SKY ONE on Monday 24th May 2010 at 5am London time, its being broadcast at the same time viewers on the West Coast of America will be watching. How cool is that?

I will be awake and watching, what about you?

I am having a rather dull and dreary night at work with precious little to actually do.

Covering a war is lively at first and then you settle into a routine. Yes I am as callous and jaded as I sound. I have been covering wars for around 20 years, they’re all pretty much the same. People die, lots of them.

Life is so fragile and we are all so breakable. Its a wonder more of us aren’t killed more often.

The thing about covering wars from a distance, as I’ve mostly done, is you get to see some of the most harrowing scenes of suffering. By the time it arrives on the tv in your living room, its been sanitized and censored, to protect you from images you are likely to find distressing.

I strongly disagree with that. You have just as much right to see the uncensored horrors as I do and my media colleagues should not be denying you from seeing the truth.

I don’t find strong images offensive, but I do think war and the needless slaughter of civilians is extremely offensive.

I guess I picked the wrong job. Or rather the wrong job chose me!

(blogged from my iPhone)

All my tv wants to show me is that nasty shit going on in the mideast. Why do they keep making sequels to that movie? I’ve seen it all before. That said, there’s something more upsetting about it this time. Its wholesale slaughter at an industrial scale and it sickens me.

I just wish I could change the channel but I really wanna see how it all turns out. Maybe someone could tip me off just before Rambo arrives and illustrates the pointlessness rather than glory of warfare. And by Rambo, of course I mean Gandhi.

I’m bored to the point of disgust at seeing children murdered and maimed. I can’t be the only one who has seen more than enough of this shit. Why don’t they all just stop?

Closer to home, or rather right here at home, north London has been submerged in sub-zero temperatures for what seems like a few weeks now, with each successive night providing another record-breaking low. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

The thermometer in my car hit a rather chilly -2 yesterday, which was an all time record low for me and it hasn’t gone above +1 in over a week.

We’re not used to this sort of cold here in London and its bringing everyone down, especially with no respite in sight. All we need is some snow to complete this wintery hell and trust me, I’m not wishing for it.

And the economy is so far into the toilet it can taste the salt in the ocean.

Weed is going be returned to Class B from its present position in the more appropriate and recommended by gov’t advisors, Class C. That really sucks.

Things are indeed looking distinctly bleak as 2009 begins.

Even Apple let me down yesterday, with a MacWorld keynote devoid of any new toys for me to purchase. My credit card was revved up and ready, but it had nowhere to go.

Remember, if it weren’t for cool consumer electronics and soft drugs, I would have no joy in my life.

And its my birthday in a couple weeks, I could really do without that.

Oh moan, moan, moan, moan, moan!

Switzerland is currently the only country in the world which allows foreigners to visit and partake in a spot of assisted suicide. Go Switzerland!

I say the media was full of bullshit because most outlets concentrated on the issue of whether or not you should show the “moment of death” on television, for fear of “glamourising death”.

WTF?

I haven’t seen the entire documentary, but I have seen some clips and how could showing a man with an absolutely horrible disease ending his life in any way glamourise death? There were no Hollywood films stars or strippers cheering him on, the room he did it in wasn’t kitted out in fur rugs and leather sofas and they didn’t even have a live band.

There was no glamour at all, but then there was absolutely nothing glamourous about it.

Taking your own life is a serious decision, certainly the most serious decision any individual can take and it was clear this poor man deliberated for a very long time before making this final decision.

The debate should not have been about whether or not they should have shown this on television, but why more countries don’t have systems like they do in Switzerland.

Why is it against the law to provide the ultimate relief and end the suffering of another human being? We do it for dogs and cats and horses – do they matter more than people?

There are some rather horrible maladies and afflictions out there which are horrendous and could cause immeasurable suffering and pain to the person affected.

A slow, protracted death is one of my bigger fears, but that fear is exponentially exacerbated by the fact that I know if I wanted to choose to end the suffering, it would not be possible because of our archaic view of euthanasia.

The people most unsurprisingly opposed to euthanasia tend to be religious nuts who believe only god’s will can decide when your life ends.

What a fucking bunch of fucking bullshit. If that’s true, then anyone with a gun is god, because they can choose to end anyone’s life with relative ease.

I have a real problem taking anyone seriously who is deeply religious to the point of it clouding their every thought and opinion, especially when those misguided views increase the suffering and pain of others.

That’s one of religion’s speciality though, causing others to needlessly suffer.

I’ve recently been in touch with a distant relation of mine, who was in charge of dispensing a small stipend to myself and all my cousins following the passing of a beloved aunt of mine.

When she wrote to me, her letter was peppered with all sorts of religious references. I half expected her closing salutation to be “Yours in Christ” and was relieved that it wasn’t.

I had to really reign myself in when I replied to her, by keeping my secular humanist views at bay, though I couldn’t resist wishing her a “happy holidays” in response to her “merry xmas”. Of course, she wrote out the entire word and capitalised it.

I have nothing against my distant relative, the fact is I don’t really know her, having maybe met her twice before the age of 13, but its the way in which religious people think everyone else should be equally religious, and not just that but we should follow their religion, because the other ones, even variations on Christianity, will send you straight to hell.

