On the BBC News at 10 we started with Tony Blair in Iraq and his final visit to the country.
We were advised that Iraq will "define his legacy" and we saw him addressing a group of soldiers who we were assured gave a warm welcome. The images of the soldiers told the truthful story though, they didnt look too happy.
We then saw images of Tony sitting with soldiers in the mess and were told that shortly after the visit, the soldiers base came under mortar attack. As did Tony's car whilst he gave a press conference in which he confirmed that things were getting better and that the ongoing problems in Iraq were in fact caused by a minority of people. Tony then shrugged off the mortar attack saying that "these happen every day". We were told that it was just a coincidence that the mortar attacks happened during Tony's visit and that the streets were so unsafe that Tony later used a helicopter for transportation.
We were then treated to an interview by some pompous, war loving individual who advised us that the problems in Iraq were not due to the war invasion but rather the American insistance that the country and goverment be totally restructured. This "new system or order" had not been thought through properly and therefore had not worked.
Over to the Algarve, where the McCann family are desperately trying to keep up the momentum of the search for their missing daughter. We seem no further foward so appeals were being made at football matches etc. As usual, images of Maddie were flashed up onto the screen to remind us what she looks like.
In Gaza, Hamas have agreed a cease fire so it seemed calm for the moment.
Then we had a short feature on planning permission for home improvements. The Government (Guvv) are relaxing the rules on this to make it easier for us to improve our homes. Apparently, we are "having to expand our homes as we cant afford new ones". I dont quite follow that logic but never mind.
Then sport, the cup final from the new Wembley stadium. Fans were "awe struck". We saw images of the new stadium, well behaved supporters etc and were told that the players had to climb 107 steps to collect their medals from the Royal Box. Now this may sound like my over active imagination but does that not mean that the Royals are 108 steps up, given the players are a step below when they collect their medallions. 108 is a significant number. It is 9 x 12 however I recommend you have a look at theses 2 sites for example. http://www.hknet.org.nz/108meaning.html and http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/misc/why108.html
We went over to the cricket for the report.
Time for celebrity and the Cannes festival. Michael Moore and DiCaprio have both made documentaries, on health and climate change respectively. We saw images of these and other celebrities and were told that "a message with a celebrity attached always goes down well". We were reminded of Al Gore and his film.
ITN was more of the same again although it did have a feature on some sunken treasure which has been found on an old boat. The skipper said "theres something about gold that does things to people" Also, we saw Prince William opening the new Wembley stadium before taking his seat up in row 108. And all on19/05/07 which, quite coincidentally, adds to 22. Now where have I seen that number before
Sunday, 20 May 2007
Saturday, 19 May 2007
Child Cruelty
Unfortunately, I was delayed yesterday evening in bad weather and missed Derren Brown and the ITN News programme.
However one snippet of news which caught my attention was the appeal against the " bad mothers and grandmother" from the North East. For those of you not familiar with the case, these "ladies" had encouraged their toddlers to fight each other and captured the moment on video camera. One of the ladies husbands had found the recording after returning from war and, horrified, had gone to the police. The grandmother involved could not see the problem, she herself had encouraged her children to compete physically with each other
The ladies concerned were duly tried in Court and given a suspended jail term, however this was not enough for some do gooders and they had the sentence reviewed, in the hope that it would be increased. This was carried out yesterday but they were unsucessful in their ambition.
I am not advocating we behave like savages but what startled me in this case was the hatred and abuse directed to these women for their crime by so called civilised individuals and the media, especially the tabloids although it did feature on the national news programmes at the time, shortly before the newspaceman commenced his reviews.
Are these so called "civilised" individuals the same ones who allow their children to sit in their "nursery" (no longer a bedroom) watching creatures who talk out a television in their belly's (tellytubbies) and a talking, blue reptilian, Barney. The children sit, hypnotised. But this is better than having them wrestle with each other, in the manner of fox or badger cubs.
Cosset them, give them every consumer item you think they need, tell them they are the best in the world at everything. Then send them to school for indoctrination by bubbly, young, female primary teachers, who themselves are so indoctrinated, that they genuinely believe they are doing a good thing by educating children in a pre prescribed, non deviant educational programme, set up by goverments who will happily send their pupils to war at 16.
Then, in the army, they can be brainwashed further, so much so that when they return from their job away, which involves killing people in the name of upholding democracy, they will grass up their own family for lesser crimes.
And we wonder why we are going backwards ?
However one snippet of news which caught my attention was the appeal against the " bad mothers and grandmother" from the North East. For those of you not familiar with the case, these "ladies" had encouraged their toddlers to fight each other and captured the moment on video camera. One of the ladies husbands had found the recording after returning from war and, horrified, had gone to the police. The grandmother involved could not see the problem, she herself had encouraged her children to compete physically with each other
The ladies concerned were duly tried in Court and given a suspended jail term, however this was not enough for some do gooders and they had the sentence reviewed, in the hope that it would be increased. This was carried out yesterday but they were unsucessful in their ambition.
I am not advocating we behave like savages but what startled me in this case was the hatred and abuse directed to these women for their crime by so called civilised individuals and the media, especially the tabloids although it did feature on the national news programmes at the time, shortly before the newspaceman commenced his reviews.
Are these so called "civilised" individuals the same ones who allow their children to sit in their "nursery" (no longer a bedroom) watching creatures who talk out a television in their belly's (tellytubbies) and a talking, blue reptilian, Barney. The children sit, hypnotised. But this is better than having them wrestle with each other, in the manner of fox or badger cubs.
Cosset them, give them every consumer item you think they need, tell them they are the best in the world at everything. Then send them to school for indoctrination by bubbly, young, female primary teachers, who themselves are so indoctrinated, that they genuinely believe they are doing a good thing by educating children in a pre prescribed, non deviant educational programme, set up by goverments who will happily send their pupils to war at 16.
Then, in the army, they can be brainwashed further, so much so that when they return from their job away, which involves killing people in the name of upholding democracy, they will grass up their own family for lesser crimes.
And we wonder why we are going backwards ?
Friday, 18 May 2007
TV News Review -Thursday 17th May
I only watched the BBC News at 10 last night and we started with Gordon Brown and his forthcoming stint as PM. We are now on a "countdown to Brown". Countdowns are popular at the BBC.
We saw Nick Robinson and his feature started with images of the "Trooping of the Guard", with the soldiers in busby's etc. This somehow equated to a change of PM. We flashed over to GB'S acceptance speech and saw Nick asking Gordon "Why no election?" during a press conference.
Flash over to Tony Blair who is at the Whitehouse, in the rose garden, with Bush. We were told that Tony, not Gordon, is going to the G8 in Germany.
We went back to Nick who advised us "King is not dead, long live the man who's going to be King". I am not sure what this was about, it does not make too much sense as Gordon Brown is not the King. However Prince William will be King, perhaps soon, and one wonders if he may take a more political role, especially if he follows in his fathers "green" principles.
Anyway, over to the Whitehouse where Tony and George are "celebrating their special relationship". Bush told us that there were "a lot of hot air artists" in politics and Tony was not one of them. I can only assume here that the "hot air artists" George refers to, are other country leaders. If we take it in the context of Iraq then it could be said that George is implying that other countries "agreed" to support the "war" initially, then decided against it. 9/11 was mentioned by the reporter and we saw George being asked who he blamed for Tony leaving and went back to Nick, this time at No. 10.
