Sheaf Saint

Yes that's true, of course. And that is also why I do not agree that they have a left-wing bias. It is clear that they go to great lengths to ensure that they give equal credence to all sides of any argument. I'm just pointing out that if there is a left-leaning within the organisation, it's quite understandable given that it is a nationalised service. Of course, you will never get the BBC coming out firmly in support of one political party over another in the way that the national newspapers do, and you will never see them reporting on news stories with such an obvious politically-motivated slant such as today's Sun headline that I mentioned earlier. That is true only to a certain extent. There are many reasons why people buy a particular newspaper, and in many cases they will continue to do so completely oblivious to the prejudiced and manipulative way in which political stories are delivered.

Did he? I didn't catch that. There is not a single thing that Gove could do which would make my opinion of him any lower than it already is though.

Yep. Unfortunately, when the government and the heads of the biggest newspapers and broadcast media are in bed with each other to the extent they are currently in the UK, they can pretty much say whatever they want people to believe, and the plebs will swallow it hook, line and sinker. Today's Sun headline story is a prime example. They printed a picture of Corbyn wearing a jester's hat with the headline "Labour hypocrite: Lefty who hates the royals WILL kiss Queen's hand to grab £6.2m" - trying to suggest that Corbyn has only accepted a seat on the Privy Council in order to get a slice of funding that the Labour party would have got anyway. The 'expert' quoted in the story has already publicly stated that this is not what he intended and is extremely misleading (article here) but the millions of Sun readers who have already read and absorbed the article will undoubtedly have already made up their minds it is true, and the actual facts get consigned to a tiny mention on the internet, because it is not in the interests of the publishers to report that. There are many who decry the BBC as a blatantly biased 'lefty' organisation. Well, by it's very nature it is a left-wing organisation - it is a public service broadcaster paid for out of public funds for the benefit of the entire population. But even if it is true that it has a left-wing bias, it still doesn't go anywhere near to balancing out the blatant, extreme right-wing bias of the major newspapers (Telegraph, Mail, Express, all the Murdoch papers) which have an uncomfortably powerful influence on public opinion.

Of course we did. That was the narrative that the Tories used to turn opinion against Labour (as if Gordon Clown hadn't already done enough in that respect!) The fact is though, that up until the crash of 2008, George Osbourne broadly supported Labour's spending plans. It was only when the worldwide crash hit that he and Cameron saw an opportunity to alter the public discourse completely and lay the blame for the whole thing at Labour's door. Depressingly, it worked. To this day, I still encounter people who are convinced that the Labour government was solely to blame for the global banking crisis.

You're right, you will get flak for this, because you are just plain wrong. In the games I saw him play towards the end of last season and in pre-season, he looked a completely different player from the 'rabbit-in-headlights' performances of seasons past. He has improved a great deal IMO. I'm not saying he is ready to be a PL starter, but I'm much more comfortable with the knowledge that he is our back-up now than I was two years ago.

Hey, I'm not suggesting for a second that he will go on to taste the same success in the ballots that Thatcher did, as The quote was not originally mine, after all. A lot of her ideas were considered too extreme even for the Conservatives when she was elected, but she managed to win over public opinion and get herself into a position where she could implement those ideas, and many communities up and down the country are still suffering the effects of them nearly 40 years later. I just think the sneering from the Tories, and their belief that Corbyn is a joke figure to be easily dismissed, may well backfire on them. I think he may well prove to be more of a threat to them and their grand plan to privatise the entire nation than they realise. I could, of course, be wrong. We shall see.

You generally come across as fairly intelligent and articulate CB, so do you really need to have the difference between a career politician and a conviction politician explained to you?

That's just nonsense put out by the right-wing press in an attempt to shift the Overton window even further to the right. Miliband didn't lose the election because he was too left wing. He lost it because he was a pathetic, directionless weakling who had no real idea what his principles were. Seriously, how can a man who fully supported the Tories' austerity plans be considered too left wing?

