Catchy Title

Okay, I just cannot take it anymore.  I’m voting Labour, and below is a list of the reasons why.  I haven’t mentioned the Economy in the list, because it deserves special attention in the paragraphs immediately below.

The Economy

The Global recession is widely reported to be the worst on record.  I have been alive long enough to remember the last two, and whilst this one may be bigger on paper, the effect has been dramatically less.

There are two answers to the deficit being put forward by the main political parties:

Conservatives = Make cuts NOW , Labour and Lib Dem = Sure up Economic growth, then make cuts over 4 years.

I don’t know about you, but on any given day I would much prefer to have a job whilst my government is in debt, than to be unemployed whilst my government enjoys a healthy balance sheet.

I realise that this is a selfish and simplistic view, and yes, I realise that there are risks for a Government to be in debt; however, the economy IS growing again, and Labour’s plan is detailed whilst remaining flexible, and makes perfect sense to me.  The Conservative plan sounds exactly the same as their previous 2 mishandled recessions.  They simply don’t seem to understand that the moment Government budgets are cut, private sector contracts and therefore JOBS, are going to be lost, meaning more money paid out in benefits, and less income tax and VAT revenues coming in.  I’ve seen it before twice, and I don’t want to see it again.  I’m employed and I want to stay that way to ride out the difficult times.

The business leaders that are hailing Cameron’s plan are the same ones that will be better off after Cameron implements Conservative tax plans.  I’m not buying it.  Have you also noticed how Cameron’s media policies (like forcing BT to sell off it’s cabling and network, and scrapping the licence fee) play straight into the hands of his best buddy Rupert ‘come have dinner on my yacht’ Murdoch??

(NOTE:  Please read the comment added to this blog by mostly_harmless.  Very good points were made that I haven't written about, yet are still very much relevant)

What did the Conservatives do during their last period in Government?

I’ve been thinking about the introduction of far-reaching, ground-breaking, positively newsworthy ‘social’ policies that truly benefited society during the Conservative Governments of 1979-1997.   I couldn’t think of any, so I asked 6 different middle-aged staunch Conservative voters I used to work with.  The only things THEY could reel off the top of their heads was ‘they gave people the right to buy their own council houses’, and ‘they made Britain strong by standing up to Argentina’.

When I trawled the internet, I pretty-much found the same thing.  It pails in comparison to Labour’s list below.

I did however, find this:

“Well they ordered the riot police to beat the crap out of striking miners, then caused riots with a poll tax, denied there was any evidence that you could catch CJD from infected beef (Not everyone has forgotten), privatised anything they could get hold of, took free milk away from children, and squandered a large amount of North sea gas and oil. Although without them, Spitting image wouldn’t have been that funny, so its not like they are all bad.”

I only wish I could take credit for that.  Thank you wildkarrde

The List:

So here is my list of reasons why I will be voting Labour:

