Does anyone agree that there is a need for forum space to mention all those things that are of interest in the short term but, would not necessarily sustain a half a dozen or a dozen comments.
For example: Yesterday was the last day of the Six Nations rugby competition. Only of interest perhaps, to few on these Forums. I’d like to have placed a reminder but couldn’t find the last Six Nations subject, so didn’t bother.
Another example: Lord Neuburger, President of the Supreme Court mentioned that it was desirable that people should not be prevented from venting their often frustrated opinions on contentious issues for fear of condemnation. He thought that commentators who were opposed, were inhibited by the prospect of disapproval, from discussing rascism, homosexuality, ordination of females etc.
My Six Nations snippet was that it was a generally good result. Ireland won (by points difference) the Six Nations title from England. England won the Triple Crown and France was beaten ! Result.
By: trekbuster - 11th January 2016 at 18:47
Re: the GCSE.
I think the Torygraph took this from The Mail On Sunday’s article.
That was a classic case of the headline of the MoS website not actully having much relevance to the truth of the matter, or even compared to what was written in the full text of the article.
Headline was
GCSE pupils to be taught that the nation’s earliest inhabitants were Africans who were in Britain before the English
As quite often happens with the Fail’s website, this was factually incorrect. For not only were there inhabitants in britain many thousands of years before the period referred to in the article, if you actually read it, soon it became clear that what the module was talking about was the stationing of an African legion on the Wall in the third century AD before the migration of the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth and sixth centuries which of course was technically accurate.
The concept of the ‘english’ as a nation didn’t appear until the Eighth century and was not realy fulfilled as a political entity until the tenth century.
Do I agree with the approach of said module if really as reported, no of course not.
Is it likely that the module is to be as simplistic as displayed by this moral outrage in two poorly written articles, no again.
By: John Green - 11th January 2016 at 16:59
Couple of interesting snippets from the D.Tel. of to-day’s date.
There has been of late, much squeaking from various police spokesmen on the subject of police spending cuts. With comments such as: “If you keep slashing our budgets how will we be able to keep the public safe” ?
Brings a ready tear to your eye doesn’t it ?
Surprising then to know that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe who has complained more than most about police spending cuts, has just taken delivery of a brand new, chauffeur driven, top-of-the-range Range Rover costing £65,000 of taxpayers cash.
This person earns £300,000 p.a. and also has access to a £35,000 Jaguar and an Audi A4. Its not only politicians who have their snouts in the trough.
A new GCSE history course has been announced. This module teaches that Africans came to Britain long before the English ! The module has been adopted by the Oxford and Cambridge examination board OCR and was created by ‘academics’ from the Black Studies Association. Jambo bwana !
The Novelist V.S. Naipaul commented: “Once again, political correctness is distorting British history and the education of our children”.
By: Meddle - 10th January 2016 at 00:21
If nothing else there must be some grinding cognitive dissonance over in the Guardian camp. For a team of journalists that like to remind us that things as innocent as Thomas the Tank Engine promote a misogynist message, they seem oddly quiet about the attacks in Germany over New Year. It does make me wonder why modern feminists don’t criticise honest-to-goodness patriarchal societies such as those found in the middle east and north Africa, and instead feel the need to attack trivialities in western Europe instead.
The Twitter account ‘So Much Guardian’ is pretty entertaining.
By: MrBlueSky - 8th January 2016 at 03:22
Interesting read…
http://counterjihadreport.com/category/bill-warner/
Islamic History…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Qpy0mXg8Y
Have there been any comments about this, or is it not worthy of discussion…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35248601
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/01/why-are-feminists-refusing-to-discuss-the-cologne-sex-attacks/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUPuMs3E_k0
The above possibly is because of this,,,
By: John Green - 6th January 2016 at 17:32
Wonders will never cease ! To-day, the D. Tel. reports a rare instance of commonsense in our legal system. It appears that a pastor of a Christian sect in Northern Ireland said in public many harsh words about ‘satanic, hateful Islam’ and the behaviour of its followers in Britain.
Naturally, he was eventually brought before the local beak, a District Judge on a charge of ‘using offensive language’. After a short trial, the judge, Liam McNully said: “the courts must be very carefull not to criminalise free speech”.
Pastor McConnell had been accused of, improper use of a public electronic communications network and communicating a grossly offensive message over the internet.
The pastor was found not guilty and discharged.
After years of widely reported vituperation towards Christians, I don’t know about you but, I regard that as a ‘result’ !
By: John Green - 22nd December 2015 at 20:58
Your argument is a bit thin. It isn’t necessarily ‘unfortunately ill-formed view of the world’ because you say it is. There just has to be slightly more to it than that – surely ?
Not possible. I’m as impervious to ‘offence’ as it is possible to be.
Altho’ from time to time I’ll confess to being so far to the ‘right’ that I’m in danger of falling over, it is written to mostly annoy the ‘lefties’.
