We've heard of schoolteachers being told not to comfort distressed children by putting an arm round them , and not to put plasters on them , in case they're accused of abuse , and of parents not being allowed to film their children in school nativity plays . . .
Now I hear that some volunteers conducting street collections for charities have been told not to put a sticker on the clothing of anyone who's donated , guess what , in case they're accused of assault  !
I suppose I'd slightly prefer if they asked me first , but if I do'nt want the sticker on me I'll just tear it off , it would'nt cross my mind to go to the police to say I've been assaulted - Not unless they put the sticker on so forcefully as to knock me over !
Oh dear , Oh dear  . . . . . .

Sharon Stone opined  that China's recent devastating earthquakes are 'karma' for its governments policy on Tibet ;
If she means in our lifetimes she misunderstands Karma , which is said to relate to our future and past incarnations .
We're all capapble of daft , offensive , regrettable , unthought out comments , and Ms Stone has made a full public apology , and donated to the earthquake fund .
But why only Tibet ? 
It's well known that China , who executes more of its citizens each year than do all other countries combined  has an appalling lack of regard for human rights , as well as for  animals .
I've heard someone suggest that mass-casualty , force of nature disasters are somehow 'God's' way of retributing against human materialism and greed , which is offensive and stupid  and invites the obvious , incredulous response that : So how come these disasters almost entirely hit some of the poorest people on this planet  ?
If 'God' maliciously  punishes  the poor for the 'sins' of the rich then I have no faith in him , to whatever extent 'he' may exist , but of course that's an entirely nonsensical notion , thought up by people who like to 'play god' , with their weird interpretations of his whims reduced to a psuedo-intellectual , ridiculous  'parlour game' .
 

I do'nt think I can perpetrate my challenge of writing completely spontaneously here , from my subconscious ,  posting it unaltered .
If I did my unfathomable utterances would be obsessively pored over by the greatest psycoanalytical minds for centuries to come . . .
Talking of psychoanalysis/psychiatry , I  just watched Basic Instinct 2 for the second time : It's so refreshing to see a proper ( i.e hollywood ) movie that's set in London , with an all British cast apart from Sharon Stone : A proper adult themed movie that's good escapist entertainment , with a twist every five minutes ,  that's also intelligently researched re. the London-based analytical 'elite' .
And speaking of London , I love London , and what's the point of travelling abroad , when hardly anyone to be met in our capital city was born here .
And talking of psychiatrists , I may  need to privately see one to seek further proof of my shambolic incompetence , which I thought was guaranteed until at least  2012 .
There's an exhibition in this town of paintings by local artists and I bought one , not as an investment : I do'nt expect  the artist , who apparently used to work as an optician to become much more widely known  , I just like the painting , unlike most others in this house ;
In my room I have a print of Salvador Dali's ' The Meditative Rose ' .
The variations in the prices of the paintings in the local exhibition are quite striking ; I suppose that's determined by the vanity and greed , or not , of the artists .
There's lots of very good artists and musicians ,  few truly exceptionally great ones . 
But then excellence is in the perception of the beholder , which is why I'd rather watch 'Basic Instinct 2 ' , or Final Destination 3  , or even 'Snakes on a Plane' than Citizen Kane , Schindlers List , or most foreign language films .
But then , as I told you , my sanity is not out of the question .

To write a 'blog post on this site that's entirely , unpremeditatevely spontaneous . . .
Just start writing , keep it as long or as short as seems right , without knowing in advance what you're going to say - And post and keep it there , unedited . .
I'll try that , hopefully tomorrow or soon . . .

I enjoyed watching 'Filth : The Mary Whitehouse Story' , on BBC2 tonight : Julie Walters is very good as MW , and Hugh Bonneville even more convincing as the former BBC Director General Sir Hugh Greene .
It veered between  sympathetic portrayal and comic  ridicule ,   avoiding  being viciously cruel , unlike  a now  forgotten 1960's bbc satirical programme apparently was to MW and her husband , resulting in her being awarded £500 libel  damages  .
But she invited ridicule by her obvious obsession with sex , and  silly escapades like trying to get the beatle's 'I am the Walrus' song banned from tv due to the word knickers .
I doubt that , as portrayed in tonights drama , she had never heard of oral sex , as I recall hearing her say that she'd taught sex education .
Interestingly  a piece about the 'legacy of whitehouse' on tonights Newsnight featured nasty scenes from last friday's Eastenders , which I hate , hate , hate , for its , during 'family viewing' time repeatedly presenting nastiness and conflict as 'the norm' , and , no chance , but I wish it could be banned as I do sincerely believe that programme to be harmful .
Also  violent video games , used by  some children and teenagers .
But nudity ? - I would'nt favour any overtly sexual nudity on tv before 9pm but , come on , we all have bodies , so what . . . 
And swearing ? : There's far worse things than swearing but it does become tiresome to hear so much of it , and again , I'd say  , please not much of it  on tv  before 9pm . 
Tonight's drama included one , unnecessary  use of the c--- word , which  I suspect  was meant as a defiant swipe at  the 'Spirit of   Whitehouse' , whose tragedy was that she was so focused on the evil of any hint of nudity or sex on BBC television , to the exclusion of regular casual violence and general unpleasantness .