1. Gave Independence to the Bank of England.
   Freeing politicians from the temptation to alter interest rates in big election give-aways.
2. Stopping Genocide in Sierra Leone
   Over two decades of government neglect of the interior followed by the spilling over of the Liberian conflict into its borders eventually led to the Sierra Leone Civil War, which began in 1991 and was resolved in 2000 after the struggling Nigerian led United Nations troops were heavily reinforced by a British force spearheaded by 42 Commando of the Royal Marines as well as several British Army units. The arrival of this force in what was codenamed OPERATION PALLISER resulted in the defeat of rebel forces and restored the civilian government elected in 1998 to Freetown. Since then, almost 72,500 former combatants have been disarmed and the country has reestablished a functioning democracy.
3. Repealed ‘Section 28′.
   Allowing Homosexually to be discussed in schools.  Being a teenager and gay is harrowing enough, without it being considered a ‘taboo’.  At least if it can be openly talked about, it it shows that it truly is nothing to be ashamed of.
4. Allowed equal rights for surviving gay partners by allowing Civil Partnerships.
   Through the introduction of civil partnerships, Labour has for the first time given legal recognition to same-sex partners. Gay couples now have the same inheritance, pension and next-of-kin rights as married couples.
5. Reduced the legal age of consent for homosexual sexual relations to 16 to fall in line with heterosexual relations.
6. Introduced the National minimum wage.
7. Introduced Paternity leave for new fathers.
8. Maternity pay from day one, maternity pay extended from 14 to 26 weeks.
9. Negotiated the Good Friday Agreement bringing peace to Northern Ireland.
10. Backed a winning bid for the 2012 Olympics, initiating incredible redevelopment of London’s East End.
11. Saw through the construction of the Millennium Dome, despite the opposition of an extremely narrow minded press and a bandwagon-hopping Conservative party.
    The reported £900 million this cost, paid for the new transport infrastructure (improvements to the bus network and Jubilee Line), the clearance of dozens of acres of toxic land that had been unusable for years, created a world class entertainment venue which continues to pay rent into the government coffers, has produced acres of prime real estate for the private sector to develop which would have been left as abandoned warehouses, and became a direct example to the IOC as to what government/private partnerships could accomplish in the East End, which ultimately resulted in a successful Olympic bid.
12. Overall crime is down 36 per cent; domestic burglary is down 54 per cent; vehicle related crime is down 57 per cent; and violent crime is down 41 per cent.
    The fear of crime however, has increased exponentially. Especially for the Daily Mail and it’s readers (ie; the Conservative party).
13. Pensioners, the disabled, and their carers, have been given free bus travel throughout the UK.
14. Winter fuel allowances for the Elderly.
    Pensioners no longer need to risk death because they cannot afford to buy the grandchildren Christmas presents AND heat their home.  I know that the Conservatives and the Lib Dems suggest that they would rather scrap this and increase Pensions instead.  I have only one comment….the winter fuel payments are TAX FREE.  Pensions are not.
15. Free swimming, free eye tests, free TV licences for over-75s.
16. VAT on fuel reduced to 5%
17. A minimum income guarantee for Pensioners.
18. Free TV licences for over-75s.
19. A free nursery place for every 3 and 4 year old.
20. Higher level of Disability Living Allowance of the Blind and Partially Sighted.
21. Over 14,000 more full time police officers have been hired.
22. Created the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
23. Funding in Victim support has more than doubled.
24. Drug treatment for drug users has quadrupled. 96% of drug users receive treatment within three weeks of being assessed.
25. Spending in Education had doubled.
    Actually it has more than doubled.  What HAS doubled is the allowance per pupil.  Regardless of the cries of ‘red tape’ from the other benches, the simple fact is that headteachers has twice as much to spend on their pupils.
26. Hired a further 36,000 extra teachers and 172,000 more classroom assistants.
27. An additional 1,100 new schools have been built or old schools rebuilt.
28. Teachers pay increased by over 40%.
29. Student grants have been re-introduced.
30. Investment in the NHS has risen nearly 200%.
31. Have built 149 new hospitals.
32. Deaths from heart disease are now 40% lower than in 1997.
33. All suspected cancer cases seen within the first two weeks of referral.
    The NHS can now guarantee that you will see a cancer specialist within two weeks if your GP suspects you may have cancer. Whatever your condition, you will not have to wait more than 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of hospital treatment – and most waits are much shorter than this.
34. Guaranteed NHS dentist.
    Did anyone else try to get an NHS dentist in the 80′s and 90′s?  It was a right pain-in-the-tooth wasn’t it?
    
