407 Responses to Midweek Thread 4 March 2020

  1. s.trubble says:

    Here’s my 5 reasons the Licence Tax should be axed…

    1) the Saville cover up
    2) the cliff Richard helicopter
    3) their role in the reporting of the pakistani muslim rape gangs and failure to call for their immediate deportation
    4) the absolute scandal of their reporting on Brexit…bias beyond belief
    5) 700 ****ing grand of our money hosed away to that Ahmed lady for supposed underpayment………..£700,000 ….unbelievable

    This is not on any more….

       61 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      strubble, I would add
      – the current level of the Licence Fee makes it increasingly unaffordable and
      – it encourages the BBC to over-man, over-pay and over-expand. It makes the BBC inefficient.

         39 likes

    • Deborah says:

      And pushing Nigel off the roof in the Archers.

      First thought I was thinking it tongue in cheek but as Robin Aitkin was saying on ‘what you are saying is’ interview, the BBC always depicts rich people as bad or as idiots. I am fed up of women playing strong characters and men either bad or ineffective. Think of the male detectives (going back to inspector Linley) hopeless rich policeman with always his sidekick rescuing him and solving the crime.

      I could also ask who dared argue with Nora, Pearl and Ivy in Last of the Summer Wine and the idiots who were Barry, Howard or Compo. But I still enjoy watching them on Drama and think it was written with and played by the actors with affection.

         19 likes

  2. Fedup2 says:

    S trubble
    The government consultation is still open – until the end of March 2020. Normally I’d say it’s not worth signing a petition or responding to a Consultation but in this case -for all the time and effort put into commenting on this site – it’s something which must be done .

    I’m still drafting my response and will publish it here in a couple of weeks.

       19 likes

  3. AsISeeIt says:

    As an antidote to the current BBC’s output of preachy dumbed-down social justice warrior laden so-called entertainment, I’ve been watching the original series of the sci-fi drama Blake’s 7 [1978].

    It’s surprisingly adult in content. In the first episode when we are introduced to our hero, he is basically Winston Smith from George Orwell’s dystopian 1984. The evil Federation drug the population with sedatives, control news media with lies and fabrications, manipulate the legal system and snuff out dissident opponents using memory-destroying techniques and show trials to discredit potential opposition leaders. Poor old Blake is charged and found guilty of multiple child molestation (I kid you not).

    The budget was low and special effects creaky. Story lines and technology borrow generously from elsewhere – for instance the handy deus ex machina of teleportation is robbed directly from Star Trek. But what’s this… powerful female characters such as Supreme Commander Servalan, played by Jacqueline Peace? Not only a teenage boy’s guilty pleasure but a woman in a major role in a sci-fi show some four decades pre- the supposedly ground-breaking Jodie Whittaker – the first female Doctor Who?

    I smile too when so many stories revolve around the efforts of independence-minded planets and peoples to take back control, regain their sovereignty and break away from the all-pervading Federation. One example is an episode where we discover the Federation rigs elections and sows dissent and division – so as to be able to step in as pretended peacekeepers and retake control.

    In another episode we see a race of inter-planetary pirates and hostage-takers who look remarkably middle eastern in dress and appearance.

    As we like to say – they don’t make them like that anymore.

       40 likes

  4. digg says:

    London…

    30 “men” were reported carrying baseball bats near a railway station…

    Next day Ahmed Shamur, a teenager was found nearby clubbed to death…

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/04/teenage-boy-found-dead-after-group-of-men-seen-armed-with-baseball-bats

    So did no one report the 30 men carrying baseball bats? If they did, did the police decide it’s not worth following up?

    Very odd that this has such a low profile in the news too.

    Wonder why that is? …..it sounds like an “honour” killing to me so I guess the police don’t really want to be involved.

    Welcome to our diverse capital city!

       50 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      ’30 “men” were reported carrying baseball bats near a railway station…’

      ‘did no one report… If they did, did the police decide it’s not worth following up?’

      Come on, be fair, it was probably just Sadiq Khan’s London’s answer to the Harlem Globe Trotters setting out on their world softball tour.

         24 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      digg ““If you were a passing motorist using a dashcam you may have recorded something vital. Please make contact. My officers are ready to take your call and you will be fully supported.”

      Suddenly, the private car user is to be valued …. Chancellor of the Exchequer please note.

         18 likes

      • AsISeeIt says:

        ‘If you were a passing motorist using a dashcam you may have recorded something vital.’

        If I were to be really cynical I might think these appeals are made just as much to keep such vidoes out of the public domain as they are to secure evidence.

           25 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          AISI, you make a good point, there.

             11 likes

        • john in cheshire says:

          I think if I was in such a position, I’d do three things before contacting the cops:

          1. Contact a solicitor for advice
          2. Make a copy of any video I had taken and hide it somewhere the cops can’t find it
          3. Post said video online so the cops can’t say it never existed

             26 likes

    • digg says:

      Of note, the BBC are almost alone in not reporting this story at all as far as I can tell…

      The rest of the media seem to have noticed it…

      Bias by omission in action!

         25 likes

    • G says:

      Digg,
      No report to the police? Maybe seeing ‘asian men’ and thinking: ‘If I report this to the police, I may well be arrested myself for hate speech’ or something even worse.’
      After all, who would want to be treated like TR for reporting an incident……………….

