Weekend 19 February 2022

Standby for a further onslaught of woke -one narrative – green propaganda after a Winter Storm . Lead the way BBC – or maybe it’s war ….

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309 Responses to Weekend 19 February 2022

  1. StewGreen says:

    GBNews Mark Dolan:
    ‘My message to the BBC’s Nick Robinson is a clear
    … we ask the uncomfortable questions’

       28 likes

  2. taffman says:

    StewGreen
    How many readers are still paying that Robinson fellow’s wages via ‘the tax that robs from the poor to give to the rich’ ?
    Many people who are suffering the poverty of heating/feeding would benefit from the abolition of that oppressive tax. Why hasn’t this Tory government abolished it?

       24 likes

  3. taffman says:

    “Ken McCallum, the director-general of MI5, has claimed Russia and China are waging a covert war in the UK, trying to interfere in our Parliament as well as steal from businesses, universities, and ordinary Brits.”
    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17702450/russia-china-spying-uk-mi5-boss-warns
    Has Al Beeb covered this story yet?…………………………

       12 likes

  4. BRISSLES says:

    I see Eamonn Holmes has put his head above the parapet ! Little snippet of a larger article in today’s Mail.

    “The Northern Irish broadcaster also revealed he had been left dis-gruntled by Sir Kenneth Branagh’s latest film about his home town Belfast. Holmes claimed the director said he had to include non-white actors in order to secure funding for the Oscar-nominated film.

    Holmes said; “I said to Kenneth, ‘I’m just observing, but we didn’t have an Indian corner shop or a black teacher or Chinese pupils in our classrooms in 1969. Belfast wasn’t London’. The journalist in me was saying that it was historically inaccurate’ ”

    I wonder if Maxi will be taking HIM to task for saying what is true ! Lol ! But a sad state of affairs that to get a film out of the starting blocks for finance, a guarantee has to be put in place to employ a pick n mix of actors, and any chance of being historically correct is now a thing of the past – probably with a mental health warning chuck !

       37 likes

    • Nibor says:

      It’s bad enough with the sectarianism without adding diversity to it .

         20 likes

    • harry142857 says:

      There’s also a bit from luvvie Ken that he had to change his Northern Ireland accent to fit in when he arrived in the UK. Utter rubbish. My mother from Derry knew Kens mother, there was a massive Irish presence in the town at the time. Expect he hasn’t forgiven my mate, Andy Simpson for getting the lead role as Romeo in the Meadway school play.

         9 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Will they add white people films about African tribes?

         11 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Zulu Dawn Butler Biopic is based on true events.

        Using Fick Ange with make up by Dancin’ Justin.

        There was an IQ test for the role, which she passed by a wide margin, under.

        But hey, £75 plonk… needs subsidising.

           5 likes

  5. JohnC says:

    Everybody : it’s happened. Boris has returned the questionaire !!!.

    ‘Downing Street has not revealed what Mr Johnson said in his written response to the police, only that it was sent to them within the seven-day deadline before he travelled to Munich this weekend.’
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60450444

    Now they are actually trying to put the pressure on that he resigns if he gets a fixed penalty on the basis he broke the law.

    ‘Boris Johnson has refused to say whether he will resign if police say he has broken lockdown laws.’

    I wonder if the BBC will now also campaign for any MP of any persuasion to resign if they get a fixed penalty notice for anything. Doing 35 in a 30 zone for example. Or dropping litter.

    Of course they won’t because they are the most shameless and disgusting of double-standard hypocrites.

    As usual they use the article as an excuse to repeat what they’ve told us many times already And then at the end in something totally unrelated they try to drag him into the Andrew affair.

    I have a feeling that empty-shell Boris will repond to their show of power by rolling over and falling into line instead of using this affair to take them down. What a shame he chose NutNut over his attack dog Cummins.

       20 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      The BBCnews groupthink makes them addicted to behaving like a school bully gang in the playground picking on their victim.
      …Look at the way they sneered at GBnews viewing stats yesterday
      “ugh look at that other group over there they are inferior to us”

         15 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Boris uses expenses to pay the fine. Job done.

         3 likes

  6. StewGreen says:

    R4Sunday just made the claim
    “Trump was banned from Facebook & Twitter after GLORIFYING violence”
    that doesn’t sound true
    & is the kind of thing a member of a school bully gang would say.

       14 likes

  7. Zephir says:

    I would call this vexacious actions myself, politically motivated sh@t stirring, legal nit picking and lying to its donors about its failures, bringing his profession into disrepute ?

    “‘Good Law Project is a not-for-profit campaign organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public’ is the portentous claim on the organisation’s website. But it doesn’t.
    What Good Law actually do is engage in guerrilla warfare via the courts to destabilise the elected government of the day, and promote their own partial, liberal agenda.”

    “DAN HODGES: A fox-killing lawyer, his bombastic claims – and the grotesque indulgence that is clogging our courts

    The email from the Good Law Project to its supporters was unequivocal. ‘Breaking: We Won,’ it exclaimed. A few moments later the organisation’s director, barrister Jolyon Maugham, took to Twitter. ‘BREAKING: Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Health Minister Matt Hancock broke the law because they didn’t think about disabled and ethnic minority communities in appointing Dido Harding and Mike Coupe,’ he gleefully revealed.

    Yet, as Maugham basked in his moment of glory and his army of progressive supporters fanned across to social media to celebrate, it began to emerge there was just one small problem. What the Good Law Project had said wasn’t true.

