865 Responses to Weekend Open Thread

←Older Comments
  1. davylars says:
    May 2, 2018 at 8:55 am

    Here we have the BBC reporting about the “Holocaust row: Abbas accused of anti-Semitism” on the news website.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43967600
    For once a report not exactly criticising Israel, Or as Sopel would say, ‘Impartial, free and fair’.
    Well , they almost did it , but then they realised that to to be “ ‘Impartial, free and fair’. they had to balance the report so they managed to slot this in at the end of the report to redress the balance..

    “The last direct peace talks took place in 2014, when Barack Obama was in the White House. They broke down amid acrimony.
    Since Donald Trump became US president last year and controversially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the chances of talks resuming have looked even more remote”

    There you go. ‘Impartial, free and fair’.

       13 likes

    • TrueToo says:
      May 2, 2018 at 9:26 am

      It’s a weird article, written as though it’s intended for children. Certainly that’s the impression given by the question marks after the subheadings.

      It’s interesting that the bias comes right at the end. Generally the BBC likes to get its bias in early, given the short attention span of many readers. The BBC is fair in its reporting on the Holocaust, perhaps to give the impression that its opposition to Israel does not stem from its dislike of Jews.

         5 likes

  2. Guest Who says:
    May 2, 2018 at 8:55 am

    Norm knows people. Apparently.

       2 likes

    • Thatcherrevolutionary says:
      May 2, 2018 at 10:50 am

      Why would any of BoJo’s ‘friends’ would speak to this slimy shite ?

         2 likes

      • MarkyMark says:
        May 2, 2018 at 10:58 am

        “friends” = NOT FRIENDS. Or supposed friends. Or friends with a hate for Boris. Enemies?

           1 likes

  3. Up2snuff says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:04 am

    More TOADY watching: “the NHS should treat people for sex addiction.”

    Now, Sarah, Farramant and Rubenstein, Humph: what were you complaining about endlessly since November last year? Remember January and February this year, too? What was a regular lead item, almost permanent lead item, on the TOADY programme? Think!

    Tax those little grey cells. Check back in written records. Listen to the archive.

    What was the subject that dominated TOADY programme content?

    Do you need a clue?

    A national institution, with three letters.

    Got it yet? No?

    A national institution struggling to cope with demand? Got it now?

    No?

    Really?

       14 likes

    • Fedup2 says:
      May 2, 2018 at 9:15 am

      Yes up – I left that one off because I couldn’t believe my ears . I sure the founding fathers ( sexism ) of the glorious nhs had sex addiction in mind as one of the great scourges of man ( sexism ) kind when they were fighting the sainted doctors to set it up

         10 likes

  4. Fubard says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:05 am

    Apologies if you already know this (I’ve scrolled back but didn’t see anything)…
    Parliament will debate “Give the electorate referendum on the abolition of the House of Lords” petition on Monday, 18th June.

       14 likes

    • oldcrone says:
      May 2, 2018 at 10:13 am

      Petition now at 139K .. has got a boost from the latest HOL shinnanigans.

         8 likes

    • Scroblene says:
      May 2, 2018 at 10:14 am

      Yes, I signed and get the messages – mine came this morning!

      But all the turkeys, and the blokes as well, will want their pensions and the £300 a day to extend their worthless existence, so don’t expect much more than a fart in a colander from that corrupt bunch of losers.

      The only good that will come out of the ‘debate’, will be that a few of the lords may find their tyres let down and they may get a bit scared of blocking Brexit any more.

      (Love the monica – where does the ‘d’ fit in please? ;0)

         6 likes

  5. Tabs says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:21 am

    Usual BBC tactic of mentioning the Manchester bombing but not really mentioning the Manchester bombing Islamic part.

    Ariana Grande gives comeback interview and says album will ‘bring light’

    Whole article is a Liberal ‘Brendan Cox’-esque type reasoning where “bringing light” (via the medium of music) to our lives can really help those people blown to bits. “Hope not Hate” also gets a mention in the video clip.

