MTV=Mindless Television

There is a particular channel that can easily be referred to as the anus of TV shows. A channel that has excreted the swill of humanity. I am of course referring to MTV. It is completely dominated with shallow, fickle, reality television mush that has the power to turn anyone watching it into a gibbering simpleton.

The shows that are featured on this channel are nearly all reality TV nonsense. That provides no real entertainment or enlightenment in any form. One of the shows titled The Hills is a shallow freak show that follows the escapades of a few spoilt American teenagers, all of which are shallow, self obsessed morons. All the girls are plastic barby dolls all obsessed with their own self image and dreary lifestyle. The boys are all ‘jocks’ who all seem to be metro sexual and like the girls have an unhealthy obsession with their appearance. Both sexes are obsessed with their fake love lives, which are anything but genuine. The boys want a trophy girl, who they will more than likely cheat on when the opportunity arises. The girls all want some fake-tanned hunk to show off to their friends. Neither enters a relationship because they like the person’s personality. The same can be said with their friendships, where friends are not judged on personality but on similarity of looks and appearance. This show has nothing but an army of spoilt, self obsessed, plastic brats who seem to have no positive factors to their aura and have too much money and time on their hands.

Another show is the dismal Hogan Knows Best which follows the dull escapades of an aged wrestler and his equally dull family. Hulk Hogan does nothing but displays his grotesque bulk of flesh whilst shamefully exposing the life of his dire family. He clearly did not make enough money in wrestling if he had to sink to this level. Every episode features some painfully boring triviality that moustachioed Neanderthal has to sort out. The worst form of entertainment ever!

Perhaps the biggest lump of excrement in the septic tank is My Super Sweet 16.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b7mwTK564o This video by Charlie Brooker shows that the show is full of undeserving, vain brats who have extravagant coming of age parties. It draws on nothing more then the awful selfish, spoilt aspects of a capitalist society. Parents spend millions of dollars on some brat to have a party so extravagant that even the Royal Family could not compete with it. It gives viewers aspirations they have no chance of achieving and appeals to peoples’ greed. The best thing to happen to this show would be a sudden cockroach infection.

MTV stands for Music Television perhaps a more suitable name would be Mindless Television. There is nothing positive or creative about it. It just encourages people to be passive consumers whose interest revolves around the acquisition of nothing but cheap material goods. It doesn’t encourage people to be creative or search for spiritual fulfilment. It teaches them to be shallow and materialistic and to only make friends with people if they have the same amount of wealth and identical appearance, essentially promoting some of the worst traits of society. MTV is capitalist American vomit being dispatched across the globe in order to turn everyone into unthinking clones who only dream of a Porsche, a mansion and some girl with a plastic face and breasts. It is utter garbage and anyone watching it should consider doing something better with their lives before they start buying fake tan and starting every sentence with “Oh my God”.

Is Never Mind the Buzzcocks quality sliping?

Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a programme that has provided constant amusement to the nation for many years. It is one of Britain’s most noteworthy quizcoms. However, one thing that has bothered me is how the programme’s quality seems to have been sliding over the years. It seems to be getting worse with every new series. This is not just a reflection of the guests but also a reflection of the show’s hosts and team captains. In my humble opinion it has been on a slippery slope since the departure of Mark Lamarr in 2005.

Many people say they preferred Simon Amstell as the host, but when I asked them why, many of them say because they have not seen any or very few of the episodes with Lamarr. This is probably as few of these episodes have been repeated on Dave. Here is a debate on the two hosts that provide positive points for both http://uktv.co.uk/dave/article/aid/630326.

 Lamarr was better as he had a more dry sense of humour; he put the guests in their place early on in the episodes. From the above link we can also glean that he also had an encyclopaedic knowledge of music. Unlike Amstell, who although amusing did have a more obvious sense of humour. There were few subtleties and he came across as if he was desperately trying to achieve cheap laughs. His knowledge of music was also lacking. However, he could prove to be very comical at times and is certainly not the main reason for the decline of quality.

That brings me to the next point, back in the days of Lamarr the guests chosen for the show would usually come from a wide variety of backgrounds, a mixture of old and new faces, this gave it more variety and made each episode seem different. Unlike now when every week the four guests are bound to consist of, a member of some indie band, a comedian you have heard of as they have appeared on Mock the Week once or twice, a presenter for some ‘trendy’ TV show and someone to represent the urban music community. It makes you wonder if the budget has been in the red for sometime.

