Opinion, like water, finds its own level, and there is little the great and the good can do to stop it.
This new world of communications presents a paradox: while once there
was a shared cultural narrative which could be shaped and promoted by a
relatively small class of opinion formers, now each of these outlets for
news and opinion (including this august blog) feeds into its own
self-selecting audience. We can hear and know much more, but we tend to
use this freedom to compartmentalise ourselves into more entrenched
ghettos of opinion. Community is fragmented, and when this is coupled
with ‘multiculturalism’ it is little wonder that our political rulers
are struggling to keep up with the fast-moving monster they helped to
create.
They did this in a variety of ways. The progressive movement thought it
had captured the commanding heights of the media economy when it gained
dominance in the BBC and the major newspapers. We saw its early
successes in writing the agenda for a Palestinian state, the EU,
abortion reform and Irish Republicanism. It was the BBC that undermined
British Government attempts to marginalise Sinn Fein by employing actors
to voice the words that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness were not
allowed to speak for themselves. Unfortunately for that strain of
opinion, the chickens are coming home to roost. We are fragmenting in
our news sources and our communities.
If bomb-planting Irish Republicans and Palestinians deserve to be heard,
why not violent Islamists? And if them, why not the EDL? If one media
outlet ignores such opinion, another will promote it.
full heartical here
check out the comments too....very interesting
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Norman Scarth
Between 1941 and 1945, hundreds of merchant vessels left Loch Ewe –
as well as the Clyde and ports in Iceland – to deliver supplies, weapons
and ammunition to northern Soviet Union ports of Arkhangelsk
(Archangel) and Murmansk. They were escorted by ships of the Royal Navy,
Royal Canadian Navy, and the U.S. Navy and together battled extreme
weather and German bombardment from U-boats, Junkers 88 aircraft and
battleships. It was crucial to the ultimate Allies’ success to keep a
vital supply line with Russia open. Winston Churchill said the Arctic Convoy mission was “the most dangerous journey in the world“.
Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost and over 3,000 men died during the convoys but one who survived the dense fog, 60 feet waves, icy cold seas, and enemy guns, was the young HMS Matchless sailor, Norman Scarth, who was just 18 years old when his destroyer (pictured above left) was part of the battle on Boxing Day 1943 that saw the sinking of Germany’s mightiest battleship, the Scharnhorst by Royal Navy battleship, HMS Duke of York. There are a significant number of West Yorkshire Police officers and members of the judiciary in the North of England who wish it was Scarth who had perished in the freezing Arctic Ocean that night.
Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost and over 3,000 men died during the convoys but one who survived the dense fog, 60 feet waves, icy cold seas, and enemy guns, was the young HMS Matchless sailor, Norman Scarth, who was just 18 years old when his destroyer (pictured above left) was part of the battle on Boxing Day 1943 that saw the sinking of Germany’s mightiest battleship, the Scharnhorst by Royal Navy battleship, HMS Duke of York. There are a significant number of West Yorkshire Police officers and members of the judiciary in the North of England who wish it was Scarth who had perished in the freezing Arctic Ocean that night.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
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