450 Responses to Midweek Thread 12 February 2020

  1. StewGreen says:

    4:30-pm will Amol drop a chance to signal diversity ?
    Course not.

       10 likes

  2. StewGreen says:

    R3 last night : The shadow of slavery
    From sugar and spice, to reparations and memorials: slavery and how we acknowledge it

    WorldService tonight : EasyTalk
    Len McCluskey: What’s the future of the UK Labour Party?

    World Service yesterday
    “Blasian love
    The Documentary Podcast
    Relationships between black and Asian origin South Africans”

       19 likes

  3. G says:

    1984.
    “…..in the book we learn that Parsons had shouted, “Death to the Party!”, in his sleep.”
    A ‘Thought Crime’.

    And, (or perhaps I should start with, ‘So’), a clip of the film.

       10 likes

  4. Anders Thomasson says:

    Interesting piece of trivia about Ofcom. Sharon White ex-HM Treasury. Melanie Dawes ex-HM Treasury.

       9 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Also once under George Osborne, IIRC.

      Who is now taking the Evening Stannid to heights only BBC Pidgen could dream of.

         11 likes

  5. BRISSLES says:

    Um……
    I am not affected by flashing lights
    I do not need to call the Samaritans
    I am not of a nervous disposition
    I am not offended by scenes of a sexual / violent nature
    And I’m certainly not affected by issues raised in this programme

    But I am white, of a mature age, female, childless, not in a mixed race relationship (or any relationship actually), heterosexual, oh yes, and a carnivore.

    So I’m feeling a bit left out.

       79 likes

  6. Guest Who says:

    BBC News

    “By standing together, we’ve made history.”

    Hint: BBC history as opposed to anything actually historic.

       17 likes

  7. Ian Rushlow says:

    The BBC reports on Scandinavian airline SAS having to pull it’s online adverts after massive criticism. The adverts are so full of offensiveness, self-hatred, revisionist history and deranged diversity that one can only begin to imagine the envy and jealousy within BBC management circles, as they set a pinnacle that not even the uniquely-financed BBC has so far imagined to achieve.
    Here’s the BBC report:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51478279
    And here’s an SAS advert (WARNING: May cause offence, viewer discretion needed):

    P.S. The general theme of the advert is that there is nothing that is truly Scandinavian – it’s all cultural appropriation from elsewhere. Oddly, they don’t mention such delights as imported rapists and grenade attacks in Swedish cities…

       53 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Ian
      Isn’t it reassuring that it’s not just some of British who beat themselves up over being non coloured .

      It seems to be a pan european sickness – and advertising agencies to have a serious infection ..

         38 likes

    • Beltane says:

      How odd that images of Nazi book burning are still promoted to show how vile the extreme nationalist philosophy was, yet modern techniques with the same message are hailed as progressive. Except by diminishing numbers of rational people, of course. Old age is the great winnower so many pin their hopes on.

         32 likes

    • vlad says:

      When a people are so bent on self-denigration and the worship of diversity, it richly deserves to be invaded, raped and ultimately destroyed. Bye bye Scandinavia, you used to be a wonderful place.

      Oh, and we’re not far behind.

         40 likes

    • Banania says:

      That was dreadful!

         20 likes

    • scribblingscribe says:

      I watched half a minute of that ad and was sickened. Pure Marxist culturalism to undermine the electorate and stability.

         21 likes

    • JimS says:

      But… I thought the Scandies were all into Flygskam – the shame of flying?

      It must be so, the BBC told me.

      Meanwhile Tetra Pak, a Swedish invention, sells 11.2 billion euro per year while SAS tots up a mere 5.8 billion euro. (P.S. Tetra Pak is recyclable too!)

         12 likes

    • Dave S says:

      Many of us wrote off Sweden years ago. Maybe the whole country has inherited guilt from WW2. A less than glorious time. I have no interest in it’s fate. It can turn into whatever it likes. Who cares?

         13 likes

  8. StewGreen says:

    The Trump impeachment all over again
    Italy’s Senate has voted to send former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini to trial over alleged “migrant kidnapping”.

    Case dates back to incident last July when 131 migrants were prevented from disembarking Italian port for almost a week

    Most media use loaded language
    like “far right”
    “The League leader could face up to *15 years in jail* if successfully prosecuted over charges of illegally detaining migrants at sea”

    .. I bet a non conviction is quite likely
    .. and that a 15 year sentence is absolute fantasy.

       33 likes

  9. StewGreen says:

    Local Hull news
    opening item is a noble item about proper gun licencing
    ..but yet again special friend of the show Labour MP Diana Johnson is on the show interviewed by BBC’s Vicky Johnson.

    #2 Item .. Local taxi drivers are VICTIMS of racism
    from oik

    Such oik behaviour is always wrong, but we only got to heat the taxi drivers.

    At the end of show viewer comments were like “I’m a white taxi driver and we too get plenty of abuse on a Friday and Saturday night etc.”

       24 likes

  10. vlad says:

    I take the liberty of repeating Fedup2’s earlier invitation to take part in the survey and petition on the beeb, organised by the Campaign for Licence Free TV, below.

    Slay the monster, rescue Lady Liberty.

    https://licencefreetv.org/petition/

    https://licencefreetv.org/survey/

    https://licencefreetv.org/

    e495bdb0591df2db6530b996d128ecc9.jpg

       24 likes

  11. MarkyMark says:

    Facebook uses for its digital
    16:53
    advertising platform so we sucked in
    16:56
    data on the precise same basis that
    16:59
    Facebook marketing allows and then we
    17:03
    had therefore large sub samples of the
    17:06
    overall polling samples which you could
    17:08
    actually rely on and then you could take
    17:11
    that data and plug it straight back into
    17:13
    Facebook

       12 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      OK that transcript, you got from Youtube . there is a button at the top right to remove the time stamps
      Then grab the text
      Then remove the line breaks https://www.textfixer.com/tools/remove-line-breaks.php
      And then make something readable

      16m16s … We can take massive samples … use machine learning and you will actually have a system which is faster cheaper more accurate
      And that has another great advantage which we exploited
      which is that if you do these very large sample surveys
      You then have sub samples
      .. You can define the demographics that you interrogate yourself
      And what we did was we basically use the exact same categories to infer demographics that Facebook uses for its digital advertising platform

      So we sucked in data on the precise same basis that Facebook marketing allows and then we had therefore large sub samples of the overall polling samples
      which you could actually rely on and then you could take that data and plug it straight back into Facebook
      … So you could say for example we will target women between 35 and 45 who live in these particular geographical entities who don’t have a degree or who do have a degree or whatever et cetera

      And because you’ve got very large samples you can actually get useful information on those kind of relatively small
      breakdowns.

      so we did all this and we as I said we essentially ran a whole series of experiments based on what we found at the conventional polling, in the focus groups.. out in the digital world and then
      filtered what what worked ..

