THE NORMAL PEOPLE IN COURT

Once Atilla and the crew had been seen off from Finsbury I never went back or was ever really curious about the new trustees. Some company approached me about using my footage in conjunction with a proposal they were doing about filming the new posse. I forget what happened. Well obviously it didn't happen but I don't know why not.

Anyway it was very interesting to see them all up close in Episode 3 of the BBC's excellent series See You in Court. I didn't really develop any more opinion about them from watching this than I did on the street when I saw them, but you can't watch this series without developing really strong opinion about lawyers. Trial watching over the years I have never got a good feeling from either prosecution or defence. The system feels alarming in all sorts of ways.

I do remember the Newsnight piece about these Policy exchange people though. I am glad this doco gave the mosque the publicity of seeing those worms wriggle out of the situation by legallese rather than standing up in court even though it cost them so much money.

Anyway as a blast from the past- here is my film from the first Friday the new trustees took over. I only ever really revisit these films myself to clean the youtube numbskulls comment-turds up.

Generation Jihad

Some of the framework of the language around all this puzzles me still but I like Peter Taylors films. Do watch and see what you think. Generation Jihad

Also- How the Internet has taken over the world, or something like that- a new series. I think this chick is quite sexy. She has a really graceful walk which they film her doing all over the world and I like the way she nods at people when they are speaking to her. The Virtual Revolution

SOUPS UP

I am loving Rick Steyns Far Eastern Odyssey on the iPlayer. I just love the food of South East Asia and I have had my wok out a lot recently, sometimes two woks when I make a meat and veggie version of the same meal for friends. I was in Thailand in 93 and I still miss the place, particularly the food, although smiling chicks chatting you up- even the girls behind the counter in the bank doesn't do any harm either. I have had my notebook out collecting a shopping list of ingredients. Recipes from the programme are here.

Rick Stein comes across as particularly camp in this series which I never noticed before, but he is out camped by loads of local TV chefs he meets on this journey. I really get the philosophy behind this cooking and can knock stuff up without following recipes as such, although I think I am going to pay a bit more attention to these hot salads because that is something I have never made which I remember noticing all those years ago.

I remember landing, all green in a foreign country, being scared of the street food, and the process over the three months I was there getting more and more into it until I was raging about it like Stein does in these programmes. That is the big differenece between Thailand and India. Both taste great, but in India you have to be really careful with streetfood, whereas in Thailand you dont at all. Even the simplest of set ups usually has a three washing up bowl process I used to observe whilst eating. I miss Thailand. Hope I can go back soon.

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What are we fighting for?

Very good question from Panorama

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BABYLON DEM TEEF MI ERB

Actually I haven't smoked any herb for two months, or any of the evil weed either. I have had to avoid a bit of social for a while, but managed to get totally pissed the other day without smoking a single fag for the first time. I can watch people smoke without wanting one, its no big deal really.

Anyway, I am not a big fan of other vices like trash TV but I must admit I have really been enjoying Hotel Babylon. I remember this from a few years back. I took no interest in it at the time. On this relaunch I have been hooked since the beginning. Episodes are available on the iPlayer here.

The script is mainly comedy. It is light and silly. A bit kinky, not enough for my liking, but still for family entertainment it is really quite fun. I like all of the characters. All of them except the guy who owns the hotel who sounds like kermit the frog. He looks like one of those bland failed Rugby player types and he is familiar from some other mainstream TV I have successfully managed to avoid. Probably a Police show as he looks like a copper too come to think of it.

He didn't turn up from episode one scene one and when he did, without giving the plot away, it wasn't certain that he was going to stick around. I was a bit sad when he did as he doesn't act as well as kermit, but the other characters managed to hold my attention, particularly the sexy, scary east European cleaning lady.

I watched the latest episode earlier based around poker, where a cunning buisnessman was trying to get the hotel off of the green fella. I was cheering for the cunning stunt-er. I was almost hopeful when frog voice lost the hotel in a game of poker but sadly it was not to be. Overall this is just bubblegum TV which I shouldn't really be watching but save for the kermit influence I can't help liking it.