We moved on to the animal/human hybrids. Basically, "we" have decided that it is okay for scientists to merge the cells of humans and animals. This is all in the name of medicine and for the long term good. The problem appears to be a lack of human eggs and therefore we are being "forced" down this route.
This whole genetic thing I find deeply disturbing. The excuse is always used that it is for medicine/health benefits. But why ? We cant afford the medicines that are being produced just now. We cant afford to feed all the human beings on this planet. Yet we are manipulating nature in order to help us combat diseases and therefore live longer. Yet the one thing we all know for sure is that one day we will die. So why dont we try fixing the mess we are in first before embarking on new unethical and dangerous practices. Notwithstanding the fact that this "technology" and knowledge of genetics could be used in other mutations in the name of medicine.
Gaza has kicked off, Israel is bombing Palestine but it seems okay as they are using "high tech" weapons. We saw an image of a tv monitor showing a car driving along a street. The car was then blown up. It was clinical and we were told that the car contained some undesirable terrorist. We then saw images of an Israeli school which had been blown up by a "low tech" Palestinian mortar bomb. Obvious classroom carnage. A man held up a piece of shrapnel for the camera. To me, this was a slightly biased report.
Then Alan Johnston, vigils have been held round the world.
Coming up - 2,500 post offices to close and a feature on baldness.
First though, Madeleine. We were told the family were overwhelmed by the public support. We went to the Algarve for the nightly report, a police press conference was held. Not much is being said about the "suspect". Usual images were flashed up.
Then a story about the Home Office delaying inputting DNA records of a few criminals into the national DNA database due to an oversight. This isnt really even newsworthy, it could be said that maybe the goverment release these sort of "confessions" to make themselves appear more honest. Or it could be that they just like to reinforce the importance of the National DNA database in respect to criminality and therefore the benefits of it. By making this into a a big deal they are making it seem more important and slowly selling the concept to us. Just in time for the new saviour, the ID card.
Post offices are to be closed. 2,500 of them. We were told the reasons why, less people using, more people use direct debit etc., pensions and dole paid direct to Bank. So really it is just getting closer to the "cashless society". Once the PO's are closed there will be no option for some. However people liked cash and there was a reason for that. People say "My grandad kept his money in a tin in the garden, he did not trust banks". Maybe they just thought about things on a deeper level in the olden days and maybe the trusting banks was just an excuse.
We had the feature on baldness, and I dozed off.
Is it just me or is every feature herding us in a certain direction
We saw Nick Robinson and his feature started with images of the "Trooping of the Guard", with the soldiers in busby's etc. This somehow equated to a change of PM. We flashed over to GB'S acceptance speech and saw Nick asking Gordon "Why no election?" during a press conference.
Flash over to Tony Blair who is at the Whitehouse, in the rose garden, with Bush. We were told that Tony, not Gordon, is going to the G8 in Germany.
We went back to Nick who advised us "King is not dead, long live the man who's going to be King". I am not sure what this was about, it does not make too much sense as Gordon Brown is not the King. However Prince William will be King, perhaps soon, and one wonders if he may take a more political role, especially if he follows in his fathers "green" principles.
Anyway, over to the Whitehouse where Tony and George are "celebrating their special relationship". Bush told us that there were "a lot of hot air artists" in politics and Tony was not one of them. I can only assume here that the "hot air artists" George refers to, are other country leaders. If we take it in the context of Iraq then it could be said that George is implying that other countries "agreed" to support the "war" initially, then decided against it. 9/11 was mentioned by the reporter and we saw George being asked who he blamed for Tony leaving and went back to Nick, this time at No. 10.
We moved on to the animal/human hybrids. Basically, "we" have decided that it is okay for scientists to merge the cells of humans and animals. This is all in the name of medicine and for the long term good. The problem appears to be a lack of human eggs and therefore we are being "forced" down this route.
This whole genetic thing I find deeply disturbing. The excuse is always used that it is for medicine/health benefits. But why ? We cant afford the medicines that are being produced just now. We cant afford to feed all the human beings on this planet. Yet we are manipulating nature in order to help us combat diseases and therefore live longer. Yet the one thing we all know for sure is that one day we will die. So why dont we try fixing the mess we are in first before embarking on new unethical and dangerous practices. Notwithstanding the fact that this "technology" and knowledge of genetics could be used in other mutations in the name of medicine.
Gaza has kicked off, Israel is bombing Palestine but it seems okay as they are using "high tech" weapons. We saw an image of a tv monitor showing a car driving along a street. The car was then blown up. It was clinical and we were told that the car contained some undesirable terrorist. We then saw images of an Israeli school which had been blown up by a "low tech" Palestinian mortar bomb. Obvious classroom carnage. A man held up a piece of shrapnel for the camera. To me, this was a slightly biased report.
Then Alan Johnston, vigils have been held round the world.
Coming up - 2,500 post offices to close and a feature on baldness.
First though, Madeleine. We were told the family were overwhelmed by the public support. We went to the Algarve for the nightly report, a police press conference was held. Not much is being said about the "suspect". Usual images were flashed up.
Then a story about the Home Office delaying inputting DNA records of a few criminals into the national DNA database due to an oversight. This isnt really even newsworthy, it could be said that maybe the goverment release these sort of "confessions" to make themselves appear more honest. Or it could be that they just like to reinforce the importance of the National DNA database in respect to criminality and therefore the benefits of it. By making this into a a big deal they are making it seem more important and slowly selling the concept to us. Just in time for the new saviour, the ID card.
Post offices are to be closed. 2,500 of them. We were told the reasons why, less people using, more people use direct debit etc., pensions and dole paid direct to Bank. So really it is just getting closer to the "cashless society". Once the PO's are closed there will be no option for some. However people liked cash and there was a reason for that. People say "My grandad kept his money in a tin in the garden, he did not trust banks". Maybe they just thought about things on a deeper level in the olden days and maybe the trusting banks was just an excuse.
We had the feature on baldness, and I dozed off.
Is it just me or is every feature herding us in a certain direction
Thursday, 17 May 2007
TV News Review - Wednesday 16th May
I missed the introduction but the first feature on the BBC News at 10 was a discussion of Prince Harry and the decision by the M.O.D. not to send him to Iraq. We saw families who had lost children in Iraq and they were none to happy, understandably.
Over to Warminster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warminster a small rural town in England which was chosen because of its military base and connections with Harry, where a random selection of Joseph Public were interviewed for their views. We were told that the residents were "usually loyal to the Queen" but "divided" over this issue. I vaguely remember from school that a Minster is a cathedral or church.
Disturbingly though, we then saw a platoon of about twenty army cadets, still at school, maybe aged fifteen, young ladies and men. We were told that "most of them" wished to join the army on leaving school and that this decision (Harry/Iraq) may affect them. Does it not create a perception for watching young people though, about a future military career and the possibilities of such. Maybe Gordon Brown will offer his new apprenticeship/school package, as discussed yesterday, to the armed services and we could see the scallies joining up at say aged fourteen.
