Woza Albert!

My favourite Father Ted episode involves him fighting malicious allegations of racism. Youtube no longer has it available but it reminded me of the problems the people on the infamous Griffin's List are having. I've held back on commenting on it and others have done it better and I was in Germany when the story broke. I've also had a sneaky look at some of the names in a latter day Fiendsreunited (sic) sort of way.

The BNP leadership is a bit confused as to who is responsible. On one hand Griffin said,

• I deeply regret the leak of that year-old list by a disgruntled former employee, because everyone is entitled to privacy

Then, Simon Darby talked of a plot by left-wing blah blah blah. Which is it guys?

With apologies to Neil Kinnock, it does provide the grotesque irony of a Nationalist Party, A NATIONALIST PARTY hiring lawyers to issue legal notices to its own members. And this from a bunch of bigots who would repeal the very legislation they seek to hide behind; a merry band that is anti-EU but wants Griffin elected as an MEP.

As Chicken Yoghurt notes,

• The crowning jewel of the story is that the BNP, who only this month called the Human Rights Act 'surely one of the most pernicious pieces of legislation ever passed by the mother of parliaments,' and reiterated its promise to repeal it when the party - don't laugh - becomes a 'British Nationalist government', have now asked to police to investigate breaches of the Human Rights Act.

The party also placates its irate members by saying The Equality Act can be used to prevent them being sacked. In addition, it advises using their Solidarity union led by Patrick Harrington ex of the National Front.

Today, my traffic indicator er.........indicated that someone from Northampton googled "Albert Hurwood" BNP Corby. This took the person to a previous blog post on his barmy vigilante organisation here.

According to Poons, the celebrated Mr H is on the dreaded list despite his vehement denials about not being in the Party of Darkness.

I don't wish to link to the sites showing the information as they are readily available.

The Poons piece is here at Navigor, and as can be seen, Mr H is courting publicity in much the same way as the BNP. Funny that!

The jury's still out on whether this a boom or bust for the BNP. Griffin proudly boasts that - apart from his soldiers getting abusive phone calls and going red at work outings to the slavery museum - he views this as good publicity. Indeed the official hate site says that it has had a record number of visits. A million flies hovering around the shit can't be wrong!

A Beautiful Game

I had hoped to catch a game in either Bremen or Hamburg during my trip there but unfortunately no games are being held. I'll even miss the Germany v England game in Berlin. It would have been interesting to watch the match in a German pub!

I was pleased to hear that last weekend (away at Bochum) Werder Bremen fans turned on so-called fellow supporters who unfurled a neo-Nazi banner on the eve of Kristallnacht. The Fascists were arrested and now face bans.

In light of the recent council election victory for the BNP in Boston - admittedly small beer - it highlights the fact that the extreme right is very much alive in Europe and the economic problems give them ammunition.

It reminded me of a game I attended about 10 years ago - coincidentally I was looking at the programme yesterday - Wrexham v Tranmere. With a history of local rivalry and trouble, the police were out in force and treated all those attending with a uniform mistrust. We were herded like cattle through the streets which showed that the police had not learned anything from the 1980s.

During the game there was a section of skin-headed morons with a Union Jack in our end of the ground. They were not Tranmere supporters; nobody recognised them. Some had swastika tattoos; they used chants like 'No surrender to the IRA'. They had non-Merseyside accents.

Several regular Tranmere fans joined me in complaining to stewards and then the police. Nothing was done.

Thankfully, the kind of racist chants and gestures that greeted black players in the 80s has gone from English grounds. Other parts of Europe such as Spain still appear to have this disease. Whilst the Spanish response has been less than spectacular, it is good to see that Germany is taking this problem seriously.

Barking Mad

Barking in London has many reasons to be proud: the brilliance of bard Billy Bragg, Bobby Moore, Brian Poole (of The Tremeloes fame), the innate wonderfulness of its punning possibilities, and proximity to the A13. Unfortunately, there is now a new kid on the block: Richard Barnbrook, the BNP representative on the London Assembly.

it's always a tricky question: do we ignore the racists or tackle them full on? I sometimes think a third way is called for - the 'hoisted-on-their-own-petard-or-ridicule' strategem (HOTOPOR).

As I prepare to watch the Liverpool v Man Utd game as a warm up for the real match of the day: Huddersfield v Tranmere, I thought I'd throw in some fun and games from Barnbrook's latest post on his Daily Telegraph blog. As Richard proudly boasts,

• here I am on the pages of a mainstream national newspaper

Yeh, well, rich, anyone can have a blog there - even Eric The Fish - even people wanting to write about table lampshade patterns. Hardly, breaking down boundaries. He continues his self-delusion:

• Times really are changing fast.

Not so much that Dylan's classic as there's a foul smell blowin' in the wind; that stench is coming from the lies that Barnbrook tells on his blog. Fortunately, quite a few are on the case. Whilst I make cheap, sarcastic points, others delve further.

For instance, in his latest offering to the world, 'Fiddling While London Burns', Tricky Dicky is on top form.

• While I have a spare half an hour I thought I would give you the details of today's proceedings during Mayor's Question Time.

• Obviously, I'm biased, but at 12:22 when it came to my input, I don't think the Mayor acquitted himself at all well responding that he was reluctant to give the oxygen to either the question or indeed the questioner when confronted with this:

  Can the Mayor comment on the shocking level of violence and intimidation directed towards Metropolitan Police Officers during this year's Notting Hill Carnival? Considering the astronomical costs, the policing bill alone exceeding £6 million, which falls upon the taxpayers of London, can the Mayor assure the people of this city that the suspension of this event is an option available to him?

Sounds like a good performance? Surely, nobody would be foolish to claim this when the proceedings are recorded and shown on the web? Step forward Barking's Coeur de Lying (well, if Mail readers can get away with Bliar, why can't I take the piss out of the lionheart moniker his Stormfront supporters have given him.)

5CC is quickly on to him:

• Cllr Barnbrook:
  
  You've left a couple of little bits out. Funny that.
  
  1. As well as saying he wouldn't stop the Notting Hill Carnival, the Mayor pointed out that it isn't in his power to stop it anyway.
  
  2. You had to have your rant off camera for bringing along some sort of banner or display that broke the rules.*
  
  3. While there may have been an 'embarassing row' between Conservatives, and the Mayor may have dealt with a question from Mr Qureshi rather swiftly, things were rather more swift and embarassing for you. After you struggled through your sets of figures, the Mayor's reaction was to say 'In the words of the famous Australian judge who said, "That, ladies and gentlemen, was the case for the prosecution,"' and make a toilet flushing motion. Pretty much the entire Assembly were laughing at you. Everyone should see the sorry affair over here www.london.gov.uk/webcast..., which begins at around 02.16.10 in the video. Priceless stuff. And rather a different image of the Councillor than he tries to paint here.
  
