The Role of Television and Celebrity in Mass Manipulation

Today, as regular readers of my column will note, I missed my review of the late evening news television news programmes. If the truth be told, after only a month of reviewing, the newspaceman decided to take a small break in order to review where he had got to.


What has struck me most, is the actual quantity of information, verbal, visual, oral and perhaps subliminal which is being outputed in a half an hour news programme. Over the last month a large percentage of broadcast time has been spent on Madeleine McCann, the "wars" in Iraq, Palestine and politics in its numerous guises. During war features, we are bombarded with images of death and destruction. I wish to focus on the Madeleine case and how this has been cunningly used to create a perception and create fear.

The McCann story has raised the emotions of the parenting public and this has been cleverly crafted by the media to create, in this instance, a "collective madieness". This "madieness", or MDN, is in fact a viral mental disease which is capable of altering logical human thinking, reasoning, rationality and, in extreme cases, behaviour. This condition initially targets individuals on a personal basis, however, specific strains are cunningly mutated by the media and then released where they transmit rapidly through our society. One of the first manifestions of MDN in terms of actual human behaviour on a collective basis was with the tragic death of the late Lady Diana Spencer. We saw ladies and children laying flowers, teddies and messages of condolence via our television set and this encouraged others to "make the pilgrimage" and follow this abnormal behaviour pattern. Yet the majority seemed to see nothing wrong with acting in this manner. Television is the vector or carrier of this mental disease.

If we follow this way of thinking then surely we must see that the television has influence over our thinking as individuals. So, could it not be said that a lot of crime and criminal behaviour is in fact an individual act which is caused, whether entirely or in part, by exposure to images of war, criminal and violent behaviour etc., through the medium of television. Obviously, if the influence was unconcious, it would never be known. Yet this potential adverse unconscious effect is never discussed.

The tellytubbies, stars of Cbeebies the BBC childrens TV channel, were in the news this week. This was due to the fact that one of them carries a handbag and the fear is that he is portraying androgyny. This was pounced on by our media and openly ridiculed. What was not discussed though was the very fact that the tellytubbies talk through television sets, set in their stomachs. This concept of a television within a television is used quite frequently in the news. A feature will be shown in which individuals, are themselves, watching a television. When vote results are being announced in our elections, the presenters treat the "big screen" as if it was deciding the result and not simply for display purposes. Again this week, we were advised that there were to be no big screens for the ticketless Liverpool fans who were in Athens for the cup final. The implication being that big screens were de rigour at any large sporting or public event.

So I am now led to believe that the media is actively and intentionally responsible for the current malaise and fear which is rife throughout our "civilised world". Worryingly, the vast majority of our children and indeed ourselves have had constant television throughout our lives. I would suggest that for those born in the late sixties and onwards, it has been an integral part of our culture.

What is worrying is that we all have underestimated its influence over our thinking, culture and behaviour. It is the supreme tool of communication, both visual and oral. We locate it within our own homes, it is "part of the family". Dear readers, the television is the black sheep of your family, the real hidden enemy within our culture.

Once we start to analyse television and celebrities in particular then I can highlight how a particular celebrity may be used to promote a certain lifestyle or culture. If we look at the career of " crude, camp comic" Graham Norton we see a recurring theme similar to that of the tellytubbies - androgyny. Now, Norton received his big television breakthrough playing the role of father Noel Furlong in the comedy series Father Ted, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Ted#Noel_Furlong. In this very programme, the highlight was his rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, a song originally sung by Freddie Mercury, another man with confused sexuality.

At present, we see him hosting the Biblical mockery Any Dream will Do, a show in which 10 malecontestants compete to play Joseph in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. I have suffered ten minutes of this show in which of the contestants appear to be girly boys, in the manner of David Beckham. Each is dressed in a different pastel shade and have no hesitation in openly hugging each other and weeping with joy at being "saved". I discussed this early on in my "career" as newspaceman. For a more in depth description of the show, see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Any_Dream_Will_Do_(TV_series)

So, our minds could be said to associate Norton with androgen and crude sexual "humour". Yet, now we also associate him with the Biblical story of Joseph and his dreams. However, could this maybe lead us to question Joseph's sexuality, perhaps unconsciously, as being potentially androdgynous and, furthermore, do we somehow link Norton to religion, especially given his Father Ted role. Leading on from this, if we see Norton in other roles in the future, will we somehow link all his previous shows within our minds and thus again influence our own thinking. Staying with Norton, we saw him on the national news only two weeks ago where he was hosting the television Bafta awards. He arrived in a Ford Capri, the underlying theme being the TV show Life on Mars, which depicts policemen from the 1970's when homosexuality was still kept in the closet.

So we could read a subliminal message into all this, that, back in the 70's, life and the police were tough and our society was "less tolerant" towards minorities almost in the same manner as that of Joseph's brothers in the Biblical tale. Nowadays, we embrace outsiders (Norton/Joseph) and welcome all to our society. Norton is in fact hosting the TV awards which again bolsters our unconscious image of him, putting him to the very top of the proverbial TV tree. Again, we could perhaps link this to religion , the fairy at the top of the tree, Christmas time, birth of Jesus.Also, when I hear the word Norton, I think of a motorcycle. Yet Norton was born with the name Graham Walker. Does this tell us something. It might tell our children something because, frightingly, Norton in fact has been known to read stories on the aforementioned BBC childrens television channel Cbeebies as part of their Bedtime Hour.

Moving back to the McCanns, they have become "celebrities" within their own right. Yet, every time we see them in the future we will think of child abduction. If they appear say on Richard and Judy, then next time we see R&J we will again remember the McCanns. This is again how the MDN virus reinforces and transmits itself, through "unconscious celebrity reinforcement". Almost, like a giant game of celebrity squares, we are linking all the different personaltities to the concepts and archtypes contained within our unconscious minds. As we saw, even "celebrities" themselves are not immune from MDN, hence we see messrs Beckham and Ronaldo genuinely believing that a plea from themselves will somehow find missing Madeleine. And the very fact that we watch them doing so again adds to our conditioning ; we begin to believe that they might actually help which, logically, is nonsensical.

So readers, here is my worries. We have allowed "the television" to create the very world and society we live in. The problem appears to be that the television does not have humanity's best interests at heart in fact, its motives seem almost as poison in the side of concepts such as freedom, peace and love. It feeds and baits the "reptilian" side of our personalities, the cold blooded side, that enjoys watching violence, crime, sex, rape, the side we try to deny in todays world and this manifests itself within the downward moral spiral of todays world. It uses fear to crush and supress any "human" emotions we may foster.

Furthermore, the television is embedded in our culture. It has replaced the fire as the object we sit around. And whilst in the fire angels and faeries danced just above the flames, today we have television, showing vile images, conditioning our collective moral and standards whilst waiting for the moment to turn our emotions into rage and hence restructure our society to the parameters they desire. Remember it is the television which has created the "world" we live in. You may find that hard to stomach but look at your houses, the decoration, your garden etc, everything, everything has been influenced by the box in the corner.

Who is behind this vast and evil manipulation ? I do not know. We can theorise and question but all the time we waste doing this we become closer to a seemingly inevitable and tragic conclusion.
Simply watch and learn for they are operating in full visibility in front of you.

