:: Blair Bitch Project ::

The cover of the latest Private Eye somewhat predictably lampoons Tony Blair's self-righteous assertions of his "integrity" (and the damage sustained to it by the BBC) during his defence of the dodgy dossier. Never mind the fact that much of the voting population find it increasingly difficult to credit the PM with a single shred of the straightforward decency this word implies. Particularly disheartening for me, as a linguist and pedant, is the debasement of our language a the hands of those aiming for maximum meadia impact. That Blair wishes to convince us of his steadfast belief in the War on Iraq is not in question, but this manufactured attempt at conviction is precisely the thing that makes me suspicious. We shouldn't forget that the Prime Minister is a past master of spin and opinion swaying - his training as a lawyer must have stood him in good stead before he hooked up with the likes of media-hound Alistair Campbell. Simon Hoggart's article in the Guardian analyses the PM's handling of his recent appearance before the liaison committee as seen through the eyes of an impressionist. I prefer the following reference to a different aspect of popular culture. Popbitch's Reverend Goatboy, is to blame for this, methinks...

Perhaps the only stalwart supporters of Phoney Tony are those folks from across the pond whom he was so eager to "help out". unless this piece of vomit inducement is a joke, he could be off to a winner. If only we could persuade him to emigrate - it's about time they had a new president.

Here's a happy note to leave on. A new survey claims file swappers buy more albums. At least this offers some kind of rebuttal to the blandly repeated maxim that unchecked music downloads are killing the music industry. As the article states, singles may well be on the way out (in their current form at least), but I can certainly confirm that many of my recent CD purchases have been as the result of being able to hear samples. Good independent outlets, such as tunes.co.uk have recognised the value of making tracks (or at least parts of them) available to potential customers. Successful enterprises such as this surely prove that the main motivation of the larger record labels in preventing file sharing is based on corporate greed, staid working practice and a lack of foresight. It hardly seems worth beginning to criticise the deplorable quality of the music churned out for an increasingly young audience. I recognise that the record industry has always survived on gimmickry (as epitomised by the charts), but the trend for huge financial outlay on acts with such ephemeral appeal must lead to a shake-up of music-moghuldom when even the 8 year-olds tire of "novelty". Bring back Sinitta!