I travelled to Vienna during the week and took in the Rapid Wien v Sturm Graz football match. There were about 17,000 spectators in the 20,000 capacity Hanappi Stadium so were a bit surprised to see so many police outside the ground in full riot gear. The home side had played the derby match with rivals Austria Vienna on the previous weekend but this seemed to be overkill.
Upon arriving in our seats we witnessed a bizarre example of OTT policing. A small number of fans had managed to get onto the pitch and they were then chased by the Polizei stormtroopers. Whether this is a way to justify the overtime bill is open to conjecture but this was just crazy. Indeed, from our standpoint we would have thought that this was more likely to incite a riot than solve any problems.
Certainly, the police were not dealing with the numerous flares deployed by the fans (though none were thrown) so this aspect of continental football supporting appears to be the norm. A great spectacle but you wouldn't want to be next to the guy holsding the firecracker whilst he gyrated up and down like a demented West Brom fan.
In stark contrast to this reaction comes the news of the abandonment of the game at Chester City. It is sad to see what has happened to this club over the years; they have rolled from one disaster to another. On Monday, they could possibly be expelled from the league for financial irregularities.
According to the BBC report, the police made the decision to call the game off -with Chester leading Eastbourne 3-2 - despite the fact that there appears to have only been a handful of protestors on the pitch. (Youtube video)
Perhaps Cheshire Constabulary need a fact-finding junket to Austria to see how to deal with these matters. Or maybe an exchange visit.
Keeping Off The Grass
Steven Boote RIP
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Some photos of the funeral of Corporal Steven Boote who died on November 3rd in Helmond Province, Afghanistan. He was one of five soldiers killed by an Afghani police trainee. Political statements are unnecessary at this time.
The funeral took place at Christ Church, Port Sunlight Village. The church itself is featured on Songs of Praise on Sunday 29th November.
Liverpool Echo coverage here and a lengthy tribute from the MOD here.
Collett's Ghosts Come Back
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Sky News today reports on the Mark Collett Pacman motif I mentioned on 5th November. Ah well, after spending the last few days retuning digi boxes for people, it's good to see that they weren't missing anything.
Collett , predictably, dismisses this as a joke:
Collett told Sky News his spoof Pac-Man picture was "simply a joke" and said he did not want to "sort out" Muslims.
He said: "The Pac-Man character eats ghosts, but to suggest that anyone in the BNP wants anyone to eat women in burqas is laughable.
"It's not suggesting that anyone needs sorting out, it was simply a joke."
Collett is not apologetic. Indeed he has a follow up:
Not So Plain, Janes
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I thought I'd wander over to the Mail online site as I was feeling lazy and knew I would be pushing at an open door. There was bound to be an endless supply of spelling and grammar mistakes in the comments on the Brown Letter. Imagine my surprise at finding a sympathetic hearing for our flailing PM. What's going on? Is this a sign of compassion breaking out, or just an indication that Mail readers see themselves as a cut above The Sun?
I don't understand all the apologists for Gordon Brown. This man has wrecked our country, where is the sympathy for the jobless and all those losing their homes and businesses? The letter is an insult to the memory of a brave man, no wonder Mrs Janes was upset.
and we wonder why we are a global laughing stock!!!!
That Ms Janes should choose to make this public via the offices of The Sun shows her in a less than perfect light. That she should then compound that by allowing her telephone conversation to be recorded (without consent) and a transcript published in this disgraceful rag, does her son's memory more harm than good.
Perhaps - just perhaps - even Mail readers consider that to be a step too far.
Hate Actually
BNP, Daily Mail, Emma Thompson, Tindy Agaba.
As The Guardian reports, actress Emma Thompson has declared that Exeter University would be a place where Griffin and the BNP would feel at home. This comes in the light of the treatment she claims her adopted son, Tindy suffered whilst a student there.
(She) urged a university to work to stamp out racism after her adopted son endured "unpleasant" experiences while studying there. Thompson says Rwandan-born Tindyebwa Agaba suffered because of the colour of his skin during his first year studying politics at Exeter University.
Speaking at a diversity event at the university, Thompson claimed the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, would "love" the area because of its relative lack of racial diversity. She urged staff and students to carry on trying to drive out prejudice.