35. Introduced the first ‘points’ system based on successful international models to restrict the number and type of immigration to the UK.
    Previously there had been no limits, and no categorisation of immigrants beyond ‘immigrant’ and ‘asylum seeker’.  Tony Blair also attempted to get camps set up for asylum seekers, to give them somewhere safe to stay, with access to healthcare, shops, and an education for their children, yet keeping them somewhere they couldn’t run away from until their application was processed.  This wonderful idea was shut down by the European Court of Human Rights.  Shame, I thought it was a fantastic idea that only bogus asylum seekers would have been uncomfortable with.
36. Introduced INDEPENDENT National regulation for the Financial Services industry.
    Although this body has power over National Financial ‘business’, it’s powers are limited on a Global level.  Attempts by Gordon Brown to convince the International community to sign up to a Global regulator in 1998 were unsuccessful.  Among others, the French, the USA, and the Chinese were not interested.
37. Leading the world in the abolition of 3rd world debt and climate change.
    Some of the 3rd world’s poorest countries had up to 100% of their debt abolished in a move orchestrated by the UK Government.
38. Introduced ‘Gift Aid’.
    The Gift Aid scheme is for gifts of money by individuals who pay UK tax. Gift Aid donations are regarded as having basic rate tax deducted by the donor. Charities take your donation – which is money you’ve already paid tax on – and reclaim the basic rate tax from HMRC.  For donations between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2011 the charity will also get a separate government supplement of three pence on every pound you give.
39. Made building access for the disabled and wheelchair users compulsory.
    Suddenly, disabled people had a right to demand that their local shops and businesses catered for their needs, and any companies that were required to retro-fit existing buildings could ask for government financial help.  This made a massive difference to those affected.  This legislation also paved the way for a truly universal public transport system.
40. Banned Smoking in Publicly accessible buildings/restaurants/workplaces.
    Self explanatory, but the health benefits will be realised after a generation.  The Health Service will be cheaper.  Less people are taking up smoking as a result.  Now we just need to ban smoking in doorways…..
41. Banned Fox Hunting.
    I know that a small proportion of the country bleated on about civil liberties, and the death of the countryside economy. But I think they have survived quite well, things change, people move on.   Where were these people when all the mines were closed all at the same time affecting whole towns and hundreds of thousands of people?  They weren’t protesting ‘the death of an industry’ then were they?  No.  They were praising Thatcher for standing up to the Unions, and for not being held to ransom.  Well, guess what; you can get your tractors back into the countryside where they belong.  There’s an old British expression:  What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
42. Over three quarters of GP practices now offer extended opening hours for at least one evening or weekend session a week.
43. All prescriptions are now free for people being treated for cancer or the effects of cancer, and teenage girls are offered a vaccination against cervical cancer.
44. Three million more operations carried out each year than in 1997, with more than double the number of heart operations.
45. Doubled the number of registered childcare places to more than 1.3 million, one for every four children under eight years old.
46. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships starts, with figures for 2008/9 showing 240,000 started an apprenticeship this year compared to 75,000 in 1997.
47. The car scrappage scheme, where owners scrapping an old car receive £2,000 off the price of a new car, has assisted with over 380,000 orders being placed, keeping the automotive industry and its supply chain on its feet.
48. The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 21 per cent below 1990 levels, beating the Kyoto target.
49. Over £20 billion invested in bringing social housing to decent standards.
50. Rough sleeping has dropped by two thirds and homelessness is at its lowest level since the early 1980s.
51. A new flexible Australian-style points-based system for immigration to ensure only those economic migrants who have the skills our economy needs can come to work in the UK.
    Okay, this may not be working at 100% efficiency because it has just been implemented. However it is proven system worldwide and should be more than sufficient to meet the demands of Britain.
52. Neighbourhood police teams.
    Every community now has its own dedicated neighbourhood police team, easily contactable by the people who live in that community and working with them to agree local priorities and deal with people’s concerns.
53. Britain now has more offshore wind capacity than any country in the world. Wind last year provided enough electricity to power 2 million homes.
54. Tripled Britain’s overseas aid budget.
55. Launched the Swimming Challenge Fund to support free swimming for over 60s and under 16s.
56. Free admission to national museums and galleries.
57. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, an elected Mayor and Assembly for London and directly-elected mayors for those cities that want them.
58. Created a new right of pedestrian access to the English coast, so that every family has the opportunity to enjoy the length and breadth of our coastline.
59. Introduced four weeks’ paid holiday guarantee.
60. Introduced the right to request flexible working.
61. Introduced the same legal protection for part-time workers as full-time workers.
62. CAN YOU ADD TO MY LIST?  Please comment!

