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We don’t just report off-beat news, breaking news and digest the best and worst of the news media analysis and commentary. We give an original take on what happened and why. We add lols, satire, news photos and original content.

Madeleine McCann: speculation, claims and the Algarve crime scene

madeleine mccann

 

Maddie Watch: a look at reporting on Madeleine McCann, the child who vanished in 2007.

Daily Express (front page): “MADDY – Why I think our daughter is still alive and in Portugal”

Maddy – why is this front-page news?

On Page 7 we hear from “MUM KATE”. The headline assures us: “Maddy’s mum: We’ll never give up. I want and end, answer.”

We all do. The story has become all. The single fact – child vanishes – remains unaltered since 2007. The voracious media feeding frenzy has created victims of libel but shed no light on that fact.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 16th, February 2016 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (6)


Cancel your subscription to Harper’s magazine and receive this desperate letter

When Adrienne LaFrance cancelled her subscription to Harper’s magazine she received a letter – a begging letter. Read it and weep (with annotations by Adrienne):

 

Cancel your subscription to Harper’s magazine and receive this desperate letter

 

harper letter

 

Posted: 15th, February 2016 | In: Key Posts, Reviews, The Consumer | Comment


Madeleine McCann: Stephen Fry swoops in, Sun delivers a no-news ‘exclusive’

mccann maddie algarve tabloid

 

Maddie Watch: a look at reporting on Madeleine McCann, the child who vanished in 2007.

The Sun (front page): “McCann Exclusive”

What news is worthy of a front-page exclusive?

The headline declares: “Kate: Maddie still in Algarve.”

Does that mean we can stop looking for the missing child elsewhere?

KATE McCann yesterday said she believes her missing daughter Madeleine is still somewhere in the Algarve

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 15th, February 2016 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (2)


Adam Johnson is guilty but Stacey Johnson is the one on trial

england pervert“PERVERT England Star: I groomed Girl, 15,” runs the Daily Star’s front-page headline. The England star is Adam Johnson, who plays for Sunderland in the Premier League.

The facts come thick and fast. He “groomed and groped” a 15-year-old girl. He earns “50,000-a-week”.  His girlfriend, Stacey Flounders, 26, “the mother of this young daughter”, was at Bradford Crown Court to hear her boyfriend admit “indulging in sexual activity with a schoolgirl on January 30 last year”.

Johnson has played 12 times for England “and scored twice”. He denies two further claims of sexual activity with  the same girl, both involving penetration. All papers bar the Express (10 years) say the maximum sentence if found guilty of all charges is 14 years prison.

Judge Jonathan Rose said the jury must “consider only the evidence” and not be distracted by Johnson’s job. He told the jurors, “You are not allowed to speak to anyone but your number about the case.” Not at home. Not while you read the papers. You must remain as if in a bubble.

The Star adds, “his team are tipped for relegation”. Johnson lives in a “£1.85m home”.

The Mail says Johnson will not play for Sunderland while his trial is underway. The Times gores further, leading its sports section with  question: “Will Adam Johnson ever play football again?”

Do we believe in rehabilitation? Does the Times need to show a picture of Johnson cradling his baby daughter? Do all sex criminals get pictured with their kids? Do we need to know that Flounders wore “a black military blazer, skin-tight black leggings, a pale orange blouse an high heels, and sporting a black Chanel  handbag, she chewed discretely on gum”?

You’d have to be wearing nose plugs not to smell the stench of money and spite. Why is Flounders’ expensive handbag featured on the sports pages? Is the inference that she’s there for the money and not love or family duty? She’s not on trial. Her pathetic boyfriend is.

The Mail’s pictures shows more of Stacey than it does of Johnson.

 

Stacey Flounders

 

Johnson’s job is why he’s news. The story of a 28-year-old man who “kissed” and “touched” a 15-year-old is not a big national news story.

If he is a “pervert”, what of the Star’s readers, who on Page 43 of today’s newspaper are invited to call a sex line to listen to “girls” and “mother and daughter” action? When did incest go mainstream?

 

sex chat adam johnson

 

PS: Adam Johnson is not a role model. The Australian reports on someone keen to tar all men:

Yvonne Traynor, head of Rape Crisis South London, a charity, said: “Adam Johnson premeditatedly groomed a child and admitted sexual activity with her, a young girl whose life has been devastated. Surely Sunderland have a moral obligation to say they do not condone his actions and instead recognise the seriousness of his crime rather than allowing him the opportunity to represent the club and act as a role model for many young men.”

No sane young man sees Johnson’s crimes and thinks him a role model, an inspirational figure to follow and emulate. To suggest men are sex criminals-in-waiting is a weak and ugly argument.

Posted: 11th, February 2016 | In: Back pages, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment (1)


James Cracknell joins Jamie Oliver’s anti-sugar eugenicists

James cRacknell sugar taxJamie Oliver has a sidekick in his war on cheap food and the poor. The Guardian reports:

Double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell has joined calls for sugary drinks to be taxed as part of a series of measures to combat rising levels of obesity.

