582 Responses to WEEKEND OPEN THREAD….

  1. StewGreen says:

    KThopkins show on LBC is talking about Mediterranean taxi service for economic migrants.

       18 likes

  2. Lucy Pevensey says:

    German Judge Says Turkish Man’s Forced Violent Sex Is ‘Culturally’ Not Rape

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/04/21/german-judge-acquits-turkish-man-of-rape-after-4-hours-of-forced-violent-sex/

    Here it is from the Kraut paper. (er…. I mean German. Deutsch. Don’t mention the war 😉 )

    http://www.maz-online.de/Lokales/Brandenburg-Havel/Sex-mit-Gewalt-aber-keine-Vergewaltigung

       18 likes

  3. AsISeeIt says:

    BBC News Channel this morning where we regularly endure relentless exhortations to engage with women’s football

    I’m reminded of Churchill :

    Never in the field of human sport was so often something of so little interest pressed on so many by so few

       29 likes

    • AaronD says:

      Not necessarily! Nick Cleggover was interrupted for four or five minutes on R5L’s Pienarse Politics show for breathless coverage of the closing stages of the wheelchair section of the London marathon by an overexcited Beeboid commentator, won (hurrah!!) by a plucky Brit. Ecstasy, fist pumping and air-punching in the studio, apparently, Van Clogg manfully apologising for having to drag us back to LibDem politics in the wake of such an epoch-defining athletic victory. Well, I suppose that bit was understandable.

         10 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      AISI, womens football? Almost halfway to being as interesting as marathons, I think.

         2 likes

    • Restroom Mole says:

      AsI

      There are more than a few promoting women’s football ( and cricket).

         2 likes

  4. Lucy Pevensey says:

    Head of the so-called ‘Chechen Republic’ Ramzan Kadyrov denies Chechnya is killing gay men but doubts they ‘can be called people’, wants them sent to psychiatric wards.

       14 likes

  5. Jeff says:

    Did anyone else listen to Radio 4’s double bill yesterday afternoon? The BBC have been plugging this for weeks, so I thought I’d give it a go; oh dear…If you missed it think yourself lucky!
    We had Harold Pinter’s thinly disguised account of his affair with Joan Bakewell, Betrayal, followed by Joan’s much shorter (thankfully!) version of events with her play, Keeping in Touch.
    Dear God! An hour and a half of arse aching boredom. Why do these self obsessed, left wing media types think that the rest of us are equally interested in their tawdry lives as they are? And why would the BBC inflict this bloody dirge upon an unsuspecting population. Look, I’m the first to admit, I’m not “highbrow”. I’m much more Dad’s Army than Waiting for Godot. But, for the love of Christ this really was turgid stuff.
    I guess we’ve all heard the phrase “Pinteresque” before now, and, in my case, not really known what it meant.
    Let me just offer you a brief flavour.
    The two protagonists for the beautiful, if flighty, Joan’s affections, her husband and lover meet in an Italian restaurant to discuss their marital problems. The conversation went something like this; with (very) long pauses.

    Man A “I’m having the broccoli, are you having the broccoli?”

    Man B “No…..I….uh….think…”

    Man A ” You don’t like broccoli?”

    Man B ” Uh, yes, I do ,but….um…”

    Man A “I believe it’s fresh.”

    I really couldn’t give a rat’s arse if he liked the bloody broccoli or not. Apart from the agonisingly dreary conversations driving me to drink, I also wondered why a well respected octogenarian, like our Joan, would feel the need to share these rather sleazy memories with us. Surely someone of her venerable age and intelligence, with grand children and a reputation, might have been better served just ignoring her former lover’s unutterably tedious account of their (ahem) indiscretions and left it at that.
    I suppose I should have been thankful, Bakewell’s play was only a quarter of an hour.
    Anyway, I have to go.
    I’m cooking lunch. Don’t tell the beloved, but…
    We’re having the broccoli…

       36 likes

    • Beltane says:

      I’m sure she would be the last to admit the fact but a very large percentage of Harold’s attraction was based on the size of Joan’s very large knockers.

         9 likes

      • Restroom Mole says:

        Beltane

        Harold Pinter has his knockers as well.

           5 likes

      • Cranmer says:

        Beltane, purely for research purposes I googled some pictures of the young Dame Joan. Her bustage does not appear to be anything other than normal, a bit on the flat side if anything. She was, however, strikingly beautiful so I don’t blame old dot-dot-dot Pinter for liking her.

           1 likes

        • Beltane says:

          I was basing the suggestion on a quote from Dame Joan herself who wrote, some years ago now, of the inconvenience of a large bosom. There is an evocative line: ‘…like socks full of lard and a great nuisance in the bath…’ but this cannot be directly attributed to the lady in question.

             2 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Jeff, you sure got the flavour of their broccoli right!

      I tried to listen but Pinter is heavy going at the best of times and it was a repeat, anyway. I’m afraid he was a good playwright who discovered a trope but then used it to death whether it fitted his next situation and the characters or not. The very best writers imagine real people and their thoughts and the words they use. Pinter seems to me to extend himself, with his lugubriosity and his trope, into every single character and situation rather than observe and then reproduce some aspect of real life with skill.

      I’d listened to its first broadcast. As I turned off halfway through, I missed the Bakewell riposte. Not sure whether I will have missed anything there, either. There’s always the repeat next weekend.

      BBC Radio 4 Drama is a bit of a disaster area at present.

      It had, in my view, a golden period in the early ‘noughties’. I cannot help wondering whether its present state is deliberately self-inflicted, so with hindsight in about twenty-five years time – if the BBC still exists – a future DG can insist “it was all due to cuts forced on us by a right-wing Tory Government”. “Give us yer money!”

      This afternoon’s offering ‘The Hours’ is turgid. The off-switch has been activated.

      It cannot compete with here!

         5 likes

      • Cranmer says:

        Up2snuff, agree totally about Pinter. ‘The Caretaker’ is a great play – funny too – but practically everything else was just ‘Pinteresque’ and a series of trade marks. Pinter of course ‘held the correct opinions for the time of year’ (as Auden put it) so was feted by the literary establishment. In old age, as some writers do, he seemed to become a parody of himself, railing against Americans etc.

           3 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      Tenderstem? It tastes much fresher than the other stuff, you know.

         2 likes

  6. wronged says:

    Paul Nuttall on Andrew Marr this morning

    ‘58% of Muslim women are economically inactive, 22% struggle to speak English.’

    Female Muslim integration into British society is not working.

    Feminists need to speak up more on the subject. Maybe the BBC is suppressing their voice on this subject?

    UKIP will ban Sharia Law whereby a woman’s view is worth half of that of a man’s. Andrew Marr didn’t seem to like the banning of Sharia Law in Britain. A typical BBC position. I for one would like to know the benefits of keeping Sharia Law in a British society at the expense of British Law.