Add to this, that VAT has remained the same, my income tax went down.

That record ain’t too shabby now is it?

I wish Labour political broadcasts and interviews shouted lists like this from the rooftops.  I don’t think they ‘spin’ enough any more…..

Does anyone else think that Labour are almost guaranteed to win the next election?

David Cameron and his travelling circus almost seemed a viable alternative.   Right up until the moment they started revealing their policies.

The latest of which is a promise to cut, cut, cut within days of coming to power.  What they fail to realise is that every cut that gets made will have a knock-on effect to services being purchased from the private sector.  Unemployment will rise, interest rates will fall, and we’ll be back into decline along with our Italian, German, and Spanish friends.

Where-as Labours policy seems rather more sensible to me.  Let the Government take the strain, wait until the country has it’s own momentum in the direction of growth (lets say a year – well, actually the boffins said ‘a year’ as that’s when they’ve forecast the economy will be strong enough), THEN cut the deficit over a very reasonable 4 years to a tune of 50%.

We seem to have a party that will say what it thinks people want to hear, wihtout actually using relevant data to inform themselves.  I want my economic policy decided by a trained economist, who is being fed with all the latest data and opinions from across the globe, to then create a steady, conservative approach to deficit reduction, growth, and job creation.  What I don’t want is a party lurching around, changing it’s policies based on Daily Mail headlines regarding the state of our finances.

Economies go into recession when people stop spending, so the very last thing we need is the Government to lead the charge.  Four years is ample time to clear the deficit in my book.

The only thing that worries me about a Labour win is the effort their ministers and think-tanks put into social engineering policies.  Things like raising the minimum price of alcohol; what a crock!  Government should concentrate on the big things.  Over the past 13 years Labour have succeeded in a lot of ‘big’ areas;  things like Independence to the Bank Of England, Stopping genocide in Kosovo, The Northern Ireland Peace Treaty, repealing Section 28, creating Civil Partnerships and equal rights for same-sex couples, leading the charge to whip off African Debt, the smoking ban creating the amazing entertainment space which is the O2 Arena and surrounding area (which is already making more money than it cost), the successful Olympic bid which is creating Billion of Pounds worth of regeneration to hundreds of acres of land across the country, and we have led the world on climate change, 3rd world debt, resolving the financial ‘crisis’ amongst other things.  But all of these things have been mired by other things like ASBO’s, and those crazy children’s savings account things!

I may update this later,  but it’s Valentine’s day and I have preparations to make for my Valentine!

What is the point of an Inquiry?   Surely, it is to inquire of people, to gather pieces of information that you don’t already possess.  To collate together all pieces of evidence in order to produce a well-informed, educated, commentary or judgement relating to a specific set of questions?

Apparently not.  It seems that the BBC, ITV, Sky, The Guardian, The Mail, The Sun, The Mirror, The Star, The Times, all of the protesters, columnists, bloggers, and stay-at-home Blair-haters have all received the MI5/MI6/CIA/FBI/FSB files, all of the Cabinet Minister’s reports, the Civil Service files, the Military dossiers, not to mention the satellite imagery and witness statements from on the ground in Iraq.

I wish I had signed up to receive these too.  I’m guessing that Mr John Chilcott is also feeling a little foolish, as he appears to have missed out on that mailshot also.  He, just like me, is having to wait until people give evidence to find out what happened.  He like me is having to read through published documents to establish the timeline and decision making process that led to the invasion of Iraq.  What fools we are.