He reasons:

“There will be inevitable opposition to what will be labelled as ‘nannying’, but the same was true of the reaction to legislation on seat belts and drink-driving.”

You don’t need to drive. Driving is a luxury controlled by rules of the road. You are given a licence to drive by the State, James. You do not – well, not yet – need an official licence to drink and eat. Unless James thinks sugary drinks impair driving skills – although the opposite may be true.

And lest you still think James has a sound point, the story continues:

Double gold medallist warns of national crisis in Policy Exchange report that also calls for annual BMI checks for children

More akin to eugenics than mere nannying.

 

Posted: 10th, February 2016 | In: Celebrities, Reviews | Comment


Keighley sex gang: Asian rapists, white victims and biased reporting

keighley gang rapists

 

How do you report on the 12 rapists who attacked a 13-year-old girl? The Daily Star puts the news on its front page: “Sex gang gets 143 years’ jail,” runs the headline. The story beings: “12 members of an Asian gang…” Before the names and location, we are told the gang is Asian.

The story continues: “They laughed and waved at friends in the court’s public gallery as they  caged for repeatedly raping their white victim.”

Race plays a leading role in the Star’s story – the Star that once supported the EDL.

On page 9, the men are “sex monsters” stood in the dock at Bradford Crown Court. One who was not in court is named as Arif Choudhury, 20, who has “fled to Bangladesh”. He, says the Star,  “arranged for the girl to be raped” when she refused to carry drugs for him.

Elsewhere Choudhury is called Arif Chowdhury.

Yorkshire Evening Post: “Keighley grooming case: ‘Arrogant’ Asian gang of 12 jailed for 130 years”

AN ARROGANT gang of 12 men in a West Yorkshire town have been jailed for a total of 130 years for the repeated rape and sexual abuse of a vulnerable schoolgirl they saw as “utterly worthless”.

Eleven were jailed for rape and a twelfth man was jailed for sexual activity with a child under 16. Their white British victim was aged 13 and 14 when she was repeatedly raped and sexually abused and passed around by the Asian men.

Asian men. But not Chinese, Thai or Cambodian men.

The Sun (Pages 8 and 9): “143 Years for rape gang ignored by cops.”

A GANG of Asian paedophiles who beat and raped a white girl of 13 was jailed yesterday for a total of 143 years. The terrified victim was repeatedly abused at various locations for over a year — despite being reported missing to cops 71 times. They ignored her family’s desperate pleas for help and instead told her anxious mum to keep a diary of her movements.

Criminality thrives when it goes unchecked. A ‘gang’ forms because one criminal gets away with it and tells an associate he can trust. The men did not join any rape gang because they were Asian – they joined in because they were criminally minded bastards who knew each other.

David Hines, of the National Victims’ Association, likened it to incidents in Rochdale and Rotherham — where up to 1,400 girls were abused by Asian paedos. He claimed: “I’m sure police heard the alarm bells. They just decided to ignore the noise.”

The first mention of the victim being white appears in paragraph 8:

Tory MP Kris Hopkins, who represents Keighley, said: “I’m well aware there are numerous white paedophiles and they should be dealt with just as harshly.”

Well, yes. But..

“But the sick model of organised groups of Asian men grooming young white girls to be sexually abused remains a blight at the heart of many communities across this country. And sadly Keighley is at the top of the list.”

Why? Who knew? Who ignored the victims?

In  these cases it’s useful to ask some questions: what if the victim had been an aristocrat? What if she had been from a rich family? Would the police have told her parents to keep a diary of her movements had she been from an upper-class home? What if she was not from an impoverished background? What if her dad knew the chief inspector?

The Sun then quotes a local man with an opinion:

A COUNCILLOR sparked outrage yesterday after he appeared to dismiss the Keighley sex scandal – and claimed: “It takes two to tango.” Councillor Zafar Ali said he did not condone the abuse of white girls by Asian men – but claimed the gang had “got the wrong end of the stick”.

This was rape. They were the stick.

He said: “The grooming itself is totally out of proportion, we don’t condone that. As a a Muslim, living here for 52 years, I can tell you that no no-one does, it is categorically not Islamic.”

Who said it was Islamic? And since when does gang rape trigger a lesson in theology?

“Things have happened which means justice has been done for the people who have suffered and the punishment has been given. My feeling is the Muslim community should be addressing this quietly, amicably and sensibly. We should be rational. It takes two to tango, there are bad apples, but it doesn’t mean to say everyone is bad. There are a few who unfortunately have got the wrong end of the stick, but that’s not Muslim. Sensible, mature Muslims would never allow that. They have condemned that. We need to find a way to address it, it needs to be looked into.

“There are a few people who lose themselves but the entire community shouldn’t be labelled. There is some feeling from some people that she played her part in it, the victim had a part to play.”