Does it really matter if one is aged 11, 13 or 17 if your life is taken in the name of war. Not even given a chance, taken in your prime and brought back in a bag so your mum can bury you.
We went over to the MOD buildings and were told that the reasons for not sending PH to Iraq included a "threat to return Harry to the Queen with his ears cut off" and "specialised kidnap fears". Surely they would have to kidnap him before removing his ears anyway. Could this somehow have something to do with the claims that Harry is not of the bloodline of Charles and that perhaps, extremely subtly, we are being conditioned to focus on his ears next time we see him. This may prove/disprove his parentage in our minds. eg He has big ears, he must be. Look at his mouse's ears, he cant be. However this will all be relative to our perception of human ear size.
We pottered over to Portugal for the latest on Madeleine. Here we were quickly told that there was a feeling that all the attention on the "suspect"yesterday has somehow drawn away from the focus of the search and the girl. Furthermore, the "suspect" had given a private interview to the BBC although this could not be discussed due to the legal position. He was "venemous in his defence". We were also told that he cant sleep, eat, he feels trapped and all for just trying to help. A friend said "it is such a shame", "it is cruel". Furthermore, his mother, who set up a tent to try to help in the hunt, is aged 71. The "suspect" would love all the attention to be taken away from him and focused on Madeleine. The friend also said she had phoned the British Embassy but they were having lunch. I touched on this slightly, last week. http://newspaceman.blogspot.com/2007/05/tv-news-monday-070507.html
So what does this all tell us. We dont know if the "suspect" is guilty. Assuming he is not, he and his family have been through a terrible ordeal by media. Thing is, we all know that, surely? So why is it allowed. One might argue that it is what viewers want to see, one might take a more cynical view and suggest that the story instills fear in parents, grannies etc and this is the desired result, a scared population. The greatest worry though is that this is being "allowed" in order that it can be used as an argument for "censorship" later. In a similar manner, if the tragic death of Princess Diana was "proved" to be due to the paparazzi, then we could see an outpouring of all our built in anger, directed towards the media and their methods.
Back to Maddie though and we were told it is "unusual for society to so embrace a cause" whilst images of the girl were shown in the background. We saw images of big TV screens in Glasgow showing images of Maddie and then we flashed to yellow ribbons and were told that yellow ribbons "are a symbol of the missing".
We saw the girls aunt, Philimena, who was at the Commons, lobbying MP's. She was surrounded by MP''s perhaps a dozen or more. We saw an appeal from Leicester city football ground and short clips from the televised appeals of Beckham and Ronaldo last week. Then we saw some more images of Madeleine.
A chap was then interviewed I did not catch his name. He wore a sombre grey suit, in local street slang he would be known as a "straightpeg". He advised we "should be wary of society being caught up in a wave of emotion". Well said that man, but is society not a round hole nowadays good Sir and are you not perhaps being portrayed in a manner which some, in their ignorance, would perceive as socially backwards. Furthermore, the fact you were interviewed in a park with the trees etc can sometimes give an almost "dark" effect. Ask for your next interview to be based in a childs nursery, surrounded by loveable little rascals.
Elsewhere in the 'Garve, a Russian man has been taken away along with some computers. The reporter he had just seen the McCanns, "going for a stroll", walking past two search zones.
We know that there is a computer link between the "suspect" and the russian man.
We rushed off to politics, Gordon Brown and Scottish Independence. Alex Salmond was sworn in but has no majority we were advised. What, even with all the symbolic treaty signing last week ?
Bank of England- rates forecast to rise.
Cameron, grammer schools, we saw Mr Cameron acting as a teachers assistant, pointing at the class and we were told that teachers want zero tolerance to swearing, bullying etc. Surely this is a prerequisite ? Anway, it obviously isnt and "grammer schools affect social mobility, adversley."
Gaza- It's ready to "kick off" . We saw images of buildings burning, two large multi storeys, one on fire about two thirds of the way up. Very like 9/11. Hamas is to blame for it all and Israel "might" get involved. Would this affect Harry ? No one asked.
Then we saw a feature on Cannes film festival and were reminded that all the top celebrities etc would be attending, especially the Americans. The French love the Americans because they make good films. The Americans love the French because they make the Americans welcome for a week a year and pander to their ego's. Moral is more of this France, America, Scotland, Ireland, Wales bonding, with Germany and the celebrity, Hoff, hovering.
Back to Harry and we were treated to some vintage TV of Prince Andrew, just after the attack on the Belgrano. You may recall the anniversary of this attack, mentioned in the newspaceman just last week. Anyway, Andrew advised the camera "you would never believe that a small missile of 18" could do that much damage". In reference to the Belgrano. Missiles ? 9/11 ? reinforcement of fear ?
I dont have time to write much about ITN, sorry. More fear really. cheers.
Over to Warminster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warminster a small rural town in England which was chosen because of its military base and connections with Harry, where a random selection of Joseph Public were interviewed for their views. We were told that the residents were "usually loyal to the Queen" but "divided" over this issue. I vaguely remember from school that a Minster is a cathedral or church.
Disturbingly though, we then saw a platoon of about twenty army cadets, still at school, maybe aged fifteen, young ladies and men. We were told that "most of them" wished to join the army on leaving school and that this decision (Harry/Iraq) may affect them. Does it not create a perception for watching young people though, about a future military career and the possibilities of such. Maybe Gordon Brown will offer his new apprenticeship/school package, as discussed yesterday, to the armed services and we could see the scallies joining up at say aged fourteen.
Does it really matter if one is aged 11, 13 or 17 if your life is taken in the name of war. Not even given a chance, taken in your prime and brought back in a bag so your mum can bury you.
We went over to the MOD buildings and were told that the reasons for not sending PH to Iraq included a "threat to return Harry to the Queen with his ears cut off" and "specialised kidnap fears". Surely they would have to kidnap him before removing his ears anyway. Could this somehow have something to do with the claims that Harry is not of the bloodline of Charles and that perhaps, extremely subtly, we are being conditioned to focus on his ears next time we see him. This may prove/disprove his parentage in our minds. eg He has big ears, he must be. Look at his mouse's ears, he cant be. However this will all be relative to our perception of human ear size.
We pottered over to Portugal for the latest on Madeleine. Here we were quickly told that there was a feeling that all the attention on the "suspect"yesterday has somehow drawn away from the focus of the search and the girl. Furthermore, the "suspect" had given a private interview to the BBC although this could not be discussed due to the legal position. He was "venemous in his defence". We were also told that he cant sleep, eat, he feels trapped and all for just trying to help. A friend said "it is such a shame", "it is cruel". Furthermore, his mother, who set up a tent to try to help in the hunt, is aged 71. The "suspect" would love all the attention to be taken away from him and focused on Madeleine. The friend also said she had phoned the British Embassy but they were having lunch. I touched on this slightly, last week. http://newspaceman.blogspot.com/2007/05/tv-news-monday-070507.html
So what does this all tell us. We dont know if the "suspect" is guilty. Assuming he is not, he and his family have been through a terrible ordeal by media. Thing is, we all know that, surely? So why is it allowed. One might argue that it is what viewers want to see, one might take a more cynical view and suggest that the story instills fear in parents, grannies etc and this is the desired result, a scared population. The greatest worry though is that this is being "allowed" in order that it can be used as an argument for "censorship" later. In a similar manner, if the tragic death of Princess Diana was "proved" to be due to the paparazzi, then we could see an outpouring of all our built in anger, directed towards the media and their methods.