         5 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        BTW you know when you watch Derren Brown
        He does an amazingly complex trick
        .. and then he gives you a complex explanation.

        But if you actually know how the trick is done
        it’s not the way he claims, but rather another incredibly simple way.

           5 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Marky – thank you for posting this – I’m sure Mr Cummings knows the MSM is gunning for him even more now . No doubt they’ll get him somehow ….

         0 likes

  12. StewGreen says:

    There is a new @SkyNewsAust video where Senator Malcolm Roberts takes on climate orthodoxy
    The young presenter @TomWConnell is just way out of his depth
    All he can do is say “Venus has lots of CO2 and it’s very hot”

    Roberts answers back Mars is 96% CO2 atmosphere and it’s cold
    neither mentioned the distances from the sun

    Neither mentioned water vapour as the main Greenhouse gas

    Roberts case was the idea that temperatures have risen is fake
    And that he uses raw data only and gets the 1930s to be warmer
    He suggests fiddling like changing types of screens at weather stations is why BoM think the temps have raised

    The presenter does engage on Twitter here
    The video is at the top of the thread.

       17 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Stew, both AGW proponents and AGW opponents cite Venus as support for their positions!

         6 likes

  13. theleftwilleatitself says:

    Fedup, would I be able to announce today that the Oxford English Dictionary have announced that the word ‘Yid’ will be included from today, much to al beeb’s annoyance I suspect?
    They have long campaigned to not allow it on the terraces and also general life!
    Another dagger in the heart of the world’s most trusted ????

       19 likes

    • theleftwilleatitself says:

      It means a Tottenham Hotspur player or supporter by the way ????

         11 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Theleft
      Have been lucky enough to have been born in the sight of White Hart Lane and raised on greaves / gilzean era I think that description suits a certain time .,…. more Semitic than anti …

         11 likes

      • theleftwilleatitself says:

        Thanks for putting my post up Fedup, I wasn’t sure it would be ok with the ‘Y’ word in it ????
        I bet the current state of N17 makes you wince every time you go back for a match nowadays ????

           1 likes

  14. StewGreen says:

    New video from Sargon

    “I don’t want MY money to go to GRETA !”
    .. “she is the so polarising”

    “The BBC says they have no money for things.. now they are channel money to a climate activist”

    “Soul of the nation”
    “FFS BBC you are always insulting the nation ..like you did last week with Nish Kumar
    .. look at you 98% one star rating on Trust Pilot”

       46 likes

  15. Up2snuff says:

    The Moral Maze on the subject of the BBC, public service broadcasting and the future of the Licence Fee was … er … interesting.

    The batting order of witnesses left ‘Pro’ with the last word, the last word coming from a very strident, energetically pro-BBC American woman. At least I was thankful that she did not have a squeaky voice.

    Both the Panel and the witnesses contained people who definitely (Rev.Giles Fraser and Jonathan Freedland) or possibly (Clare Enders) take the BBC shilling. What could possibly be wrong with that? Cough! Splutter …..

    If you missed it, the R4 repeat it (there’s a surprise – most of BBC R4’s programming seems to be repeats at present) @ 10.15p.m. on Saturday.

       12 likes

    • Not Gwent says:

      I listened and thought it interesting to hear that educated people were liberals hence it seemed that State Broadcaster was biased. What were they to do – employ the uneducated to provide balance?

      Did the final witness claim that society wasn’t fractured? This I found hard to believe given recent national poll results.

         12 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Matthew Taylor was very very insistent there are no good toddlers programmes any except on CBeebies
      … I doubt that is the case e.g. Sesame Street was not created by the BBC

      Claire Enders claimed that “The BBC is the most trusted NEWS source alongside ITV” ..wrong ITV is ahead of the BBC
      She was screechy and insistent like the BBC’s mother

      She said that “society is NOT fragmented and divided cos 91% of people tune into the BBC”
      *She looked like a mouthy American that knows nothing *

      Lefty Brexiteer Giles Fraser ..said no way do Righty Brexiteers get much representation on the BBC

      At the end Matthew Taylor got a way with a NASTY strawman misrepresentation of Melanie’s view
      He said ‘Melanie Philips thinks that the view that #climatechange isn’t REAL is legitimate’

      Finally Giles Fraser said the BBC could be unbiased after the licence fee, cos the Guardian manages to be …lol

         21 likes

  16. StewGreen says:

    Here’s the Trust Pilot review site
    Thousands of people rating the BBC as lefty & proRemain
    https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.bbc.co.uk

       28 likes

  17. Dover Sentry says:

    We have to treat the BBC Climate Change zealots as a virus.

    They are a threat to Western civilisation.

    The West will otherwise become the new Third World.

    We must act.

       27 likes

  18. Philip_2 says:

    Something for the BBC to think about. Despite BREXIT. Despite BBC paranoia. Despite the entire UK BBC Drama ‘luvvies’ trotted out en masse (enabled by the BBC), Despite Momentum tactics, Despite Train Strikes, Despite Roger (dim) Harrabin, Despite Tony (Lord) Haw Haw, Despite Scotland, Despite Ireland, Despite John Bercow (and associated traitors to the realm). Despite them all. Despite them all… some good news.