    The judgment into a case brought against appointing Harding the chairman, and Coupe a director, of the Covid Test and Trace Task Force didn’t mince its words. ‘The claim brought by Good Law Project fails in its entirety,’ Lord Justice Singh and Mr Justice Swift ruled. They found part of a claim brought by the Runnymede Trust succeeded only on the basis the appointments implemented at the height of the coronavirus crisis ‘were made without compliance with the public sector equality duty’.

    But the most explosive argument – that Harding and Coupe had been selected because Ministers considered ‘only candidates with some relevant personal or political connection’ – was unequivocally rejected.

    ‘It fails on its facts,’ Singh and Swift stated, while pointedly adding: ‘Mr Maugham asserts that Mr Coupe is a “friend” of Baroness Harding but provides no further detail’.

    The judges also addressed the claim that Boris Johnson was guilty of breaking the law. ‘No remedy should be granted as against the first Defendant, the Prime Minister, since it is clear on the facts as found by this Court that he played no part in the two appointments,’ they said.

    Jolyon Maugham is best known for his bold announcement on Boxing Day 2019 that he had just bludgeoned a fox to death with a baseball bat while dressed in a satin kimono. But it’s time to address the manner in which he’s leading a similar assault on the British Government, the British legal system and British democracy.

    In Maugham’s eyes – and those of his devoted followers – he’s a judicial caped crusader. ‘I really, really don’t like acts of dishonesty by the State,’ he says. ‘I don’t like the Government misleading the public.’ But, as we saw last week, this passion for honesty and transparency in the public sphere doesn’t extend to pronouncements on the cases brought by his own organisation.

    And there are a lot of cases. Overturning Brexit. Promoting trans rights. The right of schools to enforce face masks. Partygate. Net Zero. Windrush compensation. The Good Law Project has engaged in litigation on them all.

    ‘Good Law Project is a not-for-profit campaign organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public’ is the portentous claim on the organisation’s website. But it doesn’t. What Good Law actually do is engage in guerrilla warfare via the courts to destabilise the elected government of the day, and promote their own partial, liberal agenda.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10530917/DAN-HODGES-fox-killing-lawyer-bombastic-claims-clogging-courts.html

       15 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘Not for profit’ is usually code for ‘paying senior staff scag loads’.

         10 likes

      • JohnC says:

        BBC’s ‘Children in Need’ charity workers pay themselves an average salary of £47K across their 142 employees.

           10 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      lawfare is BAD
      .. not good
      A way small financed groups get to usurp democratic governments and votes.

         7 likes

  8. StewGreen says:

    Now it’s the Radio 4 charity appeal
    Is it a straight white non-lefty man ?

    No, it’s @y_alibhai Brown promoting a charity that brings in “people like me” to the UK

    (She detailed how she’d come in on a scholarship from Uganda, just before Idi Amin’s expulsion programme)
    The prog is called Opportunity UK..

       12 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Hughie Green has a lot to answer for.

      Her. SurLenny….

         5 likes

      • Zephir says:

        “expulsion from Uganda ?” another example of black racism ???
        surely not ?

        On August 4th, 1972, Amin ordered the expulsion from the country of some 50,000 of these who held British passports. For some strange reason, in Britain people from the Indian subcontinent are usually called “Asians,” which doesn’t leave a word to cover those from farther East. These Ugandan “Asians” were entrepreneurial, talented and hard-working people, skilled in business, and they formed the backbone of the economy. However, Idi Amin favoured people from his own ethnic background, and arbitrarily expelled them anyway, giving their property and businesses to his cronies, who promptly ran them into the ground through incompetence and mismanagement.

        https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/when-idi-amin-expelled-50000-asians-from-uganda

           17 likes

  9. Zephir says:

    And the latest bbc lies by omission: (promoting neo nazis when it suits their agenda)

    PETER HITCHENS: Granny gets her gun – from a bunch of shameless neo-Nazis… not that the BBC would ever tell you

    If the BBC found a group of neo-Nazis among some student Tories, or among Trump supporters in the USA, they would surely tell us about it, hot and strong.

    Quite right too. In fact, the Corporation’s horror and disgust at such people is one of the few things I absolutely share with them.

    So why did they last week repeatedly broadcast an entire news item, featuring a group of undoubted, shameless neo-Nazis, actually wearing SS insignia on their clothes – and not even notice?

    But it was only in the film that you could see the shoulder-flashes worn by the soldiers. These display a sinister, jagged symbol called the ‘Wolfsangel’. This is an explicitly Nazi emblem, originally used by Hitler’s ‘Das Reich’ Waffen SS division.

    This unit is still famous for murdering 200 people in Serbia, for a massacre of 920 Jews in Minsk, now in Belarus, for hanging 99 people in retaliation for French Resistance operations in Tulle.

    But above all it is notorious for the mass murder in the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane, in which the SS men machine-gunned or burned to death 642 civilians, including women and children. The Wolfsangel can be seen in archive pictures of the Das Reich division’s tanks.

    The patches worn by their Ukrainian fans also carry the word ‘Azov’ and so proclaim that they are members of the ‘Azov Battalion’. Who? An FBI investigator said in 2018 that the Azov Battalion was a ‘paramilitary unit… known for its association with neo-Nazi ideology and the use of Nazi symbolism’.

    Is it really possible that, in the BBC’s vast and costly apparatus of reporters, editors, producers, fact-checkers and bureaucrats, not one person spotted the problem? If so, we are dealing with Olympic-level incompetence. But it is my suspicion that something else is going on. The generation that kept the BBC relatively impartial is fast dying off. Those who remain have accepted a large number of contentious opinions as facts.

