213 Responses to Weekend Open Thread

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  1. StewGreen says:
    November 19, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    These BBC progs where “right wing” is shouted every 40 seconds like a kind of tourets
    Is just a false narrative trick like the way libmob shout “racist” as a magic way of claiming debate victory.

    I spotted BBC building a similar false narrative that everyone not in the box marked liberal is in a box marked “right wing” AND that equals “racist=” far right”=”alt right”= “fascist”
    .. And that new segregation rules apply so it’s only right that “right wing” be segregated out of debate and public airwaves.
    Ffs : the political left contains the Red Brigade and Stalin , but that doesn’t mean that entire broad church are terrorists.

       12 likes

    • StewGreen says:
      November 19, 2017 at 5:20 pm

      Recent examples include
      #1 That R4 Goldberg show
      which I strongly suspect was written by Hate not Hope
      (One minute they are talking to someone who’s concerned about open immigration and the next some REAL fascist in Austria.. is the False Equivalence that it’s akk the same thing)

      #2 Almost every episode of BBC Trending

      #3 That NewsHour Extra ep where one of the panel refused to even speak Milo’s name.
      (Milo is supposed to be a fascist even though he’s gay and has a black boyfriend)

      #4 Edition of Radio Ulster Ethics show about Fascism
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b096gwbx
      Hysterically they read a list of characteristics of fascism , which anyone would think is actually demonstrated by today’s libmob
      eg “the closure of free debate, language tricks, the marginalisation if other political views

         6 likes

      • StewGreen says:
        November 19, 2017 at 5:30 pm

        The point is
        Racism is a rare action of people labelled right wing
        Although the broad church does include psychos who have been horrible and assaulted people cos of their race.
        Just like the left includes
        #1 Some people that believe it’s OK to seize all of rich people’s wealth
        #2 Some psychos like the Red Brigade who used actual violence to that aim.

           8 likes

        • Beeb Brother says:
          November 19, 2017 at 5:40 pm

          They pulled such a devilish trick in conflating race and culture. It is tyranny when criticising ideas is illegal ‘bigotry.’ How can ‘Islamophobia’ mean anti Muslim racism when Muslims are not a race?

             12 likes

    • StewGreen says:
      November 19, 2017 at 5:53 pm

      The latest edition of BBC World Service
      Over to You
      : Listener Wants More Balance in Trending http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvr6x
      .. Yes I was expecting was Mike Wendling was going to apologise for shouting “right wing”
      But no the imbalance the listener complained of was that
      : ‘Yes some of the Antifa had been violent but the BBC had failed to explain the broad church of the counter demo against the statue protectors.’
      Jesus he took it for granted that everyone in the demo wanting the statues preserved was a Klan member that does racist attacks.

      When of course that demo that Wendling labelled “far-right/Alt-Right” was a broad church of patriots, nationalists, conservatives
      And may well of included a handful of people who thinks having white skin makes someone magically special, and perhaps even 1 or 2 psychos would would hit a guy just cos he’s black.
      I’d like to have heard Wendling explain the marchers were largely OK cos it passed off with no initiation of violence and that guy who seemed to have killed an antifa with a car , was probably mentally unstable rather than a typical demonstrator.

         5 likes

    • StewGreen says:
      November 19, 2017 at 6:27 pm

      The Goldberg prog was egregious.
      One second he talking about thousands of people using un-PC km language being used on nationalist Facebook sites , then making a leap to calling it racist and hate speech..then the he’s talking about 2 vile racist attacks in Rotherham
      #1 where a psycho got drugged up and killed a 81year old Muslim he’d never met.*

      #2 Where some psycho went for a shopkeeper with a machete and cut half a finger off.
      * “Jones was the main protagonist having got himself into a ‘raging fury’ fuelled by drugs and alcohol on an all-day binge. Hunt later joined him in taking cocaine and spirits before the attack.
      Jones had earlier threatened to kill his girlfriend’s ex-partner and shouted racist abuse at an Asian taxi driver”

      This us false equivalence
      You can’t make such leaps
      You wouldn’t leap from talking about Guardian Readers to then be talking about Red Brigade terrorists.

      Although I have seen death threats being made in Guardian forums, once by a part time correspondent.. That doesn’t mean that all Guardian supporters are in the same category.

      BTW Goldberg broke editorial guidelines by bigging up his Jewish/holocaust roots at the beginning of the prog
      Cos the rule is presenters are not to make programmes about themselves cos that harms objectivity.

