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I was impressed by the way that George Monbiot, freelance writer and documentary maker, took Channel 4 to task earlier this week.
Following on from the ruling regarding the Channel 4 ‘documentary’ on climate change, George let rip with both barrels, pointing out the broadcaster’s bias against certain viewpoints, and even comically offering a documentary idea of his own, positing the idea that the moon is made of cheese. Lol.
George is unlikely to get work from Channel 4 again, because he continues to put his mouth where his principles are - good for him.
And he offers a likely answer to the question of why C4 dislike environmentalists…
“So why does Channel 4 seem to be waging a war against the greens? I am not sure, but it seems to me that much of its programming - whether it concerns property, celebrities or contestants seeking fame and money - is aspirational. Environmentalism is counter-aspirational. It suggests that the carefree world Channel 4 has created, the celebration of the self, cannot be sustained.”
A very insightful and reasoned piece of criticism, which is nothing less than I would expect. All his writing is worth a read, whether you agree with him or not (I often don’t). Also for any activists looking at a career in the media, his career advice page is well worth a read.
Stick it to the man George!
I read that the definition of a computer virus is: “…a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer; “a true virus cannot spread to another computer without human assistance”…”
Now when you come to consider the way that now millions of office workers are using facebook during work time, and the incredible speed of growth as the virus gets into more and more systems… facebook sure seems like a bit of malware.
The Times quotes Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, who said: “Websites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace fall into the category of websites which can easily gobble up hours of worktime and distract from the employees’ real duties. Facebook is a procrastinator’s paradise”
The Sindie says: “In London, two-thirds of companies are banning or restricting use of the famous website, while some have made it clear that visiting the sites at work is a sackable offence. City firms, including Crédit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort, have taken the lead in the crack-down, following similar bans in America and Canada.
“British Gas, the Metropolitan Police and Lloyds TSB were among organisations named as having installed internet filters preventing access to the site.”
Why are they doing this? Because this pernicious site is gobbling up the capacity of workers and their computers, like a nasty little worm virus hidden on the system. A worm after all is defined as: “an independent program that replicates from machine to machine across network connections often clogging networks and information systems as it spreads.”
Or perhaps its more like a Trojan, which I found was defined as: “An apparently useful and innocent program containing additional hidden code which allows the unauthorized collection, exploitation, falsification, or destruction of data.”
And with the recent revelation that Myspace had deleted the accounts of 29,000 sex offenders - who were (it is implied) collecting information and exploiting opportunities, falsifying identities and engaging in destructive behaviour, there is clearly a link.
The disposable heroes of hiphoprisy said that TV is the drug of the nation, and Michael Franti later added that Sattelite is immaculate reception… and it seems to me that just like TV, ’social notworking’ is eating away at the heart of the collective psyche.
The lyrics from that excellent song could easily be replaced: for example…
‘(T.V./Bebo) is the reason why less than ten percent of our nation reads books daily’
‘(T.V./Facebook) is the stomping ground for political candidates’
‘remote control over the masses’
‘(T.V./Myspace) is the place where the pursuit of happiness has become the pursuit of trivia’
So we have facebook as: Virus, Worm, Trojan, and opiate. Told you I didnt like it! I dont think much of TV either.
is good, went to see it this morning with the girls, a lorra lorra laughs chuck, and with a somewhat less than po faced look at environmental destruction and the American way. Doh!
One of the first things I learned as a tabloid reporter, was that people always want to assign blame. If ever there is a big problem, a killing, a disaster - the cry goes up: “who’s to blame?”
So its kind of inevitable that in the almost aftermath of the flooding that has dominated the summer people are already demanding to know whose fault this is. The government who ‘knew’ the danger was coming? The polluters who have ’caused climate change’? Who?
An article this morning says that scientists have found a human fingerprint on the flooding : “
Chris Huntingford a climate modeller at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, said: “It has now been confirmed that the burning of fossil fuels has altered rainfall patterns at the global scale. Next we need to understand how these observed large-scale adjustments translate to local changes in extreme rainfall events.