    Reported today in the smallest print possible. Its a lot, lot worse in the EU. The UK is (despite all of the above) is booming of sorts. Read this: from Today’s Times. 12th Feb 2020.

    Britain third in G7 economies!
    Britain has the fastest growing economy among the G7 economies last year, even though we stagnated in the final quarter. We expanded by 1.4% (not a lot) but it outperformed France and Germany. The EU once again has to pump billions of Euros back into the economy to keep afloat.

    All that Despite BREXIT. The future is bleak in the EU, at least we can point the finger at the BBC and say ‘never again’ will we be led by-the-nose by overt political interference of the BBC elite political quango, who can now be safely ignored until the TV license runs out on 2027.

    By that time they will have reformed the BBC or it will be sold to the Guardian readers for 99p. All twelve of them.

       39 likes

  19. vlad says:

    As anticipated, the BBC chairman’s speech is a pile of self-serving crap from start to finish.

    “In his speech in Salford, Sir David said: “The BBC is a great national asset; a diminished BBC is a weakened United Kingdom.”

    FFS.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51472969

       33 likes

  20. taffman says:

    “Cabinet reshuffle: Ministers braced as Johnson mulls changes to top team”
    What’s Boris up to ?

       12 likes

    • G says:

      Taffman,
      First signs of the slide (?)………(down to EU control)
      After all, that’s what we voted for, didn’t we?

         3 likes

  21. StewGreen says:

    You know the *Diverse* BBC has some BAME people on
    I’ll focus on some DIVERSITY on this week’s schedule

    Tuesday
    R4 0:30 : How to Argue with a Racist, by Adam Rutherford
    read by BAME Dr Adam Rutherford

    R4 9:45 : How to Argue with a Racist, by Adam Rutherford
    read by BAME Dr Adam Rutherford

    19:30 BBC4TV The Beauty of Anatomy with BAME Adam Rutherford

    Wednesday
    R4 0:30 : How to Argue with a Racist, by Adam Rutherford
    read by BAME Dr Adam Rutherford
    09:30 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry
    with BAME Dr Adam Rutherford

    09:45 How to Argue with a Racist, by Adam Rutherford
    read by BAME Dr Adam Rutherford

    19:30 BBC4TV The Beauty of Anatomy with BAME Adam Rutherford

    20:45 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry
    with BAME Dr Adam Rutherford

    R4 0:30 : How to Argue with a Racist, by Adam Rutherford
    read by BAME Dr Adam Rutherford

    Thu
    BTW Rutherford will not be presenting his own normal 4:30pm show which was deliberately created for him and a perfectly good science show closed down.

    Rutherford is on Radio4 10 times this week reading his book

       25 likes

  22. Dover Sentry says:

    Has anybody got Nigel Farage’s mobile number?

    He needs to be recalled. Pronto.

       21 likes

  23. taffman says:

    Just in case you missed it Al Beeb, the pound £ reached 1.19276 to the Euro today .

       24 likes

    • Dover Sentry says:

      Pre-Brexit, the pound was at near parity with the Euro.

      Of course, the anti-Brexit BBC will say that exporters will be hit. As always, just one side of the BBC debate.

         21 likes

  24. andyjsnape says:

    Nestle axes low sugar chocolate due to weak sales, reports the beeb

    ITS NOT WHAT PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY WANT!

    Constantly pushing its own “agender”

       22 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      Just imagine if, say, state broadcasting was also subject to commercial forces and channels and radio stations had to be axed if they ‘were not what people want’. A frightening prospect for the BBC…

      #TimeExpiredAndHarmfulToBritainScrapTheBBC

         18 likes

  25. Celtic_Mist says:

    BBC seems alarmed by the sharp increase whilst Sky Kay Burley read the figure off without blinking?

       9 likes

  26. AsISeeIt says:

    Given the uniformly liberal/left/greenie narratives pushed in BBC News and how our national broadcaster has positioned itself as being the unofficial opposition to anything and everything conservative…

    ….and how pointing out examples of BBC left-wingery was akin to shooting slow-moving fish with a death wish in a miniature barrel…

    …one thought it might be amusing to highlight those rare occasions where some dim spark of reality shines for a brief moment within the otherwise all pervading leftist darkness.

    Let me introduce an occasional series I like to call: ‘Well, there’s a thing’

    To kick us off this morning we spot a hidden gem within this story:

    ‘Nestle axes low sugar chocolate due to weak sales’

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51439407

    ‘While governments and many consumers have called for lower-sugar products, most people have yet to warm to less sweet alternatives.’ Well, there’s a thing!

    I know we all like and enjoy universal free medical care at the point of delivery but could it be that socialising the cost of bad health habits does nothing to encourage us to curb those bad habits. Instead we open ourselves to endless irritating expensive bureaucratic and coercive public health campaigns – often ignored by those with the errant behaviours.

       14 likes

  27. Guest Who says:

    BBC Moaning Emole:

    ***

    Cabinet reshuffle

    Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is hopeful, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is joking about “longevity” and a philosophical Attorney General Geoffrey Cox suggests “other doorways… will open”. But, with Boris Johnson set to reshuffle his top team, one cabinet minister tells the BBC’s Vicki Young they are “all paranoid, but desperately pretending not to be”. With an eye on gender balance, the prime minister is expected to promote several women, including Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Suella Braverman and Gillian Keegan. Meanwhile, Michael Gove is being touted for a role overseeing Brexit trade talks.

    ***

    So the BBC’s Vicky Young got this on record, or just coming out with ‘sources who say’ bo====ks to try and oust old white Male Nick ‘Orwell Who’ Robbo from his perch?

       11 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      My extreme rationing of BBC and in particular Toady is making for a more cheerful fedup2. And someone ( thanks stew ) put the Trustpilot comment section on what people think about the BBC reflects the points raised every day here.

      The Labour Party is hopefully destroying itself because it is out of touch with ordinary decent people . The broadcasting arm of the Labour Party is , therefore , in the same position . Both only have themselves to blame ….