         31 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      The 16 year old boy found dead after suffering serious head injuries by Gallions Reach DLR station in #Beckton, is Shanur Ahmed of #ManorPark, E12.
      • The victims family reported Shanur missing in the early hours of Tuesday 3 March after he failed to return home.
      Shanur’s body was discovered on scrubland on Tuesday morning – Police say they were called by LAS to Atlantis Avenue, E6, at 08:38.
      • The night before – Monday 2 March at 19:50, police were called to a report of 30 males armed with baseball bats near to the station.
      However when police arrived there was no trace of the suspects after searching the area.

      • Detectives are working to establish if the youths seen with baseball bats is linked to the murder of Shanur.

      • On an area of the scrubland the victims glasses were found.

         1 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        I guess you’d need a whole bunch of Uber cabs to get 30 men to Gallions Reach .

           3 likes

  5. Guest Who says:

    OT, but given the incestuously small bubble, and The Week being a lefty rag with a minimal circulation, it is only a matter of time before she is demoing sex positions with Nish on Ceeebeebies.

    Media Masters

    Felicity Capon
    Editor, The Week Junior

    Felicity Capon is editor of The Week Junior. Aimed at eight to 14-year-olds, since its launch in 2015 it has become the UK’s fastest growing magazine with a circulation of over 70,000. Felicity is also a travel writer for the adult edition, and appears regularly on its weekly ‘Unwrapped’ podcast, which unearths underreported stories. In this in-depth interview, she explains how sticking to the facts allows them to tackle difficult subjects without dumbing down, recalls the “baptism of fire” in her first week following the Paris terror attacks – and discusses how their loyalty to print has enabled them to buck the trend of declining circulations.

    I wonder if she travels much, or has met Greta in her role as kiddy reporter?

       12 likes

  6. Cane Corso says:

    The Lords debate on the BBC is well worth a watch and you can catch up at any time on the website:
    https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/946d8416-8740-478e-85c1-0221f4324c9e
    I understand there’s only one contribution at all critical of our national treasure whose mission is to “Inform, Educate and Entertain”. That’s Lord Lilley between 13.10 and 13.15 hours. Whereupon he was shut up for exceeding the allotted 4 minutes. Meanwhile the luvvies droned on in series for hours.
    The above great website is free to all – even to those refusing to pay the licence impost.

       13 likes

  7. Fedup2 says:

    Cane – Lord Lilley famously discredited the so called BBC ‘fact checker ‘ live on Toady concerning Brexit . Even though it was shown that the Fact Checker was wrong – and Biased – the BBC kept I’m in post . Normal BBC corruption .

    I’m surprised Peter Lilley was allowed to speak at all . I refuse to use ‘tittles ‘.

       15 likes

  8. Terminal Moraine says:

    Lots of tear-jerk videos on the website about the situation on Lesbos including this report: “Child migrants sleep in pens at Mytilene port” in which the reporter on the ground shows the terrible conditions the kids experience and does her best to make the Greek police look incompetent and shifty.

    For balance here’s another interesting video we probably won’t see on the BBC:

       18 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Fake news for the west.

      That’s the way to do it. Hold the children over a smokey fire until they cry, then off quickly to the TV cameras before they stop crying.

         24 likes

      • Terminal Moraine says:

        GWF, hopefully more and more people are seeing this sort of stuff now. It’s unsustainable

           14 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        That small kid the other day didn’t need to be harmed to make him cry, just a kiss from President Erdogan and his stubble on the cheek, was enough to produce tears.

        Or was it the sight of the microphone and the thought that the strange man might be from the BBC?

           14 likes

  9. Terminal Moraine says:

    Greece is only “a bridge to Europe”… another one we won’t see on the BBC:

       18 likes

  10. G.W.F. says:

    Will the AnyChess buckle under the stain of the corona virus, asks the BBC.
    Note how the article ends with a dig about underfunding by the Tories.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51714498

    ”Staffing vacancies are also high – one in 12 posts is unfilled in England.

    Helen Buckingham, of the Nuffield Trust think tank, certainly believes the impact will be “more marked this time around”.

    Its ability to cope, she says, is threatened by “10 years of underfunding and failure to address staffing”.

       14 likes

    • Beltane says:

      During the election campaign Labour always referred to ‘R-AnyChess’.
      Is that a different organisation?

         13 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      GWF
      I’ve always considered the medical profession motivated by money so it is in their interest to have plenty of vacancies so that they can cover the positions as ‘ agency ‘ workers where they collect extra cash for minimal work –
      – and don’t have to do tedious things like forming relationships with patients or families .
      I’ll get slagged off here because of course they are all ‘ angels’ .

      It’s a shame that because the inbuilt affection the public has for the NHS it will never be ‘squared up ‘ – similarly – perhaps to the good old ‘ auntie ’ BBC ….

         19 likes

  11. taffman says:

    “Lord Hall insists licence fee is here to stay”
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8078427/BBC-boss-Lord-Hall-insists-licence-fee-stay-despite-culture-secretarys-warnings.html
    I thought Lord Hall Hall had already left the corp.?

       21 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      taffman, the Licence Fee will therefore continue to be the BBC’s Achilles Heel.

      If people just stop paying it, because they only use Netflix & Amazon and do not watch live broadcast TV – or – they choose to give up TV entirely, then the BBC will be brought to its knees.

