to be back in RL. Very much doubt I'll ever get the chance to do something like that again and it was a huge buzz. Absolutely no job offers whatsoever but if I start appearing on threads arguing that SAHMs are bovine idiots, you'll draw your own conclusions, yes?

Big thank you to everyone who was nice about me on News 24 - haven't seen it!

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policywonk · 03/04/2009 18:22

Obama is absolutely every bit as charismatic and charming as you'd think, you know. It really was quite

Was sitting next to Oxfam man who was interjecting with slightly sarky (perfectly cogent) remarks - so I said to him 'you're not under his spell then?', and Oxfam man thought about it for a second and said 'well I am, a bit'

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policywonk · 03/04/2009 18:25

OK going to have to stop, DP getting mardy (reckon he's entitled)

Off to Pizza Express. I will be found face-down in a Veneziana in appx. 45 mins

Will get back to the rest of this and the blog.

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GeraldineMumsnet · 03/04/2009 21:27

Here's link to PW's blog

LeninGrad · 04/04/2009 10:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

policywonk · 04/04/2009 17:35

OK, how did I get accused of FLIRTING with Robert Peston on the home page? This is a bloody outrage. I am cancelling my subscription.

Re. the Guardian blog - I don't think the blogger himself was being disparaging about me, he was just pointing out that some of his colleagues were. I'm so happy that I was in a position for people to be disparaging about me that I don't care. I've posted a comment on the blog. LOL at 'a girl just talked!' And about filthy juice-laden lady-bits business as well. Soon they'll be giving us toilets and everything.

Am horrified that I might provoke an MN boycott of the Guardian Not In My Name!

wprmsmeat your point about the bloggers' specialist perspectives is spot on (not me obv., but some of the other bloggers are incredibly specialised and are readily deferred to by 'proper' journos).

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policywonk · 04/04/2009 17:44

grumblin How lovely of you. I have become a bit of an egotistical maniac over the last few days, but my few remaining scraps of sanity tell me that the media weren't interested in ME, they were interested in 'the mumsnet blogger'.

One thing that's been a real eye-opener for me is seeing how the media, and bloggers, perceive mumsnet. These are people who have never been on the site. By and large (with some exceptions obviously), they think 'mum' is a synonym for 'drooling idiot'. They think that to explain things to an MNer, you have to use simple words. They think that if you get an MNer on your TV/radio show, they're going to give a half-baked Daily Express viewpoint before collapsing in a puddle of mid-priced perfume.

In short, they have utter contempt for mothers. But at the same time, they know that MN is an absolute phenomenon. I've never seen people's jaws literally drop before, but that's what happens when you say '850,000' to someone who knows something about online traffic. They want in on us. They want to get on the site and pump messages into it. They just don't want to do their research first, or treat us like a bunch of men and women who know a thing or two.

It's been the only depressing (personal) part of what's happened over the last week, for me.

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theyoungvisiter · 04/04/2009 17:53

"Re. the Guardian blog - I don't think the blogger himself was being disparaging about me, he was just pointing out that some of his colleagues were."

Tcha right! Don't you know that's classic journo tactic - attributing your less attractive opinions to others eg:

"Many people say" - what I think but would prefer not to admit to in the context of this article becuase it might make me look a bit biassed.

"Some people might even say" - what I secretly think but dare not admit at dinner parties because it's really not very PC.

Or conversely the legal get out:

"Sources close to the celebrity said" - the current rumour doing the rounds is.

"A party spokesperson hotly denied the widely held belief that" - story which I think is almost certainly true but is unfortunately too scurrilous to print.

theyoungvisiter · 04/04/2009 17:55

That was a bit of a joke btw , I think re-reading it he was putting himself on the bloggers side of the fence, ie not part of the MSM.

But obviously he does think it's remarkable/slightly scandalous/a sign of the times that mumsnet was present otherwise he wouldn't have bothered reporting the remark.

theyoungvisiter · 04/04/2009 17:58

"They think that if you get an MNer on your TV/radio show, they're going to give a half-baked Daily Express viewpoint before collapsing in a puddle of mid-priced perfume."

Rofl!

MN provides 2/3 of the traffic to the Daily Mail website, with scandalised "have you seen THIS TRIPE!" links. They should give us a medal.

policywonk · 04/04/2009 19:25

madsometimes thank you and I'm PMSL at the snowman on your profile

Re. the question of MN as a campaigning force: I think we already are pretty effective in our way, because the site's stance is not strident, and we speak with many voices.

I think practically everyone on here would agree with things like a focus on MNH, or women in Afghanistan. What we would be able to agree on is what to do about it.

At the briefing session at Westminster I kept asking the Save the Children people what one action MNers should take if they were concerned about MNH. I didn't get a straight answer, because what will improve the situation for, say, a woman in a slum in peri-urban Manila might be irrelevant for a woman in a village in rural India. Each coutry has different problems, different provision, different cultural attitudes.

I concluded that the one thing MNers should do is to inform themselves. Because then, as individuals, we'll all make our own choices about what best to do next.

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policywonk · 04/04/2009 19:26

What we would not be able to agree on is what to do about it - sorry.

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