But I suspect that I may be wrong.  That there has been no release of information.  My suspicion is that 95% of the media are using nothing more than the court of uninformed public opinion obtained from what I only hope is a very small percentage of ignorant dullards, on which to base their reports of the facts; rather than using the freely available facts themselves.

The Times report of Tony Blair’s appearance in front the Inquiry today was headlined ‘Unrepentant Blair says ‘I’d do it again‘ , followed by the tagline ‘Tony Blair branded a murderer and liar after ending his appearance before Iraq inquiry with a refusal to voice any regrets‘.   What they failed to do was report any of the factual answers to questions.  They did however report about how he ‘felt’ about it all.  It turns out that one person in the audience of the Inquiry was responsible for the ‘murderer and liar’ comment.  Yet reading the headline, my first assumption was that the Inquiry had made that determination.

What they failed to do, and what all media outlets have failed to do is ask us: ‘If you were in Tony Blair’s position, with same facts at your fingertips that Mr Blair had in 2003; would you have made the same decisions?’, and ‘if nothing had been done, and Saddam had refused for the umpteenth time to abide by UN resolutions and inspections, would the world, and would the region be a safer place now’.   The unfortunate reality is that 95% of the population absolutely would have done the same thing, if in the exact same position, and the even more unfortunate reality is that 94% of the population are too ignorant and uninformed to admit it.

The security situation of the entire world dramatically declined on September 11th 2001.  It has got no worse since 2003.  In fact less people have died per year in terrorist attacks around the world since 2004 than in the years 2001-2003.  I for one am happy to see that Iraq is holding it’s own trials and tribunals against those who committed mass atrocities against it’s own citizens and it’s neighbours in the country’s recent history.   These trials are being held in open court, with findings and evidence being published frequently.  This would never have happened under Saddam, and these people would have never seen justice.  They would have continued their life living in palaces, living off the income from the oil fields whilst the workers suffered, and those that were of a different religious order would be raped, tortured and murdered at the whim of a power-hungry fascist elite.

When the ‘war’ first started a majority of the commentators to this post-war world were not standing on the rooftop crying ‘shame! foul!’.  Most of them were with public opinion, which was a sense of ‘something needs to be done, but we’re not entirely convinced that war is the way to go, however Saddam is making a mockery of the UN, and if this works as it should the actual ‘war’ should be over very soon’.  The silent majority were happy to support our troops and see where it went, as were the commentators.   But since the war, the slow and bloody rebuilding effort has caused a sway of ‘I-told-you-so’s’ from the people who in reality told us nothing of the sort.  They created a very hefty bandwagon on which there appeared to be enough room for everyone to jump.

Opinions are useless in all walks of life unless they are informed ones.  Informed by either a collection of accurate facts, or in the absence of facts, a healthy dose of experience in the field, and history of the situation at hand.  The British public and the media have neither.  They were not subject to the briefings, the reports, the intelligence gathering, and back-room talks; let alone the ‘tipped-winks, unnaturally prolonged hand-shakes coupled with a brief stare, and quiet maneuvering’ that has been a part of international diplomacy for thousands of years.  They were not, never will be, and most definitely shouldn’t be aware of all of the information gathered and where that information came from.

So the people that stand outside the QE2 Conference centre holding up the ‘Bliar’ banners, need to sit back for a moment.  They need to think about what information they have that the Chilcot Inquiry don’t. They should come forward and say what meetings they are aware of that contradict Tony Blair’s testimony.  They need to explain to the people that have yet to make up their mind, why they think that Tony Blair is a murderer, why they feel the coalition that went to Iraq had no business being there.   Why only a minority of Iraqi citizens feel the need to move around blowing things up yet the rest seem happy to create life, jobs and government, whilst the protesters share the same sentiment to the ‘war’ as the minority.  They need to explain why they say the only reason we went to war was money and oil,  yet the amount of oil being imported to the UK and the US in 2003-2008 is on average 44% lower than it was in the years up to 2003.  The oil price is not set by the UK or the US, and the income for the oil being extracted in Iraq is shared between the companies extracting it, and the Iraqi government.   The military operation has cost billions, and will continue to cost billions more.   There has been no financial incentive.   The US military is currently using thousands of troops, and many more engineers to upgrade the oil infrastructure in Iraq, and to ensure the security of it’s workers.  They are not getting paid for this task, and the only benefits are to the Iraqi Government, the people of Iraq, and the companies that work there.

