536 Responses to WEEKEND OPEN THREAD….

  1. Nibor says:

    Go on BBC , speak truth unto nations . Tell the ordinary people of Europe that they can’t afford the petulance of the EU elite .
    Jobs will be lost there , businesses will go under , dole queues will get larger , living standards will falter .

    The elite will do alright , it’s the ordinary Joe that will pay for Barnier, Junckers et Al high dudgeon .

       71 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Tricky on the ‘speaking to’ front at the moment: UBS might be staying here, HRC may have had a word herself with the Russians, and stuff may be happening in the Middle East that doesn’t fit the narrative.

      However, bull dykes are killing it in sports in South Africa, so all good.

         34 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      I don’t watch the Question Time – dumbly pay packet show – but saw some extracts of JRM . He shouldn’t go on there unless really ready for the ambushes and interruptions .

      Dumbly and his club are obviously scared of a politician who can put an argument forward and engage an audience directly without him control things on behalf of al beeb as he has done for god too many years .

      Tomorrow – Satdee is the 60th anniversary of Toady – I think I’ll miss their Luvvy love in . Al beeb loves anniversaries – the last rolf Harris show – the last Jimll fix it .
      Now that sexual harassment allegations are in fashion did distract us from the evils of Islam the girls will be queuing up to be victims .

      We ll all have body cameras soon . I mean that . It will be the law in Blighty . Provided and monitored by the state with a weekly ‘Bigot show ‘on al beeb
      Hosted by a dumbly .

         40 likes

    • DWBuxton says:

      Does the BBC ever recognise truth? It seems to be some strange idea to their so called journalists and presentors.

         37 likes

  2. Doublethinker says:

    A few days ago there was a discussion on one of the threads about AM Waters and her new party For Britain. This morning I have listened to the latest Delingpole pod cast on Breitbart and his guest was AMW. I have to say that she gave an excellent account of herself in the admittedly friendly atmosphere created by JD. Incidentally what a pleasant change it is to hear a person to the right of centre being met with courtesy and understanding rather than the hostility and constant interruption that we hear them exposed to on the MSM.
    She explained why she is no longer a Labour Party candidate or member and why being gay left her with no alternative but become a strong opponent of Islam. It was quite amazing to hear a UK politician, albeit not a well known one yet, be as forthright in their opposition to Islam. She is already being attacked by the establishment and MSM and she quite rightly anticipates that this will continue and grow stronger if she becomes more influential, she will get the full Tommy . After her showing with Delingpole I would certainly consider voting for her party. But of course we really need to wait to hear its policies when they have had time to formulate them. But so far impressive.

       88 likes

    • countryblues says:

      DT. I’ve seen and heard many of her speeches and she impressed me too…she seemed sensible, coherent and logical.

      I had no idea she was ever affiliated to Labour…that seems completely illogical to me 🙁

         32 likes

      • Doublethinker says:

        It was when she realised that Labour loved Muslims much more than the working class that she became disillusioned and left.

           44 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      Meanwhile Ukip is led by an ex-cop with no charisma, who used to be a LibDem. Nothing much to see there.

         40 likes

      • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

        Yes, AMW, it seems stood as a prospective parliamentary candidate on a labour ticket.

        Her demonisation by the established UKIP aristocracy, was disgraceful. She scared them shitless.
        Unfortunately enough of the rank and file took heed of the character assassination that took place and she was beaten into second place, behind a grey, featureless, useless common purpose plant. Bolton has no clue and no guts. Ex Limp Dumb. WTF does anyone expect.
        I’m thoroughly pissed at the way Farridge conducted himself, too, in that election process.
        It was him that scared the rank and file off AMW and her anti-islam policies.
        I had been thinking for some time my UKIP membership cons would be better spent elsewhere, and AMW’s party will be getting my cash in future. I resigned as branch secretary for UKIP and from the party itself in disgust.

           31 likes

        • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

          Here’s a cut and paste from Bill Etheridge’s FBook posts, another of the ‘entitled’ UKIP royalty.

          My posts seem to be being commented on by various loonies from the For Britain AMW party . Surely your oh so popular policy ideas and venom filled rants attract enough interest to keep you busy without commenting on my posts ?
          I strongly suggest sane , balanced people who simply want a reasonable debate about immigration and PC ignore these lunatics like the plague . While on the other hand people who are keen on following obsessed hate filled extremists go follow your glorious leader off the political cliff edge to obscurity

          The comments are entertaining !

             16 likes

          • Doublethinker says:

            But the key thing for AMW is what happens in Eastern Europe. It is from there that anti Islamisation will hopefully become a common cause that real Europeans can rally round. If the liberal left can stop the momentum that is building in the east , and they are trying every trick in the book to do that, she will be left exposed to the BBC et al and be ground down. The revolution needed to call a halt to Islamisation in the UK must find its inspiration outside of the UK. The hold of the pro Islamic liberal left , despite the obvious incompatibility of liberalism and Islam , is too strong for any internal movement to break it without examples from outside. We must look east for our salvation.

               36 likes

            • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

              My recall of previous incidents in the Balkans DT is not good enough, for a proper analysis.
              However, didnt we see in the 80’s an uprising against the islamisation of Serbia, Bosnia?
              I only recall that Moslems were painted by the Western media as the victims. We getting a sense of deja vu here?
              You may remember ( i cant be arsed to research it) evil was personified in names such as Radco Mladic, or Radovan Karadic, which at the time I accepted as an unbiased version of the truth.
              Speaking of events in Eastern Europe today makes me think our enemedia will simply repeat the demonisation of any anti islam viewpoint once again.
              There are however, some differences, since today many people dont take the media slant on things at face value, and look to social media etc for alt-views. Trouble is, those who seek out a different view are in the minority, and the majority still trust the media, and then go immerse themselves in ‘Stenders, and all is well with their world once again.
              I suspect therefore that any anti-islam actions/violence there ( and it WILL come to that ) will be met once again by military intervention by well meaning, but ill informed armies.
              I’m aware I should improve my understanding of what happened with the likes of Radco Mladic etc, as I’m bloody sure those painted as war criminals were maybe not so guilty.
              Maybe someone can recommend a decent book ? And end my doubts.

                 11 likes

              • StewGreen says:

                Not my experience when I travelled extensively in the region, staying and speaking with all sides about 8 years ago.
                Neither when I was in the war for a few days right at the beginning in 89. The inter-ethnic tension was not about Islam threatening or oppressing non Muslims. And I saw no evidence that Ethnic Muslim atrocities approached the scale as those by ethnic-Serbians

                   2 likes

      • miker22 says:

        With respect, that is a rather superficial view. Henry Bolton has an impressive CV. Rather someone who has done things than a flash speaker.

           2 likes

        • Rob in Cheshire says:

          Miker:

          Bolton has a good CV if you are looking for a competent manager. The leader of a political party needs to be someone with charm, charisma and a strong political vision. It is why Trump won and Clinton lost. It is why May falters against Corbyn: he lacks the charm and charisma but he has a strong political vision; she lacks all three.

          Ukip would have got nowhere with a man like Bolton in charge. They were very lucky that Nigel Farage turned up. Now that he has gone, we see how hard it is to replace him. Ironically, from what I read, Nigel was not good at the nuts and bolts of party management. Bolton might have made a good right hand man for him. But I do not see him as a leader who can drive Ukip forward. He probably won’t offend many people, but he won’t enthuse many either. People do not vote for bland.

          Assuming Britain leaves the EU, what is the point of Ukip? I struggle to answer that question. Under Bolton it will continue to align itself to the LibLabCon consensus that we need to “control” immigration (we never will), that islam is a religion of peace, and that muslim terrorists don’t undersatnd their own religion. Ann Marie Waters would have led Ukip into a new direction, as a true patriotic party which would lead Britain in its new, existential battle, the fight to survive islamisation. She would have offended many people, but would have enthused many more. Ukip would have had a future. I struggle to see one now.

             6 likes

    • Beeb Brother says:

      I thought she was impressive. It is terrible that decent people with such legitimate concerns are ostracised.

      I think movements like hers will grow. We defeated Napoleon and Hitler and everyone can see there are terrible problems our leaders are to spineless to deal with. Their solution is to stop us talking about it, but even if it is made illegal to say that the sun rises in the morning, people can still know that the sun rises in the morning.

         23 likes

      • Oaknash says:

        AMW – will have to watch it. The sisters wont like the fact that “one of theirs” is actually able to think for herself and is concerned about things that really matter and will affect real people rather than imagined campus rapists (men) triggering university right on feminists or pervy film moguls offending the alteady rich and spoiled.

           15 likes

  3. MarkyMark says:

    BBC Home Page (Item 3) … The 10 ‘hot destinations’ named by The Wall Street Journal are: {bbc.co.uk 27oct2017}
    1. Faroe Islands
    2. Puebla, Mexico
    3. Kuelap, Peru
    4. Minneapolis
    5. Dundee
    6. Grenada
    7. Madagascar
    8. Montenegro
    9. Shanghai
    10. La Rioja, Spain

       15 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      I’m looking to move next year. Don’t function well in heat, so the Faroes looks enticing. My top of the list priorities ? availability of seeing a GP within a week, zero chance of Travellers turning up, and a decent tv repair man and car mechanic within shouting distance. Is that too much to ask ?

