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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.
Charlotte Proudman shows us her ugly side
Charlotte Proudman, 27, is in the news. She posted a photo of herself on LinkedIn – perhaps one she selected to portray her at her best, or worst, or fairest, or plainest, or most trustworthy, or most diligent, or most likely to get the judge’s approval and win over the jury? (She tells the Standard it was selected to show her as “smart and neutral“.)
Lawyer Alexander Carter-Silk, 57, saw the snapshot and replied to her:
“Charlotte, delighted to connect. I appreciate that this is politically incorrect but that is a stunning picture!!!. You definitely win the prize for the best Linked in picture I have ever seen. Always inteerst to understant (sic) people’s skills and how we might work together.”
Proudman (and what nominative determinism, there, readers) went tonto. She claimed the lawyer’s words were sexist.
“I am on linked-in (sic) for business purposes, not to be approached about my physical appearance or to be objectified by sexist men.”
She did not see it as a bonus. She saw it as grossly offensive.
She slammed the lawyer’s “unacceptable and mysogynistic behaviour”.
Yeah. His compliment she decreed was a symbol of Mr Carter-Silk’s, 57, hatred of women. Hate, you see, is not only manifest in chucking acid in a woman’s face, denying them the right to vote, domestic abuse or the any other myriad offences against women. Hatred of women is manifest in telling a woman she looks good.
Proudman slapped the entire comment on twitter – presumably so we could all be aghast at Carter-Silk and tell him what a ugly dog he was.
She tells the Standard:
She acknowledges “the importance of privacy”, especially for Carter-Silk’s wife and his daughter, who is the same age as Proudman, but adds: “In this case there is a public interest that outweighs privacy. He should have thought about his actions before sending a sexist message to a 27-year-old barrister. It was a message sent to me and I have a right to expose it. If these people aren’t made to feel repercussions for actions, which are wrong, then their behaviour won’t change and the culture will remain incredibly sexist.”
She tells the Times:
“When I read the comment I thought – here we go again, another sexist message. When I saw it was from a senior professional in the law, I thought ‘no’ – this is really unacceptable. This is someone entrusted to uphold the law. If he is willing to do this on line, how does he treat his women professional colleagues? But it is typical of the sexism at the Bar – exposed in a recent Bar report – which is very bad and which I have experienced myself from both other barristers and judges.”
If that’s typical of sexism at the bar, the bar is a fine, dandy and enlightened place to be.
Barrister Blogger notes:
His offence was not a great one. He didn’t come leering over her shoulder, or rub himself against her in a crowded tube. He didn’t pinch her bottom on the train. He didn’t, as seems to be the custom these days, send her a rude photograph or even make any remotely indelicate suggestions to her, unless perhaps the suggestion of “working together” could be so construed.
He was not abusing a position of power over her: he could have no influence, or at most only a tiny amount of potential influence over the future of her career, should she decide to move away from human rights work and into the very different worlds of intellectual property and reputation management.
He simply, and rather clumsily, said, or implied, that the picture, which she herself had chosen to put on Linked In, looked very beautiful. For this she denounced him for “objectifying her” and “eroticising her physical appearance.” No doubt Ms Proudman will put me right, but I don’t see why a comment on her physical appearance “objectified” her (presumably as a sex object), any more than a comment on the quality of her work would “objectify” her as a mere barrister, rather than the fully rounded person that she is. And if Mr Carter-Silk found her picture “erotic” (which is anyway bit of a jump from saying it was “stunning”), he wasn’t “eroticising” her appearance, he was simply telling the truth about his own feelings. Men like beautiful women.
‘Nuff said.
Police locate loaded pistol inside suspect’s vagina
To Waco, Texas, where Gabriel Garcia, 30, and Ashley Cecilia Castaneda, 31, after being pulled over by the police. Police find 2.7 grams of methamphetamine under the driver’s seat, 29.9 grams of meth in a purse, a set of digital scales and a loaded 6-shot Smith & Wesson Model 61 semi-automatic pistol inside Garcia’s vagina.
All found items have been confiscated.
Posted: 10th, September 2015 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment
Left wing Press and biased BBC ignore rising anti-Semitic hate crime – focus only on Muslim victims
The Metropolitan Police say hate crime is up. Crimes against Muslims have risen in London by 70% on last year (816 Islamophobic compared with 478 for the previous year). Anti-Semitic crime saw the biggest year-on-year increase, rising 93 percent over the same period (499 incidents compared with 258).
How do you report the grim statistics?
According to the Muslim Council of Britain’s (MCB) study of data from the 2011 census, there are 1,012,800 Muslims living in London. Sixty percent of the UK’s 263,000 Jews live in London – 157,800. If we crunch the numbers, Jews have move than double the chance of being attacked for their race than a Muslim does for their belief.
So how is this reported in the mainstream news?
The Guardian:
Mention of Jews: nil.
The Independent:
Number of times Jews are mentioned: nil.
Neither the Guardian nor the Indy finds space to mention the rise in anti-Semitic attacks at all.
The BBC is perhaps the most shocking. A search for ‘hate crime’ reveals this result:
Number of time Jewish attacks are mentioned in any of the BBC’s three most recent stories on hate crimes: nil. Once might be an oversight – three times looks like an agenda.
It’s left to the local free press presents the full story.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 10th, September 2015 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
Watch: camerawoman trips up refugee father carrying his child at Roske refugee camp
A camerawoman with Hungarian news site N1TV thought is an idea to make the news a tad more interactive by tripping up a refugee carrying his young child at the Roszke reception centre.
She’s been sacked.