    If there are none, then clearly one can only assume that the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal parties are in support of Sharia Law in Britain.
    I’m staying UKIP.

       41 likes

    • JimS says:

      ‘58% of Muslim women are economically inactive, 22% struggle to speak English.’

      Clearly one can hardly be called ‘British’ if one doesn’t speak English but I don’t see it as a given that women should be ‘economically active’, that is just part of the ‘social engineering’ that is being applied to us all, including ideas of ‘equality’ whereby ‘economically active’ women must be paid more than working men so that they balance out their non-‘economically active’ sisters and we can achieve a zero, (preferably negative), male-female ‘gender’ pay gap.

      As long as these women are being supported by their families and not state benefits, and as long as it is their choice, why should we care? It is, of course some evidence that our ‘new Britons’ don’t ‘buy in’ to the ‘progressive’ culture of their globalist allies. At some point our ‘progressives’ are going to have to deal with this clash of cultures. We should be asking them what outcome they are working towards? Do they honestly believe that a people that have followed Islam for 1400 years are going to give it up for the 140 year-old ‘baby’ of Marxism?

         8 likes

      • Lucy Pevensey says:

        Jim S,
        This is no clash of cultures. It’s Western culture Vs the anti-culture that is Islam.

           14 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        As long as these women are being supported by their families and not state benefits, and as long as it is their choice, why should we care?

        Because the BBC keep ramming it down our throats that immigrants bring a net economic benefit to the UK. Inactive immigrants can only fulfil this claim if their families are supporting their upkeep AND covering, through the taxes they pay, their cost to the state e.g healthcare, infrastructure etc.

        And I wonder how many of the inactives are elderly relatives who are allowed to join the throng and gorge on the UK’s seemingly endless generosity.

           11 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      Wronged,
      I understand and share your sentiments .We have no party in the UK that really cares about British identity, they mostly Court the multicultyvote . UKIP have made this move in an attempt to differentiate themselves from the Tories. But I am voting Tory because any government other than a Tory one, will mean that Brexit is dead. I exclude UKIP because they will not win enough seats to affect voting outcomes in the HoC. If the tactical anti Tory voting does get going the result could be close. The threat to Brexit from a loose alliance of Labour, LDs,nationalists and Greens is real and needs to be taken seriously.

         18 likes

      • Grant says:

        DT,

        Totally agree. The situation is far from perfect. The Tories cannot be trusted but there is no credible alternative.

           11 likes

        • RJ says:

          Grant, my credible alternative is UKIP taking the Labour seats where they came second at the last general election. Those UKIP MPs will support a policy of “Brexit means Brexit”, giving the Tories a comfortable majority in all the Brexit votes.

          I was tempted by the argument of “rally behind the Tories to deliver Brexit”, but then May announced she was keeping the policy of large subsidies for foreign dictators.

             13 likes

          • Restroom Mole says:

            RJ

            Paul Nuttall has just announced that UKIP are considering not standing in constituencies where the favourite is a confirmed LEAVE supporter. This probably means exclusively Conservative seats.
            Would be good if the compliment was returned by the Consevatives to allow UKIP to defeat sitting Labour REMAIN members.

               25 likes

            • RJ says:

              RM, that would be the ideal, but I don’t think that May is big enough. Party before country.

                 3 likes

              • Restroom Mole says:

                RJ

                Indeed, May will probably calculate that she can win well without having to help UKIP discomfort Labour in a few seats. She would probably also prefer to have no UKIP presence in Parliament as they would hold her feet to the fire over Brexit.

                   5 likes

          • Up2snuff says:

            While I think UKIP far from reaching any credibility as a political Party, it would be advantageous for all who care about removing the Kraken-like tentacles of the EU from the UK to have a Conservative majority enhanced but with, say, a handful of seats in UKIP’s hands. Another EU-Leaving Party needs to lurk behind Theresa May’s shoulder.

            It should of course be a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party with its Referendum heroes, Gisela Stuart and Frank Field and Kate Hoey and others. Corbyn creates doubts in my mind all the time that, as a ‘highly principled man’, his principles can be juggled and then held briefly before being dropped and side-footed behind him, if not into long grass, at least onto a verge with some luscious vegetation where they are half-hidden.

            The four or five UKIP seats could usefully come from any other Party but I agree that it is likely to be from Labour.

            I hope Labour and the Conservatives, together with the LibDems for that matter, have a resurgence in Scotland. If they can take half-a-dozen seats or more from the SNP, it will start to put Nicola Sturgeon in a slightly restricted position.

            The expression ‘PeakNat’ is starting to enter the language.

            If, in the event of UKIP wining seats, it is most likely that they will be in England and Wales and from Labour and, possibly, the Welsh Nats. I cannot see them winning in Scotland now that Brexit has commenced. That was their big USP in Scotland and now it has gone.

            I could be wrong of course.

               8 likes

    • Restroom Mole says:

      Wronged

      Hatred of UKIP trumps everything for the BBBC. If UKIP said the sun rose in the east, BBBC would question their sanity and report that some people say differently.

         16 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      Labour facilitated this under BLiar, and like so much of what he did, the full horror has yet to be realised by the people.

      Labour did absolutely nothing for single individuals creating the phenomenon known as ‘generation rent’. Instead it set up family tax credit, which facilitated Muslim families to use women as baby generators with an uncapped income stream to fund it all direct from the taxpayer.
      Without family tax credit this could not have happened, and Labour are currently resisting any changes to limit the number of children to two.
      It’s clear they knew what was going on because they say limiting the benefit will discriminate against Muslim families who have high birth rates. Clear also that they approve of continued growth of the Muslim populace.

      No doubt they also would be moaning if there were proposals to end the postal voting fraud which disenfranchise Muslim women on the grounds that it discriminates against Muslim mens culture to oppress their women !

         23 likes

  7. AsISeeIt says:

    Few objective observers can have missed the phenomenon of Obama-love – almost universally prevalent in our left liberal media elite.

    Be it due to political sympathy, be it an issue of class, or simply basic white guilt racial condescension (perhaps we should refrain from straying too far into the thorny rather pyschological territory of sexual unease and deferral by the modern western male to the apparent new dominent male – or indeed downright gay attraction) it is still difficult to argue that where Trump has repelled, in contrast our media elite class have enthusiastically embraced Obama.

    It doesn’t always take a Freud to know what they’re thinking.

    Second-string beta male BBC news anchor Shaun Ley comments off-the-cuff about an interview with London Marathon winner Nigerian, Daniel Wanjiru:

    “How can he be so elegant… er… I mean eloquent, just after the race?”

    As they used to say in court – no further questions M’lud.

