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The Madeleine McCann GPS Locator For Your Potentially Missing Kids

mccann-madeleine4MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann: Madeleine McCann’s name is being used in the context of a bit of kit that tags your kids.

Anna Maxted tests a new device that enables parents to track their child via satellite from a computer or mobile phone.

Anna Maxted is the Telegraph’s jobbing mum, which in the media makes her ideally placed to spread the panic about missing kidzzz. Because mums know best (in pictures).

The last time I mislaid a child – my four-year old, in the park, for 15 endless minutes – I wished unashamedly that he could be chipped, like the cat.

You mislaid a child? Surely you lose a child. You mislay your keys. Can you mislay a cat? Interestingly, one of Maxted’s kids – she has three boys – is called Oscar, which is a name ideally suited to a dog.

When Steve Salmon’s young daughter vanished during a family pub lunch (later found petting a pony in the adjacent field), he doubtless wished the same thing. Two years on, Salmon, chief executive of communications firm Lok8u, has launched the equally tongue-twisting NuM8, the world’s first GPS locator for children.

It’s not. A little research on the internet and Anorak finds this – and it is, like Maxted, beyond parody:

Child Locator as Featured in Duracell BrickHouse Child Locator Commercial; Distance Alerts help you keep a watchful eye on your wandering children, in a way that hasn’t been possible before. It’s Not You, All Children Wander; 2,185 Go Missing Every Day. Locate anything or anyone from 600 ft to an inch away. Get a warning from the custom distance alert or via included panic button tag.

It’s brought to you by Brickhouse Security. Brickhouse is a word usually joined to the word “shit”. You may also recall this warning from Anorak:

“New laws to regulate the use of high-tech child-tracking devices are being called for by MPs amid fears they could be used by paedophiles and stalkers. The technology is aimed at parents wanting to keep tabs on their children after a series of high-profile child murders and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann”

And there was this pair who rented out child tracking devices at the airport. While your stick your locator on the nose on your face, Maxted reviews her gadget:

To all appearances, it’s a chunky, child-friendly wristwatch, worn by the subject, that enables the fond parent to track their darling via satellite from a computer or mobile phone. But this is not a gadget for the morally squeamish. Behind the bright colours – choose from aqua blue, hot pink and lime green, or neutral black – the rubber strap contains a “web of reinforced steel”. If anyone – rebellious child or dastardly adult – attempts to remove the locator from its assigned wrist, Mummy or Daddy is alerted from their cappuccino via text…

Better if the in-built blowers began to shape the froth on the cappuccino to form the word “PAEDO” in chocolate.

According to the charity Missing Persons, formerly National Missing Persons Helpline, an estimated 140,000 children and young people run away or go missing every year in the United Kingdom. This, coupled with mothering three boys, has eroded my principles. I cannot wait to tag my kids.

That many, eh? How many are found alive and well? Maxted does not care to say.We do:

Tarling and Burrows’ 2004 study of Metropolitan Police missing person cases found that 99 per cent of cases were resolved within one year.

Any other facts?

A 2004 Home Office study (Newiss and Fairbrother, 2004: 1-6) found that, of the 798 police reports of child abduction and attempted child abduction in England and Wales that year:

• 56 per cent or all reports involved a stranger
• 47 per cent of all reports were ‘attempted child abductions by a stranger’
• 9 per cent of all reports were successful child abductions by a stranger

And…

…of the 798 police reports of child abduction and attempted child abduction in England and Wales that year, 23 per cent involved abduction by a parent.

Back to Maxted of the cappuccino:

Guilt forces me to opt for full disclosure. I tell the seven-year-old, “This is like a Ben 10 watch. You wear it, and I track you, like the police track baddies who try to escape from prison.”

He can but try…

I hunch over my phone in the park café, compulsively following the blue balloon on the screen’s Googlemap that proves that Oscar is safe beyond the trees, racing down the hill on his scooter without a helmet.

No helmet? WTF??!!!

It’s a luxury to sit for five minutes and know that one’s offspring has not been dragged out of the park by a predator.

Mums, eh. Always on the go.

I know he is fine, because my husband has marked a “safe zone” on the map – if Oscar breaches the park perimeter, I receive a warning text, and ‘live tracking’ will commence.

What if your husband’s taken him? What then?

Yet, as the locator doesn’t record heights, there’s always the chance that he might climb a tree – and, sipping espresso while staring at the screen balloon on my phone, if he fell out, I’d be none the wiser until the ambulance arrived.

Cappuccino. Espresso. We’re not medical experts, but we’d consider cutting down on the caffeine.

Suddenly, I feel NuM8’s reassurance is insufficient. I’m ready to step surveillance up a level. Might I suggest the next generation wristwatch comes with a hidden micro-camera, angled at my child’s face?

Then you can watch him being assaulted, smashing his head open or sobbing in real time?

This may be why, when I describe my new toy to Honor Rhodes, director of development at the Family and Parenting Institute, she is unimpressed. “Is this,” she says, “a symptom of panic-stricken but lazy parenting? I wonder what it is that we are trying to guard against, and I think it is that we don’t want our child to be Madeleine McCann. While that was so terrible, the worst thing that could possibly occur, it happens incredibly rarely. Your child is more likely to be struck by lightning.”

Was the media’s Our Maddie struck by lightning?