Summer lasted about 10 days , a couple of weeks ago , since then it's been Autumn I think .
A good thunderstorm during last night , and we were lucky to only have a half-hour power cut yesterday , seeing as other regions had much longer ones , and we're not far from Sizewell , a problem with which apparently had something to do with the cuts .
On Victoria Darbishire's programme she and telephone guests were debating 'An evening with Mike Tyson' , which was due to take place at Glasgow's Hilton Hotel this Saturday , the promoters have sold 500 of the 700 tickets , at £150 and £250 each - It's been cancelled folllowing protests from the Glasgow rape-crisis centre , and other womens groups , due to his 1992  conviction and imprisonment  for rape .
Would the women's organisations have been bothered if Tyson had a past conviction for murdering another man , as has Leslie Grantham who was so popular in eastenders for so many years ? - I think not .
We can't know the whole truth of what happened that resulted in the rape allegation and conviction , which Tyson maintains that he is innocent of and was 'set up' for , though he fully admits he's a convicted rapist , which as most of us understand the emotive word is a very nasty crime .
But he served his jail time , and should he forever be banned from earning any money ?
I certainly would'nt pay much , or travel far to listen to him talk , and I can only assume that the audiences  for his ' an evening with . . ' events are made up of sincere boxing fans who remember when , for a brief few years in the 80's he was such a brutal , brilliant master of his art , and of 'thrill-seekers' allured by the atmosphere and image of unpredictability and danger that seems to surround him .

On wednesday ( 28/05/08 ) , 9pm , BBC2 : The Mary Whitehouse Story , starring Julie Walters .
If you're under 30 you may  have never heard of the famous , infamous , unique , hilarious northern christian housewife , who in the early 1960's became the 'clean up tv' campaigner , who coined the associative phrase ' sex and violence ' , but seemed so much more obsessed by the former  .
To try to be fair to her ( she died in 2001 , aged 91 ) , apparently she taught sex-education in a manchester school , and  maintained that sex between a loving married couple is a beautiful thing .
But it seems that she could'nt cope with any reference to it on television , especially if on the BBC .
I remember listening to her on Capital Radio and LBC phone-ins in the 70's , and mentioning her in school essays .
Mrs . W seemed to confuse nudity with sex , and sex with violence and I felt then as I do now , that some 'tasteful' , even quite raunchy sex on television in the evenings will do no harm to anyone , whereas too much portrayal of violence might , and that consensual sex between people over the 'age of consent' is up to them , and has nothing to do with violence , unless as re. consensual S&M activities between sane adults behind closed doors .
According to this weeks Radio Times , in 1967 she campaigned against The Beatles BBC1 'magical mystery tour' film , due to the use of the word ' knickers ' in 'I am The Walrus'   -   !
I've for years  felt that the MW story could make a brilliant , satirical , not too cruel , hilarious British film ( for example including scenes of  her , with her flamboyantly ridiculous spectacles on , visiting an Amsterdam 'sex-shop' with  Lord Longford , for a tv documentary ) : Let's see how entertaining this wednesdays offering will be . . .

http://www.jeanettewinterson.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=144

