450 Responses to Midweek Thread 12 February 2020

  1. StewGreen says:

    TalkRadio @Iromg is talking about Fake-Tory George Osbourne and his eco-taxes
    Now he has on Harry Fone from the TPA talking about local councils wasting huge amounts of money on jollies and £100K+ salaries
    https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/town_hall_rich_list_2019

       7 likes

  2. Doublethinker says:

    All eyes on Dowden . Does he have the guts to end the tyranny of the BBC? I can’t help feeling that it’s now or never ,a last chance to free the people of this country from the BBC. The political weather is as good as it will ever be for dealing with the BBC. I note that many BBC supporters are now retreating a little and instead of expressing outrage and fury that anyone dare touch the sacred cow they are looking for compromises such as a funding scheme which is part a reduced LF and part commercial. Dowden must not cave into this , the absolute minimum is that the BBC must be funded wholly by subscription, better would be complete abolition , obliteration and erasement of the stain of its memory , but I think some moderates may find this a little too vindictive !

       35 likes

    • Not Gwent says:

      Subscription would be an excellent compromise betweem aboltion and ‘as you are’.

      After all we’re constantly being told how lucky we are – who would look elsewhere?

         24 likes

  3. StewGreen says:

    from Heterodox academic, writer,
    https://quillette.com/2020/02/11/my-former-life-as-a-radical/

    “Radicals tend to conceive of the world as a fallen place while believing themselves to be on the side of virtue.
    This means, in Sowell’s words, that ‘opponents [can] be simply labelled and dismissed as moral lepers or blind reactionaries.'”

    a commenter adds
    As well as the brainwashed ones
    … there are the malicious ones

    “Selfish, self serving people who wish to abandon the responsibilities of behaving like adults
    have decided they can abuse people bcoz they enjoy it, under the guise of doing it for virtuous reasons.
    They know the mob is on their side. They are nasty bullies & loons with issues.”

       15 likes

  4. andyjsnape says:

    5th most read on the beeb website..

    Harry Miller, from Lincolnshire, was visited by Humberside Police at work in January last year after a complaint about his tweets.

    Yes the police actually came out and went to his work for hate speech – suppose it wasn’t a crime and thought they would actually turn up

    Maybe its the 5th most laughed at on the bbc website

       22 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      BTW despite winning in court
      Harry is still permanently suspended from Twitter
      ..cos when someone was nasty to him he replied

         13 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      The victory of Mr Miller is very encouraging and we must admire his fortitude in pursuing this matter. However, his challenge against the lawfulness of the College of Policing guidelines on hate crimes (sic) was rejected, although he has been given leave to appeal. The significance of the CoP guidelines is not explained on the BBC website, but in essence it is this:
      Parliament sets the laws of the land by statute. The CoP then produces guidelines on the practical issues of how to police these laws. The argument is that they exercise discretion in doing so, without sufficient objectivity, checks and balances, or adherence to the letter of the law. For instance, the Equality Act 2010 sets out nine ‘protected characteristics’ – race, religion, disability and so on. However, the CoP guidelines do not follow these statutory protected characteristics; rather, they have their own list and they emphasise and de-emphasise certain ones within that. Consequently, they tend not to be particularly interested in say, cases of age discrimination, whereas anything involving Islam gets their immediate attention. Likewise, the rights of biological women are always trumped by those of ‘trans-women’. It appears the case that the guidelines are the result of influence by advocacy and activist groups, comprising ‘the usual suspects’.

      It is the same unaccountable, woke-driven mentality that permeates all aspects of the Establishment. A further example this week is the proposal that Ofcom should regulate online content. Clearly, it is proper and correct that Ofcom should be able to compel internet companies to remove illegal and illicit content, as this is part of compliance with existing legislation. But it goes way beyond this, proposing that content which is not illegal in itself but which ‘could potentially lead to harm’ should also be removed. This is open-ended, undefined and purely subjective, and is (intended as) a route to censorship on topics that the Establishment does not want discussed. The over-riding principle is: ‘You have free speech – just don’t try to exercise it’.

         30 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Ian – I’ll read the judgement – I think I can pre judge the lefty Supreme Court – which hopefully feels as threatened with ‘reform ‘ as much as the BBC does .

