True Entertainment is a fairly recent channel on Freeview TV in the UK. You can find it on 61. It airs a lot of classics, cheap re-runs perhaps, including Mash, Highway to Heaven and The Waltons. But every now and then there is a stand out film, as there was Thursday evening. The Whistleblower was released in 2010 and stars Rachel Weisz with Vanessa Redgrave in a small role. It is based on true events following the Bosnia Serbian war. Weisz plays a US cop working as part of a UN peacekeeping team in the region. Her character Kathryn Bolkovac is employed by DynCorp International. Bolkovac uncovers a sex trafficking ring involving some very young women that is serving DynCorp employees. In fact some of them are actually helping the sex trafficking ring to operate. It was gripping viewing, more so as it was a factual piece. Eilis Kirwan who wrote the screenplay, says it was inspired by the story of Kathryn Bolkovac but make no mistake it happened. It was shocking to see people supposedly employed to protect people abusing them, and often brutally. The authorities turned a blind eye to rape, kidnap and tortue. When Kathryn tries to take her story higher up the chain of command she is silenced; sacked from her role. She does however manage to leave the country with hard evidence of sex trafficking. The final credits of the movie offered updates on the story. It was shocking to learn that the US still used the same company in places such as Iraq. During the final scenes of the movie a man in command dismisses the plight of the women - labelling them all as nothing more nor less than 'war whores'. The women, often girls, were kept prisoner, beaten, sexually abused, terrified and one who Kathryn was trying to help escape ends up dead from a bullet in the brain, delivered in front of the other girls as a warning. It was gripping but disturbing watching but if you get the chance watch the Whistleblower. The movie caused some to question whether the level of violence in the film was sensationalism but Weisz said it was actually toned down for the movie. Recommended. 5/5 Guardian Official trailer
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Opinion - Dispatches is a flagship investigative program aired by Channel 4 in UK. Monday night it ran a special titled 'Murder in the Sky: Flight MH17'. Matt Frei a channel 4 reporter was on the scene of the crash, another person adding to contamination of the crime scene. That is not meant as criticism but rather an observation. As western leaders show outrage that the scene of the crash is not secured an array of people swarm over the area. Dispatches was a brief 30 minutes but it did offer a reasonable round up of what has happened. It did not speculate who caused the crash. It was well worth watching but for this writer one point stood out. There have been questions about whether or not Flight MH17 was diverted over unfriendly country incorrectly or maliciously. A range of experts have talked about this issue on TV. Most agree that flights sadly often have to take in areas of conflict these days as the world is so troubled. A great deal depends on the weapons available to the fighters below. Dispatches reported that rebels in the East of the Ukraine had been using should held missile launchers. These apparently could not reach a height of 33,000 feet which Flight MH17 was flying. 32,000 feet or less was however a possible target. It was interesting then to hear that due to stormy skies the plane did drop below 33,000 feet and apparently with the agreement of flight control. Does this mean that the rebels were able to down the plane with the shoulder held missile launchers? For the bereaved it is all nit picking but as the West tries to implicate Russia in the attack it is relevant. Russia may well have played a leading role in the demise of Flight MH17 but then again it may not. The Ukrainian authorities in Kiev have been sending missile and fighter jets into, and over, the East of the Ukraine and it is possible the rebels mistook MH17 and were able to down it. It is also possible Kiev was responsible. We have all heard of friendly fire these days. The above is what I took out of watching Dispatches but you may view it differently. As always it is about perception and more. Either way if you get chance check out Dispatches. This week it made for grim viewing but did at least offer some order of events. Source Channel 4OD Radio Times Most of us have heard of the late Michael Jackson but what about another Michael Jackson, a man who recorded Blame it on the Boogie before the late Michael? Channel 4's brief documentary aired in the UK may have been short but it was still great viewing. Titled The Other Michael Jackson what on earth was it about? Reading the information before the show it sounded as if it was going to be a little ludicrous. In fact, had it been aired on April 1st I would have assumed that it was an April fool’s joke. However a joke it was not. The program included another musical artist called Michael Jackson, who wrote, recorded and released Blame It on the Boogie. His single was in the UK charts in 1978, the same time as it happens as the recording by the Jackson 5, which included the Michael Jackson we all knew so well. This writer was around in 1978. In fact she had been married almost six years at that time and loved music. Surely she would have remembered this other version of Blame It on the Boogie? Of course when footage of the other Michael Jackson was shown, she did. The Other Mick Jackson followed Mick's son as he set off to Germany to visit his father. Mick senior now resides in Germany and has had fairly mixed success over the years writing songs. When Mick and his brother wrote Blame It on the Boogie record producers were not keen to record and release the song. The writers looked at the words again and added that famous "I just can't control my feet" which seemed to satisfy their demands and Mick Jackson, and his band, released Blame It on the Boogie. The charts in the UK at this time were full of Disco music but Mick's version had an earthier feel. Across the pond the Jackson 5 were losing their edge and looking for something to resurrect their musical career. Something a little different. They needed something to fit the times and Blame It on the Boogie seemed to fit the bill. Although it was popular for The Jacksons, it was not the song which was instrumental in the revival of their musical career. Their recording though had a detrimental effect on Mick Jackson and his recording career. In late 1978 the British press penned the headline Battle of the Boogies as both versions appeared in the UK charts. Although the recordings were similar, they both approached the song from a different angle. The Jackson's version was all the glitz and glamour. Blame it on the Boogie has since been recorded by various artists.