  *What was the display? Did it have anything to do with Mothers Again... whoops London's Mothers Against Knives? That would be using it to call for something that isn't made explicit on the petition, which would be pretty dishonest - so it can't be that, surely. Are you able to reassure people tempted to sign the petition that it won't be used to call for measures designed to target black people, or are you unable to because that's precisely what you intend to do?

The Fish wades in with the subtlety of a not very subtle thing:

• As Ronnie Barker said, 'There should be help for those who have problem with their worms.'
  He sounds like a drunken schoolboy trying to ask stupid questions at the School Council meeting because his mates have dared him.
  
  Boris uses bumbling to great effect; Richard just looks pathetic in the real sense.
  
  I think it is a shame they did not allow you to show off your new T-shirt. (London's Mothers Against Knives, the hijacked campaign)It makes a change from the sick coloured jacket. It must impress your supporters that you do not give in to mere rules like standing orders. Your orders! I'd have let you have your comfort blanket and do what all good teachers (such as yourself....ahem) do, and get you up in front of the class so people can ask you questions and Londoners can see what a clever boy they voted in.
  
  Boris said he did not wish to give you any oxygen of publicity echoing Thatcher's policy on the IRA. Maybe you could get an actor (or Simon 'pretty much' Darby) to do your voice over.
  
  Your extrapolation of figures over the arrests is mind-blowing. Instead of spending money on the Hadron Collider, we should be researching how your neurons are staggering around.
  
  Love the bit about people being 'hospitabilised' and 'disposal er..dispersal? Dispersal, thank you. dispersal will be at 9.30 am. There in black and white!'
  
  'I don't remember any St George's Day, I've been on 4 or 5......on the 3 ST George's Days I've been on...'
  
  Horses were 'humanly friendly'!!!
  
  '300 people were ambulanced'
  
  You see, the point of a supplementary question is that it picks up on the initial answer to your original question. A spontaneous response, which is a fine art. To ignore that Boris told you HE had NO power to ban it, shows ignorance and poor debating skills.
  
  You said in a previous post that you had prepared for this. How long, exactly, did you spend on rehearsing your spontaneous comments?
  
  I'm so glad that the sessions are recorded. Otherwise we'd only have your unbiased recollection of what happened, which bears no relation to reality. How about a proper transcription?
  
  And for the apologist who accused others of asking loaded questions - cop a load of the Brown Bombsite's final wayward, attempted hook at the Champion - the Henley Hitman - 'So you're quite happy to see an increase in arrests?'
  
  The Challenger (challenged?)hurt by the flushing manoeuvre from Boris, reels back on the ropes and the towel is thrown in. As Alan Minter would say, 'This boy don't know when he's beaten, Harry.'

Interesting stuff. The cameras did not show Barnbrook due to his petty gesture in wearing a T shirt with his BNP MAK motif. He then shows how inarticulate he is and is laughed at by all sections of the Assembly. The picture shows Mayor Boris Johnson demonstrating a toilet flushing gesture in answer to Barnbrook's waffled supplementary question. He was, apparently, referring to an Australian Judge who did the same when addressing the jury and saying, 'that ladies and gentlemen' is the case for the prosecution. Priceless Boris!

As I said before, keep up the good work, Agent Barnbrook: destroying credibility from within!

The Mail and the BNP: If A Picture Paints

The Mail spends a great deal of time distancing itself from the 'knuckle-scrapers' of the BNP as Littlejohn describes them as, yet often we see stories in the paper which are clearly aimed at providing succour to these Neanderthals whilst washing journalistic hands.

The comments section is usually the dead giveaway. Many of my previous posts have shown examples of this; so much more can be found on the Mailwatch forum.

One of the recurring themes of Mail immigration stories - aside from the headline not fitting the content of the story- is the powerful image. Story about possible Roma thieves? Get actors to dress up as tramps; need a picture of asylum seekers? Show stock photo outside an office that looks like it gives out benefits; immigration? Show a picture of someone dressed in full Muslim niqab.

This leads us to the picture at the top. On numerous occasions it has been used by the Mail to decorate their immigration and Muslim stories. Despite the fact that only a small percentage of Muslim women choose to wear this, the paper is not so subtle in its use of the image.

The same image was found on the BNP's site on 14th August. It is not for nothing that, despite the caveats, The Mail remains the paper of choice for the evil bigots of the BNP.

Darby in Derbys.

Repugnant BNP hatemeister Simon Darby, on his blog, alluded to a story breaking in the Sunday papers involving England footballers and the BNP. It appears that this, in The Sunday People, was the piece in question:

STARS OUTRAGE AT VILE BNP WEB VIDEO

Sport and pop legends are fuming after their images were used in a music video promoting the British National Party.
National icons including Sir Paul McCartney, soccer star John Terry and cricketer Freddie Flintoff were hijacked to appear alongside hate lyrics on internet site YouTube.

The anti-immigration track This Is England includes offensive lines like: "They took our Pound, now they want to bomb our Underground" and has had more than 12,000 views.

Obviously, the people concerned: Terry, Flintoff, Butcher, Pearce and Macca (Churchill could not be contacted for a comment but Max Clifford allegedly said that if he was representing him he would issue a joint press statement with Kerry Katona).

Darby, in Derbys, is quoted as responding, "It is not an official BNP video. It has probably been released by a BNP supporter. People have the power to produce anything on websites these days.

"If it portrays Britishness, then I'm not going to complain about it. I would not be happy with using famous people who perhaps don't have the same opinion as we do. But there is nothing we can do about it. (This is crap as seen here: a commissioned portrait of Winston to raise money for BNP funds. There is also one of John Lennon about to be auctioned this month)
"I don't know what their political views are. If they are not of our opinion, then I

apologise."

Not quite a not-me-Guv defence as he is clearly secretly pleased about the content and the press publicity. This is an aspect of the fight against these Neanderthal Fascists that has concerned me for some time: the oxygen of publicity v free debate. As I've been trolling Richard Barnbrook's Telegraph blog recently, I keep wondering if it's counter-productive. I feel another post germinating and as cycle-partner Steve has jetted out to his Channel Island tax-haven today (have a word about investment with Tranmere's Chairman while you are there), I've nothing else to do.

I'm a bit worried about attacking Simon Darby as he likes to stick hooks in the mouths of fish and baiting the BNP is sometimes like shooting fish in a barrel, but his blog is informative and reasoned!

• On Freedom of the press

Just had the Guardian on trying to get a quote about one or two of the speakers we have lined up for you. It almost takes your breath away that these journalists who have facilitated in the systematic destruction of our people and our way of life actually think that criticising a process which is tantamount to genocide is somehow to be forbidden.

The Guardian wanted to ask about Petra Edelmannova of the far-right Czech National Party, party recently announced it was working on a 150-page "study" called The Final Solution to the Gypsy Issue in the Czech Lands. Now this is not quite the same as the Nazi Final Solution but the name is surely chosen for a reason. The article continues, "Although the title evokes the Nazi plan to eradicate Jews in wartime Germany, the party told Lidove Noviny, a national Czech newspaper, its aim is only to offer Roma voluntary relocation to land bought in India. This has undertones of the situation in Italy.