She had a part to play, yes. She was the childish vessel into which the men – aged 19 to 63 – unleashed their perversions, desires, insecurities, anger, hatred and criminality.

The Express (Page 12): “A depraved gang of Asian men who raped and abused a vulnerable 13-year-old white girls have been jailed…”

Page 12: “Police, social workers and councillors turned a blind eye, too afraid of being labelled racist to confront a growing epidemic of abuse until the full scale of horrors became clear.”

Daily Mirror (Page 20): “12 men jailed for gang rape of teenage girl”

The word “Asian” first appears in paragraph 2. Nowhere does it mention that the victim was white.

Daily Mail (Page 20): 143 years for child rape gang but leader escapes justice with flight to Bangladesh”

Not once does the Mail says the victim was white. It commends her “bravery in giving evidence”, as well it should.

The bastards are:

Khalid Mahood, 34, was given an extended sentence of 17 years comprising a custodial term of 13 and a half years and an extended licence of three and a half years.
Sufyan Ziarab, 22, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 15 years.
His brother Bilal Ziarab, 21, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 12 years.
Yasser Kabir, 25, from Keighley was jailed for 15 years with a consecutive five years after being found guilty in June 2015 for offences on two girls aged between five and nine when he was between 13 and 15.
Hussain Sardar, 19, from Keighley received six years detention in a young offenders institution.
Nasir Khan, 22, from Keighley, was jailed for 13 years.
His brother Faisal Khan, 27, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years.
Saqib Younis, 29, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years.
Israr Ali, 19, from Keighley, received three and a half years detention in a young offenders institute.
Zain Ali, 20, from Keighley, received eight years in a young defenders institute.
Tanqueer Hussain, 23, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years and received a five year consecutive sentence for the rape of a second underage victim in 2009.
Mohammed Akram, 63, was jailed for five years.
Nazir Khan had a conviction for exposure and Bilal Ziarab a previous conviction for sexual activity with a child.
Only Tauqeer Hussain and Mohammed Akram were of previous good character.

The Times (Page 18): “Gang jailed for raping girl 13”

The paper begins: “A gang of men who groomed and repeatedly raped a vulnerable schoolgirl…”

No mention of race. Mentions of the world Asian, Muslim and white in the article: none.

The Times has not always been so shy of race:

 

gang rapists

 

ITV:  “MP who warned of sex abuse gang says he was abused and threatened for making claims”

Conservative Kris Hopkins, MP for Keighley and Ilkley says:

In November 2012, I made a speech in the House of Commons expressing my horror at the fact that there were gangs of Asian men going around Keighley raping white girls.

I was castigated from many quarters, received many abusive pieces of correspondence and on one occasion was forced to clear my constituency office after receiving a threat.

This case, the many guilty verdicts reached and the heavy sentences rightly handed down underline the nature and the truth of the evil I spoke about back then and will continue to raise until it has been eradicated.

I am very well aware that there are numerous white paedophiles out there and they should be dealt with just as harshly. But the sick model of organised groups of Asian men grooming young white girls to be sexually abused remains a blight at the heart of many communities across this country. And sadly Keighley is at the top of the list.

I want to congratulate all of the police officers who played a part in bringing these guilty men to justice. It can often be a harrowing task to collect the necessary evidence to secure convictions and, once again, West Yorkshire Police has done an outstanding job.

I hope that the force’s dedication and professionalism will encourage other victims to come forward and help put other perpetrators behind bars. I am very happy to provide all necessary support through my office to facilitate this.

I continue to work very closely with senior police officers and ministers, including the Home Secretary Theresa May, to see what more can be done to uncover child grooming rings and track down those involved. We have already achieved a number of improvements to national law and I am confident that further positive changes will be made.

But I must end with a plea. Whilst the police, the Government and I as the local MP will continue to join forces to tackle these issues, we need the support of the entire community behind us.

I love Keighley, it’s the town I grew up in and I’m privileged to be its Member of Parliament. But Keighley’s proud name has been dragged through the mud too many times in recent years because of the heinous acts of sick men preying on vulnerable young girls.

I appeal directly to members of the local community that if you know of any individual or groups of individuals who may be involved in these activities, you have an obligation to pass this information on. We must work together to rid ourselves of this cancer, and we all have a part to play.

– KRIS HOPKINS MP

What to do?

 

Posted: 9th, February 2016 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (2)


Lord Lucan is dead: but looking for him was fun and kept me in suncream

Lord-Lucan-How journalism works: looking for fugitive toff Lord Lucan was fun for Garth Gibbs, the Daily Mirror’s man on the tropical beat. Roy Greenslade writes:

Gibbs, who died in 2011, was renowned for his tenacious belief that he was only ever one step behind the missing peer. Not that he minded, however, because he spent a great deal of his employer’s money travelling the world while failing to get his man.

