Music genius, media mogul, and former head of comedy at BBC into the obits file.

Isao Tomita, electronic music trailblazer, dies at 84 in Tokyo

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605090028.html

Australian media mogul, and the creator of Neighbours, Reg Grundy has died

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/tv-legend-reg-grundy-has-died-2016-5

Tributes paid to Only Fools And Horses producer Gareth Gwenlan who has died aged 79

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/tributes-paid-to-only-fools-and-horses-producer-gareth-gwenlan-who-has-died-aged-79-734384.html

Did I watch the Bafta’s ? No. I spent the time more profitably employed seeking inspiration, by gazing first at my own navel and then removing one of my testes, without anaesthetic, slicing it and then poaching it in a quarter bottle of vintage Prosecco and serving with some garlic garnish. Yummee.

No, he got all his BAFTA news from the Daily Heil. Oh, and please don’t follow the recipe above otherwise John will have nothing to eat after the Euro pole…

I am guessing that if there was anything like a concerted right wing bias on the BBC then John (and his fellow black shirts) would be eagerly tuning in to watch Eastenders, The Clangers, Count Down and all the other entertaining attempts to overthrow our socialist state from within. As you can see from his BAFTA remarks…he isn’t.

Forgotten my name, Charlie?

Yes, I see what you mean; I thought it was just the winching onto the loader that was causing that…

Maybe that was the damaged the lawyer was referring to?

The newspaper account that I read said that hundreds maybe thousands were effectively disenfranchised because polling cards had been lost – without explaining the loss – and then some were found – conveniently, after 10.0pm and the doors had closed.

Where, and which paper? It is a pretty rotten excuse for a poor showing – you really should stop reading those pamphlets handed out by grunting mono-browed skinheads with stitch marks on their foreheads to gullible individuals…;o)

Link please. (And you don’t need a polling card – you just turn up, tell them your name, confirm your address, go and tick the boxes, post your vote, feel smug)

I’ve seen nothing reported on TV. So, if this story has a shred of truth, unless it was a genuine mistake, an application for a judicial review could be made.

Shred of truth, or work of individual fantasy? Show us a link.

This story also, according to accounts, explains the counting delay.

Link please.

My suspicious nature is relating this story to other examples of previous voting problems related to political activity in the Midlands and the North.

No suspicion by you if it had been son of Boris wearing the chain, eh? Link please.

This past activity will have been noted and whether there is a court challenge of the result will depend on how brave the accusers are and their capacity to absorb unpleasant flak.

Unless this is a figment of the imagination, what? Link please.

The Zac Goldsmith campaign has apparently reaffirmed the Tories as the ‘Nasty Party’, and it has trashed his reputation.

Tory criticism of Mr Goldsmith’s tactics grew on Friday as the party prepared to cede City Hall, which it has held since 2008.
Former party co-chair Sayeeda Warsi tweeted on Friday evening: “Our appalling dog whistle campaign lost us the election, our reputation and credibility on issues of race and religion.”
Mr Goldsmith’s sister Jemima seemed to throw the blame on to Tory strategists shortly before the official announcement on Friday, saying it was “sad that Zac’s campaign did not reflect who I know him to be — an eco-friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity”.
Andrew Boff, former leader of the Tory group on the London assembly, accused the campaign of “dog whistle” politics.
Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former strategist, said the campaign was “a missed opportunity”. Mr Goldsmith was “a thoughtful, somewhat anti-establishment character”, he said “and none of that was conveyed in his campaign”.
It was “careless” to allow the campaign to be characterised “in that way”, by “bringing the nasty party label back to the Conservatives”, Mr Hilton said.
“Long term [it could be] pretty damaging,” he predicted.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a90c5284-1382-11e6-91da-096d89bd2173.html#axzz47v7U8V7b

In essence the campaign went back to the days when it didn’t matter where the ballot was since the battle was to get one over on the opposition, trashing them rather than trying to win the argument.

Meanwhile Lynton Crosby, who masterminded both Boris Gump’s mayoral wins and last years election victory, and whose company was behind the Goldsmith campaign (‘masterminded’ by one of Crosby’s business partners at CTF Partners, Mark Fullbrook), was cheesily rewarded for his dedication to the cause by receiving his knighthood even as the count was taking place…

Only the silly ones.
Of course we never see such errors in UK postings…:)

Having seen it in several US newspapers and in Time, Rolling Stone and Cosmopolitan (US editions), I had come to the conclusion that it was officially accepted – only to be informed that it was just lazy writing and poor editing.

Not especially picking on Americans but, as someone once told me, you can form an opinion about people from their spelling and syntax errors – I have seen this particular spelling from apparently well-read Americans repeatedly to the point that, as I have said, I assumed that it was the accepted spelling (if you see it from a Brit then there will usually be other language errors leading to an assumption on their educational capability…).
Noah Webster, in his dictionary, brought notice to changes in American English, introduced in part to simplify their spelling to relate to their pronunciation, such as changing -ise to -ize in (for example) specialise, dropping the essentially silent ‘u’ in words like harbour or flavour, swapping the letter sequence in words like fibre, changing the ‘c’ in licence and defence to ‘s’, or discarding what was regarded as ‘wasted’ or ‘excessive’ letters in words like programme or manoeuvre (and thereby losing hints of the origins of the word).

And yet some American things still can’t be explained – ‘where you at?’ or ‘where’s the bus at?’ just sound so utterly wrong, and corndogs…?