         27 likes

      • taffman says:

        I stopped paying a long time ago and have saved myself an useful amount of money. I am now considering Netflix.
        All readers should do the same, its good for blood pressure.

           17 likes

        • john in cheshire says:

          I stopped paying the protection money in 2013 so I’m the best part of £1000 better off. The monthly saving was used to help pay for my car.
          And I have Amazon Prime as a Christmas present. So now I have news and current affairs and entertainment that I, repeat I, want, for nothing.
          And as a bonus side effect it’s starving the beast of life.

             13 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Taffman – he doesn’t leave to the summer and is busily selecting a ‘clone ‘ before going to spend more time with his pension .

      I think he might be taking over a quango called the RSA – but don’t they all ?

         14 likes

    • Lefty Wright says:

      taffman
      Oh well,I suppose if the TV license fee is here to stay I will get the chance to get a first experience of life in one of Her Majesty’s clinks.
      I was given a free license 5 years ago and that’s the way it will stay. The BBC can go away and get knotted. Boring farts.

         10 likes

  12. Fedup2 says:

    Sad news – it’s reported that liz Warren the the Cherokee Indian standing to be democrat presidential contender is quitting the race leaving it – I think to comrade Corbyn sanders and the ex Vice President with early onset dementia …..

    Further sad news – the QC Jolyon Maugham who tweeted that he had murdered a fox with a baseball bat whilst wearing a kimono is not be prosecuted .

    This chap was one of those mysteriously funded who worked with Miller to ‘ stop Brexit’ in the courts ….

    Friends in the CPS perhaps ?

       26 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Because …. Some animal-killers are more equal
      ….. than other animal-killers

         14 likes

      • JimS says:

        I have never understood why having a ‘racial’ motivation makes a crime worse.

        Are we seeing something similar here?

        The fox is just as dead now as it was before this lawyer ‘apologised’.

        P.S. Why does a lawyer need a baseball bat anyway? I guess it is just a part of living in London.

           7 likes

  13. taffman says:

    Two things that Boris will be tested on, dumping the Telly Tax and retaining Priti Patel.

    Telly Tax = It’s like paying Tesco’s for the privileged of doing your shopping in Asda.

    keeping an elected representative of the people as opposed to dumping a pompous civil servant

       36 likes

  14. JimS says:

    Just had a new style ‘threatogram’ delivered. At first glance it looks like a card that the Royal Mail might leave if they can’t deliver a package but it is actually a red and white envelope, pay-slip style.

    As usual they lie – it says it has been ‘hand-delivered’, writen in pretend printed ‘handwriting’ as if an inspector has called, when in fact it has been delivered through the ordinary post. They have tried a new trick, it isn’t addressed to me or ‘the occupier’, just the bare address.

    It doesn’t say who it is from but it has the usual return address know to we collectors. I haven’t bothered to open it or the rest of the collection. When I can be bothered I will consider complaining to the police that I am being harassed. I’m not a customer of theirs so why do I have to put up with this rubbish?

    I must say these Capita lads and lasses have more imagination that the average BBC producer!

       25 likes

    • taffman says:

      JimS
      Bet it had an ‘Official Red Stamp’ at the bottom of the page next to a printed signature .

         8 likes

  15. Rich says:

    Jim,

    I had a second visit this lunchtime, a different goon than the one who darkened our door a fortnight ago and much more intimidating, in his mind anyway, and so was caught unawares again and opened the door.

    The usual crap. No ID, leading questions. I’ll give them one thing, they’re keen, but what sort of numpty actually enjoys this type of work.

    Looked like ex-RUC without the tache. Obviously no hobbies and unlike most of his peers he didn’t get his handyman service going quick enough on his early retirement. What with no transferable skills, and probably an ex-wife and a drink problem to support, a bit of pseudo-heavywork and bullying for Crapita helps him reminisce.

    Engaged with him briefly but gave no details, they don’t even know my name, and refused his request to check our connections. When I asked him if that was it he replied quite threateningly, “For the time being”.

    Clown. Not going to open the door the next time. In fact I don’t really need to open it to anyone not carrying a box marked Amazon.

       20 likes

  16. Rich says:

    Jim,

    I had a second visit this lunchtime, a different goon than the one who darkened our door a fortnight ago and much more intimidating, in his mind anyway, and so was caught unawares again and opened the door.

    The usual crap. No ID, leading questions. I’ll give them one thing, they’re keen, but what sort of numpty actually enjoys this type of work.

    Looked like ex- PSNI without the tache. Obviously no hobbies and unlike most of his peers he didn’t get his handyman service going quick enough on his early retirement. What with no transferable skills, and probably an ex-wife and a drink problem to support, a bit of pseudo-heavywork and bullying for Crapita helps him reminisce.

    Engaged with him briefly but gave no details, they don’t even know my name, and refused his request to check our connections. When I asked him if that was it he replied quite threateningly, “For the time being”.

    Clown. Not going to open the door the next time. In fact I don’t really need to open it to anyone not carrying a box marked Amazon.

       10 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Sounds like he met his measure Rich . I wonder how many of the enemy read this and our friends sites?
      Maybe they’ll start using real deceit like carrying amazon boxes – but I understand that there is a Code of Conduct ….

         7 likes

      • Scroblene says:

        I think if I opened the door, and saw an Amazon, I’d probably let her in…

        I’ve always wondered what they got up to and for how long!