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BRUNO

Yes I was set up for that properly watching some bequiffed idiot slagging it off on BBCNews24.

"I laughed three times blah blah, It's the end of the road for Sasha Baron-Cohen blah blah."

Pekham Multiplex is fairly rowdy on a Friday night and the perfect place to see this movie. I have never been in a cinema where everyone laughed so much. I can't say a lot without spoiling it for you. I prefer Borat as a character, but obviously with Bruno Baron-Cohen has more scope to offend more people in much more offensive ways which he does as an almost ritualistic artform. Genius. Watch it.

Lots of gay people review the film on Newsnight here, but watch the film first.

UPDATE: I watched the film again with some friends in the more sedate and plush Greenwich picture house. Deathly silence as the film started. It was all wrong. When I sit down in Pekham I usually ask myself why am I paying money for this- but to watch Bruno you need a baying crowd of friday night lunatics. None of the people I went with liked the film at all. I suppose you either get Sasha Baron Cohen or you don't. Personally I think he is the most imortant comedian alive at the moment. I think people are going to write thesies about his comedy. My friends were suggesting that it needed a written introduction for people to understand it!

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Occupational Therapy

I have noticed there is a preoccupation at the BBC with fictional dramas based around issues brought up by the War on Terr-r but I can't help personally being offended by them. Docudramas are often very good. I can see why a film maker would dedicate themselves to telling true stories of what happened. Fictionalisations, regardless of how well intentioned they are, just seems to be offensive to the memory of real people who are suffering or who have died.

Occupation on the iPlayer

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You don't have to watch the news anymore!

Let Charlie watch it for you. This is fucking great.

On this one week in a thousand where I can't complain about news as it is the first time to my memory a member of the TSG has been brought to book my the media for what they do ALL THE TIME.

When I started protesting it was fairly much an accepted theology that the reason the "Mainstweam media" didn't report what the TSG were doing ALL THE TIME was because they were in colusion with them and the government. That is why Indymedia was set up.

I thought this for a while. I went to a few peaceful protests and a few which turned violent, but the violence fizzled out over the years, mainly as I have said here many times before, as a result of the FIT squad taking photographs of people and spending a lot of time trying to work out who these people were and hassling them as much as possible.

With the protesters generally getting more peaceful as a result, and the TSG still stuck in the 1980s they were really ripe for being caught out, and they were caught out badly, with the mainstream media finally turning on them. Stuff I used to see endlessly on Indymedia suddenly jumped out of the goldfish bowl. You can see it happening on one historic post from a website I was frankly bored by a long time ago.

These days I am not anti-mainstweam media. I have been trying to make stuff for TV for as long as I have been writing here. I have met good and bad journalists whilst occasionally following mad Muslims around and going to court cases. I haven't asked them, but I think the reason why the sort of stuff the TSG get up to ALL THE TIME hasn't been on TV before is because most of these journalists were as bored by all this as I was.


Rachel North has a lot of good stuff to say here
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RUSHDIE

An excellent chronological documentary of The Rushdie affair is on the iPlayer. History is a great teacher and in the case of this doco, and the recent stuff the BBC have gathered about Iran facts arranged in order are enlightening in themselves.

I somehow got round to reading The Satanic verses in India, where the book is banned. I can't remember if someone lent it to me or if I bought it under the counter in Pushkar. In my long tradition now of refusing to take a standpoint, I wont take a standpoint on the Rushdie affair either. Yes I agree with freedom of speech, yet if I was a politician in India where riots are spontaneous, dangerous and regular occurances it would be very hard to think the publishing of a book to be worth some random strangers life.

As a work of fiction, the Satanic verses is one of the best stories I have read. It is rooted in the imagination. A truly psychedelic tale. I totally missed the prostitutes dressing as the prophets wives until I was involved in a discussion about all this on Pickled Politics somewhere and someone said

"Muslims take the prophets wives to be their own mothers. How would you feel if someone called your mother a whore?"