      Also it was disturbing that the prog didn’t context the amazing magnitude of the Rotherham sexual abuse. And explain that the coverups and slow action must have fuelled the psychos motivations.

         10 likes

  2. david01 says:
    November 19, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    A couple of posts yesterday about the commentary on the England v Australia Rugby Union match referred to a wimmin commentator. I was astounded. Having got rid of Squeaky Davies and Eddie Butler for the Welch game and then Cotter for the Scots game I looked forward to an English-speaking commentator for the top match of the day. This was between the second-ranked team in the world(England) against the third ranked team in the world(Australia),and I expected someone with gravitas, knowledge, insight and enthusiasm for the game of international rugby. And what did we get? A lady, undoubtedly knowledgeable on rugby but with a weak feminine voice that conveyed neither excitement or enthuisasm to what must have been a male audience of millions.Her voice was drowned out several times by the roar of 81 909 spectators . Are the BBC taking the Mickey at our expense?.
    If this had been a competitive match between England and the second-ranked association football men’s team in the world would the BBC have pulled a stunt like this and provided a female commentator ? I rather think not . I do not really care if people think this is a sexist comment but the English rugby-following public(mostly male) are treated in a derisory fashion by the BBC, with Welch or Scottish commentators(forget the summarisers as nonentities).
    I can understand the BBC resources, out of their 22 000 employees, are rather stretched now the Rugby League World cup is taking place concurrently but can they not find a male English-speaking commentator for England home games ? It would never happen in France, or Ireland, and it does not happen in Scotland or Wales or South Africa or New Zealand.
    Several years ago one of the broadcast companies held a competiton for new/upcoming football commentators and the winner became a live- on-air full time pro. Is it not time that the BBC gave male Rugby Union an English male commentator?

       26 likes

    • Lock13 says:
      November 19, 2017 at 6:48 pm

      I’d be very careful with that competition idea Dave – you might end up with Nadia doing the commentary with a tea-towel on her head.

         13 likes

  3. Up2snuff says:
    November 19, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    I am struggling to remember which day of the week it is that Paddy O’Connell starts his trails for the following weekend’s ‘edition’ of Broadcasting House. Is it Wednesday? Or Thursday? Usually on PM although I seem to recall hearing them possibly pre- or post-WatO.

    This week the trail mentioned ‘death threats received by a (unnamed) MP’ who we now know to be Anna Soubry. It is disgraceful that any person, let alone a MP, should receive death threats. In a way, a threat against a MP is extra serious because it is a threat against our democracy and therefore us all.

    Anna Soubry is claiming that she has received death threats linked directly to the publication of her photo along with those of 14 other Conservative Party MPs on the front page of the Daily Telegraph on 15 November.

    If Paddy was trailing her death threats on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday (as a R4 regular, I heard trails for BH on several successive days) the timing appears a bit strange. The BBC have a guest and programming and trail all tied up at the same time as the Daily Telegraph publishes or immediately afterwards, where in the normal course of things the police (and perhaps Security Services would be informed) and spend time checking to see if sources could be identified and whether credibility could be established over a day or two.

    Something doesn’t seem right about this. Is it a ‘False Flag’ set-up? Have I missed something here? Have I got the timings wrong? Is my memory defective? Am I seeing a possible conspiracy that doesn’t exist? Have I got this completely wrong? Is the BBC’s frantic anti-Brexit bias of the last three weeks starting to get to me?

    I wonder.

       11 likes

    • Up2snuff says:
      November 19, 2017 at 7:11 pm

      Interestinger and interestinger …..

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42045175

         4 likes

      • Al Shubtill says:
        November 19, 2017 at 7:42 pm

        She’s just an old soak, same as that other Remainiac Fatty Clarke.
        They should both have been de-selected by their respective constituency parties, before the last GE.

           11 likes

        • StewGreen says:
          November 19, 2017 at 8:05 pm

          Imagine a scenario where Alistair Campbell comes up to a talented student and says ‘we know you are a Labour guy, but what about you fight for the cause by working under cover in the Conservative Party’
          ..is that viable ?
          Is the idea of sleepers planted in BBC viable ?

             10 likes

    • StewGreen says:
      November 19, 2017 at 8:01 pm

      @Up2 No she said she got 13 death threats in the one day, 2 of which had been reported to police.
      (Or was it week?)