Of course, the BNP itself would like to repatriate - supposedly voluntarily - and believes that asylum can be summed up thus: We will also clamp down on the flood of ‘asylum seekers’, all of whom are either bogus or can find refuge much nearer their home countries.

• On China (NOT A RACIST......Oh right, Ted) Better Youtube clip

The Chinese people I have known in my life have been by and large honourable and law-abiding folk. Not that that is any excuse to flood my country with their compatriots, there being a limit to the amount of Chinese food outlets and shellfish harvesting opportunities Britain can provide.

Yes, know your place.......we don't mind you doing laundry or running take-aways as long as we can imitate the Spanish Olympic basketball team and the Duke of Edinburgh in keeping the slitty-eyed motif running.

• La Belle France

Jean-Marie Le Pen confronts Sarkozy - Strasbourg (July, 10. 2008)I've been lucky enough to meet him twice, they can call him what they like but one word they never use is "coward".

If we want further evidence of where the BNP stand, look at Derby's photos of BNP advert vans (truth trucks!!) talking of justice for indigenous victims of violence and English victims of racist violence. What colour do you think these victims will be? Answers on a Kennkarte to BNP, PO Box 107, Wigton, Cumbria.

Wretched Refuse of our Teeming Shores

No further comment needed on this story from The Yorkshire Post:

Race Hate Pair Flee to US for political asylum

TWO men convicted of publishing race-hate articles on the internet have skipped bail and fled to the United States to claim political asylum, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.

Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle were given bail by a judge at Leeds Crown Court on Friday, despite having been found guilty of a series of race-related offences.

The pair were due to return to court on Monday while a jury continued deliberating over further charges, but they failed to turn up.

Last night Sheppard, 51, and Whittle, 41, were being held by immigration officials at Los Angeles Airport – outside the jurisdiction of the British court system.

It is believed that the pair travelled from the UK to Ireland by ferry before taking a direct flight to Los Angeles.

They are likely to have their case considered at an immigration hearing in the US before UK authorities can secure their return.

A spokeswoman for Humberside Police, which led the race-hate investigation, said: "We are led to believe that they are indeed being detained by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) at Los Angeles Airport.

"They are in custody and we are in liaison with the INS to establish that this pair are our two men and, if so, what is likely to happen to them."

Sheppard, of Brook Street, Selby, was found guilty after a seven-week trial of 11 counts of publishing racially inflammatory written material.

The jury gave unanimous verdicts on nine of the charges on Friday, and returned with two majority verdicts on Monday while Sheppard was absent.

Whittle, of Avenham Lane, Preston, was convicted of five counts of publishing racially inflammatory written material.

Four of the verdicts were reached unanimously on Friday, and the fifth was returned by a majority of 10 to one on Monday after Whittle had absconded.

The jury were unable to reach verdicts on seven further race-related charges which Sheppard faced.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said it had yet to decide whether Sheppard should be retried on the seven outstanding charges. It has 14 days to reach a decision.

The case is due to be considered further at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court on July 28.

Tonight's Latest Scores

As I've said before, the attitude of the Daily Mail can be gleaned not from the actual comments made by its posters - as only the more vocal and extreme readers tend to bother - but by the number of comments made on various stories. The reason is simple: the Mail claims to receive thousands of comments, which are then subject to moderation before publication - a justification for only including some of those received. Of course, some form of pre-moderation is understandable but despite claims that comments are not censored for political views, this is patently not the case.

I try to post at least a dozen comments each week. I know it's a forlorn task so I keep them succinct in the vain hope that one will sneak through. The disturbing aspect is that I only succeed when posing completely sycophantic letters in support of whatever bile they are spouting.

Whilst I was working on a post about Rowan Williams's letter to Muslim religious leaders (his actual letter can be downloaded as a Word doc here) and the predictable reporting of it by Steve Doughty in The Mail here, I started looking at what was exercising the collective mind of DM Land.

Make your own videprinter noises:

Teenager's Guantanamo interrogation Video 0

Lorraine Kelly seems to have gained weight 14



Blair 'assassination' plans 19
Rhodes Earthquake kills someone not British 0


Swindon Council (may) scrap speed cameras 40
Alleged torture of UK citizens 4 (all supportive of torture)

The last story is particularly vile and the 4 comments add weight (not in the Lorraine Kelly sense) to the argument that the DM just lights the blue touch paper and awaits the explosion of bigotry to come.

• They are NOT British.

  - Mr. J. Smith, Birmingham, England, 15/7/2008 9:03

  I'm sorry terrorists don't have human rights.

  - A M, Wolverhampton, 15/7/2008 9:14

  Along with most other Britons, I couldn't care less how our security services get the information that keeps us safe.

  - Fed-up, Coventry, England, 15/7/2008 9:25

  And the problem is?

  - Andy L, St Helens, Lancs, UK, 15/7/2008 11:15

If the Mail truly wanted to distance itself from these bastards, and not want them to be representative of its readership views, it has the means to do so. Needless to say my comment attacking the overt racism of at least one of the comments will be ignored.

Daylight Robbery in Milan

Milan Central - Mussolini's Bambino

Ben Goldacre
The Guardian,
Saturday June 21, 2008

The best thing about this job is you have an excuse to read the Daily Mail every day: but sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I worry that it might infect me.

Well, this is a voluntary exposure to the Daily Bile so think how I feel. It's all self-inflicted.

There has been much debate recently about civil liberties, freedom and fairness; this in itself is a good thing. David Davis's re-exchanging of vows with the electorate of Haltemprice initially injected some interest into the debate, although the subsequent decision of the Labour and Liberal parties not to stand has taken the shine off. (For the record, I feel the Labour Party made the correct call - just about).

In addition, a number of news stories - not all UK based - have highlighted the issue.

Firstly, we have the story in The Mirror et al, that a Housing Association in Surrey has decided to impose a curfew as part of its tenancy agreement. Draconian in itself but exacerbated by the close proximity of the homes to privately owned ones, whose children remain unfettered.

Now, part of the grumpy old fart in me thinks a general curfew might be a good thing in some areas, and the HA are within their rights to insist on certain levels of behaviour in fairness to all its tenants, regardless of the fact that there are more affluent homes as part of the same development. Indeed, even before the requirement for a percentage of homes to be set aside for social housing, HA tenants could find themselves close to existing homeowners. However, this appears to have been a badly thought out plan. What may have begun as an attempt to preserve social cohesion has clearly ended up being devisive and unfair. A less charitable view would be that - as some of those affected point out - they are pandering to the monied classes up on the hill.

As the scheme appears unworkable, I expect a climb-down to be undertaken and sanity to prevail. Otherwise, the posh kids will be able to claim the game once the referee blows at 9 p.m.

Next, we have the election charade (or Charamba to coin a phrase) in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Government Spokesman, George Charamba said today that the United States, Britain and other European countries could "go hang". Given Saddam's finale, Messrs C and M should be thankful they don't have oil.

