Sunday Independent

From MyWiki

Sunday Independent, November 12 2006.

As many will know by now, having been linked to from Bloggorah of all places, the wiki notes for the Sunday Independent are complete. What to say? Where to start (and this isn’t my first attempt at a wee Sindo blurb for the Tuppenceworth Paper Round project by the agonised way)?

It was no surprise to find that the Sindo was completely shite, sure. But it’s important to note that this bad boy claims a readership of the order of 1.3 million and as such is an extremely influential publication. It’s an influence the paper is unafraid to exploit for its own ends; ends which are of dubious service to the public interest. But to what extent does it also service the egos of its readers and both reflect and manipulate the image of 21st century middle-class (east coast) Ireland?

Media organs tend to represent aspects of the ways in which a nation sees itself. The BBC, the Guardian, and the Telegraph represent aspects of British national personality which compete in the marketplace of ideas to serve and perhaps even help to consitute audience identity. This can be a strength and a weakness given the structural and resource commitments required to build such a personality off or even online. The Guardian has demonstrated remarkable agility in the UK market and built a strong audience share by representing a version of Englishness (rather than Britishness per se) which is both progressive and comforting. It’s what Hobbits would read if they were transported to modern-day Islington. Unlike the Mail or Express, it has its cake and eats it because while it’s aware of the flaws of modern Britain and its place in the world, it doesn’t make it feel like shit to be an Englishman.

But it cost millions and took faith and imagination to launch its successful web model and change its printing presses to knock out the winning Berliner format. Fox News in the States is another successful, if less admirable, example of a media outlet which both serves and shapes a particular (unattractive) aspect of the American personality.

The Irish Press died when the aspect of Irish national identity it represented (and this isn’t to say it completely evaoporated; far from it) underwent a personality change. While the immediate cause of death was an odd industrial dispute, it ultimately didn’t survive because it lacked the resources (£20 million debts) and perhaps the imagination to change. The Press represented the old dominant strain in the Fianna Fáil tribe (see Colm Toibin’s The Heather Blazing for details), but – irony of ironies – it failed to read the writing on the wall, which legend was digested with alacrity by its once Fine-Gaelian competitor in the national identity stakes, The Independent, especially in its Sunday iteration.

A quick scan down the wiki is enough to demonstrate that it is to that nebulous FF-ish unideological Irishness to which the Sindo seeks to speak. And 1.3 million readers say it’s depressingly good at it too. Two of its columnists in this issue were Fianna Fáil politicians and most of its quotes of the week were from Ffers (I know it was Ard Fheis time, but still). Bertie Ahern is the subject of an image-building strokejob by Barry Egan. A Fianna Fáil councillor opines wretchedly that “eye-brow raising activities"? among the developer community are “a great job"? for the people of Naas, Rathcoole and Citywest.

Almost every opinion piece of a politcal nature read like an open letter to the Cabinet setting out the paper’s demands and made no effort whatsoever to enlighten its supposed target audience, the 1.3 million schmos who shell out after Sunday mass in the hope of some sort of enlightenment on the state of the nation. That’s not on the agenda at all. Alan Ruddock hectors and bullies for a referendum on strict liability for underage sex, Elis O’Hanlon hectors and bullies against a referendum on children’s rights, and everybody else hectors and bullies on stamp duty in an effort to kickstart failing revenues for the Independent stable’s property supplements.

No news, just spin and manipulation of Government policy in the service not of the people but of the shareholders of a corporation. And Dr. Sir AJF O’Reilly says only print journalism is worthy of trust!

While the Guardian employs disparate voices in the interests of balance and to create its attractive current tone (Charles Moore and Peregrine Worsthorne for example), the Sindo’s attempts at something similar merely sound psychotically dissonant. On one page, Emer O’Kelly decries the slatternly impact of “Equality"? on women while on the next sexy older women are celebrated for their liberation from the age-old shakles of social decorum. This doesn’t work because both voices are designed to disconcert female readers and appeal to the worst in people. Women reading this are made to feel like sluts on one hand and as less than physically fabulous on the other. Result – profit for Brown Thomas and Paris Hilton.

If the Sunday Independent reflects the average noughties Irish punter, he or she is an awful prick – hysterical, hypocritical, venal, bigoted, reactionary, philistine and passive aggressively manipulative. I’ve seen these fuckers down the pub, but this is the last time I’ll be inviting one into my home.