      Diff subject – I’m thinking of signing up to Netflix – would any one know whether the basic version will do or do I need the up market type ?

         15 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Rob letting the linked post speak for him. Less is more.

        Sadly, #CCBGB.

           6 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          Rob would likely deem such a poll tainted by not having the numbers BBC ones do, namely fewer by a fifth.

             16 likes

      • Woolwich says:

        The lowest cost subscription gives you access to everything but it’s in standard definition and I think you can only watch it on one screen at a time. So you could watch something in your iPad, turn it off then watch it in your smart tv. Pay more and you get High Definition and two screens at a time so one member of your family can watch one thing in one room, another can watch something else in another. Pay even more and you get 4K quality (if ir was shot in 4K I’m assuming) and multiple screens at one time.
        Just buy the cheapest and see how you get on, if it’s not what you need then change your subscription for the following month.

           6 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Guest – brexit and pandemic and they are worrying about bubble reshuffles ? Nonsense isn’t it ?

         11 likes

  28. vlad says:

    Never mind conquest, war, famine and pestilence, the really big news of the day on the Home page is that some swimmer could make history in 2020 by becoming the first black woman to represent Great Britain in swimming at the Olympics.

    Wow.

    The schizophrenic beeb can’t seem to decide whether to be colour-blind or colour-obsessed. Or rather, they swing from one to the other depending on whether it’s good news or bad, and how it plays to their agenda.

    Crime: blind.
    ‘Victim’: obsessed.
    Failure: blind.
    Success: obsessed.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/swimming/51483064

       31 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      The BBC report on this young black swimmer is only of interest in the method by which it it presented. On the main BBC on line News page the clickable headline is ‘The British swimmer breaking down barriers’

      So we wonder has this miss defiantly broken into the pool Rosa Parks like, to the sound of chants of go girl, has she in her red gold and green black liberation cossie heroically breached the colour bar? Or like yesterday’s black school girl has she won some court case against whitey to finally be given the keys to the changing room?

      Not so much. The BBC blurb has this: ‘She speaks to BBC Sport about breaking down stereotypes in the sport – as well as everyday issues, such as how she manages her hair in the pool.’

      Ignoring the condescending flummery involved in the BBC obsession with afro hair, the only substantive issue holding back blacks from doing swimming (unlike just about every other athletic sport where they tend to do very very well despite the nasty whitey holding them back subtext) seems to be this ‘stereotypes’ thing. Which I take to mean black girls don’t tend to choose to do swimming. Not exactly a ‘barrier’ is it BBC? Mind you, always best to make an issue and promote a greivance, eh?

         37 likes

      • Invicta 1066 says:

        White people are better at swimming due to physical characteristics. They have more body fat, thus are slightly more buoyant, they have shorter legs enabling faster kicking and longer torsos which help propel them through water. All these characteristics are of course relative.
        I obtained this from a BBC programme at the time of the Rio Olympics in Brazil.
        I also learnt the reasons why black athletes tend to dominate running, particularly sprinting events. Reaction times, longer legs, larger feet giving more leverage.
        Interesting to learn that distance runners from Kenya ( according to BBC). were dominant because of hard training routines; no mention of their superior anaerobic ability nor tolerance to acidity in muscles.
        The reason Johnson, the world record holder for 400 mtrs and winner of the 200 was apparently due in part being from a particular tribe in Africa and natural selection, his ancestors having survived slavery.
        Just think how well the Israelites enslaved by Egypt would have done in the ancient Olympic Games, or our own folk transported to Australia.
        PS the Beeb let slip that more African slaves were taken to Brazil by the Portuguese than the British ever took to N America.

           27 likes

        • tarien says:

          Well that is what I had always be led to understand Invicta that white people because of their physique were better swimmers-the black person’s bottom is often the problem. My son who was a few years ago serving in the armed forces was sent to Sierra Leone, where he was involved in clearing out rebels in the jungle areas and where on the shore line lived hundreds of children-my son found none could swim, so he set about with another friend teaching these kids to swim. The biggest problem was in getting them to float-something in their figures made them sink, so it took sometime but many did learn to swim to a degree. This young coloured girl is not all negro, she probably has other bloods.

             8 likes

          • BRISSLES says:

            …..the black person’s bottom is often the problem….

            This is what I was also led to believe. Most black women have ample and very rounded bottoms, and many are bandy legged and flat footed, so have issues when wearing high heels. Black bodies are different, so its expected they will excel more in some sports and less in others. The Williams sisters in tennis have been somewhat of a phenomenon, and Arthur Ashe has been the only black male player to win Wimbledon.

               8 likes

      • Guest Who says:

           9 likes

        • Dystopian says:

          Why not just inspire ALL girls and ALL boys? Anyway what about the other 100+ genders? So that’s a hate crime as well as the racism!

             10 likes

  29. Guest Who says:

    Larissa seems sweet.

       13 likes

  30. AsISeeIt says:

    It’s a Thursday so obviously it’s yet another chance to reheat the anti-British issue of the 1945 bombing of Dresden.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51448486

    Afterall, wherever would lefties get their anti-British debating points were it not for the BBC constantly pushing them into the public consciousness?

    ‘Historians question if destruction of German cities hindered the Nazi war effort, or simply caused civilian deaths’

    Historians… like this one…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Irving

       14 likes

  31. G says:

    Toady earlier has a decent focus on the Corona Virus and what it may amount to in the UK. First case detected in Londonistan, followed by the now, common statement: ‘The victim had recently returned from China’. That clarification accompanies most announcements of the spread. I’d like to add one further clarification that goes without saying but not, obviously from the BBC:
    Multiculturalism spreads Corona Virus. There, I’ve said the BBC’s unthinkable truth.
    Expect more spreading as naturalised, ‘British Citizens’ return from their homeland’s New Years celebrations in China. Multiply that by an additional factor for the World………
    Nice to know that, in my state of health already, I may be a goner in due course all thanks to gross governmental mismanagement over the decades. Not forgetting, ‘multiculturalism’ of course.