    No mention of what the Manchester bombing was about and no links to older BBC articles given. No mention of the bomber. Just a fact saying 22 people ‘died’ (actually is was 23 including the bomber but in BBC land that bomber never existed).

       20 likes

    • Kaiser says:
      May 2, 2018 at 12:10 pm

      somewhere within the sphere of family and friends of those 22 innocents and all those injured, must be , absolutely must be at least a few very reticent pissed off and angry people

      yet no one in the media has as far as I am aware managed to find them and let them speak, really odd that isnt it

         7 likes

  6. Jeff says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:23 am

    Just a question.
    Is there any danger of another thread this side of the bank holiday?
    Please…
    Oh, some good news. Bully boy, Berkow has now been properly shafted. Surely he’s done for. And there’s to be another inquiry into the proclivities / activities (ahem) of oily Keith Vaz. If we can see the back of those two…
    On the minus side, another shooting in London last night. Two shot, one dead.
    And so it continues…

       13 likes

    • Scroblene says:
      May 2, 2018 at 10:19 am

      I overslept and missed all this Jeff!

      Popcorn at the ready…

      I assume the Norwegian passport office has been informed about the shooting…

         5 likes

      • Scroblene says:
        May 2, 2018 at 10:59 am

        Just checked their website again…

        Nope, not a mention!

        They really are a superb up-to-date ‘broadcaster’ aren’t they! Their ‘journalists’ have clearly been given ‘D’ Notices, and told not to mention two of the nastiest little barstewards in Westminster.

           7 likes

  7. Beeb Brother says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:38 am

    How could a doctor seriously say Trump was the healthiest candidate in history? So obviously trolling there but the MSM lap it up and once again we are all laughing in their faces.

       8 likes

    • MarkyMark says:
      May 2, 2018 at 9:53 am

      ‘healthiest candidate in history’ – out of all the dead ones?!

         4 likes

  8. Guest Who says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:47 am

       2 likes

    • Guest Who says:
      May 2, 2018 at 9:48 am

         5 likes

      • StewGreen says:
        May 2, 2018 at 9:54 am

        Well that blog post, has open comments
        .. but bet he censors out comments from Brexiteers.

           2 likes

    • MarkyMark says:
      May 2, 2018 at 9:52 am

      Man walking along a road in the countryside comes across a shepherd and a huge flock of sheep. Tells the shepherd, “I will bet you $100 against one of your sheep that I can tell you the exact number in this flock.” The shepherd thinks it over; it’s a big flock so he takes the bet. “973,” says the man. The shepherd is astonished, because that is exactly right. Says “OK, I’m a man of my word, take an animal.” Man picks one up and begins to walk away.

      “Wait,” cries the shepherd, “Let me have a chance to get even. Double or nothing that I can guess your exact occupation.” Man says sure. “You are an economist for a government think tank,” says the shepherd. “Amazing!” responds the man, “You are exactly right! But tell me, how did you deduce that?”

      “Well,” says the shepherd, “put down my dog and I will tell you.”

      Economics Jokes

      Q: Why did God create economists?

      A: In order to make weather forecasters look good.

         16 likes

      • Up2snuff says:
        May 2, 2018 at 11:12 am

        Oi!

        I object!!

        I’m a bit of an economist!!!

        Which bit?

        Dunno.

        But on the other hand …..

        🙂

           4 likes

  9. StewGreen says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:50 am

    BBC Internal staff memo
    “It has come to my notice that some of you are not stuffing Special Victimhood groups into every available slot
    .. and failing to cut down mentions of straight white men.
    This is letting the side down, and if you want to be continued to be invited to North London dinner parties and weekend villas in Tuscany, then you’d better up your game
    We are supposed to representing our Metro-lib-bubbleworld, not the real Britain”
    9am Radio4 supposed to be about a Cyndi Lauper song, but with 6 minutes they went to the long story of a gay activist from a severe Christian family in US mountains.