What remains to be seen is how long it can last. Ireland is again in a period of transition and it isn’t just property price rises that are unsustainable. How long will it be before the average Irish man or woman wakes up to themselves and stops thinking like the wretched and chippy Mr. Brendan O’Connor? How long before broadband roll-out reaches its tipping point and a majority of ABC1s head online?

I don’t think the Sindo will be able to change its tone quite so successfully as it did in the mid-1990s when it destroyed the Rainbow coalition and manipulated the election outcome with lies about Ruari Quinn’s performance and post-polling aims as Finance Minister. For one thing, it’s voice is incredibly monotonous and its colours are nailed firmly to its masthead. Nor does it seem to be able to accept that the days of newsprint, while not over by any means, are certainly numbered. Yet, the Independent Group continues to denigrate the Internet and its lord and master has only just stopped fouling up the works in Eircom.

If Ireland changes for the better and the Irish personality becomes somewhat more grown up and balanced, will the Sindo meet us online and embrace us as fellow Pauline converts? On the basis of this evidence, it seems unlikely.

Raw Notes

Front Page: Banner promises that Miss Ireland "gets naked" inside somewhere (false and misleading advertising). Juxtaposed with hideous mugshot of Taoiseach who meets Barry Egan (hideous mug) on page 2 of "Living".

(a) Story promising the stamp duty issue will finally be tackled by FF Ministers. No sources cited - this will simply happen by the Will of the Sindo. I've had to include this in the pie chart as journalism but the journalistic input has simply involved cobbling together elements from a couple of opinion pieces inside and a lifestyle feature by Barry Egan.

Illustrated by pie chart of in-house poll of unlikely credibility. Polling methodology not stated anywhere in paper.

Stamp duty is big time on the agenda of the paper and forms the basis for a number of opinion pieces masquerading as journalism and for a lot of false and misleading agenda setting as the Sindo tries desperately to protect the Independent stable's estate agency revenue stream. That's not news, it's spin. The paper is using its 1.3 million readership as leverage against the Government and presenting its lobbying/blackmail as frontpage "news", which seems a serious breach of good faith. And Dr. AJF says you can "trust a journalist".

(b) Bertie rules out SF. Yeah, right. Again, the journalism involves mining of pre-existing feature inside the paper.

(c) Photo of severe woman decked out in unfortunate red toga affair. "Most beautiful exectutive in the car business". No source cited for quote, but then again the competition is Bill Cullen. He does have lovely legs though. This is advert for her shop. A shop which is the subject of heavy advertorial on page 4. As Clint Velour would sing (in the style of Kraftwerk), she looks like a model but she works in Spar.

(d) Middle-class cocaine crisis now official! screams the headline. Not according to the report they've cited though. Puzzling. They must have asked their Living section team for the real dope.

Page 2: (a) Report on funeral of 16 year old girl killed in post-party, car-related hi-jinks. Tragic "isn't it awful" item serving no useful purpose or drawing any useful conclusions.

(b) Human interest report on woman suffering canine bereavement who takes road safety into her own hands. Unfortunately, some prick smashed into one of those same hands with his wing mirror while she was standing at the side of the road holding up a "Slow Down" sign. Crap journalism.

(c) News in Brief column: Ad for RTE show, Garda press release, correction, Ad for Paddy Cole, Lotto press release, last will and testament porn transcribed from State registry, Garda crime incident release, court report, and PR for Christie's auction of Beatles memorabilia.

(Actually this last item deserves a brief aside - auction is of Aer Lingus menu signed by the boys on way home from Dublin in 1963. Acc. to Sindo, the signatures were obtained by an "astute" Aer Lingus employee. This tells you everything you need to know about this demented rag. Is it not likely that this was an act of fandom or simple autograph hunting? Can this punter really have been so astute as to think, if I wait 43 years and auction it off, I'll get 9k!? In fact, given the distance in time, the signed menu was probably an inheritance or is paying for nursing home fees at Shady fucking Pines. This paper's venality is all-pervasive.)

