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Live blanket news coverage.Name one child out of the hundreds that died fleeing poverty in the med last week without searching Google or such like .Sickening
True, the sub gets more coverage than migrants because it’s sensational – there’s a Titanic connection, there are very wealthy people on-board, it’s deep underwater and the world is rushing to help… it’s a big story with massive public interest for all those reasons.
But, the fact is that all those in dire circumstances deserve our sympathy. It doesn’t have to be one and not the other.
Hah, why did the UK leave the EU? They were afraid because they were told the country was run by Brussels, when really the country was run by the Tories. Amid a deep, badly managed recession, a lie was put about – that leaving the EU would get rid of foreigners/brown/black people, provide more money for hospitals, and somehow turn back the clock to the good old days of yore.
But, think for a moment. EU membership had never been seriously questioned before, except by a fringe group of political eccentrics, because everyone could see the benefits far outweighed the deficiencies. Corruption, waste, democracy? There’s lots of corruption, waste and a democratic deficit in the British parliament. But the Brexiters ignored all that, and suddenly made the EU a scapegoat for all the UK’s ills. It wasn’t just a political issue, it was moral one, the campaigners told us from the barricades, and something just had to be done.
The leave campaign was dominated by racism. It was given a seal of approval by so-called ‘respectable’ members of the community; men in power, men in suits, even men of the cloth. On Bru, there was Lesgeo, broadcasting about his experience in the school, court and even the church, building up moral credibility before putting about some of the most egregious and un-Christian lies ever seen on here, and even encouraging others to share them.
Those stories? Haha! Remember that one about frightening the public with “research” predicting that 12 million Turks were likely to come? Remember too, the connection with those loony, far-right, so-called Christian web sites in the US? Populist, weapons-grade lies and nonsense to terrorise the gullible, from someone clearly unsuitable for public office. Neither must we forget pugilist jonnie ‘Or-not’ who used Bru to threaten to punch Andy Burnham’s lights out… clearly a democratic deficit there!
Elsewhere in the country it got worse. The Tories had their ‘climate of hostility’ policies, the Kippers had their ‘breaking point’ posters, and together with the right-wing media they conjured an ugly national mood, one in which people were looking sideways at anyone who looked or spoke ‘foreign’ – in supermarkets, buses, pubs, clubs – while in homes around the country arguments were breaking out among families, friends, neighbours… arguments between those who could see through the bullshit, and those who just wanted to believe.
Nobody was immune, and through manipulation in politics, mass and social media, Facebook, Twitter, plus the use of algorithms to target those who don’t seek out reliable news, the country was pushed into a position of calamitous and epic stupidity, like arguing about the existence of gravity.
It was complete and utter madness. Every living PM, along with prize-winning scientists, people who understood things – experts – all said ‘remain’, and have since been proved correct. Yet, amid the emotion of cheap shoes, fish and blue passports, the believers still followed Leadsom and Farage into the abyss, winning by the narrowest of margins. But just what exactly did they win? Precisely nothing.
Lies have consequences, and now we are reaping what others have sown. The country is sicker, weaker, poorer, and there’s unfinished business. No wonder the Brexiters and their towering hubris want to move on and let it drop.
As for Lesgeo’s belated U-Turn above, dad and the jonnies should come on here to apologise for all the guff they posted in the past about an ‘evil empire’ etc; guff which misled, stirred up hatred, and contributed to the creation of a climate in which it was ok to hate Muslims and immigrants, as well as OK to leave the EU without any sort of plan whatsoever.
But, in the Christian spirit which has long since characterised many of our band of Bru-ers, let there be compassion for the conned, and utter contempt for the conmen. Let us pray for them all – you know who you are.
Here’s something well over 40% which the algorithm pushed at me recently. I was indifferent about Blondie but this is loose, messy, dirty… pure unadulterated r&r.
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“Current societal pressures” which the country is suffering? You mean economic, political and social crises, and more ‘red tape’, pretty much everywhere you look.
Correlation and causation? Every area of the economy and society has been made worse by Brexit. The inevitable consequences of leaving which the Brexiters denied would happen, is happening. Just what do they think they’ve won? Name one law you’re happy about losing which made it all worthwhile.
