Since I posted my last blog :
Thirty three Chilian mineworkers have been stuck underground without a chance of being rescued until Christmas!
The floods in Pakistan have taken more lives and the people who have survived are without homes, food, medicines and little help!
More, and larger, explosions have rocked Iraq and Afghanistan, killing dozens and dozens of completely innocent people going about their daily lives!
Report after report has indicated the damage to poor families, the public sector and public sector staff, that the Coalition government’s budget and White Paper will do. They highlight the ideological vindictiveness behind the ‘we’re all in it together’ mantra!
And…er…a cat has been put in a wheelie bin!
No prizes for guessing what story has dominated the tabloids!
Political diversion it is called. When there is bad news that will damage working people and the Services they rely on, you can count on the right wing press to pounce on a fluffy story to distort our priorities.
Let me be clear. It was wrong and cruel to put that cat in a wheelie bin, however, the truth is that if the press really wanted to highlight animal cruelty they could start with factory farming, intensive farming, slaughterhouse horrors, cosmetic testing and the fact that while half the world starves, there are millions and millions of acres of arable land put aside for grazing.
IÂ won’t hold my breath. Better a cat in a wheelie bin story than the ‘cat’s out the bag’ story as far as the press are concerned!
So next time a story like this is on the front pages, go straight to the inside pages and discover what the government is taking from you, or doing to you, that they do not want you to notice.
My rule of thumb (not scientifically tested on animals I hear you say!) is the more fluffier the headlines are and the longer they last; the more awful the real story is and the deeper the damage.
I am thinking of calling it Fluffology!
Eric Roberts
Branch Secretary