My resolve is tested when the three-year-old disappears into a school playground. He eventually turns up, happy and breathless, after a game of chase with the big children. I say sternly: “I didn’t know where you were, and I was frightened. Do not run off again!”

At which point he sobs and the big kids point and laugh heartily?

Meanwhile, Over in New Zealand, the tragic death of young child is the subject of the big debate: Aisling Symes was not abducted.

It is “Every parent’s secret dread“.

The tragic story of Aisling Symes captured so many hearts because it was a “lightning rod of dread” for all parents.

And then this:

The spectre of international cases, such as James Bulger, JonBenet Ramsey, and Madeleine McCann are buried deep in parental psyches, she says. However, when these cases are international, we can register but ignore them, she says. Suddenly, a child was missing in New Zealand and all those demons emerged.

And the global media reacts…

Madeleine McCann is missing – still missing. There are no suspects. there is no evidence of what happened to her. Her parents are innocent. Her name is being used to sell goods and services…

Posted: 20th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (10)


The BBC’s Question Time Makes BNP Leader Nick Griffin A Celebrity

bnp-nazis1HAVING invited BNP leader Nick Griffin to the big Question Time debate, the BBC has achieved its intended goal of getting the media to talk about its show.

Maybe if Question Time can develop its policy of featuring leaders of actual political parties, however odious they are, there will be no need to hire celebrities to sell politics to a slack-jawed audience.

Today’s update comes from former Army generals have written a letter warning that political extremists had no right to share the Armed Forces’ proud reputation.

War is no place for extremists!

The open letter is signed by former heads of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Richard Dannatt. As Sky News notes:

The move follows the British National Party’s (BNP) tactic of using images of Winston Churchill and wartime insignia during recent European election campaigns.

Remember that picture of the Spitfire? As Anorak noted at the time:

“Battle for Britain,” bellows the legend. That’s a Spitfire soaring thought the skies, strafing the fascist scum. Hurrah! It’s a Romeo Foxtrot Delta Plane, as flown by Polish pilots in the great fight. Poles of the famous 303 Squadron of the RAF – the group made up of Polish airmen. The Kościuszko squadron that claimed 126 enemy kills (fascists) more than any other unit during the Battle of Britain.

Who says the BNP is not inclusive, it having embraced a Jewish hippy, a far-right American nutter, climate sceptics, anti-fascist fascists, a desk off a corridor in Brussels, break dancers, coppers, Poles, the kids and fools.

The top brass’s letter to the Times goes thus:

“The BNP is claiming that it has a better relationship with the Armed Forces than other political parties. How dare they use the image of the Army, in particular, to promote their policies. These people are beyond the pale.

Beyond the pale? An unfortunate choice of words, or may an attempt at a pun.

But if the BNP can be easily undone, it is with humour and ridicule. Treat them with the contempt you usually reserve for Labour and the Tories.

The BNP in cartoons.

Russell Brand Appears On Question Time To Debate Ashley Cole, Nick Griffin And The BNP

Cartoons via:

ZCMSD, Tribune, Matt Wardman, Great Bustard, Chris Applegate, Tim Ireland, The Foreward News, Hullabamoo

Posted: 20th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (3)


Is Susan Boyle Pregnant In Time For Christmas 2009?

susan-boyle-cross-jesus3SUSAN Boyle to have a Christmas TV special. A panto?

Oh, no she won’t!

Oh yes she will.

Get Pebbles. Like Dick Whittington, she must  turn again for London!

Reports are that Susan will perform in front of celebrities for a festive “An Audience with Susan Boyle”.

Susan Boyle will appear before what is still called “a live studio audience” of celebs to answer questions from the likes of Amanda Holden, Cheryl Cole, Chris Biggins, Piers Morgan and (did we mention Amanda Holden?) and DJ Talent between songs?

A source tells the News of the World:

“Everyone is really excited about the show. With the huge worldwide appeal of Susan, the show could be screened right across the globe and potentially be one of the biggest ratings successes for ITV ever.”

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Posted: 19th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts | Comments (5)


Stephen Gately: Jan Moir Poised To Escape The 21000 Twitter Haters

jan-moirStephen Gately: Jan Moir is a global star, the PCC ready to reject 21,000 complaints, Ludovic Kennedy RIP and Twitter is only good for PR…

THE Death of Ludovic Kennedy, as told by Jan Moir.

Ludo, Stephen, Melvin, Germaine, Paxo; we all know who they are. And we are not being ghoulish to anticipate, or to be mentally braced for, their bad end: a long night, a mysterious stranger, an odd set of circumstances that herald a sudden death.

Sir Ludovic spent a life investigating miscarriages of justice, contributed to the abolition of the death penalty and was president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.

Another real sadness about Ludovic’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of marriages.

While Jan Moir is ser to become the Daily Mail’s obituary writer – hey, Jan RIP means Rest In Peace not RIP to shreds –  the media continues to write about the vibrant career of Jan Moir. As we’ve said, this middle-aged frump is having her Susan Boyle moment.

The Daily Mail is delighted:

A worldwide debate over a Daily Mail article on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately spread over the internet at the weekend.

Columnist Jan Moir’s comments on the singer’s shocking death sparked an extraordinary online response using sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Thousands have been moved to comment on Moir’s column after she wrote in last Friday’s paper about the circumstances surrounding the star’s death in Majorca, when he and his civil partner invited a Bulgarian man to their flat.