Clear the court: John Terry’s FCB introduces the woman saying ‘vagina’ over and over and over
When England footballer John Terry rowed with Anton Ferdinand, the matter came to court. In 2012, Chelsea captain Terry was acquitted of the racially aggravated public-order offence of calling QPR’s Ferdinand a “fucking black cunt“. In court the phrase became the acronym ‘FBC’. But his summing up at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, chief Magistrate Howard Riddle used the words many, many times.
Highlights are:
The defendant does not deny that he used the words, “fuck off, fuck off”, “fucking black cunt” or “fucking knobhead”. His case is that his words were not uttered by way of abuse or insult nor were they intended to be abusive or insulting…
He says they were used after a perceived false accusation made by Mr Ferdinand, the accusation being to the effect that the defendant had used the term “black cunt” during their exchanges with each other…
The issue between the defendant and the Crown is whether Mr Terry uttered the words “fucking black cunt” by way of insult…
There is also no dispute that John Terry directed the words “black cunt” in the direction of Anton Ferdinand…
It starts off funny. And then it gets a tad wearing:
It is equally clear, and equally not in dispute, that he also directed the words “fucking knobhead” at Anton Ferdinand…
It is obvious, and again not in dispute, that at the time that John Terry said “black cunt” and “fucking knobhead” he was angry…
Ms Whitewood is of the opinion that the words spoken by John Terry are “Yeah and I [obstruction] you/ya fucking black cunt (pause) fucking knobhead”…
In cross-examination he accepted that he appears to use the word “and” and as a result the only difference between the prosecution and the defence is that the Crown alleged he says “you/ya fucking black cunt” whereas the defence case is that he said “a fucking black cunt?”…
And then it gets to being funny again:
There is then the evidence of Anton Ferdinand that he at no stage accused John Terry of calling him a black cunt…
In cross-examination Mr Ferdinand at first appeared to deny that Mr Terry said, in the dressing room, “do you think I called you are fucking black cunt?”…
There is no doubt the words “Fucking black cunt” were directed at Mr Ferdinand…
Another possibility, and this is a possibility suggested to me by the defence, is that he did indeed accuse John Terry of calling him a black cunt, knows perfectly well that the words observed on the TV footage were in response to that comment, and is lying about it…
Another doubt about the facts is what was said by Anton Ferdinand at the time of his obscene gesture to John Terry, shortly before the words “black cunt” were spoken…
And now tiring:
A related point is the way that Mr Terry’s facial expression changed at the moment he uttered the words “black cunt”…
On the other hand the footage of Mr Terry as he says “black cunt” adds credence to the defence account that something of a different order had just been said to him, something altogether more insulting…
The prosecution point out that in the FA interview Mr Terry was asked “can you remember exactly what you said back to him?” and replied “I think it was something along the lines of, “You black cunt, you’re a fucking knobhead”…
There was a word that looked like Bridges or black. There was another word that looked like cunt…
And finally you can’t stop laughing. You’re sat in the court giggling and snorting like an adolescent. You are riding the “black cunt” rollercoaster.
The prosecution has presented a strong case. There is no doubt that John Terry uttered the words “fucking black cunt” at Anton Ferdinand. When he did so he was angry. Mr Ferdinand says that he did not precipitate this comment by himself accusing Mr Terry of calling him a black cunt….
Weighing all the evidence together, I think it is highly unlikely that Mr Ferdinand accused Mr Terry on the pitch of calling him a black cunt…
And now to the video of the woman saying vagina in court.
Posted: 9th, September 2015 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
London World War 2: Bill Brandt’s brilliant photos of Underground shelters
Not long after the Blitz began the Ministry of Information commissioned Bill Brandt to photograph the air-raid shelters. The pictures were sent to Washington in an attempt to bring America into the war.
Cyril Connolly published Brandt’s shelter photographs in Horizon in February 1942. In 1966 Connolly wrote that ‘”Elephant and Castle 3.45 a.m.” eternalises for me the dreamlike monotony of wartime London.’ Brandt himself recalled ‘the long alley of intermingled bodies, with the hot, smelly air and continual murmur of snores’.
See them all: Bill Brandt’s Underground Shelter Photographs from November 1940
Politician wants pedestrians to give drivers the finger when crossing roads
In the drawer marked ‘What could go wrong?’ we find Norm Kelly, Councillor for the City of Toronto, Canada. He wants pedestrians to give motorists the finger while crossing the road.
Kelly wants walkers to extend their arms and using their index fingers point in the direction they want to walk when using crosswalks. At which point the driver will see the walker, wonder what they are pointing at and turn their heads to see. The walker will step into the road and get a closer look at the car crash.
Says Kelly:
“Three per cent of pedestrian injuries and fatalities in Toronto occur at marked crosswalks. This is a statistic which could be significantly reduced if pedestrians make the effort to point, pause then proceed. Getting the attention of motorists before crossing the street eliminates the possibility of a collision.”
With them, yes. With other cars, shop windows, cyclists and walkers not trying to cross the road, the jury’s out.
Posted: 9th, September 2015 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment
Ofcom reports: 2% say too little sex on TV
The figures do not lie. The OFCOM MEDIA TRACKER 2014 (16th May to 20th June and 1st to 31st August and 1st to 30th November 2014) says that 2% of viewers think there is too little sex on the telly.
And that includes the nature shows.
Your heart goes out to them.