       25 likes

    • tarien says:

      Agree G-in fact if this Government is really serious about tackling this very spreadable virus, than all sporting or other events where large numbers of people gather should immediately be cancelled, such as China has done in cancelling the Grand Prix due to be held there, therefore such action should be replicated in Europe. Any movement of large numbers of people should not be allowed for the time being harsh as that maybe. Of course the Tube trains are a perfect place for the spreading of infection and have been so for years-so shut them down-impossible I hear everyone say- how on earth would people in putrified London get to work? To keep the Bankers in business!!
      Serious action has to be taken on the restraining the movement of very large numbers of people for the time being. And absolutley should there not be any allowance for any immigrants to be allowed to land on UK shores-should all be towed back to whether it be French or Dutch coastlines where no doubt they came from. The movement of tens of thousands of immigrants all over Europe should be causing immense alarm in this respect to this Virus. Stop putting heads in the sand and wake up.

         10 likes

  32. Guest Who says:

    My specialist subject would be BBC Conceded Complaints.

       21 likes

  33. Van Helsing says:

    Air travel and porous borders have a lot to answer for.

    That said, there were only six new cases reported outside of China on Tuesday, excepting those on the cruise liner quarantined in Japan. Moreover, there has only been one death outside of China.

    The figures in Hubei jumped sharply yesterday, but that is down to an effort to clear the books of the thousands of suspected cases waiting on nucleic acid testing. To achieve this, they used presumptive testing based on chest X-rays rather than the more time-consuming lab tests. Expect the figures to drop again once the backlog has been dealt with.

    Finally, if this new virus behaves like other respiratory viruses, it will become weaker as we move from winter to spring. That’s a few weeks away yet, but in the meantime taking sensible precautions will significantly reduce your chances of contracting it.

       15 likes

    • G says:

      VH,
      “….meantime taking sensible precautions….”. Many here simply cannot turn the age clock backwards.

         5 likes

  34. vlad says:

    The beeb are delighted to report the findings of the kids on the Youth Select Committee.
    The knife crime epidemic is a big worry.
    It has nothing to do with music or popular culture.
    It’s all the fault of cutbacks.
    Stop and search is not the answer.

    In other words youngsters are natural criminals and need to be constantly given stuff and things to do, to bribe them away from crime.

    Probably true of some.

    _110882156_a776b4f1-889a-4aad-b371-68ae6234ad7d.jpg

       25 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      This looks like a U.K. XR Citizen’s Assembly mash up with the current trending video of a young lady of opinion strutting about a US University ‘safe space’ making demographic commentary the BBC will likely not include in BBC Trending for reasons of editorial integrity.

         12 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Speak of the devil.

        I see XR is out and about again. Might not be worthy of bbc coverage though.

           7 likes

    • fakenewswatcher says:

      vlad – this is a load of rubbish. When I was I kid we kept ourselves busy with conversation (‘hanging out’, I suppose it would now be called), listening to the radio (No TV), footie in the park, reading, always a lot of homework (Latin and maths was daily), scouting, etc.
      NOT ONE OF US, in our wildest dreams, would have a) expected someone to entertain us; b) turned to crime; c) thought that stabbing someone would be a good idea; d) carried a knife.
      I can’t say in this column what I think has gone wrong: it would be non PC and freedom of speech hardly exists any more. I can say that the culture of what is now called ‘liberalism’ (but isn’t, else I could tell the truth here), where everyone is a victim of something and offended by something, and owed something by the Welfare State.
      But now, as you say, it’s constant bribes. And pleading. And being given stuff (blackmail?).

         41 likes

      • tarien says:

        100% agree fakenewswatcher-I am of the same era and enjoyed the same things-my cousins were farmers and so at least 2 weeks of my summer holidays in particular were spent with my cousins running free and open every day over 300 odd acres-playing out actions in the big dutch barn full of bails of hay and pretending with our immaginations we were some geat hero jumping from the top of the barn or with an air rifle hide and wait to shoot rats-not that ever got any! but even where I lived in London near Regents park my brother and I would play all the time and never once were we accosted by anyone or ever considered such a thing, , never felt in danger-yes of course we saw life through a different perspective then-manners were taught and respect for older people,certainly my mother made my brother and I give up your seat on a bus or train, especially to pregnant mothers. Now they wouldn’t thank you, no doubt consider you patronising. Such a sadness as we see life in this country fall to such a low degrading level-the BBC et al has and is not helping by way of its patronising levels towards coloured people, shunning the Inig white folks. No I don’t like it, but then I am old as considered by the young and of no consequence yet, we have so much experience to offer, have we not?

           28 likes

        • fakenewswatcher says:

          tarien – yes, I suppose we are now on the ‘scrap heap’, because we’re not trendy and ‘with it’. We should be getting ourselves knives, ‘dancing’ to garage and rap and grime and hi-hop etc, and partaking of a few drugs, in order to build up our courage and stab someone, or engage in a bit of looting. And demanding stuff on beeb TV, and lots of it.
          But I’m guessing that’s not what you had in mind when you said we had something to offer. Because would anyone want to hear our opinions? We were already told in the referendum we didn’t even know what we were voting for! We are Clintonian ‘deplorables’.

             18 likes

        • fakenewswatcher says:

          tarien – yes, I suppose we are now on the ‘scrap heap’, because we’re not trendy and ‘with it’. We should be getting ourselves knives, ‘dancing’ to garage and rap and grime and hi-hop etc, and partaking of a few drugs, in order to build up our courage and stab someone, or engage in a bit of looting. And demanding stuff on beeb TV, and lots of it.
          But I’m guessing that’s not what you had in mind when you said we had something to offer. Because would anyone want to hear our opinions? We were already told in the referendum we didn’t even know what we were voting for! We are Clintonian ‘deplorables’. We are expected to keep quiet and stoically wait for death, cos -really- we are ‘in the way’, beeb would say.