So Sir .Terry Wogan is in a huff because the song he chose to represent Britain in the silly song contest finished last .
It was'nt the worst song in it , but not at all one of the best  .
The winning Russian singer is a huge star there and in the former soviet states .
The best that Britain could manage was an entirely unrememberable song , sung by a singer who lost in the 'X-Factor' talent show , which is'nt even in the  top 40 chart .
And with no entertaining , humourous acts sharing the stage with him , which seems to help nowadays .
I care little for the ESC or for most football , but , with Britain so central to the worldwide popular music industry , why do we choose such average at best songs in the contest , and with British teams doing so brilliantly in european football championships , why were'nt the England , Scotland or Welsh National teams good enough to win a place in 'euro 2008'  ?
If the British ESC entry had been a superb , catchy , moving , inspiring song dueted by Elton John and Leona Lewis , would it have won ?
Maybe not but it'd certainly have come much higher than last place .
It's been suggested that maybe one reason why Andy Abrahams finished last is because Eastern States are biased against black people , which if so is shocking , even though it was not a good song .
Certainly the BBC  seem obsessed with demonstrating how non-racist they are , through their obvious , mandatory policy of having a black or asian presenter on almost every one of their tv programmes , and nice black or asian characters in almost all of their drama's ; that's okay , it's just so predictable and 'in yer face' unsubtle , and there are better black-british singers than Andy Abrahams , who in any case would have done better if he'd been given any half-memorable song .
Also have you noticed how our PM Gordon Brown always makes sure that he has black people with or standing behind him whenever he's photographed or filmed 'out and about' anywhere , or failing that , a photo' or a drawing of a black person ?
Why not but Why , and if he really loves black people so much , why not more in his cabinet , and why did'nt he marry a black lady ?
Before anyone accuses me of racism , if you've read some of my other entries here you should know that I'm not , I just resent our PM and the BBC apparently assuming that I am , or that I would be if not for their blatent , cynical tokenism .
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Re. the spate of often fatally resulting attacks , often with knives , committed by some young men in the UK , sometimes with girls involved too , I can't agree with birching or other physical punishments , as has been suggested elsewhere on this site : That's just too degeneratively barbaric , and I'd question the motives of anyone wanting to administer or witness the corporal punishments .
But there absolutely HAS to be tougher , longer prison sentences for such violent offendors , and the attacks being filmed , on a mobile 'phone ( or camcorder ) by anyone connected to the perpatrators ( which is stupidly called 'happy slapping' ) should be considered a major aggravating factor .
As a matter of urgency more prisons , and detention centre's need to be built .
I'm talking about anyone who thinks it's clever , enjoyable , funny or otherwise okay to brutally attack , or murder any other person , or any animal .

I watched the Sweeney Todd musical/movie , which is , well , you get what you pay for : A faultlessly stylish and more than competent screen adaptation of a mediocre stage musical , with no really memorable songs but a 'dark' , victorian , 'gothic' gruesome tale , lots of spurting blood more resemblant of watery vermilion paint , and a chilling twist or two at the end .
But no I did'nt enjoy it much ; Glad to have seen it but wish I'd waited 'til the dvd came down in price , or , better still , 'til when it's on television .
I yawned less and felt better after watching , afterwards , a documentary on 'more4' about a girl born with eight limbs , who was successfully operated on , in India .
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So why has the Chelsea manager been sacked ?
Surely they did very well indeed to reach the final of the euro whatever it was against MU , and to get so close to winning it , and it's hardly the managers fault that Drogpa got himself sent off . .  .  .

Re. my post here last night ' Brian Keenan ' , which I deleted this morning , I must point out that I was confusing two Brian Keenan's , the former IRA quartermaster who died this week , who was born in 1942 , and the , also Irish Brian Keenan , born in 1951 , who wrote 'An Evil Cradling' about his four and a half year ordeal in Beirut from 1985 , where he was teaching , before being kidnapped and treated appallingly by Islamic Extremists .

I think , though I could be wrong that I'm the only person in the universe with my ( first and last )  name ; Have you ever been misidentifiable between yourself and another person sharing your name ?

The only fun to be had in Southwold tonight is the Kings Head Karaoke night , which I made the effort to go to , for the first time since last Christmas Eve .
A glut of gorgeous young ladies , who've taken much care over their appearance , and some laddish young lads and some older men , who have'nt .
I just could'nt contemplate trying to find  the confidence to try my luck with any of the babes : Maybe if I'd spent thousands on cosmetic work and had a porsche parked outside . . .
When I was their age I had even less confidence than I have now .
A few drunken males there , myself not included ; I have some tolerance of moderate quantities of alcohol , and I was'nt going to stay until I was drunk ; I wish that my evenings were'nt  so alcohol-orientated  , but then , better than living for watching  Alan Titchmarsh . 
The Karaoke facilitator is a huge young bloke who prefers to be a 'rap-crap' dj , and the volume was prohibitively loud for conversation .
There's lady who's a regular fixture at those nights , who's actually probably a little  older than me , but I do'nt think I'm old , fat , bearded or bald enough for her liking .
As I left Tom from Somerfield and his friend were singing the Pogues + Kirsty MacColl Christmas Classic .