Those people I referred to earlier who appeared to already be in possession of information that eludes the rest of us; the protesters, the media etc., they have already made up their minds.  They are baying for blood. Shouting words like ‘Justice! Murderer!’  Some feel that capital punishment should return for Blair and the like. They shout about an open trial by jury, and the ‘inevitable whitewash’ if the Inquiry was to rule ‘no foul’.  Yet how fair could the trial be, if to all of these people, ANY verdict other than ‘Blair is guilty, and the War was unfounded’ is deemed incorrect.  In reality there is already a trial occurring.  There is a panel of several learned men and women, weighing evidence and ‘judging’ the participants.   The only reason that this isn’t good enough for some, is that the panel was undecided on the outcome at the start, is looking to learn things that were unknown to them before, and wish to be fair and open-minded.  The only trial that would suit the placard holders would have to be made up of people who had their opinions of guilt/innocence registered before the commencement of the Inquiry.

The protesters need to get on with their lives, and start helping others.  If they have the time to stand outside buildings shouting outright lies on a weekday, then they have time to go out into the world, learning how it really works, and helping those that truly need help.  They are spiteful, mean-spirited, and two-faced.

As for the media.  A return to factual reporting, allowing the people to make informed decisions, and leaving the bias, the manipulation, and bare-faced hypocrisy behind would benefit society far more than the current model, yet perhaps wouldn’t be so profitable.

I welcome any comments to this blog, and I look forward to debating with those who may hold a different view.

Rupert Murdoch says he will remove stories from Google‘s search index as a way to encourage people to pay for content online.

In an interview with Sky News Australia, the mogul said that newspapers in his media empire – including the Sun, the Times and the Wall Street Journal – would consider blocking Google entirely once they had enacted plans to charge people for reading their stories on the web.

At least someone in the audience likes him....maybe a little too much.

I know the story is a couple of days old now, but it is such a good’n’ I feel the need to commit something to writing so that I to may basque in the glory of I-WAS-RIGHT-AND-HE-WAS-SO-VERY-WRONG that will inevitably come in the near future.

This glorious day has a 80% chance of arriving in one of two ways:

1. Because his advisors (who MUST be better at running a company than Rupert, otherwise News Corp would no longer be trading) have managed to convince the old crone that he may as well start giving away free anthrax samples with every newspaper for all the good blocking his sites from search engines will do.

or

2. The guy would have stamped his feet enough that News Corp actually go through with his ‘evil’ plan (no, I don’t ACTUALLY think his plan is evil….it just sounded good), that traffic to his sites drops dramatically, he fails to reach existing visit targets for advertisers and loses gazillions of dollars, and the lack of traffic/negative press deter future advertisers from his sites.

So why only 80% chance you ask?  Well…..he’s not a spring chicken any more.  I’m just sayin’!  Even I won’t gloat over the body of a dead man.  I wish him many more happy years,  cause I REALLY, REALLY want to gloat.

So, I must tell you now that I am actually a large customer of Mr Murdoch (no, I’m not fat, I meant financially).  That is, not a small sum of money leaves my account each month in exchange for a Sky+ HD Multiroom subscription.  I also pay for all the TV packages, the Movies and the Sports, the telephone line, telephone calls, and broadband.  I also work away from home a lot, so having access to SKY Player to watch movies and current TV is a real bonus.