Page 3: (a) Manufactured news item about the Sunday Independent. Headline "Sunday Indepdent to sue Britney" - story "The Sunday Independent has threatened to sue Britney Spears". Bit of air betwixt those two contentions. Basically, Sindo advertising to the effect that we were first with details of Spears-Federline break-down. Presents the contents of their solicitor's letter to Britney's solicitor as journalistically sourced "news". Sindo wouldn't win this one by the way, so it's a load of bollocks.

(b) Massive Advertorial for Brown Thomas and Paris Hilton perfume - which I'm wearing as I type this having been subjected during the Paper Round to irresistible tide of brain-washing, commericial hype masquerading as news. I schtink somethin' lovely.

(c) Mater Hospital to take on cancer survivor. Funny how the Independent stable (see Herald wiki) were reporting only yesterday to this edition that Tim O'Malley's commments indicated Mater would not sue. The journalism on this story is so lazy and uninteresting that you would think the matter was already sub-judice. Just getting in a bit of practice I suppose. So no indication of whether the hospital is taking the piss or not.

Page 4: (a) Garda internal investigation piece. Completely sourced from the cops and obv. placed in an attempt to make it look like gardaí take a zero tolerance approach to fuck-acting when one of the lads get carried away. Actually, they were forced to look into the matter when a third party saw dodgy carry on. This story will only be rendered properly journalistic if the Sindo follows it to its conclusion in the internal Garda self-policing process. Doubt it will. How much ownership of a story does a journalist feel when he's simply a conduit for press releases? He probably doesn't even remember filing this.

(b) Report on city centre rape - appeal for witnesses. Garda sourced completely. Perfectly useful, but not journalism.

(c) Heavy advertorial for woman's new shop on Dame Street (see page 1). Photo reused - well she is the most beautiful woman in motor sales, apart from Bill Cullen. Hubby mentioned as partner in Lavelle Coleman. Bit of a nod to Brown Thomas who dressed her in the mad red toga job, too. So lots of winners and interests served. A victory for AJF's journalistic trust.

(d) Ad for paper's crimbo cd giveaway.

(e) Advertorial for David McWilliams' Pope's Children. David's own children will eat tonight!

(f) Advertorial for self-help literature masquerading as gentle "reflections" column.

Page 5: (a) Extra mileage out of drink drive politician story (Gah, I'm turning into a punning subbie).

(b) Recycled story from a couple of months ago about the pressure immigrants are putting on homeless services. No time specific references contained so no idea if this is a straightforward reprint, a quick rewrite or if someone phoned the two people who were contacted six months ago and transcribed them saying the same thing again.

(c) Sean Dunne's tower to provide ideal vantage point from which to lob suicide bombers into the US Embassy compound in Ballsbridge. Can the Empire Line dress be far away?

Page 6: (a) Deceit-strewn bit lining up FG with FF and the PDs against the Shell protests. That's one less party to vote for this year. Plenty of total bollocks here about Ireland's energy needs (which Shell deal does nothing to contribute to), claim that all forms of conciliation have been attempted (lie) and claim that Provo tactics won't work is a complete slur on the protest and an attempt to characterise it as something it isn't. Contains potentially libelous comments by McDowell on a certain teacher whose car was mashed up by the fuzz. She should contact a solicitor.

This story is worth digging into in a very serious and sustained way. One need only look at what has happened in the High Court and at the ministers involved in granting Shell its concessions in Mayo to be intrigued as to the genesis of this confrontation. Why are political parties who mere months ago were screaming that FF had simply gifted away our patrimony to Shell now rowing in behind the apparent provision by the Government of heavy Garda resources to that company to use as if they were a private police force?

Rossport raises very serious issues of, ahem, systems failures in public private partnership (if you could call it that) and the use of the constitutional fiat supposedly reserved to the public interest to benefit a private company. If we are to become a market state, it behoves FF and the civil service to let us know. Not that the Sindo gives a shit, obviously.

(b) Advertorial for RTE programme on women priests illustrated with human interest story of priest turned fecund publican.

(c) Blogswipe: Story lifted from Bloggorah.com about the mothers of modern, slatternly teens using Bebo to find out what their little ho's were up to at the weekend. Illustrates with photo of attractive teen girl, no doubt while deploring behaviour of same. Full of spurious assertions - not least that people can read Internet pages without accountability (though not at nightmarish Unison.ie) and claim that teachers check out pupils Bebo pages which is not remotely sustained by the person from whom they chose to get a quote. So lazy that the journo didn't even bother to find someone who would support the claim, but just printed other quote anyway and hoped no one would notice.

