It's like an addiction. Simultaneously I'm appalled, amazed and amused. I want to switch over but then I can't help but switch back just in case I miss a classic bit of jingoistic journalism. It's the top of the hour and in a moment straight out of primetime the announcer declares, "Live! From the Israel-Lebanon border iiiit's Studio B with Shep Smith." And there he is in his bullet-proof jacket walking the world's most dangerous border, with Israel "Just over there behind these tanks" and Lebanon - "a little smaller than the state of Connecticut" - over to the right. Earlier we had learnt from the channel's military analyst that Lebanon was where "the bad guys" were and military capabilities of both sides had been matched up for us with swishing and swooshing graphics that wouldn't have looked out of place on a Playstation. But now it's time for some commercials, "Let's strike up the Fox orchestra for some music as we go to a break," announces Shep. "We'll be right back!"
Of course, there's only one news network that can put the jazz and glitz into an international crisis, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News.
"America's source for news on the war in the Middle East"
Please, no. It's bad enough that a few people have such a skewed view of events, don't start ramming them down the throats of an entire nation. 
Arguably Murdoch and his empire was the inspiration for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies where a crazed media mogul influences global events in order to improve business. Of course, I'm not saying that's the case here but we all know that bad news is good news for those who report on it. I just wish Fox wouldn't make such a song and dance about it.Soapbox moment over.
So, Robert Wagner. He's got quite a big head. Physically I mean. I don't remember that being the case when he was in Hart to Hart. I wonder if his body is shrinking with age and his head is being left behind. At some point he's got to reach a size when he moves to smaller jumpers but won't be able to fit his head through the tighter neck. It's going to be a cold winter for Mr. Wagner. Nothing to worry about at the moment though, it's rather warm outside. While New York is stewing in its own smog and blanket humidity I see Britain is melting like a block of Wenslydale left out in the sun too.
Apparently by the end of the century this will be an average summer for us. Fortunately, by the end of this century I won't be here. Nevertheless I'm doing my best to get greener, mostly by shaking my head at those who aren't. I went up to Boston last week and took a bus. As we crawled through the five hours of traffic that stretched from New York to Massachusetts I tut-tutted at the number of SUVs on the road - my estimate was that they made up one in every three cars on the interstate. The ads on TV boast that the new generation of SUVs here can manage a miraculous 20mpg. Twelve years ago, in the last century, my first car did about 38mpg - given it was a small thing but why the average Joe needs a 4l vehicle is beyond me.
Still, thank goodness you have the option of off-roading in New York should the need arise - there's a particularly nasty pothole on West 18th street that tests most ordinary vehicles. However, I don't doubt that there's a revolution in the American car market around the next bend. Where we keep swallowing the ever increasing petrol prices in the UK, this side of the pond that's not going to wash. 2005 was the year for the hybrid car, Toyota's Prius became one of America's top selling vehicles: fuel and electricity wrapped up in one ugly looking car but with twice the stamina.Today, though, I'm left astounded by the police cars left running outside the local station being used as personal cooling stations for officers who have stepped out of the building for some "fresh" air. I have to bite my lip at the double-bagging of groceries, please someone just design a stronger bag. And, after ordering a small iced coffee, I opened the bag to find two straws, five sugar sachets and seven (!) serviettes - all of which would have been redirected to the bin; and then you've got to ask what the girl behind the counter was thinking? That she was serving diabetics who had trouble locating one of their two mouths?
Soapbox moment over.
So, this new Pope...