Hmmm.. You're mother's a whore is a common playground insult isn't it. In a squat I lived in around 94 a friend of mine launched himself at another random squatter who kept saying "You're mothers a whore". I thought this hilarious. I had absolutely no sympathy for either of them. I didn't have that good a time in the playground growing up either. I am not going back there for anyone.

When I see Rushdie speak I don't warm to him, in a way that I do to Hanif Kureshi talking about smoking dope in front of Rushdie's secret service protectors at their dinner parties for instance. More irksome is the jealousy I probably feel to Rushdie for the type of dolly birds he attracts. He's an ugly fucker what the story? Is he in league with Satan or something?

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MALUNG TV NEWS

Loads going on in mad Jihadiland at the mo. I watched Richard Watsons Muslim first, British second on the iPlayer yesterday. I heard about the progress of this film a long while back from Mr Waleed and was at the Islam4UK meet that features in this doco, though I was outside having a cigarette and missed argument with Mr Watson. I blogged my version of events (THE MAGICIANS OF THE PHARAOH here)

From what I heard there certianly seems to be some beef between the guys and Mr Watson, or maybe the BBC in general. I don't know what about, maybe I will find out in due course when Mr Waleed gets back to me. I think they have another meet up coming up the beginning of March. When I was in Finsbury I thought the investment in tension between Muslims and media to be unproductive but unsurprising. Without going through specifics it is hard to unpick or to know how to go about filming. Of course I disagree fundamentaly with some of the fundamentals of Islam, but if I want to do something its really just to document, and if possible to look for solutions. I'm interested in who people think they are and the vison they have of Britain, now.

Anyway, in further "Abu news" Abu Qatada has been passed for deportation to Jordan so he'll be lost in the corridors of Brussels, or Strasbourg or wherever the fuckin European court of Human rights is for a little while. Oh and they want to give him money. Also heading that direction is Abu Hamza, who may be able to sit out his wait at home.

Whitehall torture by proxy, of course they do. I'm not even taking a position there- if someone knows about some up coming terr-ist attatcks how do you get them to tell you about it? I don't know. Anyway now the government are looking for Muslims with beards who want an Islamic state, don't like homosexuals, believe in Jihad and fail to condemn the killing of British soldiers.

Err.. OK. I know some of them. What happens now?

We want to label them as "Extremists" who "Don't share our common British ideals."

Err.. OK. Good. Do that. Lets label them as extemists. Maybe they should wear a fucking star or something? And while we are talking shared British values what is going to happen at Stonehenge next Solstice? Are you going to send extremists to stiffle common British values rearing their pretty little heads? Seriously. British values are important. I don't want to fight anyone for them, but I'd love to enjoy them you know?

The BBC go into a bit more detail saying

...that Muslim leaders who urge separation will be isolated and publicly rejected. He also said this would occur even if their comments fell within the law. This will include those who argue that Muslims should not vote and that homosexuals should be condemned on religious grounds...

I still don't get it. Isolated? Publicly rejected? By who? Richard Littlejohn in a dog collar? What does this mean in reality? They can't come to the party? From what I have seen I don't think they want to come to the party.

Down in Belmarsh the liquid guys are up again, with the prosecution telling a different (Gulzar-less) story and the first jury being mysteriously dsmissed by the judge. I don't know if I can be arsed to head down for any more of this.

Anyway what else? Oh. There is a jihad going on in Somalia where some of these guys come from. Hajj knew a couple of them. Said they were very nice. He was very surprised to see them naked outside a flat on TV.

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Giving this man compensation is a triumph for democracy over medievalism- (The Times)
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Changing the World

A great documentary about the Iranian revolution- The Man Who Changed the World is on the iPlayer. What surprises me is that a lot of the Iranians who were involved don't look like fundamentalists at all. If you like docos about global politics straight from the horses mouth, they have assembled a whole field of old horses for a whole series of this. Top stuff.

Also on the iPlayer- Around the World in 80 Faiths covering snake handlers, polygamists and The Burning Man festival.

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FINALLY THE HERB COME AROUND...