(d) Charity press release. No byline even.

Page 8: (a) NI blaze. Fatal vigilante attack on convicted pederist. Isn't it awful on so many levels?

(b) Report on report on Leas Cross - picked up off the ground. No journalism whatsoever. These are the first sentences of most of the paragraphs - "The report exposing..." "In his report on Leas Cross..." "The damning report..." "The HSE, which was heavily criticised in the report..." "The report, which does not name..." "The report also criticises..." "The report catalogues..." "The report found no..." "The report said the deficits..."

It's nice to know what the contents of the report are, but this is pretty unrevealing. Asks no questions of the public service and why it has ignored this issue for 18 months. There is also the question of whether or not this is an accurate reflection of the report's contents. Who knows?

(c) Garda appeal re missing girl. Useful, at least it's not in the back behind Louis Walsh advertorial like in Herald. Still, garda sourced.

(d) Another ad for a southside stunna who has opened a shop. I'm sure everyone who needs to know, already fucking knows.

(e) Report on Anglo-Irish brothers involved in UK Royal household who are flogging a park to Mallow UDC. Includes bollocks claim that Michael Jephson, one of the bros. and hospitality director at Buck. Palace, is on first-name terms with Queen Bess. "Top o' the mornin' to ye Liz" is no doubt his cheery greeting as he brings her breakfast in bed.

(f) Awful journalism. "Fast-tracking of apprentices slammed". Fast-track course here for foreign trained tradesmen somehow morphs into claim that the Government is spending taxpayers money to fund 17 week apprenticeships in Poland and then bringing catastrophically underqualified plumbers and carpenters here. Nonsense.

Page 10: (a) Electioneering PR from Taoiseach.

(b) Boorman Living the Tiger Dream! What a prick! How dare he! According to the Sindo, a certain level of material success precludes one from observing the negative aspects of Celtic tygger (see Living Section for details, frankly). Describes him as living a gated-lifestyle, which just means he has a gate at the end of his driveway as we can see from hilarious accompanying photo of hard-bitten journo Larissa Nolan standing in front of it on her mobile - obviously trying to negotiate entry in some kind of reverse seige (he is beseiging her out from inside, dammit) as if some dolly bird from muck-racking rag has a right to roll up to the man's gaffe and demand entry to confront him with evidence of brill Celtic tygger influence on, for example, the Sindo. See most beautiful car executive in Ireland ever for details. He's making a movie about a dodgy developer.

Shite. Worse, towards end of story, locals asked about Mr. Boorman reveal a man of relatively modest habits and diffident manner.

Interestingly, Dr. Smurfitt, subject of advertorial towards front of paper, made exactly the same type of comments from a large armchair beside a roaring K-Club fire to the effect that social and affordable housing should be rolled out further and that it was appalling that people could not acquire even a modest level of housing in rampant developer heaven. Will we be attacking him next week? I doubt it.

Page 11: Story about underworld's Limerick solicitor who's despised by his colleagues in the local legal community. No mention of his recent censure for creaming it off his clients settlements from the child abuse board, despite the fact that his fees were paid by the board already. No sources cited from among those accused by him of ostracising him from legal community. Not news in the sense that it could have appeared at any time, yet it's in the news section. Two pages later comes the People and Irish Life sections, where the piece would have been perfectly at home.

Page 12: (a) Story on GRA climbdown on Garda Reserve. Above the perfectly serious legend "Above: Garda Reserve recruitment poster" is a Langerland.com photoshopped jpeg. Genius.

(b) Women become whores due to PC excesses of "Equality" according to Emer O'Kelly. Opinion, not news.

Page 14: People section. (a) Schizo bit on how sexy liberated older women have become given the tone of the very last story. That's this paper all over.

(b) PR for Opera Ireland.

Page 15: Irish Life section. (a) PR for An Post Irish folk stamps.

(b) Aussie scum opinion piece. Accompanied by dodgy Sindo in-house pie chart. Can't find any mention in the paper of the methodology used to bake these pies, unsurprisingly.

Page 16: (a) Brendan O'Connor on Pope's Children. Badly written, unfunny shite.

(b) Louis Walsh PR/advertorial.

(c) Advertorial for Aguilera gig at Point. I wanna get dirty, so I'll be there.