Good. Bunch of self-serving careerist politicians the lot of them. If they can't stomach being in a party that aims to reign in the violent excesses of the free market and champion social justice then maybe they shouldn't have joined Labour in the first place. Obviously I have no idea how the future of the party will pan out. I have never actually voted Labour myself, but as somebody who would sooner put a bullet through my own head than vote Tory, I'm glad that the opposition now have a leader that will challenge the government properly and provide a coherent voice for the left in the commons. That is something that has been missing from British politics for far too long now. FWIW - I like Corbyn. I like the fact that he stands out against the Westminster establishment that have turned off so many voters in recent years. I like the fact that he is able to debate with common sense and facts rather than resorting to mud-slinging and point-scoring, and that he is very good at shutting down anybody who he feels is doing that to him. I like the fact that he doesn't feel the need to wear a tie, because he recognises that it is substance that counts, rather than image. Despite the best efforts of the right-wing media channels to discredit him and assassinate his character, he has won the leadership election with more support from within the party than even Tony Blair got in 1994. I look forward to seeing him go head-to-head with Cameron at PMQs, because they are such different characters. Finally, here is a comment I just found posted elsewhere online which I found very interesting...

I've heard that title track a few times on the radio and I have to say, as much of a fan as I am of David's / Pink Floyd's earlier material, that I am distinctly unimpressed by it. It's not awful, but it's just so bland and mediocre that it's instantly forgettable. If the rest of the album is no better then I don't think I'll bother with it.

2 billion? That's almost a third of the world's population FFS. I don't believe that for a second. I do get your point though, I just don't share the enthusiasm that so many tourists have towards the Saxe-Coburg family. I don't understand how ordinary plebs can be so impressed by the obscene wealth displayed by a ruling dynasty whose ancestors accumulated such wealth through the oppression and exploitation of the masses - probably/possibly the tourists' own forefathers. The stupidity of it astounds me. Whatever the arguments in favour of it, the idea of hereditary rule is a draconian concept that has no place in a modern, progressive democracy. I guess that tells us that, as much as we like to believe we do, we just don't live in a modern, progressive democracy.

The continued existence of the house of lords suggests otherwise. The tourism argument doesn't hold water I'm afraid. Buckingham Palace, Windsor and Sandringham could all be opened up to the public as nationally-owned tourist attractions if they were vacated by the royal family. For example, the Portuguese overthrew their monarchy over a century ago, yet they still employ lots of staff and make a nice tidy amount from tourism at places like the old royal palace at Sintra.

Yay- congratulations Lizzie. Well done on the outstanding achievement of having the extreme fortune to be born as the heir to a system of leadership that belongs in the dark ages and, thanks to the many advances in medicine since the days of your great great grandmother, having managed to avoid popping your clogs yet.

We sold Morgan because he had become too good for our level, and we got a very good price for him. We can't spend the full selling price on another player of equal quality, because that player would also be too good for our level and would more than likely be wanted by CL clubs who can pay a damn-sight more than we can, so he would not sign for us anyway. So of course we sign cheaper players of lesser quality, in the hope that we can get a few good years out of them and maybe make a large profit if they then go on to make a move to a CL club who can pay a damn-sight more than we can. With the stranglehold that the big four/six clubs now have thanks to the FFP rules, that is the best that a club like ours can hope for.

Eh? I do care about Europe and I would have loved to have seen us progress and play some of the big teams that are in the draw. But the way we played tonight was just embarrassing, and I don't want to see us go the way of all the other teams whose league form has suffered massively from being in a competition that we would have been shown up in.

On tonight's showing, it looks like a good thing we are out of it. Recent history shows how badly teams tend to do in the league when they have a prolonged run in the Europa Cup. If we play like that for the rest of the season we are in trouble. The frustrating thing is - the last 5-6 years have all been leading to this moment, to us qualifying for Europe, and when we got there we went out with a whimper.

Joke refereeing again. Off the chest of Pelle. And there was one a few moments ago where he was blatantly pushed in the back as the ball was played to him. But - we can't blame the ref for the result. We were utter sh!te tonight. I haven't seen us play that badly in quite some time. Worrying times ahead.

Long on for J-Rod. Wrong choice IMO. Long is utterly useless against deep-defending teams. All he does is run around a lot and give away FKs needlessly.

In fairness to JWP, It was a deliberate handball and should have been a pen.

Feckin 'ell - that was a deliberate movement of the arm from the defender in the wall.

Jeez- how was that not a yellow for that assault on S Davis FFS!?

This referee is just a joke. Every single time a Midtjylland player falls over he blows his whistle. It's pathetic.

Tadic coming on it seems

Yep. It seems that the only person who can't see that this formation isn't working is the one guy who can actually do something about it. I hate to say it, but Koeman's team selections so far this season haven't filled me with any confidence.

Tell you what though - if I was a Mitjyland (?) fan, I would be utterly embarrassed by the disgraceful time-wasting and feigning injury all the time. The ref needs to be firmer with it, but he seems intent on giving them a FK every time one of their players falls over.