    One of these opinions is the ridiculous cartoon idea that Russia is like Mordor in Lord Of The Rings, an utterly evil country ruled by a Dark Monster. And that Ukraine, its current enemy, is by contrast a shining Utopia, pluckily defending itself against the orc-like hordes of Moscow. This explains why the BBC were so keen to use this film

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10530885/PETER-HITCHENS-Granny-gets-gun-bunch-shameless-neo-Nazis.html

       9 likes

  10. StewGreen says:

    #BlackfaceHitler is trending

       9 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Canada Justin Trudeau sets World Record In avoiding questions – 18 Times – wastes everyone’s time in Parliament

         8 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      \\ The best part is if you click on the hashtag #BlackfaceHitler, and then the people tab, Justin Trudeau is the ONLY search result //

         10 likes

  11. StewGreen says:

    Ezra’s 15 tweet thread
    This article says the same thing
    https://www.rebelnews.com/leaked_rcmp_messages_time_for_the_protesters_to_hear_our_jackboots_on_the_ground

       13 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Usually Springster would win awards for checking.

      Or Sopes on Snopes.

         10 likes

  12. Sluff says:

    Shock. Horror.
    On Toady on Sunday, the Islamic Broadcasting Corporation report at length that some schools are not providing prayer rooms for Muslim pupils !!!!!!
    A parent called Mohammed is aghast.

    Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.

       26 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      0 Churches in Islamic tolerant Saudi.
      0 Church attacks in Islamic tolerant Saudi.


      CHRISTIAN COUNTRY….The Stornoway temple opened its doors in May to provide a place of worship for the area’s 80-strong Muslim community. And building trustees say hundreds of tourists, usually on the island to see the area’s stunning beaches, historic standing stones and Harris Tweed, have come to the mosque.30 Sept 2018

      ISLAMIC COUNTRY…Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, is illegal. Muslims or non-Muslims wearing religious symbols of any kind in public risk confrontation with the Mutawwa’in.

         14 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        The school said it had reviewed the CCTV and found no evidence that a teacher had touched a pupil
        after the parent Mo had claimed the teacher had grabbed the boy by the jacket and pulled him out.

           11 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Foreign Office employees invited to wear headscarves to work to mark World Hijab day
      https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/foreign-office-employees-invited-to-wear-headscarves-to-work-to-mark-world-hijab-day-a3761146.html

      08 February 2018
      T
      he Foreign Office handed out free headscarves to staff and encouraged them to learn why Muslim women wear the garment as part of its World Hijab Day celebrations.

         7 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Churches are banned; Christian migrants and tourists also have to meet in secret and cannot own Bibles. Most Christians in Saudi Arabia are migrants. There are a few Muslim-born Christians, and conversion from Islam is punishable by death.
      27 Jul 2015

         11 likes

  13. Zephir says:

    On International Women’s Day on March 8, 1979, a women’s march took place in Tehran in Iran. The march was originally intended to celebrate the International Women’s Day, but transformed into massive protests against the changes taking place in women’s rights during the Iranian revolution, specifically the introduction of mandatory hijab (veiling), which had been announced the day before. The protests lasted for six days, from 8 March to 14 March 1979, with thousands of women participating.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day_Protests_in_Tehran,_1979

       4 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      UK: Shia Muslims beat chests in Manchester’s self-flagellation procession
      303,402 views30 Sept 2017

         3 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        MM, That was a steal from Judaism – see Luke Chapter 18 vs 9-14:
        And he (Jesus) spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
        Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

           0 likes

  14. Guest Who says:

    BBC Kammy Does Gibberish headline.

       5 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      What are those consequences now?
      More LGBT tanks?
      An X on all passports?

      “Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Harris also said that the conflict with Russia is a threat to European security.”
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-60445560

      In addition to the massive military buildup on Ukraine’s border, Russia is weaponizing its natural gas supply to Europe. Pipelines carrying Russian gas generally supply around 35% of Europe’s natural gas; today that share is only 17%.2 days ago


      In the long-term, the Russia Government Debt to GDP is projected to trend around 17.90 percent of GDP in 2022 and 17.50 percent of GDP in 2023, according to our econometric models.
      ….
      In 2020, the national debt of the United States was at around 133.92 percent of the gross domestic product. See the US GDP for further information.
      ….
      At the end of 2020, China’s foreign debt, including U.S. dollar debt, stood at roughly $2.4 trillion. Corporate debt is $27 trillion, while the country’s total public debt exceeds 300 percent of GDP.2 Dec 2021
      ….

         6 likes

  15. Guest Who says:

    The media is the problem.

    When a grandee like Alistair has to be teased into grasping reality it is serious.

    When a title like the Times becomes the BBC on a hit job it is terminal.

       13 likes

  16. Guest Who says:

    Bet Toenails and Timmeh! thrilled at how this progressing…

       2 likes

  17. MarkyMark says:

    Dear Winston Smith,

    I noticed that Jon Sopel is talking about impartial and unbiased reporting but his twitter account has three references to his book whilst using the BBC brand. Could the BBC please explain what is happening?

    1) Is BBC Jon Sopel supposed to tell us about the news or his new book?

    2) BBC Jon Sopel’s twitter feed has the BBC name in it and says “Jon Sopel, BBC North America Editor. My book If Only They Didn’t Speak English is out now.” which references his book and not the fact he is an unbiased and impartial reporter.

    3) BBC Jon Sopel’s twitter’s pinned tweet is from 23May2018 and is about .. himself and his book.

    4) Is BBC Jon Sopel’s book 100% BBC approved thought and unbiased and partial?

    5) Shouldn’t BBC Jon Sopel’s twitter be about the latest news and not himself?