All the world is a stage

For more on "coincidences" and "syncronicities" within our modern media world, I suggest you look no further than http://www.the-daily-behemoth.blogspot.com/ .

No TV News Review - Wednesday 30th May

apologies, back tomorrow as normal

TV News Review - Tuesday May 29th

We started with the BBC News at 10 with Iraq as the leading story and the kidnap by persons unknown, of a "finance expert" and his four bodyguards or security guards from the finance ministry building on "Palestine Street" in Baghdad. I am unsure as to when Palestine Street received its name but it does not sound very Iraqui to me.

The kidnappers arrived at the building in a convoy of 40 police vehicles and marched in asking where the foreigners were. There appears to have been little resistance to the abduction which seems slightly strange. It appears obvious that they have specfically targeted the "finance expert" and that he must be of some inportance given the quantity of personal bodyguards that he had.

This story again allowed the BBC licence to discuss the various groups who could be behind the snatch. Was it "plain banditry or al-Quaeda" we were asked. It was best if it was not al-Q, as they always kill their victims was the answer given, however, we dont know. Images were shown of war zones, bomb blasts, rebel armies, the usual nightly array.

We saw images of private security guards, apparently receiving training in gun shooting, before emarking for a "lucrative" job in Iraq. Most are ex soldiers and receive around £300 per day for bodyguard duties. Life appears pretty dangerous and we were assured that "it was far more dangerous than being in the army". These guards are really mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, although this was not stated.

On to a minister with morals; Graham Brady has resigned from the Conservative Party over the grammar schools debate. He does not agree with the statement that "grammar schools impede social mobility". However, Cameron was going to sack him so how resigning first gives him morals I dont know. This social mobility (moving within our class structure) to me is nonsense. Even if you earn say 100k per year and have a nice house, car, clothes etc, you are not any more free than a man earning 15k and in a multi storey. Yet the underlying consensus in this country is that the more you earn and the higher up the social mobility ladder you are, the better you are doing and the better the person you are. We (as a society) are mentally conditioned into believing this nonsense and our educational system is structured in order that we believe the myth from an early age.

Images were then shown of some "old tories" discussing the issue over a pint or two and the feature finished by running a short clip of Mr Brady involved in a Tug O War. As expected he ended on the losing side.

Over to the McCanns and their puppet show. For those seeking clarification on the puppets plus more "coincidental" aspects to the McCann story and a wealth of interesting, extremely well written articles, I suggest you link to the the site as detailed below. Anyway they are off to see the Pope, we still dont know who arranged this meeting and have had conflicting reports. Again we were reminded of their faith and the help it has given them through this entire episode and we were advised that this was first stop on their tour of major capitals. Images and short mobile phone camera recordings of Madeleine were shown and we saw Rome and the Pope again. We seem almost to have forgotten about the girl and the McCanns themselves have become the focus, almost celebrity status now. I cannot even bring myself to think about it now, there is something seriously disturbing about this whole matter.

Health next and a story about "maternity support workers" guising in the role of midwifes. There is a chronic shortage of midwives so their juniors are carrying out some roles for them. This story allowed the usual images of mothers and lovely little babies to be shown, en masse. This didnt seem like much of a story to me, surely the support workers know what they are doing otherwise one would imagine they would'nt do it. It is babies after all. The goverment has promised 3000 more ladies will be skilled in the art of midwifery by 2012. What was not said is that the extra 3000 will be busy in new roles inserting identification micro chips and tattooing bar codes.

Migrants are still in the news. Not content with passing flu to Welsh schoolchildren, they are now planning to stay over here for good. 8000 have arrived from Bulgaria and Romania since January. We saw a taxi driver with a deep desire to come to the UK. Obviously they dont have Dick Whittington translated into Romanian then. We saw images of the migrants on coaches and the plane ("see all the people moving"), coming to the UK and were told that "these are the faces of a new Britain". The coach journey is a grueling 2 days and 2 nights although 16 hours is spent in Romania picking up passengers. Furthermore, "pressure and hopes bring 1000's here". This feature, as many similar, insinuated that we are under seige, well almost.

Blair was over in Libya where he is on fantastic terms with Gadafi. The situation is completely transformed from the previous state of affairs where we were almost at War. BP Oil signed a big deal with Libya yesterday. Does every man have his price ?

Tony is going to Sierra Leone next as part of his "world tour", this is a country which was involved in terrible civil war only 7 years ago. However we sent troops over to regain stability and they are still over there, training the army. We were told of rebel child soldiers and we saw images of such which would have "frozen the blood - a sight like this". Sierra Leone is "still looking to its old colonial master for security and protection". I was wondering why till we were bothering until beingreminded that it has vast mineral reserves, including diamonds.

We then saw two ex child soldiers sitting together and then each forgiving one other for their war crimes. One only had one arm, I missed the other's war-wound. Images were shown of a "crocodile river" "rank with waste". Even though we have been over there for seven years, "no one knows where the wealth goes" and the natives live in poverty. The polictical elite are very rich though so that seemed to explain it to me. Seven years, for nothing ?

There was a large feature on a painter but I am running out of time so cant cover it. I will tomorrow though.

I watched ITN only notable additional feature was the Big Brother kidney show in Holland which says it all really.

cheers

http://www.ben-fairhall.blogspot.com/

TV News Review - Monday 29th May 2007

It was a Bank Holiday yesterday and the BBC News at 10 commenced proceedings with a feature on the American and Iranian talks over the future of Iraq. A main stumbling block appears to be that America is not happy about Iran having nuclear weapons and furthermore, accuses Iran of supplying bombs to the insurgents in Iraq.

We saw the usual images of war, photgraphs of parts to make bombs etc etc. The conclusion seemed to be that the Americans want a change of attitude and behaviour from Iran. Iran meanwhile, believe Bush/America to be Satan and I feel it unlikely they will sell their soul.
To me, it looks like America are simply going through a process of appearing to be diplomatic, before resorting to their favoured tactic of military action.

How long before we have an "atrocity" that can be linked directly to Iran ?

Moving on, another UK soldier killed in Afghanistan.

On to another devil, this time the demon drink. We were told that legislation is going to be introduced in order that the "alcoholic value" of a drink, in terms of units, will now be displayed in a similar format on all bottles and cans etc. This is apparantly so that we know how much we are actually drinking . CCTV Images of drunk young men in the city centre were shown so we could see what drunk people look like. We were advised that "only a small minority monitor their drinking". We saw some members of the public asked if they knew what a unit was. We closed with an image of crates of Teachers whisky.

Does anyone actually believe that advising the alcohol unit value on a container will actually help our national drink culture. Whole TV shows are dedicated to showing drunken young adults, fighting and vomiting on their holidays. The reason drink is such a problem is because our society is now a state and people need to escape. Drink has probably halved in real cost over the last 20 years. As a teenager newspaceman collected golf balls, which he would sell on. The proceeds were used for bevy. Even at this tender age, newspacemans preferred option was a half bottle of smirnoff and two bottles of mixer, one coke, one pineapple. Newspaceman recalls that the half bottle was £4.00 or so back then, in the early eighties. Now a full bottle of Grants is £7.99. Nowadays, your writer rarely drinks but sees the attraction.

If one wants to really know who "runs" the global alcohol industry, simply look at the older whisky brands and their advertising. Jonnie Walker - Always on the Square, for example.