I find that technically, the service is sound.  It very rarely goes wrong.  Financially, it is a good deal.  If I were to piece together the same package from separate providers it would cost much more.  Other than Virgin of course, but cable isn’t available in the area for that apartment.   However, the customer service, the engineers, the call centres, and the billing system sucks.  It is a close 2nd for suckiness behind BT.  But, if the technology itself never goes wrong, then I should never have to speak with them.  I will continue to keep my fingers crossed, but if it was to start breaking down and I actually had to start dealing with these people (the people that took 4 hours and 6 phone conversations to understand that I wanted to upgrade to HD), then I would most certainly go elsewhere.  I’m lucky enough to be in a position where my time is more valuable than money, and if Sky start stealing that, then I really would get mad (with steam out of the ears and everything).

My point being that I and I’m sure most other consumers are savvy.  We weigh up what we want, we estimate what we think something is worth.  We will sometimes pay a little more than something is worth, but we will weigh up the benefits of having that item or service against how much it will dent our pockets (the only exception to this general rule of thumb is drugs;  drugs put a whole new spin on ‘reasoned’ analysis, so we’ll quietly ignore THOSE purchases for now). Oh, and by the way, DON’T DO DRUGS!!   So, back to my point; if I get a better, more comprehensive, FREE news/tabloid service from many other companies, there is no way in heck that I’ll be paying any extra for it.

I downloaded a new Sky Mobile App on the iPhone yesterday.  Wow! Does this mean I get the same functionality of SKY Player on my iPhone??  No. Does it mean I get the SKY news channel coupled with a few Sports Channels? Yes; I feel I’m starting to lose you. So I get this free because I’m a SKY customer, already paying for this content with a full SKY subscription? No. What the F%*k?  So how much is it? £6 per month. £6 a month to access something I can already access on my laptop, PC, or at home at no extra cost? Yes. That blows! Yes, yes Mr Stakounis, it does indeed…blow.

The app will most certainly be useful for all those Premierball, ship thing match fans who don’t have a Sky subscription, and I’m sure it’ll make Murdoch a few more quids to line his coffin with, however I resent being asked to pay for the same thing twice.  Just like I resent being asked for money to access something which others are providing for free.

Even before the internet I got all my news from Reuters. I ‘browse’ Reuters for news, if I overhear a snipet or want to lookup a news story, I will Google it, and I will usually pick a selection of sites to read about the subject.  Once on those sites, I almost always start clicking links in the sidebar to other potentially interesting content, whether it be commercial or not.  I have asked a few friends and colleagues whether this is normal surfing behavior (because lets face it, I’m not to know what is normal), and shock of all shocks, a unanimous “yeah, we’re with you Rich, that’s exactly how we ‘do’ the internet too”.  So, I believe that when Mr M said that “readers who randomly reach a page via an internet search hold little value to advertisers.”, he was talking from a point of very little understanding of his readership, the internet, or the modern e-marketplace.  Thank goodness for News Corp that they employ intelligent people to, you know, actually RUN the company.  But as far as pretty-boy, air-headed, company poster-boys go; I don’t rate him.  He doesn’t turn me on to the company, doesn’t turn me on (perish the thought), and doesn’t make me want to buy anything.  In fact every time he speaks in public I feel kinda dirty.

I used to buy the Times on an occasional Sunday morning and spend the day reading at a street cafe in London, just to pass the time, but I have never bought a tabloid, I don’t care for gutter journalism, I like to keep my ‘news’ completely separate from my ‘editorials, opinions, and commentaries’, and I certainly will not be paying anymore money the Sky/News Corp or Mr M in any guise unless absolutely necessary.  My Sky subscription has increased by 25% in 2 years as it is.

The plain truth is, that Murdoch has too much influence on the social and political leanings of his press, his opinions and ideals are separated by a whole world’s worth of space from mine, and I simply won’t pay to be fed it, unless it is done with reason, education, information, and intelligence.

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