For the Tory party, campaigning for ‘leave’ and offering a referendum was only ever about in-fighting and stemming the loss of support by shifting the party further to the right. Even the leading Brexiters didn’t expect to win – Johnson had no plan of how to leave, until he was forced to produce the ‘oven ready’ version.
And there’s JL thinking it will be 30 years before we’ll know if there are any benefits! Is that any sensible basis on which to take major decisions – even when you know it could be a disaster you’ll move house, start a new job, or vote in a referendum…. and then if it turns out to be egregiously bad, still give it 30 years, just to see??
Oh, but I forgot… wasn’t there a friend you talked to, who said everything would be alright? Well, that’s fine for the rest of us, then.
The sooner the country disposes of this government the better. More rubbish than in those M180 lay-bys. Put it on Facebook and send it to your friends….
Getting down to zero population growth is no bad thing.
Yes, the best form of contraception is education. It’s a pattern repeated around the world.
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It seems that many of the doffers love the idea of royalty, rather than the practicalities of it.
They like the ceremony, the history, the pomp and symbolism, the fascination it inspires in foreigners, and the comforting role it has in their own sense of national identity and even their sense of self.
But it’s a romantic notion, it’s an illusion, a myth, and that makes it a bit like religion. Or Brexit. Remove the curtain, let in the daylight, and there’s nothing more than an empty box… just a trick played on one’s imagination.
It just doesn’t withstand scrutiny. A very extended family of ludicrously wealthy and privileged individuals – not just the immediate royal family but all the (en)titled hangers on – the dukes, duchesses, lords, ladies, barons, baronesses etc. and all their offspring … a landed gentry going back to 1066 who still own most of this country, almost all there by accident of birth.
Thanks to the taxpayer, most lead very sheltered, privileged and protected lives, yet remain unskilled. And what exactly do they do, that elected representatives could not do? Some have behaved appallingly but continue to get away with it. True, a few get involved with charities, but then what’s charity but a 19th century concept, created to cover a failure of government responsibility and absolve the consciences of the rich. It papers over the cracks and places responsibility on the backs of the little people.
But what’s worse is that they proudly sit atop the pile, at the head of a class system that silently tells people that some folk (them) are naturally better and more deserving than others – the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate – and even how their aristocratic estate and good fortune was ordained by God! (How else could it happen?)
And here’s another thing. Those who believe most fervently in the present state of affairs are the ones the royals most despise, because they know how ridiculous the whole thing is, and how stupid the doffers are to go along with it, with their cardboard crowns, tea towels, biscuit tins and of course, mugs…
Will the country ever awaken and be woke from its national psychosis? Just before posting this I see John Harris thinks it will, but people were predicting the same back in 1997 and probably 1967… the madness of crowds is a strange thing.
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Very true IA – nobody on the political right now talks about the ‘unacceptable face of capitalism’. That’s because the Tories and Republicans have repositioned themselves as far-right parties where the rules don’t matter and anything goes. There’s been a total collapse in controls for corruption, malfeasance, and truth-telling. Awfulness has become normalised on bothe sides of the Atlantic.
In fact, if it weren’t for its obscene wealth, you could almost classify the US as a 3rd world country, with its stupid guns, loathsome churches, unbridled capitalism in league with right-wing media, and the consequent extensive poverty, social division and violent crime.
Meanwhile, the right talks about too much political correctness! Too many rights for this, rights for that, and how it’s all wrong. They said the same when slavery was abolished and again with civil rights.
Fact is, that a society as violent, misogynist, racist and unequal as America clearly doesn’t have enough PC. And those who ignore or deny it, are complicit in it. They keep it going, and ensure it won’t change. Quite how the political right and their conscience manage this really does beggar belief – whether Christian, Atheist or Jedi!
Oh, and in sum, very dim Les.
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Trump is a charismatic authoritarian bully, an inveterate lying narcissist, with a man-child mentality. He’s totally unfit to lead, but he will and does appeal to those who like far-right politics, populism, and dislike the social changes posed by feminism, lgbtq rights, multiculturalism, etc.