Cannabis is the world's favourite drug, but also one of the least understood. Can cannabis cause schizophrenia? Is it addictive? Can it lead you on to harder drugs? Or is it simply a herb, an undervalued medicine?

Addiction specialist Dr John Marsden discovers that modern science is finally beginning to find answers to these questions. John traces the cannabis plants' birthplace in Kazakhstan; finds the origins of our sensitivity to cannabis in the simple sea squirt; and shows just what it does to our brains.

He meets people who have been changed by this drug in drastically different ways - from those whose lives have been shattered to those who lives have been revived.

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THE MAGICIANS OF THE PHARAOH

OK. Taking it from the top, Anjum Choudhary called me yesterday. He took me by surprise as I don't know him and I was recovering from a pretty good Halloween, but if he hadn't have called I might have been tempted to go to some huge multi rig squat party last night and I'd have missed his event today, or worse still turned up with no sleep in fancy dress on some mad mission so all is well that ends well as they say. I turned up without shoes in Finsbury one friday but luckily a friend pulled me away. I am off too much head battering at the moment. I am sure they would say Allah is decreeing all of this. What did I hear tonight which I didn't hear in two years on the street outside Finsbury? Some stuff about going to the toilet and a story about a bull. Oh and there is a new government policy directed at their main man, Mr Bakri. More of all that in a bit.

I turned up at 2pm stopping off at my favourite place on Brick lane to pick up a singara. There were a lot of people, male and female waiting outside for the place to open. I recognised a coupla people from Mr Waleeds talk the other day. I was looking for familiar faces from Finsbury as there are a few people I am worried about and I'd like to make sure are OK. Its been a long time.

Like in Finsbury I stood back, and stood out racially, culturally and fashionably, not that I was fashionable. Although dressing a bit smarter would probably help me in a lot of situations, and people often tell me to do so I find it a lot easier doing these things being myself from the start. It saves confusion. I don't see any point pretending to be all paly with people or thinking that anyone would view me with anything but suspicion knowing that I am a journalist -of sorts.

Once the seating had been arranged I sat down and read my book. I've borrowed Last Night a DJ Saved My Life from Paula so I read about the early history of hip hop whilst projectors were set up, microphone feed back got sorted etc. I've heard a lot of Muslims joke about how they always turn up late for things, this meeting scheduled for two finally got underway at three o'clock.

I'm not very good at numbers, there were maybe 300? Muslims of which maybe two or three were white faces and a couple of journalists who sood out almost as much as me. I introduced myself to Mr Choudary who sat on the stage in the middle. He started the event talking about Muslim prisoners and a desire to see the black flag of Islam over Downing street. He said that Richard Watson from Newsnight was there, and said that he and the BBC were working for the government and would probably hand their tapes to the Police afterwards. He was quite happy for them to do this, and wanted the Police to be sure of what was going on at his meetings. From first impressions he seems the calmest and most serious Muslim leader I have met so far. He introduced Abu Muaz, Head of the UK Salafi Youth Movement.

Mr Muaz straight away spoke about Muslims living without the Sharriah for 84 years. He said Muslims had forgotten the law and their obligations according to the Koran. He said they had fallen for the western concepts of "I think" and "I believe" and that this was a disease amongst Muslims today. He said that Muslims were calling for communism, socialism and secularism and that a lot of them didn't even know that Islam was itself a social and economic system.

He spoke of a blind Sheik locked up in 1996 who couldn't even speak English. He spoke about Aafia Siddiqui, who had been abducted from Pakistan, raped and tortured in Bagram air base and that a kidney of hers had been removed. He spoke of Abu Qatada, held without charge for years. Now he had been relesed he was tagged and under house arrest for 23 hours a day. He spoke about a Muslim in Leicester who had been pepper sprayed for parking on a double yellow line.

He said that he had to go around with a pocket full of belts to give to kids to stop their trousers falling down. He had spent some time at a big Islamic conference called GPU where 30 or 40 thousand Muslims had gathered. He detailed how he had challenged them. They agreed that a lot of what they were doing was haram but said it was all worth it to get so many Muslims in one place. He said they were confused. They thought they needed to read the Koran for forty years before they understood it and only intended to set about implementing it after that. They read books but they don't struggle. What would Mohammed do if he was alive today?