Posted: 9th, September 2015 | In: Reviews, TV & Radio | Comment
Anti-Semitism: Jewish teenager nearly beaten to death in Manchester
This is a dangerous time to be a Jew in Europe. Moshe Fuerst, 17, from Prestwich, suffered a fractured skull when he and three friends were attacked at Manchester’s Bowker Vale Metrolink station. Moshe is an Orthodox Jew. So too are the three friends with whom he was travelling.
Three men set upon them.
Michael Fuerst says of his son:
“My son was knocked out with one punch to the face. He went down and then he was kicked in the head. He suffered a bleed to the brain. He was intubated at North Manchester General Hospital and then put in an ambulance and taken to the neurosurgery specialist centre at Salford Royal. A soon as he arrived there he was operated on. At Crumpsall (North Manchester General) he was already slipping into a coma. I believe these men killed my son and the NHS brought him back to life…
“Moshe and his friends are good boys. They would never go looking for trouble. They had been to the Printworks to see a film… I do not believe these lads were neo-Nazis looking for Jews to beat up. But the fact that the boys are Jewish fuelled the attack in my opinion. There is an attitude amongst some people that Jewish blood is cheap, and maybe they deserve it.”
Before and after Islamophobia and the obsessive hatred of Israel, anti-Semitism will exist. It is now acceptable for anyone across the political spectrum to hate the Jews. The most ardent racism is ingrained on the Left.
And it’s growing.
Sajid Javid outs the growing band of liberal, middle-class, worthy and socially acceptable anti-Semites
UK Business Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, is right. The casual drip-drip dinner table racism is rife.
The rich Jew – all Jews are rich, says the casual bigot. The clever Jew has a plan, says the liberal racist. The hypocritical Jew who supports the ‘Nazi’ Israelis, says the morally pure Left-wing racist – eyes held wide-open in innocence at how a remark designed only to criminalise the living and dishonour the dead could be seen as anything but a benign statement of fact. Jews see the codes. We grew up with them. When others see it, shout about it.
Vote Javid. He gets it.
“But we also need to tackle the root of the problem, the often violent extremism that is on the rise around the world. And I’m not just talking about the butchers of ISIL or Al Qaeda, thousands of miles away in foreign lands. There’s plenty of intolerance much closer to home, intolerance that is disproportionately directed at the Jewish community. Some is explicit. The hate preachers, the extremist mosques, the far-Right groups.
“Some is more oblique. A search on Google produces more than half a million hits for ‘Holocaust Hoax’. Thousands more pages will tell you that a greedy Otto Frank forged his daughter’s diary in a cunning scheme to make money. Then there are the ‘dinner party anti-Semites’. Respectable, middle-class people who would recoil in horror if you accused them of racism, but are quite happy to repeat modern takes on age-old myths and slanders about Jews. Who can’t condemn the murder of Jewish children in France without a caveat criticising the Israeli government. Who demand that a Jewish American artist sign a declaration of support for Palestine if he wants to perform at a festival in Spain.
“I can’t remember the last time I spoke to a Jewish friend or colleague who hasn’t, at some point, found themselves sitting awkwardly at a dinner party while a fellow guest railed against the international ‘Kosher Conspiracy’.
“Together, these attitudes create a climate in which anti-Semitism is seen as ‘less bad’ than other forms of discrimination. And in that climate, the most violent extremism can take root and it can thrive. It happened, therefore it can happen again.”
Anti-semitism is now the only acceptable racism. The knowing and educated spout it in the confidence that no-one will ridicule them and reach across the dinner table and smack them in the face.
Watch: Kurt Vonnegut interviewed for The Infinite Mind from within Second Life
In 2006, Kurt Vonnegut featured on Second Life’s Infinite Mind Series. The interview was sparked by the writer’s God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian.
The premise of the collection is that Vonnegut employs Dr. Jack Kevorkian to give him near-death experiences, allowing Vonnegut access to heaven and those in it for a limited time. While in the afterlife Vonnegut interviews a range of people including Adolf Hitler, William Shakespeare, Isaac Asimov, and the ever-present Kilgore Trout (a fictional character created by Vonnegut in his earlier works).
As he wrote:
It’s actually possible to get a better life for individuals [through technologies like Second Life] and I have frequently inanimated new technologies, but I love cell phones. I see people so happy and proud, walking around. Gesturing, you know. I’m like Karl Marx, I’m up for anything that makes people happy
It’s actually possible to get a better life for individuals [through technologies like Second Life] and I have frequently inanimated new technologies, but I love cell phones. I see people so happy and proud, walking around. Gesturing, you know. I’m like Karl Marx, I’m up for anything that makes people happy.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Spotter: Flashbak.com
SEO Football: Liverpool ‘move’ Clyne in robot news masterclass, Daily Telegraph link Arsenal to Cavani
SEO Football: a look at mainstream media football news stories written for robots.
The Daily Express.
Scoop 1:
Liverpool star Nathaniel Clyne set for shock move
WHAT? He only joined in the summer!
The England international has been eyeing up the £600,000 house next to Rodgers’ Merseyside base…
Ah. He’s moving house.
Scoop 2:
Chelsea ace Terry in Arsenal transfer admission
John Terry is joining the Gunners? It’s an “admission“, after all.
JONN TERRY has revealed he would never leave Chelsea
John Terry not leaving Chelsea. Or to put it another way: “Terry in Manchester United transfer admission.”
Scoop 3:
Paul Pogba: Why I turned down £69m move to Chelsea
Pogba says he had no desire to leave Juventus. Mentions of Chelsea: nil.
The Express makes two headline out nothing by headlining another story:
Pogba’s Chelsea vow
Daily Telegraph:
Scoop 1:
Man Utd news: David de Gea could play against Liverpool
Or to put it another way: “David De Gea might not play against Liverpool.”