         36 likes

    • Thatcherrevolutionary says:

      I would not recommend moving to Dundee. An SNP/lefty hotbed with the shittest politicians anywhere in the land.

         5 likes

  4. Up2snuff says:

    The BBC (on today’s TODAY Programme R4 6-9am) have suddenly re-discovered Syria but they may not have been too pleased to hear from Reza Afshar that former-President Obama did nothing about Syrian military excesses and that his successor, President Trump, was right to drop a couple of bunker busters on an airstrip there.

       49 likes

  5. MarkyMark says:

    EU bank to owe UK billions ‘for decades’ {bbc.co.uk 27oct2017} … Full title: “Brexit: EU bank may not fully repay UK until 2054”

    One housing association, Stonewater, said it may build around 300 fewer homes because its application for £100m to build new properties had ground to a halt.

    Its executive director John Bruton told the programme: “The Bank has been waiting for assurances from the UK government before the application can be progressed.”

       27 likes

  6. MarkyMark says:

    BBC Society 27oct2017

    ‘I unfollowed all my coupled-up friends’

    University rugby initiations ‘totally unacceptable’

    Toilet paper advert prompts race row in Brazil

       13 likes

  7. JimS says:

    This Sunday Radio 4 Extra presents 40 Years Of The News Quiz.

    Learn how Jeremy Hardy has made a living for 40 years by spitting out ‘facher’?

       46 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Jim, I wonder whether there will be lots of Alan Coren soundbites? Or will that show up the present panellists too much?

         33 likes

      • Beeb Brother says:

        Both his son and daughter present prime time shows for the Beeb. For all their signalling about racism or sexism, nepotism is the most extreme form of discrimination and there is no initiative to stamp it out.

           14 likes

  8. TruthSeeker says:

    Nothing to do with BBC bias so please move down to the next post.
    I want a Christmas present, and I want it from Donald Trump.
    But Saint Donald does not have to leave the USA.
    What I want Donald Trump to do is to visit Fort Knox and see for himself if there is any gold there.
    If there is any “gold” in Fort Knox, is it really gold? Really, really gold? Really, really, really gold?
    Not lumps of lead or tungsten painted gold.
    How much gold is there in Fort Knox? Do the books balance?
    I mean do ALL of the sets of books balance?
    Because I think Saint Donald could be president for ever if there is a problem with US gold evaporation.

       27 likes

  9. G.W.F. says:

    Not mentioned on the BBC but music to their ears.
    Church bans Onward Christian Soldiers for Armistice service as it might offend non Christians.
    This comes hot on the heels of cops refusing to provide support for Poppy Parades

    Cops and Church join Government and media in the opposition to British people

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5023147/Vicar-bans-hymn-Remembrance-Sunday-service.html

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/poppy-day-parades-face-axe-11394708

       59 likes

  10. Roland Deschain says:

    Further to my post on the previous Open Thread, I am pleased to note that lesbian rugby players are no longer one of the most important story I should read.

    However it has been replaced by this.
    2xlMtmu.jpg

    That’s two BBC hobby horses covered already today.

       32 likes

  11. nofanofpoliticians says:

    Particularly enjoyed Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Despite Brexit rant on Question Time last night.

    Dimbleby of course, who owes his whole life to the BBC from cradle to grave literally, didn’t believe what he was saying and asked for an example. JRM couldn’t provide one, but the audience seemed to know where he was coming from.

    In less than 10 seconds of searching, I was able to find this (just in case anyone is in touch with Dimbleby)

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36771595

    Camilla Tomilly (sp?) pointed out that Question Time was equally biased in this respect, prompting Dimbleby into an outright lie when he said that there have been occasions where the panel has been pro-brexit in numbers. Dimbleby moved on pretty quickly, has to be said.

       54 likes

  12. Lucy Pevensey says:

       75 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      What a toad Dimble is. You have to be a first rate liar to pretend that the BBC isn’t outrageously pro EU and anti Brexit. Leftist bias runs through every facet of the entire output of the corporation.

         57 likes

      • Number 7 says:

        Meltdown at the BBC

        Are those tears in Dim Bum’s eyes?

           46 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          Thank you 7, I remember watching that live. Always a happy thought. I wondered is he was going to get choked up. Ha ha

             2 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Leftism doesn’t run they the dumbly brothers production company which of course doesn’t show what those champagne lefties take from the taxpayers who pay the tv tax ( not me)

           4 likes

  13. AsISeeIt says:

    “…700 stab wounds and 100 gunshot wounds a year…”

    BBC London reporters have popped along to the Royal London Hospital to get a flavour of what’s occurring. The armed Police? They’re just here to protect patients – incase gang members turn up to try and finish off the job.

    I guess this is what the BBC mean when they bang on about “Pressure on the NHS”

    Blimey, that ageing population, eh?

    Lucky we have such open borders – where else would we get the staff?

       44 likes

  14. Lucy Pevensey says:

       27 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Lucy Pevensey

      If reporting to the police add that one was heard to say Britain First

         29 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      As I was reading this scenario in the n/paper, on the tv is a repeat programme of “will we ever see a black Prime Minister ?” – and when we’re faced with scenes like this then hopefully not in my lifetime. Racist ? at my time of life I couldn’t give a monkeys.

         23 likes

  15. Lucy Pevensey says:

       41 likes

    • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

      Any money we pay to the eu for Brexit could have £9 billion knocked off it and the eu could pay themselves.

         24 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Once the EU start adding items to the Brexit invoice – which should be made available to the public.

           17 likes

        • RJ says:

          “Once the EU start adding items to the Brexit invoice – which should be made available to the public.”

          In a couple of weeks time I’ll be at the local War Memorial on a Sunday morning to read the list of names of the people from my village who made up a tiny proportion of the lives that Britian paid Europe in the last century – twice.

          They can send us an invoice, but it should be returned stamped “Paid in Full”.

             49 likes

    • IM_Ryte says:

      Parasite, and also a liar, from his Wikipedia page:

      In November and December 2015 Stubb got himself in the middle of a scandal when he was accused of lying to Finnish Parliament not just once but consistently and deliberately. In November Stubb had said to Parliament that 90 percent of the experts who had given a statement, were supporting government’s pact to make it possible for Finnish to own publicly listed companies’ stock through nominee accounts. The real number was 10 percent, which was the very opposite Stubb had said. One of the many Members of Parliament who criticized Stubb was Eero Heinäluoma, who told that Finance Minister Stubb had lied to Parliament also in other issues in several times, and this was deliberate.[62]

         7 likes

  16. StewGreen says:

    The False equivalence about Islamic Terrorism vs “Far right terrorism”
    – Islamic – base of hundreds of nutters who are willing to kill indiscriminately and have killed dozens in the UK
    – Far right – zero actual fatal attacks just convictions for organised vandalism.
    Killing people for political purposes is not right and I don’t see there is a far right movement support for such.

    Now the organised killing of an MP would certainly be a terrorist attack, so yesterday’s arrest for plotting is interesting.
    Is it fishy ?
    Yes cos of today’s papers only the Times puts it on the front page.
    Even then the info is shallow, like no indication of a proper motive :
    The target Rosie Cooper is 67
    .. she might well die of natural causes before the plotters succeeded
    Motive ? Times says she’s a remajner and signed a motion on Rohingya refugees.
    That’s all the Times offered.

    Balance that against the counterproductive that she’d become martyr of the century.

    This conspiracy seems like “Riotous Assembly” where there are no real terrorists at all, but 2 sets of undercover police trying to outdo each other.

    2pm News “with a machete”
    So possible nutter1 says “I’m going to stab her” and nutter2 says “go ahead”
    That’s hardly 911 is it ?
    Odds on the nutter would only have a small chance of succeeding.

       20 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Times : The prosecution originates from Hope not Hate
      “Said information that had led to the arrests had originated from them”

         14 likes

    • maxincony says:

      StewGreen,

      Killing people for political purposes is not right and I don’t see there is a far right movement support for such.

      National Action,

      “Our thoughts go out to Thomas Mair #Britain-First #JoCoxMP… don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain. #JoCox would have filled Yorkshire with more subhumans.

      StrewGreen,

      The target Rosie Cooper is 67

      …she might well die of natural causes before the plotters succeeded.

      (hahaha, murder plots are funny!)

      …hardly 911 is it?

      (Jo Cox – hardly 911 is it?.)

      (Lee Rigby – hardly 911 is it?.)

      …Odds on the nutter would only have a small chance of succeeding.

      Oh, so that’s ok then…”Odds on.”

      Well done Stew.

         6 likes

      • Nibor says:

        Well done Maxicony you’ve made some good points . Now in your opinion what is the greatest threat to lives ; Islamofascists or right wing extremist ?

           14 likes

        • maxincony says:

          Nibor,

          Now in your opinion what is the greatest threat to lives ; Islamofascists or right wing extremist ?

          Perhaps you should ask Rosie Cooper who she feels most threatened by?

             3 likes

          • Nibor says:

            No I asked you . But feel free to duck out of the question but don’t expect anyone to think you are a forthright person .