You’ve made it, Jan. The world knows who you are. You never needed a balloon and Loft Boy. You just stood on Stephen Gately’s corpse and spread your wings.

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Posted: 19th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (3)


How Richard Heene Planned To Dissect Falcon Heene’s Remains In Roswell Scam

falcon-heeneHAVING proved that the media will watch balloon so long as there is the scent of death attached to it, Richard Heene , father to Loft Boy Falcon Heene, responds to news that his adventures with flight might have been a scam to con a voracious media into featuring him on the telly.

Forget Jail, Richard Heene Should Get An Emmy

Now the media debates Richard Heene’s character, and lots of hacks paid to fill space have something to voice an opinion on. Richard Heene has arrived. The media should thank him not monster him.

But it might not go well. Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden‘s says police may well pressing charges against Richard Heene. Now someone claiming to be Richard Heene responds on TMZ:

9. This is Richard. I may not have cable but I do have the internet and I must say I am alarmed at some of the things coming out. Any other inquiries are to be made to my spokesman who I will introduce tomorrow.
I came across this site and this is unreal.

– First of all, this was not a hoax. Falcon WAS missing when the balloon lifted off. Why would we make a hoax with out kid?

– When Falcon was talking about the show, this is what happened: Earlier in the day when we were working on this craft, I told Falcon that someday we would be famous and have our own show and when that happened, he would have to hide in the attic to escape his fans. Are we clear?

– This guy claiming to have worked for me was a fraud. Yes, he will show you my handwriting where I allegedly talk about a plan but it was all a joke at the time.

– Any other questions regarding this incident will be forwarded to my spokesman who I will introduce tomorrow. I will answer more questions tonight.
and please don’t come within 200 meters of my house. Read the note.

Yours truly,
Richard Heene

As Anorak has said, Falcon Heene has two older brothers and given the chance to show up his mum and dad on the telly, he said he did it for “the show”. He also vomited on the Today Show. Falcon Heene is a hero to small boys and TV critics the world over.

But the evidence of Heene’s alleged conniving is massing. On Gawker, 25-year-old researcher Robert Thomas says he and Richard Heene “drew up a master plan to generate a massive media controversy using a weather balloon. To get famous, of course.”

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Posted: 18th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment (1)


Amazing Last Pictures Of Stephen Gately

7933328NOT everyone waited until Stephen Gately was buried to throw mud. The tabloid media jumped the gun and Jan Moir set out to prove why not a single hack has been made a UN Goodwill ambassador.

Now Gately has been laid to rest, the tabloids that made themselves the subject of the story can refocus on the dead star. And today the News of The World has pictures of Gately on the night of his demise.

THIS is Boyzone star Stephen Gately just hours before his shock death – captured on CCTV entering a gay club in Majorca (below right).

Not any old club, mind, but a gay club.

The 33-year-old singer, pictured with husband Andy Cowles, looks carefree and sober. As thousands mourned Stephen at his Dublin funeral, a barman at the club revealed: “He only had one drink. . . he was NOT drunk.”

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Posted: 17th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (9)


Those Falcon Heene Jokes In Full

balloon-boyBALLOON Boy is a huge media star. Falcon Heene is the boy who never flew in a ballon. Falcon Heene is huge.

All the big media networks are talking about Falcon Heene.

Other things that Falcon heene didn’t do to feature in the new reality TV series: Watching Falcon Heene Watching The Telly:

Show 1: Falcon Heene does not  score a home run for the LA Gastric Bands

Show 2: Falcon Heene does not cross the Atlantic in an economy-size tub of maragine

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Posted: 17th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment


Stephen Gately Gives Jan Moir Her Susan Boyle Moment

susan-boyle-jan-moirJAN Moir is the envy of opinion journalists everywhere today as her comments on the “unnatural” death of Boyzone signer Stephen Gately go “nuclear”.

Every says hundreds of jobbing hacks watch the telly or study their kidzzz movements and homework in the quest for something to voice an opinion on. Little could Moir have dreamed that a frumpy, mentally negligible middle-aged woman could be so popular. As hacks have yet to put it, This is Jan Moir’s Susan Boyle moment”.

Yes, Jan Moir, they are listening. They’re really listening.

And let’s not be too hard on Jan Moir, who has only achieved what other papers and ahack dream of: she has caused a debate and enabled the media to overshadow the subject of their story. The story is not about Stephen Gately – the story is about the media looking at Stephen Gately. Job done.

I spoke just now to a well-respected gay journalist whose own anti-Moir tweets have been RT’d all over the place. He did make one interesting point: “You wonder whether the question of free speech has crossed these people’s minds. Is this really a matter for the Press Complaints Commission?”Damian Thompson, Daily Telegraph

Hey, all journalists together, right, Damian?

Still, I’ve no sympathy for the ghoulish Ms Moir. And now excuse me while I turn on the telly to watch her squirm.

