Personal opinion on national (tabloid) press.

For as long as I can remember someone has always told me that "the news is very important, you need to pay attention to whats going on in the world."
Which is a fair enough statement, to completely ignore current affairs and not know at least an outline of whats going on in the world would be wrong, especially due to all the technology we have which makes it so readily available.

But how can we be sure its true?

When you watch the news on the TV you feel you can believe it because there is a sense of personal connection, your looking straight at someone who is giving you eye contact and stating information which has supposedly come from a very trustworthy source (BBC/Channel 4.)

We believe these companies to be trustworthy because we pay our TV license with the hope that some of the most respectable companies in the UK wouldnt feed us lies, if the thought even entered our heads to begin with.

I may be wrong but I'd say alot of people would take it as gospel.

But what about tabloid newspapers?

If something serious in the world happens eg. War, Terror, Natural disaster etc. why turn to one of the (possibly) most unreliable sources in the world?
Instead of going to the BBC or CNN news website's or buying a broadsheet with a great reputation, some people decide they want thier page three girl to go with thier headline, or thier bingo ticket with the chance of a day trip to France for a £1.

This isnt to say that what the tabloids are saying isnt true, but you have to ask yourself if they're trying to sell they're paper with a topless model and a day trip to france for a quid, how do you know that they arent adding bits of information, putting over the top, pun filled, eye catching headlines to grab attention of all the taxi drivers out there who seem to know everything about nothing when you chat to them.

Possibly because they sit and read these papers?

Who knows.

All I know is that sometimes it seems more important to see what Britney Spears is upto than to focus on poverty and famine because it doesnt sell.
Lies sell.

Obviously though, tabloids wouldnt get away with this if they didnt have enough power.
So when it comes to climate change and there's been a natural disaster in some far corner of the planet, all of a sudden its top news and people want simple facts to read while eating thier fry up.
They can print what they like because bad weather, natural disasters, global warming and climate change all ring the same bells to someone who doesnt know a whole lot about it.

Using fear inducing headlines, blackened backgrounds and black and white pictures with quotes from apparant spokes people is a great use of manipulation to get someones 35p every morning.
And tomorrow morning will have a different headline... Britney Spears maybe?

In a way I think its maybe our own fault these things are printed, we shouldnt be so lazy and let ourselves be manipulated to such a degree, but this is, of course, all purely opinion.

Eco-friendly petrol heads?

One of the biggest growing scenes and interests in the UK is performance cars,

people love to spend huge amounts of money and time on modifying their cars to get maximum performance and make them look as good as possible.

Track days, cruises, road trips and car shows are common place and its needless to say that a bigger engine with more power uses more fuel and therefore produces a higher amount of emissions.

There have been developments in lower emission fuels such as electric cars, autogas and even diesel is better for the environment due to fact we don't use as much of it in comparison to petrol.

None of these developments have had the desired effect when it comes to perfomance though.

One development which has broken the barrier between eco friendly fuels and performance is Bioethanol.

According to bioperformanceuk.com 'bioethanol is made from sugarbeet and is an ecologically correct fuel; it does not affect the ozone layer and is obtained from a renewable source.' The website goes on to say; 'Following specific recommendations, it can be added to diesel and to petrol, and can be also used without additives, without damaging the engine.'

Other facts state that bioethanol is a high octane fuel, its is biodegradeable and low in toxicity.
'Since it is cleaner and drier, the bioethanol will clean the engine parts and components that may build up impurities left by the petrol'.

So bioethanol is a good all round source of a low emission fuel which also keeps its performance factor, but of course there are always going to be problems when it comes to trying to introduce a new fuel into a an multi-billion pound industry.

There is also a problem with advertising bioethanol, unless someone goes out of thier way to find out about a bioethanol by researching on the internet and spending at least £400 on a fuel conversion, it will be hard to find any outside advertising about bioethanol because its fair to say that oil companies will not be supporting the conversion.

This then brings back the point of how people who enjoy driving for a reason and not just to get from A to B will be the people who produce the most emissions, if bioethanol was to become more commercial it could bring a whole new outlook for those people and could change the attitudes they have toward our environment as well as being able to enjoy thier interests.

Other links to more information on bioethanol:

http://www.bioperformanceuk.com/

www.arunautogas.co.uk/E85_ethanol_retro_fit_conversion.htm

http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/1/1/14