I've finally finished reading Tony Blackburn's 'Poptastic' 2007 autobiography - There's so many books I want to read , but I often seem to find 'better' things to do , such as hanging around on this site , which at least helps to keep me alert due to  its interactive nature .
Though I  respect Tony Blackburn for being such a professional , legendary broadcaster , and , I think , a nice decent bloke  I do'nt feel that  I really know him all that much better , after reading his somewhat rambling and repetitious remeniscences .
It's curious  that he had the assistance of a 'ghost writer ' , and I thought that books were scanned for errors by ' proof readers ' prior to publication , as there's a number of ungrammatical sentences , including the baffling " I also wanted to go to Australia , a country I'd never visit . " , about his decision to take part in the 2002 'I'm a celebrity . . . . . ' programme .
Also , on page 53 , referring to Billy Fury he  says : " So why does'nt 'Halfway to Paradise' ever get played on the radio any more ? ( Actually , I'll explain why later on in this book. ) "        -  He does'nt .
His recollections of life on board the 'pirate' , offshore radio stations in the sixties are quite detailed and entertaining , but I remember him from Radio1 , and some of his former R1 DJ colleagues barely get a mention , which I found disappointing as I'd have liked to have known more of 'behind the scenes' 1970's Radio 1 .
Also I thought he might have mentioned a curious incident of his once , in the eighties , having been 'debagged' in a restaurant by Earl Spencer and friends .
But I read it , it's readable , his 'spiritual' experience in the Australian jungle during ' I'm a celebrity . . . ' is interesting , his description of the decline and death of his mother is moving , and I love his joke that he believes in reincarnation : He's altered his will and left everything to himself !

I still do'nt know why I allow computer/internet frustrations to propel me into malfunctional orbits .
Due to my getting more and more vile 'spam' rubbish I wanted to swap one email address , the one which I have registered with this site , with a new one .
So many error messages and non-working links - Then when I eventually was able to successfully click on the link to verify my new email address with this site , a message that it was the wrong verification code !
Not my fault , or  my hardware : Simply AOL and blog.co.uk exasperations , which I allowed to drive me completely barmy before finally admitting defeat , deleting the new aol screen name , and keeping things as they are .
I can be patient , easygoing , level headed , until if the red mist of latent lunacy descends and I carry on as if I'm being murdered or tortured or something : When that happens it feels like torture , though I  know there's far more important things in life than whether I can easily do what I want  on the computer/internet .
Maybe it's some slight brain-damage and/or autism , or maybe I'm just a distressfully exasperative unhappy person .
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For one night only I'm a Chelsea fan : As I've said I get so sick of hearing about Man Utd several times every day , so I had a modest bet on Chelsea to win outright ( with or without extra-time/penalties ) .
Do I think that Chelsea will win ?    -    err  , Yes  . .
But are Man U more likely to ? -
Well they usually win do'nt they .
Hopefully not tonight .

I had Ken Bruce's usually quite cheering R2 programme on in the bathroom , I knew a lot of the answers in the pop-quiz , then he played some damn awful thing by The Moody Blues with the late Richard Burton narrating over it excerpts from H G Well's 'War of the Worlds'  ,  everywhere death , starvation , misery , despair , disease etc . .   , which went on and on for ages . . .
I was feeling fairly okay until  Ken Bruce inflicted that depressing  dirge  on me , which I would've turned off if I'd not been having a shower !
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" Hooray , Hooray , Hooray ! - Suffering and dismay . . .  "   -
Noel Coward , from 'There are Bad Times just around the corner' .

For the third time of 'blogging , The Tubes , from 1976 , ( c ) A&M ,
Do'nt Touch Me There . .
( Brrrilliant ! )

I'm watching the House of Commons abortion debate , on the Parliment Channel which I must admit that I hardly ever watch : It's a good , lively , well-informed , important debate , which evidences that being too ultra-cynical about all MP's is misguided .
Nadine Dorries MP knows what she's talking about : She had an abortion which turned into a live birth which then died in her arms after seven minutes .
I completely agree with her that the moment that the foetus's nervous system is developed enough for it to feel pain , it's rights should have parity with those of its mother .
I do'nt really understand the human/animal embryo research / saviour sibling debate : Presumably Gordon Brown is so in favour of that because ,  If  the scientific tests on the 99% human , 1% animal embryo's , which would have to be destroyed after 14 weeks ,  help to provide cures for alzheimer's , parkinson's and other genetically acquired diseases , that would save the NHS , and social services a lot of money .
I'll certainly not be watching 'One Life : Mum and Me' on bbc1 tonight , about a woman looking after her mother who's sadly afflicted with Alzheimer's : To quote Alison Graham in the Radio Times : 
" . . . she's already been robbed of so much , why not leave her with a bit of privacy and what remains of her dignity - why film her being hauled from the bath or sitting on the toilet . . . " 
Indeed . I'm not saying that should'nt be referred to , but for it  to be filmed and broadcast to the nation  .  .  

