Clickbait Journalism Can Fuck Off
Sorry this column starts with just a full blown rant but I'm just sick of clickbait articles on the internet. It's the lowest form of journalism, and it just keeps growing like a cancerous tumour. Quite simply it's false advertising pushing forward sensationalised stories that are actually very mundane in nature, and often at times very misleading. I get that this is a great way for websites to make money from advertising revenues, but loan sharks misleading people is also a great way to make money, so the results of these scam sites doesn't excuse anything. I have nothing against websites promoting their material, but don't fucking mislead the reader, that's the lowest form of low. By all means have a headline that catches the readers attention, and from there encourage readers to view the article, but don't use a simple story as justification for writing a shit article that has a sole purpose to direct traffic. And yes 'LadBible' I was aiming that at you.
The Issue of Doping in Sports
The doping scandals surrounding sports at the moment are an absolute farce. It's not just athletes and governing bodies making a fool out of themselves as the media has had a fair share of cock ups over this issue too. The Daily Mail published a shitstain of an article claiming Russian athletes would face a blanket ban at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio, which is absolutely 100% false. In all honesty though, and you won't her me say this often, I think the Daily Mail has got the right side of the argument on this occasion. Like me they feel this doping scandal is a shameful backdrop facing the Olympic Games with just weeks to go. What's worse is that with the Zika virus abundant in the tropical climate of Brazil and a lot of athletes being sexually active during the games there is no a very real risk of a serious medical scare unless you pump athletes with drugs. I don't claim to know all the ins and outs of these Zika preventing drugs, that may or may not be performance affecting, but I have found an unlikely compromise. My solution would be that each Olympic discipline should have different events for athletes on different levels of drugs; a bit like they do for disabilities at the Paralympics. I'm aware there will be teething problems with this. Britain for example would win gold at every event in the 'Horlicks' category, and I doubt the Colombians are going to allow everyone to use their superior cocaine supply, but I feel there is real potential in this. Imagine watching sprinters high on speed annihilate the 100m track, and if that's not your cup of tea then wait for the alcoholics to have a go, as that race is going to be about who can stay within the lines. With my solution there is something for everybody; it might even make the dressage watchable for once.
In all seriousness there is absolutely no way that drugs should play a part in the outcome of Olympic events. Not only does it tarnish the reputation of a legendary institution, but it also damages each sporting discipline where this behaviour is rife. Russian athletes who have been a part of this scandal should absolutely be banned for a substantial amount of time in an effort to show that this behaviour is not acceptable in competitive sports. You shouldn't be allowed to manufacture national sporting pride with banned substances like Russia have been doing, and so it's a great shame that they've got away with a slap on the wrist. How many more doping scandals is it going to take before sporting bodies start giving a shit? We've already seen drugged out athletes displayed in the sport of cycling, although admittedly that sport was more like a fucking cartel during the early 21st century. Nobody wants a repeat of that fiasco, so the world of sports needs to sort its shit out now.
Free Speech and Twitter
Fuck social justice on the internet. I honestly can't stress enough how much this PC culture is pissing me off. I know I go on a lot about censorship on this blog, but Twitter has once again proven that it's not the Mecca for free speech that everyone once thought. It's so clear now that Twitter has a biased ideology on what it wants to censor. The company is perfectly happy with jihadists praising terror attacks to use its service, but as soon as one controversial voice causes offense it's game over for them; even when they haven't even violated the terms of service. In case you were wondering I am referring to the recent Milo Yiannopolous fiasco. Milo is essentially a very influential right wing troll. I don't agree with a lot of what he says, but underneath his dark satirical tweets is an educated academic that makes incredibly sophisticated points and has a natural knack for creating drama around everything he does. The thing is that all this man did to get banned was write a negative review about the new Ghostbusters film, which as of writing this I haven't actually seen, so can't really comment on whether I agree with the man. That shouldn't matter though, as Milo should be perfectly entitled to air his views on what he perceived to be a poor film. The thing that got Milo banned was because of the cast receiving a lot of abuse that was blamed on him. Again, this shouldn't matter as Milo is a man who speaks his mind, and should therefore not be held responsible for the diabolical harassment of another comedian. On a site that allegedly conforms to the idea of free speech this is an outrageous action to take. The irony is that Milo's post was centred around how criticising Ghostbusters just isn't acceptable with the regressive left attitudes towards free speech, and low and behold he got banned for pointing this out. You can call the man a troll as much as you want, but every point he makes seems to come to fruition. However the ugly truth in this issue is that censorship is still seen as the way forward.
The New Generation of Politicians
Jeremy Corbyn, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders. These are three men who I often don't find myself agreeing with, but nevertheless have a great amount of respect for each one. These three men are spearheading a growing trend in modern politicians, who rely on saying what they think rather than what they think other people want them to say. I think it's a refreshing change in a world of politics once dominated by dreary men who just expected respect to be given to them because of their position. Corbyn, Sanders, and Trump may seem like just average politicians to an extent, but in practice they are certainly not your average guys, each having a knack of ignoring red tape and acting on what they think is the right solution irrespective of potential backlash. What's so refreshing about this shift in dynamics is to see that these figures are coming from vastly different backgrounds. Corbyn, although constantly being ripped apart by just about everybody is part of the new progressive left movement with socialism at the fore. Trump is a business minded egomaniac who seeks division within his subjects, often by controversy. And Sanders is a man who champions the average man at the expense of the very wealthy. Again, I don't agree with a lot of what they're saying but I admire the way they go about their business. The media on the other hand has little love for unconventional leaders. They don't like the way these men threaten the traditional way of life, often resorting to smear campaigns for their own benefit. However the mass media is wrong on this one. The shock Brexit vote was the first alarm bell in Britain that people are pissed off with the current systems of power, and although Britons previously saw a huge rise in protest votes for UKIP, we've never seen a protest vote quite on this scale. I only hope this is how the next US general election goes, as although I'm not a Trump fan by any means, I would much rather a forward looking politician was President rather than a federal criminal who embodies the traditional establishment. Clinton's primary campaign points are that people should vote for her because she's a woman and named 'Clinton'. By that logic I should be the next Prime Minister considering there's never been a Prime Minister from the county of Essex and I have been born with the name George, and people like David Lloyd George in Britain. At least if I took power I would hope to lead with the same intentions as this new generation of politicians, because I do believe this is a great way to revolutionise a system on the verge of collapse.
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