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.

Cllr Chris Cooke Cocks-up Completely

This is Eric - Eric Der Igel - pictured going about his business one night in Eastern Germany. Hopefully, he is still safe and sound, and not used as a prickly projectile as this poor mite was in New Zealand.


Man faces five years in jail after hitting a boy with... a hedgehog

One of the most annoying traits of the Great Daily Mail Public is their inability to read stories beneath the headlines. Time after time we see examples of this as the morons make themselves look foolish. Of course, the Mail is well aware of this, and my view is that it plays on this when deciding on the wording of articles, allowing the frothing masses to read between the lines - even when the story eventually contradicts the tone of the bold print.

The hedgehog story has been covered in other papers, but the DM version is of note because of the comments. By paragraph 3 it establishes that the incident happened in New Zealand.

Send in the clowns.........

• Five years in prison for assault with a dead(ly?) hedgehog? Backs up completely what we read elsewhere in the Daily Mail today - that Government Ministers are concerned the police are too focused with minor offences. Five years! What a bunch of silly plonkers!- Cllr Chris Cooke, Tamworth, UK

• If the teenager has stuck a knife in the man and seriously injured or killed him, he would have been called an ASBO, get a suspended jail sentence and then paid for the lodging he didn't get by serving his time. I'm surprised the man didn't get an extra year or two for abusing a hedgehog. The UK has become a real laughing-stock... except it's not funny.- Charles, UK

• Five years for this 'crime' seems rather odd when recently two youths who kicked man to death received only four years. Good old Blair 'tough on crime'- G.Ware, York Yorks

• He should have plunged a knife into his victim's heart. You only get two years for that.- Mike A., Channel Islands

The interesting thing about this is that there is a large number of comments pointing out how stupid these people are. For example,

• And after reading the comment by Councillor Chris Cooke of Tamworth we find out who the real 'plonker' as he puts it is or does he blame the goings on in New Zealand on the British police as well?- Dave Kempton, Gloucester

I thought this was strange to see so many people castigating their fellow tut-tutters. Now, the Tamworth councillor seems to be familiar. Could he be the same Cllr Chris Cooke who has this interesting site, and who did a bit of pro bono leaflet work for the local BNP candidate. Not that he's in any way connected to them! The anti-BNP site at Lancaster Unity have their own take on this.

He also seems to have come up on the radar of Stormfront, the uber-Nazis (I won't link to them but if you google 'small penis Fascist knuckle-scrapers' you'll no doubt come across their filth.

• So I hope when the BNP come to power (note - "when"!) that they allow themselves to dig a bit deeper into such things as the NHS than just the pay of the top guys. The whole edificial empire needs an overhaul. Cllr. Chris Cooke

I was still wondering about the flak he got from DM scribblers. Then I came across this on the Press Complaints Commission site:

• Complainant Name:Councillor Chris Cooke
  Clauses Noted: 1
  Publication: Daily Mail
  Complaint:
  Councillor Chris Cooke of Tamworth complained that a comment he had posted after an online article contained an offensive sentence which he had not written.
  Resolution:
  The complaint was resolved when the newspaper – which investigated the matter thoroughly and indicated that its records showed that the comments arrived in the same form in which they were posted – removed the comments from its website.

Maybe just a coincidence. And the band played, 'believe me if you like'.