Top Git

'In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King?' H G Wells

'In the Kingdom (Brunel) of Clarkson the amoeba reigns supreme.' Fact.

Apology of a man.

If Clarkson is Obnoxious..........

I'm watching Liverpool v Atletico and in training for staying up late for what will hopefully be an historic victory for Obama.

Came across the rational site of Donal Blaney (ex of the 18 Doughty Street parish of Iain Dale) who seems to support Liverpool (bloody Irish comin' over here....) and has some witty, biting and incisive comments on the Clarkson matter.

• While driving a truck, Clarkson made a comment that truckers' union bosses (leftists) have decried as implying that truck drivers murder prostitutes. Two did - Suffolk Strangler Steven Wright and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe. It is not known if they were members of the United Road Transport Union.

• What kind of country are we living in when a spokesman for whores is even asked for her views by a family newspaper? Where does she think we live? Holland?

Oh such biting satire. Oh such a limelight-seeking shit. I used to know someone like this at uni. You know the type, he'd have a blue poppy, blue red-nose day nose, and think being deliberately obnoxious would make him stand out. He was usually ignored. and so it should be. Unfortunately, this grinning blurt is in the top 100 blogs ever (according to Iain Dale).

Anyway, onwards and upwards.

The Owasso Reporter in Oklahoma now has a brand new website (possibly due to the 200 billion people who linked to it after the Islamic Doll/Traffic Lights story.

As the original article's writer, Amanda Morgan-Scott (aka Mandybabe) points out - in response to my fraternal greetings from the 51st State (literally),

• I am so glad to know that you are an Obama supporter. I very proudly cast my ballot for John McCain. Knowing that we think differently about who should run the United States helps me feel even better about my choice. But still, it's nice to have you back giving us your opinion from the UK.
  
  By the way, your interest in our newspaper helped us reach 500,000 page views for the month of October - a great accomplishment for our paper. Even though you read our news only to make fun of us and criticize, at least you're reading.
  
  Oh, and, for what it's worth, I don't think any Americans really care what people in other countries think of us, so we're really not that worried about it.
  
  Amanda Scott, a.k.a. "MandyBabe" "

I think the last paragraph tells us why we need a certain result in a few hours time. The american people have a chance to show this country that, despite existing racial divisions and the fallacy of the American Dream, they are ahead of this country in choosing the best candidate regardless of race.

It may be a false dawn, but the sun must rise if we are to carpe diem.*


*Not a time for soundbites or more Latin but could not resist!

Now That's What I Call Top Gear

Returned from another devastating Quiz defeat to find an interesting visit from an IP address of Associated Newspapers. They were actually googling for 'Jeremy Clarkson prostitute youtube', which is very interesting. So from Materazzi to the Maserati. The story about Clarkson making one of his trademark facetious comments about truckers (change gear, change gear, murder a prostitute, change gear) has, as I referred to yesterday, split the Mail readers. (see below)

Given that the BBC has a play it again feature where you can watch last week's TV programmes, one wonders what they were after. Obviously, they wouldn't be condoning any copyright breaches by non-BBC uploads of the programme.

Perhaps they would be better looking for Richard Littlejohn's comments on the murder of prostitutes in Ipswich in 2006:

• It might not be fashionable, or even acceptable in some quarters, to say so, but in their chosen field of "work'=", death by strangulation is an occupational hazard.

• That doesn't make it justifiable homicide, but in the scheme of things the deaths of these five women is no great loss.

  They weren't going to discover a cure for cancer or embark on missionary work in Darfur. The only kind of missionary position they undertook was in the back seat of a car.

I make no apologies for referring to this hateful diatribe for the nth time. As the Guardian once claimed, Littlejohn is the 'stupid person's Jeremy Clarkson'.

The Mail Readers Civil War

• Once again it shows that the BBC is run by incompetent idiots.
  How
  could they allow these sort of comments to be broadcasted.
  Clarkson should be sacked.

  - Charles, Torquay, 3/11/2008 15:50

Perhaps this is the Major from Fawlty Towers.

• Getting Russell Brand booted off the BBC is one thing, but you are making a massive error if you think you can repeat the process with Top Gear and Clarkson.

  - Dave, UK expat, Eindhoven, 3/11/2008 16:02

You may think there's a disagreement here. And. In that sense. There is.

• But he's right isn't he? I think the Yorkshire ripper was also a truck driver.

  - Simon Nicholls, Fordingbridge UK, 3/11/2008 16:06

Crippin was a doctor. Ergo.....

• Completely different. Clarkson is GOD.

  - Mr Black, London, England, 3/11/2008 16:37

• Hilarious! Clarkson is God!

  - Rollo Tomasi, Bangkok, Thailand., 3/11/2008 16:37

Great minds?

• So full of himself,nothing more than a yob with a big mouth.

  - Thai, Manchester, 3/11/2008 16:37

And so on.........mostly now supporting Clarkson but some dissenting.

A classic fiiiiiiiiiiight!

• "Another overpaid presenter who is out of touch with the public!"
  - Leah, Herts, 3/11/2008 17:38
  
  Sorry Leah, next time you want to speak on behalf of the public can you check with us first, we don't all share your opinion.
  