Trump appeals to those who like strong, right-wing leaders who dislike experts, ignore facts, and who like to work on gut feelings backed up by an ability to work a (dim) crowd into a frenzy with tub-thumping preaching/speeches, populist rhetoric and slogans. He’s a sort of Francisco Franco for the 21st century, and his appeal to JL is guaranteed.
In the 20-teens there was a fashion for this kind of leader (see also Johnson and Farage), largely due to austerity and the ways in which people were persuaded to blame immigration and the EU, rather than the right-wing leaders and their lack of economic control.
Had Trump been a man of the left, he’d (rightly) have been crucified by the right-wing media long ago. It’s only down to press bias that Trump, Farage and Johnson have prospered.
Personally, I see a nightmarish orange person with a rat-clown face whose trousers end up around his ankles every time he speaks.
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there is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker
Aye, it’s the law that makes an act illegal, not a person, and when people are trying to escape danger, there’s no question of illegality.
Britain is often the country to which refugees gravitate when there’s war, poverty and other threats at home. Why? Because after so many British invasions and involvement in countries around the world, mainly due to imperial expansion, trade and the need for oil, English is the second language of millions, plus, compared to many political and religious dictatorships, the country has a reputation for being decent and humane, so it’s a natural choice.
Course, the main reason we know about the problems besetting refugees is because of the BBC. If public service broadcasting were abandoned to the profit motive, who on earth would bother to make a programme about problems in Syria, Afghanistan etc? There’s no money in it, and it only makes people empathise and question global inequality. Much cheaper and more profiable to make a cheap game show or similar.
And yes, there are abuses of our generosity, just as there are abuses of any system created to help those in dire straits. The Tories said the same when the welfare state was set up here. But it’s a right-wing trick to focus on the few abuses and argue they are widespread and typical, when they are neither. True, these arrangements will never function perfectly, but we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, as every Christian knows.
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Just to get back on track for a moment…
The BBC is excellent and one of this country’s crown jewels. But that’s not to say it’s perfect. Last week we saw Fiona Bruce say that Johnson’s dad had only hit his wife once, which she dismissed as if unimportant, despite evidence he’d hit her on repeated occasions. Bruce subsequently resigned from her post as ‘ambassador’ for a domestic violence charity and quite right too, it was a stupid remark.
Perhaps more serious was the way on which the BBC interviewed expert economists and others during the Brexit campaign, and for ‘balance’ they also interviewed Kippers and others, most of whom were thicker than a whale omelette. Now, if everyone can see it’s raining outside and someone says ‘no, the sun’s shining’, you don’t interview the ‘shiners’ in the name of balance! Yet, this is what happened on too many occasions. Complete idiots were treated with deference / reverence, as if they were experts.
Same with Johnson – he’s a proven liar and deserves to be called out when he tells lies, yet auntie failed and fails still, to do this on numerous occasions.
And then there’s this ‘ere chairman, a man with no experience in broadcasting, and one who has does big favours for Johnson, and compromises the ‘arm’s length’ principle of the BBC.
Despite these weaknesses it has proved a reliable source of info during Covid and still is a leading source on international news, such as the reporting from Ukraine, which is why the rest of the world looks to it as a beacon of excellence, and totalitarian governments fear and ban it.
Privatise the news, and what are you left with? Trump-supporting conspiracy stations like G-Beebies and Sky, with an avalanche of adverts in which the first casualty is truth. In fact the news itself would become like an advert… for the liars and charlatans on the far-right. Why? Because it suits the agenda of those funding them, and because it’s so easy for others to pay/sponsor a broadcaster to churn out sensational, exaggerated and plain untrue stories about foreigners, scroungers, teachers, doctors, lefties… all without a shred of evidence.
Yep, the BBC has it’s problems, but the way in which it’s funded allows it to keep at arms length from government, and consistently be the best there is, not only at news but at bringing the country together. That’s because it can commission programmes which are not necessarily profitable, but are nevertheless important, e.g. documentaries about history, nature, science and so on, even religious programmes which I resent but accept. That’s in contrast to channels of wall to wall commercial ‘messages’ interspersed with game shows, etc. – as informative, educational and entertaining as an ocular migraine.