    6) When Jon Sopel sells a book does it go to help pay for the BBC TV Tax – to reduce it? As the BBC are promoting it – thus it is promoted by the BBC TV Tax Payer.

    “Impartiality lies at the heart of public service and is the core of the BBC’s commitment to its audiences. It applies to all our output and services – television, radio, online, and in our international services and commercial magazines. We must be inclusive, considering the broad perspective and ensuring the existence of a range of views is appropriately reflected”
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/impartiality

    Good luck answering this one without laughing yourself silly.

    https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/complaints

    04b9df60cbbcb642f9bbadc6bbd8733676f74692d96c20b4c6dd84e4e8750177.jpg

       5 likes

  18. Guest Who says:

    Who the bbc pay to appear vs. actual talent they usually block.

       4 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Chris Addison💙@mrchrisaddisonSpy. Dammit! Ex-spy. “Imagine a child’s drawing of a magic leek.” – @captainward who/whom Contact: roba@avalonuk.com Avi pic: Prateek Gautam. I mute killjoys.Londonchrisaddison.comJoined January 20091,707 Following383K Followers

         0 likes

  19. MarkyMark says:

    Top Gear filming in Argentina
    October 2014
    We received complaints from viewers concerned by press reports that, while filming in Argentina, Top Gear had apparently used cars with provocative registration plates.

    06/10/2014
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_clarifications/corrections_2014/

       1 likes

  20. MarkyMark says:

    Are MPs underpaid? Yes, according to Sir Peter Bottomley, who declared that life on an MP’s salary of £82,000 can be ‘really grim’. In saying so, Bottomley succeeded in uniting his fellow MPs – who would rather not have to deal with a further round of anger at their pay and conditions – and the general public – who resent having to pay for their elected lords and masters in the first place. But the furious backlash doesn’t mean Bottomley isn’t right.
    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-economic-case-for-paying-politicians-more
    ….
    Barry Gardiner defends donations worth £500,000 from Chinese agent
    The Labour MP said Christine Lee appeared to be ‘operating as a legitimate person in the UK’.
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/barry-gardiner-chinese-lee-sky-news-jeremy-corbyn-b976632.html
    ….

       3 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      Careful, you’ll really upset Fedup who doesn’t think the state should pay them at all and would be happy for China and Saudi to pay them instead !

         2 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        I wonder from where you got the impression that I would favour MPs being funded by overseas States ?

        You regularly come on this site campaigning for MPs to be paid more . I have always assumed you either are one or an employee of one – after all 1 in 7 MPs has a member of their family on their payroll – or to be more exact – the taxpayers payroll .
        I have little regard for MPs – there are a few honourable ones who work for their constituents – but the vast majority just have their snouts in the trough and crave the status they think being an MP gives them .
        I think the political system is both undemocratic and corrupt – and far too close to the MSM leading to unapproved truth – eg Canada – being buried .

        So – no second jobs – extremely limited expenses -a Parliament based in somewhere like Birmingham – no ‘donations (‘bribes – ) reduced jollies – and no second chamber unless elected … no subsidised bars or canteens …

        There plenty more such as fair representation with no MP representing more than – say- 300k voters – no postal votes – voter ID – language test -automatic disqualification if convicted – vetted SPADs with numbers limited …. That’s just for starters …
        ( I know the above could never happen because the system is self serving )

        And remember – there is never a shortage of MPs – journalists or lawyers ….

           8 likes

        • Thoughtful says:

          To be honest I agree with much of what you post and as for having a close connection to an MP the closest I have come is living next door to one.

          I know how demanding the job is working away from home and family all week and then having to work once you get home at the weekend. Of course for London based MPs this isn’t the case.

          Having ones family, children and relative all under the media spotlight and anything they do wrong splashed across the headlines is not something many would put their nearest and dearest through.

          The £80K an MP earns is the lowest in Western Europe, and that cannot be good. I believe there are far too many of them and the numbers should be reduced to half.
          The system sis indeed undemocratic and corrupt, if your face fits you are given a nice safe seat and a guarantee of continual employment no matter what.
          For others though it can be a tenuous lifestyle being unemployed because of something someone else did.

          As for not allowing second jobs – this would turn the UK into a one party Labour only state, where the Labour MPs are allowed to take sponsorship from Trade Unions, but the Tories disallowed from taking directorships which are often notional second jobs for which they are paid but don’t actually put any time in.
          How would you prevent someone like Geoffrey Cox who is basically a volunteer MP gifting his services to the British people when he is also earning Millions as a talented QC? Do you want to banish talent from parliament and have only career politicians working for you?

          At the moment £80K is a middle management wage and for a job requiring a 7 day week it’s a pretty poor do. It’s so poor that around 2600 public employees now receive a higher amount than the Prime Minister.

          I do disagree about an elected second chamber which as we see in America either rubber stamps all legislation or blocks everything.
          And yes, it does need to be moved out of London, possibly somewhere on the M62 corridor where there are more people living within a 50 mile radius than anywhere else in Europe.

             2 likes

        • MarkyMark says:

          Random drugs tests.

             1 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        What is important is not the particular person who is elected President or the party he belongs to. I have often said we shall not correct the state of affairs by electing the right people; we’ve tried that. The right people before they’re elected become the wrong people after they’re elected. The important thing is to make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. If it is not politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either.

           1 likes

  21. Guest Who says:

    Just had a heated convo with my wife after she asked if the protestors playing loud music back at the rozzer psych squad had paid PRS,

    She proceeded to quote justification for actions by the authorities from… the BBC.

