MEDIA SO SELECTIVE-WHAT ABOUT THE BOMB HOARD FOUND IN BURNLEY?!!

i got this through email...interesting aint it how selective the media can be about what they want to print...


Interestingly enough....while our beloved journalists have been falling over themselves to reportthe alleged storm over Jack Straw's comments, they forgot to report theterrorist plot just uncovered in Burnley, eleven miles down the road from hisconstituency in Lancashire.

It was left to the local papers - papers not unlike the one from which MrStraw's article was picked up by the National Press - to break the news. Thisfrom that news giant, Pendle Today on Friday:
"Two Pendle men have appeared before Pennine Magistrates accused of having"a master plan" after what is believed to be a record haul of chemicals used inmaking home-made bombs was found in Colne."

I suppose we're all having too much fun now that racism is in fashion oncemore. Cor, the 1990s were such a bore with all those silly drives to rid societyof prejudice and discrimination. How foolish we were to rejoice at the releaseof Nelson Mandella from prison. Blimey, I do feel stupid now. Indeed, how sillyof me to question John Reid's decision to have an article addressing Muslimparents published in The Sun, thinking that he had not realised that Muslimsaren't very keen on opening newspapers filled with naked women and racism; I amso last year.

After all, the views of a politician on what a woman should wear are ofastoundingly greater importance to the nation than the Police discovering "arecord haul of chemicals used in making home-made bombs" in one Lancashire houseand "rocket launchers, chemicals, and a nuclear or biological suit" in another.I mean, why get your knickers in a twist about a man who stood for election lastMay messing about with a few chemicals when we can spend the next week talkingabout political correctness gone mad?

And anyway, Superintendent Neil Smith said of the first suspect,"He’s not aterrorist and it’s not a bomb factory but we are interested in what we have seized from his house. It will take expert advice to establish exactly what hehas got." (Burnley Citizen, 2 October) Although, the North West Evening Mailreported four days later:

"A Retired Grange dentist is accused of being part of a bomb plot after arecord number of explosives were seized in a Lancashire town. David BolaisJackson, 62, of Trent Road, Nelson, was arrested on Friday in the Lancaster areaafter leaving his Grange practice for the last time. Jackson was charged withbeing in possession of an explosive substance for an unlawful purpose. However,it is unclear who or what the intended target might have been. Police foundrocket launchers, chemicals, British National Party literature and a nuclear orbiological suit at his home. The find came shortly after they had recovered 22chemical components from the house of his alleged accomplice, Robert Cottage, aformer BNP election candidate, who lives in Colne. The haul is thought to be thelargest ever found at a house in this country."

Fear not, we need not enter polemics about disaffected retired EnglishDentists. There will be no calls to ban Orthodontist Ghettos. The CommunityCohesion Taskforce need not take a long hard look at the issue; we can happilyfeel deterred. Mr Reid need not address Christian children about looking for thetell-tale signs of extremism in their parents. We may sleep easy, for two menfound in possession of rocket launchers, a nuclear biological suit, extremistliterature, a master plan and the largest haul of bomb-making chemicals everfound in the country, have not been charged under the Terrorism Act 2000. Theyare just two comical Guy Falkes jokers who got involved in a bit of hobbybomb-making, so no need to throw the full force of the law at them: old law willdo the trick.

The reality is, of course, the Press has just been through a period ofchallenging self-reflection and they've realised there is no future in sensationalism. After the lurid blow-by-blow Press accounts of the High Wycombe plot, the last thing we need are insensitive headlines on extremists caught inthe midst of preparing terrorist acts - especially as they've only been charged under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. No, sensationalism has had its day. So onto the serious stuff: what did Jack Straw really mean?Sorry, am I being cynical?
Tim