Perhaps the main reason for the show’s decline is the departure of Bill Bailey. He provided a strong aura of adoration. Like Lamarr he also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of music, making him invaluable for the show. Bailey stated in a recent stand up show that he left the show as he was fed up with having to ‘hum Britney Spears’s Toxic to some indie half-wit’. A fair point when you remember how dismal some of the guests in the last few series have turned out to be. Bailey’s style of humour on the show was also slightly Pythonesque and guaranteed laughs. This article also supports my view on this matter:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/nov/07/never-mind-the-buzzcocks. The show needs strong team captains to carry the show. However, I disagree with this article as I view Noel Fielding as a poor replacement. His style of wit is awful and usually involves the threading together of some animal or object with some form of food. I doubt he does it with irony. Not only does he look like a transsexual he also speaks like one. He is childish and irritating.

I do not know how the show can survive much longer now that Bailey and Amstell have gone. They are currently in a series with a guest host for each show, which means they should have a permanent captain by the next series. The choice of host could mend or break the show. I just hope the BBC do not choose another trendy or the show will become even more dire.

Is Democracy Dead?

The introduction of a European Union president seems to be a movement towards a Europe that fails to listen to its citizens.

We now have an EU president, but none of us voted for him. In fact none of us voted in favour for the Lisbon Treaty. Why? There was no referendum on such policies. It was a system forced on us. It seems like our government does not value a democratic vote on a treaty that has huge implications for future political movements. For information on the Lisbon Treaty follow this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6901353.stm. This demonstrates that a president is chosen by the Eurpoean Council and not its citizens. First I would like to make it crystal clear that it does not matter if you are Euro-sceptic or not, the fact remains that it is a system forced on Britain and every other EU country. Ireland voted ‘no’ against it in a referendum.   After being ‘threatened’ that they would lose out economically if they failed to support the treaty, a second one on the same question was forced upon them.

Herman van Rompuy, the Belgium Prime Minister, was named the President of the EU a few days ago. A man who, according to BBC news. co. uk, has limited foreign policy experience.  Is it wise to have him as a leader of a continent then? Before we call his experience into conduct lets first look at how he got the position.

There was no continental vote by citizens of all the EU member states. He was voted in by the ‘big wigs’ of Europe i.e. the European Council. An EU president will play a significant role in policy making so it should be the citizens who vote for the man they want. Not the politicians who vote in a man who will play to their political advantage and ambition. It seems like a new feudal system where those at the top have all the control and the general ‘populi’  have none. I doubt it will question Silvio Berlusconi and the way he runs Italy to his benefit.

The EU is undemocratic as it forces new member states to have the Euro. They have no say in the matter, and  It can also prove to be detrimental to the country’s economy as it looses its ability to adjust its interest and exchange rates within its own economic cycle. As this article shows http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2009/05/31/story42072.asp both Ireland and Greece are presently caught in such a cycle where their economies have diverged from the rest of Europe.

People like David Miliband say we need an EU president in order for Europe to be a strong player in future international affairs. A fair point, but I doubt it will stand up to China’s pollution issues. The problem with the EU presidency and the Lisbon Treaty is that it does not represent the concerns of its citizens. From the first link in this page we can also see that the Lisbon Treaty removes national vetoes in a number of areas, which means less control from member state governments. Meaning that there will be more control forced on us by an unelected Lord of Europe. An omnipotent entity that we cannot call into question.

The fact that we did not have a referendum shows that we can expect more control forced on us and our European friends by a group of self-serving politicians who are more interested in their personal ambitions and competing with America and China in an international power game, than they are about the welfare and civil rights of its citizens. If we have people like Berlusconi ruling our continent, we can expect government control of the media, a growth in the poverty gap and corruption on all levels.

Call that democracy and freedom? Not in my eyes!

Everyone knows Christmas starts in October

It is getting near that time of year. Christmas, a fine time for a junket with family and friends, a chance to unwind relax and have a drink or ten. I for one enjoy this special time of year. I enjoy the company of loved ones, the great food and the fabulous films that are shown on the television. However, there is one thing that drives me mad and that is the way every high street across the nation relentlessly makes us believe that this December based month, commences in autumn.

Everywhere shines unavoidable festive lights at its population by October, some places even start in September. Why? One reason, to get us in a festive mood for consumption. It is to encourage us to buy as much tat as possible and then pass it on to loved ones.  As this ariticle suggests http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1632016.stm it could be the over commercialisation of the festive season with mince pies appearing in supermarkets as early as August. 

Grottos and images dedicated to fat, bearded, reprobate Father Christmas spring up everywhere. The man looks like a gay Charles Darwin and I for one find it sinister that parents let their children sit on the lap of an obese stranger.

These awful winter wonderlands that are erected nationwide are just as bad. They have the cheek to call them magical. They are about as magical as the sewers of Liverpool. The fake snow is pathetic and the gargantuan amount of plastic is aggravating. That’s all it is plastic.

