Categories: uncategorized
Date: 20 August 2007 16:51:08
The summer in the UK is often referred to, in media circles, as the silly season. This is the time of year that politicians are on holiday, major stock markets are quiet and very little happens. You then see news stories like "Great White Shark Seen In Pensioners Bath". They usually turn out to be complete rubbish.
Yesterday morning we were told in chapel that there had been a riot at 03:30 that morning in the near-by town of Blaenavon. I got a little excited as I love a good riot. Well, its a good way to do your shopping on the cheap, isn't it! However there was no trace of anything on the web, either in national, local or foreign news. Maybe Blaenavon isn't connected to the outside world, I thought.
On going home from chapel there were plenty of "rozzers" heading in that direction with their "blues & twos" on. Yet there is nothing about it in the news. Maybe the preacher, who comes from there, confused a "riot" with a typical "lad's night out"; they amount to the same thing in this area ;-)
Even the predicted "rioting", "terrorist activity" and "mass airport invasion" didn't happen at the Climate Camp protest at Heathrow. I mean what's the world coming to if you can't believe press releases from big business and the "rozzers". Were they just trying to keep people away or were they playing on peoples' fears?
As the protests were essentially peaceful and drew a great deal of media coverage then they can be classed as a partial success. The acts of mayhem portrayed by the authorities didn't happen. They were incidents of "crustys" gluing themselves to buildings and gates but no invasions of the airport.
Most of the public seemed to be in agreement with the aims of the protest. That's certainly the opinion gained from listening to rolling news radio and the majority of the newspapers. The Sunday Times did a very fair write up in their News Review section yesterday. It was weighted heavily in favour of the protesters. However I did agree with its assertion that they were a little to anti-media.
However I'm still trying to work out why Climate Change is a Feminist Issue, as one camp seminar was entitled. Don't the rest of us count anymore? Are feminists more responsible for climate change than everyone else?
I go with the latter explanation. The world was a much more ordered place until we gave women the vote.....