       2 likes

  22. StewGreen says:

    6 month old tweet video of Trudeau

       2 likes

  23. MarkyMark says:

    Evidence suggests Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

    He told the BBC’s Sophie Raworth in an interview: “All the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun.”
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60448162

    Covid: Boris Johnson sets new booster target over ‘Omicron tidal wave’

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59631570

    Boris Johnson: West can be ‘proud’ of Afghanistan legacy
    Labour’s Keir Starmer said Johnson was ‘incapable of international leadership.’
    https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-prime-minister-boris-johnson-house-commons-west-proud-afghanistan-legacy/
    ….

    80 Seat Majority … 2 Years in Government … 0 Conserative Policies.

       3 likes

  24. MarkyMark says:

    Stop sending money?

    A controversial Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile river began generating electricity for the first time on Sunday, according to state TV.

    The $4.2bn (£3.8bn) dam, located in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, has been a source of contention between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan since its construction started in 2011.

    Sudan and Egypt fear the project could reduce their share of Nile waters.

    Ethiopia insists the dam is key to its development.

    The so-called Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) is Africa’s biggest hydroelectric project to date.

    The Gerd is expected to generate over 5,000 megawatts of electricity, doubling the nation’s electricity output when it is fully completed.

    It is currently 83.9% complete, the state-owned ETV News channel said on Sunday.

    The Ethiopian government insists it will transform the national economy, which has been severely damaged by drought and war, when it is fully operational.

    A spokesman for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office called it a “monumental day for Ethiopia”.

       1 likes

  25. MarkyMark says:

    We have been taken for fools.

    LONDON — The U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will cut its aid budget for programs in China by 95 percent. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab unveiled his department’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for 2021-22 in a written parliamentary statement Wednesday.21 Apr 2021
    https://www.politico.eu/article/china-uk-foreign-aid-95-percent/#:~:text=LONDON%20%E2%80%94%20The%20U.K.’s%20Foreign,a%20written%20parliamentary%20statement%20Wednesday.

       1 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      When the weasel words are stripped away British politicians talking about spending money on Human Rights issues in China really translates to solely focussing on the rights of Chinese Muslims to fight Jihad and the Chinese to cimply accept that as part of diversity and ekwalitee. Of course our politicians who are openly accepting inducements from the Middle East will do what ever their masters tell them to do, and their masters are not the British electorate.

         6 likes

  26. theisland says:

    Ten minutes from Neil on Covid pharma shenanigans, stats etc. and (from 5:30 onwards) Canada/Trudeau and the lack of condemnation from Western leaders – “I suspect this is because they are, all of them … cut from the same bolt of cloth and waiting to see how brother Trudeau gets on.”

    Will any of our MPs be allowed to ask questions in parliament?

       17 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      “Will any of our MPs be allowed to ask questions in parliament?”

      You should not criticize Islam in a civil society (c) Mogg

         2 likes

  27. Guest Who says:

    BBC Tab Of Choice The Failure, home of BBC co-stars Scott, Pippa, Kev, etc, has this…

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/uks-first-zero-energy-homes-26260998?

    One for Springster, or straight to the real experts like Justin Roar, Matty or Way Out Rog?

       5 likes

  28. AsISeeIt says:

    Hostilities have broken out. I refer, of course, to the anti-Boris Sunday Times: ‘Revealed: the wealthy donors with PM’s ear‘ – but what of Putin’s putative shooting war about which other newspaper titles have been titilating their readers with pics of girls with guns for what seems like weeks now: ‘Ukraine came at a good time for Johnson‘ – is the Sunday Times’s snarky remark. The likes of stumbling presidents Biden or Macron might also have welcomed the distraction.

    Emma Tucker is the editor of the Sunday Times. And as the BBC might like put it – since 2020 the first female editor of the title… well, not quite the first… since there was the woman of colour Rachel Beer who headed both the Observer and the Sunday Times way back in 1901. But that was a different, more racialist, misogynistic time, apparently.

    As comic character Mrs Merton – yes, a female comedian – would tend to phrase the question – What was it about the Brexiteer Boris that first attracted the ire of Remainers?

    Our Emma was interviewed by Christophe Leclercq for Euroactiv in 2017: ‘Emma Tucker is Editorial Director with The Times in London, after reporting for the Financial Times in Brussels and Berlin. Despite The Times’s line against populism and Brexit, which did not prevail in the UK, she believes media do not require public support…

    Ouch, that’s a bit of a giveaway.

    At the time Emma was at the Times and she was a little ambiguous about the paper’s leanings on Brexit: “The majority of our readers – I think it was 60-40 split – were pro Remain, but if you look at the breakdown of how people voted and at who our readers are you would expect that. So that wasn’t why we concluded to back the Remain campaign. We always put our readers first so in the end it was a decision that the editor took about what he thought was best for the country and we kept an open mind right up until the end

    How very delphic – I throw that one in for BoJo who loves a classical Greek reference.

    Leclercq was hopefull Remain could yet prevail back in 2017: “In two years when negotiations possibly come to an end, is there a possibility that public opinion would have changed and that Brexit would be somehow turned down?

    Emma was more realistic about the public mood in the UK but you could tell how her personal sentiment was pro-Brussels: “I suspect not, because I think the politics around this topic are so powerful that now Brexit has become almost a cultural issue and the real hardcore Brexiters would honestly put leaving ahead of the economic strength of the country. Having said that, most people in Britain are fairly pragmatic so the mood could change, particularly if the economy starts doing badly. I don’t know whether a mood change would ever be sufficient to reverse the decision but what it might do is temper or shape the final deal.”