             6 likes

        • G says:

          Tarien/FNW,
          Memories of: “If a job is worth doing, its worth doing well”; “An Englishman’s word is his bond” et al. The creed as a youngster.
          No longer its now a whole succession of cons and scams both small and large scale. Nothing can be trusted spoken or indeed, even the written word. Thats what’s undermined ‘normality’

             17 likes

        • Deborah says:

          As a child I used to play among bales too, and as a girl loved moving them about to make houses etc. Sounds like different genders, as children, make different choices. (Who knew?). But sadly present day children don’t get the chance. Straw bales have got bigger and really would do serious damage if they fell on you but The Health and Safety Executive put a stop to bale playing years ago whatever the size of bale..

             14 likes

          • tarien says:

            How miserable we all seem to be Fakenewswatcher, G, and Deborah-but we should not be as we have the good memories to hold onto of what can be considered better times and they were, simple pleasures, taking a picknick to the park or by the river or even stopping in the car by a place of peace, only now to be surrounded by 100 other vehicles inc caravans or told to push off because we were trespassing. We don’t do that anymore, unless we drive across the lowlands of Scotland where there is still some kind of peace where one might linger a while. My wife lived in Southern France for several years now back about 11 yrs and even I as a staid proud Englisman have to admit that I wish I hadn’t left the good life we had in France, it did help that we spoke fairly good French. The friends we made who were French were all very hospittable and generous in their help. In fact it was a little like the UK 45 yrs ago. Yes I would if I could go there again or to Southern Spain to live, as I like the sun, and its all round yearly warmth. Still I am thankful that I’m still fairly fit and strong marching towards my 78th in March, so thank you God and God bless you all.

               13 likes

            • fakenewswatcher says:

              tarien – I’m not miserable, I simply see this site as a way of providing some balance (and DEBATE) to the stream of Political Correctness we are subjected to, especially by the source we have to pay for – the beeb.
              We have good memories, as you say, and I have taken many hobbies from 50 years ago, with me.
              I stick to my Christian convictions, much as they strike others as ‘fairy in the sky’ stuff. But Science has NOT answered a single BIG question, and I spend a lot of time with Einstein, Feynman, Penrose, Greene, World Science Festival, Quantum Mechanics, (as a layman) etc, etc. So actually, I’m quite a happy bunny.
              One needs to create an ‘own world’ of interests, in order to avoid ‘celebrities’, Hollywood, PC stuff (although there is always room for genuine compassion), the disappearance of Common Sense, the apparent death of simple pleasures and keeping oneself entertained, etc.
              P.S. Lowlands of Scotland – agreed – had a good holiday near Dumfries, (in the countryside)!

                 9 likes

              • Fedup2 says:

                Fake
                I sometimes think about the value of debate . A lot of time – not particularly here – but on discussion programmes and the like – people just seems to want to make a statement and not listen much further – yet alone exchange or change a view .

                I’m trying to remember the last time someone said “ yes you are right – I am wrong to I’m changing my view – thank you “ –

                I suppose it’s always been like that but the online combat that is Twitter is pretty draining methinks .

                Personally – i would like people to read this site and debate . But it has other functions such as ‘letting off steam “ and I accept that – it’s also surprising restrained in view of the daily poison we are being fed – and paying for ( well some do ) .

                I’m finding it far easier now to reduce intake of BBC product as i think it is becoming even less clever in delivering its view of the way UK/world should be – to the exclusion of all contrary views – to use its own language – it doesn’t have ‘cognitive diversity ‘ …..

                By the way -I’ve just finished reading John’s Gospel for I think the first time since school . Challenging .

                   9 likes

                • fakenewswatcher says:

                  Fed – You are right : ‘challenging’. But fascinating. Talk about ‘debate’! Are we not ‘prisoners’ of language, in a way? So, for me, the very first dozen or so words of John are really food for thought and contemplation! ‘Mindfulness’, seems to be the current term? John will certainly give us something to be mindful about!
                  Really challenging comes with John the Revelator, on the Isle of Patmos. He makes it clear though, that there he is only the SCRIBE, so that book is actually written by Someone different.

                     5 likes

              • tarien says:

                No nor am I really Fakenewswatcher-I like to write, stories for youngsters as well as adult fiction that keeps my brain working and yes I do read a lot, wide variety of works over many subjects-such a contribution we Britains made to the world, but the socialistic liberals have endeavoured to subjugate all that was good from them to the rubbish heap of life-I find that peoples and in particular the younger genrations General Knowledge so poor. Whenever History or Geography is brought up as a subject in any contestant type programme, the faces of the contestants drop sa mile. My school were quite hot on Gerneral Knowledge, maybe yours was the same. About three years ago someone was asked on TV who the Chancellor of the Exchequer was, it was Osborne at that time, but that person had no idea. That says it all.

                   1 likes

  35. Foscari says:

    The BBC at the very least anti Israel. And it looks like to
    me that some worms are again coming out of the woodwork
    As the BBC’S number one critic of Israel Orla Guerin is again being sent there to stir it up with her snide comments.
    I don’t believe the word “Yid” really offends most of those at the
    BBC. BUT I expect some of those working for the BBC who despise
    Israel must of had orgasms when it was inferred that there
    was racist chanting at the new Tottenham stadium . You see
    as many as 5% of the Spurs supporters are Jewish. The fact that
    there wasn’t any racist chanting didn’t for quite awhile interest the
    BBC and it’s agenda.
    Now please indulge me. I am Jewish . And when I went to Christ’s
    College Finchley grammar school in the late fifties around 20%
    of the boys were Jewish, which I suppose is a bit of an anachronism.
    Anyway our history and English teacher was George Robb the
    Spurs winger who was the last amateur to play for England.
    So nearly all the boys at the school were Spurs supporters. Our
    sons and grandsons and grand daughters followed the family
    traditions. So that is the one of the reasons why there are as
    many as 5% Jewish support at Tottenham.
    So far as Yiddo came about. Very many of the non Jewish
    supporters of Spurs got fed up and sickened by the way in
    particular the racist Chelsea supporters would make hissing gas
    noises at Stamford Bridge, when Spurs played there. And
    shouted out “gas the Yids” So the supporters took on typical
    cockney London humour and decided that they would actually
    ALL become Yiddos!! I will never forget watching them march along the North Circular to Wembley wearing Jewish scull caps and the Jewish
    scarves which we wear in synagogue. In fact I have been to
    the Emirates on many occasions to see Arsenal play as well and
    NEVER seen them lose. The Arsenal supporters know I support
    Spurs. But call me their lucky Yiddo.
    BBC, as usual you have got it wrong with YOUR inverted racism.