Scoop 2:
Gunners to bid for Edinson Cavani in January
That’s according to The Star via The Express, via some vague reports in Spain… According to said Spanish reports, PSG are willing to sell the striker if they receive a bid of around £45m.
Arsenal will offer £45m for a sub-Giroud finisher in January?
Such are the facts.
Posted: 8th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Every football pundit’s prediction for the 2015 Premier League top 4
The football pundits and journalists in the mainstream media love to make a Premier League prediction. On the Manchester City forums, west didsblue has collated all the tips.
Telegraph
Henry Winter: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Liverpool
Jeremy Wilson: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Paul Hayward: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Alan Smith: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Matt Law: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Jason Burt: Manchester United Manchester City Chelsea Asenal
Mark Ogden: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Chris Bascombe: Chelsea Manchester City Liverpool Arsenal
John Percy: Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United Arsenal
Guardian
Daniel Taylor: Manchester City
Barney Ronay: Manchester City
Simon Burnton: Chelsea
Paul Doyle: Arsenal
Dominic Fifield: Chelsea
Andy Hunter: Chelsea
David Hytner: Chelsea
Jamie Jackson: Chelsea
Jacob Steinberg: Chelsea
Louise Taylor: Arsenal
Paul Wilson: Chelsea
Mail
JAMIE REDKNAPP: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
JAMIE CARRAGHER: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
LEE CLAYTON Chelsea: Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
JEFF POWELL: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City
OLIVER HOLT: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
IAN LADYMAN: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
DOMINIC KING: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
ROB DRAPER: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City Arsenal
MIKE KEEGAN: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
LAURIE WHITWELL: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
JOE BERNSTEIN: Manchester City Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool
CRAIG HOPE: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
SAM CUNNINGHAM: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
MATT LAWTON: Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City Arsenal
CHRIS WHEELER: Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United Arsenal
MATT BARLOW Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Mirror
Dave Kidd: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
John Cross: Manchester City Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal
Simon Bird: Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United Arsenal
David Maddock: Chelsea Manchester United Liverpool Arsenal
James Nursey: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Liverpool
David McDonnell: Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City Arsenal
Adrian Kajumba: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City
Darren Lewis: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Mike Walters: Arsenal Manchester United Chelsea Manchester City
Neil McLeman: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
BT
Robbie Savage: Manchester United Arsenal Chelsea Liverpool Manchester City
David James: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Liverpool Manchester City
Michael Owen: Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United Liverpool
BBC
Alan Shearer: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Ruud Gullit: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Jason Roberts: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Jacqui Oatley: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Steve Bower: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Rachel Brown-Finnis: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Jermaine Jenas: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Kevin Kilbane: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Jonathan Pearce: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Ian Dennis Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Alistair Bruce-Ball: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Gary Lineker: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Mark Lawrenson: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
John Hartson: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Chris Sutton: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Graeme Le Saux: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Conor McNamara: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Pat Nevin: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
Guy Mowbray: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
Dan Walker: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
Danny Mills: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
John Murray: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
Ian Wright: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City
Gabby Logan: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City
Didi Hamann: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City
Trevor Sinclair: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United
Dion Dublin: Manchester United Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool
Steve Wilson: Manchester United Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City
Chris Waddle: Manchester City Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United
Alistair Mann; Manchester City Manchester United Chelsea Arsenal
Sky
Matt Le Tissier: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Paul Merson: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Liverpool
Charlie Nicholas: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City
Phil Thompson: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Graeme Souness: Manchester City Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool
Martin Keown: Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United
Talksport
Danny Higginbotham: Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City
Alan Brazil: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Micky Gray: Manchester United Chelsea Arsenal Manchester City
Ray Parlour: Arsenal Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United
Danny Murphy: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Stan Collymore: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Daily Star
Jeremy Cross: Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United Arsenal
David Woods: Manchester City Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool
Chris McKenna: Chelsea Manchester City Manchester United Arsenal
Ian Murtagh: Arsenal Manchester United Chelsea Manchester City
Dave Armitage Chelsea Arsenal Manchester United Manchester City
Paul Brown: Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Manchester United
Amanda Knox: guilty by media spin and police failures
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted of murdering Meredith Kercher in Perugia. The case began on 2 November 2007, when the body of Kercher, 21, was found in the Italian flat she and Knox shared.
Italy’s supreme court said yesterday the verdict was down to police failures. The judges wrote:
“The trial had oscillations which were the result of stunning flaws, or amnesia, in the investigation and omissions in the investigative activity…The international spotlight on the case in fact resulted in the investigation undergoing a sudden acceleration, that, in the frantic search for one or more guilty parties to consign to international public opinion, certainly didn’t help the search for substantial truth….
“The kitchen knife, found in Sollecito’s house and the supposed crime weapon, was kept in an ordinary cardboard box, like the kind that Christmas gadgets are packaged in…
“The computers of Amanda Knox and Kercher, which perhaps could have furnished information useful to the investigation, were, incredibly, burned by imprudent maneouvers by the investigators.”
The gap is between the facts and the belief. And it does not end. The media spin continues. Knox, the American nicknamed ‘Foxy Knoxy’, was portrayed as either as the innocent abroad or the conniving “sex-crazed killer.”