Back to Maddie though and we were told it is "unusual for society to so embrace a cause" whilst images of the girl were shown in the background. We saw images of big TV screens in Glasgow showing images of Maddie and then we flashed to yellow ribbons and were told that yellow ribbons "are a symbol of the missing".
We saw the girls aunt, Philimena, who was at the Commons, lobbying MP's. She was surrounded by MP''s perhaps a dozen or more. We saw an appeal from Leicester city football ground and short clips from the televised appeals of Beckham and Ronaldo last week. Then we saw some more images of Madeleine.
A chap was then interviewed I did not catch his name. He wore a sombre grey suit, in local street slang he would be known as a "straightpeg". He advised we "should be wary of society being caught up in a wave of emotion". Well said that man, but is society not a round hole nowadays good Sir and are you not perhaps being portrayed in a manner which some, in their ignorance, would perceive as socially backwards. Furthermore, the fact you were interviewed in a park with the trees etc can sometimes give an almost "dark" effect. Ask for your next interview to be based in a childs nursery, surrounded by loveable little rascals.
Elsewhere in the 'Garve, a Russian man has been taken away along with some computers. The reporter he had just seen the McCanns, "going for a stroll", walking past two search zones.
We know that there is a computer link between the "suspect" and the russian man.
We rushed off to politics, Gordon Brown and Scottish Independence. Alex Salmond was sworn in but has no majority we were advised. What, even with all the symbolic treaty signing last week ?
Bank of England- rates forecast to rise.
Cameron, grammer schools, we saw Mr Cameron acting as a teachers assistant, pointing at the class and we were told that teachers want zero tolerance to swearing, bullying etc. Surely this is a prerequisite ? Anway, it obviously isnt and "grammer schools affect social mobility, adversley."
Gaza- It's ready to "kick off" . We saw images of buildings burning, two large multi storeys, one on fire about two thirds of the way up. Very like 9/11. Hamas is to blame for it all and Israel "might" get involved. Would this affect Harry ? No one asked.
Then we saw a feature on Cannes film festival and were reminded that all the top celebrities etc would be attending, especially the Americans. The French love the Americans because they make good films. The Americans love the French because they make the Americans welcome for a week a year and pander to their ego's. Moral is more of this France, America, Scotland, Ireland, Wales bonding, with Germany and the celebrity, Hoff, hovering.
Back to Harry and we were treated to some vintage TV of Prince Andrew, just after the attack on the Belgrano. You may recall the anniversary of this attack, mentioned in the newspaceman just last week. Anyway, Andrew advised the camera "you would never believe that a small missile of 18" could do that much damage". In reference to the Belgrano. Missiles ? 9/11 ? reinforcement of fear ?
I dont have time to write much about ITN, sorry. More fear really. cheers.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
TV News - Tuesday 15th May
Again, massive coverage of the missing girl Madeleine McCann. So much so that the BBC have sent their top reporter over to report from the scene. What has happened is that the man who was being questioned has become a suspect.
The usual format was employed, we saw features and updates on the family, the "suspect" and a glimpse of the "very limited" police press statement. It appears from the police statement and the information from the BBC that if someone is questioned in Portgugal then they have no legal rights. If they then promoted to a suspect, they have the right of silence and also the right of legal representation before they are interviewed further.
The suspect in this instance was reported to the police by the media as they felt he was acting suspiciously. The police then took the man in to the station, upgraded him to suspect status, then questioned him. They also searched his mothers house and took away video casettes. etc. He was then released. His mothers home is in the middle of the media camp and is under siege.
That appears to be all there is to the story so far. We are moving up a phase though.
Then we moved on to a feature on Home Information Packs (HIP'S). This is some sort of energy survey that will be carried out on your house if you sell it. Not much to the story but we were advised that government "wants HIP'S A.S.A.P." This is apparantly a Climate Change Issue.
Plans to make doctors apply for training placements online have been dropped. No reason was given. Hopefully, our doctors are good guys who place humanity before money/social status. One can only trust but it looks like the government backed down.
Palestine, a report from there and a warning of disturbing graphic images. Over there, scenes of overturned vehicles, Gaza in a cycle of internal, political/religious, revenge killings but still managing to mortar attack Israel. Thing about disturbing graphic images is that we are being told what to find disturbing. So we are told get ready for disturbing images. Then we find these images and subsequent similar repetitive imagery, equally disturbing.
I find the constant images of the missing girl disturbing, especially her eyes. The thing is that if I was to walk along the street and look in young girls eyes, I would quickly be assaulted or arrested. Even if you walk through a park where there are children, you are scared to look up or at them. Even at young lads having a kickabout, you would not want to look over in case a mother saw you. "What you staring at ma laddie (young son) fur. You some sort of pervert".
In todays society these could easily lead to the newspaceman being hung, on a lampost by a jeering crowd of normally sane ladies, all mad with "fear rage". I could die, my last moments recorded on a mobile phone, to be shown on my beloved news. Although, I am not guilty, I have some ladybird books, a few of the ceramic KP Friar monks and a small collection of Matchbox and Dinky cars. These would be pounced on as evidence, he must have used them to lure children.
Anyway the whole news is disturbing, that appears to be its intention.
July 7th, 3 out of 4 of people arrested last week, released, no charge.
Another big feature on migrants. This one is about unscrupulous employers paying low wages to black market workers. We were told there is between three and eight hundred thousand of them but they "keep our food cheap" for example. We were reminded of a previous disturbing feature of a chicken farm which was shown about a month ago. Images of the staffs accomodation was provided. They lived as "slaves" we were told in that feature and were about eight beds to a draughty, minging room. Plus, chicken farms are stinking.
This feature disturbed me slightly when it was shown. The chickens lived in cages, then there was the migrants, who were termed "modern slaves". We were watching from our homes. It was a strange thing because we are just the same but we think we are not. What price is that comfy settee and central heating ? Your soul ? What about the chickens conditions, they were not even discussed? Sorry, I digress. anyway images were then shown of piles of cockles and a windswept beach. We were reminded of the tragic death of the cocklepickers by the presenter.
Over to Gordon Brown, who has "fleshed out his vision". He is advocating a sort of school/work apprenticeship for scallies and the proverbial "bad eggs". This is probably a good idea but is there going to be any craftsmen left to train them, or have we skipped a generation? 150,000 children leave primary school and are not numerate. I personally find this bizarre. More mention of the eco-homes and their built in hidden microphones and cameras. Who knows, its all for the good of us anyway, it must be, it was on the telly.
A family have trialled the new internet TV etc. Verdict, rubbish, there is nothing to watch. Nothing new then.
I turned to ITN and the suspect. Usual images, beach, Maddie etc then we were told of the two "key points". ITN like this phrase. 1) She (Madeleine) is still missing 2)The suspect has not been arrested. They told us more snippets, a matress has been removed. We then saw the McCanns and were told they were "perhaps relieved that things were going forward". We were then told that the question now was "Is Madeleine still alive"
Over to the suspect and a friend advised that (the suspect) "could not speak to the media because he was helping the police". However we were still given a full description and life/work history of the suspect. He worked for the police in the UK in Norfolk at one time. We were then told about the local village community and the fact "the suspect is one of their own".