       14 likes

  8. All Lives Matter says:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39683982

    Philip Davies is referred to as a “men’s rights” (in quotes) MP, when his agenda is equality. He focuses on issues of discrimination against men because the likes of the BBC prefer to pretend they don’t exist. Conversely, Sophie Walker is referred to as a women’s leader (without quotes) and her motivations are never scrutinised, even though the name of her party – ‘Women’s Equality’ – is so obviously divisively sexist in its intentions that it’s not even worth analysing. Despite this, it’s Davies who the BBC prefers to depict as being the bigot, despite the article itself admitting that they have no examples to back this up, aside from his rejection of a domestic violence bill which was because it only focused on female victims and once again tried to portray it as a gender issue.

    At first glance this looks like the BBC’s usual lazy PC misandry, but the end of the article suggests that they actually have a vested interest in the ridiculous Women’s Equality party succeeding – that being that their founder is BBC mainstay Sandi Toksvig.

    Expect Davies to increase his stranglehold on his seat at the election, and for Walker – like a true SJW narcissist with a victim complex and no self-retrospection – to blame everyone and everything from the patriarchy to white male suffrage for her defeat instead of realising that she is pushing a discredited and unpopular ideology onto an electorate that is already rejecting it despite a barrage of reinforcement from the establishment.

       23 likes

  9. GCooper says:

    While I know our purpose here is to hold the out of control BBC to account, we need to keep in mind the breadth and depth of the corruption across all our media. For example, Classic FM’s news at lunchtime managed to include a swipe at both Marine Le Pen and UKIP – both quite gratuitous and neither bearing any resemblance to the comments made about any other parties.

    Destroying the BBC will be just the start.

       24 likes

    • Restroom Mole says:

      GC

      The NUJ code of promoting cultural marxism is everywhere.

         13 likes

    • feargal the cat says:

      Don’t worry GC, you are still holding the bBC to account. The ‘Global News’ broadcast on Classic FM is ‘bBC Global News’ after a quick FGM-like snip from our taxpayer-funded, monopoly broadcaster. It’s part of their kulture.

         8 likes

  10. Pounce says:

    The bBC and reporting Saint George’s Day (23rd April , in otherwords…today)

    Today is England’s National day and whilst the bBC has no problem celebrating the St Andrews day
    Untitled-1.jpg

    St Davids Day:
    wales.jpg

    Or even St Patrick’s day:
    Ireland.jpg

    I can’t seem to find any current article which celebrates St Georges day. Its as if the bBC doesn’t wish to celebrate it, which is strange as the people of Coventry are:
    JS61938532.jpg
    As did the people of Plymouth (Is that St George an attempt to get around tags of racism?)
    20170422_122752.jpg
    Bradford:
    ?type=responsive-gallery-fullscreen
    London:
    feast-of-st-george.jpg

    But nothing from the bBC?

       24 likes

  11. Pounce says:

    The bBC and reporting Saint George’s Day (23rd April , in otherwords…today)

    Today is England’s National day and whilst the bBC has no problem celebrating the St Andrews day
    Untitled-1.jpg

    St Davids Day:
    wales.jpg

    Or even St Patrick’s day:
    Ireland.jpg

       1 likes

  12. Nibor says:

    I thought Tony Blair’s interview on the World at One was pretty weak . Mark Mardell never asked really important questions and allowed the shyster to swerve any questions he didn’t like .

    In a way it does Tony Blair no favours . His mind is muddled and is evidenced by his evasiveness , jumbled accounts of the past and present , frequent stopping and changing the direction of the conversation , non sequiturs and stammering .

    A good hard interview might make him collect his thoughts , answer the questions and not make him look such a shyster . To reply to a really good interrogater might make him to be the great statesman he wants to be .

       8 likes

    • gaxvil says:

      Has Labour announced plans for free money and golden pavements yet?
      Give it time.
      Not, ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ this time. Maybe,’Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac?

         10 likes

      • Thoughtful says:

        I think this is a better Fleetwood Mac song:

           6 likes

        • gaxvil says:

          You’re right. And for Farron, the Orville song sat between Krankie and The Corbinator.

             7 likes

          • nogginator says:

            Krankie, Tiny Tim, Corbyn or Liar May,
            what s Farage doing?, would have thought he was needed … UKIP have been bit slow out of the blocks. Haven t seen Paul Nutter until today.
            Mind you non of them stack up in the bulls-t stakes to Liar May
            but there s a lot of cash, power and influence in keeping this corrupt, putrid old boy network on the road.
            Capping energy bills – is rank socialism, now with liar May, its a Tory idea
            Low tax Tories, but under Liar May tax take is at a 30 yr high for most, ahem with notable exceptions
            Liar May tears up the fix term parliament act, after stating she s abiding by it.
            For the second time this week Philip Hammond has refused to rule out tax hikes on low and middle earners … Can’t trust the Liar May and the Tories on tax “FINANCIAL TIMES: ‘Fears of Hammond Tax Bombshell”
            Liar May refusal to commit (what s new?) … to maintaining the pensions triple lock Tories abandoning the majority of older people?
            Liar May refuses to debate other leaders, ie face scrutiny on her utter failure and mis-management. Cameron said he wouldn’t stand down. He did. May said she wouldn’t call an Election. She has
            … the same old Tory … “a lie a day is back”,
            (they ve stacked up a few in advance).

               4 likes

    • Sluff says:

      They capitulated to Blair over Gilligan and the dodgy dossier and the love continues unabated.
      Blair’s central thesis is that a few right wing Brexiteer extremists working in isolation somehow managed to hoodwink 17 million people to support their point of view against the majority of Lab, Lib, and Tory MPs plus most of business, a lot of rich donors, the bBBC, plus the whole of the Brussels Eurocracy, all of which have spent the last 30+ years propagandising relentlessly on behalf of the EU.
      So why doesn’t anyone at our fine state broadcaster challenge Blair over the inherent implausibilty of that wholely fantastical position?
      Well, except for the fact that the bBBC agree with him and don’t want to ask him anything awkward!

         16 likes

  13. Up2snuff says:

    From a quick spot-check around the BBC web-site, this is the best they could manage for St George’s Day.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4clpqZdD04mMgsL52xh2lXZ/seven-old-english-words-that-deserve-to-make-a-comeback

    Even then, it is scarcely a mention. More questions to be answered by the Director-General.

       18 likes

    • Grant says:

      Up2,

      And don’t forget we have the BBC Ramadan Ass and Goat- Fest to endure soon.

         12 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Grant, there will probably be wall to wall coverage of that. Or should I say dawn ’til dusk coverage?

           7 likes

        • Grant says:

          Up2,

          Lol ! Deprivation. The ghosts have to wait until dark ! ( Check spelling ).

             0 likes

  14. nogginator says:

    BBC News – would you support a Burkha ban?
    Usual Al BBC blood boiler I m afraid, tweets! the only thing these
    morons are interested in, wheel out Brendan Cox and co
    … nauseating

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39684530

    Another day, another …
    Paris – Knife-wielding Muslim tackled by police, this time its at the Eurostar terminal
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4435370/Knife-wielding-man-arrested-Paris.html#ixzz4f1A6d8bv

    “France’s terrorism problem divided the country.
    The election could make it worse”
    … oohhh brother!
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/23/frances-terrorism-problem-divided-the-country-the-election-could-make-it-worse/?

