Emo Threatens Nations Youth!

Straight from the Suicide Girls Newswire:

"According to a local news report in Grand Forks, North Dakota, "emo" is the next youth movement to corrupt the sensibilities of American teenagers, replacing goth culture as the number one enemy of parents everywhere. Yes, that's right; My Chemical Romance is just as, if not more dangerous than Elvis shaking his hips on television, violent movies and even Marilyn Manson.

The story focuses on the 'cutting' phenomenon, but links all manner of dangerous anti-social behavior to wearing tight clothing, hanging out in your bedroom and making mixtapes. Best of all, humorous sites like the Insta-Emo Kit are taken seriously and local youth are interviewed, revealing that teenage angst is shockingly alive and well. What would Kurt Cobain think???

Don't worry, though; the town sheriff knows what's happening and is on the case investigating the infamous "emo scale," which kids everywhere use to evaluate each other's emo-ness; the reporter points out that if you've attempted suicide, you "hit the jackpot." It's times like these that The Onion appears to be a viable news source. Enjoy."

Fox Just Can't Congratulate Gore

You'd have thought that after receiving a standing ovation, having his film win several Oscars and being granted an audience of billions Fox would report on Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth's success at the Oscars. No way. The only story they've run on their website since the Academy Awards is this one about Al Gore's house using too much electricty.

If you don't say it, it ain't so.

200 Year Sentence for Child Pornography Fan

Yes. Definately. Child pornographers are amongst the worst of the worst. No question. A 200 year sentence does seem unneccessarily harsh though.

Hilarity ensues

Here's a clip from Fox's new satirical news show, 'the 1/2 Hour News Hour' - their attempt to do a rightwing version of the Daily Show. It's painfully unfunny.

Fox News Blasphemy Challenge

Have just got back from holiday and wanted to go to bed, but then I found this and had to post it. Opinions?

Respect to O'Reilly?

The 2 great minds meet. Twice. O'Reilly vs Colbert.

Sutherland Burns Bauer

From the Suicide Girls News Wire.

Landmark TV drama 24 is popping up everywhere lately: billboards, bus stops, pop-up windows, bathroom stall advertisements...

And now, after last weekend's two-night, sixth-season premiere, one can expect Kiefer Sutherland and Co. to launch a multi-media advertising assault that'll leave you exhausted years after Jack Bauer rescues America (again). But perhaps the most enjoyable news about 24 circulating the Web involves the long-lost, Jack Bauer action figure from McFarlane Toys that fell off the radar for unknown reasons. Well, it seems Sutherland came clean and admitted to accidentally setting the mini-Kiefer protoype ablaze during a night of drunken celebration.

Sutherland explains, "They tried to come out with one a couple of years ago and they had sent me the doll for my approval... We took the doll out for a night to have some fun and we'd had some drinks. We sat it on the corner of the table. "We started torturing him around 11 o'clock at night, and, by two o'clock in the morning, we had set him on fire in the parking lot. "We got up the next day and there was just this puddle of wax. His clothes didn't burn, which I thought was pretty cool... and then I got a call the next day saying, 'Did you like the doll?' I said, 'Yeah, it was great.' And they said, 'Well, OK, good, you gotta send it back to us because that was the prototype... It took that guy a year to make it.' "I said, 'Well, let me look for it, I think I left it in the trailer.' This went on for about a week and then I had to just kinda come clean."


A clone of the original toy can be expected on shelves this August.

Spain's PM admits Eta 'mistake'

Spain's prime minister says he made a "clear mistake" by being too optimistic about the prospect of peace talks with the Basque separatist group Eta.

Full story at BBC News.

I'm just happy to hear a world leader admitting they made a mistake. It makes such a change from the usual denials, rewriting of history, moving of goalposts and out and out lying they usually come up with.

Speaking of denials, rewriting of history, moving of goalposts and out and out lying I also applaud the efforts of "130 international charities, churches and NGOs (that) have written to the prime minister to demand he re-open the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the UK's arms deals with Saudi Arabia."

Full story on the Guardian News Blog.

Rice denies US 'escalating Iraq'

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has denied that the US intends to escalate the war in Iraq by confronting Iranian groups operating there.

Full story at BBC News.

I've been trying for weeks now to find the words to explain my opinion on the whole 'Iran is country with nuclear weapons who are helping terrorists' argument and I've brought it down to this simple statement: "I don't believe a word of this bullshit."

Top Ten WORST Domain Names

From Shoutwire.

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company… www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always
www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church . Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe ? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com

Bush, Blair worse than Saddam, says Malaysia ex-PM

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are war criminals with more Iraqi blood on their hands than Saddam Hussein, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday.

Full story at Reuteurs.

"He (Bush) should resign straight away and be tried by the same kangaroo court," Mahathir told a news conference called to promote a peace conference he is hosting in Malaysia next month."

Colosseum lit over death penalty

Rome has lit up the arches of the Colosseum to highlight Italy's support for a global ban on the death penalty.