        Plod is for ever moaning about being under resourced but it still can find the staff to go and examine a member of the public who has committed no crime .

        I think the judgement compares the police in this case to ‘Stasi ‘ – and it sends out a message that if you do not conform to bubble think you’ll get a visit to ‘examine your thinking ‘.

        As far as I’m concerned another 20000 cops – selected on volume – will just stack up more corruption problems and won’t make much difference on the street at all as they’ll be checking sites like this for ‘thought crime ‘. It’s changing very fast ….

           15 likes

      • Thatcherrevolutionary says:

        The correct Joe Strummer quote was;

        ‘ You have the right to free speech, as long as you’re not dumb enough to actually try it ‘
        Know Your Rights

           12 likes

  5. StewGreen says:

    So Sadiq do you think that stopping knife crime and terrorism is a priority in London ?
    .. or do you have other priorities ?

       25 likes

    • vlad says:

      Isn’t BAMEs demanding diversity just defending your ethnic group’s self-interest?

      Are Whites allowed to do the same?

      It’s a rhetorical question, don’t bother replying – I know the answer.

         11 likes

    • john in cheshire says:

      I wonder if the Pope is getting worried about the dwarfish muslim mayor of London because he seems to be intent on usurping the godliness of Francis. Perhaps this dwarfish man believes he’s the vicar of allah. If so, both he and Francis are labouring under a misconception that will see them meeting up again in Satan’s domain of hell.

         7 likes

  6. StewGreen says:

    One step forward two steps back. Harry Miller retweeting a ‘transphobic’ limerick is deemed lawful
    … just as Kate Scottow is found guilty of misgendering someone on Twitter.
    Free speech in this country is still in serious trouble.

    https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/02/14/kate-scottow-stephanie-hayden-guilty-trans-woman-online-abuse-twitter-st-albans-hertfordshire/

    Seems to me Scottow was trolling and set out to cause offence
    .. not a nice thing to do
    But something thousands of wokes do every hour
    However her victim is a lawyer and fought back.

    Scottow was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £1,000 prosecution costs and a £21 victim surcharge.

       13 likes

  7. fakenewswatcher says:

    Stew – confusing stuff, cos beeb lunchtime TV highlighted a judge who called a police force out for being like the Gestapo or the Stasi on a matter relating to Trans. I don’t use Twitter, so I suppose I don’t really know what is going on. Not quite sure i even know what ‘Trans’ means -oh what sheltered lives we elderly lead!
    Although: could there actually be a judge in Britain who is averse to our thought police and wants to defend freedom of speech? If so, he needs a commendation.
    Impressed that beeb news led with this item. Less impressed that beeb ended off with a lengthy complaint that Liverpool wimmin weren’t doing as well in footie as Liverpool men! Not enough funding, it seems. Apparently Liverpool wimmin and Liverpool men have always been quite equal in every way -presumably also in attendance etc?

       23 likes

  8. StewGreen says:

    R2 News about the Trans poem tweet case
    they chose to play a clip not of the winner, but rather a trans activist instead.

    Next week Amol Rajan is covering for Vine

       14 likes

  9. StewGreen says:

    R4 The Archers … the horses at the Archers farm have Arabic names
    .. The vet is Polish of course.

       19 likes

  10. BRISSLES says:

    Seen it all now. BBC Walks of Life (an afternoon programme I just happened upon to avoid doing anything domestic), a sort of Walking Countryfile. And hosted by JB Gill – no me neither, but a young man of colour who’s claim to fame was in a boy band JSL (whatever) and came second in the X Factor. The other host is a female Asian blogger Mehreen Baig, with swishy hair and so heavily made up she could be auditioning for a Bollywood film. I can only imagine the looks of the elderly country folk they interviewed when faced with this couple who do not have a heritage of yomping in vales, dales and national parks with a rucksack on their back. It was too unbelievable for words, so I switched off and did the ironing instead.