Staying with drink, Princess Diana and her untimely death, caused, apparantly, by a drunk driver. Channel 4 intend to show a documentary next week about this matter and will include images of the dead princess in the car. We were told that the "paparazzi were at the scene within seconds", where a doctor was already on the scene. We were told that this would "be insensitive to the princes". Obviously. However, this documentary will "lay to rest some of the inaccuracies".

Personally, I find it a bit off that Channel 4 intends to show this now. After all, the inquest should be relatively soon now, especially if taken in context with the long delay that has already been experienced. I am slightly concerned about the outcome of any inquest on the collective public mentality. We saw the media fueled outpouring of grief for her death and I found it slightly disturbing. In a similar manner to the missing girl Madeleine, they channel the already disturbed emotions in our heads (perhaps caused by media/television) and focus them on one individual.

If for example, it is "proved" to be the fault of the paparazzi, then how will the media report that. What if indeed it was the work of sinister forces, perhaps establishment based. One thing is for certain though, the young princes will be held the true victims of this, it was them that lost their mother for whatever reason and this has dragged on for far too long, for whatever reason.

Over the McCann circus where a giant billboard (sponsored by those paragons of virtue, the News of the World) has been constructed on the beach and the family have been granted an audience with the Pope. Curiously, when first reported, it appeared that the Pope had asked to see the McCanns but subsequently it emerged that the McCanns had asked to see him or at least thats how it seems. One wonders whether the media have somehow coordinated this meeting, perhaps on behalf of the McCanns. What I have said before though is about the strong religious connections being focused on by the media and their potential nefarious purposes for this focus.

On the subject of the News of the World, I rarely read it but when I do, it generally contains photographs of naked young girls, normally printed in connection with a paedophile case or similar. Normally, the girls eyes have a black rectangle printed across them, to obscure identification.
Why do they print these images. Could they not perhaps titillate someone with unnatural desires, or at least, allow them to believe that their desires are in fact not unnatural, indeed almost acceptable, in todays culture. What has also just come to be is the fact that we saw countless images of Madeleines eyes, set in a rectangle.

A short report on the armed robbery and the "have a go hero". There seems to be a lot of focus on this case, it was a lady security guard and that seems to be the main difference to other similar cases as far as I can see.

More on the Russian poisoning, we saw the images again of Mr Lugovoi with his handgun at a shooting rank. The Goverment have formally requested extradition.

Bird Flu, it's migrated back in, a case in Wales. Schoolchildren have been innoculated with Tamiflu. We were told its not as serious as it might look as images of white coated scientists with protective masks etc were shown. Again we were told that anyone in close contact with poultry is at risk. However, this is not the H5 virus, this is the H7 they told us at the end so we should not confuse it with the February outbreak. Just in case we were starting to forget.

We then saw a bizarre feature on the fact that we appear to be growing too many "fuel crops" and not enough food crops. We were told this was the new oil rush as we saw fields of yellow rape. We were told that this could affect "the poor people in cities, those who dont grow their food, but buy it". Mention was made of "the only way to avoid widespread starvation". We have "siezed on bio fuels as a cure for our gas guzzling addiction". Something, I am not sure what was again "the size of Britain". Our children suffer from low levels of excercise and spent an average of 4hrs on a pc.

Over to the Japan and the taste for whale meat. This is "a bitter struggle" over whale killing, basically most of the Japanese feel sorry about whales being killed to be eaten but the problem is they dont like being told what to do (and they like whale meat). We saw some Japanese people, one in particular, who appeared highly excitable as he waved his machete at the camera whilst extoling the benefits of whale meat. The translation seemed to be somewhat lacking though. We ended by seeing images of "whale slices" in the fishmongers window.

Football, wembley, worlds apart, football is all about glory. Feature about the boat, Gypsy Moth 1V, 40 years to the day, in 1967, since Francis Chichester returned in GM after circumnavigating the world. This one was crewed by disadvantaged youngsters. Another resurrection.

What next ?

cheers

TV News - Sunday 27th May 2007

I watched the BBC evening news at 7.30pm where the leading story was that plans are afoot by the Home Office to give the police "unprecedented powers" within the UK. Basically, the police will be allowed to stop, question and search anyone, anywhere, on any whimsical notion that they want. We were told that critics say that this "will alienate an entire community". This was in reference to worries that the police will use the new legislation to target young muslims and the darker skinned members of our society.

We saw images of uzi weilding old bill, patrolling, and we were told that Tony Blair had used a newspaper, Murdoch's Sunday Times, in order unveil this new terrorist busting legislation on the public. We were told that there is already similar legislation in force which is used widely. A critic advised that this was "the domestic equivalent of Guantanamo Bay. However we were also told that the new legislation would give "more effective use of police resources".

Comment was given that this was "classic spin and tiptoe backwards" policy by the Government. No reason was given as to why the Government employ these "classic" tactics. Is is just to warm us up then? Anyway, we were reminded again that "we live in strange times". Somewhat reluctantly, newspaceman advises his readers that somehow he thinks he has somehow "been" in these "strange times"before, perhaps in a previous life. He has no fear but is apprehensive to say the least and is considering stockpiling sardines and similar foodstuffs, for a rainy day. Or a blue moon, which coincidentally, there is this month I believe.

Moving away from the newspacemans mid life crisis, where he finally accepted that the world was a lot of shite, we had some "good news". Depending on your viewpoint really. Scientists have discovered some sort of potential genetic solution to breast cancer. We saw a lady with the disease who was looking at an photographic image of a young girl, her daughter, on a laptop computer. She told us that her daughter had asked her what the chances were of her, herself, having the cancer, and we were told that the chances were very high.

We were told that "it used to take decades" to sift through a persons DNA and select specific genes and that now it only takes a few hours. A doctor scientist character told us that this was "the holy grail" and would enable doctors to predict who exactly is at risk. Up until then, I thought that discoveries about DNA and genetics were confined to the last decade or so, but it seems otherwise. The use of the term "holy grail" may be more accurate than one would believe but we walk on dangerous territory here. Is this just not another public relations exercise for the benefits of tampering with our genetic make up and glorifying DNA research, perhaps for purposes yet to be fully revealed.

The McCann family again, not really much further forward with their missing daughter but the Pope has invited them for a visit to the Vatican. We were told that this is of the "highest religious significance" to the McCanns and that their strength comes from their faith and religion, mention was given to the "little church in Playa". We saw images of the Pope and were told that this visit will be "a massive boost for the campaign". This will be a private, spiritual moment. As regards progress on the search for Madeleine, we were told that the description issued by the police on Friday had generated "a steady stream of phone calls". Furthermore, the family friend who saw the mysterious man with the bundle, is "racked with guilt about it".

This whole story is beginning to become quite sickening really. I dont think that most people now believe the girl will turn up alive, I am sorry to say that. Yet huge media focus is given on the family, which no doubt also feeds their inner drive and belief that she will be found. Constant attention is made of the McCanns faith and the volume of prayers to God which are being said throughout the world. Now, if she is never found and the media attention dwindles, as it must, do we not somehow unconciously remember all the prayers and faith in God and that these did not in fact work. She was never found therefore God paid no attention to all our prayers. Is that the message we are left with ?