Reflecting on the matter after 30 years of fruitless journalistic endeavour, he explained that he had adopted as his motto an observation made by the canny Sunday Express editor John Junor: “Laddie, you don’t ever want to shoot the fox. Once the fox is dead there is nothing left to chase.”

Gibbs wrote: “With that in mind I regard not finding Lord Lucan as my most spectacular success in journalism. Of course, many of my colleagues have also been fairly successful in not finding Lord Lucan. But I have successfully not found him in more exotic spots than anybody else.”

Indeed, he had. He failed to locate him after three weeks in Cape Town, which was handy because Gibbs, a South African, was able to visit friends and relatives. Nor did he find him in Macau or Hong Kong or the Bahamas.

And that is how journalism works. They didn’t care about Sandra Rivett, the woman Lucan is accused of murdering. The story was all.

 

Posted: 8th, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


Censor demands ban on singing Delilah at Wales and Stoke FC matches

 

Media hungry Labour MP Chris Chris Bryant wants people to stop singing Delilah, the song made famous by Welsh crooner Tom Jones. He specifically wants us to stop singing it at Wales rugby union matches and whenever Stoke City FC play – fans of both teams have taken the song to their hearts. It is one of many songs from the golden age of pop still sung by British sports fans.

Chris, MP for Rhondda, says:

“It is a simple fact that when there are big international rugby matches on, and sometimes football matches as well, the number of domestic violence incidents rises dramatically.”

Why, why, why, Chris Bryant?

“I know that some people will say, ‘Oh, here we go, he’s a terrible spoilsport,’ but the truth is that that song is about the murder of a prostitute. It goes right to the heart of the issues we are discussing. There are thousands of other songs we could sing.”

Such as ‘Chris Bry-ant is a f***ing twat. Chris Bry-ant is a f***ing twat etc.’ (Sung to the tune of Go West). Or, ‘There’s only one Chris Bryant, he demands we stay silent. He’s five foot tall and his brain’s too small, Livin’in a Bryant wonderland!’ Or, ‘He’s red, he’s fat he rents out his London flat, Chris Bry-ant, Christ Bry-ant’.

Says Chris the censor:

“I have sung Delilah as well — everybody loves doing the ‘She stood there laughing’ moment but if we are really going to take this issue seriously in Wales, we have to change how we do things.”

Chris is Labour MP. So let’s play out their theme tune. It features lots of Welsh kit red:

The people’s flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead,
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts’ blood dyed its ev’ry fold.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

Look ’round, the Frenchman loves its blaze,
The sturdy German chants its praise,
In Moscow’s vaults its hymns are sung
Chicago swells the surging throng.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

It waved above our infant might,
When all ahead seemed dark as night;
It witnessed many a deed and vow,
We must not change its colour now.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

It well recalls the triumphs past,
It gives the hope of peace at last;
The banner bright, the symbol plain,
Of human right and human gain.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

It suits today the weak and base,
Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place
To cringe before the rich man’s frown,
And haul the sacred emblem down.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

With heads uncovered swear we all
To bear it onward till we fall;
Come dungeons dark or gallows grim,
This song shall be our parting hymn.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

 

Or not.

 

Posted: 6th, February 2016 | In: Politicians, Reviews, Sports | Comment


Hampstead wades into ‘Black Lives Matter’ debate

Black lives matter Hampstead

 

Who speaks for the green olives?

Posted: 4th, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


Republicans count on evangelical Christians and other dinosaurs

preacherAmazing news in the Washington Spectator. Lou Dubose writes:

Make them talk about evolution: Why won’t a single Republican presidential candidate admit that Darwin’s right

They don’t believe in science, and pander to evangelicals — as a result, the Republicans remain a party of stupid

Why would the leading Republicans “pander” to evangelical Christians? Any idea, Lou?

…as the Republican presidential campaign caravan turns toward Iowa, and shortly thereafter South Carolina, the lawsuit is a window into the world of fundamentalist Christians, who dominate the primaries in both states and without whom Republicans cannot win a presidential election.

Who knew that politicians seek to win votes by not disagreeing with their voters’ fundamental religious beliefs?

No candidate running for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination has publically accepted the theory of evolution. Their views on the subject—from the imbecilic observations of neurosurgeon Ben Carson to the disingenuous position of Jeb Bush—are calculated to attract evangelical voters.

No. Not attract. Just not to alienate a section of Republican voters.

Next week: why politicians never tell a mother her baby is ugly.

Posted: 4th, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


Bad science links smoking ban to heart attacks in passive smokers

Survey of the day comes to us via the Telegraph, which has great news for non-smokers:

Smoking ban sees 40 per cent cut in heart attacks in UK since 2007 law was introduced

Did smoking cause 40% of heart attacks? We know smoking is bad for you. But really..?

Heart attack rates in the UK have fallen by up to 42 per cent since the 2007 smoking ban…

And then it gets really woolly:

A review of 77 studies found that reduced exposure to passive smoking has caused a “significant reduction” in heart problems across the population.