Page 17: Analysis section (O boy!). (a) Aussie rules violence result of endemic un-BT2ness of GAA, apparently. When will this mucker element be weeded out to usher in a new era of denatured, shiny-faced consumerzens? When these Rossport hicks roll over and play dead, I suspect.

(b) Review of RTE Drivetime slot.

(c) PR on science report. Laboured crowbarring in of Ryanair reference to excuse use "craizee" photo of M. O'Leary inside a jet engine. It must have been unbearably tempting not to flick the turbine switch into the "on" position. Presto, Minced Mick.

Page 18: People section. (a) Advertorial for I'm a Celebrity. (b) Eilis O'Hanlon vomits another ill-informed reactionary opinion into our lives. Pointless. And she gets a phone poll pie chart.

Page 19: (a) Borat PR. (b) Dáil sketch by John Drennan. Boring, unfunny, uninsightful. Mentions stuff he wasn't even in the Chamber for. Ireland's answer to Simon Hoggart he ain't.

Page 20: Analysis (Why didn't they stick all the People and Anaylsis together? Not that there's any change in tone from News to People to World to Analysis anyway). Political correspondent's report on John Bruton's speech to Seanad. Not analysed at all. So really it should be called Seanad sketch.

(b) Meandering balls from John Drennan on FF Ard Fheis which invokes Wilde (which doesn't flatter Mr Drennan's own "style") to characterise Bertie as Biffo's Bosie (and that's a lot funnier than what Drennan manages to come up with). Shite.

Page 22: Irish Life Section again (What?). (a) PR for Hugh Leonard by Brendan O'Connor. In-house circle jerk.

(b) Ruth Dudley Edwards crazed drivel from the murk of revisionist history.

Page 23: (a) In brief - wire on Palestine, wire on Brazilian woman who survives being shot six times in the head which is more Ripley's Believe it or Not than World Affairs, wire on Somalia, wire of the Ripley's BioN variety re dead man who wins local authority seat in US mid-terms, wire re protest by Turkish secularists, wire on Elton John's opinion that all religions hate gays and should be banned, wire re convictions for Moroccan ex-Gitmo detainees.

(b) Wire report re San Francisco mum who killed her kids. Isn't it awful?

(c) Wire sourced report that Blair is to talk via vid link to the Iraq Study Group. Are we more likely to source our info on this from page 23 of the Sindo or have we read it already online from people in the US and British media? Roll on broadband.

(d) Kylie PR/Wire.

(e) Jack Palance dead. Idiot sub gives us the headline "Movies' best bad guy hits the dust", which if they're going to go for insensitivity or whatever should read "bites the dust" (dies), but has been confused with the expression "hits the dirt" (takes cover). Do we not care about language, even slanguage?

Page 24: Analysis. (a) Mental bollocks from Eoghan Harris. Madcat, I mean madcap stuff.

(b) Willie O'Dea (FF) opinion column in which his defence of current (failing) Government law and order policy takes the form of a shrill denunciation of the record of a short-lived administration which held office between 1995 and 1997. Many readers may not even have heard of it. Stupid nonsense. None too convincing.

Page 25: Worldwide. (a) Gossip diary from New York. As seen on the web ages ago.

(b) Banal opinion from Chris Andrews (FF)(again) that Turkey should not be admitted to EU. Weasel words used, but presumably the FF blame foreigners trip starts here, especially as the consequences of their selling the rest of us out to developers are about to be felt.

Page 26: (a) Advertorial for Vogue magazine.

(b) Opinion on US mid-terms - not right-wing which makes a pleasant change.

Page 28: Analysis. (a) Advertorial interview for new book's author.

(b) PR for property tycoon who opines that expecting him to observe the few planning and safety regulations which still apply is "blaggarding" him. Planners and An Taisce quoted for "balance" but the journalist has made no effort whatsoever to test the veracity of Jim "retention applications" Mansfield's claims and tell us whether he's really the poor little rich boy he depicts himself as. Pathetically lazy failure to check the number of retentions for which he's applied and which he denies he's made. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.

Asshole FF councillor in a quote that tells us everything we need to know about for whom the country is run says "Jim Mansfield is one apart, maybe he raises a few eyebrows now and again. But, by God, he has done tremendous work for Saggart, Rathcoole and Naas."