       34 likes

  11. StewGreen says:

    news Rohingya in Bangladesh
    Daily Mail focus
    ‘A Rohingya Christian pastor, and his 14-year-old daughter were abducted from their shelter in a refugee camp in Bangladesh on the morning of January 27
    … scores of men attacked 22 Christian families living in Kutupalong Camp 2 in Cox’s Bazaar.’

    (context there are 600,000 Rohinga refugees in Bangladesh living in poverty , so this one bad incident is uncommon)

    At least 15 #Rohingya #refugees have drowned and dozens remain missing after a small boat carrying 130 people capsized in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of #Bangladesh.
    They were moving from the camps in #CoxsBazar to #Malaysia …
    Read more: https://acaps.org/weekly_picks/weekly_picks/191

    #Bangladesh just lifted their ban on #Rohingya refugees being able to access the curriculum.
    After being denied access to education for nearly two and a half years, Rohingya #refugee children living in Bangladesh will now be able to go to school.

    BBC focus

       5 likes

  12. StewGreen says:

    In this thread Theo Leggett puts a lot of effort into defending his BBC
    328 Likes

       13 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      That’s great! Replace the licence with a subscription service of £13.13 a month and we’ll all be happy then. Sorted. Next please.

      P.S. As there will no longer be any need to pay Capita £58 million per annum in collection fees/enforcement, the BBC might be able to discount it a bit and round it down to £12.99 per month. That’s a more catchy figure. And they can use the following line in their ads: ‘Your BBC for just £12.99 a month – no more expensive than a combined Netflix + Amazon Prime subscription. ‘
      You’re welcome.

         23 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      And you are legally required pay for Theo Leggetts salary and pension on pain of a visit to a magistrates’ court .

         10 likes

    • fakenewswatcher says:

      Theo forgot to say that for the £3.02 a week, we get softened up by most of those beeb stations. He also neglected to address the issue of what the softening up was for…
      Otherwise his sums are probably correct. I’m poor at Maths.

         7 likes

  13. StewGreen says:

    Newsnight speaking for the criminal
    …. Breitbart reporter speaking for the victim

       37 likes

  14. Up2snuff says:

    Belated TOADY Watch #3 – What about the curtains, dear, and the colour of the carpet?

    I forgot that the TOADY Prog – very fond of wimmins this and wimmins that – had an interview with the new RBS Chief Executive. She is a wimmin, Alison Rose. The BBC inform me that she has changed the name of the bank from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group to the NatWest Group.

    I wonder if she will sort out the dire computer systems at the National Westminster part of RBS or whether it will be new curtains and new carpets as her next achievements on her CV?

    Cynical? Moi?

    I could not possibly comment although I am aware of the dire customer satisfaction ratings at NatWest. It may not be a wise move to use that name for the rest of the group who have better ratings.

       19 likes

  15. JimS says:

    Listening to the argument within the Labour party between wimmin with willies versus wimmin without on Jeremy Vine it is as if the whole science of astronomy has been ditched and replaced by astrology.

    It might be amusing to listen to these idiots spout their rubbish but we are losing the whole basis of common law, namely that justice should be ‘blind’.

    To give an example of a contract between buyer and seller, the buyer may not pay or may give false coin, the seller might not deliver or make false representations about the product.

    In the past the law would weigh up each side’s case and give judgement ‘without fear or favour’. Now the ‘right’ of any case is to be decided by the party with the most ‘protected characteristics’, there will be no balance anymore.

       16 likes

  16. Woolwich says:

    Not the BBC but much hilarity as I parked Mrs Woolwich’s car in the garage and heard the news on her preferred radio station.
    Apparently its the 8th Annual Climate Demonstration today in Newcastle with Newcastle University students swapping their textbooks for placards. Obviously these are a different type of Newcastle University student to Master Woolwich who is currently taking a year to earn decent money (better than I did at his age) working for a capitalist business (spit) as part of his useful degree course.
    Anyway, a supposedly intelligent student who could barely speak struggled to remember or read his lines that we’ve only got 12 years to change or else the planet will become uninhaniahabitable (correct spelling) to human life.
    I was actually angry to hear such ignorance but then I thought a) he’s the one with the student debt, and b) anyone sitting on the fence will be swayed in the “wrong” direction by such outlandish and fanciful claims.
    Just out of interest I’d love to know how many years away they said Armageddon would be at the First Annual Climate Demonstration. My guess is 12.