“These highly regionalised estimates of rainfall will be essential in aiding governments to prepare for what might, in some circumstances, represent dangerous climate change.”…”
I kind of wish the scientists would make their minds up. They used to tell us that climate change was going to leave us with wet winters and hot dry summers. My wife - a prescient person if ever there was one, has long declared she thinks the weather will become wetter in the winter, and wetter in the summer. She had no evidence for this claim. Until now 
But the reality is that yes, there is more water in the atmosphere, but that hasnt made it rain in buckets. That is down to freak weather… these things happen every now and then. There is nobody to blame for the freak weather (unless a supervillain somewhere is controlling the weather) freak weather happens.
So what about the floods, are they inevitable? Well here’s the thing. Joni Mitchell sang: “they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot”, she could have sang: “they paved/concreted/decked/tarmacked paradise, and failed to maintain ancient ditches and dykes, which combined means that while there are lots of parking lots, there isnt anywhere for the rain to go.”
She could also have added that conventional farming techniques have damaged the soil structure, making it less able to hold water, which simultaneously means that we use more water than we should, and that when it rains the water isnt retained in the ground, and it puddles up instead.
The reality is that the kind of development we consider necessary to keep us at the dorefront of economic growth is not compatible with working hand in hand with nature. Its time more of us got hold of living in harmony with the earth, and quit paving paradise, and needing more parking lots…
George Monbiot has a good groan about ‘ethical consumerism’ which I have always said is an oxymoron - yes buy ethical products but only if you are going to cut your consumption overall…
The eloquent Mr Monbiot says it better than I: “…Green consumerism is becoming a pox on the planet. If it merely swapped the damaging goods we buy for less damaging ones, I would champion it. But two parallel markets are developing - one for unethical products and one for ethical products, and the expansion of the second does little to hinder the growth of the first. I am now drowning in a tide of ecojunk. Over the past six months, our coat pegs have become clogged with organic cotton bags, which - filled with packets of ginseng tea and jojoba oil bath salts - are now the obligatory gift at every environmental event. I have several lifetimes’ supply of ballpoint pens made with recycled paper and about half a dozen miniature solar chargers for gadgets that I do not possess…”
Cut consumption… lets not prat around telling everyone how green we are by consuming our way into the future!
I see Scooter Libby has had his sentence commuted, well aint that just great - nice one George dubya!
Unbelievable.
I read that the elaborately coiffured Brand has got away without censure for the gags he made at the Brit awards.
So, can someone please tell me… does that mean that David Cameron officially has a…”face like a little painted egg”?
Please someone tell me it does.
oh man that’s bad.
A very sad story about illegal logging in Cambodia, I can testify that on visiting certain out of the way places in that country, looking at potential cotton farming areas, I’ve been mistaken for an anti logging activist.
Certainly illegal logging appears to be going on in areas which have close ties to senior government ministers - I’m a witness.
This is exactly the kind of problem which is ruinous to the world in general, and in particular to places like Cambodia, which are already suffering so much.
Driving back from the a meeting a few weeks ago (May 10th), I was listening to Material World on BBC radio 4. It’s a great programme, which makes scientific matters interesting and accesible even to dullards like me.
In this particular edition, they were discussing cafe scientifique, which I had never heard of before (shame shame shame).
Cafe Sci, for any as ignorant as me, are informal settings where anyone can go and hear about some scientific topic, and enter into open discussion. There is probably one near you, see the Cafe Sci website.
So there were a few key quotes that made me laugh, because of how they echoed things I have heard about new expressions of Church.
Here’s a couple of great examples:
“… lets get away from the stuffy way of presenting…”
“… its really difficult to get an audience… we put a lot of effort into trying to reach folk… its easy to reach academics and students, but we want people who have never thought of science before… reaching them is the challenge…”
“… people may never cross the threshhold because of prejudices and past experiences…”
“… the japanese government think that cafe scientifique is a way of getting people to like science again, and its very much not that, its not a science establishment attempt to recruit support, its about making science democratic, and letting the citizen contribute…”
“… we have to constantly tweak it…”
“… some scientists are much better than others at talking!”