I do not believe in unalloyed capitalism anymore than I accept unadulterated socialism. But, I do reject completely the extravagances of both which seem to cause so much bother.
By: trekbuster - 22nd December 2015 at 18:23
You are entirely correct. I should have written ” your own unfortunately ill-informed view of the world” but I didn’t want to cause too much offence.
But since you asked……
It does put a wry smile on my face when those who are perhaps of a more right leaning persuasion can assume anyone who challenges their belief systems must be of the hard left.
By: John Green - 22nd December 2015 at 16:45
On what other basis does one – more often than not – make assumptions ?
By: trekbuster - 22nd December 2015 at 13:24
I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have never even glanced at the cover of the publication you mention, let alone picked it up or contributed to it.
Yet again, you are making assumptions based on your own view of the world.
By: John Green - 22nd December 2015 at 11:44
I’m not only surprised but also suspicious that you have to ask the question. Daily Shirker/Daily Worker. My guess is that you must at some time have been a contributor !
Now is that ‘have’ or ‘of” ?
By: trekbuster - 21st December 2015 at 22:52
What is this daily shirker of which you speak?
Is it a euphemism for your average Daily Mail reader?
By: John Green - 21st December 2015 at 17:37
They should have been fined 3 million for recommending support for the Tories. That apart, I have, it must be admitted, sent an immediate and very large donation to their fighting fund. Readers and supporters of the former Daily Shirker, of whom there are a number on this site, would be advised to remit their ‘widows mite’, if nothing else, to atone for their previous slavish obedience to the Kremlin.
By: trekbuster - 21st December 2015 at 14:05
Shock! Horror!
The Daily Torygraph has been fined £30000 by the Information Commisioners Office for telling it’s online subscribers to vote tory on the day of the election.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/the-daily-telegraph-fined-30000-for-email-instructing-readers-to-vote-conservative-a6781326.html
They seem to be getting quite a few things wrong in the recent past
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11715880/IPSO-upholds-Nicola-Sturgeon-complaint.html
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/06/daily-telegraph-jeremy-corbyn-antisemite-ipso
Actually, looks like they have had their knuckles wrapped 7 times since IPSO set up
By: John Green - 17th December 2015 at 17:33
Please help! For the umpteenth time I’m missing something here:
It is reported that an NHS Foundation Trust, found guilty of appalling health care blunders with respect to Staffordshire Hospital, has been fined £500,000 plus costs of £3000.
They can’t pay this amount because they haven’t any money. If they had, they would of course be paying with public cash e.g taxpayer’s cash.
Because they can’t pay – and someone has to pay, the fine will be paid by the Department of Health. Well then, that’s ok. Done and dusted. Not quite. The only cash possessed of the Dept. of Health is, yes, TAXPAYER’S CASH.
Question: What is the point of this charade. What is the point of this meaningless exercise in pointless public exculpation ? I’ll tell you what it is; to be seen to be doing something no matter how ‘Alice in Wonderland’ the whole staggeringly stupid exercise appears to the rest of us.
By: John Green - 11th December 2015 at 17:03
Wonderful front page of the current Private Eye. It features a pair of Tornado’s in flight with the legend: “Cameron to bomb ISIL heartland”.
Followed by a balloon: “Belgium, here we come”.
By: John Green - 9th December 2015 at 18:43
The D. Tel. to-day, reports that since air strikes began, ISIL have received an increase of approximately 31,000 new recruits to their strength from foreign Islamic sources around the world.
Perhaps air strikes aren’t the ‘be all and end all’ after all !
By: John Green - 8th December 2015 at 12:20
Well, according to both the D.Tel. and the Mail, at least one passer by got stuck in. This story refers to the Leytonstone Looney allegedly high on some exotic substance, busily trying to carve up fellow travellers on the Tube. One witness commented that: ‘He looked crazed’.
Does this mean that while Mrs. G loads the trolley, I have to stand to one side and, copying the attitude of celebrity bodyguards, scan for approaching homicidal misfits their eyes glazed with the red mist ?
And I thought that the only danger lurking in the supermarket was some burly housefrau’s elbow landing in my ribs while grabbing the last packet of chestnut stuffing.
I know that ‘one swallow does not a summer make’ but, it gives one food for thought (pun intended).
By: charliehunt - 5th December 2015 at 15:13
What an excellent piece. It echoes much of what another fine moral philosopher, Roger Scruton, wrote a few weeks ago.
By: 1batfastard - 5th December 2015 at 10:33
Hi All,
Here’s something to ponder why Turkey wants this EU Membership possibly. I saw a Paul Begley video of the Turkey/Syria border guard house and being manned by ISIS ? “ISIS controls a Custom Office in Syria on the Turkish Border and ISIS terrorist can take fake passports and walk into Turkey “
If you can get past his religious overtones on his videos some of the stuff he gets hold of makes you think outside the box…..:confused:
Geoff.
By: John Green - 4th December 2015 at 21:01
Irony isn’t perhaps your strong point ?
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March 16, 2014 at 1:27 pm