    Hence the renewed Sunday Times onslaught on an apparently rejuvenated Brexit Johnson with Rees-Mogg as Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency?

    This could turn into something of a cat fight: ‘You mess with Boris you get Dorries. “I owe him my absolute undying loyalty“‘ (Sunday Times)

    It’s a chap’s dream come true… all the ladies fighting over him: ‘All the single men… should move to Wandsworth‘ (Sunday Times) – by Tom Calver, Data Projects Editor… whatever that means? But we warm to his style as he kicks off his article with a quote from Truman Capote: “Love, having no geography, knows no boundaries” – I’m guessing sofa retailer DFS has that saying framed and hung high on the office wall of their advertising department. I digress.

    Our Tom looks at the ONS data and discovers 33% more females in their 20s compared to males in the somewhat posh London borough. Tom ponders perhaps the movie Love Actually [2000] might have attracted this surfeit. But Danny Dorling, an Oxford Prof of geography poo-poos the effect of light entertainment and explains: “More girls go to University than boys, more graduates migrate to London, so Wandsworth ends up with that 33% difference

    Fair play to the academic. I think he has solved that mystery. He was well-positioned to do so given that the feminised culture of both secondary and higher education has caused this skew in the first place. And one doubts he’d change a thing. No wonder: ‘Russell Group universities have amassed £2.2billion surplus‘ – windfall tax, anyone? If this were the oil industry or the banking sector, Labour would be howling for it.

    The Sunday Telegraph ponders: ‘Life after Prince Andrew. What Virginia Giuffre did next‘ – a nice chat with her bank manager?

    How I tracked down sensational photo that topled Prince Andrew by our tenacious woman in New York‘ (Sunday Mail)

    It’s a man’s world – or so said James Brown – but I’m not so sure.

       13 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.

      Socrates

         9 likes

      • JohnC says:

        If women were truly equal to men in all respects, they wouldn’t need special rules to force it.

        JohnC.

           14 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          “If life were fair, MP washing machine repair boys would likely be worth more than a call out charge by now”.

             5 likes

  29. MarkyMark says:

    Archbishop of Canterbury says his faith helped during depression
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60451794
    Mr Welby said a book written by his daughter in 2017 had encouraged him to speak to others and get help.

    He first opened up about his depression that same year and in 2019 revealed that he was taking medication.
    ………………
    Before getting into God, Justin went to Eton, and Trinity College Cambridge, before entering the oil industry and reaching the level of executive.

    He left in 1989, believing he had been sent a calling from God and became a priest in 1993.
    https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/19/justin-welby-age-net-worth-and-more-info-on-the-archbishop-of-canterbury-as-he-officiates-royal-wedding-7551368/

    Wonga row: Archbishop of Canterbury ’embarrassed’ over Church funds
    Published26 July 2013
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23459932
    ….

    Worship leader Matt Redman, the head of the Coptic Church in the UK and a top imam are among the winners of a new set of Awards given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace has revealed.

    The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, today announced the awards on the third anniversary of his installation.

    Reuters
    There are six new awards, to join three pre-existing ones, including awards to recognise outstanding service in the fields of prayer and religious life, reconciliation, and evangelism and witness – the Archbishop’s ministry priorities.

    https://www.christiantoday.com/article/justin-welby-to-honour-top-imam-matt-redman-and-bishop-angelos-with-new-awards/82349.htm
    ….

       1 likes

  30. Guest Who says:

    A question for a brave person to pose to Timmeh!:

    “Is there an effective western dictatorship the bbc will not quietly prop up?”

    https://isthebbcbiased.blogspot.com/2022/02/alan-cochrane-on-bbcs-reporting-of-snp.html

    There is of course a risk of blocking or banning, or a simple ‘no comment’ from the highly paid chief holder of power to account’s anonymous spokesweasel.

       5 likes

  31. Guest Who says:

    BBC on a high horse.

       7 likes

    • JohnC says:

      The precedent here being that anyone issued with a fixed penalty fine must resign from public office because they broke the law.

      A precedent the BBC hypocrites will ignore completely the moment it doesn’t suit them.

      It was a watershed moment for our country when a black Labour MP fresh from prison voted on Brexit whilst wearing an electronic ankle tag.

      Yet the only actual article on it which comes up from the BBC with a google search is a sympathetic piece about how she struggled in prison – which includes:
      ‘She now hopes to “become a voice” for the women she met in prison.’

      ‘Double standard dirty hypocrites’ doesn’t even begin to come close to what the BBC is now.

         21 likes

  32. JohnC says:

    Just reading the latest BBC propaganda on Ukraine and I’ve noticed it’s one of those BBC topics where they do not give any background information in the article. They are just giving sterile accounts of what has happened.

    I always smell a rat when the BBC do that. I haven’t gone into it too deeply, but it looks a lot like ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis’ in reverse to me. If Ukraine joins NATO, it could have bases right along the border with Russia.

       9 likes

  33. Guest Who says:

    Rainbow echo chamber.

       7 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Speaking on Prime Ministers who refuse…

      In HuffPo? Woah… girls.

         11 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Barry Gardiner to resign for accepting 500K of chinese cash?

         6 likes

  34. MarkyMark says:

    We can overcome this impasse! Let’s Move Forward! “Enough for the Many, Enough for the Few”.

    It seems to me that Labour have lost (democratically@40%) but act as though they have won and the Conservatives have won (democratically@42.4%) but are waiting to lose, rather than take power and getting on with it.