Moral - Trust no one. Fear everyone. Grass your parents.
Then a bit about Al fayed and Princess Diana. He wants his legal team be able to question the Queen in the enquiry. The Queen is not meant to be questioned we were told, she dispenses justice. One wonders. Anyway, it is a highly unusual case. Is it not indeed. For everything a reason. We saw Paul Burrell and were reminded that the Queen is supposed to have said "powers at work in this country of which we have no knowledge". We saw some images of Princess Diana getting flowers from lovely little young blonde haired girls.
Bit about bank charges and the legal status. Irrelevant really. All the same. Like the shops, you look at all the bars of different chocolate and you cant decide, there is just so many to choose from. Perhaps though, they are all really just the same and so that is why your brain can't make a decision.
Feature on France and the old President. Mention of Iraq. An evangelist minister has passed away. July 7th release of suspects again, images of taped off streets and armed police were shown. A 16 year old boy killed in Newcastle, stabbed to death. 2nd in two weeks. No mention of the one in Edinburgh though, on Friday night.
Then football and back to the McCanns, behind the scenes. I get the impression the McCanns despise the media, I dont know why.
cheers.
The usual format was employed, we saw features and updates on the family, the "suspect" and a glimpse of the "very limited" police press statement. It appears from the police statement and the information from the BBC that if someone is questioned in Portgugal then they have no legal rights. If they then promoted to a suspect, they have the right of silence and also the right of legal representation before they are interviewed further.
The suspect in this instance was reported to the police by the media as they felt he was acting suspiciously. The police then took the man in to the station, upgraded him to suspect status, then questioned him. They also searched his mothers house and took away video casettes. etc. He was then released. His mothers home is in the middle of the media camp and is under siege.
That appears to be all there is to the story so far. We are moving up a phase though.
Then we moved on to a feature on Home Information Packs (HIP'S). This is some sort of energy survey that will be carried out on your house if you sell it. Not much to the story but we were advised that government "wants HIP'S A.S.A.P." This is apparantly a Climate Change Issue.
Plans to make doctors apply for training placements online have been dropped. No reason was given. Hopefully, our doctors are good guys who place humanity before money/social status. One can only trust but it looks like the government backed down.
Palestine, a report from there and a warning of disturbing graphic images. Over there, scenes of overturned vehicles, Gaza in a cycle of internal, political/religious, revenge killings but still managing to mortar attack Israel. Thing about disturbing graphic images is that we are being told what to find disturbing. So we are told get ready for disturbing images. Then we find these images and subsequent similar repetitive imagery, equally disturbing.
I find the constant images of the missing girl disturbing, especially her eyes. The thing is that if I was to walk along the street and look in young girls eyes, I would quickly be assaulted or arrested. Even if you walk through a park where there are children, you are scared to look up or at them. Even at young lads having a kickabout, you would not want to look over in case a mother saw you. "What you staring at ma laddie (young son) fur. You some sort of pervert".
In todays society these could easily lead to the newspaceman being hung, on a lampost by a jeering crowd of normally sane ladies, all mad with "fear rage". I could die, my last moments recorded on a mobile phone, to be shown on my beloved news. Although, I am not guilty, I have some ladybird books, a few of the ceramic KP Friar monks and a small collection of Matchbox and Dinky cars. These would be pounced on as evidence, he must have used them to lure children.
Anyway the whole news is disturbing, that appears to be its intention.
July 7th, 3 out of 4 of people arrested last week, released, no charge.
Another big feature on migrants. This one is about unscrupulous employers paying low wages to black market workers. We were told there is between three and eight hundred thousand of them but they "keep our food cheap" for example. We were reminded of a previous disturbing feature of a chicken farm which was shown about a month ago. Images of the staffs accomodation was provided. They lived as "slaves" we were told in that feature and were about eight beds to a draughty, minging room. Plus, chicken farms are stinking.
This feature disturbed me slightly when it was shown. The chickens lived in cages, then there was the migrants, who were termed "modern slaves". We were watching from our homes. It was a strange thing because we are just the same but we think we are not. What price is that comfy settee and central heating ? Your soul ? What about the chickens conditions, they were not even discussed? Sorry, I digress. anyway images were then shown of piles of cockles and a windswept beach. We were reminded of the tragic death of the cocklepickers by the presenter.
Over to Gordon Brown, who has "fleshed out his vision". He is advocating a sort of school/work apprenticeship for scallies and the proverbial "bad eggs". This is probably a good idea but is there going to be any craftsmen left to train them, or have we skipped a generation? 150,000 children leave primary school and are not numerate. I personally find this bizarre. More mention of the eco-homes and their built in hidden microphones and cameras. Who knows, its all for the good of us anyway, it must be, it was on the telly.
A family have trialled the new internet TV etc. Verdict, rubbish, there is nothing to watch. Nothing new then.
I turned to ITN and the suspect. Usual images, beach, Maddie etc then we were told of the two "key points". ITN like this phrase. 1) She (Madeleine) is still missing 2)The suspect has not been arrested. They told us more snippets, a matress has been removed. We then saw the McCanns and were told they were "perhaps relieved that things were going forward". We were then told that the question now was "Is Madeleine still alive"
Over to the suspect and a friend advised that (the suspect) "could not speak to the media because he was helping the police". However we were still given a full description and life/work history of the suspect. He worked for the police in the UK in Norfolk at one time. We were then told about the local village community and the fact "the suspect is one of their own".
Moral - Trust no one. Fear everyone. Grass your parents.
Then a bit about Al fayed and Princess Diana. He wants his legal team be able to question the Queen in the enquiry. The Queen is not meant to be questioned we were told, she dispenses justice. One wonders. Anyway, it is a highly unusual case. Is it not indeed. For everything a reason. We saw Paul Burrell and were reminded that the Queen is supposed to have said "powers at work in this country of which we have no knowledge". We saw some images of Princess Diana getting flowers from lovely little young blonde haired girls.
Bit about bank charges and the legal status. Irrelevant really. All the same. Like the shops, you look at all the bars of different chocolate and you cant decide, there is just so many to choose from. Perhaps though, they are all really just the same and so that is why your brain can't make a decision.
Feature on France and the old President. Mention of Iraq. An evangelist minister has passed away. July 7th release of suspects again, images of taped off streets and armed police were shown. A 16 year old boy killed in Newcastle, stabbed to death. 2nd in two weeks. No mention of the one in Edinburgh though, on Friday night.
Then football and back to the McCanns, behind the scenes. I get the impression the McCanns despise the media, I dont know why.
cheers.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
TV News - Monday 14th May
The BBC News at ten started with missing Madeleine again.
We are told that the police are questioning three people and searching a villa very close to where she went missing. Over to Portugal where the reporter tells us that the property is owned by a middle aged English blonde woman. Her son has staying there for a bit and has spent some time with journalists who became suspicious of his behaviour and went to the police.
We then moved over to the parents, the McCann's. We were told that they had agreed to a question and answer session with journalists, this being the first time the McCanns have actually answered direct questions. I was unaware of this until now. We didnt see much of the interview but the reporter advised us that "there is a sense that things are moving along now".
