Cops stop chop hop

I really make an effort to see the good side in policing, then shit like this happens.

It's bad enough that they fucked up big time in going into mega overkill mode to stop some poor guy's birthday barbecue bash, but then they defended their blitzkrieg by describing it as an appropriate response. Lucky there were no Brazilian electricians about.

Bobble topped fuckwits.

9 out of 10 cats

...think their owners are morons.

I've got to admit that I tend to agree. This might cause outrage amongst fans of the feline form, but I've long held a theory that cat owners who swooningly claim their pet moggies are intelligent are actually conceding that their cats are more intelligent than they are. Whenever I voice my 'stupid human cat owners theory', I have faced either an almost holy righteous indignance or a deadly silence.

Now science has come to back my theory/prejudice, in the form of research carried out at the University of Sussex. The boffins have discovered that pussies use purr power to press their owners' buttons.

The evidence is in. These folk should drop their fascination with the manipulative bird murdering vermin.

And get a dog.

Cashing in on checking out

After Jacko croaked on Friday the mobile phone operators must have made millions out of the joke texts flying around. Now with re-entry into the charts, Jackson is making bucket loads of money again, and with the media only too willing to keep it hyped through speculation over his death, it looks like the cash registers are going to keep ringing for the moment. It looking like it's the best career move Jacko made in years.

Countdown...

To Gordon Brown issuing a statement about Michael Jackson.

This will be a good day to bury bad news. Now we've got at least a week of Jacko media frenzy to face.

Allen and Miliband: South Shields' Arse n Elbow experts

After her obviously heartfelt sympathy for those suffering from bingo tax, Tory hopeful Karen Allen has picked another populist target in beer tax, but I would bet that she has never been in the Cranny. If she had she would know the real reason why it's losing business.

It's a shit hole.

Decent people don't drink there. It's windows are regularly smashed. On sunny days like today it's customers will be standing outside intimidating passers by and laughingly casting sexual innuendo at children.

Complaints have been made to local councillors and the police so it's surprising that our local MP David Miliband is also equally clueless to the Cranny's shortcomings when he says that the pub is the lifeblood of the community.

Obviously local knowledge is neither candidates' strong point, but at least as a former resident of South Shields Allen should know something or know someone who does.

Thinking outside the box

Judging by the response in the Gazette you'd think the old police phone box was a holy relic, not a neglected and rusting piss post for dogs. If Councillor Gibson and the local people thought this was such an important feature, why did they allow it to deteriorate and not raise money for it's upkeep? Why do many people expect the council to do everything for them?

What happened to taking the initiative and taking responsibility?

Oh Lord!

The really surprising thing about the crooked lords story is that everyone appears to be surprised. For some reason there seems to be a meme which says that all those who get into the top house do it through hard work and sacrifice and for purely altruistic reasons.

Not shy of grabbing an opportunity to bash the opposing teams, Blair clone Nick Clegg demands that peers caught with their trousers around their ankles should be kicked out. Not to be outdone, Tory toff leader David Cameron wants the peers behaving badly expelled. The lords must be shitting themselves. These guys call themselves leaders for change?

If these bozos really want change then let's bin the House of Lords. Being based on favour and reeking with priviledge, the concept of the lords is corrupt. Democratise the seats in the upper house and force it's members to be selected through trial by election instead of seats passed on by papa or given for favours and cash.

What more fitting way to start introducing proportional representation than by removing the least representative body in Parliament?

Telling the truth is wrong

Fortunately, parents have subsequently managed to lie well enough to their children to convince them that Santa does exist.

That was close.

State of the media

Punkscience covered the original article, which has now been removed from the Observer/Guardian website. The article was another example of the media in bed with the state, the piece painting a menacing picture of a 'growing threat from eco-terrorists', despite there being no evidence to back the story.

However, it's unfortunate and telling that the Observer's retraction didn't have the same exposure and sensationalist headline as the offending article.

It's more disquieting than you might at first suppose. By using the brand label 'eco-terrorist', the government has manufactured a framework for the police to arrest demonstrators using the Stalinist laws they've been provided with. Couple that with the issue of taser guns, and you have more ingredients for a police state with not just the laws, but the PR and the weapons with which to control the populace.

South Tyneside TV

A new online TV channel called STCentral has opened for business in South Tyneside. Run by JAG productions at Holman Court in South Shields, it's labelled as a "local community TV network based in South Tyneside delivering news coverage and programmes about the South Tyneside".

And it's free of charge. If you have a local story, let them know.

What price a free press?

I'm normally not one to regurgitate Private Eye's work, but a piece in today's Eye puts the view of the Johnston Press as a bastion of local press freedom in doubt.

Milton Keynes Citizen journalist Sally Murrer was charged with soliciting and receiving leaks from one Mark Kearney, the ex police officer at the centre of the Sadiq Khan bugging scandal.

Murrer faces a lengthy and expensive battle against the charges, which are under laws designed to protect the Police from whistleblowers and those who report their stories. No problem, you would think. It's normal for newspapers to support their journalists through such trials, especially when fighting what is such an unjust law. But not so. According the the Eye, the Johnston Press, the owners of Milton Keynes Citizen, has failed to fund Murrer's defence - instead offering an interest-free loan to pay her legal costs.

Local reporters in South Tyneside now know how far their employers will go to protect them, as Johnston Press, as well as owning the Milton Keynes Citizen, also owns the Shields Gazette.

Tunnel doesn't add up

The BBC yesterday reported on the Tyne Tunnel toll increases to help line fat cat's pockets, er, I mean pay for the second Tyne road tunnel. A close inspection of the article makes me wonder at the professionalism of journalists these days when a key part of the article is so wrong.

The article says that the rise "is to help pay for a second tunnel, costing £185m". Oops. Did the BBC journo actually fail to read the PTA's press release from 21st September which put the bill at £260m? I suppose a benefit of the doubt could be due - perhaps the tunnel's PR monkeys forgot to tell the BBC the new price - however we don't know yet because there's nothing on any of the Tyne & Wear PTA websites.

At least the Shields Gazette got the numbers right.

It's bad enough that many journalists just reproduce press releases without scrutiny. I know the BBC's journalistic standards are dropping, but an inability to research a story properly is pretty shit, and makes you wonder what else they're getting wrong.