- Switching to the Daily Telegraph which reports that the vile trade in African children appears to be spreading. Self-loathing white liberal and actress Emma Thompson even goes so far as to utilise this inverted form of people trafficking to advocate the replacement of the white population of Exeter. Notice how the report emits the statistics for the percentage of white people currently resident in Rwanda:
Tindy came into Miss Thompson's life when he was only 16, after being introduced to the actress and her second husband, actor Greg Wise, at a Refugee Council party in London.
Tindy's father had died of Aids when he was nine and his mother and sister were listed as missing after the 1994 Rwandan genocide - they were raped by soldiers and abducted, never to be seen again.
He has nightmares about it to this day. Tindy had been forced to serve as a boy soldier, and had escaped the country thanks to the charity Care International.
"He didn't have much English, but we just got talking," says Emma. "His experience had been awful and when he finally got to Britain after tremendous suffering, he told us the Home Office didn't believe him.
"He spent two nights sleeping rough in Trafalgar Square before they finally did. It was the only time he considered suicide.
- She will turn 51 next April and perhaps we should rise to the challenge and show how kind and considerate us BNP people are when faced with such a chronic case of ethnomasochism. If we all club together, perhaps we put the poor girl out of her misery and arrange for some of her organs and limbs to be replaced by those from donors from Africa. Having been suitably modified and enriched she could then lead a more fulfilling and purposeful life, happy knowing that she had become a living embodiment of the anti-racist cause. A perfect and thoughtful gift.
A speech bubble has an Asian man saying: “Please don’t film me – I’m illegal and I’m working for cash in hand, innit.”
Darby defends the vile video by saying, “It’s a hard-hitting, topical thing that people will find funny. We are linking to it on our website.”
The Mail also picks up on the story today. In keeping with their symbiotic love affair with the BNP, the article is fairly neutral but the comments are mostly pro-BNP. Of note is this one from a fellow immigrant:
- If she wants to live in a more diverse area, why not move him to Peckham or Wembley or one of many majority ethnic areas instead of constantly complaining about how white Britain is.
Tindy is a young man who has suffered so much yet has managed to achieve so much. Yet many people believe he should be so thankful for being allowed to stay here that he should turn a blind eye to naked racism. Maybe he should just smile and buy a golliwog from the BNP site. As Emma's father might have said, 'Boing!'
Hat tip to Noxi (@June4th)
Mark Collett: More Puerile Muslim Bashing
BNP man-child Mark Collett has been showing the party's true colours again. The Hitler admirer, who seems to exist in a cartoon world, and who came to fame in Young Nazi and Proud and in the recent BBC interview, wants his online fans to vote for his latest graphics effort.
If you click on the screenshot you'll see that the picture is of Pacman chasing burkah-clad aliens with the strapline 'Pacman - sortin' out Muslims since 1980'. Class.
Düsseldorf Photos - August 2009 -
Hooters Sports Bar
Party on the Rhine
Rhine Cruise
Rheinturm and bridge
Stag and Hen Party Merchandise
Street entertainment in the old town
Uerige Brewpub (featured in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet)
Uerige again. I was given a pen and post-it notes by a CDU canvasser despite telling him I would support the SPD if I could vote in German elections. Put them to good use across the city though it didn't affect the final result.
Market Place
Duesseldorf webcams
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What kind of society are we becoming? I am not a labour supporter but stop kicking a man when he's down. He made the effort to hand write a letter at least, nothing he does seems to be right.
The man lost a baby and his second child has cystic fibrosis, he's not exactly had an easy time of it. I feel people are being excessively cruel and need to lay off a bit.
- Kelly, Cheam, Surrey, 9/11/2009 12:37
I am not a supporter of Gordon Brown and suspect I never will be. But... However badly the letter was written, it was written by hand. It would be oh so easy to write a template or two and insert the appropriate names. The letter would be well written, gramatically perfect and with and with flawless spelling. But it would be meaningless. The man put his own pen to his own paper. And for that, deserves some credit.
- Allan P, Plymouth Devon, 9/11/2009 18:01