           1 likes

  17. pugnazious says:

    The BBC has an interesting take on Flybe…it’s naturally bad for the employees and anyone wanting to fly…but…it’s jolly good for the planet and perhaps this is the right thing to happen….obviously jobs and economy not really a consideration for the BBC….do they not wonder where their wages come from? All those licences paid for by the people the BBC carelessly cast onto the scrap heap going out to work in the evil capitalist system that has spread wealth and massive life improvements across the planet.

    Oddly the BBC aren’t connecting the coronavirus and its devastating economic consequences with the Greens’ oncoming Dark Ages….the reality of the Greens’ drive to shut down capitalism is massive, worldwide unemployment, starvaton, suffering on an apocalyptic scale and war.

    On a lighter and happier note…Fauxohantas has been dumped from the Presidential race…just a Clinton clone…and now gone.

       22 likes

  18. Guest Who says:

    OT for now, but one for Greta, Nick, Mishal, Ems, Jon and gang to discuss next BBC eco/politics outing with Boris, Bex and the various unicorns and faeries they get on from XR daily, some tricky issues to juggle from the Graun…

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/05/warwick-proposes-34-council-tax-rise-to-fund-climate-action-plans?

    The good folk of Warwick are going to solve global emissions? They must be rich.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/05/governments-coronavirus-urgent-climate-crisis?

    Oh… maybe something more National… Boris? RLB?
    Just dip in that NHS, or flood fund…oh…

    Speaking of Greta, her green shirts are in a spot of bother over the pond…

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/05/canada-indigenous-group-demands-extinction-rebellion-apologize-trespassing?

    Maybe Jon and Ems can get an exclusive from Liz now she is free?

       7 likes

  19. Deborah says:

    Just watched BBC 6pm. news, inevitably the first death. I would like to know where this person caught the virus. We are not being told.

    Now prejudice against Muslims.by the Conservative Party. No comment.

       16 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      On Twitter, mist people said ‘bbc we know your game’

         16 likes

    • john in cheshire says:

      From what I’m seeing/ reading there seem to be a disproportionate number of non-Chinese ethnics who are bringing this disease into our country.

         11 likes

    • Darcy3 says:

      No calls for national inquiry into pakistani rape gangs in every city they infect yet ?

         18 likes

  20. Guest Who says:

    Who is Xander Van Tulleken?

       5 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      BBC News

      The Health Secretary Matt Hancock and the other Question Time panelists gave their response to the growing number of coronavirus cases in the UK.
      Doctor and TV presenter Xand van Tulleken told the audience that they should be conscious of hygiene, but “no-one should panic”.
      https://bbc.in/3czSXZp

      ***

      Ah, a corporal.

         3 likes

  21. pugnazious says:

    LOL…..the brilliant ex-BBC Remainiac Gavin Esler shows why he’s worth it….one minute castigating the media for allowing non-experts on [on his anti-Brexit bandwagon default position]….

    The next he’s mocking the experts….

    Reference Klopp…actually journalist was asking a fair question…what are the club’s preprations for coronavirus….matches may well be effected if travel and crowds are restricted by authorities…look at England v Italy…postponed….so very relevant question that doesn’t need an expert scientist to answer…. Not have to be a scientist to consider implications….not difficult…virus spread in crowds/contact…therefore will matches be played?

       10 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      What, this Jurgen Klopp?

      109-A3-DA7-1891-4-F6-D-8-C54-2-DADD09547-C6.jpg

         14 likes

    • Dazed and Confused says:

      To put things in perspective, on 23 February, the coronavirus caused 158 deaths worldwide. On the same day 26283 people died of cancer, 26641 died of heart disease, 4300 (at least) died of Diabetes, Mosquitoes killed 2740, 2238 committed suicide, humans killed 1300 fellow humans and snakes killed 137.

         13 likes

      • Lefty Wright says:

        Dazed and Confused
        I expect a percentage of the suicides were due to reading the details of the other statistics you mention. For suicidal kids it’s probably more likely to be, ( thanks to the Swedish girl) Climate Change, recommended (a change is as good as a rest), or Gender Change, not recommended (if you’re born with a sausage between your legs you are a male. If you are born with a hamburger between your legs then you are a female.) If you are born with both a sausage and a hamburger between your legs you need and deserve help.
        I am of the opinion that if something is bothering you, then decide whether or not you can fix it. If you can, then go ahead and fix it. If you can’t fix it, either forget it or learn to live with it and carry on regardless. Having said that however, no matter what the incentive, I am far too much of a coward to contemplate jumping from the fourth floor of a multi-storey car park. It’s not me that’s mad it’s our opinion makers so I’ll just put another lump of coal on the fire and crack open another beer. Cheers!

           0 likes

  22. digg says:

    BBC don’t seem to be able to make their minds up whether to cheer the downfall of climate polluter FlyBe to try to thrash Boris for not stepping in to help!

    So Green s, you have now racked up lots of redundancies in Drax Power staff AND now 1000 FlyBe staff… it is related.

    I predict many, many more will follow.

    It’s going well!

       23 likes

  23. Van Helsing says:

    I do wish that the BBC et al. would stop saying that COVID-19 has spread. The WHO says, however, that it cannot spread ex proprio motu but has to rely on a host in order to become mobile. It’s therefore much more accurate to say that it has been spread. Understand that, and you’re on the road to figuring out how to contain it. Rocket science, it isn’t.