               12 likes

            • Rob in Cheshire says:

              Max will never answer a question, or enter into any sort of real discussion. If he is called out on a falsehood, he just ignores it. You might say he is a typical leftist.

                 9 likes

          • taffman says:

            maxincony
            Are you voting for this petition………..
            https://readyformogg.org
            I fully understand that you don’t answer questions but what’s your opinion?

               4 likes

      • tony1234 says:

        Max, Of course, society is a broad spectrum… and all positions can be extrapolated to an extreme one…. which will inevitably be occupied by someone.

        So, the question is:
        What is the relative weight of threat to societal well-being created by following in UK & Europe 2017:
        a) Followers of Islam?
        b) Followers of Hitler?
        in terms of (i) the number of people the ideology threatens, (ii) the nature of the threat?

           10 likes

        • maxincony says:

          tony1234,

          So, the question is:..
          a) Followers of Islam?
          b) Followers of Hitler?

          Anders Breivik (follower of Hitler) murdered 77 people – in case you’ve conveniently forgotten…

          But regardless, your question is as fatuous as asking, who was the greatest threat to lives:
          a) John Christie?
          b) Harold Shipman?

          As if it’s just some sort of pathetic game of ‘Top Trumps’.

             5 likes

          • Edward says:

            maxincony,

            You’re right. It isn’t about who’s right or wrong – it’s always about who’s the MOST wrong?

            Christians
            Jews
            Muslims

            They’re all fucked up religions that have imposed misery on millions of people. But according to the majority here at BBBC.org Christians are the bestest because they have inflicted THE LEAST MISERY on the world.

            Which isn’t true.

               5 likes

            • Broadcasting-on-Behalf-of-the-Caliphate says:

              Hi Edward, go to school and learn something, rather than this muddled verbal diarrhoea you are producing.

                 10 likes

      • honestus says:

        Maxi, have never responded to your contrarian posts as they are pointless and intended for agitation only. To conflate NA ‘threats’ with actual islamic terrorist outrages is the preserve of an infantile mind, set on mischief with nothing better to do than antagonise. Given your right to post, can you at least try to observe a modicum of objectivity.
        NA successful assasinations = 0
        Islamic killings = fucking loads.
        Please feel free to use actual facts to contradict.

           17 likes

        • maxincony says:

          honestus,

          …can you at least try to observe a modicum of objectivity.

          There are Islamic shit-heads who want to kill people and sometimes they succeed.
          There are Nazi shit-heads who want to kill people and sometimes they succeed.

          What unites them is not their politics or their religion; but that they are shit-heads.

          Excuse me if I treat them both with the same level of contempt.

             5 likes

          • Broadcasting-on-Behalf-of-the-Caliphate says:

            Maxincony … Islamic shit-heads … Nazi shit-heads … What unites them is not their politics or their religion; but that they are shit-heads.”

            How very wilfully ignorant of you. Calling someone a shit-head has zero explanatory value. You are attempting to prevent any analysis by labelling the cause as “shit-head”.

            The following is in fact the case:
            In general those followers of Nazism that want to kill are driven by racial-eugenics ideology.
            In general those followers of Islam that want to kill are driven by Islamic ideology.

               13 likes

          • johnnythefish says:

            The trouble with constantly viewing the world through a prism of moral equivalence is you end up with no moral compass at all and eventually find yourself sitting on a fence with some very large spikes sticking up your arse.

            We all know there are a lot of nice Muslims, Maxincony. In fact, there are a lot of nice Muslims living in Muslim countries, but I’ll bet a pound to a penny you wouldn’t want to live in a single one of them. So go do the maths: the more Muslims we have living here the more like a Muslim country we will become – in fact, are already becoming, given successive governments’ proclivities for bending over backwards to accommodate their ‘culture’.

               11 likes

          • taffman says:

            maxincony
            Have you signed this petition yet ?
            https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/end-the-bbc-licence-fee
            If not why not ?

               4 likes

      • Rob in Cheshire says:

        Hi Max:

        Have you found any right wing bias on the BBC yet?

           9 likes

  17. StewGreen says:

    Times Fpage : Students Protected by Safe-Space Marshalls at events
    eg when Mogg speaks

       34 likes

  18. gaxvil says:

    EU to wind up quantitative easing for the Euro but apparently it’s wonderful because the failing and corrupt nations like Spain, Italy etc., are experiencing growth.

    And no one has considered, says a ‘conflict expert’, getting ISIS around the negotiating table. Well, I’m no expert but I reckon she is correct. They could sit next to the Taliban, Jack the Ripper and the Easter Bunny.

    And finally, not since the distant days when I tuned to Radio Moscow and they put out only pro Soviet and anti Western news have I known such censorship in how the Uranium, Dirty Dossier etc., stories are simply absent from the bbc World Service.

       38 likes

  19. StewGreen says:

    News stories : Twitter bans RT and Sputnik ads
    Article supplies no evidence they’d ever advertised on Twitter anyway.

       18 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      RT now just reporting that Twitter suggested to them they advertise before the US election
      and offered tem a special $3m package and strategy suggestions , which RT did NOT take
      RT questioned why Twitter didn’t mention this offer when speaking about the new advert ban

      They add \\ spend of $274,100 was not the amount spent on promoting election-related tweets to the US audience. The great majority of that sum was spent on general promotion of the RT accounts as a way of reaching new audiences – the most popular form of advertising on Twitter. Only a fraction of the promoted content was related to US election coverage. //

      I note the RT webstory doesn’t mention that bit they now have a page
      https://www.rt.com/op-edge/407858-rt-twitter-us-election/

         4 likes

  20. StewGreen says:

    Headline crap : Actress Judd struck a deal with Weinstein 20 years ago.
    Text actually says she got out the situation with a joke ‘yeh when I win an Oscar, byte I’m outta here’

       15 likes

  21. taffman says:

    Breaking — Catalans declare independence.
    EU breaking up ?………………….
    http://news.sky.com/story/live-madrid-set-to-rescind-catalan-autonomy-11100121

       22 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      How much are the Catalans paying ?
      Is Spain happy expecting to get £20bn divorce settlement ?

         22 likes

      • wronged says:

        Stewgreen, you raise a very good point.

        This is going to get very nasty, if independence in Catalan is gained, the EU will send a bill to Catalonia not Spain. The money could then go indirectly to Spain.

        This is not going to end well. I wonder if Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has life insurance.

        Barcelona are still playing football in the Spanish league. They could be withdrawn from the league. Maybe the French league will admit the football team into their league but I doubt it. This Saturday they play away at Atletico Bilbao. Might be worth a watch to judge the reception they receive.

        Barcelona FC no longer playing football might be more influential in this dilemma than we think.

           26 likes

        • The Sage says:

          It’s Athletic Bilbao not Atletico Bilbao. I believe the team uses the English spelling because it was formed by shipyard workers from Southampton and Sunderland and hence the team’s red and white shirts. It’s the same with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Genoa, to name just three more Continental clubs which have English-style names.

             10 likes

          • BRISSLES says:

            The same way that Jose Mareno is ALWAYS pronounced on Sky as Mareneeeeo !

               5 likes

          • Rick Bradford says:

            As Bilbao is in the Basque country, the reception may not be hostile at all. It will be interesting.

               1 likes

      • honestus says:

        Now’s the time for May to indulge in some EU style diplomacy. I.e. dear Spain, we are considering entertaining the Catalonian’s request for official recognition. What do you think about this and please consider if there is anything we can discuss for the UK to drop this line of enquiry!

           18 likes

        • taffman says:

          honestus
          I don’t think she has ‘the bottle’ to go against the EU. Don’t forget she is a remainer.
          The EU says jump – she says how high?
          Now if Rees-Mogg………………..

             16 likes

    • Synchronised says:

      I posted a list earlier Taff on the Mid Week Thread. Sorry to repeat.

      Spain’s EU puppet PM trying to hold it together.
      Eastern European countries disgruntled.
      Austrian election result.
      Brexit.
      Italian elections looming.
      Merkel hiding in her bunker.
      Isolated unreported (mainstream) violence in Scandinavia.

      I mentioned the Eurocrats are going to run out of sticking plasters but I think they are going to need more than that in Spain as I agree with wronged, I can see it getting messy.

         18 likes

      • G.W.F. says:

        Catalonia’s independence is serious. We may end up with another entry in the Euro vision song contest.

           17 likes

      • tony1234 says:

        Thanks Mr Synch, that’s a list to warm my heart and remind me there is hope.

           2 likes

  22. StewGreen says:

    Fresh batch of top doctors and engineers arrive

       33 likes

    • taffman says:

      When is the Home Sec going to move and do something about this?
      Don’t forget controlling immigration was one of the prime movers behind Brexit.

         21 likes

    • Dystopian says:

      They will be sorely disappointed when they can’t get a Council house due to them all being allocated to returning Jihadis!

         0 likes

  23. Beeb Brother says:

    So the Trump/Russia narrative is officially dead? The Democrats colluded with them and so did the FBI, and Trump was the only one not to. They so wanted it to be true that they totally disregarded the facts. They are a disgrace.