       8 likes

  15. Pounce says:

    So the bBC reports on what the leader of the Labour party has to say;
    General election 2017: Corbyn says Labour nuclear policy still ‘under discussion’
    In a nutshell JC has stated the following:
    Get rid of Nukes
    Don’t bomb ISIS
    Talk to Trump to get him to stop bombing Syria
    Pull Troops out of the Baltics.
    Pull out of NATO
    Join up with Russia and Iran.

    Yet instead of concentrating on the above, the bBC has this to say:
    Labour has said it still backs the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons after Jeremy Corbyn said “all aspects” of defence would be reviewed if he won power.

    Meanwhile the bBC is also reporting how North Korea is saying it will destroy a US Carrier fleet, whilst it concentrates on that anti-US spot (never fails with the leftwing CS at the bBC , they hide near the bottom of their article this NK statement:
    The North also threatened to strike Australia with nuclear weapons if it remained an ally of the US.
    which they immediately follow up with:
    North Korea says its nuclear programme is defensive

    Funny how the bBC keeps quiet on the actual pig shagger and his left wing views:
    C4EYq-IWQAAseeo.jpg

       28 likes

    • Grant says:

      Pounce,

      Corbyn’s political ” philosophy” can be summed up as ” Just surrender to everyone and it will be ok “. He is a totally useless wanker and I guess most people see that.

         14 likes

      • Sluff says:

        TUW feels like a very useful TLA which might well come in handy on this esteemed excellent website.

           1 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Pounce, that last point has some merit: join up with Russia and Iran.

      But instead of what Jeremy might have in mind just get them to a table with Assad, the largest Syrian rebel groups, the EU, USA and the UK and get that war ended!

      Do it now.

      Boris, get off your big backside and do what we pay you for.

         2 likes

      • Pounce says:

        Pounce, that last point has some merit: join up with Russia and Iran.

        If we drag up JCs past we find:
        He has stated we pull out of NATO, pull troops put of defending Europe from Russian belligerence, disbanded our entire armed forces and with whats left join up with Russia. You know that Russia which has annexed the Crimea, a large part of Eastern Ukraine, shot down an airliner, is using cluster bombs and WP inside Syria. Yes the Islamic terrorists inside Syria deserve to die , yet not only would we be supporting a despot who uses chemical weapons on civilians. But the fact remains that whilst demanding the RAF refrains from launching strikes against ISIS inside Syria, the simple fact remains all of the strikes made by the RAF from 01/01/17 would equal one days bombing by the Russians.

        Note all the bombs used by the UK (As does the Western collation) are Precision guided munition used in conjunction with a Litening III laser targeting and reconnaissance pod

        That means the vast majority of our strikes are very accurate. Now contrast that with how the Russians do the vast majority of their bombing runs.
        la-fg-russia-syria-snap
        doctors-without-borders-say-one-of-their-hospitals-in-syria-was-bombed-in-air-strike.jpg

        The weapon of choice for the RU AF is the FAB500 a 1000Lb unguided bomb. The TU 22 can carry 22 at one time and has been reordered numerous times dropping 22 at a time. the TU22 never flies on its own and last year the Russians flew many 12 ship missions.

        Paveway IV is usually fitted to a 500IB bomb, Brimstone weighs 107 lb both are smart weapons.

        The contents of one (2 ship) Russian bombing raid using dumb bombs outweighs the entire explosive content of the RAF mission for at least 2 months. Now whilst the left scream foul play at the West bombing mission regards civilians deaths , they remain silent on the much more destructive Russian one. (Yes it is working) and JC the peacenik wankts us to join up with these blood thirsty bastards.
        Oh the irony.

        Yes the Russians do have a few PGM weapon systems, but they are years behind what the West uses, funny enough I wrote about that last Nov:
        Syria: Russian PGMs are crap

           7 likes

        • Thoughtful says:

          It does however assume that military intelligence is correct, and alas we know from experience that most of the time it isn’t.

          Yes the bombs are accurate to the laser point, but if the laser point isn’t in the right place then it’s off target, often disastrously.

          The other point is that Assads people strongly support him. In the recent election there was a 74% turnout – and that included people in refugee camps who were able to vote in foreign countries. Assad received an 88% approval rating, figures our own MPs can only dream of.

          Before this Saudi / Qatari / Obama inspired was Syria was by and large a peaceful place with differing religions living in peace.

          It’s odd that people on this site complaining about media bias are simply believing the hype and the lies, meanwhile in Yemen our Saudi allies / masters are committing atrocities using weapons we supplied them and no one says a peep.

          Media manipulation certainly seems to be working pretty well I’d say.

             3 likes

          • Pounce says:

            The other point is that Assads people strongly support him.

            So why is over half the country in the hands of the rebels whom are supported to some degree by the civilian population. The vast majority of people who have left the country for the west are anti-Assad.

            Before this Saudi / Qatari / Obama inspired was Syria was by and large a peaceful place with differing religions living in peace
            I think you will find that Assad ruled with an iron jackboot. as for his support base, here is one example
            On 27 May 2007, Bashar was approved as president for another seven-year term, with the official result of 97.6% of the votes in a referendum without another candidate.

               5 likes

            • Thoughtful says:

              He was doing what we here have agreed is the only way to run an Islamic country keeping the Islamists under control.

              How do we know the support for Assad when the Western media has no one on the ground and gets all its information from the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights, a single anti Assad campaigner running his operation from a small house in Coventry for the past 15 years !

              If you take a listen to Eva Bartlett who has actually been to Syria it’s a completely different story.

                 9 likes

              • Pounce says:

                How do we know the support for Assad when the Western media has no one on the ground and gets all its information from the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights, a single anti Assad campaigner running his operation from a small house in Coventry for the past 15 years !

                Maybe you should subscribe to the twitter verse for the news coming out of Syria:

                   2 likes

            • Grant says:

              Pounce,

              In reality, does anyone posting here have a clue what is really happening in the Middle East ? Does anyone here have any inside information ? I do not and the BBC certainly do not !

                 9 likes

              • Pounce says:

                Grant wrote:
                In reality, does anyone posting here have a clue what is really happening in the Middle East ? Does anyone here have any inside information ?

                I don’t think anybody knows what is happening in the ME and that has been in force since well before some bloke walked on water and got hung up about it all. But what is a fact is that Intolerant Islam has subsumed the entire region whilst promoting the POV that it is and can only be a victim of the west. This mindset was inserted into the DNA of Islam by Arab nationalists, which was later reinforced by the Soviets. In other words its all about politics.