There is no hell. Hell is other people.

No, hell is being forced to live with a debilitating and terminal condition, needless suffering a long, drawn out death because the law won’t let one be the architect of one’s own fate.

The law is an ass. Or is that asshole?

The idea of my mind, my personality, the internal bits of my brain continuing to function as they do now, while being trapped in my body, wracked with pain, or worse paralysis is a fate worse than death. Compared to any of that, death would be a trip to Disneyland.

And for all you religious nuts out there, let me ask you this: If heaven is so goddamn great, why can’t we let the sick people arrive a little earlier than expected? Surely a just and loving god would welcome them with open arms.

If there were a god, he wouldn’t make us suffer.

If there were a god, he wouldn’t let us die.

If there were a god, there would be no need for heaven, because heaven would be here on earth and we would all already be angels.

If there were a god, he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if someone chose to end their life because of an intolerable existence.

If there were a god, I wouldn’t get to post all of this on the internet and he’d have a stern word or two for me.

There is no god.

Why not be your own god? Why not determine your own fate?

They say you make your own luck and I believe that’s true. I believe in self-actualisation and the power of an individual to overcome obstacles and succeed in anything.

If the obstacle you’re encountering is insurmountable, then the only path to success is retreat.

If you’re dying a horrible death, the only way to minimise death’s victory over you is to limit the amount of time you spend dying.

I thought about this a lot when I was ill last summer, especially when I could hardly walk and spent over a week trying to sleep sitting up on my sofa.

I imagined quite vividly that my condition could have been permanent and degenerative, and what I would do in that situation.

I think you can work out the answer.

It’s 10pm eastern time, 0300gmt here in north London and I hearby declare Barack Hussein Obama the winner of the 2008 presidential election.

Based on everything I’ve absorbed in the last half hour, there’s no way McCain could reach the magic 270 electoral votes.

Remember, you read it here first, fuckers!

the northlondonhippy
0301gmt – 5th November 2008

Apparently that’s a good indication of where the race is going.

Also, it is looking good in Florida, which as you may recall has been a problematic state for the Democrats in previous elections…especially 2000 for poor ol’ Al Gore.

Even this close to a result, I am still nervous and unsure.

I’m still alternating between CNN and FoxNews, though I definitely prefer CNN. CNN has been highlighting viewer reports of various voting irregularities across America, with a really cool graphic map. The more orange an area is, the more they are screwing with people’s right to a free and fair vote.

And don’t forget the holograms!

It’s just gone 9pm on the east coast of America (0200gmt here in north London) and according to CNN, Obama is now leading leading McCain with about 3 electoral votes to one. That’s a pretty good margin, let’s hope it holds!

the northlondonhippy
02:02gmt – 5th November 2008

Tell me who’s winning!

As of now, Obama is up, up, up!

All you need to do is look at the people at the two candidates “victory” rallies. In Chicago, where as many as one million people are expected, it already looks like one hell of a party, while in Phoenix, the gathering appears to be more like a wake.

At this point, does anyone really think McCain can pull this off? Even McCain himself looked glum as he arrived in Phoenix a short while ago.

My tv viewing is settling into a routine, switching mainly between CNN (who I think have the edge) and FoxNews, with the occasional stop on the BBC. SKY seems a bit slow and looks a bit cheap and the BBC is actually doing a pretty good job, but the American networks have the resources and speed to do the story justice.

And what a story its going to turn out to be!

the northlondonhippy
01:25gmt – 5th November 2008

I’ve been flipping between:

- FoxNews
- CNN
- MS-NBC
- SKY
- BBC

They all have giant sets and really whizzy graphics, especially the American networks. They’re all being cautious in their projections, which is sensible, but not very exciting.

CNN win on the technology front, Wolf Blitzer is talking to actual, life-like holograms of people in other parts of the country. Spooky!

The key states at this hour remain too close to call, but that in itself could be telling us something, as the key states in previous elections were firmly in the Republican column.

The internet may be my personal medium of choice for doing my own thing, but at heart I am a television viewer. I’m splitting my time between my desktop computer and my tv, though as this thing heats up, I’ll probably switch to surfing on my iPhone while I remain on the sofa. Like you needed to know that.

- the northlondonhippy
- 00:25gmt – 5th November 2008

At least that’s how it looked when I was watching it…

I’m not actually going to write that much today, but rather I am going to let one of the candidates speak for himself.

This video was put together by Robert Greenwald of “OutFoxed” fame; that’s the film that ripped the shit out of Fox News. It’s worth seeing, if you haven’t already. Here’s his latest on presumptive Republican presidential candidate, John McCain.

Seems to me this guy is not qualified to be the next president, if his contradictory statements are anything to go on. Of course, the current incumbent wasn’t qualified to be dog catcher, never mind president and he got two terms. Though to put it in perspective, Bush the lesser now has the LOWEST APPROVAL RATING OF ANY PRESIDENT EVER.

If that many people really hate Bush now, how can McCain stand a chance? A McCain presidency would just be four more years of the same and I can’t see anyone voting for that, can you?