´óÏó´«Ã½

iPM has talked about Richard_SM before. He wrote suggesting we look at how the media covers demonstrations. "Tens of thousands sacrificed their time" to attend protests about events in Gaza, but the demos were "hardly covered". He contrasts this with the heckling of a military parade in Luton and the Peter Mandelson green goo incident, which were widely reported.

The media, he says, is "simply creating an environment which encourages violent or outrageous protests in the future to draw attention to their cause".

We've already spoken to iPM listener Andy Williamson (pictured above with his sax). He and the Jazz Activists entertain marchers. He provided us with an improv soundtrack for Saturday's show, but we still want to hear from more iPM listeners.

Are you a protester worried that your quiet, peaceful demonstration has been ignored? Do you feel under pressure to come up with provocative stunts to catch media attention. Have you reported on a protest?Email us or leave a comment.

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The small print...

1. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Code of Conduct for competitions can be found at the competition code webpage.

2. The competition is open to all residents of the UK, including the Channel Islands, except ´óÏó´«Ã½ or its affiliates' employees and anyone connected with the competition.

3. Entry to the competition is by: (i) e-mailing the programme ipm [at] bbc.co.uk; (ii) leaving a comment on the iPM blog www.bbc.co.uk/ipm or; (iii) sending a postal entry to Listeners' Opinion Poll, iPM, Room G601, ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Centre, London W12 7RJ. The closing time for receipt of entries is 00:01 on 8 May 2009. No entries received after that time will be considered. Entries cannot be acknowledged or returned. Full details of opening and closing times will be given on air.

4. All email and postal entrants must supply their names and addresses and daytime telephone number. Blog entrants must supply their names and addresses and daytime telephone numbers if contacted by the ´óÏó´«Ã½. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ will only ever use personal details for the purposes of administering this competition, and will not publish them or provide them to anyone without permission. You can read more about the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Privacy Policy.

5. The winning entrant will be decided by the programme editor, at his/her absolute discretion. Contestants are hereby made aware that the winning topic (ie that to be submitted to the commissioned poll) may be a combination of various topics included in more than one entry. In that situation, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ will use reasonable endeavours to credit all of the relevant entrants.

6. The prize consists of having an opinion poll commissioned to include the winning entry (or a variation or mixture of various entries).

7. The prize is as stated. There is no cash alternative and it is not transferable.

8. The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s decision as to the winning topic is final. No correspondence relating to the competition will be entered into.

9. The winner or winners will be notified within seven days of the close of the competition by post/telephone/email. The results of the commissioned poll will be published on the iPM blog on 9 May 09. Update:(12 May 2009) This has now been extended to 19 May 09.

10. Only one entry is allowed per person.

11. Entrants must agree to take part in any post-competition publicity. Winners agree to allow the use of their names for publicity purposes as may be required, and for their entries to be published in any relevant format by the newspaper or any associate company. For entrants/winners under 18 years of age, parent or guardian's consent may be required.

12. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ reserves the right to cancel or alter or amend the competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.

13. The ´óÏó´«Ã½, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any Internet platform/system or the post or otherwise which may result in any entry being lost, delayed or not properly registered or recorded.

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Well, we didn't have room to read out every sentence of news you sent in last week (much as we would have liked to). Thanks for taking the time to share your news with Your News. Drop us a line anytime. Also thanks to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ legend for reading your headlines.

Here's the script:

My son phoned to say I was on Google Maps, in my front garden, doing some gardening - it must've been summer, as the agapanthus was in glorious bloom. Is this fame at last?

Our foster child is moving on in a fortnight, and we're wondering when his social worker is going to get round to telling him.

Spent the last two days sitting in the intensive care unit in Wellington Hospital, New Zealand, holding my mother's hand after her quadruple heart bypass op - a fine holiday this turned out to be!

My husband didn't get the voluntary redundancy he'd applied for - now he's faced with either a promotion or compulsory redundancy, which means more uncertainty for the next 3 months. Do we spend or save?

My wife's become acutely depressed, and for the first time in our 19 years together wants to make love every night: how am I supposed to react to this bittersweet turn of events?

Send us a dozen or so words summing up an event in your week. Leave a comment on the blog or drop us an email.

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This is where the programme starts and we're back at our 5.30pm slot next Saturday (honest).

You can send in a story idea or just a single sentence of news. All thoughts and ideas welcome.

Email us, leave a comment below or , thanks.