    So I suggest rather than this continuing this tiring political, we take this problem further a field. Venezuela is praised by some Labour Members as a socialist dream, along with Cuba, South Africa and China. So we do a ‘wealth transfer’ of people.

    All members of Labour Party with families (483,000 Labour Members March2017) can transfer to one of the countries that signs up for this great experiment. In response, people from the socialist countries who no longer want the socialist dream, because they are living it, can come to the UK – trying to keep it one for one as close as possible – same skill would be great but this won’t be completely possible.

    We run this for 10 years and see where we get to. Socialist get to build their socialist dream in a socialist country, possibly with sunnier weather. The people who have had enough of the socialist dream can come to the UK to work hard and improve the UK.

    “For all his flaws, Castro’s support for Angola played a crucial role in bringing an end to Apartheid in South Africa and he will be remembered both as an internationalist and a champion of social justice.” – Corbyn

    “Thanks Hugo Chavez for showing that the poor matter and wealth can be shared. He made massive contributions to Venezuela & a very wide world” – Corbyn

    “He said his ‘core values’ (interesting to know what they are) had not changed during the 34 years (thats a lot of time to be an MP) as an MP and cited his campaigning against discrimination in South Africa and fighting ‘unfairness’.” Corbyn, april2017

    “Well over 150,000 Venezuelans have fled the country in the last year alone, the highest in more than a decade, according to scholars studying the exodus.” newyorkpost / nov2016

    The total full-time staff numbers are at 18,974 this year compared with 18,674 in the previous 12 months. The amount spent on on-screen and on-air talent has also increased from £194.23m in 2013/14 to £208.49m in 2014/15.
    * “The Great British Bake Off” presenters. BBC salaries paid by you: £500,000. Aug2016

    * Claudia Winkleman. Rumoured BBC salary paid by you: More than £500,000.

    * Gary Lineker. Rumoured BBC salary paid by you: £1.5 million ($2 million).

    * Graham Norton. Rumoured BBC salary paid by you: Up to £2.5 million

    BBC and it’s presenters can go as well! Everyone Wins!

    Why holiday in a socialist country – when you can live there!

    https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2017/06/19/start-the-week-open-thread-129/comment-page-2/#comment-846232

       4 likes

  35. MarkyMark says:

    Boris Johnson: Do not throw caution to the wind on Covid
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60446908

    CHEATING HANCOCK Matt Hancock’s secret affair with aide Gina Coladangelo is exposed after office snogs while Covid raged on
    Rob PattinsonHarry Cole
    11:51, 25 Jun 2021Updated: 8:16, 27 Jun 2021
    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15388014/matt-hancock-secret-affair-with-aide/

       3 likes

  36. MarkyMark says:

    Covid kills – do not spread it.
    HANK-WATERMARKED-2-1.jpg?w=620

       0 likes

  37. MarkyMark says:

    2015 … “And it’s becoming clearer that Trudeau not only admires the dictatorship — he runs the Liberal Party like one too.

    How else can one explain the police-enforced acclamation of Andrew Leslie as the Liberal candidate for Orleans? Even with hundreds of Liberals attending the meeting to show their support for another candidate (and former Trudeau leadership rival), it was clear from the beginning that Leslie was Trudeau’s hand-picked favourite, and certainly wouldn’t be stopped by pesky processes like “democracy.”

    Just the imagery of Trudeau’s chosen candidate being selected with police intervention is scary. It shows that Trudeau doesn’t just admire China’s dictatorship — he would practice one if he had the chance.”
    https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/trudeau-dictator_b_6314494

       10 likes

  38. G says:

    I’ve been off power for two days. A rewarding experience to highlight the small holes in my emergency prep procedure. Moral of the matter? Tilley Lamps, Log fire etc. A good prelude of what’s to come. I’ve even kept two freezers and two ‘fridges partially electrified so no loss.

    Biggest problem? mobile signal (for me internet as well) down. Couldn’t get the windie thing to open the electric garage door (seized up) to at least drive out to find a signal. Will be fixed during the coming week!

    Just working through the contributions here. Biggest question in my mind? Whatever happened to the so-called, “UN Observers” on the ground in Ukraine? I imagine Russia and China voted against that idea when it was? proposed.

       11 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      G
      Being powerless is ‘challenging ‘ isn’t it ? In a previous life I used to draft and test contingency plans – and one thing it taught me is to have backups and backups –

      And maybe one positive side effect of both the Chinese virus and the recent big wind is that more people will plan for loss of key things such as power …..

      If putin really does get dirty I can see him making a determined effort to stop the internet and phone technology . For those of the pre – internet age – such as me – I know I could live without it … but for kidults – I think not . ….having a bit more real cash at the moment is one precaution I’ve taken …rather than depending on that ATM….
      But each to his own …

         7 likes

      • G says:

        Fed,

        “…..and one thing it taught me is to have backups and backups –”

        And do the drills – regularly’. But that’s the old Bootneck in me.

           2 likes

  39. MarkyMark says:

    Amir Khan says loss to Kell Brook could be his last fight
    Last updated on2 hours ago
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/60451657
    ….

    “The boxer is provided with Halal options when his campmates win bushtucker trials so he doesn’t compromise his Muslim faith”

    . . . he doesn’t compromise his Muslim faith . . .

    “I’m a Muslim, my religion teaches me not to hurt people (Khan is a boxer) or upset people, and to be a good person. Obviously I go into the boxing ring it’s my job to hit someone, so that doesn’t rally matter. I know I’ve got God on my side … ” – Amir Iqbal Khan {nov2014}

       1 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      Boxing is absolutely Haram, there are fatwahs about it so he cannot claim to be a practising Muslim, more of a practising hypocrite.