How the rivals gloat. But look at that coverage. Look at those hits. Read teh shockiong story. Unless you’re in Ireland:

No doubt anticipating a furious backlash in Ireland, it emerged yesterday ‘Daily Mail’ executives dropped the Gately column in its Irish edition. But it was carried on its website under the headline: “Why there was nothing natural about Stephen Gately’s death. . .” and in the paper edition as “A strange, lonely and troubling death. . .” – Irish Independent

What we need is a period of reflection, no knee-jerk reactions. It’s what Jan Moir wants in her non-apology press release:

It has been 20 minutes since I’ve read her now-notorious column, and I’m still struggling to absorb the sheer scope of its hateful idiocy. It’s like gazing through a horrid little window into an awesome universe of pure blockheaded spite. Spiralling galaxies of ignorance roll majestically against a backdrop of what looks like dark prejudice, dotted hither and thither with winking stars of snide innuendo – Charlie Brooker, The Guardian

In the Huffington Post, Adam Taylor wants you to join the debate:

What do you think of Jan Moir’s column?

* My thoughts exactly.

* I disagree, but fair points.

* Disgusting.

There is, sadly, no room to tick all three boxes. But vote now and vote often. And take the time to investigate Jan Moir, who has form:

At times, reaction on the internet became disturbing. Moir’s home address was reportedly posted, and the false allegation that the Daily Mail had claimed Gately had been murdered by his partner was repeated on Twitter. Moir has previously employed innuendo when commenting on homosexual public figures. In an article in August about Peter Mandelson, the business secretary, she wrote that “with his blue suede shoes, his peach mansion and his green tea devotionals, he is like a rock star camping it up on a farewell tour”, and said he has spent years “clawing his way up the soil pipe of politics” – Robert Booth, The Guardian

What says the gays, experts in spotting homophobia?

Meanwhile, the editor of the UK’s best-selling gay magazine Attitude, said Moir’s decision to link Gately’s death with that of Matt Lucas’ former civil partner seemed to be an “excuse to stick the boot in the gay population”.
“If that’s not homophobic, what is homophobia?” he told Sky News
Sky

You don’t have to be gay to spot homophobia, but it helps give your views credibility in the media:

Father Ted writer Graham Linehan put it best on Twitter, refuting Moir, the Mail, and their PR company’s claim that the reaction was a “heavily orchestrated internet campaign”; “No”, he tweeted, “you just united everyone in revulsion at your horrible words.” – Indy

Time now for a game of Tabloid Bingo, in which Jan Moir can be linked to other topical news stories to form a new news story.

Plenty of people will be repelled by the thought of Griffin on television, or of Wilders in this country at all, just as many have been shocked by Jan Moir’s callous allegation in the Daily Mail yesterday (based on no evidence she can have) that “the circumstances surrounding” Stephen Gately’s death “are more than a little sleazy”. But anyone who claims to love liberty should pause before saying that the two men should be silenced by law or edict, or that Moir should be hauled before some tribunal or another. The fact is that, for all our supposed traditional tolerance, free speech in difficult circumstances has rather few British champions – as opposed to American – Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Independent

For those of you who have not read Moir’s words, the Indy thoughtfully reproduces them in its own pages. No need to give the Daily Mail more web traffic. Read on:
*”Fans know to expect the unexpected of their heroes, particularly if those idols live a life that is shadowed by dark appetites or fractured by private vice.”

*”The Gately family are, perhaps understandably, keen to register their boy’s demise on the national consciousness as nothing more than a tragic accident.”

*”Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one. Let us be absolutely clear about this.”

*”If we are going to be honest, we would have to admit that the circumstances surrounding his death are more than a little sleazy.”

*”Another real sadness about Gately’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.”

*”The recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately’s last night raise troubling questions about what happened.”

*”For once again, under the carapace of glittering hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see.”

One thing to close with- Jan Moir is a woman. Does her being a woman shape how we view her words? Is misogyny the new homophbia. Debate and discuzzzzz….

How ‘Loathsome’ Jan Moir Buried Herself And Stephen Gately

Jan Moir’s Statement On Stephen Gately ‘Gay Bashing’ Article in Full

Stephen Gately’s Death Becomes A Tale Of Gay Sex, Homophobia And ‘Murder’

Posted: 17th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (4)


How ‘Loathsome’ Jan Moir Buried Herself And Stephen Gately

jan-moirIN Anorak’s Stephen Gately Watch, we brought you news of the Daily Mail’s Jan Moir and her headine shocker:

“Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death”

On the Mail’s site the healdine has now been altered to read:

A strange, lonely and troubling death . . .

The article is a calcualted slight that seems to suggest Stephen Gately’s being gay caused his death. The piece even talks of murder. You can read Jan Moir’s choicest cuts here, like this gem:
Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one. Let us be absolutely clear about this. All that has been established so far is that Stephen Gately was not murdered.

And you can follow a spoof – no, Jan Moir is not the work of master parodist – Twitter feed, highlights of which are:

Janmoir and #janmoir:

jontypryor: is about to have a bath. I may drown. Y’know, cos I’m gay… (kudos to @kevpeel) #janmoir

grabcocque: It’s the kind of article that makes you want a shower after reading it. If you happen to know #JanMoir, do your duty by giving her a slap.

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Posted: 16th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (6)


Peter Andre And Alex Reid Go Fanny-A-Tranny As Katie Price Fights On

alex-katie-pete4YESTERDAY Anorak brought you “Peter Andre And Alex Reid To Cage Fight For Katie Price, and today the Daily Star catches up with us and delivers:

ALEX’S CAGE RAGE FIGHT WITH PETER

CAGE-fighter Alex Reid has told love rival Peter Andre: “Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough.” The 34-year-old challenged singer and Good Morning reporter Andre to take him on in the ring after he had threatened to “break his legs”…

Alex said yesterday: “Pete threw the first punch and kept throwing them. I wish people could see what Pete was really like.”