An ambush in Afghanistan, a soldier killed and named, photographic image shown

A feature about the Russians and gay rights, more social unrest

Israel and Gaza, "no one is immune from retaliation" we were told and "belief is being played out through conflict". This will kick right off shortly, wait and see. We are becoming more and more dehumanised through our exposure to death, war and violence. We have seen a man hanged, recorded by mobile phone and piles of bodies in excavated war graves. You dont even flinch when you see the images of corpses piled in a road. How can you when your head has seen thousands before, both on the news and in films etc.

Our minds have become frozen with the coldness of the daily images we digest through the medium of television, particularly the news. Each new images just freezes onto the ice island within our heads. There is hardly room for any warm images of love etc. Even images of little children playing are now identified with paedophiles, abduction, misery. We see puppies, we think of dog fighting and children getting mauled. We see a blackbird, we think of bird flu. We see a fox, we think of rabies. We see woods, we think of weirdos and winos, lurking in the bushes, waiting to pounce on our children. We see coloured young men and think of terrorist outrages and we are told that no one is to be trusted.

Is it no wonder that our world is a state. Yet the media are the ones who are creating the proverbial picture on the box of the jigsaw puzzle. And like a disease, the more you see, the more you believe and the more reality becomes like that very picture. The television is the vector for the alien virus that pervades mankind and that very virus works on your mind, perverting and conditioning it, telling you what is and isnt acceptable until, eventually, it will overtake your very soul and spirit yet allow you to believe that you are in fact in charge of your own life when, in fact, you dont even know what life is.

The sad news is ladies and gentleman, we are close to having a "media chosen" human "God" who will apparently cure the world of its ails and restore peace and harmony. But will he ?

Time for sport and a mention of your old mate Al. (al Quaeda)

cheers

TV News Review - Saturday 26th May 2007

The main feature on both news channels was more on the story of the mysterious man with the bundle who was seen on the night that Madeleine disappeared. This was discussed yesterday in the newspaceman as the police had only just issued a description..

It has now transpired that it was in fact a member of the McCann holiday party who saw this individual and this was reported to the police at the time. It appears that the police were unwilling to release this information to the media and it has taken political intervention, by no less than Gordon Brown, in order that these details be made public.

The description is pretty vague to be honest but the question now seems to be why the police did not release this sooner and this was discussed in some depth.

I am not sure of child welfare laws in Portugal but it is now obvious that the McCann's are not happy with certain aspects of the police investigation. This obvious breakdown has given rise to my thoughts that perhaps the Portuguese authorities will charge the McCanns in respect of leaving their child alone. This will no doubt create a further media frenzy. Again, this story allowed the usual images of Madeleine to be shown.

The second main story was that of David Beckham and his return or reincarnation to the England team. This story contained the usual images of the England team, David, supporters and some goals etc.

Sorry this is so short.

cheers

TV News Review - Friday May 25th

I only really covered the BBC News at Ten last night, I did watch ITN but really couldnt take much more. Attention has again focused on the Algarve and missing Madeleine as the Portuguese police have now issued a description of a man seen carrying a bundle (which could have been a child), the night that she disappeared. The description is a white man, aged 35 - 40, wearing a beige jacket. It was pointed out to us that this description matches that of the only "suspect" and again he was named and images shown.

We moved on to more images of the girl and we were told that "today is international missing childrens day". There were no appeals about any other missing children though and we concentrated on the McCann family who gave an interview to the BBC. They defended themselves against any criticism of leaving the child alone in the apartments saying that they would not have felt any more guilty had they been in the next room. They have found inner strength and thanked everyone for their ongoing support. Mr McCann appears to believe they will find Madeleine. We finished by showing some some images of Madeleine playing.

A feature on the health service next and the case of a lady who tragically died after contacting the NHS via Camidoc, an out of hours doctors service. Apparently, she saw eight different doctors over a four day period and none of them diagnosed her septicaemia which took her life the day later. This feature didnt really tell us much other than the "out of hours" service provided by the NHS in this instance was unacceptable. Again though, it creates seeds of fear within people about using or relying on this service.

We moved on to the story about the Earl of Shaftesbury which was covered on Tuesday's news.
His wife and her brother were found guilty of his murder. Bjorn Borg was somehow involved with the woman in the past, I did not quite work out how. Anyway, we were told that "this was a man who led a double life".

Down in Essex there has been an armed robbery and a "have a go hero" has been shot. We were told that he was heroic. The getaway car has been torched.

Coming up - China's one child policy

First, the story of a muslim cleric who has been deported back to Jamica. His name is Abdulla something but he used to be called Trevor Forrest. Apparantly, he has served a prison sentence for condoning murder of Jews and Hindus in the name of Islam. Trevor said that he had never called for a jihad in this country, only overseas. This gave the BBC their daily opportunity to provide all his links to various bombers and terrorists and run through their activities as well, just in case we may have forgotten. "He met and influenced the shoebomber" and was involved with al Quaeda's European Leader. He was used as a recruiter for terrorism.

Although he has been deported to Jamica, any interested parties will still be able to hear his lectures on jihad websites we were told. So what was the point in deporting him. Surely with his multitude of terrorist connections we should have let him stay here and monitored him.

Time for the Chinese children. The chinese are only "allowed" one child per couple. We were shown some chinese families with two plus children and it was explained that the chinese are having "multiple births" because they are probably taking fertility treatments. The first family we saw had four children but they all looked different sizes to me. Notwithstanding this, we saw the reporter in the local Chinese chemist where he purchased "the last box on the shelf" of fertility tablets after "handing over 50p". We were told that some chinese were rebelling against the one child law and there had been some rioting. We closed with images of loveable little chinese toddlers, rolling about.

Another pointless feature on the surface. Yet again though this week, we have mention of rioting. We also see a social system which could be described as being more controlling than ours, similar to Thursday nights focus on East Germany.

A feature on Wales and it's future "independence".

Ireland- Bertie Ahern looks like winning in their elections again but it could be another hung parliament, similar perhaps to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We finished with more "rebellion", this time the anniversary of punk music and the Sex Pistols. We heard that they caused outrage at the time. Many images of the Queen and Royal Family were shown. We saw clips of John Lydon and Malcolm McLaren. Images of punks pogo dancing were seen. We were told that "this symbolises how Britain has changed". We also heard a quote referring to "deference to the Old Order" in respect of the Queen and Royal Family.

This feature gave a distorted view of the punk music scene. It appeared to be glorifying the rebellion against the Queen to a certain extent but also, at the same time, classing it as pointless, given that nothing really has changed. As I said yesterday, it appears the media would delight in some social unrest and it must be asked as to why they desire this. It appears to me that they want a bit revolution in order that a new social system can be implemented.

cheers

cheers

TV News Review - Thursday 24th May

I only watched the BBC News at 10 last night although I watched Question Time afterwards so I will try to write a few words about that programme and the audience in particular.

The first feature appeared to be about the Labour party's policies. We were told that "they were clearing the decks" in Westminster. Curiously, we have had a large number of nautical themes this week, including ice island and the Cutty Sark fire.

Recycling next and we saw the goverment proposals to penalise householders who produce excessive waste. We were told the problems were pressure on landfill sites and the the production of methane gas from the buried refuse. We saw images of dustbinmen in action. We then saw images of Scunthorpe where there was trouble when the council tried to impose fortnightly collections previously. Images of the town square were shown and we were reminded of the poll tax riots which happened there.

