Ok. So we thought we lived in an age of freedom of speech. In an age where we could formulate and voice ideas independently, and free of restraint, despite whom we may contradict. We thought that the days when the government controlled the media, the subjects that preoccupied them, and the opinions expressed, were gone. Obsolete. An obscure element of our past that could bare no relation to the present. Something to which we are ashamed of, and having escaped it, sought to distance ourselves from it. Could we be further from the truth.
I do not pretend the British government is alone in controlling its media and I attempt, though I have already failed, to refrain from judgement.Their contriving. Subtle nudges. Camouflaged wording. I imagine their methods of control are so well developed, established, and practised that they represent an art type of there own. Only through small leaks, in its unassumingly vast web, is this method of control exposed. Stories that weren't meant to come out, or rather, that were meant to elude our attention, do, ever so occasionally, reach our ears. So when such occurrences do happen, it is our job to shout what we have heard from the roof tops. To claw some element of control back for ourselves. If only for a moment.
Most of you that know me will think that I will use the rest of this rant, for that's what it is, to attack the government guided, media spin on the student protests, that resulted in a focus, almost entirely by the media, on the violence, and not the real issues at hand. In this I may disappoint or delight those persons in steering of this already well travelled path. For the audience that could see further than what was right in front of them, the manoeuvring behind the scenes by government bodies lacked the usual subtlety and therefore such manipulations remained obvious. Violence, though real, was a small element of an otherwise peaceful protest. It was blown up out of proportion to mask real issues, and allow the government to pass a law that threatens our futures, despite pre-election promises. Where I would instead dedicate myself is to the privatizing of our forests and wooded areas to large corporate bodies through either vulgar greed or somewhat distressing incompetence at the expense of our lungs and futures.
The article in the Daily Telegraph has been the highlight of media attention of a potentially traumatic event in British history. The Tories plan to privatise 748, 000 hectares  of woodland by 2020. Not, as some misguided persons have suggested, to the benefit of our woodland through better management and control, but rather the clearing of vast areas to make way for holiday resorts, golf courses, commercial logging, and property development. Short sightedness will see our pockets full, or rather those of the Tories wealthy supporters, and our lungs clogged, bruised, and gasping. Leading experts fear for our already depleted forests and those animals that reside within them. Why is this not breaking news? In a country that prides ourselves on looking to the future. Favouring green power, recyclable materials, and reducing our carbon footprint and yet ignoring the destruction of our very lifeline. That which provides of oxygen; provides homes to countless species; and is a source of immense beauty. The Tories see it as a way to escape Britain's deficit. They seek to privatise our hospitals; out price our Universities; and now to directly threaten the health of ourselves, and those of our future. There short sightedness now threatens to do far more than see a return to a two tier system; and yet celebrity gossip features greater in our countries media.