Time to rant, and it's one of my pet rants, it's about the press, and in particular the filthy right wing rags that are The Daily Express and The Daily Mail.

I struggle at times to find thewords to express how much I loath these publications that spread such lies and distortions of the truth that it's almost funny.

Two particular articles this week really got to me and demonstrated quite clearly why I loath them so much.

Firstky the Express got on its high horse about the human rights act. An incident had occured whereby a car theif was pursued by police and he had climbed on to the roof of a house and started throwing bricks and tiles at the police and passers by. A stand off ensued with police negotiators brought in, especially when he threatened to throw himself off. As part of the negotiations food and cigarettes were sent up to him. It was in this that the Express got wound up, screaming about a "human rights farce", how it was undermining society etc.

Actually these are standard police negotiator tactics, it's nothing to do with the human rights act, it's just how they get these people to give themselves up without having to go through the danger of storming a house roof, which would have been extremely dangerous to all involved. They banged on about the cost of the food and fags. One KFC bargain bucket at £9.99 and a packet of fags which I belive are about £5.

That's right the police had the cheek to spend a bank breaking, knee trembling, £14.99 so that they didn't habe to risk their lives cathcing a car theif. What a terrible crime eh?

The Express went on to give positive coverage to an individual who said they should have simply shot the man.

Sorry? Run that past me again? We shoot theives now do we? The only countries I am aware of that do that are China (the country with the worst human rights record on the planet other than North Korea, and even they don't shoot theives) and a handful of fundamentalist regimes in the middle east. We equate oursleves eith those sort of countries now do we?

The Human rights act is there for our protection, it ensures fair trials, it puts the brakes on heavy handed government, it ensures freedom of speach, of privacy, it protects children, it protects our right to protest.

I am sure there are a handful of occasions where it will be manipulated and abused but I am willing to trade that for the protection it affords me and those I care about.

Aren't you?

Then yesterday the Mail got to me, criticising the fact that husbands who rape their wives now face the same sentences as men that rape strangers.

I hope to God that I really don't have to spell out to readers that rape is rape and is fundamentally evil no matter who does it to who.

Why the hell should men get off more likely because they rape their wife rather than a stranger? In some ways I thinkthat the abuse of trust and the destruction of the relationship in the process makes the crime even worse, but not according to the Mail. It is apparently political correctness gone mad.

Paul Darce can kiss my hairy left wing arse.

Off on camp this weekend so I should be a bit more cheerful next time!