Did passive smoking lead to so many heart attacks? It turns out the researchers have no proof:

He [Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation] said the studies were observational and all had their limitations, but it would be difficult to study the effects of passive smoking in a more robust scientific way. Researchers said the evidence was less clear about whether the introduction of bans had actually helped people to give up smoking.

Heart attacks rates have been falling. Links between the smoking ban and heart attacks caused by passive smoking is nonsense.

 

falling

 

 

Posted: 4th, February 2016 | In: Broadsheets, Reviews | Comment


Kettle Chips: the reason they taste like plastic

Is this why newer sort of crisps are so firm? All newspaper tells us:

Kettle Chips are being recalled amid fears packs might contain pieces of plastic that look similar to the crisps.

But do they taste the same as the new thicker style of crisps?

Posted: 4th, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


We answer the Daily Mail question: ‘Who will speak for England?’

Today’s Daily Mail leads with a question: ‘Who Will Speak for England?’

 

mail

 

The question writer turns to history to see if figures from the past can answer the burning question.

Today the Mail asks a question of profound significance to our destiny as a sovereign nation and the fate of our children and grandchildren. Who will speak for England?

Not him:

It’s a question inspired by one of the most dramatic moments in the history of Parliamentary democracy. The date was September 2, 1939, the day after Hitler invaded Poland. Tory PM Neville Chamberlain had just made an ambivalent statement to the House, proposing no immediate action.

On his backbenches, anti-appeasement stalwart Leo Amery was incensed. As Labour’s deputy leader Arthur Greenwood rose to reply for the Opposition, the Tory MP bellowed across the floor: ‘Speak for England!’
And Greenwood did just that, voicing anger over the premier’s reluctance to honour Britain’s treaty obligations to Poland. Bowing to the mood of the House, Chamberlain declared war on Hitler the next day.

The Mail should realise that all is not lost. Someone might just make a peep for Albion. After all, on January 1934, the Mail was all for Hitler:

 
hurrah for the blackshirts

 

As we cry ‘Let’s Bomb Brussels!’, the article continues:

Nobody is suggesting there are any parallels whatever between the Nazis and the EU.

They are. See above.

Indeed, the Mail would argue that one of the Union’s great achievements, along with Nato, has been to foster peace in Europe.

PEACE! We all vant ein leetle peace! To quote Mel Brookes:

I don’t want war. All I want is peace. Peace. Peace!

A little piece of Poland/ A little piece of France /A little piece of Portugal /And Austria perchance…

But…

But as in 1939, we are at a crossroads in our island history.

What happened to “Nobody is suggesting there are any parallels whatever between the Nazis and the EU”?

For in perhaps as little as 20 weeks’ time, voters will be asked to decide nothing less than what sort of country we want to live in and bequeath to those who come after us.

We want a country of patriots!

 
Who will speak daily mail

 

Another question soon follows:

Are we to be a self-governing nation, free in this age of mass migration to control our borders, strike trade agreements with whomever we choose and dismiss our rulers and lawmakers if they displease us?

Ian Hislop nips in and tells us:

“… the Mail is owned by the Rothermere family. What did your Dad do? The current Lord Rothermere’s father loved Great Britain so much he went to live in France as a tax exile.

“He then passed on the nom-dom status to his son who doesn’t actually pay the normal amount of tax despite owning a newspaper that’s owned through various tax companies in Bermuda.”

 

daily mail

 

Et continue:

Or will our liberty, security and prosperity be better assured by submitting to a statist, unelected bureaucracy in Brussels, accepting the will of unaccountable judges and linking our destiny with that of a sclerotic Europe that tries to achieve the impossible by uniting countries as diverse as Germany and Greece?

Do we want to live in Ibiza?

 

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The Mail then bashes the Tories and the BBC.

So we ask again: who will speak for England (and, of course, by ‘England’, like Amery in 1939, we mean the whole of the United Kingdom)?

 

Will Scotland? The Mail thinks the question so burning it asks Scots: “Why do teenage girls send explicit pictures to boys?” Answer: The EU makes them do it.

 
who will speak for england

 

Maybe migrants can speak for England – after all, they love it enough to come here?

With a tsunami of migrants flooding across Europe, can such tinkering with the small print really be enough… here is nothing in Mr Cameron’s draft deal that will make one jot of difference to the numbers pouring in.

Who speaks for England?