All good stuff.
great to read that the Sindy, (independent on Sunday) is getting a redesign.
its been a paper which has consistently taken a different approach, and this looks like it will be a great new look, to accentuate a whole new way of newspaper publishing.
newspapers are in a bad way generally, I see that the MEN is getting rid of another 40 staff, and certainly things have changed a lot in the last couple of years.
I agree with the Sindy editorial staff that this new look should appeal to a broader range of readers, which is vital in an era when the pleasures of a good newspaper are on the wane.
newspapers are good (on the whole), and good design and creative thinking are good too. So this should be a match made in heaven…
New Sindy is available from this weekend, with new magazine section, and incorporated news, business and sports paper. Cool.
An article in the Guardian this morning reminds us how vital it is to consider how our consumption affects wildlife.
The recent question over whether food that is flown long distances can really be classed as Organic is long overdue, and points to the fact that there is no ‘quickie’ ethical label for consumer goods.
Our primary focus has to be lessening consumption, but even the most hardened eco warrior needs new stuff sometimes, and somewhere along the line something needs to be grown or made.
So that is why we must keep in mind the various aspects of ethical consumption - and these must necessarily include impact on wildlife. As we erode bio diversity, we do irreperable damage to our world, and get closer to destroying ourselves and all other life on earth.
PLEASE think about wildlife next time you are shopping, and if you are in doubt about the impact of your purchases, consult an expert, they arent difficult to find.
a very good place to visit today is Calabash Music’s Tune Your World site.
Not only do you get some excellent free downloads, and lots of interesting news about world music, including two k’naan tracks for free and nothing… (hip hip hoorah) but they also have a good idea! Well thats a start aint it.
The tune your world thing is quite intriguing, I’ve pasted below their description of the concept.
” Do you believe we can change in the world through music?
At Calabash Music we’ve just launched a new campaign that we’re calling‘Tune Your World’ as a creative approach to economic development in Africa.
In the United States our foreign-aid programs do not support our belief that we are a nation known for its good works around the world. The public believes we spend a great deal more money helping other countries than we actually do. Polls suggest that most Americans think the federal government spends about 10 to 15 percent of its budget on foreign aid.
The truth is that we spend less than 1 percent, the lowest of any industrialized nation.
All of sub-Saharan Africa receives just over $1 billion in economic aid. If everyone in the United States gave up one movie a year we could double our current aid to Africa.
We have an even better idea. Tune Your World.
If every American would buy 10 downloads by African Artists — We would DOUBLE the amount of money the US is currently sending to Africa. This is what we mean by ‘Tune Your World’
Where does the money go?
At least 50% (in some cases 100%) of your purchase will go to African Artists, or an African relief NGO and stay in Africa. With this money, musicians will be able to buy new instruments, recording or performing equipment, complete their education, or put a new roof on their house.
Together we can create a thriving music economy in places where the music industry has never worked very well.
How can you make this change happen?
1. Buy 10 songs by African Artists.
2. Forward this URL www.tuneyourworld.com to your friends and family.
It’s that simple.”
So this has put me in mind of a little project which I might undertake, to link you… gentle reader… to some of the sites which host some excellent music by Christians of other cultures. I understand that the excellent George Luke does a radio show called World Beat on UCB which covers this sort of thing, and that will doubtless be worth a listen - its on at a difficult time of the week for me to listen to sadly.
Two contrasting tales can be found in the Guardian today, the first, the Harrods allotments, for which the well heeled can pay £1000.00 to have jeeves plant some parsnips. Just filthy is what I call it.
The whole thing of Harrods is abhorrent to me anyhow, but this latest wheeze just makes me feel a bit ill. The whole thing just reeks of greed and wastefulness, all the more disgusting when we know how little many live on in this world.