Good for them.

Saddam Kills Americans from Beyond the Grave

"HOUSTON — Police and family members said a 10-year-old boy who died by hanging himself from a bunk bed was apparently mimicking the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein."

Full story at Fox News.

It's probably a good job he died, after all he's probably the sort of person who'd grow up to rape someone after watching Irreversible or going on a killing spree after playing Grand Theft Auto.

Idiots. Fox that is, not the kid.

More Fox Madness

The first video is a promo for a band called the Bastard Fairies. It stars a young actress and is directed, so they say, by an award winning documentary team.



The second video is Bill O'Reillys reaction to it, and a call for state child-raising and community mobs.



Brilliant.

Labels Could Sell Watermarked MP3s

Full story at Wired News.

Headlines

I know I go on about Fox all the time, but I genuinely find them fascinating. I struggle to understand how grown adults can be so deceitful, misleading and trivial when it comes to reportage, but I guess that shows off my naivity more than their callousness.

Anyway, look at this. It's my RSS news feeds, courtesy of a great site called NetVibes.


I draw your attention to the feeds for Reuters, BBC and Fox and ask you to compare their headlines. Here they are closer up:




Now, far be it from me to decide what the lead stories for various news organisations should be, but I do find it a little worrying that two of the most respected news sources in the world are running with Palestinian story and Fox have chosen to go with Angelina Jolie talking about kissing two slightly different people.

I know that Americans live sheltered lives when it comes to international news stories but, good grief, 5 out of 7 of their headlines are celebrity related...!

Happy Feet will Corrupt Your Children

I know that the 'Happy feet is liberal propaganda' story has been running for a while now, but here's the original Fox News video that kicked it off.



This makes me so mad, so infuriatingly hoppingly insane that I find it hard to form the words... they're not even trying to disguise it as news anymore, now they're just attacking anything - anything - that smacks of not agreeing with rampant consumerism, global corporate power and foreign policy. How absolutely paranoid do you have to be to fear an animated flick about dancing penguins and see it as an attack on your values and the American way of life...

I can't stand the fact that they disguise it as balanced opinion... before it was funny, now it makes me sick to my stomach. "An animated Inconvenient Truth" - "my kids were bouncing off the wall because it's so damned long" - "it presents man and big business as evil" - they write their opinions off as news, they claim promoting their agenda is discussion and bit by bit they are erroding logic and empathy from the minds of their audience.

Pastor resigns over homosexuality

"In a tearful videotaped message Sunday to his congregation, the senior pastor of a thriving evangelical megachurch in south metro Denver confessed to sexual relations with other men and announced he had voluntarily resigned his pulpit."

Full story here.

You know what I'd like to see, just once? A pastor come out and be allowed to keep his post, or at least fight to keep his post. So he's gay. Big fat hairy deal. I don't think that means his dedicated to the church has waivered. Wouldn't it be great if he didn't resign under the assumed knowledge that being gay is shameful and immoral, and sent a posititive message instead? Just once. It's not like this guy was the horrific homophobe and hypocrit that Ted Haggard was...

Online Video 'Eroding TV Viewing'

What is this TV thing I hear about...?

ITV

NTL Share Prices Fall After Rumours of ITV Takeover Bid

There's been a lot in the news recently about ITV and their myriad of problems; takeovers, falling audience numbers, decreased advertising revenue, failed digital ventures, lack of web presence, lack of creativity, lack of experimentation, reliance on soaps, uninspired programming... the list goes on and on.

And it's all true. ITV are an embarrassment and the sooner they get bought out / closed down / go into receivership, the better this countries broadcasting quality will be. Everything that is wrong with ITV can be seen in this clip of the new Family Fortunes 2006 opening titles.



ITV: Everything. That. Is. Wrong. With. Television.
Thanks to Andy Digitonal for spotting this one.

Digital TV has still yet to really take off and so many people have only 4 or 5 channels. These 4 or 5 channels, therefore, have a greater responsibility to their audience than their digital counterparts. This clip illustrates only too well that ITV are no longer capable of fulfilling that responsibility.

They rely on inane celebrity hosts, revamps of outdated shows, an end-of-the-pier approach to entertainment, low production values, patronising attitudes and, it would seem, an almost total contempt for the intelligence of their audience. They are poorly managed, poor programmed, poorly funded and barely watchable. When they decided to fill every evening slot past 11 o'clock with interactive quiz shows that, intended or not, resemble a telethon for a failing channel, you know they're fucked.

"It's only TV" you may cry, or "you may not like it but others do" but that is not a valid argument. There is nothing wrong with light entertainment, nor quiz shows, nor family programming but there is everything wrong with the approach that this channel takes to them. We've been patronised for so long by this pathetic commercial entity that we've forgotten what good TV looks like.

Ditch the channel. Sack the management. Start again.
And don't give it to fucking NTL.