Then, we have the case of potential medical student, Majhid Ahmed, from a deprived area, denied a place at Imperial College London on the grounds that he has a spent conviction for burglary.
The college is quoted as saying,

• "The college requests information on a candidate's 'unspent' convictions only ... medicine, however, is focused on preparing students for a career that has particularly demanding requirements. Medical practitioners hold a position of responsibility in society, and must often deal with vulnerable people. The public must have confidence in the integrity and probity of its doctors.

  "Imperial believes that by carrying out and acting upon the CRB [Criminal Records Bureau] checks of potential medical students, it plays an important role in helping to uphold this trust."

The decision to uphold the bar on him taking a place comes despite references from charities and doctors he has worked with, together with straight A grades. As soon as I saw the story, I was reminded of a not-so-dissimilar case, that of Louise Woodward. (born in Elton, Cheshire not Cambridgeshire, Wiki people). For brevity's sake I shall merely point out that she has a conviction in the USA for manslaughter involving a child in her care. She then pursued a legal career, taking a degree in London and embarking on training. Indeed, I was somewhat surprised to see her at Liverpool Family Proceedings Court shadowing a solicitor, but hey ho.

The crucial aspect is that whilst criminal convictions (particularly dishonesty) can be a bar to practising law, the Law Society uses discretion.

Similarly, the General Medical Council yesterday confirmed that people can still become doctors if they have a criminal record. A candidate could be barred if thought to pose a risk, but evidence including references would be considered.

Not only does this smack of one rule for some, it sends out a clear message: we want to rehabilitate you, but don't get ideas above your station. I hope Mr. Ahmed gets further offers soon.

Finally, as 5CC pointed out some hours ago, it's that time of the year when The Daily Mail has a go at gypsies (or gipsies as it continues to print, not that it stops its salivating sickos using another spelling). As its intrepid fashion expert Liz Jones failed to find any swan-eating travellers at Glastonbury, it turns to its patriotic counterparts in Italy for succour:

Caught in the act: The 'gipsy' child thieves who could teach Fagin a trick or two

Sorry for shouting, but it is like being bellowed at by a particularly bigoted Mussolini-lookalike.
Of course, as usual, the 'story' is not quite what it says on the tin helmet.

Fagin, eh? Seen that somewhere before.

The Mail paints the picture: young kids pickpocketing outside Milan's railway station. Now, notwithstanding the fact that any seasoned traveller should be aware of such possibilities at every major transport station, and criminality is criminlality whoever perpetrates it, there is no justification for what follows:

• Children, all below the age they can be prosecuted, are sent out by their parents to steal cash, cards and phones - in fact anything that can be sold on

And the evidence is where? But this is Mail Land. Just use quotation marks and caveats sparingly and allow the moronic element of its readership to fill in the blanks like a journalistic paint-by-numbers.

• Both youngsters are pickpockets and both are also almost certainly the offspring of Roma gipsies.

Berlusconi's solution is simple: fingerprint the Roma. And this gets some support from the Mail faithful:

• It's not just Milan, parts of Britain are like this with organised mobs of children stealing in London and other cities. Unless immigration is controlled from Eastern Europe, expect more of the same.

  - Sue G, Perth, Australia, 1/7/2008 8:16

You see, even though Sue is half way round the globe, she sees all. Amazingly, the Mail sees no problem in printing such borderline racism (to be charitable).

• We sent my parents to Rome as a gift for their Golden wedding anniversary. They had a miserable time fighting off these children and were not always successful. Even worse was the way the police seemed to collude with the Roma, beating the children and taking their pick from what was stolen. Very sad situation - mum and dad were so pleased to come home.

  - Elisabeth, Limoges, France, 1/7/2008 8:17

This doesn't even make sense. They collude with the children they then beat and steal from. Maybe lost in translation from our French expert.

• Anyone who has had direct experience of gypsies will know quite how bad they are. All this hand-wringing from the usual liberal suspects is only to be expected.
  
  Go to it Rome - clear them out.

  - Geoff M, Brittany, France, 1/7/2008 8:18

Where the Mail fears to tread, another cross-channel racist steps up to the plate.

• If Italy can get tough with these people why can't we - oh I forgot the Human Rights Act - they have a human right to rob us.

  - Declan, London, 1/7/2008 11:42

Declan thinks Italy is not part of the EU. Strewth.

• UNICEF and the rest of the idiot do-gooders should butt out, whinging about children's rights. If they choose to rob, steal and thieve they deserve to be finger-printed. Moreover they deserve to be removed back to Romania.
  
  We need to put this idea on hold that immigrants should be treated with kid gloves because they don't know our laws. Rubbish. Either change your ways or head back to where you came from. Simple as that.

  - Chris Carr, Southampton, 1/7/2008 13:16

Carr is that peculiar breed of Briton, Thickus Shittus. Never mind reading the story, just make your own one up and hope nobody notices.The newspaper equivalent of John Redwood's Welsh National Anthem.

Fortunately, there are some sane comments:

• If there are gipsy Roma families that are causing trouble or mistreating their children, they need to be dealt with like people from any other minority. Such cases shouldn’t simply be seen as an opportunity to gain votes or to sell a few more newspapers. Crime is the symptom of a greater problem, and if the problems aren’t dealt with then the problem persists. Ultimately society decides what kind of world we are going to live in. When people are excluded from society they make their own rules. I don’t say that is right it is just the way it goes. Catching criminals and punishing them is essential, but it doesn’t change any thing. Changing hearts and minds, changes everything.

  - Joseph G. Jones (The Gypsy Council Ltd, Secretary), Amersham Bucks, 1/7/2008 8:00

The Council's site is currently under reconstruction (imagine Mail comments about tarmac etc) but there is an interesting affiliated 'permanent site' here.

• The comments here are disgusting. Fingerprinting children of a minority because they are from a minority? Even the Catholic Church has condemned it yet people here think it is common sense. Really quite unreal.

  - Kevin Boatang, London, 1/7/2008 10:05

There is daylight robbery in Milan: over £4 for a pint of piss poor Peroni.

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.

Not Against Any (One) Ethnic Group or Play It Again, Swan

The swans on the left were on the River Shannon at Limerick, which reminds me of a less than golden moment on a previous trip to the Emerald Isle - Dublin to be exact. Intending to impress an ex-girlfriend and 18 month old son, yer man here tried to get close - very close - to a swan and her brood (in order to feed it, not feed on it you understand) when it (quite justifiably) started to attack me. How anyone is supposed to catch one to eat is beyond me. Ever seen Animal Rescue programmes where the RSPCA try to collar a cygnet? Nigh impossible. The Pen is mightier than the sword (sorry) as suggested here.

I got my comeuppance when I slipped on bird shit and my mobile phone fell into Phoenix Park lake. Oh how we laughed. Yes they did, didn't they!

Limerick becomes interesting because there was a story in The Limerick Post by Lorraine Carey, which I am trying to locate but is alluded to here.