We then went over to another Algarve based reporter who advised us "Dont get carried away, we dont know anything". More on this later.
Then migrants. A special feature on Slough in order to confirm that the official figures on migrants were, in the least, sketchy. We were told "scores of Romany children" are arriving. In fact 88 have arrived in the last two weeks. (Four score plus eight). We can probably double that figure though because we were advised that most are pregnant. The local council are toiling with this influx. Official figures say that one thousand migrants have moved in but it is more like ten thousand. A couple of the Romanian children were interviewed.
We then saw a couple of locals interviewed for their opinions of the influx. One was not happy she was homeless and waited ten months for a house. This was due to the fact that the Bulgarians had been given all the houses first. I assume the Bulgarians migrated to Slough earlier than the Romany's. The next local was a middle aged man, not happy about any of it.
If you look at the newspaceman from last week you will see that we were advised that immigration is one of our (the British I assume) biggest fears - that and the Muslims. Anyway, eighty two different languages are spoken by pupils at schools in Slough and tens of millions of people enter the UK every year.
Hold on though, dont panic, these ten million are not all migrants. Some are just people coming back from holiday etc, in fact most of them are. The problem is in fact that we are undercounting migrants, this is because "we all move about more nowadays" and "keeping track of us all is impossible". We cant count people in and out again. The report finished with no solution offered, it has merely deposited this news in our minds, the news is that if we want "controlled migration" then we will need to be controlled as well, counted in and out. Anybody got a solution ?
Over to politics and Gordon Browns "campaign". We are told by Nick Robinson that Gogsy was doing a lot of PR, including an interview "with his friends on breakfast telly". Cue to the camera zooming in on another TV screen, this one showing the breakfast show with Gordon on the sofa, engaging in chat about missing Maddie; from a parents point of view though, not a politicians. We were further told of Browns "sofa politics" and his attempt to woo back "women's votes" from the charmer Cameron, who has apparantly lured the ladies to his Conservative camp. This is apparantly why Gordon was on breakfast TV because "its the type of program women watch" from their sofas. What does all this suggest to you ?
Reference was made to the eco towns I mentioned yesterday and that Brown has perhaps become "tainted with the cancer of mistrust that surrounded Tony Blair" One candidate will stand against Gordon in the leadership battle it was suggested.
Coming up - The Bitter Divide amongst America's Evanglist Christians - but first,
Three US soldiers are missing in Iraq, believed captured by al-Qaeda. Aside from this, twenty thousand extra US forces have been drafted in and the BBC has hooked up with them for a special report. We were with the US forces as we saw an Iraqi dragged screaming from his bed at three in the morning. The Americans believed he was a bombmaker. I felt it was quite disturbing viewing.
It is all worth it though because the Americans have re-opened the village market. There are 200 shopkeepers doing business and we saw images of a car boot like senario. I take it their shops have been destroyed. We were told that this US drive opposes "al-Qaeda in Iraq" as if this is a seperate entity from al-Qaeda. I suppose we will all soon have our own al-Qaeda's, I wonder if they will rebuild Hadrian's wall. Or maybe we will.
Despite the bustling market atmosphere depicted, the American soldiers base is attacked several times a day. The featured troop had lost 6 men so far. A potential problem seems to be that the surge is reaching its peak but the soldiers fear that the "war" may cease and they therefore "will not finish the job". Is this not inspirational, the genuine love of their chosen vocation. What humanity.
The nightly reminder of Alan Johnston was next.
Then a feature on the spiralling cost of drugs. The NHS cant afford them. This feature was in particular reference to cancer drugs and we saw a man who is dying. He is buying the drugs privately (although the NHS part subsidise) to prolong his life. The drugs are not a cure. A reporter with blonde hair and dressed in scarlet interviewed him. We were told that the man has spent his savings on the medication.
Two people arrested over the death of a pregnant lady, one is her husband.
Then it was time for the Christian Evangelical feature on Climate change. We began with images of CE students in America, being baptised, by jumping into a pool. This is a full body plunge baptism apparently. This christening was shown on huge screens to thousands of watchers, all whooping and cheering, like a cross between a late 80's rave and a football match.
We were told this was the biggest CE college in the world but the jury was still out on global warming.
To explain, we cut to images of a preacher, lecturing. "Dragon will come and possess the Antichrist" was all he said. We then saw another take of him, this time discussing climate change, when he advised "Its a hoax, like political issues". We then saw him taking a class on the book of Revelations just after showing a slide show of armageddon.
A clip was then shown of a BBC reporter asking a class how many of them believed in climate change. We saw them all sitting, none put up their hands. Cut to another group, in another CE college. They were asked the same question and all put their hands up. This was because their college had a different opinion from the first.
So it was explained "these two groups use the same two quotes from the Bible to prove opposite things". Furthermore, these are the "opposing souls of America" and "Science is political".
I turned over to ITV.
Missing girl again, the lady reporter from the Algarve was spitting the report out, almost venomously. The man was named. More of the story came out, the man spoke Portugese and English and had been helping the police. However he had been "hanging around the scene" and was "very vey vague". In addition, he had been helping the McCann family with translations etc. A Sunday mirror journalist was suspicious of him and had gone to the police. There was something odd about him we were told.
So could the police have a breakthrough ?
I sort of dozed through a bit but then fully awoke to the football. I genuinely thought there had been another terrorist outrage while the news was actually on. But no - strike, assault on, fired, scenes of chaos, people suffering, dark day, etc etc were all football related. Stupid me.
We are told that the police are questioning three people and searching a villa very close to where she went missing. Over to Portugal where the reporter tells us that the property is owned by a middle aged English blonde woman. Her son has staying there for a bit and has spent some time with journalists who became suspicious of his behaviour and went to the police.
We then moved over to the parents, the McCann's. We were told that they had agreed to a question and answer session with journalists, this being the first time the McCanns have actually answered direct questions. I was unaware of this until now. We didnt see much of the interview but the reporter advised us that "there is a sense that things are moving along now".
We then went over to another Algarve based reporter who advised us "Dont get carried away, we dont know anything". More on this later.
Then migrants. A special feature on Slough in order to confirm that the official figures on migrants were, in the least, sketchy. We were told "scores of Romany children" are arriving. In fact 88 have arrived in the last two weeks. (Four score plus eight). We can probably double that figure though because we were advised that most are pregnant. The local council are toiling with this influx. Official figures say that one thousand migrants have moved in but it is more like ten thousand. A couple of the Romanian children were interviewed.
We then saw a couple of locals interviewed for their opinions of the influx. One was not happy she was homeless and waited ten months for a house. This was due to the fact that the Bulgarians had been given all the houses first. I assume the Bulgarians migrated to Slough earlier than the Romany's. The next local was a middle aged man, not happy about any of it.
If you look at the newspaceman from last week you will see that we were advised that immigration is one of our (the British I assume) biggest fears - that and the Muslims. Anyway, eighty two different languages are spoken by pupils at schools in Slough and tens of millions of people enter the UK every year.