"Raises a few eyebrows" is a very obvious euphemism for "breaks the law". Thanks FF!

Page 30: Still on Analysis, by the way. (a) Deeply insightful airhead calls on Kate Moss to avoid marrying a smackhead, which might not be a recipe for long years of marital bliss.

(b) Bruce Arnold horseshit opinion that Joyce and Yeats are over-rated, a conclusion he's not qualified to reach. At one point he implies that he hasn't even read Ulysses, which failure to attract any effort on his part indicates that it's not very good, rather than that Mr. Arnold isn't very literate. Agenda = philistine nonsense to the effect that the arts shouldn't be given any money because even the greatest artists of all time are crap. We should probably give it to Jim Mansfield and Co. instead.

Page 31: People. (a) Just another opinion column based on a complete and utter dearth of understanding of the law of the land. Alan Ruddock makes a series of baseless, sourceless assertions in a hectoring, bullying tone designed to subvert the democratic process of the State and the separation of powers to ensure that the philistine, reactionary views of the Sindo stable are imposed on the rest of us. Full of complete and utter lies about the motivations of M. McDowell (and given my view of him, it must be owned that to force me to his defence must be the work of an infamous diatribe indeed), the Supreme Court and the legal community. There's a quite disgusting belief at the heart of this piece that middle aged guys have a perfectly understandable desire to fuck to minx-like 14 year olds and need to be protected from themselves and a contest re mens rea by knowing that any inclination to be swayed by temptation will lead to strict liability. Not about children at all. Accompanied by cack-handedly inscrutible cartoon.

(b) Gossip about the Keane brothers, which is advertorial about Eamonn's new show on RTE.

Page 32: Comment and Analysis. (a) Editorials: No.1, SF to remain outside the loop. Believe it when I see it; No. 2, Weasel word endorsement of US mid-terms results, which somehow do not reflect on the (Sindo endorsed) legitimacy of the invasion of Iraq "to liberate" its people.

(b) Quotes of the week. Mostly by members of FF.

(c) Graybo op-ed on road safety. Poor deluded Government patsy.

(d) More of Eilis O'Hanlon's ignorant opinions. Full of unsubstantiated assertions and rottenly abusive slanders against anyone professionally concerned with child welfare, especially lawyers. Deeply stupid and disingenuous. Essentially posits notion of a children's rights amendment to Constitution as a veiled plot to advance the cause of separated fathers, working mothers and gay couples. WTF? Outrageously decries the materialism of the Irish Times and current views of childhood given the policies in which her poisonous pen has been in service over the last 15 years.

Page 33: Whole page given over to "journalism" which is in the service of the Sindo's estate agent revenues and seeks to diminish effects of market correction, which is in full flow at the moment. Complete spin with no credibility. How are we supposed to trust journalists who rather than investigate the economic truth of market trends seek instead to manipulate market perceptions to benefit their employer?

(a) Swipe at David McWilliams who "did not think up the phrase 'Celtic Tiger' and often gets it wrong". McWilliams has been very explicit about the fact that he did not coin the term Celtic tiger, so this is pretty nasty. The "often gets it wrong" reference is code for his prognostications for the property market and its unsustainable price rises.

(b) Schizo swipe at PDs who seem to have forgotten the words of the Human League hit "don't forget it's me who put you where you are now and I can put you back down too". They should consider themselves on notice. On the one hand, the paper decries the negative effect of the McDowell's stamp duty meddling which has already affected property supplement revenues one imagines. On the other, this entire edition of the paper screams for action on, that's right, stamp duty!

(c) More desperate stamp duty fall-out fire-fighting. Spin not journalism.

Page 34: (a) Wasn't Sam Stephenson great, says Emer O'Kelly. Vandalism of Fitzwilliam Square brilliantly spun thus - Sam was "No admirer of Dublin's colonial heritage". Whatever would Dudley Edwards say?

(b) Jim Cusack on Garda. Report on report.

Page 35: Motoring. Car porn.

Page 36: Gossip column of PR and advertorial and vacuity.

Page 37: (a) Obits lifted from the Torygraph and one for a former Dublin City footballer.

(b) Gardening. Very nice.

(c) Country matters.

Page 40: Gene Kerrigan. The awkward truth about drug dealers and property developers. Lone voice of reason.

And that's the Sindo. More sinning than sinned against.