I know what originally caused my regular bouts of bad stomach pain ; It's nothing life-threatening , but can be most debilatating .
I do'nt know the cause of my difficulty in forming friendships or relationships , and , could some form of autism possibly be involved : Who knows , I'll probably never know .
I put on a cd of a Bruckner Symphony , his 5th , conducted by Eugen Jochum : His monumentally dignified and spiritually-affirming  music somehow helps one to realise that there's more to the universe than ones own doubts , difficulties and desires .

Anyway I'm now going to try watching the 'Reverend Death' , on C4 .

Asleep on his bed , in his bedroom . .

It was great when it returned after so long with Christopher Ecclestone , and I thought that some of the earlier David Tennant ones were very imaginatively suspenseful too .
Then I went right off of it for a while : Increasingly ludicrous monsters , so many ideas ripped off from hollywood movies , a silly , self-regurgitating , politically-correct parody of itself .
I tried tonights episode , about a murder mystery , a thief , a giant wasp and Agatha Christie in an edwardian country house , which I was all set to report on the rubbishness of but actually it was quite entertainingly funny , and I'd have absolutely loved it when aged about 10 - 17 .
I preferred the acomplished actor Ecclestone to the lightweight preening poseur Tennant .
The whovieboppers  or whatever they call themselves , the Dr . Who obsessives , some of them seemingly otherwise intelligent adults , would wildly enthuse about it even if DW was played by Keith Harris and Orville !
But it's great for older children and younger teenagers , who it's really aimed at .

So much that's so grim in the news at the moment , especially re.  parts of Burma and China .
In yesterday's 'Mail a dispatch from Peter Oborne in Zimbabwe , reminding us of the increasingly alarming  campaign of murder and torture of anyone associated with , or suspected of supporting the opposition MDC party , perpetrated by Mugabe's Zanu-PF thugs .
Mugabe is determined to remain President at any cost , which it seems likely that  he will .
He knows that despite  the corrupt ballot-rigging he's so hated that he still lost the election .
For some reason he's supported by South African President Thabo Mbeki . And , I suspect , more passively ,  by Archbishop Tutu  .
And there's no oil , or strategic advantage there , so what does the U.S government care  ?
A 22 year old mother of two , seized  and viciously beaten across her buttocks with wooden poles for half an hour , then ordered to sit for two hours  on her terrible wounds , five of her close friends kicked to death , others unaccounted for : All because they were known to favour the MDC party .
Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans being beaten , tortured , murdered , deliberately  starved .
Anglican churches and their parishioners being targeted because they are presumed to be in league with the MDC .
Inflation running at 1000% at least .
Why the f--- will not other countries governments , including Zimbabwe's neighbours ,  make a concerted effort to get rid of  Mugabe  ? 

To quote the late Mike Dickin , " Not all football fans are morons , but most morons are football fans " .
Manchester City Council not only welcomed ticketless Rangers fans , but also set up beer tents for them !
What could anyone expect !
I know that only a fairly small minority of them 'went mad' , but what a frighteningly disgusting minority they were . I pity the Police and Ambulance crews  who had to deal with them , and any non-involved people who got caught up in it .
So why did'nt the council see that coming , and plan against it ?
Money of course : The huge influx of , mostly Scottish , also Russian supporters poured millions into the local economy .
Allowing for the costs of dealing with and clearing up after the events , Manchester still made a substantive profit from the occasion .
What's the point of anyone drinking non-stop from breakfast time ?
What idiocy , but then , that's what we've come  to expect from many football nuts .
Perhaps Scottish fans had a slightly better reputation than English ones .
Not now . And if that had been English fans on the rampage in Manchester  there'd be calls for the English team and their supporters  to be banned  from european championships .
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There's speculation surrounding why Hillary Clinton is still fighting on given the apparent mathematical almost certainty of Barack Obama winning the Democratic nomination .
Is she being deludedly stubborn , or might she just possibly know something that we do'nt ?
I heard of a rumour that there's " a lot of dirt " re. Obama that's yet to be revealed , though of course that could be a malicious lie .

: Terrorism , or violent , non-terrorist related crime ?
It's certainly frightening tha