       18 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      I wish the whole elites would stop lying !!

      Masks are of no use to prevent infection. Oh yeah, well why are all the NHS medics wearing them and why have the government requisitioned all supply of masks?

      The Chinese government have clearly lied about the extent of this virus, more people have caught it, and some reports claim that 50000 have died.

      Remember also the distortion of figures in the way they are presented, the figure of number of infected people and the number of fatalities are not a basis for a ration or percentage. Many of these people will be in early of mid stage infected, some will die, others will recover.
      The important ratio is actually the number of people who have recovered Vs number who died.

      In France that number is 12 recovered 6 dead, which is a shocking mortality of 33% !

      In Italy it is 414 recovered 148 dead over 25% mortality ! The remainders are in some stage of the illness, and will either recover or not, but should not be taken into account until the outcome is known.

      South Korea 41 recovered 35 deaths 46%

      Iran 739 recovered 107 deaths 13%

      USA 8 recovered 11 deaths 58%

      These are horrifying numbers and will undoubtedly cause concern. It’s understandable that the government don’t want people to know the scale of the plague the world is facing.

      If you were given the choice of stepping into a room of 100 people where a quarter of the people would be shot dead and the others would experience serious discomfort, no one in their right mind would enter in it, so people need to take proper precautions to prevent catching it.

         18 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Thoughtful, did you hear Chris Witty CMHO for England on R4’s TOADY Prog this morning? Or was it yesterday? He said that some people with Covid-19 may remain totally asymptomatic. I assume they may carry the virus for weeks or months, possibly years. The Beeboid presenter did not think to ask. Shame – a dereliction of duty.

        (There’s a lot we don’t know yet and new facts are coming to light, eg. there may be two forms of this virus or the initial strain has mutated substantially into a second strain. That is why good questioning by the BBC N&CA presenters is so important.)

        What a mask does in that situation if the wearer is a health professional is that it stops or reduces the chance of them passing any disease to a patient. That’s why surgeons and nurses wear masks during surgery. To prevent infection of the patient, not to keep the doctors and nurses safe.

        It is true that its pointless using a surgical mask on public transport unless you also wear gloves and do not touch your face with your gloved hand. If you are face to face in a close-up situation and one is infectious, then a mask may help during conversation to prevent infection but normally people maintain an arms length, or more, of a personal space zone that breath & saliva droplets are unlikely to to cross.

           16 likes

        • Dave S says:

          The BBC is just not up to the job of reporting Covid 19. Try Dr John Campbell if you have not already watched him on Youtube. An object lesson in how to communicate clearly and without trying to score useless points,.
          This crisis is showing who is really useless and who is up to the task.

             13 likes

        • Dave S says:

          The BBC is just not up to the job of reporting Covid 19. Try Dr John Campbell if you have not already watched him on Youtube. An object lesson in how to communicate clearly and without trying to score useless points,.
          This crisis is showing who is really useless and who is up to the task.

             8 likes

        • Van Helsing says:

          Singapore: 110 cases, 0 deaths and at least 60 patients discharged from hospital.

          Given that it’s a densely populated city (and thus an ideal locus for an epidemic), a major transport hub with close ties to China and was exposed to COVID-19 very early on in the outbreak, those figures show what can be done to contain and treat COVID-19.

          The authorities there provide the public with detailed information about each case, and their scientists have made important contributions towards gaining a fuller understanding of COVID-19.

          Keep an eye on South Korea too. They dropped the ball at the start of this outbreak but the figures suggest that they are slowly beginning to come to grips with it.

             3 likes

        • Van Helsing says:

          Up2, the WHO report that whilst asymptomatic transmission is possible, it’s limited to about 1% of carriers and for a period of no more than two days. I dare say there may be the occasional exception to this, but even then we’re most likely talking in terms of days rather than weeks or months.

          I can’t say that I am impressed by Whitty or any of the PHE crew whom I have heard or whose words I’ve read. I prefer to obtain my information from other sources.

             1 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        @Thoughtful
        Coronovisus Covid 19 counts
        Poland 1 (some Pole was on a cruise ship)
        Hungary 3

        I bet they regret not being as ENRICHED as the UK
        … 116 cases

           16 likes

      • Frustrated says:

        Thoughtful, totally agree: important is how many recover compared to how many die.

        I “stumbled” on this website on Corona statistics a couple of weeks ago (in case anyone else is interested and hasn’t seen it yet, it “feels” reliable) https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

        Of course we have to “hope” the figures are accurate and to be trusted :-\ https://www.worldometers.info/

           0 likes

  24. Up2snuff says:

    The US Presidential race. Apparently the female candidate for the Democratic Party, Elizabeth Warren, has dropped out. That just leaves two old men in the race to go up against President Trump in November.

    Biden and Sanders will now be doing lots of handshaking at hustings and then at the Party Convention after Coronavirus has got a grip on the USA. The Democrats may yet have Elizabeth Warren as nominee to go up against the President. She would be the youngest candidate. Right now she may well be out buying gloves to wear next autumn and checking on Dr Seuheult’s daily videos.

       10 likes

  25. Darcy3 says:

    Companies complaining about Tory immigration plans ‘should pay proper wages for proper job’, says Scottish Secretary

    Alister Jack says employers’ reliance on “cheap migrant labour” will end after Brexit and they should stop supporting a “low-wage economy.”

