The five young men arrested for daring to be brown-skinned in Cumbria (aka behaving suspiciously near Sellafield nuclear plant) have all been released without charge – and had not, contrary to MSM lies, been taking photographs of the plant.

Their arrest was first headline in all the main broadcast media, and tabloid front page. Has the fact that they were completely innocent been reported in the mainstream media with equal prominence, or indeed in any way you might find without deliberately looking? No. “Muslims tried to blow up Sellafield” is now another lie inserted into large areas of the popular psyche, as more grist to the mill for the warmongers and those who make money from conflict.

Which is another reason that the Guardian’s contention that political blogging is dead is nonsense. Bloggers are needed more than ever to counteract the lies of the mainstream media in its cosy and poisonous relationship with the state.

Look out your lederhosen, it’s kitsch time. I heartily approve of this idea of recycling old acts rather than inventing crap new ones. Next year we should enter this:

Murder in Samaraknd came second in the Best Drama category at the Sony Radio Awards. The judges said it was:

An ambitious and bold project, which was the radio equivalent of a cinematic blockbuster. It was an incredibly important drama not only for the story it told but also for the craft of radio drama

Congratulations to the winner Christopher Reason. But I will not pretend that I am not bitterly disappointed, because the BBC have buried Murder in Samarkand with the apparent intention it will never be heard again. They have not made it available in any of their sale or distribution formats, and there is currently no legal way anyone can listen to it. If you want to listen illegally here, you can click on my link to the right of this.