As we said:

Alex would win any battle with a cage – Pete being more of a paper bag fighter. And to level things up we need a contest in which Pete can excel, something like seeing which of them can purse their lips the hardest, find a rhyme for tangerine or be dignified?

Twitter fans know what Peter Andre is like because Katie Price is telling them:

“Nice pete in front of kids! His true colours are starting to come out thank God!!”

The 3am Girls look on, marvelling at Peter’s true colours – hues of orange and tangerine with base notes of deep oak:

After keeping his cool for like a million years, it seems Peter Andre has finally flipped his lid over his children living with a cross-dressing cage-fighter with a disturbingly dark David Dickinson tan and a thing for wearing plasters on his nose… and nail varnish (not on his nose, although nothing would surprise us now).

Alex’s Reid’s tan suggests a man who coated his face in treacle and then sneezed into an open box of powdered Toffee Crisp.

But Peter is angry. And when he’s angry, you won’t like him, o rlike him even less than your already do:

PETER ANDRE has told his solicitors to “fire a warning shot across Jordan’s bow” over access to their children. The Aussie singer called the summit after the glamour girl yesterday handed BACK a mobile phone he had bought specifically to speak to Junior, four, Princess, two and seven-year-old Harvey.

If he wants to speak to them why not line the kids up for a film premier and then in his guise as This Morning’s showbiz reporter interview them over the red rope.

Junior! Over here! Junioorrrrrr! Princess Tiaaaaainiiiimiiiiiiiii! Over here!! It’s me, dad. What d’yer mean ‘Speak to my agent’?

Meanwhile Katie is picking a new fight:

I’m probably more successful than most girls in the public eye. I look at people like Kelly Brook and I just can’t understand how she gets to wear all these designer clothes. I’m not slating her, but really, what the hell does she actually do?”

Well, she walks, talks and shows off her cleavage and gets to wear designer clothes. She’s a celebrity, damn it.

Posted: 16th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (2)


After Balloon Boy A Video Of A Baby Being Hit By A Train

WHILE the Balloon Boy rap is adapted for the Flying Heenes TV show intro, we receive this video of a train pulling into the station as a six-month-old baby falls on the track in Melbourne, Australia.

The child suffered only a bump on the head. Had only the buggy been equipped with airbags Train Baby could have got her own show… Video:

Posted: 16th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Strange But True | Comment


Grounded Balloon Boy Falcon Heene’s Rap Video

falcon-1SIX-YEAR-Old Falcon Heene is falling through the skies in his dad’s home-made air balloon. Look! Look! Look!

6 Year Old Colorado boy Falcon Heene falls out home made balloon

Nooooooooo!

Heene said, “I could feel Brad hitting me on the side trying to tell me something: Falcon is in the flying saucer. That’s when I realized Falcon might actually be in the flying saucer.”

Everyone freaked out.

Scramble the TV crew!

In an interview with CNN, Falcon said he had heard his family calling his name.

“Why didn’t you come out?” Richard Heene asked.
Falcon answered: “You had said that we did this for a show.”

The show? The news right? Or some other form of entertainment?

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Posted: 16th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (13)


Stephen Gately’s Death Becomes A Tale Of Gay Sex, Homophobia And ‘Murder’

7894733STEPHEN Gately: Anorak’s look at Stephen Gately in the news: the X Factor plugs, the drugs, Georgi Dochev, gay sex, murder and more gay sex

IN “STEPHEN’S LAST HOURS”, the Sun continues the focuses on Stephen Gately, the Boyzone singer who yesterday was “Gately used dope” and is now “Stephen”.

He has been Stephen in the Sun before, notably when he was “Stephen killed by 8hr binge

And he was Stephen when he was:

“I FOUND STEPHEN PALE AND COLD.”

Having established a rapport with the remains of Stephen Gately, in which he is Gately when there is talk of drugs and Stephen when he is being laid to rest, the Sun now re-introduces Bulgarian student Georgi Dochev, the 25-year-old who found the singer’s body.

THE “third man” who befriended STEPHEN GATELY and his partner on the night the BOYZONE star died saw his body the following day – but thought he was just sleeping and walked away.

The third man..? The mystery is turning into a thriller. Man dies from natural causes and the tabloids write their own plot.

The Sun has seen the testimony Mr Dochev gave Majorcan police.

The student, who met Stephen and Andy at a gay bar in Palma, also recalled the shocking moment when he finally realised the 33-year-old singer had died.

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Posted: 16th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (4)


Mainstream Media Exposes Its Bigotry With Rush Limbaugh Racism Fakes

cnnhoaxRush Limbaugh, the US radio host, is said to have made racist comments. They are fakes. Journalists on newspapers an in the mainstream media seize on them as fact. Now read on…

US radio host Rush Limbaugh will not be buying the St Louis Rams, American football team. The group buying the club have reacted to objections by players, civil rights leaders and team owners that he was too racist and divisive.

The Guardian’s golf expert Lawrence Donegan says: “NFL’s resistance to Rush Limbaugh puts English football to shame”

Rightwing lonely hearts in middle America, whose only friends in the world are their gun and their sense of exclusory patriotism, love him too because he speaks directly to their twisted souls.