 
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Posted: 4th, February 2016 | In: Key Posts, Reviews, Tabloids | Comment


Lord Lucan is dead: death certificate granted

28th November 1963: John Richard Bingham, Earl of Lucan, and Veronica Duncan after their marriage. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)

28th November 1963: John Richard Bingham, Earl of Lucan, and Veronica Duncan after their marriage. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)

 

8 December 1934 – Richard John Bingham is born in London into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family

1963 – Marries Veronica Duncan, with whom he has three children

1964 – Ascends to the earldom on the death of his father

1972 – Their marriage collapses and Lucan moves out of the family home at 46 Lower Belgrave St, London. He loses a custody battle and accrues gambling losses

November 7 1974 The children’s nanny Sandra Rivett is found dead. Her attacker also beat Lady Lucan severely before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a nearby pub. Lucan drives to a friend’s house in Sussex in a borrowed Ford Corsair, which is later found abandoned in Newhaven. Friends receive letters in which he claims to have interrupted a fight during “a traumatic night of unbelievable coincidence” and says “the circumstantial evidence against me is strong”. Police mount a search but find no further trace of him

June 1975 – Lucan is named as Ms Rivett’s killer at the inquest into her death. Lady Lucan identifies him as her attacker

1999 – His family is granted probate over Lord Lucan’s estate, but no death certificate is issued and Lucan’s son Lord Bingham is refused permission to take his father’s seat in the House of Lords

2014 – The Presumption of Death Act enables Lord Bingham to apply to have Lucan declared dead so he can inherit the family title.

2016: Declared dead.

Lots more about the bad Lord here.

Posted: 3rd, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


Hamas captures a wooden Israeli tank

Hamas has “captured and rebuilt an Israeli tank”. Hamas showcased the weapon at the funerals for seven members killed when a weapons’ smuggling tunnel they were digging in Gaza collapsed.

 

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 12.01.14

 

The spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ofir Gendelman, saw the tank. He tweeted: “Hamas paraded yesterday a ‘captured, rebuilt Israeli tank’. FYI, tanks aren’t made of wood and don’t run on wheels.”

 

wooden tank hamas

 

Says Hamas: “So how do you explain the fish, then?”

Posted: 3rd, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)


Woman pulled over police officer for speeding (video)

Anyone ever given a fine for going a few miles an hours over the speed limit – 33 in an 30 one etc.- should get a kick out of the woman who stopped a police officer for speeding in Miami, Florida, last week.

Claudia Castillo says she first noticed the Miami-Dade officer on Friday afternoon when he drove past her at 100mph, breaking the road’s 40mph limit. She followed him a while – speeding up to 80mph – gained his attention and pulled over. He did likewise.

He approached her car

She told him:  “The reason why I pulled you over today … I just wanted to know, what’s the emergency. ”

He plays along telling her: “I don’t know how fast I was going. But I can tell you this, I’m on my way to work right now. I don’t believe I was speeding… I thought you had some kind of emergency, is everything fine.”

He did not arrest her for wasting police time.

 

 

 

Posted: 2nd, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


28 prisoners escape after women dressed in dominatrix gear for mass orgy handcuff guards

inmates prison breakInside the Nova Mutum public jail, near Cuiaba, central Brazil, three female visitors are dressed in saucy knickers and dominatrix gear. They promise male prison guards a night they will never forget. To loosen up the guards for the mass orgy ahead, the women give them booze. It’s spiked. The women handcuff the men to the beds, break into the guns and munitions store, and flee.

Says police chief Angelina de Andrades Ferreira: “The plan was to seduce them. They served them cheap whisky with some substance to knock them out, then unlocked the central gate which accesses the internal cells. Whoever wanted to escape left by the front door. From the moment they drank the whisky the agents don’t remember a thing. One was found dizzy, trying to wake up. Another slept for the whole afternoon and couldn’t even be questioned.”

He could be feeling dizzy for months – years, if his wife is waiting.

The three prison officers had been arrested and will be charged with “facilitating a jailbreak” and “culpable embezzlement” because of the theft of firearms.

Of the 28 prisoners who walked out, 8 have been recaptured.

The other 20 have a thing for police officers with helicopters, and will be at the big tree at midnight. Come alone.

 

Posted: 1st, February 2016 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment


The greatest news story of 2016 involves train, man, chips and seagulls

This might be the greatest news story of 2016:

Screen Shot 2016-02-01 at 12.10.10

Mikey Nicholson @Mikey_Nicholson It's early days but this may be the story of 2016.

 

Spotter: @Mikey_Nicholson

 

Posted: 1st, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)


Daily Telegraph illustrates an advertorial on Venice with a photo of The Venetian hotel, Las Vegas

illustrated an advertorial today on Venice with a pic of The Venetian hotel, Las Vegas

 

The Daily Telegraph has illustrated an advertorial on Venice with a photo of The Venetian hotel, Las Vegas.

Spotter: Lucy Fisher

Posted: 1st, February 2016 | In: Broadsheets, Reviews | Comment


Policeman’s shopping stolen while he chased Asda shoplifter

PC Graham Thomas is leaving Asda in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, when he spots security guards talking with a suspected shoplifter. Suddenly, the man runs off. The guards give chase. Officer Thomas joins in.

He leaves behind his bag of vegetables and hamster treats.

“When I got back I was told staff had placed my bag in the chiller, he says. “Presumably because they didn’t know how long I would be gone – although there was nothing that particularly needed keeping cool in it.”