People practice Islam inside the mosque but outside they are secular. In Saudi Sheiks pass fatwahs which decree that the Saudi army are the mujahadeen, yet their job is to kill Muslims who want to live under Sharriah law. Sheiks in this country decree that it is OK for Muslims to join the army and the Police who suppress Islam. Mohammed said that if you join them, you are them.

He said that he had confronted one of the main organisers of the GPU conference. He had asked him whether Muslims should uphold the law of the Sharriah or the law of the Queen. The guy had said this was a "fikdi(?") question- one he was not qualified to answer. He spoke of a Saudi Sheik (Bin Baz I think) who had decreed that it was OK for 500 thousand US troops to be in Saudi, but in the next breath had said that it was wrong for someone to have a christian maid.

The West pushes freedom but doesn't allow people to defend the freedom of others. The west champions freedom of speech, yet Muslims are jailed for words whilst paedophiles go free. He accused the media of being the "Magicians of the Pharaoh" who would always portray Islam in a negative light, using terms like Terrorist, Fundamentalist and Extremist to describe those who wanted to live under the Shariah.

"What do you expect from a dog? Even if you put the skin of a lion on a dog it is still a dog."

He said that they always invited the media, but they always twist and spin what is said because they are a mouthpiece for the government. The government were now passing instructions to schools to spy on Muslim kids, The NASUWT had approved this and were now informing the Police if a kid drew a picture of a Christmas Cracker.

Mr Choudhary then spoke some more about the labelling of those who belived in Islam as "Exremists" "Radicals" and "Fundamentalists". He said that Newsnight had connected every terrorist plot in this country to Omar Bakri. He said they were blamed for everything for just being Muslims, but all these labels would mean nothing on the day of judgement. He encouraged people to smile in the face of those who would attack them. He spoke of a new government policy, introduced by Jaqui Smith to "Name and shame" extremists and said that the first person on the list was Omar Bakri.

We watched a video detailing the fate of Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo, particularly the youngest prisoner who you have probably seen on the news crying for his mother. His mother said Muslims could help by sending money and by turning up at his court case. The video was paused to introduce Omar Bakri live from Lebanon. This didn't quite work out over the net, so Mr Choudhary phoned him from the stage and put the phone to the microphone.

Mr Bakri spoke against man made law and repression disguised as socialism and caplitalism. He said that people should go back to the Koran and the Sunna which contained the only solutions. He said that Muslims shouldn't obey man made laws and that if anyone ordered them to they should tell them they are a Muslim "Loud and Proud". They should walk, talk, sleep and eat like Muslims. He said that "They" want to silence you and branded the new law of inctement "crazy". He reassured people that names weren't important. Only Mohammed was important. Whatever disbelievers said about them they shouldn't worry.

Mr Choudhary said that they should never stop calling for Shariah law, then he introduced Abu Yahya, Spokesman for the Followers of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'aah who would give a talk about "Defending the Honour of the Muslims".

He was maybe the youngest person on the stage. Mr Yahya said someone had challenged a Muslim (In the Koran? I'm not sure) asking if Mohammed had decreed how to go to the toilet. The guy had countered that Mohammed had told them to wash with their left hand, some wierd shit I couldn't understand about stones (piles? clangnuts? fuck knows) and not to face "kiblah" when taking a dump. That probably shut the guy up. I think he said something about the fossilised remains of kaffirs having shit on their right hands. I'm not too sure.

He critisized Muslims for going to the UN. Mohammed had told them that if they went to the kaffirs with begging bowls in their hands "The fire would touch them". He also critisized Muslims for having selfish western attitudes which led them to look after themselves and their families and not worry about Muslims abroad. He told a parable to illustrate this.

If I have got this right, there were three black bulls and a white bull and a wolf who wanted to eat them. Whilst they stuck together they could see off the wolf. The wolf came to the back bulls and told them that if they stood without the white one at night he couldn't see them. The white bull gave them away. He said that this was the US policy toward Pakistan. The black bulls had a discussion like a lot of western Muslims did about Hamza and Bakri. They were a problem. They ditched the white bull.