• by Lorraine Carey A CURIOUS rumour is going around Limerick that our Polish community is eating our swans.Swan feeding is a familiar custom in Limerick but anyone Polish throwing bread to the birds is now being eyed with suspicion as a rumour circulates that swan is a Polish delicacy. [...]Limerick Post [Ireland]18 June 2006
  

Anyway, as I mentioned in an earlier swan-related post, the Sun and Mail's obsession with so-called swan-bakers needs to be looked at in the context of how it treats other stories about cruelty to these regal birds. In October, The Times reported that a workman had found 28 dead swans buried in Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire, significantly, was the area mentioned in The Sun lasy year in relation to East Europeans. Yesterday, it reported that 3 men (who appear not to have Polish names) have been charged over this and have been bailed until August. It was buried in a small piece in the Murdoch-owned Times and I could not find it online.

Surprise, surprise there appears to be no mention of this in the Mail. Suffice to say, it would not be given the same prominence as it would if the accused had been called Tomasz, for instance. At least here, a crime has been committed; in the other cases it is uncertain as to whether there has been any human intervention. Remember the dolt who said that it did not appear to have been killed by an animal but couldn't be sure if humans had done so. Beam me up, Scotty seems apt given that it another urban myth.

This leads me to the news that the Federation of Poles in Great Britain has complained to the PCC over coverage in the Mail. The toothless tiger says it wants clarification. Read the fucking paper FFS! ( 5CC has numerous examples here, having already got on the case whilst I was drinking my Cheltenham winnings, and apropos of nothing noticing the supreme joy on the faces of working class people when the racing was interrupted by news of Shannon)

• Jan Mokrzycki, the chair of the FPGB, told Polish media: "It was the headlines which were the most offensive, using emotive anti-Polish language.
  "Poles seem to be unable to please the Daily Mail whatever they do.
  "On one day you get a headline 'Poles flood into England' implying the country is drowning in immigrants, and the next day you get 'Poles desert England' as if we are abandoning them.
  "Poles are not totally innocent, no society is totally innocent, and if a Pole does something wrong then he or she should have to face the music.
  "But when you get a series of articles and none of the headlines shed a positive light, and all shed a negative light by using this sort of terminology then it is fair to say we can complain about bias.

This comes at a time when attacks on Poles seems to be rising.

As the Federation points out:

• Local newspapers, mainly outside the big cities, are increasingly reporting cases of violence and abuse against the community, the Federation of Poles in Great Britain said.
  "What is particularly worrying is the rise in hate crimes against Poles," said Wiktor Moszczynski, research officer for the federation.
  "Local media have written ... reports about Poles being beaten up, fire-bombed or abused -- both physically and verbally.

Without doubt if you write such vile drivel each day then eventually it will stick. We see how urban myth quickly becomes fact; how mis-quotes become catchphrases. Violence is occurring. In Polish Ireland blogger, MacKozer's site, he outlines that there have been attacks in Dublin, which brings us full circle. Although it cannot be proved that such attacks are xenophobia-linked, it is hard not to take such a view.

I'm off to Poland next month and looking forward to it. If I see any swans being mistreated I'll report it. And I promise not to try to impress women by getting too close (to the swans that is).

Another important piece on the swan stories can be found at Five Chinese Crackers here.

Dib Dib Div - A Nation Flagging

At a time when the BBC has a series on 'Britishness' and the right-wing trash has continued apace with its scurrilous scaremongering on race, comes a suggestion (Jack Straw referred to it as a debate opener or some such) from Lord Goldsmith that school leavers should swear an allegiance to Queen and country. To be fair to Goldsmith he did indicate that the oath could be made to the country itself rather than the unelected old leech residing in Buck House.

The thought of American-style saluting the flag during morning assembly does grate but I cannot see this coming to pass. The saddening aspect is that there is a presumption that school-leavers have not reached this level of citizenship unless a few words are uttered. Many already carry out community works.

A lot of this is just meaningless posturing, but judging by the 100+ comments in the Daily Mail, it hits the right buttons. Some comments have a go at the Royal Family - some bordering on racism - while others take the opportunity to blame the Government.

Taking the biscuit for BNP spite must go to this bastard:

• It might have benefits in as much that if children of immigrants do not wish to take the oath then perhaps we could use it as an excuse to send them back to their ancestral country along with their parents so relieving pressure on this country as a whole. Controversial yes but something has to be done to ease the population of Great Britain and give it back to the indigenous people.- Colin, Bedford, England

I'm tempted into hoping that this was just a wind-up comment, but the fact that the paper sought fit to print it, makes me want to vomit all the more. By all means let us have a debate on immigration, but this comment is completely vile and tantamount to incitement to racial hatred.

The rest of the proposals, without making exciting reading, do have some value, and are worthy of debate. Encouraging more people to carry out voluntary work (notwithstanding any ulterior motive Government may have for saving money) and rewarding with council tax reductions, may be beneficial.

However, the timing of the release of the recommendations is a bit suspicious. I'm willing to listen to coincidence theories but my scepticism sometimes takes precedence.

• It's a good idea. The constitutional monarchy is our one protection against the likes of the Labour Party. It puts dwarves like Blair and Brown into firm perspective.- Ben Hall, Dubai UAE

Ah, Dubai, that mother of all parliaments and epitome of a fine democratic constitutional monarchy. Ben, or Knowsfuk to his friends.

Of course, judging by the story about school places maybe a different type of pledge will be required years before any leaving ceremony.

I BET LOTS OF PEOPLE VISIT THIS PAGE LOOKING FOR JORDAN'S TITS!

Swan-Upping at The Mail

Following The Mail's conversion to green issues and the fact that they have convinced M & S to ditch the plastic bag, comes more glum recycled animal-rights (well, bird) bile from our friends at Britain's Nazi daily.

This time they have even more open-and-shut-case evidence. Apparently, angler David 'Maybe' Gibson caught sight of the despicable act. Or did he? Let's see:

• Mr Gibson did not need to look in the pot to know what it contained: the piles of feathers and stripped carcasses were evidence enough.

Look I don't need to be Perry Mason to pick holes in this one, but we know there's no cooking without smoke so...........

• the man - believed to be an East European immigrant - had packed up his tent and fled.

No mention who actually believes but who cares?

• I don't care what nationality these people are. It's just appalling. If we let this carry on there will be no swans left."

Yes, they'll be in Tesco next at £1.99 a go.

So it must be the Poles, yes?

• He said he found two young Polish men living in another tent nearby.
  They told him: "We don't eat the swans. We just stay here at night and we work during the day."

Very clever. Denying it, eh? BUt I thought, according to Mail-lore that all foreigners get benefits and new houses as soon as they step off the ferry/lorry Silly me.

Surely, the old bill are on the case.

• "By the time they came down the bloke had gone. He must have thrown the carcasses away.

Subtle. disposing of the evidence. But surely there's DNA knocking around? Not sure what 'authorities' he contacted but without being too crass, there does not appear to have been much chance of saving Exhibit A. It is an ex-swan.