       39 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Foscari – being a Luke warm spurs type your ‘yiddo’ explanation takes me back to when I went to spurs games regularly and ‘ Yiddo’ came from the standing crowd at the Lane …
      Although I can see the new stadium from the top of the hill where I live I’ve been yet … as for what ‘ offends’ – the kind of language ( humour ) heard at grounds these days has sadly been toned down because of Stasi levels of ‘ security ‘ and the lip reading CCTV cameras .

         11 likes

  36. digg says:

    BBC website link from home page.

    If all freelancers walked out the TV industry would stop…

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51475520

    A Self – employed TV producer kicking up a fuss about how unstable his job is and how it’s affected his mental health and self-esteem…

    He seems he is upset about the risky nature of getting regular work in his profession and wants the TV Companies to offer more help to prevent him becoming nervous for the future.

    For his information it’s also risky to be a self-employed…

    Plumber
    Electrician
    Plasterer
    Bricklayer
    Roofer
    Tiler
    Architect
    Graphic designer
    Shop owner
    Barber
    Take-away shop owner
    Butcher


    The list could go on and on…

    So what’s so different about being a producer?

    Just another BBC coffee-cup chat between a junior BBC news type turned into a baddies-goodies story?

    He says

    “I’m from a Muslim family, and there are different minorities like LGBT, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. I wouldn’t want any of those people to think that the industry is not open for them or that it’s too difficult, because it is a wonderful place to be.”

    Oh I see!

       28 likes

  37. Guest Who says:

    Not OT.

       24 likes

  38. Guest Who says:

    Has the BBC got excited yet about Rory getting excited about his sleepover with a typical London family, or are they more likely to stick with typical Londoner Sadiq speaking for all Londoners?

    As they do.

       16 likes

  39. AsISeeIt says:

    For those hereabouts interested in broadly conservative opinions and with particular emphasis on the US – with Trump’s re-election looming it may be as well to get a non-BBC filtered viewpoint – I would recommend the National Review podcast network Richocet:

    https://ricochet.com/podcast/

    It was on one of these podcast channels that I recently heard author Yuval Levin discuss his book The Ties That Bind – which focuses on America’s real problems stemming from the failure of institutions.

    Just the sort of thing that ought to be popping up on BBC Radio 4 – fat chance these day!

    Anyway here’s a snippet of his thesis:

    He reminds us of all the positive attributes of our institutions then points out how the positives are undermined when members neglect loyalty to the institution and its standards in favour of personal display. “The discipline and reticence so essential to leadership, professionalism, responsibility, decency, and maturity,” Levin writes, “are forcefully discouraged by the incentives of the online world.” Ours is a selfie culture of “personalized micro-celebrity, in which we each act as our own paparazzi, relentlessly trading in our own privacy for attention and affirmation and turning every moment into a show.”

    And with this in mind I read this tosh – a case in point as promoted by the BBC:

    ‘Church of England is ‘deeply institutionally racist’ – Welby’

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51469566

    ‘The Church of England is “still deeply institutionally racist”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. The Most Reverend Justin Welby said at a meeting of the Church’s ruling body, the General Synod, that he was “ashamed” of its history of racism.’

       18 likes

    • tarien says:

      What a load of absolute rubbish this Archbishop speaks-unless I’m in another part of the world, I would say the Church is very much non-racist-does he really no what racism is, I ask myself. Obviously not-may I say that racism as he see it is now quite definitely agains the whites. In fact I know a very black person who is fed up with the world/BBC patronising him. He is proud of what he is and expects white people to feel the same way about themselves. Well I do, but elsewhere I am a racist, I must be one as they all say so.

         20 likes

      • JamesArthur says:

        Well said Tarien

        I actually think many black people and Asian who were born and brought up in UK are fed up with all the ‘positive’ discrimination – imagine you are hard working, not in twitterarti land and keep hearing you need help because you can’t make it on merit…when clearly many have..
        Be proud to be any colour you are because of who you are not what colour you are.. I am not proud to be white – it is how I was born….simples .
        In the words of Morgan Freeman when asked what to do about racism – stop talking about it

           32 likes

      • Deborah says:

        Thought for the day on Toady at 7.50 had a man speaking in a monotone about the CofE in times past being full of the white male patriarchy. I mentally switched off. A couple of minutes later the next item was Climate Emergency. I literally switched off. I don’t think my less than five minutes should be included in Toady’s listening figures.

           19 likes

  40. Cane Corso says:

    Fedup
    Good luck with Netflix. It’s true that it’s not the same as the Beeb but may not be a reason to be cheerful. It does not now have a free trial and I discovered it does not carry “Godfather 1”. I tried the Amazon month trial but aborted after 3 weeks and 2 rubbish films.
    Stick to the library or charity shops for DVDs. The appalling BBC is just a symptom of our entering the new dark age. A good reason to be cheerful is that some of us are going out not coming in. And not listening to any Radio 4.

       15 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Thank you Cane – I’m fully DVDd up now and think I can do without Netflix for a while – and the vast majority of BBC output in all forms – it’s just pollution now .

         11 likes

    • G says:

      Take a look at Cinema Paradiso.

         7 likes

  41. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    I can understand Londoners buying a house in the Birmingham area and then commuting to London every day and the hs2 lot tells us it will be somewhere around 18,000 an hour.
    I don’t think people will buy a very expensive house in London and commute to Birmingham every day so I would think all these hs2 trains would be almost empty on the London Birmingham return morning run.
    The reverse for the evening run with the Birmingham to London run being almost empty.