                The question we should be asking is exactly just what are the Russians and Iranians playing at. They aren’t inside Syria for altruistic reasons , rather they are there for their own machinations:
                Russia, to regain some notion of past glory, and prestige.
                Iran, to further the cause of Shia Islam by blaming the Jew and the American.

                Funny enough the EU which has simply dithered for 6 years feels that simply throwing money at the problem will make it go away.

                   9 likes

          • Diane-abbotts-penis says:

            Paveway IV is GPS guided. It’s very very accurate. That’s why they can use a 500lb munition rather than the 1000lb warhead on the older weapons.

            Source: I’m an ex RAF Weapons Technician

               5 likes

        • Grant says:

          Pounce,

          I believe you have some military background. I do not. So I am always wary on commenting on matters which I have no personal expertise of. That does not stop ignorant journalists and others giving their opinion on military matters and many other subjects !

             4 likes

          • gaxvil says:

            All I know is it took vast amounts of bombs to stop the Nazis and two atom bombs to stop the Japanese. Compared to Islamists those two were, at least, capable of rational thought.

               10 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Pounce, I agree about Corbyn. Unless a miracle occurred, he would be hopeless if the UK and its territories and interests were threatened.

          Fortunately, he is not PM.

          Some of us have been pushing at HMG to do some peacemaking in Syria for some years. Not attacking any group in Syria. Not arming any group in Syria. Just peacemaking. It doesn’t have to be done at the point of a gun, despite the implication of Samuel Colt’s strange choice of product name. Good old fashioned diplomacy has its place.

          Dave liked globetrotting and bombing but to the best of my knowledge he never went to Syria and may not even have asked to see Assad. Theresa May has had nine months in the job and all that appears to have happened is that her Foreign Minister bottled a trip to Moscow.

          Am I cross?

          Yes.

          Just a little bit!

          (Sorry Pounce but this was a response to your reply to me at 6.36pm. This site’s software does some strange things at times.)

             2 likes

  16. Sluff says:

    Sports update. This one is in the ‘You’re ‘avin a larf’ category.
    Just watching the snooker. Maguire versus Mcleod.
    Now without any accusation or insinuation intended, I cannot help noticing that Mr Mcleod is a. Black b. Has a large woolly beard c. The logo on his shirt says ISIS.
    It’s all absolutely true.
    Try this.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39687014

    When one thinks about the bBBC and their track record of showcasing grievance groups eager to ‘take offence’ at anything and everything you’d think they might have shown a little more consideration. But then again, maybe not.

       8 likes

    • MartinW says:

      I watched a little of one of McLoud’s matches a few days ago. He seemed a very good and natural player. Personally, I find the constant flashing of the ‘cup banner’ across the screen before and after every (tiresome) repeat so irritating I cannot watch for more than short time. Gone are the days when one could watch a proper game of snooker, uninterrupted. Another example of BBC producers doing what they want rather than providing what the viewers want.

         12 likes

  17. G says:

    The French Election.
    Could someone help me out here and correct my defective reasoning?
    Security forces, including elite units, were on alert today to back up the 50,000 police in protecting the democratic process and the voter. Protect against whom or what?
    The simple answer: Islam.
    French, get real!

       46 likes

  18. Sluff says:

    Just watching Pointless Celebrities.
    Happy to report the team of Emily Maitless and Rick Nobinson were soundly beaten by the ITV presenters.
    Who all appear to have a life outside the state broadcaster bubble.

       29 likes

  19. G says:

    The BBC’s dedicated programme on the French election: 25 mins in and Christian and his interviewee co-conspirators: Macron – good – walks on water – looks like Napoleon; hammering Le Pen – disorganised – failed in her election programme – tainted by her father – antisemitism – her party contains the same hardcore despite Marine trying to change the image.
    What more do you want to know? I cannot continue watching and I hope that, again, the BBC are proved to be hopelessly wrong. I’ll tune in again when all the BBC’s gobsh*te is over and the results are fully in.

       33 likes

  20. gaxvil says:

    The more I listen to bbc World Service the more it reveals itself as a NGO on a mission. Just like Google and Facebook.
    Interesting programme on WS though – ‘THE INQUIRY’ ‘How Powerful is Facebook’s Algorithm?’ Turns out if you tick around 220 ‘likes’, Facebook will know more about you than your spouse.

       12 likes

    • Fedup says:

      Gaxvil,
      Once upon a time the world service was worth listen too for a calmer more objective version of Beeb out put. It was directly funded by the FCO. Now it’s funded by the Beeb direct, has become the “worlds radio station”, has presenters who whose English is difficult to understand and is just another NGO as you say.

      As for Facebook. Best avoided I think .

         11 likes

  21. gaxvil says:

    Ce Magnifique!

    Le Pen, Macron.

       10 likes

    • Grant says:

      gax,

      If that is the result, it will be a big test of the French. Sweden has gone, Germany , maybe, but France ??

         12 likes

      • gaxvil says:

        May the 7th for the run-off. Neither candidate are lovers of the EU or the euro. Merkel’s Empire may be about to crumble!

           11 likes

  22. Zelazek says:

    Yes, The BBC News channel covering the French election. So far Christian F has been joined by a series of pundits, all of whom seem to be anti-Le Pen liberals. So far I have learned that the people who voted for Le Pen are uneducated young people, people in rural areas, and people living in industrial wastelands. H’m. I think I am supposed to conclude that Le Pen voters are all stupid, unimportant people. I must confess I don’t know France very well and I might have this wrong, but it seems to me that their intelligentsia despise their own peasantry almost as much as they love their Muslim immigrants.

       34 likes

    • Grant says:

      Zelazek,

      Reminds me of something closer to home. We Leavers are stupid. The Left are a vinyl with the needle stuck in the groove . The rest of the world has moved on. They are living in the past.

         18 likes

  23. Grant says:

    Phew !! There are so many armchair Generals on this site, I am getting confused. Think I shall just stick to Frank Gardner !

       3 likes

  24. Thoughtful says:

    Just remember this:

    Today Marine Le Pen is a nationalist. She is unabashedly opposed to immigration. But there is no hint in her of the far-right ideology that clung to members of her father’s generation.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/marine_le_pen

    Most noticeably it is on social matters that Marine Le Pen is a million miles from the caricature of the far-right traditionalist.

    This is a surprising article to see on the BBC website, and I do wonder if they are now reconciling themselves to a Le Pen victory?

       11 likes

    • Restroom Mole says:

      Thoughtful,

      The Daily Telegraph reckons Le Pen will lose the run-off decisively, leaving France in the hands of Macron, a globalist Tony Blair clone.

      BBBC will be in heaven.

         19 likes

  25. Up2snuff says:

    The BBC this evening are belatedly acknowledging St George’s Day on their web-site Home Page. Perhaps they do read this site and respond. Tee hee hee! The Obesity Crisis notwithstanding, they offer us this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/st_georges_day

    They do have an amazing ‘thing’ about food, despite rumours for years about the BBC canteen. Does not appear to have harmed Mark Mardell although Labour have upset him a bit. Did I hear right today? He let slip he’s now pro LibDem.