• The scene was visited later by Kevin Garten, a volunteer from Shepperton Swan Sanctuary.
• ........a fox would have had it straight off.
  "I cannot definitely say it was human but I can definitely say it was no animal."

Kevin would be great at playing animal, vegetable or mineral.

Of course, the pictures provided look familiar. Yes, this is the same story as February 28th. Same David Gibson. Same old Mail. Given that there were another 43 comments, we know why the evil bastards at the Mail regurgitate such stories: it ticks all the right boxes without providing any evidence.

The tents seem to be used by Europeans and there may be some litter in the field, including a Romanian bible (still there yesterday according to the Evening Standard) and batteries. On this subject, Dave 'Maybe not Mel's doppelganger' Gibson is less than mute:

• "Maybe they are stripping them apart for the lead, or perhaps they are tipping the acid in the water to kill the fish.

Gibson, enjoying his fame as friend of the swans is less than mute (ahem):

• "Maybe they are stripping them apart for the lead, or perhaps they are tipping the acid in the water to kill the fish. "

This is the most disturbing aspect of this case. Gibson's pathetic musings ( I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here and say that he's just thick rather than having any racist agenda) are given an airing as if they count for anything. Perhaps Dave uses badger shit as fishing bait; let's face it, there may be some along the river bank.

Bring on the mad...........

• This is a sickening thing to do, these people should not be allowed to pitch tents in parks anyway. - Jacqui W., Southampton

The Weems woman never fails to let us down. Perhaps you'd like to take them in, Jack, me ol' fash!

• How low have we sunk? Not only committing a crime by killing the swans but what about the camping? Surely this cannot be legal? What's the next move, jail themthen give them a "golden handshake ". We (the Government) operate a two tierlaw, one for the true Brits and another for any Tom, Dick or Harry who decides to decamp here. It stinks.- Barbara, Bolton, England

Babs from Notlob doesn't quite understand the notion of a golden handshake. Of course, she has no examples of this two-tier system.

Let me say this : I do not know whether there is any truth in this story. Truth is, neither does the Mail. Unfortunately, the racist commentators don't care.

Fortunately, there were a couple of salient points made:

• A pheasant is an elegant bird, but I can kill and eat it. Why the double standard? Why is this sick and disgusting but the killing of pheasants and other game is all right?Perhaps we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions until the police actually say that the swan was killed by this mystery immigrant.- Steff, Cardiff, UK

Another load of Bewicks from the Mail's fishers of hate.

Peace, Love and Not Much Understanding

It would be easy to think that even the evil Daily Mail would take a rest from printing bigoted tripe over the season of goodwill. Alas, the Mail continued apace with articles knocking foreigners, asylum seekers (in France but obviously heading here), the Government and the weather (which is the Government's responsibility).

The Christmas message by Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster Cathedral produced the usual plea for compassion towards the less fortunate.

A theme which is much in the news in Britain at the moment is the question of the many immigrant peoples who come to our country. Most immigrants come to our country because they wish to have a better life and work so as to provide for their families.

"What concerns me at the moment is our attitude as a nation to these many immigrants. Many of these people are trying, for perfectly good reasons, to enter Britain and they need to be welcomed.

"I understand that immigration needs to be controlled. However, sometimes they must feel like Joseph when he returned to Bethlehem after exile in Egypt, simply excluded because they are outsiders."

Surely, even the barking mad Mail commenters would concur with this at this time of the year; we are, after all -according to Mail Reader Lore - a Christian country.

Here are the comments:

Being Irish himself, he would say that wouldn't he?
- Roger, Brighton

Not sure what point Rog is making but others make the same hint. Oh, he's Irish. Therefore he's an immigrant so he must feel empathy. What a bad man! It gets worse of course:

Take them to Ireland then!
- Maureen Thomas, Bristol

Maureen I think we should take you across the Irish Sea and drop you off half way

Is he so short sighted to see that we are already drowning under a massive tide of immigration?
- Malc, England

Malc is not so much short sighted as short changed in the brain cell department. Note the use of the kind of hyperbole favoured by the BNP etc.

Jobs, housing, health care, education, cash outlays... More welcoming? Cartier watches and Bentleys?

- R M, London, UK

The sad thing is that these myths of free handouts at the expense of the indigenous population are repeated until they become seen as fact.

There are 65 comments; only about 3 are vaguely favourable to this traditional Christian tenet of looking after the less fortunate, of all being brothers and of being a good samaritan. The irony and hypocrisy is that the same mouth-frothing bigots demand that outsiders stick to our so-called Christian religion and bemoan that Christmas is being banned (without giving examples - see 5CC and Obsolete for demolitions of this fallacy). This is what Peter from Lincolnshire thinks ( I give him the benefit of the doubt as to his ability with thought processes as it's Christmas/Winterval)

Not a thought for the rest of us? He could talk himself out of a job if Christianity becomes a minority fringe religion and then subsequently persecuted.

- Peter, Lincs

Peter would like to see the return of the Crusades maybe? Anyway, the rest are just as depressing so I will leave it to a beacon in the darkness of Planet Mail (from this area too!)to set the record straight

Sad, here we are at Christmas but so many bigotted responses to this priests simple request for a little kindess to be shared with our fellow man. Don't any of you realise that if it weren't for immigrants settling in this country, down the centuries, that very few of us, me included, would be living in this wonderful country of ours. Some of the views expressed here make me ashamed to say I am British sometimes.

- Alonso, Wirral

THANK YOU ALONSO

Kate McCann and the Muslims

More misleading headlines. I admit mine may sound like a new folk/pop indie group, but the DM is a past master at this fine art.
The daily mail has, like most of the terrible tabloids, been obsessed with the McCann story. They have had several (sometimes contradictory) stories each day. They know tht it sells papers and have tried to cover all bases in the are they guilty/innocent/suspects saga. Today's story plumbs new depths even allowing for the paper's (not so) hidden agenda.

'Stop the car, there's Madeleine': Witness sees her dragged by Muslim woman

Bingo! Buy one get one free! As well as the deluge of immigration/race/Islam scaremongering, we now have these gutter journos linking unrelated topics to the general hatred.

• A Spanish mother told today how she is convinced she saw Madeleine McCann being dragged across a street in Morocco.
  The potential witness believes she spotted the missing girl with a woman in a headscarf crossing a road in the northern town of Zaio in May.

Note the date of the alleged sighting. This will become relevant when considering the comments of the faithful DM cadre. The woman had a headscarf. Ipso fact she is a Muslim. This could well be the case but again the Mail is quick to let its disciples read between the lines. It could also be argued that merely seeing a child dragged across the road is not tantamount to abduction. Remember the 100% sighting in Belgium? Have you ever seen a child cting distressed state when with parents. If only all children behaved properly when out. The Spanish woman may have legitimate concerns so let us proceed.

• She said she told her husband to stop the car. "I shouted 'Stop! It's Madeleine, the missing girl.' But by the time we pulled over and ran back to where she had crossed, they had both vanished."