      Edwina Currie afterwards on the prog did a great job of saying ‘stop dramaqueening, my office kept a file as well, but bottom line a good politician rises above it all and makes it known that threats make no difference to their principles’

         16 likes

      • Up2snuff says:
        November 19, 2017 at 8:52 pm

        Stew, yes that’s right 13 threats on Wednesday to her office, not to her, just as the BBC states in that linked article. The office reports threats to the police. Assume MP not present so Soubry’s office also notifies her. Same day or day after, the BBC are trailling a programme for Sunday with unnamed MP receiving 13 death threats.

        How so soon? A programme segment set up and trail recorded or did Paddy do it live as he sometimes does? Did Soubry’s office notify BBC immediately? If so, who did they make first contact with and why? Or did Soubry do it and when?

        When did Police confirm two of thirteen threats credible? Immediately? Next day?

        Maybe I’m drama-queening this as well, but a whiff of something has hit my nostrils. Something not quite right there. I’d like to see a schedule of the time-lines.

           9 likes

    • Beeb Brother says:
      November 20, 2017 at 6:32 am

      A lot of ‘trolling’ is self-inflicted to generate publicity and victimhood points. This woman tried to create an app which would identify online bullies and they really came for her to stop it being made. I suspect the majority of the racist abuse during the 2016 election was actually a false flag Democrat operation.

         6 likes

  4. Guest Who says:
    November 19, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    Ever get the impression those who cross the threshold of the bbc are certifiable?

       11 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:
      November 19, 2017 at 8:14 pm

      Has anyone ever heard of a towering bonfire of shit? Perhaps Mitch has been on the Diamond White since the Now Show gave his job to an ethnic minority.

         13 likes

      • Up2snuff says:
        November 19, 2017 at 9:02 pm

        RiC, towering bonfire of shit doesn’t sound like the Project Fear campaign waged by Dave and GO and Obama, Blair, Major, Fairbairn, et al. They made various claims all of which have so far failed to arise.

        Interestingly, even some in the Remain camp, including the BBC and its presenters, refer now to Project Fear in relation to the EU Referendum. They accept the label.

        If I recall, the fires lit by Taureg and similar desert wanderers are quite small and are made of dried camel dung but agree with you that Mitch Benn has probably got the hump. 😉

           11 likes

    • JimS says:
      November 19, 2017 at 10:48 pm

      BBC university educated ‘comedian’ uses the only word, (s***), he has in his comedic arsenal.

      Who are these people that are blaming the losing side? I can’t say that I have heard anyone doing that.

         5 likes

  5. thirdoption says:
    November 19, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    Anna Soubry is complaining that she’s received 13 death threats since being outed as a Brexiteer by the Telegraph.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42045175

    But since she stabbed 17 million people in the back it’s hardly surprising.

       29 likes

  6. MarkyMark says:
    November 19, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    The Russian hacking is another reason (of many) to say that there isn’t a point to voting or having an opinion anymore. It seems that it’s either between Merkel or Moscow on the outcome of any event in the world.

    C0YZwRSXcAIpVSU.jpg-large.jpeg

    But don’t use the word barrier, when you can say … ‘“Sadly, the risk of terrorism hasn’t gone away,” deputy mayor Jean-François Martins said at a Paris press conference. “It’s not a wall, it’s an aesthetic perimeter.”‘

    – Maybe Trump needs to use these new terms ‘aesthetic perimeter’ like in France, a barrier that will please the eyes of the Mexicans!
    – Again, see how people twist words for a terrible idea into a piece of loving art!

       12 likes

    • Halifax says:
      November 20, 2017 at 2:15 am

      I see that President Trump is proposing to use the Mexico wall as a gigantic solar farm. Surely a great idea but sadly one that won’t be reported.

         11 likes

  7. Jeff says:
    November 19, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    The BBC must have spent a king’s ransom on their production of EM Forster’s Howards End.
    Beautifully filmed, lovely scenery and exquisite old cars. Everything looks completely as it should for pre- suffragette Blighty. But then, this being the BBC, they have to modify and correct the thing by shoe horning ethnic characters into the script, making the whole thing utterly ludicrous.
    We’ve got black maids, an Asian doctor, one of the chaps has a black girlfriend, then there are a smattering of ethnic minorities at a luncheon. For the love of God this is supposed to be set before The Great War, not 1975!
    This constant obsession with distorting both our history and our literature is a left wing disease.
    This could so easily have been superb.
    Alas, it’s yet another politically correct shambles.

       52 likes

    • JimS says:
      November 19, 2017 at 10:36 pm

      Not much of a TV watcher but when I do it seems that most adverts have ‘black’ people in them, often as the lead. Our major retailers are certainly expecting a ‘black’ Christmas again!