       7 likes

  26. BRISSLES says:

    Its not only El Beeb being anti-le Pen, Sky are at it too. According to that lot MLP has a mountain to climb to gain the votes for Presidency. She’s barely 2% behind Macron in the first round, so I don’t know how they figure that one ! I just hope she shoots the lot of them up the a….e !

       15 likes

    • Grant says:

      Brissles,

      a…e who ?

      They live in their own little world . I hope Marine can do it. Apart from anything else she is intelligent. One minute we are amazed that women can stand on their own feet. Next minute one may be President of France. What is the world coming to ?

         13 likes

      • Oaknash says:

        Excellent point Grant – The BBC who loves to focus its love and adulation on mould breaking wimmin such as Nicola Adams -(boxer) or some woman who is the CEO of an international company. Yet here we have a woman who is brave, outspoken, patriotic and visionary and she is portrayed as something akin to Hitler.

        I bet the BBC wishes she was a man!

           22 likes

  27. Lucy Pevensey says:

    20170223_free1.jpg

       31 likes

    • gaxvil says:

      The first round result is almost as if the Greens were first with UKIP a very close second, quite a shift.
      The Left Lib now hope all those who didn’t vote Le Pen, but voted for the others, move to support Macron in round two.

         8 likes

  28. gaxvil says:

    UC Berkeley, Republican students threaten to sue University if Ann Coulter is banned from speaking under the pretext of avoiding riot and violence against her.
    I guess that violent protest, arson and death threats does not always succeed in upholding your freedom to deny freedom of speech. Perhaps the little darlings might learn from that but I doubt it.
    Anyhow, notice yet again it’s the leftists who are the violent, repressive, haters,

       20 likes

  29. taffman says:

    Watch out watch out Scott is about !

       6 likes

  30. JimS says:

    The BBC works to break up families!

    I don’t watch much TV, (I don’t have one), but my sister consumes an endless diet of makeover programmes where identical terraced houses have identical kitchens and bathrooms fitted and then get reviewed by identical estate agents who claim that never seen renters or buyers can be duped into making the cowboy buyers rich. As a change to that she watches other programmes where junk is converted into junk and a women, who does no work, makes money on the junk conversions.

    A few weeks ago she told me that she had seen a programme about repairing teddy bears. I said that my bear was beyond repair but I would bring it on my next visit so that she could see for herself. I found the BBC 2 programme on the iplayer and it had a short item where two ladies ripped apart an old bear, but there was very little detail, most of the programme being taken up by a very tall ‘man of colour’ who did nothing but stick his nose into everything that was going on, like some sort of useless ‘manager’.

    I told my sister that I had seen the programme but that I wasn’t impressed. it didn’t tell me anything that I didn’t know, I knew exactly who my bear’s maker was, when he was made and what he was made of and “no-one is ripping my bear apart”. The following day she goes off shopping and is away a long time. It turns out that she has been hunting bear eyes, (failed), but has found fake leather, (wrong sort) and stuffing. “Will you buy the eyes and growler?” she says, (I had previously told her that such things are available).

    Result, one upset sister and one upset me! Which part of “no-one is ripping my bear apart” did she not understand? It is now quite clear that the BBC had put the idea of ‘bear repair’ in her mind and that nothing I said had registered.

    My bear is nearly as old as me. Like me he needs new eyes, new fur, new pads and, unlike me, more stuffing and a growler. I don’t remember a time when he did growl and my memory of his eyes probably dates back to seeing them in my mum’s sewing box, to be sewn in ‘sometime’. A ‘repaired bear’ wouldn’t be ‘my bear’, Trigger’s broom for the plebs, Theseus’ ship for the nobs, we’ve grown old together.

    My sister said she would have him ‘fixed’ when I’ve gone. I said, “He can go up in flames with me, in fact, rather than have my idle Marxist nephews inherit I think I will have the residue of my estate put into making a longboat and then we will go in style!”

       20 likes

    • feargal the cat says:

      JimS, the things that I read on this site confirm why I avoid ‘reality’ TV like the plague. I’m aware of Trigger’s broom but will now have to research Theseus’ ship. Who needs the bBC et al for edukashun.

         3 likes

  31. Englands Dreaming says:

    I will add my tuppence on the Beeb coverage of the French election. My impression on the radio was 3/4 was given over to Macron, one Beeb reporter was saying the Macron win in the first round risked being presented as a coronation, but that is exactly what the Beeb were doing.
    The Beeb are following the Macron line 100%, that he is some kind of outsider. He is anything but, a former minister in the current administration, graduate from Ecole and ex investment banker – a real man of the people!
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39689385

    The Beeb was also earlier saying that the other candidates were swinging behind Macron. Well it is true for Fillon, but certainly not true for Melenchon (who got almost as many votes as Fillon and the Beeb has now decided to ignore) who has pointedly refused to endorse Macron.

    How about some analysis BBC on Who would be best for Britain? No chance of that of course.

       18 likes

    • Grant says:

      Englands,

      Macron is an Enarque. You don’t get more Elite Establishment than that. No wonder the BBC love him. He would be a disaster for France. Wall-to-wall appeasement of muslims. The BBC would love that too !

         21 likes

    • Oaknash says:

      Englands a BBC analysis on who would be best for Britain. This begs the question – Whos Britain ?

      I suspect that the BBCs idea about what is best for Britain is a very long way from my idea (and probably yours as well) of what this country needs.

      I always think that BBC s understanding on international relationships is like basing a whole industry on some trendy theories espoused by a below average 1st year science graduate.
      He has just enough self awareness to realise he is actually unlikely to gain any sort of credibility in his chosen discipline or get a decent job in industry. Instead in an age where rigour and facts have gone out of the window he manages to get on by creating a high profile for himself by pushing fashionable and unproven theories at the expense of demonstrable and evidence based fact.

      Probably end up as a BBC Science Correspondent.

         12 likes

  32. AsISeeIt says:

    Were one of a mischievous bent, this morning one could ask oneself the question of the day :
    ‘what first attracted the BBC to the soft-left Blairite staunchly pro-EU Emmanuel Macron?’
    Meanwhile the BBC Breakfast sofa dummies ponder “When do you feel as though you are a ‘grown up’ ?”
    Our lanky beta-male Dan Walker gets down to basics with the revelation “When I first bought my own pants”
    Our sofa dolly Louise readily claims the female prerogative in matters of age and claims “I don’t really feel like a ‘grown up’ yet”
    Research is telling us that rather than the logical age of 18 or perhaps 21 modern Britons are not feeling themselves to be adult until they reach the rather advanced age of 27.
    Just a thought but do you think this might have just a little to do with the constant dumbing down and the infantilisation of the audience practiced by our national broadcaster?

