What's more important

As usual, dealing with the off-topic helps focus the in-your-face issues, which this week must best concern the legal extensions proposed by Home Office minister Charles Clarke, hapless puppet of David Blunkett, with his proposals for indefinite detention and home arrest plans. Channel 4 aired two interesting programs relevant to these themes last night- Clifford Stafford Smith's Despatches on Guantanamo justice and a Jon Snow doc on effects of torture.

Better commentators than I will be pulling together expositions of the employment of fear to polarise public opinion and advance further incursions into civil liberties in the interests of winning the war on turr. Blair announced this week that 'thousands' plan terrorist attacks and that the public (whoever s/he is) should do their duty by remaining vigilant for signs of turrsm in neighbours and acquaintances. I'm signing up for the Home Guard straight away.

I like to look in at Smiley's newsrack most days and take a poll on current public interests trends led or guided by the media. Tabloid frontpage vilification today was dominated by two Others- another Muslim Shoe Bomber associated with the Nov 2001 incident and Michael Jackson. A prevalent subtext was of this bomber (who withdrew from carrying out an assigned task) as a grammer school boy and suspiciously high acheiver. Those Asians are often just too clever for our good, y'know. The other offering in Smiley's rack was the new quarto-size glossy mag 'Blonde Hair', the first and only publication exclusively devoted to blonde hair. I must know more, and it shall be mine...