We then had a feature on a "typical family". The BBC had asked them to participate in a waste recycling trial. This involved the BBC issuing the family with some plastic boxes for plastic, cardboard etc plus a grey coloured plastic bucket which was labelled SLOPS. We saw the family after day one and mention was made of the slops bucket and the fact that left over foodstuffs and cat food were in it. This seemed to be the problem really. The feature finished by telling us that "even for a keen, green family, this has been hard work". We then got to see the crowning glory as the contents of the slop bucket were held up, mostly rice pudding and stale cat food I think. Basically they seemed to be telling us that this is disgusting and we should go out and riot in the manner of the poll tax rebellion.


We stayed with the Government and moved on to terrorism, in particular the case of the three missing "terrorists" who are subject to control orders. We saw images of their houses, their neighbours have not seen them for three days and they are heavily connected to a "web of terrorism" We then saw an image containing photos of different "terrorists" and lines were drawn between them. Again we had a rendition of all the different groups of "terrorist bombers"and were subected to details of their "plans to kill hundreds". We were told the focus was on Iraq as they planned to join the "insurgents" and fight against "our troops" over there.
How they intend to carry out this "focus" is beyond me.

One third of people on control orders have absconded we were told and we sawthe home secretary John Reid speaking in the Commons where he advised that we were considering opting out of European human rights legislation, something to do with article 5. It is not just us though, France Germany and Poland are also considering this move. It all seems a bit scary to me. Very scary really. They basically wish to take away the rights of an individual and use terrorism as an excuse. What also scares me somewhat is this banding together of countries to justify such a move. Just because F G & P are considering amending their human rights legislation, does this make it right? Also, I spoke before about this alliance of the four UK nations, France, America and Germany (in the form of the "celebrity" Hoff). Is this feature telling us that Poland has joined the amalgamation. As regards the break up of the UK Union, is this not just a lesson in basic alchemy. We must break down the entity (UK) into its base states (Scotland England etc) before we can rebuild this supposed New World.

We moved on to the MP Allan Johnston who was on Question Time later discussing the issue of migrant workers and housing. This seemed just to be an advert for Question Time and a chance to bring up the same story again.

An divorce case next. British man has lost his appeal against his divorce settlement ruling. He must pay his wife 20 million or suchlike. We saw them splitting up, this was illustrated by the BBC special effects simulating a photograph of the couple being ripped in to, leaving one on each side. This is the same sort of technique they use when they focus on another television set and someone watching it. Focusing on images. Anyway, this whole feature was an excuse to roll out some images of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. Just to warm us up.

Coming up - The race to piece together 600 million scraps of paper relating to East Germany's past.

First we looked at a refugee crisis, tonight it was from East Africa. 100,000 people live in one refugee camp, the biggest in the world. As with similar features on similar situations, we saw images of women and orphan children. We were told the women in the camp "wont talk openly". The rebels are being blamed and we were told that the refugees are "never sure who is friend or foe". This is another similar theme at the moment. Friends Foes Strangers - Trust no one.

Nightly report from Gaza. Israel have fired more bombs and arrested 30 Hamas politicians.

Madeleine McCann - Its now three weeks since she went missing and we went to the Algarve to see what the progress was. The reporter advised that the police in the UK have obtained 500 images taken by holidaymakers at the time and are studying them. Other than that, three weeks later it is still a mystery. Mention was made of the "suspect" and he was named again. A new photographic image of the girl has been released

A feature on bank charges and the legal fight against them by some customers. The banks are attempting to persuade their customers to drop their cases. We were told that this was a "consumer uprising". Another phrase used was "too far down the legal food chain". I dont quite understand the use of this phrase, no doubt it will come to light shortly. Again this was not much of a story, more an update on a story which will continue for ever. We were told the BBC online service had received 486 e mails about it. It finished by asking us "Are consumers becoming more rebellious or are the banks...".

More rebellion and this time the promised feature on the scraps of paper. This story revolves around the East German secret police ripping up all paperwork before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. We saw images of crowds and the wall coming down. We were told that in East Germany, before the wall came down, the police ripped up all their files on individuals. "Ripping, Burning and Shredding" apparently. We were told that 1 in 7 of the population at the time was a spy in their own country. Anyway, computer experts are trying to fit togther the paperwork and reassemble the files. We saw an interview of a lady who said that people were beginning to forget how bad it was before and had forgotten about the repression, etc etc. Again, one wonders why this feature is actually on the news.

Motto - we live in a free country really, however bad it might seem to be getting. Just look at East Germany. But why all the talk of rebellion and uprising, are the media perhaps provoking social unrest. Look at the Liverpool game it was the same senario.

That was about it, the regional news in Scotland had a fair chunk on the Queen meeting Alex Salmond. She dropped in by helicopter for 20 minutes.

Question Time - If last nights show is reflective of reality, then we are in big trouble. People are genuinely scared now or certainly appear to be so. This "terrorism threat" is getting out of hand. People who are scared become aggressive. This can be directed towards what or whoever the media decide. Watch them stir the cauldron of poison for Mills McCartney and see how far they have already progressed.

cheers

TV News Review - Wednesday May 23rd

The BBC News at 10 started with a feature on three missing "terror suspects" who have breached their control orders and are missing. The control order obligates them to report at a police station every day and they have failed to do this. Their passports have also been surrendered.

Two of these characters are brothers and they have links to one of the fertilizer plotters, a group of other potential terrorists. We were advised that "it is usually kept quiet if anyone disappears" but given the connection, the police have issued photos. We were also shown the images of the fertilizer bombers again with a run down on their strategy. Police have said anyone seeing the suspects should telephone 999. The main fear seems to be that they will go to Iraq and join the insurgents.

This all led to us being told that the "system is in disarray" and given the impression that all was out of control. Surely this is the objective of a control order, to monitor peoples whereabouts. So know we know they are missing and can presume that they are probably up to something. Is this not the purpose of a control order. Even if someone has to go to the police station every day it does not stop them making a bomb. So, surely the purpose of this control order (including the surrendering of passport) was to stop them travelling abroad.

We moved on to Nuclear Power stations and were told that "not long ago, most opposed these" whilst an image of the 70's & 80's Nuclear Power No Thanks symbol, with the Sun was shown. This gives the impression that most dont oppose them now. Furthermore, we are facing an "energy gap. We were shown images of tall city buildings in London at night, with numerous lights left on and were told that these companies may be forced to switch of their lights, they dont bother at present because electricity is such a small part of their costs. This was highlighted by "switching off" all the lights on the London city image at once, i.e. a blackout. Maybe I am just cynical but..

We saw some other images of windturbines etc and then we went to a factory in England to see what they are doing about the energy crisis. There, the Eastern European "gaffer" told us, in slightly pigeon English, that an energy clock had been installed which allowed them to see how much energy was currently being used in the factory. This was a digital device which showed the energy flow in watts.

The thing is, this device does not actually save any energy. It just shows how much is being used in the factory at any given moment. So, I dont see it's purpose or benefit in actualy saving energy. Secondly, why do we see a factory with a Eastern European foreman. This could tell us that the EE's are fitting in well to our society or it may lead one to believe that perhaps all the staff are EE's and therefore so is the foreman. If one was of the impression that the EE's should not be here (in UK) then this would lead to it, especially given recent features on migrant workers and housing which I have reported recently in the newspaceman.

