News of the day

[Giggles]

Warbrexitcovid means everything goes up regardless.

[niko_cee]

The 'free market' in functioning like a racket shocker?

Also, you can already see the headlines next year or whatever: Market shock as <insert energy company> profits down 70% . . .

Everything and everyone is shit.

[Ian]

What part of the Tory guidance of simply being richer you lazy slob don't you peasants understand?

[niko_cee]

Get back to work!

[Don]

1. Those pictures from the Sue Gray report. Wtf are they all about? He's raising a tin of coke in a room full of Tesco sandwiches and laptops hooked up to a conference screen. It's hardly the Roman orgies :D

2. This Elizabeth line madness yesterday. There was a woman who had travelled from South Carolina purely to be on the first train at 6am and my gyal went "this is one of the craziest days of my life". And I just saw "asda jubilee dresses" trending on google and what a story. Another world.

[Yevrah]

I was gonna say, I'm an accountant and have been at livelier work gatherings than that that I wouldn't even begin to call a party.

It's not a good look, but the sanctimonious and bullshitty WE ALWAYS FOLLOWED THE RULES WHILE YOU WERE HAVING PARTIES!!!!! is just nonsense.

[Lewis]

'Sir Beer Korma' has turned it right round.

[Spikey M]

Sir Beer Korma :D

[Yevrah]

'Sir Beer Korma' has turned it right round.

:D And I don't think him having a curry and a beer in an office is a party either, but if Boris holding a glass in the air counts as one then fuck only knows anymore.

[Ben]

Isn’t the point now that he lied to Parliament? Fuck “party” or “gathering” but any other era and the bloke would have been out on his arse for fibbing in the Commons.

[Yevrah]

Isn’t the point now that he lied to Parliament? Fuck “party” or “gathering” but any other era and the bloke would have been out on his arse for fibbing in the Commons.

Given those pictures don't look much like a party, did he actually lie?

[Spikey M]

It's over lads. He survived it. Nobody cares anymore. There's probably plenty that 'should' happen, but if the public have lost interest then it's done.

[randomlegend]

The "partygate" stuff is ultimately very simple.

If you're the one setting the rules then you need to be abiding by them to the absolute letter. If you're not, you're a cunt. If you get caught, you deserve to have the book thrown at you.

Arguing over the definition of a party or whatever else is meaningless distraction.

Boris was going on telly and telling people they couldn't see their dying relatives because they had to do what's right for the greater good and stick to the rules. He was then breaking those rules hours later. Anyone with a functioning brain can see that what they were up to was not within the rules at the time, regardless of whether it fits the technical definition of "party". He then persistently lied about it until cast-iron evidence proved he was lying.

He deserves to take a fall for it.

Starmer, by the sounds of things, was either breaking the rules or drinking on the job so is also a twat either way.

What Spikey says is true though most likely. Public interest has moved on and he's got away with it. The absolute cunt.

[Boydy]

What RL said.

[Yevrah]

The "partygate" stuff is ultimately very simple.

If you're the one setting the rules then you need to be abiding by them to the absolute letter. If you're not, you're a cunt. If you get caught, you deserve to have the book thrown at you.

Arguing over the definition of a party is or whatever else is meaningless distraction.

Boris was going on telly and telling people they couldn't see their dying relatives because they had to do what's right for the greater good. He was then breaking his own rules hours later. Anyone with a functioning brain can see that what they were up to was not within the rules at the time. He then persistently lied about it until cast-iron evidence proved he was lying.

He deserves to take a fall for it.

Starmer, by the sounds of things, was either breaking the rules or drinking on the job so is also a twat either way.

If Boris was at a party then Starmer also was and needs to be fined and resign too, as he said he would.

[Yevrah]

And actually, now I think about it, wasn't the rule defined as 'gatherings', rather than parties? If so, how the hell did the latter get into the discourse?

[Spikey M]

We have got a bit swept away with whether it was a party or not. The rules were "no social gatherings" IIRC. There's no getting around that he has attended them. Starmer has too, but he didn't make the rules, so whatev's really.

Edit: beaten to the punch.

[randomlegend]

And actually, now I think about it, wasn't the rule defined as 'gatherings', rather than parties? If so, how the hell did the latter get into the discourse?

Because the Tories are excellent at manipulating the media/discourse. Get everyone thinking the rule was "parties" and then start arguing about whether it was a "party" or not.

[Kikó]

From reading the first 20 or so pages of the Sue Gray report, there were parties amongst the quick beers (which weren't allowed at the time) and enough concern from the media and Comms people to think it looked like parties to the outside world. And it happened over and over again.

Sir Beer Korma having a beer with dinner after work barely registers compared to that.

[Yevrah]

Because the Tories are excellent at manipulating the media/discourse. Get everyone thinking the rule was "parties" and then start arguing about whether it was a "party" or not.