‘What’s she thinking?’ The Times
The British Press continue to take a line:
Police failures led to Knox’s acquittal (Times)
Amanda Knox acquitted because of ‘stunning flaws’ in investigation (Guardian)
The headlines imply Knox got off because of police failures. But NBC news looks at the same ruling and says she should never have been a suspect:
The latest decision, from the Court of Cassation, Italy’s equivalent of the Supreme Court, slammed police and prosecutors for “stunning weakness” and “investigative bouts of amnesia.” Because no biological evidence from Knox or Sollecito was found at the house in Perugia where Kercher was murdered, the 52-page opinion said, their “participation” in the killing should have been “excluded.”
“There was no shortage of glaring errors in the underlying fabric of the sentence in question,” the court wrote.
Happy and clear inThe New York Post
On her website, Knox said:
“This has been a long struggle for me, my family, my friends, and my supporters. While I am glad it is now over, I will remain forever grateful to the many individuals who gave their time and talents to help me. Today would not have been possible without your unwavering support. I will now begin the rest of my life with one of my goals being to help others who have been wrongfully accused.”
Sollecito told the Italian news agency ANSA:
“It is clear, it is definite, that I was the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice that will remain in history.”
One thing lies on Knox’s file: the Cassation panel said Knox did deserve a three-year sentence for slandering a Congolese-born Perugia pub owner whom she initially indicated as the murder suspect.
Rudy Hermann Guede, was convicted in separate proceedings and is serving a 16-year sentence.
Posted: 8th, September 2015 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
Shilan Ozcelik: British persecute Kurdish woman who wanted to fight Islamic State
It’s a widely held belief that IS – or “so-called Islamic State”, if you’re a BBC viewer – are murderous Islam supremacists who spend their days raping, pillaging and dreaming up news ways to brutalise humanity. Against them, we have Barack Obama’s rhetoric, President Assad of Syria’s murderous regime and the Kurds. Now thanks to the British justice system we can see one of these kurds at the Old Bailey, where Shilan Ozcelik is on trial for allegedly attempting to join the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
IS would surely have raped and murdered her my now, but we can assume they are broadly in favour of the British courts’ criminalising someone trying to fight for the West.
Shilan Ozcelik, 18, has been charged with “engaging in conduct in preparation to for giving an effect to an intention to commit acts of terrorism” under section 5 (10) (a) of the Terrorism Act 2006. Arrested in January, Shilan has been held on remand in Holloway prison since early March.
The Kurdistan Tribune reports:
Her arrest and charge was met with outrage by the Kurdish community in the UK and supporters of the Kurdish struggle, who condemned it as a blatant example of selective and political criminalisation of the Kurdish community, which has continued since the PKK was listed as a ‘terrorist organisation’ in 2000.
We reject this labelling of the PKK, which we believe confuses the Kurdish people’s legitimate struggle for self-determination with terrorism and has the effect of criminalising anyone in the Kurdish community who is part of peaceful political activity. We know that Shilan has never committed any act of violence and poses no threat to the people of this country. As such, we reiterate our call for the charges against her to be dropped.
A woman keen to fight our enemy has been arrested for, er, trying to fight our enemy.
But this is also about the Turks. In July the Turkish government saw its chance to bomb the Kurds as it bombed IS:
[President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] said the peace process, launched in 2012 in order to put an end to the bloody conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK that has killed over 40,000 since it began in 1984, had become impossible to maintain. The PKK has said the air strikes, launched virtually in parallel with Turkish strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria, rendered the peace process meaningless. But it has stopped short of formally pulling out.
The Turkish air strikes on Kurdish rebels were launched in tandem with Turkey’s first ever military operations against Islamic State in Syria after a suicide bomb killed 32 in the small border town of Suruç last Monday, an attack that Ankara blames on Isis. Critics have accused Turkey of using the Isis threat as a pretext to weaken the Kurdish opposition. Turkey’s Nato allies have expressed unease about the operations aimed at the PKK, since the Kurds have been a crucial ally in the fight against Isis both in Syria and in Iraq.
So instead of trying to fight for her people, Shilan Ozcelik is in jail.
The Peace in Kurdistan Campaign sums up well:
Given this context, the arrest of a young Kurdish woman for allegedly attempting to join the YPJ seems more than a little contradictory.
It’s nuts.
Posted: 8th, September 2015 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
Mug Shot pickle: man arrested for exposing his penis in Burger King
‘Pickle?’
To Florida, where Jefferson King, 33, has been arrested for allegedly exposing his ‘Whopper’ in the Burger King in West Palm Beach.
When a woman made eye contact with King and asked him what he was doing, he replied:
King has been charged with indecent exposure and was taken to the Palm Beach County jail.
Tip: This is why McDonald’s offer toys.
Posted: 7th, September 2015 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment
England balls: Arsenal striker out for six months as Hodgson considers options
The Sun says England manager Roy Hodgson has issued a “warning” to injured strikers Danny Wellbeck and Daniel Sturridge.
HODGSON has warned Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge that time is running out.
Arsenal’s Welbeck is injured; Liverpool’s Sturridge is returning from a long injury-enforced layoff. Was Hodgson so crass as to “warn” the players of anything? Wouldn’t he better served encouraging them?
Hodgson says Welbeck will not return to action for another six months, as opposed to Arsenal’s view that it will be a three-month absence.
What Hodgson also said was:
“I can only hope that Danny recovers a bit quicker and then hits the ground running as soon as he does return. Daniel Sturridge is a bit the same. It’s a year since he played for me. The two of them are always in my thoughts because I think they are very good players and they did extremely well for the national team when I was coaching.”
Not a warning of any sort, then.
In the Indy, the talk is of “a Plan B for if they are without Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck”. Says Hodgson:
“I’ve got to make certain that there are a few Vardys and Kanes and Walcotts and that because we can’t keep going around talking about the ones who aren’t there.”