    Can we expect an apology from the Beeb after being subjected to hours and hours of this tedious fake news? What on Earth was Sopel doing on holiday in the States all the time when all he did was spew spurious conspiracy nonsense?

    It is only because Trump is so wealthy, fearless and masterful with the media that he has exposed them. Hardly anyone could normally withstand an attack of the entire MSM colluding with one another to bring someone down, with countless dirty tricks at their disposal.

    It makes you wonder how many stories from the past they totally made up as well.

       72 likes

    • RJ says:

      “Hardly anyone could normally withstand an attack of the entire MSM colluding with one another to bring someone down, with countless dirty tricks at their disposal.”

      We had an example last year when the whole of the MSM signed on to destroy Andrea Leadsom and ensure that Theres May became PM. They took an innocuous comment about children and turned it into a massive and relentless smear campaign.

         61 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        The media conspired to get Tony Abbott booted out by his own party as Australian PM
        The replacement Malcolm Turner has been a failure.

           15 likes

    • tony1234 says:

      “It makes you wonder how many stories from the past they totally made up as well.”

      Personally, I ‘m assuming every f***ing one!

         12 likes

  24. MarkyMark says:

    Irresponsible people buy luxury item and expect someone else to look after it, whilst still owning a TV License at £145 per year … Food banks for pets: The people helping hard-up animal lovers {bbc.co.uk 27oct2017}
    “The RSPCA says a pet food bank should be a “last resort” for struggling owners.”

    – BBC should stop the TV License/Tax – think of the pets that could be feed for £145 per year. Gary ‘£1.75m’ Lineker think of the dogs that could be feed instead of your wages!

       32 likes

  25. StewGreen says:

    Holland : After 225 days govt finally sworn in
    Rightish Coalition has a 1 seat majority.
    Remember all that fuss about Wilders
    Seems he’s still got the pressure control.

       33 likes

  26. StewGreen says:

    Germany : fake asylum seekers, marries, delays, cuts daughters throat..on the run.

       26 likes

  27. StewGreen says:

    Germany UK friendly cooperation ?
    Head of German stock exchange fired over insider trading charges to do with its failed merger with London

       14 likes

  28. theisland says:

    This is being ignored in parliament (as far as I know, certainly no publicity).

       12 likes

  29. Doublethinker says:

    The BBC ,quite rightly in my view , is strongly against cruelty to animals in any shape or form. In the Telegraph today there is an article about Lancashire County Council banning the use of un stunned Halal meat in its schools and canteens because the slaughter is not humane. The local Muslims are up in arms and are going to boycott school meals etc. ( who gives a shit ) Other councils such as Leeds and Bradford use unstunned meat in their schools. This despite the RSPCA and Royal Vet College be unequivocal that the only humane way to slaughter an animal is to pre stun , no ifs , no buts. This issue is one which brings into sharp focus the different values of our society and that of the Muslims. But note how our children are being forced to eat meat from unstunned animals just because the Muslims want it that way. Why should we abandon our values because these invaders don’t like them.? We should definitely boycott all supermarkets that sell unstunned meat and mount a vigorous campaign against those councils that serve it.
    But back to the reaction of the BBC. Stunned silence I expect ! But once again the BBCs love of Muslims trumps all their other values. They are in the forefront of campaigns for gay rights , transgenderism, women’s rights and all the rest of the liberal left playbook, almost all of which are in direct conflict with Islam . But whilst the Brits get it in the neck from the BBC on all of these issues they never ever mount any sustained criticism of Islam on these issues. Why the hell not? And it’s not just the BBC , it’s right across the liberal left . Whilst most of us can sustain a bit of cognitive dissonance , the amount shown by the liberal left is so enormous that it must be close to the clinical definition of schizophrenia! I am sick of seeing the values of our country abandoned because Muslims don’t like them. Why don’t we go and get blind drunk in Saudi, distribute bibles etc , well they enforce laws which back up their values , barbaric as they are. It about time we did the same .

       93 likes

    • Al Shubtill says:

      Dt – Halal slaughter won’t be banned on the grounds of cruelty, as to do so would mean banning the equally inhumane Shechita slaughter; and unfortunately that’s not going to happen.

         11 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Refocus on Halal … on positive employment discrimination (loss of jobs) and religious discrimination (religious privilege) for Halal. Only one religious group can slit the throat and whisper the special incantation. Only one, if you want a job in slitting throats you must be of one particular special religion …

           32 likes

      • Lucy Pevensey says:

        But Shechita isn’t being pushed on the general public in schools, supermarkets & restaurants up & down the country. I think it may be confined to Orthodox Jewish schools/businesses.

           34 likes

        • Al Shubtill says:

          LP – So you don’t object to the animal cruelty per se, just the fact that you might be eating meat that has come from animals killed inhumanely?

          If so; what do you think happens to the non-kosher meat from a beast killed in a Shechita slaughterhouse?

          I’ll give you a clue: it doesn’t get thrown away.

             6 likes

          • Lucy Pevensey says:

            Al,
            I don’t eat meat. It’s not a religious thing for me, or a Greenpeace-hippy thing or any kind of hardship or sacrifice. I’ve never liked meat, even as a child. When I grew up I ate meat less & less until I stopped altogether.
            Regarding Halal, what I object to is the Islamic god being worshiped with blood sacrifice on MY land. On British soil. It’s an evil practice that doesn’t belong here any more than child-sacrifice does. But our establishment is allowing that too if only indirectly.

               18 likes

      • MartinW says:

        I am not in favour of either the muslim or the Jewish methods of animal slaughter. However, my understanding is that kosher meat does not enter the general retail market, but is confined to kosher shops and other outlets. Perhaps someone with expert knowledge can corroborate this or correct me? In contrast, halal meat, in vast quantities, enters unrestricted and unlabelled into the whole of the retail market and supply chains in UK (e.g. to schools and hospitals) not only from British halal slaughterhouses, but from overseas. Amazingly, even lamb from New Zealand can he halal, and when we buy it, we have no way of knowing whether it is halal or not. It seems to me imperative that we have legislation that compels retailers to clearly label halal meat so we can choose whether to buy it or not.

           10 likes

    • Deborah says:

      Substitute ‘Jews’ for ‘Muslims’, Doublethinker, do you feel the same?

      I understand that for (some?) Muslims, there it is possible to eat prestunned animals. Judaism never allows it. But even as a child it was explained to me that as kosher meat is only from the forequarter of the animal, the remaining hind quarter (the expensive cuts) could then go into the general market and not be wasted.

      My grandfather lived in the Nazi Germany of the 1930’s. Whilst he never ate kosher, he was extremely concerned that banning kosher meat (which banning non stunned animals effectively does) was a back door way of ridding a country of Jews. Some of you on this site may think that getting rid of the Jews is worthwhile if it gets rid of a few religious Muslims…but. is a country without Jews one you would want to live in?

         10 likes

      • Doublethinker says:

        Can you explain to me why Islam and Judaism both insist on this barbaric way of slaughter? It seems extremely odd to me that the animal has to be prayed over whilst still conscious and that God would frown upon the slaughter if the prayer was said whilst the animal was unconscious but alive. Mind you I have found the whole concept of God silly since I was 12 years old , so perhaps I’m prejudiced.
        I suppose that if Muslims and Jews insist on eating meat killed in this barbaric way without pre stunning the meat could be imported . I personally would regret seeing Jews leaving our country but I would be cock a hoop if the other lot did en masse
        Also as Lucy says above British children aren’t being served such meat because of Jews but because of Muslims. That does make a difference.

           38 likes

        • Deborah says:

          Until stunning, the kosher way of killing an animal was the best way of killing an animal ie the quickest and with the least suffering of the animal. But Jews are very traditional and for orthodox Jews, the animal has to be ‘perfect’ before slaughter i.e no signs of illness and stunning an animal (ie blowing its brains out) means that the animal is not in perfect health immediately before death. Indeed for some Jews even a single lesion on the liver means that the whole animal cannot be considered kosher (google ‘glatt kosher’ if you want to know more but understand that is the most extreme). As for the prayers, they are an acknowledgement that a living creature is being killed, i.e. not something to be done lightly, a sentiment that you can perhaps empathise with Doublethinker, even if you cannot understand the G-d thing.

             4 likes

          • chrisH says:

            This is a Judeo-Christian country and not a Muslim one.
            The Jews were first in regard of their dietary requirements, these are never up for negotiation. Nor should they be, Jesus Himself was a Jew.
            We Christians no longer need to go along with dietary law-this goes for vegan and Fairtrade crap as well.
            Yes, double standards-but Muslims only pimped a ride on the Jewish rituals, and their numbers now mean that halal is a massive problem as we indulge it.
            Should be stunned and killed in Mecca, kept for days ina Tunis market uncovered and then sent here on a migrant dinghy.
            If they don`t like that, let them go vegetarian and gain kudos from Chrissy Hynde or Morrissey…but no British reared animal shoud,be killed as cruelly as the Muslims do it. The Jewish market is far smaller-and we`d have no Christian faith, had they not nursed it for us.
            Yes, Jews are Gods children, Muslims may not be(to be polite).

               20 likes

            • Al Shubtill says:

              “and we’d have no Christian faith, had they not nursed it for us.” (WTF?)