And then another tale, about Lush cosmetics giving cash to a bunch of anti road campaign groups. Now for sure, this is an attempt to ‘raise their profile’, but all the same, money talks. And I know Lush aint exactly feeding the masses with their expensive soaps, but I dont expect them to. There’s plenty of other ethical brands out there selling stuff that is good, at high prices, fair enough I say. These things are expensive. Hence the reason I dont buy ‘em!
But here’s the rub, they put their money where their mouth is, and that is real. Nobody can take that away.
And of course, what brought it to my attention, was that interestingly enough its the same sum £1000.00 - each of the campaign groups were handed a grand, meanwhile Horrids were charging a grand for a bespoke allotment.
Oh sweet heaven, I’ve got the taste of bile in my throat once more. Now where’s that sick bag.
I had an interview just now with a girl at Trans World Radio largely about our involvement in the Gunz Down campaign.
I was expecting their slant to be about the Virginia Tech shootings, but it was a much more general interview, looking at the issue of gun and knife crime which is on the increase as ever.
I managed to use the cliche ‘the right to bear arms is slightly less sensible than the right to arm bears’.
They will probably edit it out, along with the various bits I messed up, but it will be interesting to see what they do with it. I’ll let you know.
On another note, the gunz down campaign is one of the things I’m particularly pleased that Undercurrent comics got involved with. We (mainly Steve) spent a huge amount of time on it, for no financial gain. Obviously it was great having the video showing on MTV etc, but it didnt do us a lot of good in terms of sales.
But the campaign has certainly acheived a lot of good outside of us! I have stories of young people whose lives have been changed, and probably saved by the timely intervention of the Gunz down roadshow. Its great to be part of something like that.
For your immense viewing pleasure, here’s the video. Brakaka!
I see that street trickster/ installationist Mark Jenkins is in London with an exhibition - looks like a lot of fun.
His work is highly entertaining, non-permission street installations in particular.
He makes molds of his own body with sellotape, not something I’d like to try to be honest…
I’d love to go to his show though, something of a banksy influence going on there.
The current furore over the selling of Faye Turney’s story, and the stories of the other Iran hostage crisis sailors and marines is surely a shot in the foot for the image of Britain overseas.
Far from portraying ourselves in a positive light, we are showing ourselves (once again) to be a nation that is as corrupted by power and fame as its many detractors claim it to be. How can we possibly seek to hold a moral high ground position when soldiers return from a military mission, and then go and sell salacious versions of their stories to newspapers which seek to serve a right wing agenda?
I know full well, having worked for these papers for a number of years, exactly how this all works. Moreover, I know that if the Navy had been bullish, refused to let this happen, squirelled the people away for a week or two, put their families in hotels, whatever necessary, this could largely have been avoided. It would have blown over. The sums of money being offered which were clearly too much for the family to turn down, would have been dramatically smaller this time next week.
Instead, we have this situation which is a full scale PR disaster in foreign relations terms.
Iran had a PR coup with the way it was seen to handle the release of the sailors and marines, just because it wasnt seen that way here, doesnt mean it wasnt seen differently abroad. In turning military people into cry and tell merchants, we’ve done nothing to alter this, and everything to make us look weak and corrupted overseas.
I am a pacifist, I dont support the war in Iraq, I dont support Nuclear development, I dont apologise for Iran’s activities either.
Kester’s grid post last week which reflected in part on the way Jesus treated conflict as opposed to the way others did was a great inspiration and encouragement to me, and I believe it can be translated here. In trying to fight Iran’s propaganda with our own tabloid tales, Britain is shooting itself in the foot.
In this situation, a Jesus style model of grace, forgiveness, and humility would have served much better, not only to better improve our foreign relations, but also for the nation’s collective soul (if there is such a thing;) ).
But as the Clash wisely said: “ The people must have something good to read on a Sunday [or a monday]“
So there.
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