Adding:
“We’ve got to be quite sanguine about it and we mustn’t start thinking ‘When this one comes back, we’ll be better still.’ We can’t do that. We’ve got to make sure we’re good with the ones who are playing.”
Hodgson makes entirely sensible comment. Read all about it.
Posted: 7th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Gif reveals how fast New Horizons is flying
How fast is New Horizon’s moving as it flew by Pluto? We know the numbers: the pod that’s taken nine year to reach Pluto is moving at 36,000 mph.
Clay Bavor has created a Gif to help us understand the phenomenal speed.
Flying at 37k feet, this is what it would be like to look out the window of a 747 vs. an SR-71 vs. a New Horizons.
Flying at 37k feet, this is what it would be like to look out the window of a 747 vs. an SR-71 vs. a New Horizons. pic.twitter.com/ChVsgK77Rl
— Clay Bavor (@claybavor) July 17, 2015
Posted: 7th, September 2015 | In: Gifs, Reviews, Technology | Comment
Future policing: naked toddlers to appear on sex offenders’ register
Ban this sick filth
The sex offenders’ register is now so wide ranging it could serve as a contacts book for anyone mourning the loss of the Ashley Madison dating site. But take care because the sex offenders’ list contains names of the underage – oh, what irony – notably the 14-year-old youth who sent a naked selfie to a girl in his year at school.
He sent it via Snapchat – which delates the message after a few seconds. But she saved the message and flashed the photo to her school chums. Somehow the police got involved – what the hell are those lads looking at? – and the teen got to explain why everyone at the nick and school had seen his underage knob.
It’s all utterly mad, of course. But it paves the way ahead for our Brace New World. The next time a toddler pulls on his tackle or drops her pants, tell the police. These sickos must be stopped.
Tories attack disabled Liverpool fan they once praised
Liverpool fan John Smith has been winning plaudits for his work with the disabled.
The Mirror reported on August 18:
A lifelong Liverpool FC fan who overcame his disabilities to become a club charity coach has been recognised by the Prime Minister. John Smith, from Croxteth, was presented with a Point of Light award at Liverpool FC’s match against Bournemouth for his commitment to teaching wheelchair football to people with severe disabilities.
Prime Minister David Cameron was full of praise for the 39-year-old:
“For many people conquering disability to play wheelchair football would be enough of a challenge, but John has gone so much further. Through his key role in Liverpool’s Respect 4 All programme, he is sharing his wheelchair football skills with others and helping to make football more accessible for disabled people. What John is doing at Liverpool is inspirational and I am delighted to recognise him as the UK’s 317th Point of Light.”
John Smith features on the Number 10 official Facebook page.
On August 21, the Disability News Service had more on John Smith:
A disabled football coach has been recognised by the prime minister with a national volunteering award, even though that work is threatened by a legal battle over the “bedroom tax” with work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith…
Because he lives alone in social housing, in a two-bedroom adapted bungalow, he was forced to find an extra £12 a week towards his housing costs after he was told he was not entitled to a second bedroom because of the government’s “spare room subsidy removal policy”, also known as the bedroom tax.
This meant that Smith had to cut down on his spending on food while fighting the decision through the tribunal process, a battle which he said caused him to feel “very stressed”.
Last September, he won an initial appeal, on the grounds that he needed his spare room to store essential independent living aids, including his second wheelchair and a bath chair, as well as equipment he uses to play and coach wheelchair football, boxes of specialist powdered food, a bag of swimming equipment, and a punch-bag he uses to keep fit.
The room is also used to store a table football game that he plays with friends.
But after his initial victory, the work and pensions secretary appealed against the tribunal’s ruling, putting at risk all of Smith’s volunteering work and social and community links.
Now he is having to await the result of test cases in the Supreme Court, in which the bedroom tax will be challenged on the grounds that it discriminates against disabled adults like him.
Nice.
Posted: 6th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Politicians, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Hacking cough: Tottenham and England great Jimmy Greaves needs your help
Below the photo of the young Syrian would-be refugee and the story of escaping death, The People leads with the news that we have 72 hours to “save” Jimmy Greaves. The first thought is ‘for the nation’?
Inside we learn:
Jimmy Greaves is struggling to raise £30k he needs to walk again – and there’s just 72 hours to get the money
Jimmy Greaves is one of the best footballers ever to have pulled on an England shirt. Famous for scoring 44 goals for England in just 57 appearances, missing the 1966 World Cup final – his place taken by hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst – and fronting the excellent footy telly show Saint & Greavsie, the former Tottenham Hotspur’s star is ill. And the paper knows who to blame for his predicament:
Soccer should hang its head in shame today as the Sunday People urges the moneybags sport: Be a Saint for Greavsie
Should football teams club together to help the former player? Should they help him any more than any other outfit that’s employed Sir James, like ITV (as well as S&G he captained a team on the broadcaster’s Sporting Triangles) or the Sun, the Mirror’s great tabloid rival, which employed Jimmy as a columnist? Or maybe – get this – the Sunday People should dig deep and help out because Jimmy wrote a column for it, too. The People is published by the Trinity Mirror Group, which when it’s not hacking phones made a profit of £12.1m during the first six months of 2015.
No word of any of that in Matt Sprake’s article, which thunders:
A record £870million has just been spent by clubs on player transfers – but Jimmy Greaves, one of England’s greatest ever players, is struggling to raise £30,000 he needs to walk again.
Trinity Mirror is worth around £386m.