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Following a comment from a listener we took a look at the issue of asbestos in schools.

In the past, asbestos was widely used in schools, both as a building material and in the classroom. Teaching union, the ATL told us that its lawyers, acting on behalf of the widow of a teacher whose death was caused by exposure to asbestos during a long teaching career, had won a £290,000 settlement after the union initiated court proceedings.

But there's still a considerable legacy of asbestos in older school buildings. The government , "asbestos-containing materials can be found in around 70 per cent of school buildings."

Their view is that it's safe to leave asbestos containing materials in school provided they are undamaged and carefully managed, removing it, they say, would only risk putting more asbestos fibres into the air.

They say, ""By law, tough, robust processes must be in place in schools to carefully monitor asbestos - which we and the HSE continually assess. It is unacceptable for local authorities and school employers not to fully comply - no ifs or buts."

MP's and ministers discussed asbestos in schools in a Westminster Hall debate last Wednesday. If you are interested in the . A similar discussion held in Cardiff the day before

It's an area of great controversy. If you want to read more on the subject the following links might be of interest.

• The Health and Safety Executive


• Professor Julian Peto's


• British Lung Foundation action on .


• ATL campaign on


• The website of

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The police have warned of a "", and in the vanguard, it's claimed, the middle-classes angry at the current state of the economy.

Then there's the G20, and the potential for heated demonstration .

But is it always the squeaky wheel that gets the most oil? Blog commenter Richard accuses the media of overlooking peaceful demonstations.

On iPM we'd like you to share your experience of protesting, whether large or small. We're particularly keen to hear from you if you are going to a demonstration this weekend. Leave a note either in the comments or email us at ipm-at-bbc.co.uk. You can us too.

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This is where the programme starts and we're back at our 5.30pm slot next Saturday we're on at 5.45AM this week (our editor also changed his clocks back last weekend...sigh)

You can send in a story idea or just a single sentence of news. All thoughts and ideas welcome.

Email us, leave a comment below or , thanks.

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"Now that my nerve-wracking debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House is over, I can relax and get on with plumbing in the central heating." Paul Warren (above).

Thanks for all the stories you sent in for our Your News special.

Listen again to Radio 4 newsreader Chris Aldridge reading Your News with ´óÏó´«Ã½ correspondents picking up the stories.

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Brown Spitfires. Beavers. Missing snakes. Monty Pythons. Rugby scores. Royal Opera House debuts. ASBOs. Mormon field trips. Heartbreak songs and the broken hearted. Towpath workouts. Dementia care. Cashflow collapse. Domestic abuse. Afghanistan-bound sons.

Just some of the topics covered in sentences of news sent in by iPM listeners for our "Your News" spectacular.

The idea: We've asked a Radio 4 newsreader to construct a bulletin made up from your contributions. ´óÏó´«Ã½ correspondents and some very special guests are adding their voices.

But all the stories are yours. And there's always room for more.

Email us or leave a comment.

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Peter Donaldson - once the voice of nuclear Armageddon - was this week the voice of Your News, our bulletin of events in listeners' lives.

Here's the script he read:

The young man who spent six months is jail for cutting my throat at the end of July will be back living with me in May: brilliant.

My daughter has a cold so I have been breastfeeding a lot. Good job too, as I woke up at 4am to a fire next door and called out the fire service.

The frogs have been busy in the pond only for their offspring to be eaten by hungry, winter-dopey fish.

I'm going to to have new knees very soon, it will be great!

Remembered how glorious it is to sing my heart out.

I've just qualified as a first aider at work!

Approached by chap who wants to view some of our 50-year-old documents with the intention of launching a new search for sunken treasure.

At 10.15 in the evening, I looked out of my sitting room window to see the local poacher and his dog heading for the pheasant-rich farmland.

Told the staff that we won't have to make anybody redundant at present, but there are unlikely to be any pay rises this year.

I couldn't face seeing my mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, because I was scared.

Here I am at 75 and have just met an uncle for the first time! He has photos of the grandfather who I never knew.

Near Milton Keynes I met Dr Johnson and David Garrick, who were walking to London; together we admired a shopping trolley in the canal. (What? It's all explained here.)

Send your sentence of news via email or leave a comment below.

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iPM is "Your News". You are at the very centre. The show revolves around your knowledge, ideas and experiences. Whatever is going on in your world, if there's something that you'd like to see featured in the programme leave a note in the comments below or send an email

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Do we need therapy to get through the recession? The government thinks we might.