Want to know what Limbaugh said? St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell knows:

“Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

Those are Limbaugh’s words. So are these:

“I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back. I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.”

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Posted: 15th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (2)


Pictures Of Jacyee Dugard In People Magazine, And A Book Deal

JAYCEE Lee Dugard Watch – Anorak’s at-a-glance looks at Jaycee Dugard in the news: People magazine has published the first photographs of the adult Jaycee Dugard, and Random House secure a book deal.

That’s Jaycee smiling on the cover. She looks OK.

People spokeswoman Claudia DiRomualdo says Dugard approached the magazine with the pictures, which were taken by an independent photographer. Did they pay for the images? People will not say.

There is no interview, but Jaycee Dugard says:

“I’m so happy to be back with my family. Nothing is more important than the unconditional love and support that I have from them.”

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Posted: 15th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (7)


Transcript Of James Arthur Ray’s Conference Call To Arizona Sweat Box Victims, And Last Tweets

james-arthur-ray-and-victimAt the James Arthur Ray Spritual Warrior Event in Arizona, two people are dead and 19 more are hospitalized. James Arthur Ray goes on with the show. And then he calls the survivors, privately. The transcript of that call is hereunder.

AT a James Athur Ray spiritual retreat in Sedona, Arizona, for “harmonic minded individuals” two guests are dead and 19 more are hospitalised. Kirby Brown, 38, and 40-year-old James Shore died at the five-day “Spiritual Warrior Event” that would “accelerate the releasing of your limitations and push yourself past your self-imposed and conditioned borders.”

More than 60 warriors enter a makeshift structure at Angel Valley Retreat Center where hot stones create an intense heat. It’s a sweat box that looks more like a circus tent.

Christine Whelan notes:

Participants should leave when the heat becomes too intense. However, after a week of brainwashing about pushing past “self-imposed” borders, human instinct was overridden by orders from a so-called great leader…

They trusted a well-known, well-loved inspirational leader who had been given the popular culture seal of approval…

James Arthur Ray has been endorsed by the cult of Oprah Winfrey,on Larry King Live and the Today show.

On his eponymous website. James Arthur Ray says he is…

“…transforming the way the world thinks. As an internationally-renowned Personal Success Strategist, Visionary and New York Times Best-Selling Author who has traveled the globe dedicating over two decades of his life to studying the thoughts, actions, and habits of those who create true wealth in every area of their life, James delivers his practical teachings to hundreds of thousands of individuals and business leaders every year.”

Let’s hear it for the true wealth, selflessly spread by Mr Ray:

James is President and CEO of his own multi-million dollar corporation, James Ray International (JRI), which was named to Inc. Magazine’s coveted Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies in the September 2009 issue, reaching a remarkable 547.4% growth over the previous three years.

While you exeperience true wealth, around $10,000 dollars gets you a stint in a sweat box in Arizona. Not lemmings, then. But Ray does seem to exert an influence over his disciples.

After the horror, James Arthur Ray is at a seminar at a hotel in Marina del Rey, near Los Angeles. He’s not in Arizona. He’s not under arrest. Before a crowd of around 200, he cries. He says he’s hired investigators to look into what went wrong:

“This is the most difficult time I’ve ever faced. I don’t know how to deal with it really.”

So should he go on to perform on stage so soon after a disaster?

“My advisers told me, ‘Don’t do that. You don’t know who’ll show up. They’re going to eat you alive… I’m grieving right now. I’m grieving for the families.”

We all grieve in our own ways. Ray does his grieving on a stage before an audience who give him a stranding ovation.

Two are dead, and Cassandra Yorgey brings news of a call from Ray to the injured – “a conference call that was only for the victims of his latest retreat-gone-wrong”.

Gather in lemmings. Come closer. Listen. Here’s what, reportedly, James Arthur Ray tells his congregation:

The Transcript

Greg calls. Greg is a James Ray staffer. He hands the phone to Katie Carlson as “an international follower of James Ray”. Now Mr Ray comes on line:

“I really wanted to be with you all on the final night and my thoughts were consistently with everyone who was having challenges…

“I just kept thinking ‘I have to take care of my people’.”

They are advised to “remember your teachings”; they “remind you of what you know… just be good to yourself. This is the most important time, it’s always important, to practice what you know, eat right… You gotta eat and you gotta eat healthy. You gotta get your workouts in, speaking from experience, sometimes you don’t feel like it but you gotta get rest and eat right.”

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Posted: 15th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (16)


Starsuckers: Amy Winehouse’s Hair Catches Fire In Michael Jackson Tribute

Starsuckers – new film exposes how Amy Winehouse’s hair caught fire in trouching tribute to Michael Jackson…

starsuckersIN Starsuckers, a group of documentary film makers in London’s Brick Lane take on the role of actual tabloid journalists by trying to plant fake celebrity stories in the national press.

Says the film’s director Chris Atkins in the Guardian:

“We consumed a lot of coffee thinking about it. How can we do this intelligently? How can we prove our point? But how can we make it funny?”

It’s a great idea. Not too long ago, we got a call from big TV production company asking to speak with Barry Richards, 16, a pupil at the Wat Tyler comprehensive in Grays, and a leading member of the Essex Young Conservatives.