But the paper wants to use Greavsie’s illness to bash football not beat itself up. After all, it helped one other well refreshed former England and Spurs legend – Paul Gascoigne – with a tidy £188,250, albeit a ‘donation‘ enforced by law because Mirror Group journalists hacked his phone.
England international footballer Jimmy Greaves featured on a news poster for ‘The People’ newspaper advertising an exclusive story about his short and unhappy time with AC Milan in 1961.
Sprake adds:
Greavsie, 75, has just three days left to get the money – less than many Premier League stars earn in a week – to pay for intensive physio following a devastating stroke in May. A fund is due to close in 72 hours and last night was well short of the target reports the Sunday People.
But the fact such a legendary figure should be in such a position at all has sparked anger.
Why doesn’t the NHS step in to help an England sporting great? It turns out that the physio is wanted in addition to NHS care.
George Cohen, one of England’s 1966 World Cup winning side and Jimmy’s close friend, urged football to act: “Someone in football could easily give Jimmy the full £30,000 in one go. I’d do it immediately if I had the money.”
George Cohen is well. But should he fall ill, would any club help him?
Greavsie missed out on big money soccer. He played for Chelsea, Tottenham and AC Milan… he was on just £8 a week when he signed for Chelsea in 1957.
Greaves did earn healthy signing-on fees. But compared to today’s massive wages, his pay packet was feathery light.
In 1961, Greaves opined:
“I’ve got to look to the future. I’d be a fool if I didn’t want to make as good money as I can while I can. Football’s all I’m good at. What I want is security for when I retire.”
He told the Observer:
“There are these reports that Bologna would pay £70,000 to Chelsea for me if the foreign player ban ever came off,” says Jimmy, who is earning £20 a week for his scintillating performances. “One report said that would mean I’d collect a £20,000 signing-on fee. It’s all right playing for Chelsea. But I’d like much better playing for a world-class club that paid real money.
“One thing, I never get butterflies before a match,” Jimmy goes on. “And after, if I’ve done well or badly, I always remember there’s a next time. Smoking helps me relax. About 10 a day, but they don’t affect my fitness. I like the odd drink, too.”
In 1961, Greaves joined AC Milan for £80,000. Later that same year he joined Spurs for £99,999. In 1961, the average house price was £2,770 and a litre of four-star petrol cost 5p. The average price of a home today is £200,280. There was big money. But back then then clubs and not the players got the bulk of it. Today Greaves would earn a fortune.
But would he look after it? The booze caught Greaves, who retired age 30.
“I lost the 70s completely,” he says. “They passed me by. I was drunk from 1972 to 1977. I woke up one morning and realised that it was a different world. I’d been living in it, but I hadn’t been aware of it.”
He adds:
“Let’s make no bones about it. I wish I was playing today. Some of the players get half a dozen goals a year and earn a fortune. I look back at my Chelsea days when you had to fight to get £8 a week in the winter and £7 a week in the summer, and now there are players who haven’t even played in the first team on 40 grand a week.”
Greaves missed the Premier League. But is football really ignoring one of its greats? At the bottom of the People’s article, we learn:
Tottenham Tribute Trust [TTT], a football charity set up to aid ex-players, has been helping Jimmy adapt his home. They have also helped fund some of the early treatment he required.
TTT “was set up in 2002 to help people connected with Spurs who have fallen on difficult times.” On its website, we learn:
TTT is bound by confidentiality and so never comments on the support we have provided (nor who we have provided it to) without the consent of our beneficiaries, for whom our help is often a deeply private matter.
The Mirror adds:
The Professional Footballers Association has also vowed to assist. Football Association chiefs have been in contact with JustGiving, who run Greavsie’s fundraising page, to seek further ways of boosting funds. Chairman Greg Dyke has made a donation, understood to be in four-figures. But the rest of the football world seems to have forgotten Jimmy.
It’s clear that the ‘football world’ has not forgotten Jimmy Greaves. And neither has the tabloid media. Maybe together they can dig deep and help him out…?
PS: On Greaves’ website, we learn:
Jimmy needs at least a year of physio and because his income has all but disappeared because of the stroke, we have set up a just giving page to try and raise £30,000 towards the cost. We have already raised around £15k with the people and Freda & my company A1 Sporting Speakers helping out , but this £30k extra could help Jimmy to make more of a recovery. He has a long hard road ahead but we would love to see him back somewhere near his old self. Here’s a link to the donations page. Every little helps. Thanks to everyone who donates a little bit. Every pledge is received with gratefullness and love. https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/JimmyGreaves
And over there we learn that the 30k has nearly been raised. He’s not “struggled” to raise it at all.
The Mirror’s story of 72 hours to save Greaves unless £30k is raised is total balls. He needs under £3k. People have been generous. Football has not ignored his plight.
Donate here.
Posted: 6th, September 2015 | In: Key Posts, Reviews, Sports | Comment
China TV news lolz: mistakes Fleshlight sex toy for rare edible mushroom
News from 2012 with Jeremy Ko:
I translated the video myself and added it in using FCP. It is as accurate as I can understand from it. Besides the obscure name of the villages, it is mostly accurate. Downloaded the video from Tudou. Xi’an Up Close 《西安零距离》, an investigative journalism programme which airs on Xi’an TV, has become a national laughing stock after airing a report on June 17 on a “mystery mushroom” which was discovered by villagers in a rural part of the city…
Why does everything about the last line sound like a euphemism?
Spotter: BB
Posted: 5th, September 2015 | In: Reviews, TV & Radio | Comment
Hurrah for the migrants: Daily Mail cheers for murderous, scrounging asylum-seeking scum
The Daily Mail is overjoyed that migrants have reached the “promised land”.