         7 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        “Especially boxing and fighting [sports] without rules are considered, from the religious point of view, haram, as they can damage health, disable someone,” said Abdulkodirzoda, who is appointed to his post by the government. He added: “All kinds of games and duels [done] for money are haram.

           3 likes

  40. Johnda says:

    Off topic or maybe not
    Just watched Rebus from 2004 what a refreshing change. Not PC no inappropriate casting and smoking on TV whatever next.
    How relaxing

       10 likes

  41. G.W.F. says:

    Our Nadine compares the BBC to a bear on a shrinking icecap.
    Personally, I would choose a different animal; bears have a kind of dignity.
    But a serpent, for example, would not find itself on an ice cap.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nadine-dorries-bbc-needs-saving-from-itself/ar-AAU4Vec

       15 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      It will grow another head.

         6 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        What sort of animal would the BBC be ? Something which is every where – hard to kill – has no real value – wouldn’t be missed or loved –
        Cockroach or rat I guess ..

           11 likes

        • MarkyMark says:

          RLM – Rats Lives Matter.

          The presenters will leave and join other organisations and then move them to the same BBC standards – see ofcom – full of BBC ex employees.

             5 likes

  42. moggie63 says:

    I seem to recall reading somewhere, last year, that the BBC were thrilled with lockdown because, with people staying at home, more would tune in to the Beeb, increasing their viewing figures. I also seem to recall that their viewing figures went down. I wish I could remember where I read this.

       11 likes

  43. MarkyMark says:

    The millions spent on ‘disturbing’ covid advertising
    https://www.politics.co.uk/comment/2021/03/29/the-millions-spent-on-disturbing-covid-advertising/

    Whilst businesses large and small across the country must have gulped at the unwelcome extension to already damaging legislation, there would have been one group cheering to the rafters. This happy breed comprises the advertising agencies and media owners who will once again be hosed down with millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money keeping the government’s rickety narrative on track.

    Many subscribe to George Orwell’s withering aphorism that “advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill-bucket” but they would be wrong.

       2 likes

  44. MarkyMark says:

    Alastair Campbell had Iraq dossier changed to fit US claims
    This article is more than 12 years old
    ‘WMD in a year’ allegation halved original timescale after compilers told to compare contents with Bush speech
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/10/alastair-campbell-iraq-dossier-inquiry

       2 likes

  45. MarkyMark says:

    BORIS: WE CAN’T CONTINUE SPENDING £2 BILLION A MONTH ON TESTING
    order-order.com
    ……

    WHAT DOES HE CARE….

    Employment and earnings
    Payments from Hodder and Stoughton UK, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ, via United Agents, 12-26 Lexington St, London W1F 0LE:
    20 January 2021, received £1,471.64 for royalties on book already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 05 February 2021)
    10 March 2021, received £742.60 for royalties on book already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 25 March 2021)
    31 March 2021, received £2,397.09 for royalties on book already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 16 April 2021)
    21 April 2021, received £1,468.23 for royalties on book already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 11 May 2021)
    1 October 2021, received £1,396.93 for royalties on book already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 21 October 2021)
    Payments from HarperCollins UK, 1 London Bridge St, London SE1 9GF, via Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN:
    23 April 2021, received £482.66 for royalties on books already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 11 May 2021)
    10 November 2021, received £277.81 for royalties on books already written. Hours: no additional hours. (Registered 06 December 2021)
    https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10999/boris_johnson/uxbridge_and_south_ruislip#register

       2 likes

  46. MarkyMark says:

    Jimi Olaghere thought he would have to wait decades to be freed from his sickle cell disease – but now scientists have engineered his blood to overcome the disease which left him in constant pain.

    nejmra1510865_f1.jpeg
    ….
    The estimated global number of migrants with HbS increased from about 1·6 million in 1960, to 3·6 million in 2000. This increase was largely due to an increase in the number of migrants from countries with HbS allele frequencies higher than 10%, from 3·1 million in 1960, to 14·2 million in 2000.

       6 likes

  47. Fedup2 says:

    Pug
    I wonder if a ‘syndrome ‘ is developing of people afraid to return to anything like 2019? I can hear the lord campaigners on ‘toady ‘ demanding the government gives the NHS a few billion more to treat ‘post covid syndrome ‘ hereafter called PCS©All rights reserved ….

       5 likes

  48. MarkyMark says:

    Breaking Female Barriers…

    Jailed MP to become first to wear electronic tag in Parliament

    Fiona Onasanya is expected to become the first MP in history to wear an electronic tag in the House of Commons when she is released from prison.

    The shamed politician, 35, was locked up for three months after being found guilty of lying to police about a speeding offence.
    https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/02/jailed-mp-to-become-first-to-wear-electronic-tag-in-parliament-8428831/

    But despite being expelled from the Labour Party she has refused to quit as the representative of Peterborough and will continue to get her £77,379 salary while behind bars.

       8 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      The other aspect of that was that she was released early – and on the day thar a key brexit vote was taken – her traitorous vote further prevented brexit ….

         12 likes

  49. MarkyMark says:

    “But despite being expelled from the Labour Party she has refused to quit as the representative of Peterborough and will continue to get her £77,379 salary while behind bars.”

    https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25638/fiona_onasanya/peterborough

    Trustee of YMCA East Herts. (Registered 05 July 2017)
    On 7 July 2018, I received a year’s free membership of Opportunity Peterborough, a bond holder network. The value of this benefit is below registrable value. (Registered 12 July 2018)

    Members’ Interests
    Fiona Onasanya

       5 likes