Sorry, but I love the wonderful brilliance of this. It might be on Fox and all, but it ranks with a 'Richard and Judy' fxed phone in for coolness, I mean, whose gonna be taken in? And do any of those people matter?

Wait a minute. Prescott condemns the 'Saddam killing'?? Or so says all the meejah that matter (BBC, Metro, Guardian, google news sources). Sorry, but maybe I didn't hear it right. What he said was

'I think the manner was quite deplorable really. I don't think one can endorse in any way that, whatever your views about capital punishment. Frankly, to get the kind of recorded messages coming out is totally unacceptable and I think whoever is involved and responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves.

It's not the execution itself he's condemning (contrary to ALL the reports) but the fact that someone was allowed to film it and then release that film on YouTube. It's that action that he thinks people should be ashamed of. It's typical NuLab--don't care what people are doing as long as no one knows. Or have I got a stick at the wrong end?

Journalism is so easy these days. A pressure group comes along, makes a few mocking noises about someone or something, and it gets coverage as news. Hence 'Sense about Science'. All over the press this morning (here, the TOday programme, here, T'Grauniad), mocking celebrities for their lack of knowledge about science. Now, this is probably all very good. Though I can't help thinking that anyone who follows Chris deBurgh's advice on spiritual healing or 'Dr' Gillian McKeith's on nutrition deserves all they get. But then I started to wonder. Why criticise celebrities who simply want not to eat too may pesticides? Well, how about because your lobby group is funded by agri-chemical industries? Or biotech industries? Or is connected to the somewhat odd Living Marxism cult? Contrary to the news reports, 'Sense about Science' isn't an objective pressure group. It's virulently pro-GM, and the current reports seem to be part its long-standing campaign to deride opposition to GM-trials as 'anti-scientific'. Oddly, however, the BBC has frequently chosen to work closely with the pressure group (stories here and here) without explaining its actual beliefs and role. So let's list those funders (inter alia) once again-- Amersham Biosciences BP GlaxoSmithKline AstarZeneca Pfizer And remember people, you can never believe a word you hear or see on the meejah.

Police marksmen, right, what is it they do? They shoot people, right, don't they? That's their job... So why the fuss over this story...? Next headline, Pope heretic shock, bear dumps in wood , etc., etc.

Love this thread from CiF--the masterpieces you've always thought are crap. Sums up CiF contributors. All the tedious people pointing out the obvious--Emin and Hirst. Then the others desperately defending their own pet loves. Me, I never understood the Keats vs Beatles debate that was the meejah's desperate attempt to understand postmodernism (that Derrida writes very long words don't he?). Both are awful. The Beatles went from copying Buddy Holly to copying the Beach Boys, and Revolution No.9 is the only decent thing they ever did (blatant musique concrete rip-off though)---okay, Helter Skelter was all right for its influence on certain californians, but Siouxise did a much better version. Wuthering Heights is just terrible. A wimpy wankfest for girls who don't know how to use their hairbrush handles. All of the Austens--ancient chick-lit, of no interest to anyone with a Y chromosome. Trollope--Eastenders writer of his day. All female crime writers except Dorothy L Sayers and that Icelandic one. Lowry, David Hockney (no, being gay doesn't make you good), any classical composer between Orfeo and the Rite of Spring, the Arctic Monkeys--George Formby for the modern generation-, Pele, George Best, David Gower (what a total wanker, and what an ugly player), Seinfeld, Moby Dick (have you read that? fecking awful), and on and on.... EDIT--oh yeah and ANY modern fiction. Emperor's clothes people, emperor's clothes. Amis (MArtin--did you read that piece in T'Grauniad on Atta, could anyone but an autistic six year old in a wheelchair get away with such rubbish?), McEwan, Barnes, Smith, Ali, all total and utter shite. The Americans (except Pynchon) are worse--Cormac McCarthy? Richard Sportswriter Ford? Updike? Roth? Utter and total shite. I like this game. As the INsane Clown Posse put it-- "Fuck Celine Dion and fuck Dionne Warwick You both make me sick, suck my dick Fuck the Berlin Wall, both sides of it And fuck Lyle Lovett, whoever the fuck that is Fuck everybody in the hemisphere Fuck them across the world, and fuck them right here You know the guy that operates the Rouge River draw bridge in Delray on Jefferson? FUCK HIM! Fuck your idea, fuck your gonnoreha Fuck your diarrhea, Rocky Maivia Fuck your wife, your homie did, he's fuckin you Fuck the police and the 5-0 too Fuck Spin, Rolling Stone, and fuck Vibe Fuck everybody inside Whoever's on the cover, fuck his mother Fuck your little brother's homie from around the way And fuck Violent J!" (just noticed I dropped off Devil's Ktchen's essential reading..what have I done?) Not sworn enough I suspect.

Is there anything more pointless than an art critic, other than an art critic writing a completely pointless article about being a critic? Read it, iust to see how NOT to construct a meaningful article.

Well, it appears that we DO have capital punishment in this country. But we even save the money necessary to employ a Pierrepoint, and just let murderers do away with themselves. First Fred West, now Huntley. Indeed, it now appears that only innocent people, like Michael Stone and poor Barry Bulsara, will live for very long in prison. Maybe its a survival of the fittest? If you aren't dead within a few years, chances are you're probably innocent. In related, the news about Huntley has given the TV channels a chance to show lots of footage of Holly and Jessica playing. Seemingly, Holly (or is it Jessica?) never took off her ManUre shirt, (though the new sponsors will probably be asking for their names to be put over the word 'Vodafone' on the shirt---they did buy image rights, after all). This morning, Sky showed footage of the two, with two of their friends, playing on a slide. With a supermarket trolley. Indeed, pushing the trolley down the slide. And then playing 'golf' on what was doubtless a public park where ball games would be banned. Such activity, of course, is regarded as 'sweet'. Only, do that sort of thing today and you're likely to end up with an ASBO. Stealing supermarket trolleys? Pushing them down slides? Pure vandalism. Under Blair's new rules, they'd probably have been identified and tagged as trouble-makers even before they were born. .

my sadness to the general feelings over STeve-O dying. Being a cynical old misanthrope, I have more than a sneaking admiration for people who can be so genuinely enthusiastic about everything they do. Similar to the lovely Simon Reeve and his Equator programme, and of course to the even lovelier Bruce Parry who meets the maddest people, does the maddest things, and just seems to charm them all, never mind the language barriers, by his affection and regard for them. (The reaction when PArry asked one of the West papuan Kombai whether they were interested in where he came from is total class...

“Not interested really. We like you, you’re very funny, but we have no interest in where you come from...Whatever jungle it is, it must be pretty s**t �cos you can’t climb trees, you always have to carry ridiculous items on your body, you’re too fat, you can’t cross logs without a hand...In general you’re pretty sh**...Why would we want to know about this place?”)

All three are official cynicalbastard walloffamers. The world is a slightly colder place tonight.

Well, bought T'Grauniad on Saturday, and saw no mention of this. Apologies placed carefully on the website on a SUnday. Who'd have thnk it. Not tht it could have ruined the guy's life, after all.

Somebody needs to do a version of this for the pinko-loving, Israel-hating BBC. (From Boingboing obviously---do you need another website?)