AE on Telly News (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Mick Harper]

Al-Jazeera is essential for Third World coverage but you always have to take into account their Third World bias. At the moment South Africa -- one of their faves -- is in the throes of mass protests about migrants.

In one sense this is a good sign since it is normally First World countries that are prone to such manifestations. But this one doesn't sit well with Al-Jazeera's world view because

(a) mass protests about migrants are inherently wrong
(b) the protestors are a hundred per cent black
(c) the overall responsibility is that of the (mostly) black government.

So Al-Jazeera sent in their investigators. Who returned with good news. The unrest was all the fault of

(a) organised on-line campaigns (possibly white people)
(b) whipped up by the local mass media (definitely white people)
(c) paid for by untraceable 'foreign interests' though Russia, Israel and white nationalists were specifically mentioned.

So now you know.

[Mick Harper]

Deadwood (Sky Atlantic to Virgin)

I checked this out briefly but finding it was a western I moved on. However Pete, a true westerner (he's a Texan though it varies depending on what we're talking about) said I should stick with it. I did, on the grounds that Raylan Givens off Justified and Lovejoy off Lovejoy was in it.

What he should have mentioned was that it's directed by Walter Hill who made The Warriors a.k.a. Xenophon's Anabasis and the fourth greatest movie ever (o.n.o.), and it shows. Recommended.

[Mick Harper]

Sicily, the Conquered Island (PBS)

It takes a lot to get me back to the computer when I've closed down for the day but watching this has driven me to it. I won't sleep unless I speak out. This full-blown two-part PBS epic with a full regalia of academic experts on hand claims, in the first five minutes, that Hannibal was beaten by the Romans at Cannae.

I don't believe a lot of Classical history but Classical historians are unanimous that this was Hannibal's most famous victory over the Romans and has become practically the eponym adopted by military historians of the twin-envelopment battle. It is one of the most famous battles in the whole wide world. 'Ludendorff executed a perfect Cannae on the Russians in 1914' etc.

I simply cannot understand how such a monumental blooper can make it into the can. I wonder how much of the lesser stuff we should trust. (I mean at the ordinary not the AE level.)

[Mick Harper]

Hot Ones: Extra Heat (Netflix)