       23 likes

  17. StewGreen says:

    Yet again talking about * Our Community *

       14 likes

  18. Ian Rushlow says:

    Blimey! The BBC are reporting on the difficulties faced by Benjamin Griveaux in the Parisian mayoral contest. Monsieur Griveaux, representing the party of President Macron, has been accused of misdoings and hypocrisy by a Russian emigrê famous for, er, nailing his scrotum to Moscow’s Red Square in 2013. The BBC uses this paragraph:

    “Opponents from across the political spectrum voiced their outrage.”
    “Incumbent Mayor Anne Hidalgo appealed for respect for people’s private lives, while far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon condemned the attack as “odious”. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen suggested that for the sake of democracy Mr Griveaux should perhaps not have resigned.”

    Read that again. Yes, they actually said “far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon”.

    They must be getting really worried in the boardroom about the future of the TV license (not that there is one).

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51502424

       15 likes

  19. smoogie7 says:

    So out of spite Labour are trying to bring down one of the new Tory MPs from the North and out of spite the BBC are drooling all over this story:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51501703?ns_campaign=bbc_daily_politics_and_sunday_politics&ns_linkname=news_central&ns_source=facebook&ns_mchannel=social&fbclid=IwAR1AUVOn2ITW6pHPFXbA8iOd3PtJIpgbZuydowCMPDEuf8R41I31lNrmIkE

    This is the straw that has broken the camel’s back. I now think that it is safe to say that the BBC is 100% working with the Labour Party

       16 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      I think I saw several BBC employees with Nick Griffin, and much of Labour’s High Command with terrorist enablers, but I think they got away with it.

         9 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Their typo
      the article keeps saying “Campaign group Hope Not Hate claimed”
      .. when they mean “The Labour-Party-front-group Hope Not Hate claimed”

      The article is clearly a cutNpaste job from HnH PR

      …. Accidentally standing next to someone is not a crime
      .. but Corbyn actually endorsing IRA terrorists and Hamas terrorists by CHOOSING to attend their events is immoral
      … although he might have been a secret agent.

         12 likes

  20. Guest Who says:

    Looks like another long weekend for the BBC Complaints Cut and Paste droids.

       10 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Tweeters say Evan called Harry transphobic ..which is a smear
      Evan gets defensive

         11 likes

  21. Fedup2 says:

    Mr justice Julian knowles – who presided over Miller v Humberside Plod – obviously enjoyed drafting his 65 page judgement against plod . I haven’t finished it yet but will .

    As I write in some department of a diversity unit in some constabulary some bright spark , eager for their next rank , is formulating a ‘thought police department ‘.

    Even acknowledging the existence of a ‘thought police department ‘ will be designated a ‘crime of hate ‘ rendering the suspect a visit t- home and work, if they have kids maybe the State should raise them as well as being named and shamed in a section of the BBC local news …… mind how you go …

       13 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      The problem lies in the uni party, lets face it, the Tories and Labour are really the same party, as chummy with each other as the two actors playing Macbeth and Duncan after they leave the stage behind.

      Theresa May was far to the left of Jeremy Corbyn, and to be honest Cameron who was hanging out with the Socialist Workers Party wasn’t much better.

      We now have Boris the bottler who has yet to make a correct decision since being PM and it is highly likely that he will bottle any TV tax review to allow the BBC to have the arrangement they tell him they want.

         5 likes

  22. StewGreen says:

    Local news
    ITV : wheelchair boy can’t sit with his Hull mates at the game with Leeds, cos the away stand has not been modified so is standing only.

    BBC : opened with Hull university wheel chair girl who had to see her lecture from the upper floor entrance door cos it has a step
    …. when you watch the item the reason she couldn’t go to the normal position of the flat floor in front of the stage was that the
    lift was broken..

    AFAIK most lecture rooms have had some seats removed at the front so wheelchair people can sit there, but she did show one room where all the seats were stepped so she has to sit right in front.

       7 likes

  23. Fedup2 says:

    I’ve put the weekend thread up . The midweek was beginning to creak a bit …..

       4 likes