              Er…cH…perhaps you should read the Gospel of St John?

                 4 likes

              • chrisH says:

                Sorry AS, don`t really agree.
                Matthews and Johns Gospel DO contain the writers anti-semitism alright.
                Mark and Luke do not , as a general rule.
                All four gospels were written in their times for different groups, with different cultural biases.
                Matthew wanted to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah they craved, and John went to great extremes to pin it all on the Jews so he could bypass the role of the Romans who were the REAL power as he saw it.
                And don`t forget AS…it`s not necessarily what the writers say that counts-it`s what Jesus Himself says…and in Jns gospel(ironically enough) we find the final word on the Jews…Salvation comes only through and from them.
                (Jn 4.22,b)
                Glad to have this chat.

                   4 likes

                • Al Shubtill says:

                  cH – I value your posts on here, which I often find funny and pertinent and always take time to read them.

                  The point I was making was in response to the claim that the Jews “nursed” our faith.
                  I think you are wrong in that assertion, Jews were the main opponents of Christians (“Jews” here refers to those who rejected Christ, as these groups were both ethnically Jews) and John refers to that hostility towards those “Jews” who accepted Christ in his gospel.
                  Such as the parents of the man born blind (John 9) who refused to speak of the miracle of their son’s restored sight: “…because they feared the Jews”.
                  After the destruction of their Temple (70AD) and the bar Kokhba rebellion (131AD) Judaism and Christianity became the bitterest rivals.

                  As to the gospels containing their writers’ anti-semitism, there was no such thing as “anti-semitism” until Wilhelm Marr used the term in 1870 to present Jews in racial not religious terms. If the gospel writers were “anti-semitic” in such a sense, then they would be against the founder of their religion since Jesus was also an ethnic Jew.

                  If the gospel such as John’s has anti-Jewish content, it is because “Jew” (then) referred to someone who rejected Christ and not to their race, because they were all of that race and John was against them as they were opposed to him and hated the religion he followed.

                     3 likes

                  • chrisH says:

                    Lot of good points AS.
                    1. Your anti-semitic point is correct…guess I meant anti Jewish slanting of both John and Matthew who I still think were trying to suck up to the Romans-and in Matthews case, to parallel the Jewish scriptures both in the method of blocking his teachings together, and in putting the case to knowing Jews that Jesus was the fulfilment and culmination of their Tanakh.
                    2. Take your point that “nursed” is hardly the best word for what I meant-what I was trying to say is that the jews were the first to give us the idea of One God who could be known via history, law and collected scriptures that gave His plan, purpose-showing both love and anger in the Psalms and prophets as we who follow can discern via spirit, experiences and a reasoned approach. I know Jews saw Christians as splitters and perverters of their rituals and methods-and persecuted acccordingly, as Paul cites.
                    Maybe I meant that the Jews collated , reasoned and allowed my likes to see God as known and knowable. Had they not given us the O.T as well as their Rabbi Jesus,I`d have no faith two millenia on.
                    Only point I`d not take yet was the one re a Jew was one who rejected Jesus-you`ll know there were Essenes, Pharisees, Sadduccees , even Zealots (and a couple of others I think). My understanding is that Johns Gospel would be Essene in tone, and I`m working on a theory that means that it may have been the first one written. The Jews would have been far more a long term threat to early Christians maybe had they not been wiped out or dispersed with the Roman attack on the Jerusalem Temple etc in the mid 60s A.D.
                    Not only does Jesus hold out hope for Israel and the Jews as I cite-but Pauls passage in Romans 9-11 makes it very clear that the Christian Church also has little grounds now to think that we replaced the Jews as Gods people. Its Gods world, both Jesus and Paul tell me that salvation comes from the Jews-and not by way of them being any better or more deserving.
                    Hope that makes it clearer, thanks for the corrections.
                    PS-Enoch Powell though that Matthews was the first gospel written…if you want to annoy the left, start to rant and rave about Powell and his divisive, raging controversy-and cite THIS as your reason…they hate it!

                       4 likes

                • Lucy Pevensey says:

                  Chris,
                  Mattityahu & Yochanan. (We call them Mathew & John) were both Jewish.
                  The New Testament is not an anti- Semitic collection of writings. Anyone who is interested in understanding the Jewish roots of the Christian faith should read the New Testament book of Hebrews.
                  Not every critic of Jews or Judaism is an anti-Semite. The most severe critics of Jews are Jews themselves. You can leave the New Testament out entirely & read only the Hebrew scriptures to see what I mean. There is no heavier charge brought against Jews in the Gospels than already exists in The Hebrew Scriptures. If any of the Gospels are anti-Semitic then all the Prophetic books of the Old Testament are anti-Semitic as well.

                     2 likes

                  • chrisH says:

                    Ta Lucy, stand corrected re “anti-semitism”.
                    As I said above, I used it by way of shorthand-but it doesn`t apply to anything written before the last 19th C, given the specific nature of the term.
                    I find that all the “red bits” that Jesus says are flawless, but Paul and the gospel writers were writing for different audiences at different times and with differing circumsatnces and agendas.
                    So I tend to start from the basis that the Jews are Gods people-their rejection of Jesus or their indifference etc are very much Gods affair,seeing as both Jesus and Paul saw them as key to our salvation as following Gentiles.
                    Different rules for them, seems to me that they have the Tanakh-we were able to access Gods grace via Jesus and the New Testament that followed-but the Tanakh still stands. In Johns Gospel (5.45 passim), there`s an intriguing line that all of us will be judged by either Moses( if not believers in Jesus) or Jesus Himself(if we claim to be followers of His).
                    You`re quite correct re the Jewish self-critique, often think of that line of Jesus that “to who much is given, much is expected”. The Jews were given everything, God and they will sort it-and thanks to that gift we now can claim some kinship via the Cross that the Romans used to execute him…yes, “Jews” and “Gentiles” mocked, betrayed and were far from innocent-but he`d have been stoned and not crucified had the Jews had the abilty to set a death sentence.

                       2 likes

                    • Lucy Pevensey says:

                      Well yes Chris, it’s roots & branches isn’t it? Of the spiritual olive tree. The Jews being the roots and Christian believers grafted in. I think it’s in Romans where Paul explains it that way. Don’t forget Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was a very religious Jew who understood the law.
                      And (Without looking it up) I believe I remember his council to Christians was “Do not consider yourselves superior”.

                         2 likes

          • Doublethinker says:

            Well yes I do understand the prayer for the animal before being killed ,assuming of course that you believe in God, is a mark of respect for the beast.I also understand that centuries ago throats slitting was probably the most humane way of slaughter. But times move on, progress is made. After all just about every Religion uses cars or lorries not horses ( Amish excepted) so why not use more the humane ways of slaughter that are now available, particularly when the old ways deeply offend the host community? I don’t mean to be gratuitously insulting but if God gave men brains and they invented a better way of doing things why not use it?

               20 likes

            • Rob in Cheshire says:

              The muslims can’t move on because allah spoke to an illiterate Arab trader in a cave 1400 years ago. The trader then told his followers what allah had told him, except he sometimes forgot things or repeated himself. Some of his followers wrote down what he said, and as is inevitable, memories and versions differed, so after the illiterate trader died, his successor collected all the writing he could find, collated the ones he liked, and burned the rest.

              This is now called the koran, or quran or however you wish to spell it, and is presented as the unchanged word of allah, which, even if allah himself had really spoken to the illiterate trader in a cave, it clearly and without any doubt, is not.

              Unfortunately for any animals out there, the method of slaughter, which is obviously, like a lot of islam, cribbed from Jewish belief, is now the word of allah. They cannot change it. Like everything about islam, it is locked into a belief formed 1400 years ago. If anyone tries to change it, they will be killed. It is the most perfect system ever devised to enslave human thought and end human development. Some of our politicians thought it would be great to import this mental illness into our country. Silly, weren’t they?

                 10 likes

        • Rick Bradford says:

          Can you explain to me why Islam and Judaism both insist on this barbaric way of slaughter?

          The religions preferred their adherents to be vegetarian, but accepted the reality that some people would not be.

          But to remind meat-eaters of their frailty, they were mandated to perform rituals before consuming meat, so they would not forget that these actions were against the wishes of their God.

             0 likes

          • Doublethinker says:

            So the wishes of their much vaunted and venerated God comes second to a rumbling tummy and salivating mouth. But they claim to do so much in the name of God , like killing etc but they ignore him when it comes to food. What a joke.

               5 likes

          • Lucy Pevensey says:

            Rick, “The religions preferred their adherents to be vegetarian, but accepted the reality that some people would not be.”
            That’s only true regarding many pagan religions. It’s not a biblical principle. At the very beginning for Adam & Eve it was a vegetarian diet but God gave Noah leave to use animals for food after the flood so it was long before Moses & the Kosher laws or even Abraham.

               2 likes

            • Broadcasting-on-Behalf-of-the-Caliphate says:

              Hi Lucy, it seems to me you are the “resident” expert on Christianity and perhaps other religions? I am learning slowly about the founding of various religions.