Hold on though, dont panic, these ten million are not all migrants. Some are just people coming back from holiday etc, in fact most of them are. The problem is in fact that we are undercounting migrants, this is because "we all move about more nowadays" and "keeping track of us all is impossible". We cant count people in and out again. The report finished with no solution offered, it has merely deposited this news in our minds, the news is that if we want "controlled migration" then we will need to be controlled as well, counted in and out. Anybody got a solution ?
Over to politics and Gordon Browns "campaign". We are told by Nick Robinson that Gogsy was doing a lot of PR, including an interview "with his friends on breakfast telly". Cue to the camera zooming in on another TV screen, this one showing the breakfast show with Gordon on the sofa, engaging in chat about missing Maddie; from a parents point of view though, not a politicians. We were further told of Browns "sofa politics" and his attempt to woo back "women's votes" from the charmer Cameron, who has apparantly lured the ladies to his Conservative camp. This is apparantly why Gordon was on breakfast TV because "its the type of program women watch" from their sofas. What does all this suggest to you ?
Reference was made to the eco towns I mentioned yesterday and that Brown has perhaps become "tainted with the cancer of mistrust that surrounded Tony Blair" One candidate will stand against Gordon in the leadership battle it was suggested.
Coming up - The Bitter Divide amongst America's Evanglist Christians - but first,
Three US soldiers are missing in Iraq, believed captured by al-Qaeda. Aside from this, twenty thousand extra US forces have been drafted in and the BBC has hooked up with them for a special report. We were with the US forces as we saw an Iraqi dragged screaming from his bed at three in the morning. The Americans believed he was a bombmaker. I felt it was quite disturbing viewing.
It is all worth it though because the Americans have re-opened the village market. There are 200 shopkeepers doing business and we saw images of a car boot like senario. I take it their shops have been destroyed. We were told that this US drive opposes "al-Qaeda in Iraq" as if this is a seperate entity from al-Qaeda. I suppose we will all soon have our own al-Qaeda's, I wonder if they will rebuild Hadrian's wall. Or maybe we will.
Despite the bustling market atmosphere depicted, the American soldiers base is attacked several times a day. The featured troop had lost 6 men so far. A potential problem seems to be that the surge is reaching its peak but the soldiers fear that the "war" may cease and they therefore "will not finish the job". Is this not inspirational, the genuine love of their chosen vocation. What humanity.
The nightly reminder of Alan Johnston was next.
Then a feature on the spiralling cost of drugs. The NHS cant afford them. This feature was in particular reference to cancer drugs and we saw a man who is dying. He is buying the drugs privately (although the NHS part subsidise) to prolong his life. The drugs are not a cure. A reporter with blonde hair and dressed in scarlet interviewed him. We were told that the man has spent his savings on the medication.
Two people arrested over the death of a pregnant lady, one is her husband.
Then it was time for the Christian Evangelical feature on Climate change. We began with images of CE students in America, being baptised, by jumping into a pool. This is a full body plunge baptism apparently. This christening was shown on huge screens to thousands of watchers, all whooping and cheering, like a cross between a late 80's rave and a football match.
We were told this was the biggest CE college in the world but the jury was still out on global warming.
To explain, we cut to images of a preacher, lecturing. "Dragon will come and possess the Antichrist" was all he said. We then saw another take of him, this time discussing climate change, when he advised "Its a hoax, like political issues". We then saw him taking a class on the book of Revelations just after showing a slide show of armageddon.
A clip was then shown of a BBC reporter asking a class how many of them believed in climate change. We saw them all sitting, none put up their hands. Cut to another group, in another CE college. They were asked the same question and all put their hands up. This was because their college had a different opinion from the first.
So it was explained "these two groups use the same two quotes from the Bible to prove opposite things". Furthermore, these are the "opposing souls of America" and "Science is political".
I turned over to ITV.
Missing girl again, the lady reporter from the Algarve was spitting the report out, almost venomously. The man was named. More of the story came out, the man spoke Portugese and English and had been helping the police. However he had been "hanging around the scene" and was "very vey vague". In addition, he had been helping the McCann family with translations etc. A Sunday mirror journalist was suspicious of him and had gone to the police. There was something odd about him we were told.
So could the police have a breakthrough ?
I sort of dozed through a bit but then fully awoke to the football. I genuinely thought there had been another terrorist outrage while the news was actually on. But no - strike, assault on, fired, scenes of chaos, people suffering, dark day, etc etc were all football related. Stupid me.
Monday, 14 May 2007
TV News - Sunday 13/05/07
I watched the BBC news at about half seven and the first story was Madeleine McCann.
We were shown images of her "beloved Everton" running on to the pitch wearing Maddie T shirts, T shirts showing a picture of the girl with her name and love hearts to the side. We were told more prayers have been said and that the family are still strong. Furthermore we are told that as long as they remain strong, people will continue to come to the shrine which has been created for Madeleine, and hang yellow ribbons and flowers. Cue images of children hanging ribbons on the shrine.
We were then told that they (the girls family) want the search to remain in the headlines. As such, more Maddie T shirts have been distributed through the UK and we saw images of ladies wearing them in a marathon. We have not seen any celebrities or politicians in these T shirts yet alrthough that may come. Also, her family have brought in their own legal team whilst the police enquiry moves on.
To verify this we were told that police have forensically examined 2 cars and 12 people interviewed. New holidaymakers have arrived at the resort and we were shown the Pheonix family from England who have arrived. I am not sure that the surname is spelled in this manner but it was certainly pronounced as such. What an interesting family to choose given the mythology of the creature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28mythology%29. Unfortunately they didnt have anything interesting to say or so it appeared.
We moved up to the hills, a rural Portugese village where a local confirmed that they too were worried. Then back to the beach to see the McCanns who wished to walk themselves and had advised the camera crews when they would do so in order footage could be made. They had nothing to say yesterday though and the search goes on. Police are looking for a couple, the man is German I believe
Over to Gordon (Gogsy) Brown. Although he may be " a sober, shabby workaholic", yesterday he showed a "human, happy, humerous side" and was in the studios answering questions and showing "humility". Is there something behind these statements one wonders.
He told us that we (the goverment I assume) plan to build five new eco towns. These will give a much higher quality of life for the residents, with cycle paths, etc. I cant wait to see these new towns, will they perhaps have a huge TV monitor in the village square (de rigour in new housing developments by the way) which could show pop concerts, new year, big sporting events etc etc. Thar would create a big family atmosphere and all the cameras will provide security for the children. Any residents who cant behave properly will have ASBO's issued until they become conditioned. Maybe Guv (thats the new word for the Goverment by the way Guv - Bruv, Big Bruv) will utilise its facilties for important announcements.
The Labour left are going to challenge Gogsy for the leader of the Labour Party although this is not seen as a threat to him.
Next was the story of our young people who have spent months training for a 35 -55 mile walk, over two days, over Dartmoor. Unfortunately, the weather was miserable and so thousands of them were evacuated by helicopter and "brought down in a controlled manner" to "base camp" where worried parents awaited their return. One young chap advised he "had never felt so much rain, it was horizontal". Where did he do his training, indoors ? It seemed that after the tragic death of a youngster last year at the same event, "no chances" were being taken with their lives. Wer were flashed an image of the girl from last year who tragically perished, other images included open windswept moors, rain, mothers waiting.