His book, The Little Blue Schoolbook, was a riposte to controversial Little Red Schoolbook, which was published in the UK earlier this year. But whereas the original enjoins pupils to organise strikes and demonstrations, Richards’ version extols the virtues of obedience, patriotism and polished shoes.

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Posted: 14th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment


Stephen Gately: SADS, Betting And Suicide Bombs

7913372UPDATE to the Stephen Gately Death Speculation: Having ruled out suicide, murder, gayness, drugs, drink and vomit the Daily Star says:

“Gately was killed by a dodgy heart”.

Medical experts” say Gately was a “ticking time-bomb”. Not a bomb that would hurt anyone else, you understand; more a time-bomb that would kill only him and cause pain to those around him.

But this is not a tale of suicide nor of suicide-bombs, but of a young man’s death being treated as a spectacle and a topic of speculation.

A Doctor Sanjay Sharma is the “UK’s leading expert on Sudden Adult Death Syndrome”. Such an expert is he that Mr Sharma can examine Gately without actually meeting him:

“His lungs have been waterlogged very suddenly, suggesting his heart has failed. That is a heart attack…. If I was a betting man I would say it was an electrical fault. The heart would go into a fatally fast rhythm – around 300 beats a minute… Often in these cases, the first symptom is death.”

As a betting man. Anyone want a second opinion?

The coroner’s office in Majorca tells us that Gately died from pulmonary oedema, as we’ve learned. But the Star adds this:

“Lung infection, smoke inhalation and adverse reactions to drugs ranging from aspirin to cocaine can cause pulmonary oedema.”

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Posted: 14th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (2)


Peter Andre And Katie Price: Pete Stops Son Talking To ‘Gay’ Alex Reid

7857102MORE news on Katie Price, who having risen to fame as Mrs Peter Andre is pictured on the cover of the Daily Star canoodling in a swimming pool or large bath tub from Ideal Standard’s Essex Range with Alex Reid, the cross-dressing cage fighter.

There is “JORDAN HUNK SENSATION”, and we learn via the Star:

“I make love to Kate dressed as a women.”

Kate Price’s lover says he only slaps on feminine gear for “special occasions” and is very “proud” of who he is.

Good to know that squiring Katie is still special and has not become routine. As we know, a lack of sexual positions is most likely what drove a wedge between Katie and Peter Andre.

Says Alex:

“I’m very gay, I love cross-dressing… It’s a laugh. So what? There are wars happening everywhere and people care about this? Give me a break.”

Hey, Alex, this is how wars start. Things can escalate. One day you’re wearing a skirt, the next your Jewish tailor says your bum looks big in it and before you know it you’re overcompensating by invading Poland.

“If I go out and wear a dress, so f***ing what? I’m proud of who I am, bring it on. I bet loads of people who slag me off for this are harbouring some desire that they’re too scared to admit or experience.”

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Posted: 14th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (4)


Five Ways The Media Sold Stephen Gately’s Death

7914306STEPHEN Gately dies and the tabloid press suspects that he had died from drinks, drugs, suicide, depression, acute gayness, no longer singing with Boyzone and being Irish (and that was just the Daily Mail).

Then there is a post-mortem and we discover that he has died from natural causes.

A court official on the island of Majorca said the singer suffered a pulmonary oedema, an accumulation of fluid on the lungs.

Fluid. He chocked on his vomit, right? The Mirror’s Fiona Cummins and Graham Brough knew it. They screamed:

Stephen Gately choked to death on his own vomit

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Posted: 13th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comment


Boyzone Give Stephen Gately A Dignity The Media Cannot Handle

home-keySTEPHEN Gately is not long dead. The Daily Mail has led the tabloids’ charge to bury him not praise him, peppering a report of the former Boyzone singers early demise with suicide, drugs, depression, domestic violence and his sexuality.

Today the post-mortem will discover if Gately died from being gay, Irish, or whatever else pushed him to the margins of what Mail readers would term ‘decent society’.

Police in Majorca says there were “no signs of suspicious circumstances”.

Which brings us to the Sun’s front-page headline:

“I FOUND STEPHEN PALE AND COLD.”

Well, he can’t get on with everybody, nor be orangey-brown as the Simon Cowell pop factory paints its uniform acts.

It’s turns out that a Georgi Dochev says Gately was pale and cold when he had died. The singer was “very cold and white“.

As front page shockers go, news that a dead body was cold is right up with news that Katie Price sleeps on her back, the Pope has a balcony and the BNP is not keen on immigrants.

But here’s Dochev to deliver his “I was there” moment:

“I almost have not slept since this happened. I found Stephen dead and I woke his husband. I am still nervous and really upset.”

He tells the Sun. As for the background story:

Mr Dochev is believed to have accompanied Gately and his partner, Andrew Cowles, back to the apartment in the resort of Port Andratx in the early hours of Saturday. He confirmed he had spoken to police who are investigating the death.

The tabloids chip away. But there appears to be a quiet dignity surrounding Gately’s death. His former Boyzone bandmates Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch flew out to the scene to pay their respects.

A spokesman tells us:

“All the boys are home now. They went there to pay their respects and start dealing with the fall-out of the situation. However, it’s clear that them being there at the moment is bringing a lot more attention to the situation.”

So they left. They did not announce a comeback your, call for an urgent investigation, speculate on Gately’s state of mind, talk to the media nor grandstand and make themselves the centre of attention. They came. They saw. They left.