              Would I be correct to say that without Saul of Tarsus there likely wouldn’t have been Christianity? It seems that most of the New Testament is based around his epistles (& those of his followers ascribed to him) and his Acts. As a knowledgeable Jew and as a Roman Citizen he seemed to have been ideally placed to help found Christianity (persuading others that Jesus Christ followed and was the fulfilment of prophecies contained within Jewish scripture) and to spread it amongst Jews and Gentiles alike.

              Ps When did Christianity become recognised as separate from Judaism – rather than a form of Judaism – lite? Is it likely that Saul of Tarsus plagiarised some of the thoughts of Hillel the Elder?

                 0 likes

              • Broadcasting-on-Behalf-of-the-Caliphate says:

                ps I See that ChrisH also appears to be an expert – I would appreciate any response from anyone knowledgeable in this matter.

                   0 likes

                • chrisH says:

                  Just an educated enthusiastic amateur BBC sir!
                  Lucy and Al Shubtil etal may have different takes, but I`d agree with you that Christianity was very much Pauls gift to the world.
                  1. His letters are generally agreed to have been written well before the gospels were compiled.
                  2. His letters were written in the flush of his conversion-albeit with many years in his own wilderness to make sense of what he now knew to be the message of Christs life, death and resurrection.
                  3. Later letters were written to people in towns and cities that he had visited, set up churches in-or hoped to visit.
                  4. One group of letters however were written by Paul as a seeming tired and defeated pastor who felt he had failed-written chained to a Roman prison guard before his all-too-likely execution by the Romans.
                  All the above is simply put, not 100% definite-giving the broad thrust of it all.
                  5. As Paul was dead , then Christians who had no personal experience of Jesus now had to memorise their oral traditions , so future people would know of it all-so the gospels were written.

                  I`d say that Paul was the first man to synthesise Christian theology and doctrine that confirmed Christ as a continuation of the Jewish promise of a Messiah that would come to save them-but, uniquely-now incorporate the Gentiles and pagans who would never be Jewish , nor ever need to be. The Greek philosophy of reason, rhetoric and argument made Paul both a Jewish rabbi(renegade by now), but with a Greek and Roman mind, and status too.
                  Not only all this-but he covered more miles that it would seem possible to do to spread all this throughout Asia Minor and the Greek regions of the Roman Empire. So both the “Middle East” and “South East Europe” got the message and it spread like wildfire.

                  Christs death would have floored anybody and too many people were stunned, in fear or likely to be martyred and put in asylums(had they existed). It took a conceptual genius and obsessive ascetic , asexual weirdo like Paul to make sense of it all via his Jewish Old Testament.
                  For-unlike us-he had no New Testament to refer to. Just some letters he could not possibly have known would be scriptural canon as he died unlamented and looking a fool in Rome, mid 60s A.D.

                  PS-think there was a natural break from Judaism when the Jews were dispersed by the Romans, and King Constantine and his mum decided that the Roman Empire could best be served by embracing Christianity, rather than persecuting it after a notable military victory in 312AD.
                  Acts 15 has the Christian Jewish break, as seen by St Luke at the Jerusalem Meeting, attended by Paul and the others.

                     1 likes

              • LynetteO says:

                Yes you are right. If it hadn’t been for Paul Christianity wouldn’t have spread throughout the Roman Empire. BUT it was one of the best myths that was sustained throughout the ages that Paul was a Jew. For the evidence that challenged this See Maccoby’s theories on Paul – from Wikipedia.

                That’s the problem with myths if they are told sufficiently well eg Paul’s vision on the Road to Damascus – they become the accepted truth and those that try and challenge them are ignored or worse . This is so relevant to the BBC who repeat the same lies not only about history but what is happening now again and again and they must be challenged at the time. Not many people see how important this is..

                Being Jewish certainly gave him more respect amongst the early Christians many of whom were Jews and established him as the founder of the Christian faith. The Romans were already beginning to respect Jewish values eg The nephew of the Roman Emperor had converted to Judaism . Paul gave them an easier way to accept the moral codes of Judaism without the restrictions of aspects of the religion eg circumcision and keeping kosher .

                   1 likes

                • chrisH says:

                  Never understand why churches and faiths seem so down on myth, fable and stories.
                  Don`t need the Flood to be literally true before I can adhere to a faith system. I wasn`t there- He`s God and I don`t care, don`t see it as some kind of weak link that scientists can exploit.
                  The Emperor New Clothes is a fable too-but got “Big Truths” in it, and I don`t need proof of it.
                  The Titanic was no myth or fable-but you can attach them if you like and it does no harm to my belief that it happened, Had it never happened , the story would STILL contain the same “Big Truths” that we wish to take from it all.
                  If faiths would embrace myth and fable, and not insist that we must take them as literal-they could do so much better. God LOVES myth and stories-like He loves cartoons, music and beautiful sunrises/ sunsets.
                  He`s God-He does what He likes, says what He wants. And it`s the bits that are literal and clear that scare me, not the aimless controversies of finding Jacobs Ladder(to name one jokey example)

                     2 likes

      • Lucy Pevensey says:

        Deborah,
        I don’t think claiming solidarity with the slaves of Allah (Muslims) over ritual slaughter would be pleasing to The God of Moshe.

        Do you really believe a ban on killing animals without stunning would be a step toward another Holocaust or that it would mean Brits want to drive Jews out of Britain? That doesn’t sound right to me. I know a lot of Philo-Semites right here in England who want just the opposite. They want Jews to thrive.
        Did the last generation of The British not fight & defeat the Nazi’s? Do we have to prove ourselves endlessly?

           6 likes

    • Despairada says:

      It’s not just about stunned/not stunned. The media line seems to be that halal is ok so long as it is stunned so what’s the fuss about, be a good boy/girl/other and eat it up.
      Personally, I don’t want to eat meat that has theoretically been just conscious enough to hear a prayer to an equivalent of Satan. I understand that Sikhs have a similar objection so they must have some way of avoiding it.
      Whatever the details, we are having islamic practices forced upon us and we shouldn’t stand for it. When I eat out I usually have fish or pork. If in doubt about the origins of meat I will ask the staff in supermarkets. I wonder if they lie.
      I speak as someone who doesn’t eat much meat and who is willing to pay extra for organic/free range in the hope the animal has had a tolerable life and death. It wouldn’t take much, one visit to a slaughterhouse maybe, to turn me vegetarian.
      Using Jewish practices as a way of forcing acceptance of halal is a problem. All the jews I have known have eaten bacon and sausages but not pork chops!

         8 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      I now hear that the hymn Onward Cristian Soldiers is now being banned at some services because of fear that it may offend some people. This country is in desperate need of psychiatric help.

         12 likes

      • chrisH says:

        If the silly Leicester vicar changes it to ” Islam Souljas”…”Bombward” maybe-i`m sure the BBC and his Bishop will approve.
        Time to write a few new hymns…”God Is A Gas”(or is she?)….should get me onto Songs Of Praise anyway.

           1 likes

  30. StewGreen says:

    4:30pm R4 Feedback
    The World at One has courted controversy by dedicating a whole show to the topic of abortion,

    – Neil MacGregor has a new 30-part series, Living with the Gods,
    . does the BBC spend too much time on religion?
    – The Omen and the book which came next, Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage.

    Listeners to share stories of how radio has changed their lives.

       5 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      intro mentions that they will also gloat about the decision against Today not challenging Lawson on quick comment “if anything temperatures are falling”
      R4Today will be on to defend

      Beeboids will never even mention the 4 Climate Alarmists on the same day/next who remained unproperly challenged on many issues

         12 likes

      • RJ says:

        Feedback played a neat trick with the Lawson story. Before saying that the GWPF had apologised for Lawson’s mistake they played a clip of him saying that there hadn’t been an increase in the number of extreme weather events. Following that with the apology made it seem that his mistake included extreme weather and not just the adjusted temperature record, leaving the listener to infer that there are more extreme weather events caused by AGW. They also failed to mention that GWPF corrected Lawson’s mistake the day after he made it, and was not part of the complaint adjudication.

        I’d switched over to Radio 4 while the commercial station I was listening to played adverts. In the couple of minutes I was listening to Radio 4 they again confirmed that they have no integrity.

           9 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          @RJ glad you spotted that.
          I’m guessing these guys are far smarter and cunning than you and I
          They neutralise Lawson by inviting him on
          and then make multiple bites of the cherry by hyping the complaints and milking them for misrepresentation.
          Whilst at the same time it distracts away from all the errors that Gore and the others made on air.
          Like the way military attack before they can be attacked.

             6 likes

    • chrisH says:

      McGregors series is deeply annoying.
      He began Wednesdays show by saying that Hindus have the biggest claim to know of the spiritual significance of water-he cites the Ganges.
      Bloody idiot-what about The Jordan, the Flood, Jesus walking on it, being the “living water” of Johns gospel, baptism and turning water into wine? To name just the first to come into my head.
      Of course, Indias rivers are sacred, but he`s a patronising and lazy lotus eater-any religion but his native one.
      Even wants his ashes thrown into the Ganges-colonial, cultural apporpriation and spiritual joyriding.He`s not a Hindu and will only choke the sprats.
      Reckon he belongs in a Muslim takeaways cat litter tray, with a pithpot next to him-linen suited fop,file under Jon Snow….whose ashes already are set fair for Pete Dohertys mirror in a Glastonbury portaloo.