    Is there really 50,000-100,000 people who need shuttling backwards and forwards between London and Birmingham every day. Will Birmingham empty during the daytime?

    We can only hope hs2 somehow goes the way of Boris island, the garden bridge, water cannons, boris’ busses and the other Boris projects abandoned.

    Why can’t we have a sensible government for once.
    Every one seems to make the wrong choices all the time, red or blue, they’re both useless.
    We on here can see all the mistakes,why can’t they.
    Is it simply follow the money or are they all really thick as mince.

       27 likes

    • tarien says:

      Big money offers into private pockets got this mad scheme off the ground years ago-any sane person could and still can see this project being not fit for purpose within only a few years after it is built-any possible advantage would only come from its construction into the Northern Counties and on up into Scotland, if ever it weret to get that far. Yes I agree EG, I await like you for a sensible government -will we live that long?

         7 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      EG, I have a shrewd suspicion that the Labour Party in Government introduced HS2 as a ‘spoiler policy’ with an eye to losing power at the next General Election. There is a tendency for political parties to do this sort of thing now: enshrine some things in law that will hobble the opposition if they win power.

         6 likes

      • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

        Up2.
        They costed it at £11 billion and that included a spur to Heathrow (I think, if not then to another station)
        So far it’s increased ten fold.
        I suspect the total end price will be well over £200 billion.
        I think we all know this.

           5 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          What? Spoiler policies or the eventual cost over £200bn, EG? I think your analysis of potential ‘traffic’ on HS2 is spot on.

          I suspect that what will happen is that costs on the Euston to Birmingham bit will get out of hand and that the project will be cancelled north of Birmingham or will be scaled back to 125 speed beyond that first stage.

          There’s no doubt another line is needed. Think a better option would have been totally 125 speed, with the build starting at the same time in different sections, with intermediate stops and better connectivity to existing services of both rail and docklands and airports. Eventually, the sections would all be joined.

          That, in its turn, would have acted as a spoiler to cancellation, re-scaling and, possibly, also to costs going out of control.

             6 likes

  42. Guest Who says:

    I merely wonder aloud what that is meant to mean in ‘reporting’ terms.

       2 likes

    • G says:

      GW,
      “I merely wonder aloud what that is meant to mean in ‘reporting’ terms.”
      It’s likely targeting other BBC drones: “It begins….” – The first signal of what is to come as Boris starts slipping toward Remain or some sort of version of that.

         3 likes

  43. scribblingscribe says:

    Really sorry to see the splendid battling Geoffrey Cox given the old heave ho. His House of Commons performances representing the people of this country, will never be forgotten.

    Sir Geoffrey Cox asap, please as a small thank you.

    Yes, Geoffrey, the turkeys did finally have to vote for Christmas.

       19 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Or, with Andrea Leadsom, bumped up to the House of Lords in the summer Honours List to see Brexit through both Houses?

      I am also sorry to see Geoffrey Cox go, scribbling, but think it is too early to say if the PM is ‘bottling’ on a full Brexit on 31 December. He will pay for it at the Ballot Box next time if he does.

         16 likes

      • G says:

        Up2,
        On the political principle of not considering the future when making daily decisions (of which Boris seems to be excelling at along with his predecessors), 5 years is a long time to really screw up everything and in his case with a massive majority, with no immediate comeback.

           7 likes

    • john in cheshire says:

      He had a part to play in the persecution of Tommy Robinson.

         4 likes

  44. Jeff says:

    The Beeb are currently in negotiations to bring us a new series featuring our heroine, the delightful Greta. This has got “Winner” written all over it.
    Blimey, the poor kid has had so many problems, both psychological and sociological, a trainnee psychiatrist would only only have to walk around her three times to get his degree.
    She’s been anorexic and bulimic. She’s had claustrophobia and agoraphobia and at one time she went for a year without speaking. She’s also got a condition called Aspergers that can make you rather obsessive. I’d never have guessed…
    In basic terms she’s not firing on all cylinders.
    It seems to me that this poor kid has been abused by both her parents and the lunatic green cult that back her. This lot are like environmental Moonies and they’ve exploited this deeply vulnerable child to their own ends.
    The last thing she needs is a television series and even more exposure. And neither do we…
    She needs to be taken away from her sinister and parasitic parents and given proper medical care and attention.
    She needs treatment.
    And the rest of us need to be given a break…

       59 likes

  45. StewGreen says:

    Food waste article has open comments
    .. Yet again the BBC cutNpasting PR material from their mates and using licence resources to make an agenda pushing advert
    .. and then patting themselves on the back for saving the planet.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51450727

       10 likes

  46. Guest Who says:

    VD getting da yoof mobilised on the petition?

    Next, the new Stormzy, Thai Fishcakes, wiv his insights on crims an’ violence an’stuff.

       22 likes

  47. BRISSLES says:

    Oops , trouble at’mill ! Sajid Javid thrown his toys out the pram and resigned !! Reshuffle in chaos.

       12 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Brissles, old thing – well done for spotting that. That’s a real shock. Maybe Sajid was unwilling to ‘tax the rich’. He does have form on that.

         10 likes

  48. Old Goat says:

    Bye-bye, Mr. Javid.

    Don’t forget your, er, “book” it’s on the Commons table…

       16 likes

  49. Doughboy says:

    I see bias by omission still strong at our nations finest broadcaster, no mention anywhere of the eco loons digging up the grass outside the home office, not exacting helping co2 is it!

       12 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Dough – one of their tribe died ‘ on a run’ last week – he was apparently their internet guru – so they said they’d do some protests today .

      Could care less as long as they get arrested and don’t interfere with law abiding citizens ….

         13 likes

  50. s.trubble says:

    Hey bBc….”Ah cannae get this Rory Geezer up…see..he had 3 bottles of my dandelion and burdock last night and a hauf bottle o vodka chasers….there’s a terrible smell from under his blanket,,,,he slept on the floor…should I called the Fire Brigade…..or maybe you could send Caramel Ahmed to modernise him….after ablutions.

       12 likes