  I personally found the lorry segment of last night's Top Gear very educational, I gained an appreciation of how hard it is to drive a lorry and next time I'm out on the road I'll be (even) more considerate to the lorry drivers out there.
  
  It's a shame that the RHA decided to focus on a small negative in what I feel was an overwhelmingly positive piece about truck driving.

  - Steve, St Albans, Herts, UK, 3/11/2008 20:22

Fortunately, one beacon of satire hits the spot:

• This distasteful matter is s a far cry from Richard Littlejohn's hilarious comments. Shame on the BBC.

  - Val Winters, Middle England, 3/11/2008 20:28

News Updates

Majid Ahmed (Yesterday here)

The Guardian allowed Mr. Ahmed to write about the decision not to allow him a place on its medical course, and there's even a supportive article by Carol Sarler in the Mail here. Interestingly, there were no comments at the time of posting. As I've said before, a conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words where Mail readers are concerned. Simply contrast the amount of bile spewed on trivial cases compared to serious matters. I think it's a case of the readers having difficulty in taking a position - not something the Guardian's CIF trollmeisters have a problem with.

Jeremy Clarkson/ Top Gear - (Yesterday here)

Whilst I may be a minority of one over the 'wop' comment, it seems JC has met the wrath of the BBC -

Top Gear in hot water over G&T on ice

As he like to court contoversy, it's best to ignore the loud-mouthed twat.

More Milan Robbery

Ferrari in Milan by Eric The Fish

Just when I thought it was just me..........comes confirmation that it was just me. I noticed last week that there was a google 'Jeremy Clarkson be-wop' - almost a googlewack perhaps. Anyhoo, as I spouted in my diatribe here, I noticed a Clarkson carefully-prepared-ad-lib when reviewing a Ferrari.

The BBC respond - for they are not the unaccountable daleks of other networks - and I'm sure Jeremy will see the error of his ways and sign another lucrative contract with the Beeb.

• Dear Mr Fish
  
  Thank you for your e-mail regarding 'Top Gear', broadcast on 22 June.
  
  I was sorry to read that you were offended by a comment Jeremy Clarkson made while The Stig was testing a new Scuderia Ferrari.
  
  Please accept our apologies for any offence caused. Throughout the testing Jeremy was in awe of this car and he attributed much of that to its Italian design. As usual he made a few references which seem like typical stereotypes. As you're aware this is typical of Jeremy but he certainly doesn't mean to upset anyone and he wasn't taking a view or making a statement as much as he was a random reference. He certainly didn't mean to use the term as a derogatory slur as some in the past have.
  
  That said, I appreciate that you feel he overstepped the mark this time. As a result I've registered your complaint on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and senior managers as well as the 'Top Gear' production team.
  
  Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.
  
  Regards
  
  *************
  BBC Complaints
  
  Wednesday, 2 July, 2008
  

I'm happy that we do get some response and I've always been weary of serial complainers, but let's face it, the reply does not address the use of the word 'wop' or seek to justify it. It is not enough to say that it's just Jeremy - this seems to have helped Boris Johnson - either it is acceptable or it is not.

Maybe the acceptance relies upon the number of complaints. Maybe I just want to sit in Schumacher's car again.

Top Race Gear

As every petrolhead knows, Jeremy Clarkson is not too proud to spout drivel and ignorance in the name of entertainment: FACT! It's as if a man with half a brain and a large mouth has been given a huge salary and unlimited airtime; and indeed, that's exactly what it is.

Whilst fiddling with the wonderful Play it again, Sam facility of the BBCi player, I stumbled, nay fell into the chasm of un-PC wallpaper that goes under the name of Top Gear.

Now, I like the theme tune - Jessica by the Allman Brothers - but I tend to view Clarkson as a slightly upmarket version of Richard Littlejohn. Surprisingly, he seems very popular in Poland, which, perhaps partly explains some of the driving I witnessed there. However, my interest in cars extends only to the colour and whether it has four wheels, an engine and enough storage space on the mp3 player for the complete Beatles collection.

In fact, I prefer the train or bus as they don't tend to breathalyse you as much. But I digress....

If anyone can bear to see JC waxing manically about the latest Ferrari, there's a clip here (if you have BBCi player and live in the UK, or use proxy), which is available for about a week.

Anyway, forward to about 23 minutes in and correct me if I'm hearing things, but does the boy Jeremy make a reference to wops, albeit as an attempted funny. He appears to be talking about the lack of an audio player and refers to the sound of 'Italian mechanical engineering, or be-wop'.

Clarkson has been in trouble before. His reference to one car model as being 'gay' (or agreeing with an audience member) attracted a host of complaints.

The alleged comment comes days after a Tory candidate, Alun Cairns was forced to withdraw after using the phrase 'greasy wops' about the Italian football team on a radio phone-in.

Then we have the case of Boris 'picaninnies' Johnson's Deputy Chief of Staff, James McGrath. McGrath -himself an Australian migrant - as reported in today's Mirror:

• A top aide to Boris Johnson quit last night after sparking fury by saying black people could "go home" if they did not like having a Tory mayor of London.

  James McGrath, 34, his deputy chief of staff, said he would accept an "exodus" of Caribbean migrants, adding: "Well, let them go if they don't like it here."

I'm following doctor's orders in not reading the Daily Mail much; I shudder to think what I may find there.