         10 likes

      • Alicia Sinclair says:

        Imagine Bob Marleys beanie hat, bong and an old spliff that he used in the recording of “Exodus” will take up at least three of Neils “religious icons”.
        John Lennons glasses too, piano as Yoko wrote Imagine for him?
        Does Yoko still have those bloodstained specs? Got to be a BBC icon, and worth a lot of money to them.

           0 likes

  31. MarkyMark says:

    Know your position … use an image to show who is top …
    _98506818_mediaitem98506813.jpg
    “Brexit: EU bank may not fully repay UK until 2054”

       14 likes

    • honestus says:

      And bigger………
      As somebody correctly posted earlier, once the divvying up is done, detract what they owe us and pay the balance. So simples it hurts.

         17 likes

  32. Excartographer says:

    OK not bias but is this irony or arrogance – BBBC radio 2 regularly playing the latest by Morrisey, “Spent The Day In Bed” the chorus of which is
    “Stop watching the news!
    Because the news contrives to frighten you
    To make you feel small and alone
    To make you feel that your mind isn’t your own”
    In fact the whole song appears to be a critique of MSM
    Surprised that he even made the playlist after earlier comments of his…..
    “described the result of the UK’s EU referendum as “magnificent” in a new interview, also labelling coverage of the Clinton-Trump Presidential election in the US as “grotesquely stupid”. The former Smiths frontman had previously spoken of how he felt the media victimised Leave voters after Brexit”

       29 likes

    • honestus says:

      Ex,
      don’t like his music to be frank but his lyrics certainly resonate. Unfortunately I must have masochistic tendencies as I scour the news (and BBBC) and me being a born and bred sceptic, cannot truly believe the levels of subtle and flagrant dishonesty that masquerades as news swilling around the airwaves.

         14 likes

      • Excartographer says:

        Bloody Hell, sounds like we were separated at birth, are you sure you’re not me?

           11 likes

        • chrisH says:

          Morrissey is a good egg.
          Confused, quixotic-but is seriously offending the Guardian limpets with his take on Brexit, the UKIP election and the Chinese.
          Don`t forget that his fans are lefty gloomy and stupid slaves, asexual losers and now bloated lefties in the public sector…if not signed off on disability. So he`s really paining them with this stuff.
          Add the fact that Evan Davis only got his pop in at Aaron Banks once he`d been given that right to reply…something about Fake BBC News as ever, their endless trawling round the laundry bag to serve up their tardy slimings as “news”.
          Evan had to read it-is John Sweeney REALLY worth those few words where Banks tells the nation what the BBC is all about?
          The left are that thick, they probably think so.

             18 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Not Now John : Pink Floyed
      Make ’em laugh
      Make ’em cry
      Make ’em dance in the aisles
      Make ’em pay
      Make ’em stay
      Make ’em feel okay
      https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/pinkfloyd/notnowjohn.html

      — Television, the drug of the Nation
      Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

      Race baiting is the way to get selected
      Willie Horton or
      Will he not get elected on…

      ..It’s the perpetuation of the two party system
      Where image takes precedence over wisdom..

      …Where imagination is sucked out of children
      By a cathode ray nipple
      T.V. is the only wet nurse
      That would create a cripple ..

      song : Television, the drug of the Nation : The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
      https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/26541854

         4 likes

  33. StewGreen says:

    8pm Any Questions will have Brexiteer Tim Martin on
    + Dan Jarvis MP (Labour) “I will respect Brexit vote”
    Loveday Jenkin from The Mebyon Kernow Cornish Indep Party
    Sarah Wollaston MP Ramainer Totnes

       15 likes

    • chrisH says:

      Tells me all I need to know that the BBC would never hold one of their Any Question libtard love-fests in one of Tims pubs. They would much rather infect the minds of colleges and schools as well as get their fingers on the nub of youth-Peels death was commemorated yesterday, Saviles will be on Sunday with…well silence!
      No-the BBC Radio 4 scum will always pimp off dopey churches, council buildings and places where kids hang iout.As for We the People who choose `spoons?
      Probably upsets their smoking bans and alcohol botherings.
      Tough-Spoons is where the REAL people of Britain meet, so the BBC learn nothing about that country they used to represent.
      Let them mooch on…We fans of Tim will overcome for him!

         17 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      2 remainers
      Loveday Jenkin \\Mebyon Kernow backed the ‘remain’ campaign and we are obviously disappointed that a majority of voters took a different stance and voted to leave the European Union.//

      Sarah Wollaston MP the idiot who changed her mind from Leave to remain 2 weeks before the referendum

         2 likes

  34. honestus says:

    Brexit minister Baroness Anelay resigns after five months over ‘injury sustained in 2015’.
    Already being added to the rest of the leavers from DExEU with comment that 20% have now left compared to Civil Service ave. of 9%. It isn’t beyond belief to assume that she had been lent on as there still are 109 liberal lords a sitting giving them a vastly disproportionate influence and, in my view, reflects badly on the political make up of the constituents of the UK.

       6 likes

  35. MarkyMark says:

    BBC starting to reveal it does ban things … to protect us and our feelings … like not investigating Jimmy Savile? (I used the question mark BBC style!) 8 songs banned by the BBC for the strangest of reasons {bbc.co.uk 27oct2017}
    “The BBC has deemed many records unfit for air since it began radio transmissions in the 1920s. Songs have been considered unbroadcastable for countless reasons, though offenders have frequently breached rules on religious grounds, and because of drug references, profanity and attacks on the monarchy.”

       13 likes

  36. ScottishCalvin says:

    My cartoon on the week’s news:

       9 likes

  37. Pounce says:

    The bBC loves to champion the NHS and how it compares with treatment across Europe,(Where the medical staff have no problem asking to see if you have to pay) yet here is a story from Poland that they haven’t mentioned. A story which may explain a lot about why so many Poles love the UK:
    Amid doctors’ hunger strike, Poland may boost health budget
    Poland announced plans Thursday to significantly increase spending on health care as a hunger strike by young doctors demanding more funding entered its third week. Poland’s health care system is chronically underfunded and there are often months-long waiting lists for medical procedures.

       15 likes

    • Sluff says:

      I’m surprised Corbyn and his leftmob supporters are not campaigning for the NHS to fund the Ryanair flights to get them all over here for free i.e paid for by UK taxpayers, treatment.

         15 likes

      • Lefty Wright says:

        Sluff
        I think it was a bit risky to float that idea in front of the children. You know how susceptible they are to stupidity.

           7 likes

  38. Sluff says:

    Stop press.
    Coming up on BBC london news at 1830.
    Tonight’s story about life in a typical A and E unit.
    In the pictures….. 1 nurse. 1 patient on a trolley.
    And…….errrr………4 police including one with a sub machine gun !!!!!!
    I blame Brexit and the vicious Tory NHS cuts…………

       23 likes

  39. StewGreen says:

    Christian News : Devout Christian thrown off Sheffield course for gay comments, loses High Court battle
    Court ruled that the uni had the right to consider his “fitness to practice” over his right to his religious beliefs.

    Would they ban a Muslim doctor who believed she shouldn’t be alone with a patient of the opposite sex ?
    I’m concerned about the way this was flip-reported ie flippantly reported
    ie the trick of just reporting the bare minimum and moving on

       33 likes

  40. StewGreen says:

    The erosion of local news
    Local news used to be 30 mins of local news, but I have spotted a trick; whereby the central HQ construct a package
    and then this is shoe horned in.
    #1 Everyday this week ITV regions have used an ElectricCar plugging project FuelFreeFuture
    … introduced with with a vague local connection like “Are the streets in Mexborough/Stroud, Darlington ready for electric cars ?” hit button, play central package.

    #2 Both ITV Calendar an Look North used this technique in reporting Bloodhound SSC 1000mph car
    – Calendar “And a company in Rotherham makes a brackets for the Bloodhound SSC, let’s look at it testing in Cornwall today”, hit button, play central package.
    – Look North “And a company in Stamfrd makes a wheelnuts for the Bloodhound SSC, let’s look at it testing in Cornwall today”, hit button, play central package.

       12 likes

    • Kaiser says:

      radio 5 going full on not enough diverse people working in the media, every time i turn my tele my eyes appear to be deceiving me

         26 likes

    • EnglandExpects says:

      Totally agree Stew and this has been going on for some time. It’s especially irritating when the story is one if the BBCs lefty obsessions . I’d scrap BBC regional news because it is killing local newspapers. Let the private sector bid for local tv news franchises and leave it at that.

         13 likes

  41. StewGreen says:

    Look North : Clive Sullivan was a great rugby player from 50 years ago
    But Hull Look North have to bring on a black woman activist to celebrate him as BLACK player

       8 likes

    • Sluff says:

      Did anyone actually give a toss about what colour Clive Sullivan was?
      Or Chariots?
      Or Billy Whizz?
      That’s Martin Offiah and Jason Robinson to the non aficianados.
      I just remember them as unbelievably good rugby players.
      But clearly that’s not good enough for today’s equality industry and virtue-signallers.
      No, now their colour is more important than their talent.