The reported conversation seems a bit contrived. Rather like the dialogue in the Daily Mirror's Scorer cartoon ("I must get on the end of this cross because our result last week left us in 5th place"), it does not seem right. Maybe it was lost in translation and I am being too picky. I notice that the much-denied 'they've taken her!' cry of Kate McCann has now resurfaced. The relevant part is in the second sentence. They did not have the opportunity to photograph, question, or contact the Daily Mail. I know this crossed my mind with the Belgian sighting as most people have camera phones these days and it is relatively easy to get some evidence - we're all photo-journalists or detectives now (see the increased use of viewers footage on 24 hours news channels). However, if the DM commenters had actually read the story they would not have made such moronic claims. Nobody knows what they would do in a given situation, though plenty of people seem to think they would be heroes if they thought someone was drowning in a lake.

I wonder if there is a price to be paid for such a high profile campaign. I'm not criticising the couple for that alone, but there may be drawbacks. If everyone is looking for a blonde girl of her description, isn't there a risk of inadvertently producing these false sightings. I have heard somewhere there is a psychological phenonemen whereby thinking intently about a person recently lost (e.g. dead relative or even estranged partner) can result in false apparitions. I'm not sure of the name of this but maybe someone out there does.

• "The girl was wearing a skirt and short-sleeved top, with hat on and her hair tied up. A gust of wind blew up the hat and I saw that it was Madeleine McCann."

If her hair was tied up how could she be certain it was Madeleine? Unless you were close and could see the tell-tale eye, how can you be 100%. I hope if she is my phone-a-friend on Millionaire she is not in the habit iof making hyperbolic claims. That is why I don't speak to my previous phone-a-friend in Belgium.

Without getting into OJ Simpson territory....if I did it.....I'd dye the child's hair, cut it and give her sunglasses.

• She added [that the Portuguese police] told her they believed Madeleine was already dead.

I've no idea about the veracity of this claim. So much has been said about the PJ which has ranged from the sneering to the outright racist. There are aspects of the investigation that seem strange to an outsider and maybe criticism can be levelled at the apparent leaks. Maybe the same can be levelled at the McCann camp. If true, it is insensitive to say the least. It is unlikely that she spoke to anyone at a high level. It does not make clear when she spoke to the police in Portugal, but it is only recently that the PJ have said that they thought the child may be dead.

• Her revelations are certain to be studied by the McCanns' legal team, and private-investigators who they have engaged.

I still cannot understand the need for high profile legal team at this stage. Putting aside the funding situation, they have not been charged with anything. If they had been then one could understand it more, but this is not a red herring because it stinks too much.

The DM have, as I have said, kept their options open. They have printed fawning pro-McCann gush but also (occasionally) pieces wondering about the case. They let their headlines tell the story.

When I was at Uni, there was the old trick plyed on the smartarses by lecturers. The written test where the top of the page has the rubric: read all questions before starting writing. Most would plough on and answer complex posers before arriving at Question 20 which said, "Do not write answers to the questions until Lecturer X performs a handstand" or similar.

(Can I just say that I didn't fall for it because I like to read the small print - a lawyer in the making one day!)

But I digress.........................

This particular story is intersting in DM terms as it does not attract one-side comments. There are two distinct camps.

And now for the unthinking comments:

• If these people think it's Madaleine why don't they do something about it?- John Salkeld, Sheffield, England read the words John, don't just hum the tune.
• Do the people who reported these sightings not carry a mobile phone that can take pictures for crying out loud?- Lawrence, London because it is compulsory to have one.
• It is apparent that the Portuguese police, with little or no training in true law enforcement, decided that the McCanns did it, regardless of the lack of evidence and testimony. From day two, the Portuguese police were not interested in investigative work. Probably because they have never had the background, education or training that US and UK police go through. Britain is a thriving democracy, with strong democratic traditions. - Marlene, Alexandria, VA we will never take lectures from the US about democracy. I think Kate in Exeter has your number................
• Indeed Marlene, Alexandria, VA. Thank goodness all crime in Britain and the States is solved within minutes of it happening...- Kate, Exeter [chuckle]
• Why the hell do all these people not take photos? And why does it take them almost 5 months to tell the police? Why do they not just shout Madeleine's name and see if she turns around?- Sophie, Cornwall
• If all the people that say they have spotted Madeleine, would have tailed the people, that have the little girl, then gone straight to the police with a address where she is held, this case would have been solved months ago. Don't just think ACT ON YOUR HUNCH. As Charles Laughton did in the film version of Hugo's novel. Think how the parents must feel with all these sightings.- Steve R, Manchester England
• It is sad but true, anyone who dare say they have seen Madeleine or are acquainted with the McCann's no matter how vague that acquaintance is, are immediately accused of being associated with her abduction.It is therefore of little wonder the witnesses are wary of coming forward.- Kerrie St John, USA Name one person sighting Madeleine who is a suspect? You win my monthly award for thickest American.
• The false Belgium sighting should serve as caution - many eye-witness reports are unreliable. What is apparent however is the quite blatantly racist attitude of many commentators (example: Marlene of Alexandria, VA) towards the Portugese police, now culminating in an attack on their education and society as a whole. Ridiculous.- David, London, England Well done David, but be ready for the flak from Derek below. I think he mistakes you with John.
• John, London - You have not been to Morocco recently, there are very few blond children to be seen now the European tourists with children have gone home.- Derek Small, Tangier, Maroc Small by name...........May, Derek, May!
• So get the expert team over to Morocco then and lets end this soon for Madeleine's sake! All that matters is finding this child -and for Pete's sake anyone who believes they have sighted her must NOT call her name or photograph her -they will be placing her in further danger if her captors realise they have been spotted. Stop reporting on sightings and let the specialist team get on with bringing her home safely. She only stands a chance of being returned home if the spotlight is removed for a while so her captors can feel safer and relax more allowing more definitive sightings.- Dawn, England This is very sensible actually. It i possible to do more harm than good in such situations. I would even question the publicising of these sightings. I also question why the McCanns don't go to scenes of sightings. Do they know something?
• Please God, let Maddy be in Morocco, alive and well, and waiting to be returned home to her loving family.- Sara, Leicester Lovingly to be left alone while we go to the Tapas Bar.
• How did this woman know that the other was Muslim? Can you tell a Muslim just by looking at them? Smells fishy...- Carys Mathews, Chester, UK Not only from these here parts but a great point and uses my fish motif! I like Catatonia but that was Cerys!
• At least twice in the past couple of months I've seen a girl that is the spitting image of my daughter. At one time I was behind in the street and was going to ask the girl I thought was my daughter what she was doing as I knew she should be elsewhere. This proves we all have doubles sometimes more than one including poor Madeleine.- Pen, Durham Another spooky point as I'd written my bit about this before seeing his comment. We all have doppelgaenger. Mine is the guy that gets drunk sometimes and talks bollocks whilst I am doing my aerobics classes.
• Do you really think that if she has been abducted that her kidnappers are going to parade her in public view? For a start if they did they would probably cut her hair dye it change her appearance. How many times have people said they're 100% sure they have seen her and it turns out not to be true?- Natasha, Stafford, England Again, I didn't copy Natasha's idea but it's nice to know there is a part of me in the Potteries.

