Sheaf Saint

Go on then LD, I'll bite... What is your evidence for this assertion?

This is a very good article for those who want to invest the time reading it... https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/jamie-stern-weiner-norman-finkelstein/american-jewish-scholar-behind-labour-s-antisemitism-scanda

Anybody who thinks there is not even a hint of a problem with antisemitism within the Labour party is simply wrong. There are pockets/fringes of it in all walks of life, as confirmed by multiple survey reports in the last couple of years which show that antisemitic attitudes do exist with the Labour party. Interestingly, the same reports show that rates of antisemitic attitudes are higher in the Tories, but apparently I'm not allowed to discuss that on this thread without being accused of whataboutery. So to deny that the problem exists at all is clearly fallacious, and only leaves those who do open to attack and ridicule. Outright antisemitism - the discrimination of people on the basis of their being Jewish - is abhorrent and needs to be stamped out of society, as do all forms of racism and similar types of blanket discrimination. However, what is absolutely undeniable currently is that the issue of it within Labour is being heavily weaponised as a means to attack and discredit Corbyn by his political opponents, including many opportunists within his own party. It's so obvious, and cannot be denied by anybody with even the slightest degree of objectivity. It's the double standards and the hypocrisy that show it up for what it is. For instance - I was listening to a BBC radio station yesterday, and their lead item on the morning news bulletin was about Corbyn attending an event on holocaust memorial day 8 years ago, where there was a contribution from a man who likened the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government to that of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis. What they failed to mention is that the man in question was in fact a Jewish holocaust survivor, and that Corbyn only opened the meeting and had already left to attend a debate in the HoC by the time the man spoke. it's a total non-story FFS, but apparently it is sooooo newsworthy that it gets top billing on the BBC radio news 8 years later. Then last night on Newsnight, Emily Maitlis interviews Blairite Labour MP Louise Ellman, who says she was "absolutely appalled" to hear about Corbyn's involvement in the event. She failed to mention, and Maitlis failed to pick her up on the fact that she was at the event herself and stayed for the duration (including Hajo Meyer's speech) while Corbyn left to attend parliament. A more blatant display of hypocrisy and opportunism to stick the boot into Corbyn you will never see. But the BBC again failed to mention the very important detail that Meyer is a holocaust survivor himself, and she gets an absolute free ride. Contrast that with the revelations that Three senior Tories, including a cabinet minister, have recently had illicit meetings with Steve Bannon - a self-confessed white supremacist and peddler of alt-right fake news who believes people should "wear their racism as a badge of honour" and who has been described by his ex-wife as being deeply antisemitic. Where is the media outrage about this? Why isn't that headline news on the BBC? Even the Jewish Chronicle have defended JC against the hypocrisy from Boris Johnson in attacking him for it while courting such a vile extremist. Baroness Warsi claims that the Tories have a huge problem with Islamophobia and calls for a full enquiry, and says that elite indifference to the issue meant the Tories were stuck with a political strategy that amounted little more than “f*ck the Muslims”. Michael Fabricant shares a deeply offensive image of Sadiq Khan being mounted by a pig - blatant outright Islamophobia. He apologises and that's the end of it. Again, where is the ourage in the media? Why isn't Theresa May being hounded every single day by reporters, columnists and even the supposedly impartial state broadcaster for failing to adequately address the problem? The double standards are just mindbendingly obvious and appalling. So is there a problem with antisemitism in the Labour party? yes, that cannot be denied. Is there a widespread and intrinsic culture of antisemitism at the root of the party and its leadership that Verbal insists there is? No. Is this issue currently being politicised and being blown out of proportion by critics of JC? Absolutely yes. If people want to combat antisemitism because it is an abhorrent stain on humanity and needs to be eradicated then I applaud and support that. But if people are just going to use it as a convenient way to score cheap political points against someone who, for all his other faults, is demonstrably the most passionate anti-racism campaigner in British politics over the last 40 years, then they can go f*ck themselves IMO.

Clearly you didn't actually read the whole post

A defence tech company that has very close ties to the DSTL at Porton Down, which just happens to be the only facility in the country that has samples of or the capability to manufacture novichok. Some were highlighting the close proximity of the original incident to Porton Down as being suspicious. Taken in isolation, yes it is not out of the question to put that down to pure coincidence. But now it turns out that the former partner of one of the victims works for a company that operates there? But no, it must have been those pesky Russians.