Daily Mail readers might be tad confused by this take on the news. For years the Mail has told its readers that migrants, immigrants and asylum-seekers are bad news.
The Scottish Daily Mail corrected an article after a complaint from the Scottish Refugee Council:
In an article headlined: “Crisis as Asylum Seekers target Scotland” we stated that asylum seekers were ‘targeting’ Scotland. We now accept that asylum seekers are dispersed by the UK Border Agency on a ‘no choice’ basis and would not be able to choose to live in Scotland. With the current rate of asylum applicants to the UK well within the average rate of the past ten years, we also accept that it is misleading to categorise this as a ‘crisis’. We are happy to clarify the position and apologise for the error.
There were 4000 foreign-born rapists in the Mail’s Britain:
The scary headline was undone by the facts:
Nearly 4,000 foreign murderers, rapists and other criminals are roaming the streets, free to commit more crimes.
You say shoplifter, banned driver or fare dodger – the Mail says ‘rapist‘.
Allan Mallinson asked Mail readers a question more loaded than George Bush at a frat house:
Jeremy Swain, chief executive of the homelessness charity Thames Reach, wrote to the PCC about the Mail’s news of wandering foreigners getting a free wash at the expense of our ‘heroes’:
…the article suggests ‘the civilian shelters were full of Somalis and Poles’. This is inaccurate as whilst many people from overseas end up sleeping rough, they cannot access homeless hostel bed spaces as they have no rights to the benefits which would pay their rent. Quite simply, unless someone has paid national insurance contributions for over a year, they won’t be found accommodation in hostels and other ways of helping them are being sought within the homelessness sector. Hostels are not ‘full of Somalis and Poles’ as the article’s author states. Indeed they make up a very tiny minority of the hostel population.
There’s been apologising from the Scottish Daily Mail:
In December the Mail reported that over £5 million was being spent on last-ditch legal bids – judicial reviews – by asylum seekers to remain in Scotland. We are happy to make clear that this figure reflects the combined sums spent on advice and assistance (£3.5 million), assistance by way of representation (£1 million), and legal aid (£0.6 million) to asylum seekers and immigrants. The cost of legal aid work on judicial reviews falls within the latter figure. We apologise if readers were misled by our original story.
The Mail’s Richard Littlejohn said illegal immigrants and asylum seekers were the same thing:
From time to time I may have written about both asylum seekers and wheelie bins. But never before in the same sentence. Until now… Six illegal immigrants have been detained by a border patrol in Calais. The four men and two women, all from Vietnam, were discovered hiding in a consignment of wheelie bins bound for Britain…
Whoops!
Maybe Richard Littlejohn made handwritten notes he couldn’t read? He once opined:
Gloucester City Council is sending out census forms in no fewer than 56 different languages …why waste time and public money printing leaflets in 56 different languages, many of them scribble?
…any Afghan climbing off the back of a lorry in Dover goes automatically to the top of the housing list.
Really? No. Of course not.
And the Mail’s star columnist again:
A couple of months ago, after a Mayfair jewellery heist, I joked that it was heartening to see good old British blaggers making a comeback. For too long, they had been beaten at their own game by Eastern European gangs who I suggested carried out ‘most of the robberies in this country’. It seems I did the chaps a disservice. While Eastern European gangs have been responsible for many high-end jewel robberies across the Continent, our home grown villains are holding their own over here. If I have inadvertently offended any Balkan gangster, or local blagger come to that, as well as the vigilant reader who complained, I apologise unreservedly for any confusion which may have been caused.
To counter the dire reporting the Mail emplyed its own in-house immigrant in the shape of Australian-born Amanda Platell. She would champion the new arrivals seeking a better life in the UK. Or not:
Sadly, though, it is not the indigenous middle-class, hard-working, tax-paying population that’s exploding… it’s not so much a baby boom we’re experiencing as a benefits boom. Middle Britain, stand ready to empty your wallets.
More Mail errors followed:
This article has been amended. It previously contained a graphic that correctly listed the latest annual number of non-EU nationals admitted to each of ten European countries. However, a second table was wrongly headed “Non EU citizens to each square kilometre” instead of “Number of people to each square kilometre”. We are happy to correct this point.
So many errors being made about foreigners living in the UK. Cynics would argue that it indicates an agenda.
But surely the Mail is just sticking to the facts:
For at this time when our public services are strained beyond endurance, it means Britain must now, in a dramatic reversal of policy, give a home to all gay asylum-seekers who are prevented from displaying their sexuality openly in their home countries.
Where are we to draw the line? This is all about numbers and a small island’s ability to absorb an ever-increasing population.
At least the Mail knows its readers. At the end of the story “Migrant found dead in the back of a lorry as it prepares to enter Channel Tunnel”, the Mail approved such a comments as these:
one down, millions to go
– crackers, yorkshire, 31/10/2009 2:42Good news. One less to worry about!
– keith jones, porthcawl, south wales, 30/10/2009 22:13Shame but I would be a hypocrit if I said I was sorry!
– Nanny B, West Sussex, 30/10/2009 17:42
And you migrants who do make it here alive should know that it will take generations before the Mail considers you British. Steve Doughty and James Slacker wrote:
However although the figures from the Government’s Office for National Statistics show an increase in numbers of foreign-born people they still fail to record the true impact of immigration because they record their children as British rather than second- or third-generation immigrants.
Bit never mind all that because a couple of dead Syrian children had their photos taken on a Turkish beach and the Mail came to realise that only utter bastards would laugh, mock and monster the desperate.