       21 likes

    • Grant says:

      As,

      Reminds me of the Bob Monkhouse joke, to paraphrase, “I realised I was grown up when I discovered that my soldier was not my favourite toy after all “.

         5 likes

  33. Tabs says:

    Woke up to BBC Radio4 to hear “…39 year old Macron and right wing Le Penn are through to the second round….”.

    Nice BBC balanced reporting describing one by their age and the other by their political stance.

       25 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      Also noticeable that the BBC are referring to their preferred candidate as a ‘newcomer’ (he is not – he was previously the Finance Minister). The sub-text is that his inexperience (sic) means he is fresh and new, able to bring something new to the table, unencumbered by political baggage. Putting aside for the moment the fact that he is simply old wine in new bottles i.e. EU fanaticism, contrast with the treatment given to President Trump, where the BBC told us he was without experience of political office and therefore a liability, a risk, a danger…

         12 likes

  34. magicoat says:

    Originally titled “Jerusalem stabbing: British woman killed in train attack”, the BBC News report was amended numerous times and its headline changed as details emerged and the victim was identified – but the word terror does not appear in any of its thirteen versions.
    An additional report on the same story appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘England’ page on April 15th under the title “Hannah Bladon Jerusalem stabbing: Family ‘devastated’ at attack“. The word terror is likewise absent from all versions of that article.
    Once again, the BBC’s double standards on terrorism, together with the redundancy of its inconsistently applied guidelines on ‘Language when Reporting Terrorism’, are glaringly apparent.
    Another double standard …spot the difference..
    Reported by the BBC…..Workers in the UK have suffered the biggest fall in wages among the world’s richest countries since the financial crisis, research has suggested. Between 2007 and 2015 wages in the UK fell by 10.4%, a drop equalled only by Greece, the analysis by the TUC found. …
    Not reported by the Palestinian terrorist accused of killing a British student last week will be paid £800 per month by the Palestinian government. To put this in perspective: an average Palestinian worker earns about £400 per month, which means that in reward for one day of terror, Hannah Bladon’s murderer will receive more than double a typical full time Palestinian salary, every month for the rest of his life…or at least until the world finally puts a stop to this practice.
    Now surely that wage gape deserves BBC’s full attention?

    The Palestinian Authority government, in defiance of international pressure, is actually increasing its budget for salaries to terrorists: in 2016 it was up to $180 Million. That budget is funded in part by the UK which provides £25 million (about $32 Million) per year in foreign aid. In other words, UK taxpayers are actually paying a salary to the terrorist who murdered one of their own citizens. This issue grew in visibility after the near murder of UK citizen Kay Wislon, who’s would-be murderers reportedly receive £9,000 per year.

       23 likes

    • Grant says:

      magicoat,

      Truly shocking and, as you say, the BBC says nothing and HMG is rewarding terrorists with our money. I would guess that £9 k is equivalent to at least £25 k here.

         10 likes

  35. Guest Who says:

    “Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink it with a single strike.”

    This is a BBC headline on Facebook.

    With a picture of a US carrier.

    Only reading the story linked does one find out it is not the BBC so beligerent; simply those they propagandise for.

       10 likes

  36. G says:

    If you are French, living in the UK and are oblivious to the BBC’s demonstrable bias and support for Macron, tune in to BBC’s Radio 4 programme, “Culture, Class and Marine Le Pen, Andrew Hussey explores the role of popular culture in the forthcoming French election” at 2030 today and listen to that bias in action. That’s a very safe prediction.
    The programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08n2jb1
    Andrew Hussey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hussey

       10 likes

  37. nogginator says:

    Macron moves France into uncharted waters – French elections:
    Euro jumps after French vote
    BBC News Top Stories
    Newcomer Macron sets sights on presidency
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39689385

    Anyone missing BBC?, some unelected guy BBC?, so far a nobody BBC?
    Just like the Torygraph/Express you might as well bloody read the Beano.

    He s totally untested, and a mommies boy.
    My only concern, a bigger 1st win would be advantageous and just like here
    with Liar May, the old boy network, the political establishment … the fix is
    on the cards

       9 likes

  38. G says:

    Is there any white British living in Manchester? The BBC believe not. The prospective muslim mayoral candidate is allowed to deliver a broadcast in Urdu. That’l really help diversity and integration won’t it?
    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/04/uk-muslim-mayoral-candidate-delivers-bbc-video-manifesto-entirely-in-urdu

       13 likes

  39. StewGreen says:

    R5 Phone-in is an advert for Labour,
    as it’s all about Labour’s mad 4 new bank holidays plan
    Now Andrew Grynn Labour MP is on.

       6 likes

  40. G says:

    If ever you had any doubts about the UN and their pro islamic preference to islamicise the World, read this –
    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/04/un-elects-saudi-arabia-to-un-agency-dedicated-to-promotion-of-gender-equality-and-empowerment-of-women
    Another step in the right direction UN. It’s all becoming more transparent by the day – and more horrific for the sane!
    Treezer signed up for all this……..

       7 likes

  41. Charlie Martel says:

    Useless beebistan ‘journalists’ are misspelling the French candidate as ‘Emanuelle’ Macron, which is a girl’s name and the title of the famous blue movie. Been watching too much porn, boys?

    “Emanuelle Macron has been installed as the overwhelming favourite to be the next French President – but what does that mean for business and Brexit?” (sic)

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39691352

       6 likes

  42. Lucy Pevensey says:

    Right now Victoria Derbyshire is interviewing a woman in a full headbag. Black with a slit for eyes only. This is due to their “UKIP is to include a proposed ban on the full face veil in their manifesto” headline. So they have to interview a woman with the full ninja headbag. At the risk of sounding like a libtard-I am actually finding this quite offensive. She’s been on my screen for about 15 minutes. All about Muslims & how they feel. “UKIP racist blah blah blah”, same old mantra. It’s quite intimidating.

    Why should I have this aggressive propaganda broadcast into my lounge at my own expense?
    Ban the face veil? Yes! And while we are at it, ban the BBC licence fee as well.
    Rant over.

       33 likes

    • nogginator says:

      BBC Burkha wearers on show again? MCWales IS IMMEDIATELY AN EXAMPLE OF THE PROBLEM 😀 its crystal clear … UKIP need to get ready for the excuses, they are literally hot air … and VD?, is a disgrace.
      Wearers are hose of political vent usually? wearing it IS a political act. … It is nowhere in the Quran … hmmmm..
      First, its wearing is an instrument, encouraged by the Islamic political extremists, impose the Islamic viewpoint on wider society.
      aimed at preventing the integration of the Muslim community into mainstream Britain,
      so … wearing it is used to visibly give the two fingers to our wider society.
      It is an overt statement of deliberate concealment too, we see you, but we conceal ourselves?
      … why be surprised if people don t trust you? The veil hides identity, any common citizenship involves trust, and trust cannot exist where one cannot see people’s faces in public
      If it s for your religion, wear it in the Mosque,
      If it s for your husband bloody wear it at home, in bed if you want … if it isn t?.
      It is anti social, anti integration and those who encourage it need, and deserve the harshest critique
      However did a call for “modesty” ever, get perverted into this eh!, and for the women in all this ?