    Alister Jack MP, Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK Government, gives evidence on the EU “Withdrawal Agreement and Negotiation of the Future Relationship” to the Scottish Parliament’s Europe and External Affairs Committee
    Alister Jack MP, Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK Government, gives evidence on the EU “Withdrawal Agreement and Negotiation of the Future Relationship” to the Scottish Parliament’s Europe and External Affairs Committee Credit: Getty Images Europe

    Scottish companies complaining they will be unable to recruit the staff they need under the Tories’ immigration blueprint should start paying “proper wages for a proper job”, Alister Jack has said.

    The Scottish Secretary said employers’ reliance on “cheap migrant labour” will end after Brexit and they should stop trying to operate a “low-wage economy.”

    In a direct challenge to the fish processing sector, which has vilified the Home Office’s immigration plans, he said he had visited a plant in Iceland where the wages are “substantially higher”.

    “I make no apology for the fact that we think that if you stand in a cold factory filleting fish you should be paid a number beginning with a two rather than a number beginning with a one,” Mr Jack concluded….

       15 likes

    • JimS says:

      Be careful what you wish for. An Icelandic millionaire is only worth £6,000!

         6 likes

  26. Up2snuff says:

    BBC Web-Site Watch #1

    The fact that Katy Perry (who?) is expecting a baby with Orlando Bloom (aah, him I’ve heard of) is deemed to be top of the Home Page news this a.m..

    Sadly now relegated to the foot of the Home Page. I wonder how long the BBC will try to keep it on there for their publicists to charge them?

       11 likes

  27. Up2snuff says:

    BBC Web-Site Watch #2 – World Book Day

    The BBC are becoming a major disaster area. For WBD, the BBC have tried to come up with a list of ten of the best adventure stories ever told. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/j2Y9BFGq0Y9YVzZkxSZBFy/spine-tingling-tales-10-of-the-best-adventure-stories-ever-told

    Unfortunately, of the ten – three, arguably four, are war stories and two are crime novels. You may be able to make up for BBC incompetence better than I with replacements for the six I have ruled offside.

    I would suggest Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Call of the Wild by Jack London (next week’s BBC Book at Bedtime on R4) and a Year in Provence (although not strictly a novel but certainly an adventure book) by Peter Mayle which caused many Brits to up sticks to a part of southern France for some real-life adventures of their own.

       7 likes

  28. StewGreen says:

    Tip : you know those freaking newspaper websites with all those damn autoplay videos
    .. use Microsoft Edge browser cos on the left hand side of the Address Bar is a button to disable autoplay videos for that domain

    … And on the Right is a button to put you into READ mode which removes all the crappy advert stuff

       5 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Thanks, Stew. Maybe I’ll give it a go.

      Or I’ll just go out and expend lots of CO2 on buying a new PC with Win10 that has had a lot of CO2 created in manufacturing the beast and its OS.

      To be Green or not to be Green?

      That is the question.

      Oooops, sorry. I see that you have no choice.

         1 likes

  29. john in cheshire says:

    Apologies if someone has already posted this. It’s the government petition to release their report on the muslim rape gangs, which the rats have said such release is ” not in the public interest”.
    Well, I think it’s for us to decide what is in our interest, especially since it’s our money that paid for the investigation and the report they refuse to release:

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300239

       29 likes

  30. Nibor says:

    Flybe and Greta .
    Well it’s bad that a company is going into liquidation but good that some people can’t fly for environmental reasons but bad as some people will lose their jobs but good because flying is bad but bad because EU nationals can’t get home to see their families but good because flying is too cheap but bad because some communities will feel cut off but good because we need to think more locally but bad because students won’t have cheap flights to visit and work in EUrope .
    Now I’ve made that clear the BBC can take sides on the issue .

       24 likes

  31. Foscari says:

    I just watched a half an hour of the BBC’S latest “education”
    programme about what scum the indigenous population
    of the UK are. ” Noughts and crosses” The only thing that was missing was the white boys were not carrying knives and
    dealing drugs. But maybe that is to come.

       29 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      I’m glad you lasted that long ! I had 20 minutes before I switched off. Every black actor in central casting must have been rounded up, including Ore Oduba (he who has made a living out of his win on Strictly) as a tv newsreader.

         13 likes

      • JimS says:

        Shouldn’t the newsreaders and sofa buyers all be white if it is supposed to reverse the roles?

           13 likes

  32. JimS says:

    Damn! Turns out that our favourite ‘nul points’ race-baiter has Tuareg genes. Me too apparently.

    Perhaps I should pop over to Niger and get myself a white robe and turban an’ git mesel’ sum o’ dem prvlidg points! Watch out JA-B!

       10 likes

  33. Darcy3 says:

    Snowflake = moron IMHO, stick with Stormzy whining about waycism but keep your mouth shut about the hundreds of white schoolkids raped around the country by pakistani gangs whilst being called “white c@nts” and complain about classic art instead:

    Titian is X-rated? That’s just tosh! One of the most daring art exhibitions for years is about to open in London. But as these masterful nudes are banned on Twitter, female classicist DAISY DUNN says they are not just gratuitous images of naked women

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8080293/DAISY-DUNN-says-Titians-paintings-not-just-gratuitous-images-naked-women.html

    An exhibition on Renaissance artist Titian will open at London’s National Gallery
    In the #MeToo era, the exhibit ‘represents a bold undertaking’, Daisy Dunn says

       8 likes

  34. Darcy3 says:

    Some cheerful news for a change and no doubt the bbc will be campaigning against our latest example of muslim / black intolerance ???

