Cheltenham and Gloucester, a UK building society (credit union), just announced 1,600 layoffs; meanwhile the London Tube strike continues, following the breakdown of talks over the reinstatement of 2 (TWO) workers.
Are the two sides living on different planets? In the UK it appears that the entire burden of job losses has been shouldered by the private sector, whilst public sector jobs keep growing….last year they increased 50,000 every QUARTER!
Meanwhile, over 1/2 of UK firms have imposed a pay freeze ( or plan to do so), whilst public salaries enjoy healthy increases.
And what of pensions….with the recent tax changes its pretty much impossible for anyone in the private sector to accumulate as good a pension as someone in the public sector AUTOMATICALLY acquires.
Can this imbalance continue before the suits rebel! In the US the liberal government is just getting started, but whose nest will they feather along the way?
Ever wonder why traffic jams seem to just happen for no apparent reason? This video from research in Japan shows how, despite traffic traveling at a constant speed on a test track, a traffic jam shockwave forms….fascinating.
Serving as a proxy for the general decline in newspaper readership and ad revenues is this chart based on data from the AIM Group and the Newspaper Assn. of America (NAA):
Newspaper classified ad revenues peaked above $16 billion in 2005 and then plummeted to around $5bn in 2009. Meantime, from its launch in 2003 Craigslist revenues have skyrocketed – advertisers had a free alternative. Note the axis – which means that around $10.9bn of that $11bn decline has simply disappeared – the power of ‘free’!
Some interesting stats from the latest Newspaper Association of America (NAA) report:
Print ad sales declined 29.7% to $5.9 billion
Online sales down 13.4% to $696.3 million
Classifieds down 42.3% to $1.5 billion
Ad sales collapse 16.6% to $37.8 billion in 2008. The worst decline ever.
2009 revenues will likely come in lower than $30 billion, less than they did in 1987
Employment advertising shrank 67.4% to $205.4 million
Real Estate down 45.6% to $336.9 million
Auto down 43.4% to $332.8 million
National campaigns down 25.9% to $1.1 billion
Retail down 23.7% to $3.3 billion
“Other” down 16.5% to $587.7 million
Ad spend in newspapers dropped around $2bn in the last quarter alone, so where are all those $ going? Sure, online ad spend continues to grow, although not at the double digit rates quarter-on-quarter that everyone hopes for, which essentially means that most of that $2bn simply got wiped out of ad budgets. The net net is that the reality of the value of newspapers as a channel and impression-based ads as a medium is finally dawning – they simply dont work!
Surely this is an idea cooked up by Californians! French prison authorities recently announced the inaugural Gaol de France – a Tour de France race for prisoners!
Prisoners get own Tour de France
Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do contest the Tour de France.
The first penal version of the Tour de France will be held in June, with some 196 prisoners to complete 2,300 kilometres of racing. Some 124 prison officers will guard the would be athletes as they start racing from Lille on June 4, but no break away groups will be allowed, meaning only sprints will be contested by the riders.
“It’s a kind of escape for us, a chance to break away from the daily reality of prison,” said a 48-year-old prisoner at the event’s launch in Nantes. “If we behave well, we might be able to get released earlier, on probation.”
While each of the 17 host cities have prisons, the riders will be staying in hotels. The prison authorities believe the program will have a beneficial impact on the rehabilitation of its prisoners.
“This project aims to help these men reintegrate into society by fostering values like effort, teamwork and self-esteem,” said prison representative Sylvie Marion. “We want to show them that with some training, you can achieve your goals and start a new life.”
Like the professional version of the Tour de France, the prisoners will finish in Paris. There will be no general classification for the event.
Wonder if they will let Tyler Hamilton, Tom Boonen and all the others on suspension for doping take part!?
A great story in today’s NYT (link) recounts the intense rivalry between Fauto Coppi and Gino Bartali in the Grand Tours in the post-war years.
Pictures of Coppi and Bartali are seen just as often. They hang in cycling shops, butcher shops, banks and shoe stores. The images and what they stood for have not been forgotten. The riders once divided the country, and they held social and political significance.
Bartali, a conservative man from Florence, represented the more rural, southern part of Italy. He was called Gino the Pious and had support of the Vatican. The secular Coppi was from outside of Turin and a symbol of the industrial north. His nickname became Fausto the Sinner.
One image prompts more debate than any other, that of Coppi and Bartali exchanging a bottle during a mountain stage on the 1952 Tour de France. I believe Coppi was passing a bottle back to Bartali (Bartali already had two bottles to Coppi’s none). We need more rivalries that inspire passion and debate like this.
Alan Rusbridger is the Editor-in-Chief at The Guardian – probably the UK’s most innovative newspaper!
In the video embedded below Alan talks about the challenges facing traditional newspapers and prognosticates on the future of news. Alan is a big proponent of Twitter as a tool for harnessing pools of knowledge, marketing content and accessing other experts for sharing ideas.
This morning I was in traffic court in Redwood City, CA contesting a $333 fine for failing to stop at a stop sign…on my bike….turning right…at the back of the Spectrum ride pelaton! I’m happy to take some punishment for being so unfit that I was hanging off the back of the 50+ rider group…but $333!
Anyway, I figured an hour spent in traffic court at 8am to reduce the fine would be worth it. Now I know why Court TV does so well – the place rocks for the entertainment value! I watched as hapless motorist pleaded their case with the most outrageous excuses, to the applause and laughter of the assembled guiltless(!).
One lady was so convincing that not only was she not even in the car when given the ticket, but that she can’t drive, doesn’t own a car and was not even in the country at the time that the judge just dismissed the case to stop the laughter and get the court under control.
If you have a ticket I thoroughly recommend you go to court just to give yourself a bit of laughter at the start of the day!
Posted by warrickt 
Posted by warrickt 
Posted by warrickt 