      On Saturday I saw my first Asian family as lead characters, which is probably more realistic than having ‘blacks’, as the numbers of Sir Lenny’s tribe were small, (and dying out), compared to Clegg’s new brown Britains. I suspect the new black Britains are out of Africa and don’t ‘do’ Christmas anyway.

      If the creatives can’t observe reality it is hardly likely that they will respect classic fiction.

         15 likes

      • Al Shubtill says:
        November 19, 2017 at 11:18 pm

        I don’t think these programmes or adverts are aimed at us, about whom they care not a f**k: the target are the young.

        They are to create the narrative that the U.K. has always “benefitted” from diversity and it has forever been so enriched with “vibrant” people; historicity be damned!

        The adverts are just to promote the fiction of how well we all get along on our little island home, regardless of ethnicity; culture or religion.

        They also attempt to de-stigmatise, to promote and to encourage miscegenation; hence the preponderance of White females; Black males and mixed race children featuring within so many of the Christmas adverts of virtually all major British retailers.

        The problem (for them) is that many British people are aware of it and are rightly p****d off.

           27 likes

  8. Guest Who says:
    November 19, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    The bbc and twitter.

       8 likes

  9. JimS says:
    November 19, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    Just read the BBC story about the ‘missing teenager Gaia Pope’. Strange how she is called ‘Miss Pope’ several times in the article, e.g. ‘Earlier, Miss Pope’s twin sister, Maya, spoke of her heartbreak and vowed to “make her [sister] so proud”.’

    At least they haven’t gone for the ‘males have surnames; females have first names’ approach.

    Perhaps this is what happens when ‘copy’ is reworked for a web page over a long period?

       3 likes

  10. taffman says:
    November 19, 2017 at 11:30 pm

    Maxincony
    We need you to vote here …………….
    https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/end-the-bbc-licence-fee
    And anyone else who hasn’t done so yet if you think Al Beeb is biased!

       8 likes

  11. taffman says:
    November 20, 2017 at 5:36 am

    Germany calling , Germany calling – another election ?

       11 likes

  12. Grumbler says:
    November 20, 2017 at 7:33 am

    Perhaps the LGBTs in Europe will begin to get the message. Ankara bans gay events.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42043910

       7 likes

  13. keith jeremy says:
    November 20, 2017 at 7:53 am

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-42033795/why-is-zimbabwe-in-such-a-bad-way

    I note the comment that Mugabe “Printed more money to pay for imports”. I am not sure how that would have worked, or am I economically illiterate or is the BBC mistaken in its analysis.

       4 likes

  14. MarkyMark says:
    November 20, 2017 at 7:56 am

    Special privilege for Halal organisations? ….
    2 Sisters chicken supplier problems ‘not one-off’, say MPs {bbc.co.uk 17nov2017}
    ‘The inquiry found that Assured Food Standards, which licenses the Red Tractor quality mark, did not “immediately and especially” inform the FSA when it briefly suspended the 2 Sisters accreditation between 2 and 9 October.’

    … Halal demands that the last words an animal hears on earth are Islamic …

    Food company Freeza Meats fined £70,000 costs {bbc.co.uk 23jun2015}
    “A Newry food company has been ordered to pay more than £70,000 costs for falsely labelling beef products and Halal meats.”

    – Halal demands that only a certain religion cuts the throat of an animal whilst it faces Mecca – this is positive employment discrimination.

    Salaam Gateway is the global reference for Islamic economy intelligence…
    – Singapore gears up to serve China’s halal market
    – ’Halal’ is not just about food
    – Pork gelatin in apple juices: Vegan activists help halal consumers in Germany
    – Malaysia to lead the way in unifying halal standards

    – See as Halal becomes part of everything, total influence in all things … totalitarian …
    Malaysia has 13 halal standards, which not only certify food items as well as food premises, but also cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals and logistics.

       7 likes

  15. Guest Who says:
    November 20, 2017 at 8:03 am

    All I know is that most BBC ‘news’ seems dominated by a person with a swastika on their forehead.

       9 likes

    • MarkyMark says:
      November 20, 2017 at 8:16 am

      da9821fb140150d27a8bccfac803f54a1028e71db7a49e91c1fe78c95d2cbc2b.png

         4 likes

      • Guest Who says:
        November 20, 2017 at 9:03 am

        Laura has gone there. Sort of….

        But seems to have gone more with a very odd ‘analytical’ approach.

        Maybe this could get mentioned at the parliamentary debate on how the BBC pushes some things and doesn’t mention what it doesn’t feel is helpful?