    Imam and the ‘wife’ he married without realising ‘she’ was a man are charged with ‘going against nature’ under Uganda’s anti-gay laws

    Mohammed Mutumba, 27, and Richard Tumushabe, 19, were bailed last Thursday
    Charged with ‘having carnal knowledge with a person against order of nature’
    Mutumba claims he did not realise Tumushabe was a man until police searched the teenager last month when he was caught stealing a TV from a neighbour

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8078891/Imam-wife-married-without-realising-man-charged-Uganda.html

       9 likes

  35. Darcy3 says:

    Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: the ‘modernising Sheikh’ accused by human-rights activists of ‘torturing political dissidents by electrocution’ and ‘spying’ – as well as ‘running secret detention camps in war-torn Yemen’

    Sheikh Maktoum is Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. Since his accession in 2006, he has undertaken sweeping reforms in the UAE’s Government, and has been held responsible for turning Dubai into a wealthy and global mega city.

    The sheikh trained in the military before being appointed to head of the Dubai Police Force and Dubai Defence Force, and was the UAE’s first defence minister in December 1971. In January 1995, he was pronounced Crown Prince by his elder brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and embarked upon a policy of tackling Government corruption that led to the arrest, charging, and unusual public ‘naming and shaming’ of 14 officials, including six officers.

    After around one decade of acting as the UAE’s de facto ruler, he became Vice President in January 2006, and Prime Minister of the UAE that February. He has created and encouraged the growth of numerous Dubai businesses and economic assets, including Dubai World, Dubai Holding, and Emirates flight.

    Sheikh Maktoum’s rule has been mired in controversy. Allegations concerning the abduction of two of his children – princesses Shamsa and Latifa – have been brought to the forefront during the high-profile High Court case involving his wife Princess Haya, who fled Dubai in 2019.

    He has come under criticism by human-rights groups for alleged infractions, presiding as he does over a judicial system which mandates the execution of criminals by firing squad, hanging, or stoning. Sentencing for flogging – a legal punishment for criminal offences such as adultery, premarital sex, and alcohol consumption – ranges between 80 and 200 lashes. Apostasy from Islam and homosexuality are a crimes punishable by death, while women in the country require permission from male guardians to marry and remarry.

    It is not permitted to be critical of the UAE Government, royal families, officials, and police, in any way. Attempts to demonstrate in public are met with resistance. Human Rights Watch has accused the UAE regime of violating rights to freedom of expression, while US intelligence identified that the UAE had developed its own messaging app – to be used for spying purposes.

    The UAE Government has also been accused of kidnapping, detaining, and torturing political opponents and expats, often to extract forced confessions of alleged plots to overthrow the regime. For instance, during the Arab Spring in 2011, at least 100 activists were jailed and tortured.

    The Arab Organisation of Human Rights listed 16 different methods of torture used by the UAE Government, including electrocution. Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused the UAE of running secret prisons in Yemen where prisoners are forcibly disappeared and tortured.

       4 likes

  36. Darcy3 says:

    Shamsa: the princess who escaped her father’s Surrey mansion in the family’s Range Rover before being ‘abducted on the streets of Cambridge’ and flown back to UAE

    Sheikha Shamsa al-Maktoum, 38, was in the UK on holiday with her extended family at their Longcross estate near Chobham in Surrey in 2000.

    In a bid to better her future and escape her life in Dubai – restricted as it is by incorporated elements of sharia, or Islamic Law – the princess used this opportunity to dodge guards and flee from her family in mid-July.

    Shamsa is believed to have driven a black Range Rover to the edge of the vast estate, where the Emirati ruler had installed his family, before dumping it and slipping through an open gate onto Chobham Common. She stayed with her friends for six weeks in London before being found out by her family.

    That August, the princess was apparently abducted in Cambridge by the Sheikh’s staff while walking out of a bar and taken to an airport in southeast England, before being flown back to Dubai on a private jet.

    In March 2001, after having been contacted by a British solicitor who had spoken to Shamsa, Cambridgeshire Police began investigating the incident. During enquiries, people close to Shamsa in the UK substantiated her story of the escape, and the matter was even raised in Parliament. However, the police investigation stalled when they ran into a denial of access to Shamsa by Dubai authorities and non-cooperation of the Longcross estate staff.

    Little is known about Shamsa’s circumstances during the past two decades, save for Latifa’s account in her video that she is kept confined to one room and constantly supervised by nurses and a psychiatrist. She is given regular medication which Latifa asserts is designed ‘to control her mind’.

    Today, the judge said that ‘the allegation that Shamsa has been deprived of her liberty for much if not all of the past two decades, living in circumstances as described by Latifa, is, I find, proved.’

       10 likes

  37. vlad says:

    Oh look! Al-beeb have found a new way to perpetuate black victimhood and institutionalise racial divisions:

    “Should black history be taught all year round?”

    “Should it be part of the wider curriculum?”