All that said, the BBC has two of the most annoying people on TV – Winkleperson and Balding. Aye, shut it down now!
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BI Mr Perfect – maintaining his record of being wrong about everything as usual! The Peter Swann of non-football!
The government is criticised for using language that only 20 years ago would have been the language of the BNP, and BI’ waffles about taxpayers’ rights.
The public has every right to be concerned about this government’s nefarious back-door influence on the BBC, which is becoming commonplace…
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bbc-editors-asked-journalists-avoid-210844842.htmlUnsurprisingly, many presenters have been critical of government policy for some time. Although there are rules about it, they are not clear given how social media has evolved, and consequently enforcement has been lax. BI’s list is selective, but here’s a longer one….
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/gary-lineker-singled-long-list-201937853.htmlBut, far from damaging the BBC, the widespread support for Lineker’s comments shows how much the Tories are hated inside and outside the corporation. It also shows how BI’s fictitious ‘taxpayer’ (how 1980s! – millions don’t pay tax but still have a voice) expects the BBC not to bow to government pressure, and to respect the free expression of views by freelancers, particularly when they involve criticism of language used by the government being redolent of 1930s Germany.
I expect the Tories love a freelancer because they’re relatively easy to hire and fire. Now it seems they want to muzzle them too.
As for BBC staff being very unhappy – I’m not surprised. The low pay, the creeping managerialism, the increasing attempts by government to shut them up…. Why, I know quite a few senior people at the BBC, including one journalist currently on a flagship news programme. It’s an open secret that many of the staff are uncomfortable that Lineker was initially singled out for special treatment when he’s not even a BBC employee. So, it’s hardly surprising that those on a fraction of his income will feel satisfied with the outcome when he often says what they are thinking, but not permitted to say. (Thanks, BI)
And BI, just listen to yourself when you’re sounding off about “Lineker’s morals”. Egregious hypocrisy straight from the Daily Mail! In many respects the government you still slavishly support tries to behave just like the Qataris – they attempt to control the media, they have little respect workers’ rights, little respect for human rights, and they ignore as much as they can the kind of legislation designed to protect them. They hate anyone who opposes, and would delight in being able to shut them up Qatari style – hence the attempts to strong-arm the BBC into submission. OK, so at least they don’t use religion as a fig leaf to justify these abuses. But you really need to own these contradictions and own up.
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Many use religion as a camouflage for hurtful and bigoted opinions, as it frequently gets them a ‘free pass’ and is excused if it’s part of someone’s faith. But it shouldn’t be. It should be called out and challenged.
When we hear from the religious right that ‘abortion is morally wrong’, or ‘women shouldn’t have babies outside wedlock’ and so on… rather than meekly commenting ‘Oh I see, it’s your religious belief, so you can carry on exercising your rights over other people’s bodies and lives or at least supporting those organisations that do just that’, it’s important to oppose this sort of closed-minded bigotry, no matter whether the origin is Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Jedi…
Thankfully, church and state have been separate for centuries in this country, which without doubt has enabled human rights to progress in a ways which have not been possible in many others, particularly the rights of women, gays, and minorities in general. Everyone should be grateful for this enlightenment and de-throning of religious authority, rather than longing for a return to darkness, bigotry and deference to superstition.
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It’s because of the council elections, which aren’t far away.
To seek the votes of the frightened and angry, they have to make folk think about something other than the state of the NHS/schools/high energy prices/food shortages/dirty rivers/the cost of living and inflation/the consequences of Brexit…. and instead blame foreigners in general and refugees in particular, especially as they are so dramatically visible in small boats. Never mind the fact the Tories have had 13 years to sort this out.
Paradoxically,the biggest consumers of this red meat live in areas where immigration is low, such as north Lincs., compared to pretty much any big town/city. That’s because if you’ve been brought up in a classroom with kids from ten different countries around you, you’d think nothing of it. Yet if you were brought up in a classroom where the kids all looked like you, talked like you and so on, you’d be much more susceptible to all the anti-immigration rhetoric/lies put about in the popular press and by parties such as UKIP.
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