           6 likes

        • Arthurp says:
          November 20, 2017 at 9:43 am

          Merkel has said that “No agreement is better than a bad agreement”

          Wonder where she got that phrase from.

          (It looks like the Germans would rather have no Government than one including the third largest party – AfD – talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face).

             2 likes

      • Guest Who says:
        November 20, 2017 at 9:30 am

        BBC Today on Facebook:
        *******
        On today’s programme:

        – Former cult leader Charles Manson has died aged 83.
        – Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF is threatening to impeach President Mugabe if he doesn’t resign this morning. We speak to Zanu-PF MP Terence Mukupe.
        – We speak to Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker.
        ********

        Ms. Brown’s thoughts of course of paramount importance.

           3 likes

  16. Sluff says:
    November 20, 2017 at 8:33 am

    A toe-curling ‘interview’ (I use the term loosely) between Toenails and John Healy, shadow Housing Minister, on Toady this morning.
    Healy was a housing minister in the Blair/Brown days, so has a track record to justify. Toenails started well enough, pointing out that Thatcher built more houses in one year than the whole of the last Labour government. But that was it. We then had little more than a polite cosy chat. Healy’s position was untenable, creating several open goals for Toenails. Who promptly missed the ball every time. So an opportunity to call out the shallowness of the Labour ‘taxpayers money will solve everything’ policy, neatly was lost. As was any attempt whatsoever to query the demand side of the equation, you know the one, annual nett immigration 300,000. Average new annual housebuilding about 100,000.
    I just cannot imagine why this was allowed to happen.

       13 likes

  17. Sluff says:
    November 20, 2017 at 8:41 am

    Always nice to see socialist councils really spending the money on their priorities and citizens, especially the ‘most vulnerable members of our society’
    Note incidentally the ‘no vehicles’ road sign In other words, keep out the riff raff public!
    I’d paste in the picture like other readers do, but I’m a bit thick on the IT front.

    https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=picture+of+doncaster+council+new+building&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=inmv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD69P838zXAhVL1BoKHUPRC3MQ_AUIEigB&biw=1024&bih=666#imgrc=MJU0TmVZCOtoaM:

       2 likes

  18. fakenewswatcher says:
    November 20, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Last night BBC R4 excelled themselves again with Orwellian Newspeak. The had a feature on ‘Intergenerational Fairness’ which suggested we need to do a raid on the pensions and housing of the elderly, without them overtly saying so. But give it time. Add this to the constant agitation about ‘self identification’ for Trans people and you see where the two new campaigns are heading.
    There was also a feature on the ‘far right’. It rather cleverly failed to define that term, leaving it open: somehow you could imagine there being no distinction between UKIP and some violent extremists they allegedly identified. They had a policeman on. Apparently this ‘far right’ are much the same as the Islamists. So there’s the threat. The problem comes in when legitimate organisations like UKIP are labelled ‘far right’, which I have heard happening. If no effort is made at a VERY CLEAR distinction, smearing anyone who is simply a traditional conservative, who thinks the way the Conservative PARTY DID TWENTY YEARS AGO is within reach. Any such person is potentially a creature of this ‘far right’. And that includes thousands of gentle people, who would not dream of hurting anyone and support parliamentary democracy without qualification.

       0 likes

  19. fakenewswatcher says:
    November 20, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Last night BBC R4 excelled themselves again with Orwellian Newspeak. The had a feature on ‘Intergenerational Fairness’ which hinted we need to do a raid on the pensions and housing of the elderly, without them overtly saying so. The talk was subsequently of developing skills and building housing. But give it time. Add this to the constant agitation about ‘self identification’ for Trans people and you see where the two new campaigns are heading.
    There was also a feature on the ‘far right’. It rather cleverly failed to define that term, leaving it open: somehow you could imagine there being no distinction between UKIP and some violent extremists they allegedly identified. They had a policeman on. Apparently this ‘far right’ are much the same as the Islamists. So there’s the threat. The problem comes in when legitimate organisations like UKIP are labelled ‘far right’, which I have heard happening. If no effort is made at a VERY CLEAR distinction, smearing anyone who is simply a traditional conservative, who thinks the way the Conservative PARTY DID TWENTY YEARS AGO is within reach. Any such person is potentially a creature of this ‘far right’. And that includes thousands of gentle people, who would not dream of hurting anyone and who unreservedly support parliamentary democracy. Is the idea to cower them into voting Labour?

       1 likes

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