Fair enough, the book should be thrown at both leaders then, with a much bigger one aimed at Boris.

[Magic]

I love this. All those rule merchants being stiffed by the cronies that made them up. Suck it you fucking chumps.

[randomlegend]

Breathe in that e-victory magic. While your lungs still work.

[Ben]

Given those pictures don't look much like a party, did he actually lie?

Party or not, he flat out denied he was there at a few of them, which was proved otherwise with the picture leaks (not yesterday’s, previous ones). He should have been long gone, but as Spikey said, the ship has sailed.

[niko_cee]

Aren't tax receipts way up as well?

They're going to whether this, windfall tax the energy companies, make a bunch of infrastructure investments and probably win the next election whilst Starmer lambasts Boris at the dispatch box for 'claiming to be the party of low taxes', which seemed to me to be an odd line of interrogation. Is he suggesting that is what Labour is or will be? :cab:

[Shindig]

I'm not finished with stupid climate questions just yet:

Say we give up oil and a fault line introduces a load of oil reserves to some magma. Does the world then end with a big explosion? The answer is no but I'll happily entertain the idea.

[Ian]

It's Boris, if his lips are moving he's almost certainly lying about something.

[Spikey M]

And if his lips aren't moving he has someone doing it on his behalf.

[Baz]

The worlds going mad about Ricky Gervais latest Netflix special. Again. :rolleyes:

I watched this just now. I wouldn’t have even known about it if it wasn’t for people shouting on the internet.

Can’t help but feel like this kind of outrage is exactly what he wants.

Probably worth saying I laughed a few times and I’m very much of the “nothing is off limits” mindset, but this just mostly wasn’t funny, regardless of any intended offence.

I never bothered with his last one, Humanity. Don’t think I’ll bother.

[Yevrah]

Just watched it as well. Humanity was much better.

[Baz]

Oh. Maybe I will then.

[Yevrah]

There's a bit in Humanity about why he doesn't have kids and it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[Baz]

Yep. Just watched Humanity. Miles better.

[SvN]

Which one was the one where the second half was basically him telling us about all of his e-victoris on Twitter?

[Bernanke]

"Oh, women!" he starts. "Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The old-fashioned women, the ones with wombs. Those fucking dinosaurs. I love the new women. They're great, aren't they? The new ones we've been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks. They're as good as gold, I love them. And now the old-fashioned ones say, 'Oh, they want to use our toilets.' 'Why shouldn't they use your toilets?' 'For ladies!' 'They are ladies — look at their pronouns! What about this person isn't a lady?' 'Well, his penis.' 'Her penis, you fucking bigot!' 'What if he rapes me?' 'What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF whore?'"

Like, is there a joke in there somewhere? It literally is just the James Acaster joke about his comedy turned up to 11.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adh0KGmgmQw&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=UniversalComedy

[Jimmy Floyd]

Isn't that just Roy Chubby Brown without the honesty?

[Kikó]

James Acaster is a bad bad knobhead.

[Spikey M]

James Acaster is a bad bad knobhead.

Second.

[Yevrah]

James Acaster isn't funny and the thing he fails to realise there is that (whether it's funny or not) Gervais isn't challenging the trans community with that joke, but the people who seem hell bent on both creating a place to fight and actually going to war for them.

[-james-]

I just looked up what he says and it's a pretty obvious attention grab.


He then goes on to joke about “old-fashioned women. They’re the ones the wombs. Those f**king dinosaurs. I love the new women. They’re great aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks”.

Gervais then does a bit about having a conversation with a woman who objects to sharing a bathroom with a trans woman, saying“They are ladies, look at their pronouns. What about this person isn’t a lady?”

Gervais then responds: “Well, his penis.”

While Gervais goes on to say that “in real life, of course, I support trans rights”, he says: “Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies: lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.”


Who exactly isn't already familiar with this sort of material?

[niko_cee]

saying the things that he is apparently not allowed to say, on a variety of global media platforms, for millions of dollars, with the full co-operation and approval of the legal representatives of the institutions on which, and about which, he says the things he is not allowed to say, his functionally adequate standup act having been overpromoted worldwide

...

[Spikey M]

You'd have thought they'd learn from the Jimmy Carr Gypsie joke. It'll be forgotten by Sunday. If you didn't like the material, don't watch the comedian again. Simple.

[Yevrah]

Does Gervais actually say he's not allowed to say these things or is that just a line trotted out by idiots? I can't recall him doing so and he's definitely very much one for "I'll say what I like".

[Shindig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-61582353

Jack Monroe sounds and looks unhinged. Was she woken up for this interview?

[Yevrah]

What is a Jack Monroe?

