What I hope to do with this blog is to look at matters and incidents that are interesting. The type of things will relate to news stories, particularly where there may be a discernible bias to the report.

Anyone who takes the time to look closely at what ends up in print in the news will find from time to time examples of a line being promotes to someone's or some group's benefit. The authors of that kind of material very often have direct links to or sympathy with those in the article.

If you want to do some reading on the topic a book by Nick Davies titled Flat Earth News is a very good start. Ever since the days before and after Vance Packard wrote the Hidden Persuaders many people the PR industry quite unashamedly view the news as something to be manipulated or distorted.

You need look no further on what is being done in the 'debate' about global warming. An outright denial of the obvious would be futile to those interest groups who want to continue what they have been doing for years. But to get the maximum bang for their buck all types of elaborate spin is introduced into the discussions. Based on a grudging acceptance of what is happening what is then done is to create doubt about, the extent and the nature of global warming.

All this in the hope that people will accept the proposition that correction would ruin the various economies of the world because the cost of doing something is so great. But in putting that proposition forward they must be seen to accept the gravity of the problem if it will cost so much money to 'fix'.

Almost daily you can see the flow on from the problem. The giant US car manufacturers are downsizing their vehicles. Even the socially revered Hummer may fall by the wayside. All this hardly reflects the dire economic consequences predicted if the problem is confronted. Of course there are many many more things that will become a thing of the past. Effectively if there is an argument it has been started to protect the profits of the multinational companies.

Globalisation has meant that countries have 'handed over' control of their own affairs to the masters of economy. A good place to start reading is Naomi Klein's book Disaster Capitalism. It is true to say that no one person has the solution, and that there are plenty of theories about that have very little basis in fact.

I had a discussion with a geologist recently who dismissed out of hand any notion that the ice caps may be melting. But then he added that he had not looked at the literature, instead he was sticking to the notion that the ice caps and ice bergs melt from the bottom up.

Ice is interesting because there was a fairly recent pronouncement by an author that there was really no melting and there was also a reference to an article in a very respected magazine. George Monbiot spent a lot of time and effort but could not locate the article in the magazine. In the end the author chose to blame the 'error' on another researcher, his wife.

By the way there is an interesting article at the Al Jazeera site about the food crisis we face at the moment. I use the word "we" because it really is not possible to blandly assert that it is just someone else's problem. No doubt there will be lots of talk about droughts, crop failures and population increase. That of course is the standard spin approach, do not deny the problem just redefine it, look at it in regional terms only and then promote the belief that it is not so bad.

The corporations and the greedy simply believe that you can do what you want but do not step on my blue suede shoes.