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-24/charlie-rowley-novichok-amesbury/ So Charlie Rowley found an unopened bottle of expensive looking perfume and decided to give it to his girlfriend as a gift. He can't remember where he found it, but he was certain it was legitimate. He spilled some of the bottle contents on his hands when trying to put it in the box, and it was an oily substance that didn't smell of perfume, but he still gave it to her as a present anyway. Well I'm convinced And now it turns out that Dawn Sturgess' former partner is a long term employee of a major defence tech company that was formed following the privatisation of DERA, but I'm sure that's just another coincidence. Is anybody still believing this b0llox?

Just installed Neptune Rising and it seems to be pretty good and reliable so far.

If people were calling for Gallagher to be our first choice striker then I would agree with everything you have posted, but as far as I can see nobody is making any such suggestion. I would much rather have him available as a backup/sub than Carrillo.

Yeah I thought that at the time and wondered why the 'taters didn't suggest it.

You seem to be forgetting about the Home Office report which pretty much concluded that reduced police budget and numbers was highly likely to be a contributing factor in the rise in violent crime - the one that Amber Rudd pretended she hadn't read after she contradicted it. At this stage there is absolutely zero evidence that it was anything else. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44806139

The rising level of violent crime in London has nothing to do with Sadiq Khan and Trump's visit, and everything to do with massive cuts to the police budget and officer numbers by the Tory government.

That's my thinking too. He was left too exposed time and again by Lingard and Alli who aren't defensive minded players. If we're going to play with just one CDM then we need someone much, much better than Henderson ever has been or probably ever will be.

A gutsy performance but ultimately we have too many weak links in our starting 11. Henderson has been around for years now and is never going to be a world class CM. Young was very poor. The creative players didn't show enough quality and we didn't deserve to go through.

High boot surely? He kicked Walker in the head after getting to the ball FFS.

Thoughts so far... Great hit from Tripper but Subasic should do better Kane should have scored Lovren looks like he might lose his head at some point Young has been very poor defensively None of the Croatia team can cope with Sterling's pace Overall comfortable but need a second goal

Judging by some of the comments about him on here over the last two seasons, I would say it's a fair bet that it's not just you.

If he could just learn to pass to a team-mate who is in a better position to score, it would drastically improve our chances. I was quite literally screaming at the TV on saturday when he looked up, saw Kane in space inside the box, and then tried to turn back outside and lost the ball. Such an infuriating player.

France were incredibly well organised at the back tonight and gave Belgium very little in the way of chances despite their possession. When you consider the attacking talent Belgium have in Hazard and De Bruyne, and a finisher like Lukaku, snuffing out their threat is no mean feat. Add in the explosive pace of Mbappe on the break and they will be very hard to beat in the final, and would be worthy winners of the cup IMO.

I expect he's having a holiday in a seaside BnB and complaining about the service!

Subasic's positioning for Russians first goal was very poor. It was a good hit, and I'm not going to say that Pickford would definitely have saved it, but I reckon he would have at least made the effort to. To get beaten by a 25 yard shot that was a couple of feet inside the post without even moving is not good goalkeeping IMO.

He was seriously struggling towards the end yesterday. Had to get an outfield player to take his goal kicks for him and really should have been subbed, but they obviously wanted him in goal for the shootout so they nursed him through it. I wouldn't be surprised if he's not fit to start on Wednesday.

On the evidence so far, I don't think England have too much to fear from either of these teams in the semi. Our best chance of reaching the final in my lifetime I reckon.

A lot of people talking up Belgium after yesterday's game, but were they really THAT good? Their first goal was a fluke OG, and as good as Lukaku's dribbling and De Bruyne's finish were for the second, it only came about because of some shocking defending by Brazil to leave so much space and a man over down their left. Likewise with the France v Uruguay game - one of their goals only happened because of some incompetent goalkeeping. The actual standard of attacking play has, overall, not been that great so far from anyone. For any team to progress it seems that what is needed is a bit of individual brilliance or a large slice of luck. And while England may not be the finished article, they are just as likely as anybody to get that.

The sheer front of this guy in calling our win a "monumental theft", with seemingly no hint of irony whatsoever

I knew there was a good reason why I have been avoiding this place recently