SpawnPoint

New from the Dutch T.V. company Endemol, that brought you Big Brother is a new show in which, (I swear I'm not making this up) a terminally ill women decides which of three "contestants" should get her kidneys when she dies.

Each of the "contestants" need a kidney transplant and the terminally ill woman, known only as Lisa, will decide who gets her kidneys based on the "contestants" history and conversations with friends and family. Viewers will also be able to text in their advice during the show.

Unsurprisingly this has caused a lot of controversy, particularly amongst politicians and those involved in organ donation.

In their defense Endemol have stated that this program is designed to highlight the plight of those who need an organ transplant, especially those needing a kidney transplant. They also point out that the "contestants" have a 33% chance of getting new kidneys, compared to around a 1% or 2% chance on a waiting list.

The problem that I, and many others, have with this program is that the two "contestants" that don't get the kidneys will die unless they get kidneys from someone else. As there are more people on the kidney donation waiting list than there are available kidneys there is a fair chance that they will die if they do not "win" these kidneys.

This is just too much for a television program, choosing who lives and who dies for the sake of entertainment is just wrong.

I would encourage everyone to donate blood, and sign up for bone marrow and organ donation. You can save somebodies life, even if you just donate blood.

Channel 4 in the UK is going to broadcast a documentary about the immediate aftermath of the crash that killed Princess Diana along with Dodi al Fayed and Henri Paul.  There have been lots of programs about Diana so why the controversy?

The program is going to use photographs taken in and around the tunnel the night of the accident.  And this is where the controversy starts, Channel 4 stated that some of the photos "have not been seen on television before" some seem to have interpreted this as meaning these pictures must have been considered taboo by everyone else.  This then leads people to assume that the pictures must have been considered taboo for a good reason, so they think the pictures must show something gruesome.

The result of that kind of logic is an ever increasing sense of outrage that snowballs into some sort of national campaign against Channel 4.  So now we have massive media coverage, politicians getting involved and the whole thing becomes impossible to ignore.

Apparently one of the most controversial images in the program was also used on the front page of a daily newspaper, yet I don't remember any controversy about that.

Here's my cynical view on the whole thing.  Channel 4 make a documentary about Diana, the press release makes it sound a bit controversial.  The papers then seize on this, because as we all know Princess Diana sells more papers.  Really, put a picture of Diana on the front page of a newspaper and it sells more.  Then some rent-a-quote politicians join in just because they can and they don't get the chance to be on telly much.

The end result is more people watch the program and more newspapers get sold.  Wow, anyone would think they planned it.

Anyone tuning in just to see the pictures should just stick to watching Police, Camera, Action or the one with Sheriff John Bunnell.

I think I did, though I've never done it before so I might be wrong. 

I wasn't too sure what a blog was so I went and had a look on Wiki and found this definition:

"Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs."

I suppose this is a commentary of a tired and slightly confused guy losing his blogging virginity and you can interact, so I declare this a blog.  At least I know what a blog is now so my next one will be far more exciting than this one, or not.