With the death of Jackson in 2009 this tiny piece of musical history was resurrected. All of this just goes to show how a song writer can lose out, when faced with global superstars. The managers behind the Jacksons picked up the song at a music industry trade fair in Cannes and sealed Mick Jackson's fate. Despite Mick Jackson seeming to disappear into oblivion he has worked with many artists, such as, Eric Burdon, Lisa Stansfield and Barry Manilow. The Channel 4 documentary was written by Mick's son, Sam Peter Jackson, a British actor and playwright. One thing that came out of the documentary was that Mick's album Weekend is now available on ITunes. I suppose the strangest coincidence in all of this is that both entertainers were called Michael Jackson. Spooky. Panorama is a long standing investigative BBC series. It always covers interesting topics, though sometimes it makes for difficult viewing. That was the case Monday July 14 when it aired a half hour documentary titled "ISIS: Terror in Iraq". The Panorama webpage has the following introduction "An investigation into ISIS and how it is ripping Iraq apart. Paul Wood speaks to members of the terror group and sees the fighting in Iraq first-hand. Will British recruits bring the terror home?" Having watched the program this writer has many additional concerns. Many of the men involved in ISIS were little more than bullies, albeit on a grander scale. For some, especially their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, world dominance is the hope. For others the aim is to wipe out any person who is non-Muslim. My thoughts when the number of British nationals who have travelled to the region to join ISIS was, fine keep them there and do not allow them back into the UK. Some were actually shown destroying their British passports as they are now citizens of some Caliphate where religion rules but the name of the game keeps changing. Locals claim ISIS members initially garnered support by bribes and promises. Once the locals were sucked in the agenda changed. Although Panorama avoided showing graphic scenes it was still disturbing to watch a person being lashed as the cheering crowd looked on. The people of Iraq and the region face a tough time. They are used to tough times but that will not help. Here at TEK our "On this day in History" for today was the following - "July 14, 1958, a military revolt in Iraq overthrows the monarchy causing jitters in the Middle East, and prompting King Hussein of Jordan to call for British and US military help to avert a similar rebellion in his country". The image which accompanied the post was brutal. Little changes it seems. Iraq's current turmoil stems back to the western invasion launched on the back of 9/11. Hundreds of thousands were killed in what many people believe was an illegal war. George W Bush, for the US, and Tony Blair, for the UK, are viewed as war criminals by many. The fact that Tony Blair is the Middle East peace envoy, appointed in 2007, rubs salt into raw wounds. Read - Sack Blair campaign and the Killing of Tony Blair Most of the men filled with hate, who were shown in the Panorama program, were young; young people who grew up with foreign forces occupying their homeland; young men who were putting their names on a waiting list to carry out a suicide bombing. Do we really need to ask why so many are bitter and hate the west? This panorama episode is not on IPlayer yet but is worth catching up with when it is. Below is footage from youtube re ISIS. Panorama
From Wikipedia re Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
The declaration of a caliphate has been heavily criticized by Middle Eastern governments and other jihadist groups, and by Sunni Muslim theologians and historians. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent scholar living in Qatar stated: "[The] declaration issued by the Islamic State is void under sharia and has dangerous consequences for the Sunnis in Iraq and for the revolt in Syria", adding that the title of caliph can "only be given by the entire Muslim nation", not by a single group. On 2 July 2014, al-Baghdadi announced that ISIS would march on Rome in its quest to establish an Islamic State from the Middle East across Europe, saying that he would conquer both Rome and Spain in this endeavor. On 5 July 2014, a video was released apparently showing al-Baghdadi making a speech at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, northern Iraq. A representative of the Iraqi government denied that the video was of al-Baghdadi, calling it a "farce". However, both the BBC and the Associated Press quoted unnamed Iraqi officials as saying that the man in the video was believed to be al-Baghdadi. In the video al-Baghdadi declared himself the world leader of Muslims and called on Muslims everywhere to support him. |