When he returned from the chase, the bag was gone. CCTV revealed it had been stolen by a woman.

The man got away.

 

 

Posted: 1st, February 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


John Inman: dead actor dug up and beaten with sticks

inmanTime to toss another dead body on the paedophile police pyre. The People leads with news of a police investigation into the life of the late actor John Inman. Did he “sexually assault a boy” aged 13? Dunno.

But emotions have been stirred. There is “fury”.

Once upon a time, the Sunday tabloids were full of shagging footballers, pimping Duchesses and five-times-a-night bonkers. Now we get allegations made against the dead. The celebs never did stop extra-marital sex. But the tabloids did stop covering them. It’s easier – and cheaper – to go after the dead.

The paper’s story thunders:

Police are investigating claims that the late Are You Being Served? actor John Inman sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy in 1970s. The iconic TV star, who played camp shop assistant Mr Humphries in the BBC series, is the latest high-profile name to be linked to claims of historic abuse.

One claim and John Inman – innocent in life – is stuffed in the box with Jimmy Savile and Rolph Harris.

When John Inman died in May 2007, the Mirror wrote:

JOHN Inman, star of TV sitcom Are You Being Served?, died in hospital early this morning after a long illness.

The actor (pictured above), 71, died in St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London, at 4am. He had suffered from hepatitis A and had been taken into hospital for tests after problems with his liver.

His manager Phil Dale said: “John, through his character Mr Humphries of Are You Being Served? was known and loved throughout the world. He was one of the best and finest pantomime dames working to capacity audiences throughout Britain. John was known for his comedy plays and farces which were enjoyed from London’s West End throughout the country and as far as Australia, Canada and the USA.”

No word on any crimes. But now:

Detectives confirmed the probe after dad-of-two Peter Grant claimed he was forced to perform sex acts on the star in a hotel room in Torquay, Devon, when he was a schoolboy.

Is it fair that a claim against a dead man who died with an unsullied reputation is front-page news? Anorak’s views are not about the alleged victim’s testimony and claims. They are not for us to decide. This is about how a claim becomes front-page news, and why?

But Inman’s family have branded the investigation a witchhunt and and are worried that ‘all sorts of people will say anything in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal’. The much-loved star’s niece, Debra Inman, said: “I’m in total shock. Accusing him of this is just awful. It’s unbelievable, horrendous. You look at all the Jimmy Savile stuff and who is jumping on the bandwagon – people seeing an opportunity. John was a national treasure, a lovely man.”

Nothing screams witchhunt like a front-page splash in the Sunday tabloids.

..according to claims made to Devon and Cornwall police, the actor was a predatory paedophile who used an accomplice to lure Peter Grant, then a 13-year-old, to his hotel room.

Once more, this is not about the veracity of Mr Grant’s claims. The hope is that the justice system apprises the facts and reaches a satisfactory and correct conclusion. This is about the reporting on a single claim being amplified in the media.

This from the police:

“Devon and Cornwall Police are investigating an allegation of historic sexual abuse by two men against a boy in Torquay in 1979. The ­investigation, being led by the Force’s Sexual Offences and Domestic Abuse Team, is at an early stage and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

It would be. Yes. But Inman’s dead, so speak freely:

Divorced Mr Grant, from Torquay, told the Sunday People : “Inman’s friend said I would be perfect for a role in a play – that was his hook. It was suggested that Inman could help me out with it, but I needed to help him. I don’t think he had any thoughts at all about being found out. He said ‘I’m going to get you a role, but don’t tell anyone about this (the abuse) or I won’t be able to’ “When he died and he was on TV, I was very, very angry.”

Mr Grant says he spent the summer of 1979 using leisure facilities at the Imperial Hotel when he claims he was approached by Inman’s friend.

“He was flashing ­suggestively. I was naive and didn’t really think too much. It was a men’s ­changing rooms and people did get ­naked, so I didn’t really think. He was being complimentary about me and making me feel good. He found out that I was doing some amateur dramatics. He basically just said how good I looked and went on to say would I like to come up to his room and meet John, and that I was perfect for a role in a play. I went up to his room and met him and it was pretty much chit-chat. John Inman started saying how lovely I was and it was suggested that he could help me out with it, but I needed to help him.

“I didn’t realise what it was at the time, but he encouraged me to perform a sex act on him. I had a very sheltered upbringing and I didn’t really understand. It ended and it was, ‘Great to see you, I’ll be in touch about the role’.”

We’re told:

The incident was allegedly repeated at least twice more in the hotel over the next month, each time with Inman’s friend approaching the boy… It is also claimed to have happened a final time in the dressing room of the Princess Theatre. Grant said he was around 16 when he watched porn and recognised what he’d done as a child.

Reactions to the story are encapsulated in the paper’s comments section:

 

Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 14.20.05

 

An alleged crime, it’s victim and the dead celebrity become something to debate.

Who needs facts when you have audience participation?