    Clever old beeb.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-51650417/black-history-should-it-be-part-of-the-wider-curriculum

       9 likes

    • LastChanceSaloon says:

      Should?
      There has been wall to wall, floor to ceiling, 24/7/365-6 black “history” on TWLTB since 1955.

      Still no Nobel science prize winners though, probably due to racism.
      Doubtless Mastermind Lammy has the answer.

         12 likes

  38. LastChanceSaloon says:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51762243
    BBC NEWS Politics
    2020-03-06 03:00
    Brexit: Preparations cost government more than £4bn says watchdog

    Watchdog, the National Audit Office a watchdog?

    “Of this money, at least £1.9bn was spent on staffing. The NAO said staffing levels peaked in October 2019 when
    22,000 civil servants were working on Brexit planning.”

    Meanwhile in other news the Brexit party reported that, allowing for inflation, being in the EU cost the UK
    £2.3 trillion. This included £65.2 billion incurred by the Communist No Brexit Treaon May Government.

    The Brexit party estimated that the cost of expelling, for the third time, Muslims from Europe will cost £8.2 Trillion.

    Thank you to all traitors since Edward Heath.

       15 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      LCS, hmmnn £1.9bn/22,000 = £86,363 per Civil Servant.

      They surely cannot all have been that senior, can they?

      Time long overdue for a Royal Commission to enquire about our Civil Service.

         6 likes

    • richard D says:

      No mention by any beeboid about the relentless delays caused by Remainers causing a significant amout of avoidable costs involved in this total then ?

      Didn’t think so.

         4 likes

  39. Guest Who says:

    BBC Moaning Emole. There is a ‘BbC Ouch’. Apparently.

    ***

    TikTok stars giving diabetes the needle

    When best friends Ellen Watson and Beth McDaniel posted a TikTok video of themselves getting glammed up for a night out, they had no idea they were about to become a viral sensation. Overnight, a video of them dancing around racked up 500,000 views… because the Northern Irish students happily showed off their wearable blood glucose scanners which help them manage their type one diabetes.

    The video propelled them into the social media stratosphere and the Diabetic Duo was born. “It’s just been crazy,” Ellen, 19, told the BBC Ouch podcast. “I think it was because people had seen it and they were tagging their diabetic friends going: ‘Isn’t this what you have in your arm?'”

    Read full article >

    Edward Main
    BBC Ouch

    ***
    Jar Jar Issa impressed.

       2 likes

  40. Guest Who says:

    Looks like there is room only for one peroxide airhead at the moment.

       5 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Speaking of whom, here she is channeling renowned impartial organ WaPo.

         3 likes

  41. Guest Who says:

    A BBC ‘thread’ with “quotes”…. lots and lots of “quotes”….

       5 likes

    • JamesArthur says:

      Yes Guest always look for the BBC weasel words…including possibly, may have, our sources, view is…
      How can a lack of police contribute to manslaughter and murders? The murders will murder – so unless there is one police person for every person to stop potential murders..just another piece of poor correlation versus causation interpreting figures in a way that suits a narrative…

         9 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Craig or Monkey Brains at ITBB need to draw up one of their famous Husainian charts of weasels, in ‘quotes’.

        With attribution. Not the ‘source’ of course, but the Beeboid posting.

           5 likes

  42. Guest Who says:

    How it works.

    They should get 38 Bee Gees on fund raising.

    I like the supporter tweets who have images of themselves in bike helmets. And beards. Including the men.

       8 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      😉

         7 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        XR ever catch Jon, Anthony or Emily on the ground, it will not be pretty.

           7 likes

  43. Guest Who says:

    BBC QT.

       5 likes

  44. Guest Who says:

    The BBC is not fit even for repurpose.

       17 likes

  45. andyjsnape says:

    Parents in Italy struggle as schools close
    “How on Earth am I going to entertain them?” – is the question worrying many parents in Italy this week as schools and universities have closed until at least 15 March, in an effort to contain the virus

    “reports” the beeb

    HOW ON EARTH etc??? what how send them to school and dont worry if they get the virus! ffs

       11 likes

  46. Tabs says:

    Due to the unique way the BBC is funded they can do investigative journalism like this:

       10 likes

  47. WiganCookie says:

    I liked the business report from Belfast this morning. The Business Reporter asked the Belfast business man why they could not use Skype instead of flying to London.

    Then the reporter explained that he (and production team??) had to travel from Salford to London to Dublin to Belfast.

    Irony, what irony

       19 likes

  48. Up2snuff says:

    TOADY Watch #1 – BBC Knowingly or Unknowingly Undermining Women

    The BBC have taken a position on militant feminism. They are firmly on the side of the feminists. It is strange how they then undermine women. For the last two weeks or more, especially on the web-site, they have been portraying women as feckless, as weak, as feeble in the face of medical conditions, as victims and now this morning they bring on a female GP to talk about coronavirus.

    The GP demonstrates her lack of awareness of news, of the basics of the virus behind the developing epidemic and her total reliance on a computer to tell her what to do.

    If I was registered with that GP in London, I would now be looking to move to another practice.

    I am sure many female GPs are highly competent and I would have no trouble with being assigned to a panel for a female GP. I wonder if the BBC made any checks before inviting that particular GP onto the programme as to her experience, her standing in the eyes of colleagues and patients or did they just look for someone who would be willing to try and make a BBC political point or fit with a BBC agenda?

       6 likes