Over to mobile phones charges. There has been European legal action which is forcing the mobile phone operators to review their pricing structure. They therefore need to "slash roaming prices", a phrase used throughout the feature. We went over to a reporter who pretended to telephone another reporter, who was in Athens covering the Liverpool football game, to find out how much mobile phone calls from abroad actually cost. We saw images of the Liverpool fans before the game and were told that an average mobile phone call was £2 from Athens back to Liverpool. Slash Rome in Charges. And who were Liverpool playing.

A quick feature advising us that the United Nation Nuclear Watchdog are not happy with Iran and their progress with their nuclear programme. Image of UN flag and Iraq army forces were shown.

We moved over to health and our junior doctors grievences with the health service. A high court judge accused the health service of "serial incompetence" and said the whole matter was a dreadful mess. We saw a young doctor telling us that he no longer enjoyed his job, he found it a chore. We then saw BBC provide an explanation of the problem, in terms we could understand.

Imagine there are 2 doctors, Doctor A & B. Doctor A has prizes (I am not sure what for, it was not explained) but Doctor B does not. They both apply for the same job. Doctor A can't explain why he is better for the job so Doctor B might get it. Doctor B might get it but I dont. Surely Doctor A's prizes would explain why he is better for the job. Anyway, Goverment (not The) say that the main priority is to get doctors into jobs. Junior doctors lost the legal battle but won the moral one. And that dear friends is a true reflection of todays society. Money over Morals. And what could this feature therefore suggest ?

Coming up - A warlord, rape and murder in the Congo. And, disappointment for Liverpool.

We moved on to out of date food produce being sold at Asda. Trading standards discovered a host of foodstuffs on the shelves that should not have been. A lamb chop was 31 days out of date. We were told that there was a catalogue of evidence against Asda. This was illustrated to us by means of a reporter leafing through an A4 ring binder which contained photgraphs of the offending items, a pudding, the chop etc etc. This was therefore the catalogue one must assume. A catalogue of evidence can be as simple as a book of photographs. This too I found rather disturbing.

The feature continued with a reporter outside Asda with a basket of food. All the food in the basket had the Asda yellow "whoopsie" reduced sticker on it. This long thin yellow sticker is attached to the food which is soon to go out of date and show the new, reduced price, offered by Asda, in order that they hopefully sell it. So we know from the sticker that it is close to the sell by date. The reporter didnt really tell us anything. Does the long thin yellow sticker bear a resemblance to anything, or am I just ultracynical ?

This feature closed by telling us that all the supermarkets were up to the same type of malarky with food, cutting thin slices off and repackaging etc. Surely this practice must come from the top in some form, whether directly or in terms of targets.

It was time for the Congo warlord special . This was the usual feature showing a brave reporter marching for miles into the mountains (where they all live) to eventually confront and question the Warlord on accusations that he and his troops rape and murder innocent people. We saw images of the W surrounded by dancing, chanting African men, dressed in combat gear and with machine guns. The W didnt seem to speak much English and there was no translator. The W. was attempting to communicate that he was doing what he felt was right, as a concept, I think I dont think he really knew what was going on and was using "aggressive" body language to show his emotion/internal belief. It is just nonsense really, the whole lot of it.

Italians get revenge we were told and we went to Athens to see the position. Basically, too many fans, not enough tickets, we are lucky that the police had all the angles covered to a certain extent. As I said yesterday, the media try to fuel all this "hooliganism". We saw more images of fans etc, no real trouble was reported and we went back to Liverpool. Here we saw images of well behaved supporters, mostly women and children in a club. A young lady told us "it was the worst day of my life" and "well played AC Milan.

Back to the studio and time to tell us that the podcast of the week is Ice Island, as discussed yesterday. I turned over to ITN.

The ITN news was late and I was slightly drowsy to start with but we we were told when it started, by a reporter from Liverpool, that the most of the fans were "mooching off home now".

There was then a feature on storing carbon dioxide in coal mines to help the carbon factor in the environment. The reporter started this feature by saying "That old king coal". The feature seemed to be about using abandoned coal mines to dispose of carbon. Carbon Dioxide would be injected into the mines, the carbon would somehow be transformed into its solid form and be sealed into the old mine. We were then told that that this proposal was unfeasible though, because coal is running out. I dont really understand this last bit, it is not coal that they are looking to use, it is long abandoned coal mines.

Coming up - Madeleine, Naples Streets of Filth, first, adverts.

Back with Madeleine, we are still "praying for a miracle" we saw the parents make a five hour pilgrimage to Fatima to pray etc. We were told that 3 children saw the Virgin Mary here and that it was considered a miracle. Images of the service etc were shown as usual.

Short feature on the mobile phones again.

Police no further forward with the Cutty Sark fire.

We were warned that interest rates might go up. This is based on the fact that at the last meeting of the people who decide this policy, some wanted a higher increase than the 0.25% that transpired. Therefore, they probably still want a higher rate, so there is a possibility rates will go up again. This is just pure scaremongering, of course there is a possibility. One would think the media want a house price crash.

Then we got a "glimpse of what might happen if we dont clean up our act". Images from Naples where the authorities have run out on landfill sites so simply dont collect the refuse from the streets and mountains of black bags have built up. Locals have started burning these mountains and there is a "putrid smell of rotting vegetables", burning, one would assume. http://newspaceman.blogspot.com/2007/04/rats-and-television-part-1.html

Coming up, the policeman who didnt look, first regional news.

Back with this "funny" feature where students have filmed a staged burglary on their own house whilst the police missed it. The students climbed up to a first floor window and took a box while five policeman had their backs to them. The window was down a lane and the police seemed to be on the main street, watching a march or similar going by. They were therefore all facing the same way and missed the "burglary" which was recorded on camera and posted on You Tube.

Is this funny ? Is this really about cameras being more "secure" than policeman.

TV News - Tuesday 22nd May

We started on the BBC News at 10 with a feature on the poisoned Russian, Mr. Litvinenko. This has been well covered before, Mr L was exposed to a lethal chemical, polonium-210. Again, we went through the poison trail over London, the plane etc before we saw an interview with his wife and images of his coffin being carried. The standard image we see of Mr L is that of him on his deathbed.

We were told that the "suspect" in this case is a ex KGB Russian man who trains bodyguards. We saw images of him using a handgun and were told he is "trained to kill". We saw further images of the Russian army marching and on guard duty.
We then saw images of Tony Blair and were told that Britain will take a stand on this but basically the Kremlin are not interested in extradition.

The next feature was on the new HIP's as discussed last week. They have been delayed till August and we were told that this was partly due to a lack of "energy surveyors". This feature used the usual images of for sale signs etc but also animated the feature using two little plastic people and a plastic house. We saw an unhappy man interviewed, he has been in training for 18 months and invested £40,000 in order to become an "energy surveyor".

We then had a short feature on the independence of courts in our judicial system. Lord Phillips, a senior judge is questioning the potential ramifications of the new Ministry of Justice which the goverment are planning to establish. The judges fear that this may affect their impartiality as it brings the question of imprisonment and cost/overcrowding factors into account for example. This feature was illustrated using images of old fuddy duddies with wigs, shuffling in a queue. These are the Lords.

Another short feature, this one on the overpayment of family credit. This carried images of cute little toddlers playing.