      “The veil sets women apart from men and apart from the world; it restrains them, confines them, it grooms them for docility”.

      The BBC is the same as yesterday, Al Beeb central was on immediate focus all presses, with the whisper of a burkha ban …
      BBC News – would you support a Burkha ban?
      Usual Al BBC blood boiler I m afraid, tweets! give me strength!
      … the only thing these morons are interested in,
      wheel out Brendan Cox and co
      … nauseating

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39684530

         12 likes

      • nogginator says:

        BBC News – UKIP Manifesto Burkha Ban
        http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39682939
        Britain won’t be taking any lessons on integration from the hate peddlers at UKIP … Header ‘Stop adding to the problem’

        I m SOOOOOO! glad I call them Al BBC

           4 likes

      • gb123 says:

        To me the BBC and other media outlets keep putting an “Islington luvvie” view of the hijab / niqab / burka and believe that the Islamic world is like they see in London (Saudi/Qatari owned). The burqa and niqab seem to be more of a tribal thing.

        Apart from the Middle East, most of the muslim countries and regions I have worked in and visited have a variety of headgear and non headgear. Even in the ME in countries like Jordan, UAE you don’t usually see the full burkas. I have seen them in Kuwait and Saudi along with niqabs. In areas such as Turkmenistan and Khazakstan they tend to wear traditional local headgear (except for the Russian locals). In India some places in Dheli seemed to have women in burqas but not widespread in Mumbai,Bangalore or Hyderbad. I have seen a few in Malaysia and Thailand but not many.

        By my reckoning, the muslim populations I have seen have a more liberal attitude to dress than the BBC ,western zealots and the extremists.

        The largest Muslim country in the world does not require the niqab or hijab and it is interesting to read the local views on the basic Hijab. So, Birqas would be off ths list by a mile.

        One example from the thread.:
        “Here are the cases:

        Not all Muslims believe that it is a compulsory to wear a headscarf. There are a lot of interpretations about the obligation to wear headscarf for women.

        Even if they believe it is a compulsory, people still have their rights to live their lives in many ways. When the religion tells you to not lie, some people still lie. It’s also applicable in the case of hijab.

        The traditional clothing in Indonesia is without a headscarf. This is how people have lived for ages before the spreading of Islam. When Islam came to Indonesia, the Islamic traditions mixed with the native cultures because the imams who spread Islam in Indonesia do not impose to eliminate the existed traditions at that time.

        It is not imposed by the government or any other ‘formal’ institution. Usually, Indonesian women wear headscarf because they want to do so, or their families ask them to wear it. In my case, I wear headscarf because I want to do it. The same thing like why other people want to wear a jeans or a t-shirt. My mother doesn’t wear a headscarf because she doesn’t want to. We believe that religion is voluntary; it shouldn’t be imposed to others.”

        https://www.quora.com/Why-do-many-Indonesian-Muslim-women-do-not-wear-hijab

           2 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Lucy

      Actually I would not advocate a ban on the head bag – except for security reasons, avoiding identification on CCCT cameras, taking examinations, taking driving tests, driving, and other areas where it may avoid identification of criminal activity.

      What I would ban are the hate crime laws which prevent us from criticising and ridiculing the bag, which would lead to prosecution if I told one of the wearers that it looks silly, is intimidating and prohibits integration and is worn as a means of identifying membership of a crackpot religion.

      And when the inevitable happens and the media employs news readers with the complete bag we should insist that one form of religious apparel should be regarded as similar to another, and that the BBC should offer opportunities for members of recognised religions like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to wear their colanders when hosting TV shows.

      18157053_1383928021653532_4979824742485397757_n.jpg?oh=1b91fdedcdd5a1d8dc1524be81a40d36&oe=5979B5C4

         7 likes

      • nogginator says:

        The so called Islami oops slipped into beeb speak 😀 “hate Laws”
        are part of the political establishment, that putrid swamp to silence dissent, control the populace … don t give more it more support to gag yourself.
        the Bin bag? … It should be banned in the public space, for all the cogent points I outlined above.
        If its for the erm “religion” as outlined by the Islamist this morning … wear it at the mosque
        The other biggie, for benefit of the husband … easy, 😀 wear it at home.

           2 likes

        • G.W.F. says:

          Hey, Burka madness in Trudeau’s Canada.
          Under Canadian law you have to have a photograph for your gun licence

          But Moslems who cover their faces do not have to display a photograph.

          Special gun laws for RoPers

             6 likes

      • gb123 says:

        Religion of peas + pastafarian pasta of your choice = great vegetarian dish for PC Masterchef with cultural religious and lifestyle diversity!

           4 likes

  43. StewGreen says:

    Latest edition of Tech Tent has a useless virtue signalling bit at the end
    They spent 2 mins sayong AI algorithms are RACIST cos when you type in baby into Google ..all you see is white babies
    ..No proper evidence was given

    *** Google searches are customised to you and to location ..so if you are like Zoe Kleinman a white British person then yes your searches are skewed **

       6 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      When I Google in “marathon runner”
      I see much less white people than 87% general population
      and much more black people than 3% general population

         6 likes

  44. Ricks Assessment says:

    Did the BBC miss st.George’s day?

       7 likes

  45. Grant says:

    BBC Website describes Marine as ” Far Right ” and Macron as “Centrist”. More Fake News from the BBC , the world leaders.

       6 likes

  46. Grant says:

    FT 100 up 1.8% today. Should be big news on the BBC.

       4 likes

  47. Thoughtful says:

    Here is an interesting observation from a different thread which should strike a chord here.

    Take a look at the images used by Labour Party candidates, especially in areas with a high Muslim population. Check how many Muslim women you can see, and if the ones in the photos are actually associated with the Labour party in some way.

    The images I’ve seen have not a single Muslim woman present making Labours claims of equality massively hypocritical.

    Vote Labour if you want your patriarchal archaic cultural hierarchy to continue unchallenged.
    Labour politicians will remain silent on the rights of the individual to defend the right for sweeping gender oppression under the guise of cultural norms.

    If Labour are refusing to challenge culturally embedded sexism simply because of an expediency for the Muslim block vote then they are quite simply not fit to hold office, because what else will they turn a blind eye to?

       5 likes

  48. gaxvil says:

    WH – And blatant sexism. How to positively discriminate to get more women MPs.
    UKIP woman draws ire by saying it should depend on ability not sex AND you wouldn’t want a woman, if that woman was Le Pen. Game set match.
    Then a racist tweets in complaining that they’re only discussing women and not BAME women MPs. Oh dear, the racist bbc.

       5 likes