We moved over to Afghanistan. We were told that a top Taliban commander has been killed. Nato advises this is major. We see a video of the Taliban fighters in the windswept mountains, with rocket launchers, machine guns etc. No mention is made of which of these is the killed commander. We are told that he kidnapped and beheaded people.
Just in case there is any doubt over identity we are shown a blanket covering a body on the concrete floor of a building. A man, who looks like a Taliban fighter but obviously is not, goes over and pulls up the blanket to peer at the face of the corpse. We dont actually get to see the face. He then tells the camera it is definately him (the taliban commander). He does'nt seem in the mood for discussion, he is definate in his identification.
We are told that his death is a major blow to the Taliban and there "is no one who can obviously move into his shoes". This statement could also be true if we had no knowledge of the Taliban's internal structure ie it would not be obvious to us.
Time for Wills and Harry, swaping their military uniforms for bowler hats and attending some sort of military event. We were reminded that Harry heads for Iraq soon. Funnily enough we have not heard much about Iran recently.
Football now, "a desperate afternoon filled with tension and tears". Heard that phrase recently ? We were told that the conspiracy theorists were wrong in their predictions and that Wigan were in Wonderland. Do all conspiracy theorists believe all the different conspiracy theories and all live in Wonderland ? That is what is implied here. If the media call something a conspiracy theory it is probably too close to the truth for them. Anway, images of jubilant and grieving supporters including children were shown.
Bit Formula 1, we are doing well, paraolympics were mentioned and an Englishman won the golf in Spain. Images of sunny open gold course in Spain.
Time to tell us that for the latest from Portugal and Madeliene see the BBC2 news later.
Our regional news was also mainly about Madeleine and her what her Scottish family were doing to help.
I then watched the ITN news at 10.
Again, mostly about Madeline. Main questions from Portugal are 1) Where is Madeleine 2) How are her family coping. Four different images of M were flashed up in succession, the last being the football strip one, which the camera lingered on.
After all that we moved to Iraq and US forces being ambushed. Three are missing, feared kidnapped. We were reminded of another soldier who is still missing in action, after a year, despite prayers. (Please see http://newspaceman.blogspot.com/2007/05/god-and-news.html) re the prayer aspect of this.
Sane features on Taliban and Gogsy then over to sport.
We were shown images of her "beloved Everton" running on to the pitch wearing Maddie T shirts, T shirts showing a picture of the girl with her name and love hearts to the side. We were told more prayers have been said and that the family are still strong. Furthermore we are told that as long as they remain strong, people will continue to come to the shrine which has been created for Madeleine, and hang yellow ribbons and flowers. Cue images of children hanging ribbons on the shrine.
We were then told that they (the girls family) want the search to remain in the headlines. As such, more Maddie T shirts have been distributed through the UK and we saw images of ladies wearing them in a marathon. We have not seen any celebrities or politicians in these T shirts yet alrthough that may come. Also, her family have brought in their own legal team whilst the police enquiry moves on.
To verify this we were told that police have forensically examined 2 cars and 12 people interviewed. New holidaymakers have arrived at the resort and we were shown the Pheonix family from England who have arrived. I am not sure that the surname is spelled in this manner but it was certainly pronounced as such. What an interesting family to choose given the mythology of the creature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28mythology%29. Unfortunately they didnt have anything interesting to say or so it appeared.
We moved up to the hills, a rural Portugese village where a local confirmed that they too were worried. Then back to the beach to see the McCanns who wished to walk themselves and had advised the camera crews when they would do so in order footage could be made. They had nothing to say yesterday though and the search goes on. Police are looking for a couple, the man is German I believe
Over to Gordon (Gogsy) Brown. Although he may be " a sober, shabby workaholic", yesterday he showed a "human, happy, humerous side" and was in the studios answering questions and showing "humility". Is there something behind these statements one wonders.
He told us that we (the goverment I assume) plan to build five new eco towns. These will give a much higher quality of life for the residents, with cycle paths, etc. I cant wait to see these new towns, will they perhaps have a huge TV monitor in the village square (de rigour in new housing developments by the way) which could show pop concerts, new year, big sporting events etc etc. Thar would create a big family atmosphere and all the cameras will provide security for the children. Any residents who cant behave properly will have ASBO's issued until they become conditioned. Maybe Guv (thats the new word for the Goverment by the way Guv - Bruv, Big Bruv) will utilise its facilties for important announcements.
The Labour left are going to challenge Gogsy for the leader of the Labour Party although this is not seen as a threat to him.
Next was the story of our young people who have spent months training for a 35 -55 mile walk, over two days, over Dartmoor. Unfortunately, the weather was miserable and so thousands of them were evacuated by helicopter and "brought down in a controlled manner" to "base camp" where worried parents awaited their return. One young chap advised he "had never felt so much rain, it was horizontal". Where did he do his training, indoors ? It seemed that after the tragic death of a youngster last year at the same event, "no chances" were being taken with their lives. Wer were flashed an image of the girl from last year who tragically perished, other images included open windswept moors, rain, mothers waiting.
We moved over to Afghanistan. We were told that a top Taliban commander has been killed. Nato advises this is major. We see a video of the Taliban fighters in the windswept mountains, with rocket launchers, machine guns etc. No mention is made of which of these is the killed commander. We are told that he kidnapped and beheaded people.
Just in case there is any doubt over identity we are shown a blanket covering a body on the concrete floor of a building. A man, who looks like a Taliban fighter but obviously is not, goes over and pulls up the blanket to peer at the face of the corpse. We dont actually get to see the face. He then tells the camera it is definately him (the taliban commander). He does'nt seem in the mood for discussion, he is definate in his identification.
We are told that his death is a major blow to the Taliban and there "is no one who can obviously move into his shoes". This statement could also be true if we had no knowledge of the Taliban's internal structure ie it would not be obvious to us.
Time for Wills and Harry, swaping their military uniforms for bowler hats and attending some sort of military event. We were reminded that Harry heads for Iraq soon. Funnily enough we have not heard much about Iran recently.
Football now, "a desperate afternoon filled with tension and tears". Heard that phrase recently ? We were told that the conspiracy theorists were wrong in their predictions and that Wigan were in Wonderland. Do all conspiracy theorists believe all the different conspiracy theories and all live in Wonderland ? That is what is implied here. If the media call something a conspiracy theory it is probably too close to the truth for them. Anway, images of jubilant and grieving supporters including children were shown.
Bit Formula 1, we are doing well, paraolympics were mentioned and an Englishman won the golf in Spain. Images of sunny open gold course in Spain.
Time to tell us that for the latest from Portugal and Madeliene see the BBC2 news later.
Our regional news was also mainly about Madeleine and her what her Scottish family were doing to help.
I then watched the ITN news at 10.
Again, mostly about Madeline. Main questions from Portugal are 1) Where is Madeleine 2) How are her family coping. Four different images of M were flashed up in succession, the last being the football strip one, which the camera lingered on.
After all that we moved to Iraq and US forces being ambushed. Three are missing, feared kidnapped. We were reminded of another soldier who is still missing in action, after a year, despite prayers. (Please see http://newspaceman.blogspot.com/2007/05/god-and-news.html) re the prayer aspect of this.
Sane features on Taliban and Gogsy then over to sport.
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