Over to Lebanon where the first images were children crying. Images were shown an urban war zone and the reporter, clad in body armour and apparently in the middle of a battle, advised us that there were 40,000 refugees caught up in the middle of this. We saw further images of children in hospital with shrapnel wounds, again, like last week in Israel, the shrapnel was held up to the camera.

Coming up - Murder on the Riviera

First, Ice Island (ii). This is the name being given by the BBC to a large chunk of ice which has come adrift from the main North Pole. Coincidentally, it sounds like the name of a James Bond spy thriller. Anyway, we were told that "some scientists say it is the biggest single global warming event in the world". No other information was given in regard to number, qualifications, experience, etc of aforesaid scientists.

We went over to ii and the artic where we saw ariel views and the investigative reporter told us that its "not just the climate, its the coastline". We saw him landing on ii on a skiplane, (as discussed yesterday in the newspaceman) then we saw him walking on the ice. As there was not much to see or say really, we went over to a BBC special effects department who had provided some fantastic images for us to view.

These consisted of an animated Houses of Parliament which was placed on the animated ii to give an idea of scale. We then saw an image of all of London, again being placed within ii. The reporter told us that London could fill the island. Mention was made of melting glaziers with global warming being blamed

Then, curiously, the reporter explained how future chunks might break off. This was shown utilising another animated special effect, in this one a large split or fissure appeared and cracked open across the ice, leaving a gaping chasm. It reminded me of the road runner escaping from cayote when the desert opens in the cartoon. Anyway, the reporter who was now on the main artic ice chunk, pointed to a line of humps in the ice. He explained that if chunks did break away, they would likely split at the hump line because, this was where it had split off previously. So if it has split previously why are we worried ?

A short update on Madeleine McCann

The soldier who was killed in Iraq yesterday was named and his image shown

A feature on Lord Tebbits criticism of David Cameron's Conservative party policies which LT feels are Labour orientated. Grammer schools seem to be the main problem which allowed the BBC to show some nostalgic black and white images of schoolchildren playing ring a ring of roses. Nick Robinson interviewed Cameron and Eton was mentioned in respect of Cameron. We were then saw some "middle class" parents, sitting round, discussing the issues. Limited footage was shown including the phrase "full scale attack" was used.

As promised - Murder on the Riviera. This involves the Earl of Shaftsbury who is an Eton educated, multi millionaire with a "weakness for champagne and women of exotic backgrounds". He was found buried in the woods and his ex (third) wife is getting blamed. We were told intimate details of their shenanigans.

Over to football and Liverpool fans invasion for the final. Too many, too few tickets. Ring any bells ? It might shortly, certainly you could say the fire is stoked or the media would like us to believe that, given the report. No big screens (I am unsure when they became mandatory) so the bars will be overflowing with fans. So, logically, if there is trouble of any description, the media can say - should have had the big screens. Football hooliganism (for want of a better word) is a social problem, not a football problem. It is also popular with the viewers whether they would care to admit it or not.

and Over to ITN.

We started with the poisoned Russian. ITN believe that "the key clue is the weapon, in this case poison". They told us that some believe that this was an assassination backed by the Russian Government and that the cost of the poison utilised in the murder was one hundred million pounds which could lead to a cold war style confrontation we were told.

Madeleine - The parents have hired a campaign manager to help the search for their daughter.

Coming up - An oilfield the size of England is being dug in Canada.

More on the HIP's including interviews with estate agents, images of house for sale signs etc.

Then over to Canada, an ITN special. Basically a story of a huge oilfield in Canada and the environmental problems it is causing. Huge trucks, the size of which I have never seen before, were used in the operation. We saw poisoned fish and a doctor told us of cluster of cancer in the human population. It still seemed operational though.

We turned to football and Liverpool again. This is "the biggest match of the year". We were shown images of fans trying to get tickets and their frustrations. Images of the Acropolis were shown and we had a short interview with the new American owner of Liverpool where he told us he would obtain players "whatever the price"

Iraq - soldier named and image shown

25 Dead car bomb Iran

5 Killed in Turkey

Then headlines for tomorrow -

Iraq grows poppy opium

Eastenders has dropped a planned child abduction storyline due to Madeleine.

End of News. Both channels - same programme. On your mind. To make you angry, scared and emotional. And therefore vulnerable to more. And so on. A little at a time. Just a smidgeon, every day, in tiny little quantities. Till when ? Either you waken up or... Even if you dont watch television, the majority do.

A new Liverpool, kings of Europe and perhaps the World. Success bought through an American "whatever the price".

What price will the New World be ? And who will be King

TV News Review - Monday 21st May

Commencing with the BBC News at 10 where the fire on the clipper ship, The Cutty Sark, headlined the show. We saw images of a mobile phone video recording of the fire, flames etc and the blackened shell that remains. It seems that all is not lost though as the ship was being refurbished and the masts, figurehead etc had been removed.

Over to Iraq and the news that another British soldier has been killed in action. We were also advised that a civilian fuel tanker had been destroyed and the Turkish driver killed. We were told that "locals celebrated the death of the driver" and saw images of "locals" dancing round the burning vehicle.

In Leicester, the father of Madeleine McCann visited the shrine that has been created for his daughter. We were told Mr McCann had seen lawyers in the UK before making this visit and that he took fifteen minutes or so to read the cards and tributes, from both "friends and strangers", before himself adding a yellow ribbon to the thousands already there. Does the statement "friends and strangers" not sound a bit strange. Is it just me or does it slightly suggest that strangers are not friends and not to really be trusted, or, certainly, herd us in that direction of thinking.

On Saturdays News, we saw a feature on the simplification of planning permission procedures for home improvements which advised that there would no longer be a long, laborious, planning application, it should soon be far easier to modify ones home. However on last nights news it was revealed that included within the new legislation will be things like airport runways and nuclear power stations.

We were shown images of a small village which will be torn down to create a third runway at Heathrow and a lady who lives in the village was interviewed. We were then given examples of planning decisions which had taken up to 7 years to approve. We saw images of a nuclear power station and were told that new ones had to be built. The feature ended by reminding us that this might be "a blow for democracy" but it would be a lot easier for people to get house improvements. "Dormer windows, wind turbine, solar panels, no problem". This is similar to bribery but the really scary bit is that it will work. We are nearly all selfish and believe, on a collective and individual basis, be that our homes, cars, clothes and material goods reflect our status in society and "our worth" as people.

Then we went back to a feature I missed on Friday, a big chunk of ice which has broken away in the North Pole. We are trying to find out why this has happened so a posse of scientists (and journalists) have braved the conditions. Last night we saw them in a variety of boys toys and were told that they had in fact managed to land on the piece of ice by means of a ski plane. They are hoping to bring us a "special report" tonight. Obviously, climate change/global warming are being blamed.

Feature on immigration and social housing. This was on the news last week as well, the story being that the migrants are getting priority for council houses and also creating pressure on the private rental market. We saw a polish chap who has not as yet managed to get a council house but does have a privately rented flat. We then saw a typical, English, "working class", gentleman, Mr Terence Doherty. He was interviewed wearing an England top and explained that his difficulties in obtaining suitable housing had led him to seek assistance from his local BNP politician.

We saw the BNP candidate give a short interview where he explained his strategy for allocating housing. He thought reflectively as he looked round the council estate where the interview was held and advised "three generations" "the ones that built it", "they should get the pickings". He advised that new housing had to be built though, this was the main problem.