The city you live in will more than likely employ some c-list celebrity to switch the Christmas lights on. Oh how magical! Venturing out into the cold to see someone press a switch and ignite some dodgy lights. And it is only mid-November.

All this commercialism just ruins the experience for me. You rarely see anyone preaching good will to all men and encouraging stronger community cohesion. We are just encouraged to empty our wallets over a counter and to become greedier. If you are a parent of young children you probably suffer the most, as no doubt your little ‘angel’ will be demanding a truck load of presents after witnessing all those adverts that plays to their sub conscience instantly converting them into passive consumers.

I love Christmas but I hate the way it has been hi-jacked by businesses in order to make the fat-cats fatter and the way we are constantly being pestered to buy rubbish. Rant over.

Why the X Factor is a crime against humanity.

Weekends are a great time  for most of us. A chance to unwind and relax after a long five days of toil. It gives us a chance for leisure and recreation. So why, in God’s name, are people choosing to spend some of their time watching this awful homogenised, soul destroying drivel? Many muscians such as Moby, Calvin Harris and Sting have criticised it and its dire influence on the music industry. The following link demonstrates that they are unhappy with the programme, Moby describes it as ‘de-basing music’ and Sting states it is nothing more than ‘TV karaoke’ and that it has put the music industry back by ‘decades’. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/x_factor/2734292/Moby-The-X-Factor-is-awful.html.

 

This programme is a heinous crime in more ways than one. Firstly the hosts of the show have collectively brought us some of the worst music known to humanity. Between them they have created un-avoidable monsters such as Westlife, Robson and Jerome, Girls Aloud, Boyzone, Five, Shayne Ward and worst of all Dannii Minogue. I think you will agree a play list created by Satan himself. Anyone that claims to like anyone of these artists, is either lying, deaf or insane. The creators of these aural offenders make up the team of judges who clearly have no interest in music. They are only looking for one thing; a characterless pop star that they can leech off and add to their list of evil committed against human kind. Simon Cowell is a complacent, unbearable tyrant, who seems to perpetually disappear into his trousers. The smugness and arrogance of the man is enough to drive anyone to commit GBH on him. Louis Walsh has systematically destroyed British pop music by delivering manufactured pap to the mainstream radio stations and ensuring that it remains there. Cheryl Cole is an annoying orange wench, who sings like a poor Sham 69 imitator. And the less said about plastic-faced Minogue the better.

Now on to the contestants, proof that evolution has not worked in some areas of the planet. Everyone says that it is “their dream” to be a professional singer. Why don’t they go to a music school then? Or build up a live reputation? No. None of them want to work for their career. As this link suggests http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091119115037AAKTvJL, all they want is a quick fix solution and hopefully a record contract at the end of it. The sob stories they deliver are even more vomit inducing. Telling us of the hardship many of them have faced in life. It all seems pre-meditated and an attempt to inspire sympathy from the judges and the people stupid enough to vote for them. The way they explode when they are told they have no talent is also annoying. If you have never tried singing in public before do not let your first attempt be at the hands of a smug monster such as Simon Cowell, who will tear you apart.

The phone in voting system is also a scam. It is just an attempt to make as much money as possible. It shocks me that people are so apathetic that they cannot be bothered to vote in a general election, but are willing to waste money on a talent-less talent show. Spend your money on worthwhile things please!

Perhaps, worst of all is the fact that every one of the main contestants sound the same. The previous link sheds light on the issue. The reason being is that the judges want an easy to manufacture pop star, who won’t question anything. Or disposable clones as the previous link described them as. There is no variety in voices. Everyone has that homogenised, soft, soul-pop voice. There is no diversity, you rarely see any rappers or any rock vocalists on the show. The artist (if I dare use that word) that wins is just a tool to increase the bank balance of ITV and the judges’ already gargantuan incomes.

If you have any intelligence you will avoid this circus/freak-show of a programme. This dismal, dire, shameless, vomit inducing show should be banned from the air. It is just following that contemptible line of many America programmes. This country should be above such cheap tricks, yet this soul-less programme remains top of the most viewed list. It is turning its viewers into unthinking droids. Free your mind and avoid this with extreme caution!

The drug question

Alcohol vs. Marijuana- The drugs question

The drinking of alcohol is very popular in this country. It is something nearly all of us have tried by a certain age.  You only have to go out on Saturday night to see its affects on young and old. When you compare the effects of marijuana on society with the social problems caused by alcohol, it makes the mind boggle.