The next night the wolf attacked the lone white bull who cried "Where are my brothers?". He equated this with the situation in Palestine. Over the next nights he took his chances with the black bulls and picked them off one by one. Mr Yahya equated this with Afghanistan and Iraq. He said that as the last bull died he realised that he had actually died the day he let his white brother down.

Muslims everywhere say "What has Bakri, Hamza and Quatada got to do with me?". Mohammed told them to stand with the Muslim whether he is an oppressor or oppressed. He spoke of the disease of nationalism amongst Pakistanis and Arabs. No one could call themselves a true Muslim unless they wanted for their brother what they wanted for themselves. Taking Shahada (becoming a Muslim) was totally a political thing. It couldn't be seperated from politics like some Muslims say. Musilms would be tested. He berated Muslims for doing nothing about 17 sisters in British jails.

He spoke of an 18 year old Muslim girl who had been taken from a camel train in a raid and presented as a gift to the King of Grenada who raped her. Some Islamic ruler upon hearing this swore that he wouldn't sleep with his wife whilst this girl remained a prisoner and conquered the whole shit, town by town until he rescued her.

He said that talk of the Taliban not educating women was propaganda. He said that the prophet had told them to take half their deen from his wife Aysha. The Taliban had only closed schools when there was a civil war. People laughed when they said Islams black flag would one day be over Downing street. People laughed at the prophet when he said they would one day conquer Persia too.

Mr Choudhary closed this first half of the meeting by stating his belief that a Covenant of Security existed for them in this country as their life and wealth was protected by our laws, but that they should never stop exposing man made law, and never stop calling for the Shariah which was inevitable. Just before the break Mr Choudhary said that all kaffirs were liars. Even if they spoke truth sometimes they were just kaffir liars who spoke the truth.

I couldn't stay for the second half. I left thinking that if everyone at Finsbury thought this lot were in league with MI-5 they were probably wrong. Its certainly an interesting theory which is no doubt popular with conspiracy heads. Maybe I will get round to asking them, to see what they say. Muslims in the press used to say that Hamza was giving Islam such a bad name that he was probably working for MI-5 himself. I also left wondering what I could do with these guys on film which hasn't already been covered. Maybe I could report what they say without "twisting or spinning" or becoming a "Magician of the Pharaoh". Maybe I could be a "Kaffir liar who spoke the truth." Some ambition eh.

Report what people say?

What- Journalism? Here? ha ha ha ho ho. Seriously?

Naaah.

Boring.

No one would be interested in that.


Islam4UKs own video footage of the event is here


Richard Watson presented some of his work on "The Rise of the British Jihad" and chaired a discussion at the Frontline club a few days ago which you can find online here.

UPDATE:

Islamic radicals make mockery of hate laws in The Evening Standard

Why Hasn’t Anjum Choudhry Been Arrested from Harry's Place

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Jack: A Soldiers Story

Is it worth it? On the iPlayer.

BBC: SAVED

Absolutely fantastic. Every part fo this doco should be incorporated into the society we live in NOW.

BOORMAN BORES AGAIN

Fuckin hell what a LOAD OF SHIT!!! What a bunch of muppets! You fucked up India man! How could you fuck up India? No seriously India was great. The truck ride was brilliant. Just when you think you are going to see a bit of India- no. its back to Booringmans innane diary cam.

Focuses on sweaty butt.
Voice over: I am wearing the wrong trousers. I have a sweaty butt.
Switch to diary cam: My butt was very sweaty. People laughed when I walked by.
Back to Booringmans sweaty butt, Voice over: I have a sweaty butt.

later

Focus on hobbling cameraman, voice over: Camera man has twisted his ankle.
Switch to diary cam: Camera man has twisted his ankle. It might be bad.
Back to hobbling cameraman: I have hurt my ankle. I have no idea how bad it is.

Who fucking edited this crap? Hilarious.