Could it be that a solution is already at hand for the migrant/affordable housing crisis. Why not just put the all migrants in the new eco-villages or, eco-ghettos. The proverbial two birds.

Over to Gaza and another vigil for Alan Johnston, the missing journalist.

Blackpool, boy stabbed to death

Then a feature on a gathering of computer king pins and the forecasts for what will be the big next thing. Not much was said really but most of the big players were mentioned. The hope seemed to be that "virtual experience soon merges with real life".

We went over to Cannes and the celebrities at the film festival. Main feature revolved round a film based on Daniel Pearl, an American jounalist who was murdered by "terrorists". This film portrays how his wife coped. Mention was made of al-Quaeda and 9/11.

I changed channel to ITN where they commenced with the Cutty Sark. Apparently the ship has links to "when Britannia ruled the waves". Other quotes "a mobile phone once again catching (the images of) a modern day disaster". A witness spoke of "waves of fire".

Still to come - Russian spy poisoning - But first-

Madeleines father. He "wandered through the tapestry of yellow ribbons", the "only sound was bird songs" in the "quiet of the village". However, the cameras were there to catch him and the paparazzi who skulked round him. We saw a little girl with a yellow ribbon in her hair being interviewed about giving Mr McCann flowers.

Over to the Algarve for an update on the same story. The "suspect" from last week has fainted, it was reported by one of his friends. The fainting episode lasted 20 seconds we were told. It has also emerged that the "suspect" has spoken to Max Clifford, the PR genius.

We moved on to the promised Russian spy story. This was simply a regurgitation of the original story from a couple of months ago, along with the fact that the CPS will let us know more today. It allowed the ITN to show the poison trail etc etc.

A bit on Cameron and grammer schools, the iraq soldier, large explosion in Lebanon, an Israeli woman killed by a rocket from Gaza and Alan Johnson, in that order.

Then football, a Brazilians 1000th goal, saw fans going berzek with joy, game was stopped for 16 minutes to allow celebrations, hugging etc.

A bit more football and we finished on the Falklands. I was unaware of this but ITN is actually running a special feature on the anniversary and last night we saw an old crew member of HMS Arden, go back to the spot where it went down and his workmates were killed. We were told it was a war grave as we saw images from underwater cameras which divers used as they explored the sunken ship. The old soldier was treated to viewing this spectacle on a TV screen and we got to see him watching it. Old images of the war were shown as well. We were told the ship "sacrificed" itself in order to allow other troops to land safely.

We had time for a quick look at tomorrows headlines,

Mr McCann and the yellow ribbons
Iran is up to malarky
90% dont want Camilla as Queen.

Need to be William then ?

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The Wonderful Wizard of Wembley

In yesterdays blog, I noted that the Royal Box at the rebuilt Wembley stadium was located on the 108th level, there being 107 steps up from the pitch to receive an award from one of the "family".

Because of the relationship in size between the sun moon etc and the number 108, does that mean that somehow, our minds would perceive an object or being, located on the 108th floor, when viewed from ground level, as being as the sun. In terms of how our eye would process the information to our brain if you follow me.

For those even vaguely interested, I suggest you check the story behind the classic John Buchan novel, The 39 steps, that being the amount of steps to the Royal Box in the old Wembley. Then, have a look at Quatermass and Wembley.

TV News Review - Sunday 20th May

Firstly, my apolgies for an omission in yesterday review of Saturdays news. On ITN that day, a feature was shown with a reminder of the Falklands War again, allowing us to see images of warships burning etc etc. It was only the week before last I think, that we had the anniversary on the news. Anyway, this particular feature was due one of the battleships employed in the Falklands being retired.

Both the BBC and ITN News programmes were on at 10, so I only caught up with the BBC where we kicked off with Gordon Brown. He was giving a speech to Labour Party supporters in Coventry but we saw images of anti war demonstrators outside the venue and inside, a lady heckler was carted out by activists, still shouting. We cut over to Iraq for an update and saw an American gentleman advising that he would be "surprised" if there was any change in the relationship with USA and the UK given the change in Prime Minister. Just time to tell us about another soldier killed in Afghanistan.

And over to Gaza for the nightly update. Tonight we were treated to a report from a border town where we saw a Israeli family packing up to move after ten years as they felt it was too dangerous due to rockets being fired over from Palestine. We then went to Palestine where we saw a father clutching his young daughters soft toy which he had recovered from his destroyed home. We were told that his daughter was safe though. We then saw images of fighting and were advised that this was the Palestinians fighting each other. I maybe should not bring this up, but have we not been shown numerous images of the mother of Madeleine McCann also carrying her daughters soft toy recently. Is this coincidental ?

Next feature was Lebanon, it is kicking off there as well.

Next, the missing girl, Madeleine

Then we saw a report on CCTV cameras. A bald senior police officer called Mr. Redhead, has expressed concern about the amount of cameras that we have in the UK. We were advised that small rural communities are installing cameras and that the UK is in danger of turning into an Orwellian society. The presenter kindly reminded us that in an Orwellian society, the citizens were monitored 24 hours a day and that "big brother is watching you" came from the book 1984.

Anway, we have 4.2 million cameras in the UK but, remember, it was these cameras which led to the capture of the July 7th bombers. An image was flashed up of the backpacker bombers. We were told that "most (people) dont mind Big Brothers presence as long as the criminals go away". We were not told where these criminals might go away to.

That was it. The whole concept of an Orwellian Society was based on the novel 1984 , which itself was condensed into Big Brother, which turns into CCTV cameras. So, if you have not read the book or looked at the author, you could be forgiven for thinking that an Orwellian State simply means CCTV, closer monitoring of individuals. And of course, that is acceptable because the criminals will "go away". We already find the concept of "big brother" acceptable given the TV show and, more importantly perhaps in terms of conditioning our thinking, the celebrity version.

Another feature - another 7/7 bomber arrested, possessing an illegal document. Please note, is not me who changes the names of the bombers from Jul7 7th, to 7/7 etc, it is the media who tend to choose a different descriptive name each time they bring up the subject. I have commented on this before.

Then time for sport. Wasps are the rugby champions of Europe. We saw clips of the match, the commentator said the word wasps repeatedly. Then time for fans on the pitch, jubilation, victory.

And more emotion, the androgynous Graham Norton hosting the TV Baftas. Celebrities were there, in abundance. We saw images of them and were reminded of the best shows - Life on Mars, a seventies police drama was highlighted. This drama shows the old gritty, no nonsense type of policing that the UK used to have. (and that perhaps we dont need now, given the CCTV cameras). Other best shows featured on the news included a film about notorious child abducter and killer Ian Brady and the comedy, Royle Family.

Please look at the way this news programme is formatted, it is not me that is sick here. Iraq war, Afghanistan, Gaza (with the child's toy), Lebanon, CCTV/Protection, 7/7 bombers, sport(with all of the war type words, fired, shot, an assault on goal etc etc), finally celebrity and TV, did they really need to focus on the Brady film given the current situation with Madeleine McCann. Also, when we see a lady being carted out of somewhere, still screaming and shouting, we may equate this with madness/deviancy from our perception normal behaviour. And a baldy, bearded policeman called Mr Redhead. You are having a laugh. Or the Royles are.