         29 likes

      • chrisH says:

        Deeply racist BBC. If he was good enough, then who ever givesd a damn about his skin colour, apart from those who like to pen “blacks” into the arts, sports or childrens TV.
        Sick of it-I don`t represent white men-so why the hell does the deeply judgemental BBC keep on making points?
        ” One day our kids will be judged by the content of their character, not by the colour of their skin”(paraphrase of MLK).
        Not if the BBC can prevent it, they won`t Martin!

           37 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Their thinking comes from a deeply racist idea that black kids can only be inspired by black people.

        Whereas Cassius Clay was a helluva boxer ..lots of white people inspired by him.

        Same for black rappers helluva a lot of white kids copying them.

           14 likes

    • Lefty Wright says:

      StewGreen
      Clive Sullivan was a great rugby player. Ah yes I remember now. He also discovered penicillin did he not?

         7 likes

  42. Fedup2 says:

    3% growth in last quarter in US economy despite ( not brexit) actually despite hurricane s. Al beeb doesn’t need to spin this as anti Trump as they are busy with the Catalonia issue and whether Caledonia follows suit ( god I wish – then England can stop subsidising it) .

    The Spanish government doesn’t seem worried but the use of force so I guess they’ll turn the power and internet off next week if they can .

    If only we could withdraw from the EU right now to really screw the EU.

    Meanwhile somewhere some Islamic shit is planning the next attack. Remember ? Enough is enough , our thoughts are with, thanks to the brave emergency services, community together , visit from a royal gord bless you ma am .

       20 likes

  43. Invicta 1066 says:

    I will not be watching “Will Britain ever have a Black PM”, because I know exactly how it will spew the usual BBC bias. Will be keenly anticipating the follow ups; Will Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh ever have a Black Christian PM ? Ditto Any Middle Eastern countries or states. Any Asian Muslims PMs in any South American countries?

       35 likes

    • EnglandExpects says:

      Turned it on in error for 30 seconds . A litany of complaints about poverty amongst black people. The usual victimhood that dominates the MSM reporting of Britain. I think that if a black politician is truly able, he or she could become PM in modern Britain. However I would be concerned if a Muslim became PM, which is more likely given their skill in penetrating our institutions and the demographics. Of course this is not a race issue .

         28 likes

      • Lefty Wright says:

        EE
        I don’t think President Obama set a particularly good example in the States.

           19 likes

        • Invicta 1066 says:

          Obama was 50% genetically black but also, always ignored, his mother was white and more than just 50% of his genetic make up, was responsible together with her parents for 100% of his upbringing as his dad bugrrrrd off.
          So often when a ‘black person’ achieves so much the mother, so often deserted by the black father and responsible for his/her achievements is just ignored.
          Dame Kelly Holmes referred to her absent dad when he tried to come back into her life and claim part of her fame as ‘just a sperm donor’

             28 likes

    • Lefty Wright says:

      Invicta
      Who knows, when President Mugabe retires a White Christian lady may become president of Zimbabwe. We can’t rule it out you know.

         17 likes

    • Flexdream says:

      Will Labour ever have a female leader?

         15 likes

      • Lefty Wright says:

        Flexdream
        Mr Sources reckons they already have. Her name is Theresa May so they say. Oh I’m a poet and i didn’t know it. I do hope he’s wrong.

           2 likes

  44. gaxvil says:

    It must be hard for presenters – one minute reporting on death sentences for the equivalent of treading on cracks in the pavement then the next item presented with equal gravity and reverence – Cambridge University English Lit courses contain too many works by (you guessed it) white English men SO IT’S REALLY, REALLY SERIOUS AND SHOWS THE ENDEMIC RACISM IN BRITAIN TODAY.
    Is it as or more serious than being ‘disappeared’, raped, tortured or beaten to death?

       33 likes

    • Lefty Wright says:

      gaxvil
      Said presenters rely on the fact that most White English Men are very law abiding people so they can take as much piss as they like without a comeback. However,worms can sometimes turn, even docile ones.

         8 likes

  45. StewGreen says:

    ad “The Google Home mini”
    “It will even read you the news”
    …yeh LibMob news I guess ..not full truth

       1 likes

  46. Dover Sentry says:

    Last year, the BBC’s Director-General Lord Hall agreed to review the BBC’s complaints procedures after a cross-party group of parliamentarians challenged him to name a single programme which has been enthusiastic about Brexit since the EU referendum on June 23rd 2016.

    Hall was unable to do so.

    The parliamentarians included UKIP peer Lord Pearson, Labour’s Kate Hoey and Tory Philip Hollobone.

    Lord Pearson hailed Lord Hall’s decision as a significant blow against ‘those at the top of the BBC who wish to see the referendum result reversed’.

    Nothing has changed in what is over a year since those comments were made.

       39 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      To be fair to Tony Hall, in the last episode of W1A he was locked in the Tardis and couldn’t get out, so it may have been difficult for him to follow through on that promise.

         0 likes

  47. Fedup2 says:

    Dover,
    I think it’s just common knowledge now that al Beeb is anti Brexit. People knew it during the campaign and people know it now. It doesn’t matter about a self serving corrupt complaints system with in al Beeb.

    I thought it was funny seeing dimbley of question time seek a literal example of the ‘despite Brexit ‘ . I think this confused JRM as the ‘despite brexit’ term became a common shout by we brexiters when ever al Beeb had to report good news like more jobs, growing economy , more taxes collected and other boring things – despite the doom the establishment bludgeoned decent people with before and after the vote.

    If there was another referendum the turn out would be so low that the outcome could not be valid – in my opinion .

    And I don’t know if either party could survive a final vote on any leaving deal because there would be so much blood on the floor of the House of Commons – and if the speaker really did show his remainer bias he’d really be gone this time.

       12 likes

    • Dover Sentry says:

      I agree Fedup2.

      The Conservatives are drinking from the poisoned chalice. 75% of Conservative MPs are remainers. They don’t want to ‘do’ Brexit.

      Most Labour voters support Brexit and the Labour Party in it’s heart also does so. Brexit protects jobs from EU competition.

      But Corbyn has to be anti-Brexit to try and depose the Tories.

      We need an independent Party to dive Brexit through.

         14 likes

  48. StewGreen says:

    Paranoid @Kaiser raised the issue of 5-Live being obsessed with shoving diversity down your throats

    Doh of course intel experts have to recruited from same families as terrorists

    and on an on ..just last couple f weeks , not looking too hard

       22 likes

    • G says:

      SG,
      The ‘bill’ gets bigger by the day. In time they will have an awful lot to pay back……………

         3 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      Um, just how many white officers are there in the armies of the over 90% black population of many African countries ? this constant chipping away of “why aren’t there more blacks in the …………” is becoming boring. If they are so thick not to realise that they ARE in a minority in a mainly white country (for the time being at least), then they’re not worth wasting breath on.

         14 likes

  49. maxincony says:

    Alan, October 25, 2017;

    Maybe I don’t hear all the BBC reports about Catalonia but the ones I do hear and read always leave out one obvious parallel…Brexit. How can that be when it is such an obvious link?

    …The BBC manipulating the news in order to manipulate your minds.

    Alan, October 21, 2017;

    To compare Catalonia to Brexit is utterly ridiculous and sensationalist…..

    …manipulating the news… [cough]

    You’re a clown, Alan.

       5 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      How many ‘researchers’ have you got monitoring this website then, Maxincony? Don’t tell me you managed to link those two quotes from memory.

      Looks like the BBC is more than a little bit concerned that its hard left propaganda is being exposed, day in, day out.

         10 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      Hi Max:

      How is the search for right wing bias in the BBC coming on?

         7 likes

  50. G.W.F. says:

    BBC has not mentioned the evacuation of Paddington Station this evening. An incident.
    Perhaps we will never know. Just an accident, move on.
    Is this a new way of responding to terror? Classify it as an accident from the start, no speculation, no questions.

       13 likes

    • maxincony says:

      G.W.F.,

      BBC has not mentioned the evacuation of Paddington Station this evening… Is this a new way of responding to terror?

      A fire alarm went off. Hold the front page…

         6 likes

      • Broadcasting-on-Behalf-of-the-Caliphate says:

        Hi Maxincony, yet the BBC made a three day headline out of the false alarm of people thinking a tramp rambling verses from the Bible and carrying a few bags, was an Islamic suicide bomber.

        http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41466140

        Maxincony, your one dimensional thinking here is really beginning to affect your credibility as a free thinker. This website is an outlet for documenting the bias of the BBC.

        I personally believe that there is evidence of more than bias from the BBC – a combination of activism, propaganda, commercialism and third rate journalism seems to dominate its output. But the BBC is not the only British Institute that has deep issues.

           23 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Hey, maxi!

        Any apology from you to Alan? No?

        Any comments on our holding to account of the Bias, Blether & Cr*p spread by our favourite broadcaster? No?

           12 likes

      • G.W.F. says:

        maxicony

        I hope when the alarm went off you were not fisting in the station toilets

           8 likes

      • G says:

        “A fire alarm went off”. If Paddington Station had to be evacuated how can you be so scathing? Is this sort of event a regular feature of your life? Where are you from?

           8 likes