 

Posted: 31st, January 2016 | In: Celebrities, Reviews, Tabloids | Comment


Role Model Watch: Tyson Fury will not have his tongue cut out and eaten by dogs

tysonRole Model Watch: a look at strangers billed as role models by the media and elite.

The Guardian reports that boxer Tyson Fury has “escaped punishment” and been reminded of his “heavy responsibilities”. The BBC alls him a “role model”, but declines to identity people who look to Fury for moral, spiritual and political guidance.

Fury is a boxer. His heavy responsibilities, as far as the boxing rules run, are to smack other heavyweights in the head and body until they throw in the towel or fall over.

The Guardian has other ideas:

Tyson Fury will face no punishment from the British Boxing Board of Control for his controversial remarks relating to women and homosexuals but he has been reminded of his “heavy responsibilities”.

The BBBoC has issued a statement. It is ridiculously pompous:

“Tyson Fury has made comments in the media that have caused offence to members of our society. However, there is no suggestion that he has broken the law by exercising his right to freedom of expression. In such circumstances, the stewards of the British Boxing Board of Control have been advised that it cannot interfere with his basic human rights. Having said that, the stewards of the board have made it clear to him that as world heavyweight champion, arguably the holder of the most prestigious title in sport, there are heavy responsibilities upon him to avoid making controversial, non-boxing comments.

“He has assured the stewards that he understands the responsibilities upon him and has expressed regret that he has caused offence to others, which was never his intention.”

 

Hard cheese for Fury fans who queue to hear him speak. They’ll have to look elsewhere for their role models. They might look to mums and dad, big brother or grandparents. They might also look to Prince Harry, BBC newsreaders, the neat one from One Direction or The Clangers.

The paper continues:

Fury provoked outrage when he equated homosexuality and abortion with paedophilia and saying a woman’s “best place is on her back” – although he repeatedly denied he was a homophobe. His achievements in outpointing Klitschko earned the 27-year-old a place on the shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, although a petition to have him removed exceeded 140,000 signatures.

Fury showed signs of personality, although not one 140,000 incarnations of Outraged of Twitter liked.

His inclusion on the list was also discussed by MPs, with the shadow culture secretary, Michael Dugher, calling for him to be dropped and the sports minister, Tracey Crouch, saying she would remind him that as a sports star, he is a role model.

Tracey. Mike. He’s not a role model. You are not a role model. He punches people in the head for a living. You try to browbeat them.

 

Posted: 28th, January 2016 | In: Reviews, Sports | Comment


Susanne Hinte: 10 years prison, £33m and a ‘dodgy’ Scratchcard

ticket susanne hinte“Lotto rotters” who claim to have won the National Lottery’s £33m jackpot can be jailed for 10 years , says the Daily Star. So far, over 400 people say they hold the winning ticket, including seven from the very shop where Susanne Hinte, 48, says she bought a winning ticket she inadvertently put through the wash.

Of course, no-one will be jailed for 10 years for lying about winning the big prize. The Star cites the rules on Obtaining a Pecuniary Advantage by Deception. It’s there in Section 16 Theft Act 1968. The CPS states: “Statutory Limitations & Maximum Penalty: 5 years imprisonment.”

There are no laws covering writing utter balls on the cover of a national newspapers. If there were, the Star could be rivalling Inside Time’s circulation.

The Mail has more on “mother-of-two Susanne Hinte”. It shows readers the ‘winning’ ticket. The six winning numbers are clearly visible but a small tear has ruined the part which says what draw the ticket was purchased for.

You can see the ticket on the Sun’s front page. It is “Not The Full Ticket”, which is a phrase usually fired at someone whose not all there, a bit doolally.

We hear from a “pal” of Susanne’s who says, “I don’t think it’s genuine”, which sounds a bit like, “I hope that jammy cow doesn’t win.”  This “pal” is soon revealed to be a “ex-friend” who claims Susanne’ “tried to claim a £200 prize on a ‘dodgy’ Camelot scratchcard she said had damaged when it dropped in a puddle.”

She didn’t win then. And the “pal” is praying she doesn’t win now.

Posted: 27th, January 2016 | In: Reviews | Comment


Jessica Valenti says something really dumb about shopping

Jessica Valenti is writing about gender unfairness in the Guardian. The headline to her story“Women are overpriced.” Ha!

A report this month on products in the UK found something very similar: when it came to the same products marketed differently for men and women, there was a whopping 37% difference in price. Beauty products, toys, everything. It doesn’t even get better as you age: adding insult to injury, women are even charged more for adult diapers.

Beyond the profound unfairness of having to pay more for the same products (while making less money, to boot!) there’s something quite frustrating about the fact that shopping is something that has long been used to paint women as frivolous and financially irresponsible.

Got that? Women are unfairly portrayed as frivolous, says Valenti, because they didn’t realise (i.e. bother to check) they are over-paying for stuff.

Wow!

 

 

Posted: 26th, January 2016 | In: Broadsheets, Reviews | Comment