    Growing up in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ken Kidd could never truly be himself.
    Watching Cyndi Lauper perform True Colors on MTV showed him that it was OK to be his authentic self.
    Years later he describes his pride at watching the Rainbow Flag being raised above the Stonewall National Monument as he and other LGBTQ campaigners sang that same song.

    Then a grieving IVF mother
    Moving on to transgender

    And in 1999, Caroline Paige, a jet and helicopter navigator in the Royal Air Force,
    became the first ever openly serving transgender officer in the British military.
    She rose above the extraordinary challenges placed before her to show her ‘True Colors’ whilst serving her country on the front line in the war on terror.

    The blurb doesn’t even mention the last part

    Raising the Rainbow flag over the Stonewall monument

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b0v37m#playt=6m

       7 likes

    • StewGreen says:
      May 2, 2018 at 10:07 am

      9:30 Radio4

      We hear from a cross dresser who by keeping his desire to dress as a woman a secret gives himself the space to experiment.
      He believes that only those who need to know should know about his secret to protect his relationships.

         3 likes

    • StewGreen says:
      May 2, 2018 at 2:43 pm

      11am Dating for Black Women (Repeat of yesterday’s)
      11:30am cerebral palsy comedian/sitcom

         0 likes

  10. StewGreen says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:52 am

    Rufus ..is it still the weekend ?
    New Thread.. poleeez

       3 likes

  11. MarkyMark says:
    May 2, 2018 at 9:57 am

    Totalitarian .. Iran bans Telegram as sanctions deadline looms {bbc.co.uk 01may2018}

    “The ban had been introduced to protect “national security”, said a statement aired on state television.”

    . . . .

    Does Jeremy Corbyn still back Al Quds day as created by the former Iranian Presidency?

    Iran pushes app with ‘Death to America’ emoji {bbc.co.uk 25apr2018}

    “Among the features on new app Soroush are a series of emojis featuring a chador-clad woman clutching a picture of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and placards wishing death to Israel, America and Freemasons.“

       3 likes

  12. Englands Dreaming says:
    May 2, 2018 at 10:39 am

    Switched on the World Service, this morning, its becoming as lamentable as the Beebs regular radio output, and I was treated to a story about new virtual PC (in every sense) “game” called I think 1000 cuts which allows a white person to transform into a black boy and then experience a lifetime of racism!

    Please BBC give it a rest.

       13 likes

    • MarkyMark says:
      May 2, 2018 at 11:01 am

      Searched for cuts and found this … “The government is to invest £85m a year in enhancing BBC services around the world including in Russia, North Korea, the Middle East and Africa.{bbc.co.uk 23nov2015}”

      * Government = Tax Payer without consultation.
      * Invest = what is the return on investment?

         8 likes

    • Theresa says:
      May 2, 2018 at 11:22 am

      How about a game called “1,000 Insults”, which allows a black person to transform into a white, working class boy?

      It has been reported several times that this is now the most disadvantaged group:

      https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/07/professor-green-white-working-class-boys-becoming-more-disengaged#comment-110520513

      The comments section includes the following outstanding contribution (and this is in The Guardian!):

      “It is piffle of this kind that is a large part of the problem here. For decades now working class boys have been demonised (by both conservatives/reactionaries and middle-class liberals) as being “lucky” and having “every advantage”-as boys (especially “white” boys) yet, through their own “inherant” laziness and stupidity, of consistently wasting this somehow.

      Idiocy of this kind has placed this group in the kind of special hell – disadvantaged, yet also made to feel constantly at fault and to blame – that rarely ends well. I think what Prof. Green has to say here about existing in two worlds is timely and well worth listening to. Couple this hell with a residual sense that things “used” to be better – and that their former priveleges have somehow been usurped and you have something really horrible brewing.

      If in doubt, try applying the slogans of black consciousness and/or radical feminism to this group and think about how ugly these things now sound.

      Equality and diversity must genuinely extend to working class boys and men, including white boys and me – or it means nothing.”