I’m sure many of you are aware of the former drugs advisor Professor David Nutt, who has recently been sacked from advising the Government to downgrade certain drugs, as the effect on people is no way near as bad as the detrimental effects of alcohol. You can see his graph on the effect of drugs here, which show alcohol as more damaging than many illegal drugs.  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6899534.ece

Nutt was also famous for stating that ‘horse riding is more dangerous than taking ecstasy’. He was also the advisor to this Government, and was reputed for suggesting the downgrading of cannabis on the basis of scientific knowledge. However he was ignored. He has continued to lobby the Government over the downgrading of certain drugs to no avail.

Nutt’s graph and research (as can be seen in the link) also shows that alcohol is more of a threat to society and to an individual’s health than many illegal drugs. I am a bit perplexed by this. We are spending millions of pounds a year fighting substances that are less of a threat to society than alcohol. As Nutt put it in a recent interview ‘we are ignoring science!’

This begs the question; why does the government have advisors when they refuse to listen to them and the scientific evidence they produce? Perhaps the most considerable positive of downgrading drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy would be the massive fall in crime. Many cases of arrest are usually based around drug misuse and the sales of drugs. This would free up our police force and save millions of tax payers money. 

One argument is that cannabis misuse can lead to mental health problems. The government could stop this through legalisation, by regulating the drugs chemical production, and introducing higher rates of tax on the more potent deriviatives. The amount of tax the government could make on this would be considerable, and ensure a standardised safe product.

One thing that annoys me about the anti-drugs argument is that Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, refuses to listen to any evidence and just carries on saying ‘I am anti-drugs’ and then fails to back up his argument. He is like an ostrich burying his head in the sand. Ex Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith stated that more police presence is the solution, as this article proves http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/hardline-antidrugs-plans-to-hit-dealers-786536.html. This would  just lead to more tax payers money being spent, more people being arrested and worst of all, it will not stop the use of drugs.  How can we trust her when a lot of her policies and actions are highly fallible, such as her ideas on ID cards, which are a threat to civil liberties. The article above suggests that civil rights groups will criticise these proposals.

I am not here to encourage drug use, I am here to encourage common sense when the Government comes to dealing with this controversial issue. All aspects should be discussed and made public, particularly when comparing alcohol to other substances.

A passageway designed for Hell!

Why the M4 is the devil’s own Motorway.

The M4 snakes it way through the south of Wales just like a sewer through a city, carrying all the excreta and pollution through an otherwise bountiful land. This argument is not going to be about motor vehicle use and I appreciate South Wales needs a motorway to cope with the phalanx of traffic that passes through each day; but, does a motorway have to be so aggravating that it leads to the shouting of irate profanities, dashboard thumping and an alarming increase in blood pressure? Here is an article that criticises the motorway http://www.nsw.greens.org.au/media-centre/news-releases/m4-east-motorway-another-post-election-labor-bad-news-story. As we can see from it the further the motorway continues east the more pollution and congestion it causes. However, there are other points that make it unbearable.

 For starters if you are coming over the bridge from Bristol, you have to pay over a fiver before you start a heinous journey on this dire motorway. This is frustrating at best, what’s worse is that the money goes to the greedy French company that built the bridge. So the money you pay does not even go into the local economy.

Now we have passed the gate and our wallets feel lighter, we can commence the utterly awful experience of cruising on the M4. One thing I seem to notice every time I go for a junket on this dismal road is that parts of it always and I do mean always seem to be under repair or road works, which means that one or several lanes will be closed. Leading to slower moving traffic and me getting stuck behind some juggernaut or slow moving goods vehicle. This will mean arriving at my destination unfashionably late.

 

Photo courtesy of Newport.gov.uk

If that is not going to grind your gears than the unbelievably low speed limits will. The stretch between Newport and Cardiff is probably the only place in the world where a road of three lanes has an achingly unbearable limit of 50 mph. This just seems incomprehensible. Even the bendiest of country lanes has a limit of 60 mph. So why is a straight stretch of road with three lanes under the jurisdiction of such a ridiculous speed limit? God knows! I would imagine it has something to do with health and safety or something else we would associate with the all-encompassing tentacles of the nanny state. Who in a stable state of mind thinks a motorway should have a limit of 50 mph? And why are they in a position of authority?

This passageway also encourages middle lane cruising. Purely as the left hand lane acts a filter-off lane for every junction. This means people will stay in the middle lane to avoid being forced off on the wrong junction. This just encourages congestion, especially when a lorry decides to hold everyone up by taking half an hour to overtake one of his contemporaries.

One of these factors alone is enough to drive any sane person to road rage. When they are all brought together, though, it is going to drive you over the edge, over the hard shoulder and send you bursting through the barrier.