Train goes past poor people, voice over: Ahh.. Poor people. Beside railway tracks.

India looked as amazing as usual though.

BBC: SAVED

The BBC has been saved from a fate worse than Charlie Boorman's paint drying road trip by none other than Russel Brand, who has made a proper road movie. Fucking fantastic. Isn't he mad? isn't he zany? No. he is normal. Its every other fucker. I'm not going to say anymore, just watch it.

BOORMAN: WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN

I have been watching Charlie Boormans trip from Ireland to Sydney on the iPlayer. Is it me? Do they just miss the interesting bits out maybe? Didn't get them on film. The first two episodes come across as really bland. Its like a fucking package holiday only they have more interpreters laid on. I'd hate to have that much back up on a trip abroad. How can you have a genuine experience of a country which is your own? I never clicked before that Charlie Boorman is the son of John Boorman. Maybe it is the silver spoon which makes it all so bland. Am I jealous? Yeah probably. Of the trip, but not the company. This sort of planning would take all the fun out of a trip for me. Its the sort of thing a snooty girlfriend would insist on. How can you film a bloody trip around the world and it be crap? Ah well. They are in India next episode so I have a bit of hope. You could fall over drunk with a camera in India and make a good movie.

For a less Boor-ring travelers tale read Tom Thumbs Hand to Mouth to India. I met this guy at the end of his journey and got one of the first copies printed in Goa. I advised Tom to approach some publishers on his return but he didn't seem too keen on the idea. I think he had had enough of his trip by then. I was pleased to come across the book selling well on Amazon a few years ago.

Terror in the Skies

Panorama's Terror in the Skies is on the BBC iPlayer. Good stuff, very well done. I watched a lot of this trial and was as surprised as these guys relatives seemed to be that such mild mannered people would attempt something like this. I was also surprised that the jury believed Mohammed Gulzar. I'm not saying I didn't believe him, watching him give evidence he seemed very convincing. I'm glad I wasn't on the jury.

The last statement about "Wondering where the devil they might have been radicalized" is the usual TV terror thing which gets my goat. This seems ridiculous to me. Is the suggestion that Al-Qaeda types are spiriting around mosques with swinging pocket watches? I don't get it.

Muslim kids are growing up together, they see what is happening in Palestine, they understand that it couldn't happen without masses of US tax dollars. They see the West is propping up corrupt dictators, one after another in Muslim countries. This is common knowledge, its not a conspiracy theory. I wonder. Do they feel small? Powerless? Angry maybe? How does this shape these peoples lives? I was very surprised by 7/7, afterwards I have been more surprised how relatively few Muslims are reacting like this over here. Don't get me wrong, I could never actively support the notion of an Islamic state, it would suppress the free choice of a lot of my friends. I can see though that it must be obvious to every Muslim that an Islamic state is being actively suppressed by some major power groups worldwide, and this is what radicalizes them.

FIRE BURN DEM

Everyone should watch Burn up. Everyone who hasn't already that is. Its an "Eco-Thriller". Its hilarious.

Some reviews:

...To say Beaufoy’s characters are two-dimensional would be an insult to flat surfaces...

...It probably would be sensible to at least wait until I’d seen the second part before condemning Burn Up as an absolute stinker. But why wait...

...It wasn’t a bad attempt at taking on climate change in a dramatic made-for-TV format. The first turns at addressing a new social/political phenomena are always going to be a little cliched...

..I expect it’ll get so much sillier in the final episode. But the greenies won’t care anyway...

I found the whole thing fucking hilarious. I laughed all the way through. After these stupid luvie terr-ist fantasies (First episode of Bonekickers and Britz) we needed a global warming thriller! I read loads more reviews of this where people were complimenting the acting. Strange. It looked to me like everyone was acting with the script stuck up their ass sideways. Don't get me wrong, I agree completely with the sentiment- we've got photo-voltaics on the roof, Mescoli woodchip burners, I cycle everywhere- I don't even use the tube if I can help it, but this is just crap. Hilarious, but crap. Can't wait for episode two.