DO NOT READ ANY OF THE ABOVE UNLESS THERE IS NOTHING STOPPING YOU

Daily Mail Hypocrisy Again

I wonder how DM journalists ever sleep at night. I hope they all suffer the indignity of poverty in the near future and that they get Eastern European neighbours. Then and only then will they realise what it is like to be dependent on welfare, AND that the vast majority of foreign nationals here are law-abiding, hard-working and integrating. Anyway, enough of the rant and on with the evidence.

Cast your minds back to my post regarding the attempts by people not sharing the DM viewpoint and the racist post from one contributor and you can see why I am so pissed off with not being allowed to have my posts published. I also refer to the mealy mouthed response from the moderator. Of course as this would never happen at The Mail it allows them to have a dig at the BBC without the readers knowing about their own faux pas and editorial policy. I think this hypocrisy needs further airing.



More double standards in another attack on the Stalinist BBC. Or Bloody British Communists as DM eternal colonels would have us believe.

The whole article needs to be read for the full effect.



BBC forced to removed 'bastard' slur about Jesus from its website By
JASON LEWIS 18th August 2007



The BBC has been forced to remove statements from its website referring to Jesus as a 'bastard'.
It is the latest in a string of offensive comments that BBC editors have allowed members of the public to post.
The remarks have been allowed to remain for weeks, despite complaints from religious groups.


It has led to claims that the BBC is allowing its output to be hijacked by extremists while censoring anti-Muslim sentiment.
The remarks about Jesus were left as part of a discussion of the death of the Archbishop of Paris.
The debate had descended into an argument about the merits of Christians, Jews and Muslims when a writer, known as 'colonelartist', posted: "Are you a christian? You do know that jesus had to hide all his short life he lived in those promised land because his tribesmen used to call him fatherless, ridiculed him for being a B-A-S-T-A-R-D...'
He added: "Jesus...was also persecuted because the jews would never accept as their Messiah a person whose father was missing...'

The comments were allowed to remain for a week despite complaints. But after The Mail on Sunday contacted senior BBC officials, they were deleted.
Colonelartist is a regular contributor to the BBC site.
He has also written: "The jews in much remembered concentration camps had even better qualitity of freedom that these palestinians have...'
One website user wanted to see if BBC editors were allowing these offensive remarks to remain while blocking others. He wrote: "No one can surpass the Muslims for denial of their role in Terrorism and Suicide bombing." The remarks were almost immediately deleted.
The BBC has also been criticised for allowing allegedly anti-Semitic posts from a contributor called "Iron Naz'.
In a message left on the site for more than a month, Iron Naz says: "Zionism is a racist ideology where jews are given supremacy over all other races and faiths. This is found in the Talmud...which allows jews to lie as long as its to non-jews."
The remarks brought complaints from the Board of Deputies, the organisation that represents Britain's Jews and its Community Security Trust. They say the post draws on a discredited 19th Century text, the Talmud Unmasked, which is still distributed by neo-Nazi booksellers.
However, the BBC said the remarks did not merit removal.
A spokesman said posts were taken down if they were considered likely to 'disrupt, provoke attack or offend others or are considered racist, homophobic, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable'.
The Board of Deputies intends to pursue its complaints. Mark Gardiner, of the Community Security Trust, said: "The BBC obviously no longer recognises anti-Semitism. The BBC is a public body, funded by the British taxpayer. It has legal obligations."
Last night the Church of England also criticised the management of the BBC discussion sites noting that "voices of reason, compassion and charity seem to get little look-in".
A spokesman said: "Discussion - including robustly critical discussion - of any faith's doctrines and practices is an important feature of civilised discourse.
"But deliberately or recklessly offensive denigration of those doctrines and practices is unacceptable."

Then, the usual cretins queue up to comment:


When are we going to take the BBC by the throat and strangle it.-

E Pryor, Gravesend


I think you'll find that all BBC message boards are not moderated - edited - by the BBC itself. I'm sure that it has been sub-contracted to a private company and it would be interesting to see what qualifications or otherwise the people who do the moderation have and where they are physically located.- Baz, London, UK


In addition to this story there are another couple of beauties. Firstly, it has come to the attention of the DM sniffer dogs that custard creams have been demanded by asylum seekers being held at a detention centre. The implication is that they should be grateful for scraps the dogs leave and sleep in chains. Here are the usual sick views from the caring, compassionate and Christian Mail readers:

For goodness sake - send them all back to where they came from!- A. M., Dorset

Just what is being run here? A five star hotel or a detention centre? I suggest that if the inhabitants of the centre are unhappy, they should return to their place of origin.There are literally thousands of Britons on or below the poverty line and they can't even afford the luxury of a plain biscuit let alone custard creams. These people, if I understand correctly, have no right of abode and are subject to assessment by the authorities. Prison food with dietary consideration for religious beliefs is more than adequate.It is an absolutely appalling state of affairs when detainees are better looked after than the native residents of a country. This is political correctness gone mad.What next - limousines to the park on Sundays and personal masseurs with tailored clothing from Oxford Street?- Bob Down, Brisbane, Australia

Then another scientific discovery which turns out to be absolute crap. However, this has sinister overtones about the superiority of races and persons with blue eyes. Hmm heard that somewhere before haven't we. Ah yes, that nice Herr Hitler (supported by this very paper as he snatched power in the 1930s.

At least some comments have been made showing it to be scientific nonsense, but I get the feeling this is sour grapes from those with brown eyes. One or two posts hint at more worrying aspects.

Perhaps it is not eye color, but race?- Theodore James, U.S.


Do you realize that almost only white people have blue eyes?- Marco, Milan, Italy


This reminds me of controversy over race and IQ and in particular the furore surrounding the publication of the Bell Curve by Murray et al. More detail can be seen on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve but the frightening aspects are the calls for the elimination or reduction of welfare programmes as such are seen as having a negative effect on net IQ levels. Social engineering by any other name. Dr Mengele your time is nigh, this might suggest.

Given the calls for tax cuts and the abolition of Inheritance Tax at the moment, these will have to be funded from cuts to public spending. You can see how this would sit so well with the greedy dullards that read this rag.

Finally, DM idiots are never ones to turn any story into a let's bash the Government and cut back on foreign aid, so here's a comment from Blackpool's finest inhabitant, Mr. Stanley. He gets extra marks for including the topical jibe about asylum seekers' biscuits. I think he knows how to spell 'spending', but he's just pretendind to be stupid.

Maybe we should cut back on the custard creams and spend money were it is needed? Let's look after the British people for a change, instead of fighting wars and spendind money on things that do not concern us, and we cannot afford.- Mike Stanley, Blackpool