It fears that unemployment and debt will swell the numbers of people seeking help with anxiety and depression.

It plans to spend £13 million to speed up a programme of new therapy services it announced for England during happier economic times.

And it's short courses of so-called talking therapies such as CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) that it intends to fund.

After PM featured an item on it this week we heard from many listeners, including counsellor Amanda Headley-White. She helps run a low-cost clinic in Bristol called which offers CBT and other treatments. They've noticed a change in clients coming to them.

We also talked to Dr Tom Goodfellow, chair of a charity that helps people deal with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), called .

Listen to Amanda and Tom talk about their experiences - this is the item as it featured in the programme

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Knee replacement surgery. Breastfeeding. Doomed tadpoles.

Such is the gentle ebb and flow of our weekly Your News bulletin. Occasionally, this rhythm comes to a juddering halt. We were stopped in our tracks by this sentence of news sent in by a listener:

"The young man who spent six months in jail for cutting my throat at the end of July will be back living with me in May: brilliant."

Your news might not be as striking, but we still value it. Send us a dozen or so words about any current event in your life. Email or leave a comment. We won't read your name out on air.

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We've had this email:

"Near Milton Keynes I met Dr Johnson and David Garrick, who were walking to London; together we admired a shopping trolley in the canal."

The ravings of a drunkard? No. It all makes perfect sense.

Andrew Denny met some men recreating the that Samuel Johnson and David Garrick undertook in 1737 (they're marking the Samuel Johnson Tercentenary).

The famed lexicographer and celebrated actor presumably didn't encounter a semi-submerged shopping trolley on their trip, nor a canal enthusiast such as . There certainly wasn't a to call if they had seen a trolley.

The 'hotline' is just a few days old. The hotline people have told iPM that the census of abandoned trolleys will take a bit longer to produce reliable picture of dumping patterns.

They also couldn't quite answer the question: why do shopping trolleys and canals go together like Dr Johnson and, er, Boswell?

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Like many items on iPM, Your News was inspired by a listener, but not just any listener. It was suggested by the writer and broadcaster Paddy O'Connell of Radio 4's Broadcasting House.

The bulletin made up of sentences sent in by listeners has become a regular feature on iPM and a firm favourite. So much so, that for our show on Saturday 21st March we'd like to devote the whole 14 minutes to Your News.

If you have never contacted iPM, it's the perfect opportunity to dip your toe in. Send us a dozen or so words about any current event in your life. Email or leave a comment. We won't read your name out on air.

If you need a little inspiration, here's the Your News bulletin that special guest announcer Paddy "Father of Your News" O'Connell read out on the last edition of iPM...

Our deaf 19-year-old cat has suddenly gone blind, poor thing.

I have been reading and sighing over the letters my mum sent to my dad in 1947.

After a respite of three months my two-year-old son has started head-banging in his sleep again.

Cut my hours to try and save the job of one of my subordinates.

Breastfeeding again.

Fell in love virtually with young Russian boy online, will I be scammed again?

I'm looking forward to trying a new beef short rib recipe, just as soon as my dentures arrive.

Big Joan's bereavement cuddle, made me feel as if I was being kissed by a giraffe. Her orange hair, like saintly meringue in my eyes.

Whilst getting things ready for a science cruise at the end of this month, I found myself singing "I'm forever labeling bottles" to the tune used at Upton Park.

I have been reacquainted with changing very soiled nappies by our 3-week-old daughter.

My dog got attacked at the park, so i got to see the PDSA in action and was very impressed

Planted the first seeds of the year at the allotment - parsnips & radishes. Yum!

I'm in the middle of filling in forms about plans for concerts in November 2009 and May 2010. How's that for planning ahead?

Butternut squash cooked adequately; athletes foot returns.

My boyfriend died very suddenly two years ago, and I miss him desperately - although many people seem now to be implying that I'm using him as an excuse for my failings.

Benji B. Barack walked off lead for the first time since moving in with us from Wood Green shelter and he even came back when called.

My biopsy results were clear.

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iPM is a lot like the National Lottery, when you think about it. Your ideas are like the balls.
And the iPM blog and email inbox are like Lancelot the lottery machine.

You place your balls - or ideas - in Lancelot - our blog or our inbox - and then we draw some of your balls - or ideas - out.

We then take these balls - or ideas - and put them in a sequence with other people's balls - or ideas - and then Eamonn Holmes - or Eddie Mair - reads them out. Following me?