      (The bold highlighting, which I’ve just learned how to do, is mine)

         8 likes

  13. Nibor says:
    May 2, 2018 at 10:46 am

    A thousand cuts or a thousand stabs ?

       4 likes

  14. MarkyMark says:
    May 2, 2018 at 11:23 am

    Wow! UKIP Member of the European Parliament for London. Working for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. UKIP Leader & Brexit Spokesman.

    “On LBC with Iain Dale yesterday I said the time has come to replace the House of Lords with a second chamber elected by Proportional Representation. The Lords represent no one but themselves. Time to be gone!” @GerardBattenMEP

    “Normally I wouldn’t advertise the Guardian but I don’t think this will do me any harm. It’s a funny old world where one is called ‘hard right’ for defending our traditional freedoms, democratic & legal systems. But that’s the hard left for you.” @GerardBattenMEP

    “The Referendum Result is being betrayed. This is what I predicted would happen in 2016. The solution is still the same. The big drawback is that our traitorous Parliament does not want to be supreme. It wants to be subjugated to the EU.” @GerardBattenMEP

    Comment: It’s called democracy, parliament is sovereign etc etc…
    Response: No the people are sovereign. It’s a common misunderstanding that Parliament is Sovereign.
    Comment: So what can we do, Gerard? I favour demonstrations on the streets. Currently the Leave campaign is anonymous.
    Response: Only votes make any difference. Our electoral threat got the Referendum. This is a long term struggle.

    “Even Remain Lovies will get the message about incompetent one-size-fits-all EU legislation now. UKIP MEPs voted against, needless to say.” @GerardBattenMEP

    “I was invited on Peston to talk about UKIP, the Local Elections, & Brexit. But then only he asked me about Tommy Robinson & Islam. If he had told he only wanted to talk about those things I would have accepted anyway. Just reinforces my views on MSM.” @GerardBattenMEP

    Retweet: “Shazia Hobbs, former domestic abuse victim has been suspended from Twitter for being an Ex Muslim and anti FGM campaigner. If you are outraged by this, please share and let @Twitter know what you think.” @GO_Ealing

       13 likes

  15. MarkyMark says:
    May 2, 2018 at 11:38 am

    157k possible (numbers unknown) Windrush applicants … which can be corrected.
    600k illegal immigrants in UK lost by home office … which are ignored.
    20k extremists on watch list not being watched … which are ignored.
    3k extremists on watch list being monitored … which are ignored.

    BBC £3.5bn News Service and Media are only interested in one item above…..

       10 likes

    • Nibor says:
      May 2, 2018 at 11:54 am

      Why isn’t the BBC explaining why these Windrush generation are discriminated against , losing jobs and appointments in the NHS , but everyone else from the entire world can get here and be employed and receive medical care ?

      Why would a Windrush person fear deportation but not an alien prisoner ?

         11 likes

      • MarkyMark says:
        May 2, 2018 at 11:58 am

        One news story in a bubble at a time Nibor … one bubble at a time.

           3 likes

  16. MarkyMark says:
    May 2, 2018 at 12:00 pm

    “I will bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.” – Jeremy Corbyn @0:04

    “Corbyn, Thornberry & Abbott sworn into Parliament”

       2 likes

    • Up2snuff says:
      May 2, 2018 at 2:59 pm

      So was Sajid Javid.

      In 2010.

      Therefore, had the Home Office tried to deport said MP, they would have been in breach of UK law.

      Now, Home Secretary; did you know that law when you claimed that you might personally have been affected as part of the ‘Windrush Generation’?

      Resign.

      You have misled us.

      Resign!

         1 likes

    • Theresa says:
      May 2, 2018 at 4:31 pm

      Lammy: “Britain came to them, sold them into slavery, profited from their labour and made them subjects.”

      Sounds like his understanding of his own history is no better than his understanding of European history.

      He needs reminding just where the slave trade chain of supply actually started.

         2 likes

←Older Comments