It’s more than the media can handle…

The Media Destroys Stephen Gately With Drugs And Suicide

Stephen Gately – a life in pictures…

Posted: 13th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (5)


How The Aisling Symes’ Tragedy Became The Media’s Nightmare

aisling-200x0How the media starting ticking boxes when  Aisling Symes, went missing – the New Zealand child prayed for by the McCanns and watched by the world’s media.

POLICE looking for Aisling Symes have found the body of a child in a storm water drain.

“The immediate scene has been condoned off and treated as a crime scene,” says Insp Gary Davey.

Says Sky News: “There was speculation she had been abducted.”

This speculation is what made the missing child a global story.

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Posted: 12th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (24)


The Media Destroys Stephen Gately With Drugs And Suicide

7912500STEPHEN Gately died over the weekend. When a celebrity dies the media goes into hyper-drive. In the coming days their will be analysis, praise, eulogies and criticism. But for now there is mourning and chance for whispered tones and mawkishness. And speculation. And talk of suicide and drugs.

Get this from the Press Association:

Mystery over cause of Gately death

Well, until the post-mortem, held tomorrow, there are no hard facts about Gately’s cause of death. But the Belfast Telegraph has a list of causes its working through:

Boyzone’s Stephen Gately didn’t die from drugs, says grieving family

Gately also didn’t die from lots of other things. The introduction of drugs into the narrative is unwarranted, raising more questions than it answers.
The Daily Mail delivers this headline, full of speculation and talks of those drugs:

Stephen Gately: The Boyzone star’s secret life that drove him to lies, pills and depression

Why wait for the post-mortem? The Daily Mail get in early with the critique. And you know he was gay. Oh, yes, dear Daily Mail readers, a gay showbiz star:

And when he did finally come out in a blaze of publicity ten years ago, it coincided with him becoming hooked on drugs to deal with a bout [sic] depression so severe he became a virtual recluse who confided to friends his suicidal thoughts.

So his gayness depressed him? Or was it this:

But he confessed to battling frightful depression after Boyzone split. He said: “It was weird being on your own in Asia promoting yourself and not having your buddies. I was on anti-depressants for a couple of years.”

But he was gay. Gay I tells yer. Gay! The Mail clacks it’s marmalade-coated tongue and sprays flecks of spittle:

The feared backlash from the group’s girl fans did not materialise, but Gately later admitted he was subjected to homophobic abuse in his native Ireland and pulled out of plans to buy a home in Canterbury, Kent, because of anti-gay chants by local teenagers.

Kent is in England. Homophobic abuse can be more subtle and pointed than a few pillocks. And the Mail goes on. Take the words “Gay” and “Depressed” and make the link:

Doctors put Gately on antidepressants, but he quickly became addicted to his medication and later admitted: ‘I was a zombie. On these anti-depressants you can’t even laugh or cry.’

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Posted: 12th, October 2009 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comments (13)


In Pictures: Reka Urban Wins Miss Plastic Surgery Title

reka-urban-homeHURRAH for Reka Urban, aka Rika Urban, in the form of her life as she wins the inaugural Miss Plastic Hungary, beating off stiff and some would say immobile competition from Edina Kulcsar, Alexandra Horvath, a mute woman who tuned out to be a mannequin (later banned for nudity) and Squadron Leader Archibald Hartle, DSO, AC/DC retired.

Reka’s surgeon, Dr. Mária Czeglédi, also wins  a prize. And Jocleyn Wildenstein is rumoured to be delighted and ready.

The rules are simple: each contestant must be 18 years old – taking an average of the sum of her parts – have undergone at least one bout of plastic surgery. And, no, Botox and collagen injections do not count as surgery. You need to have endured a knife.

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Posted: 11th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Strange But True | Comment (1)


Russell Brand Appears On Question Time To Debate Ashley Cole, Nick Griffin And The BNP

brand-bnp-collettHow Russell Brand skewered the BNP’s Nazi Boy as the Dail Mail kicks the BBC, and Question Time invites Nick Griffin to the debate…

THE Daily Mail rarely misses a chance to wallop the BBC, and today delivers the news that two BNP Herrenvolk have created a “BBC storm” as they are “invited on Radio 1 to insult Ashley Cole”.

Overlooking the obvious reaction that an invitation to insult Ashley Cole is not needed, and that black, white, Nazi or Commie, we can all unite behind a common cause, we read on:

This is the BBC’s own full transcript of the Newsbeat interview:

Randle: Do you think it’s OK for people who aren’t white in this country to call themselves British?

Joey: Civic-ly British they are. You cannot say they are ethnically British. It’s denying our heritage. It’s taking that away from us.

Randle: At what point do they become ethnically British? How long do they have to be here?

Joey: Well, I think it would be an awfully long time before someone would become ethnically British.

Randle: So when you see someone like Ashley Cole play for England, are you happy to watch him?

Joey: If he wants to come to this country and he wants to live by our laws, pay into society, that’s fine.

Randle: But if he wanted to call himself British that would be a problem?

Joey: He cannot say that he’s ethnically British.

The Mail on Sunday has discovered the full background of the two ‘young BNP supporters’ identified by the BBC only as Joey, 24, and 28-year-old Mark.

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Posted: 11th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (3)