Anyway, the more balls - or ideas - you drop into Lancelot - that is, our blog or our inbox -the more exciting the whole draw - or programme - becomes.

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I've been speaking with Richard, a loss prevention manager for a high street food retailer - he'd rather we didn't say which - it's his job to try and prevent shoplifting.

Richard's critical of changes in the way the crime is dealt with following the introduction of on-the-spot-fines (Penalty Notices for Disorder), a .

As a retailer shoplifting presents a challenging problem - naturally he wants to reduce theft, but he doesn't want his staff to put themselves at risk by following thieves out the shop or getting involved in a potentially violent confrontation. He's also conscious of the fact that some of those who steal may be the neighbours of his staff - he told me that some of his staff had been physically threatened outside of work after trying to stop a crime. For Richard it's all about deterrence, but how to deter the thieves without deterring customers? Quite a dilemma.

If you have a view on what Richard says in the interview below we'd very much like to hear your experiences. This interview will be part of a package that will run on iPM later in the spring.

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Ever tried to get a double bass onto a train at rush hour? On the way to an interview yesterday I witnessed an unfortunate young musician attempt just that - I rather think she may have heard a few F# from people she'd made Bflat. So what's the oddest, largest thing you've ever seen taken on public transport?

We've had a few responses from people who follow us on - we'd like you to join in.

janecara: Once saw an elderly lady with a shopping trolley atop of which was a large plastic cake box with a cat in it on train to Devon.

Fivve: A 'naked' female mannequin on a 20-block bus ride down 5th avenue NYC. No one batted an eyelid.

bdaily_ed: A double bass and a trombone, at the same time.

bizarretrillian: Once saw two guys with an over stuffed armchair on the northern line. Cue handy seating jokes!

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It's Your News, but YOU don't have to read it out. Send us a single sentence about an event from your week, and we'll ask one of Radio 4's finest to read it for you as part of our Your News bulletin.

We've already had some news items sent in:

"After a respite of three months my two-year-old son has started head-banging in his sleep again."

Send your dozen or so words via email or leave your sentence as a comment on the blog.

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In a week when concerns have been expressed about the complexity and fairness of schools admissions procedures, iPM has heard from parents about the lengths they have gone to ensure that their child enjoys the best education possible.

Nigel_N left a couple of comments, including:

"Sent him to the local sink schools. Nothing wrong with the education and it gave him a chance to be top of class."

Lady_Sue described a different route.

"We struggled to pay an absolute fortune for private (or do you call them public?) school. Lots of sacrifices were made but it was the right thing to do for him."

We've also heard from parents who took very active roles, some becoming governors ("I'm really proud to be part of the team working to improve the quality of education at my son's school."), or opting for home schooling ("It was far better to put all my energies into teaching him than fighting the system.").

As a parent, do you think that you can never do too much to improve your child's educational chances? Or perhaps you've taken a more relaxed view that you can only do so much?

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Here's the script for this week's Your News. The concept? One event from the last 168 hours of your life distilled into a single sentence, marshalled into a bulletin and read out by top ´óÏó´«Ã½ talent.

After the long dark winter, I walked to my car in twilight this week and when I got home, I could see the lock to open the door.

My car's rear window has been smashed and my laptop stolen. Hope the thief now realises that I was about to chuck it out because it overheats and switches off after a couple of minutes!

While we were all still in bed, my daughter left the house without telling anyone, leaving her three children with us - we have no idea where she is or when she is coming back.

Went to take the car for a service at fantastic half-price offer. Found I'd got the wrong day, but they could still do it as they were not busy.

Considered being a midwife instead of a civil servant.

Pulled a man from a burning truck. He went back into the cab to get his phone and fags. Stupid.

I am going to do a real-time recce of the new route to my new job which starts on Monday.

My new telephone only has two ringtones - the first a demented cricket, the other like the theme tune to a forgotten 70s sitcom. My wife won't have the phone in the house, the shop won't take it back.

The ward round was depressing as February is officially the leading month to die in. Fact.

Central heating broke down and can't be mended till next week so turned on the back-up immersion heater for hot water. That also packed in.

My toddler has pulled off the keys from my husband's laptop. I found the spacebar in the washing-machine, but we are still looking for the 'x' key.

Send us a dozen or so words (it's not War and Peace) via email or leave a comment below. We won't use your name on air.

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