[Kikó]

Middle class woman (or binary, not sure) who once used a food Bank and now is the champion of the poor. She is famous for suing that Katie Hopkins terror and winning and writes awful cookbooks which allow people to make food for 6p.

She's perfect as the middle class can imagine her as what working class people look like.

[Lewis]

Does Gervais actually say he's not allowed to say these things or is that just a line trotted out by idiots? I can't recall him doing so and he's definitely very much one for "I'll say what I like".

It's created a weird argument where 'transphobia' is so mainstreamed as to make the routine utterly conventional and lame, and barely worth doing, but also a deliberate attempt to shock people and whip some attention up for the special. It can't be both.

[Giggles]

Born with cock - man. Born with fanny - woman. Anything else is just for bored students.

[Manc]

Born with both?

[Danny]

Covered above. Bored students, obviously.

[Spikey M]

Born with both?

Phwoar.

[Lofty]

Middle class woman (or binary, not sure) who once used a food Bank and now is the champion of the poor. She is famous for suing that Katie Hopkins terror and winning and writes awful cookbooks which allow people to make food for 6p.

She's perfect as the middle class can imagine her as what working class people look like.

This. Why do they reel her out for stuff like this, Jack simulatanously claiming she has £19 in the bank and has to buy smart price sausages (please donate) whilst appearing on television semi regularly. The day the blue tick middle class do gooders realise the emperor is nude will be a most excellent one.

[Yevrah]

Amber Heard's been excelling herself over the last couple of days I see.

[Shindig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61635822


The perpetrator, seen wearing a wig and lipstick, urged people to "think of the Earth" while being led from the scene.

Neither the time nor the place for that. :D

[Spikey M]

:D the fuck?

[Don]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/may/30/west-midlands-chip-chop-a-tiktok-sensation

Well random :D :D

[Pepe]

Kids are fucking idiots.

[Manc]

Put the rifle down, old man.

[wullie]

I went to Binley Mega Chippy before it was cool. Rubbish

[Spikey M]

Any trend that leads to more people experiencing Coventry is terrible for obvious reasons. The fact that the trend in question is a visit to a Subpar Chip Shop is honestly verging on a humanitarian crisis.

[Ben]

The best thing was the Ikea and I believe that's gone now.

[wullie]

It's going to become some kind of art gallery now, I'd have said it should be knocked down as it's a monstrous eyesore but they've put up so many more since it almost looks modest and reserved in comparison.

[Baz]

Is everyone a Guardian nonce on here or something?

[Spikey M]

Strong words for someone that dresses like a stinging nettle.

[Lewis]

Is everyone a Guardian nonce on here or something?

It isn't paywalled so you can timewaste on it at work.

[Ben]

https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome/releases

Or use this and bypass them all.

[Baz]

It isn't paywalled so you can timewaste on it at work.
Oh. I swear it was when I first clicked on it.

[Shindig]

I might go to Coventry to see the transport museum. Assuming Thrust SSC is still on display there.

[wullie]

Thrust 2 is there as well, double the thrust

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61629545

Knew about the murder before the news broke as my cousin's daughter was friends with him but I didn't know if anyone was arrested for it. Last night I decided to check out the news report and I realised I knew the name of the accused.

Did some digging and I do indeed "know" the chap. When I did a college course to get back into uni about 10 years ago his Mum was also on the same course and I still have her on Facebook (seems she deactivated her account a couple of days ago...) and I even went to the pub she owns as part of a College Christmas quiz and met the murderer as a child.

The few times I ventured onto Facebook a month my feed would be filled with posts about her kid and his mental health problems.

[Spikey M]

Johnny Depp has won apparently.

Amber Turd firmly on my 2023 death prediction list.

[Ben]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/02/prince-andrew-to-miss-jubilee-service-with-covid

:sherlock:

[Spikey M]

That's a shame. I bet he was really looking forward to going as well.

[niko_cee]

Obviously I'm sure this Prophet Muhammad thing which India and the 'Arab World' appear to be embroiled in is deeply serious business, but let's not let that overshadow some of the lol comments it has served to create.


"Allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment, constitutes a grave danger to the protection of human rights and may lead to further prejudice and marginalisation, which will create a cycle of violence and hate," Qatar's ministry of foreign affairs said.

:happycry:

[Shindig]

Another one for the Phonics victory lap. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61712871)

Cowards. Their legal defence will probably be none of them could swim.

[Lewis]

lol what a mong.

[Disco]

Don't make more victims.

There should be rescue equipment alongside bodies of water (like you see here,), unequipped rozzers leaping in to save someone who they warned not to go in just ends up with multiple people needing to be rescued. They were absolutely right not to go after him.

[phonics]

"Lots of very smart (and even more not-so-smart) people have tried, over the years, to answer the question of what cops are for—whether they exist to keep us safe, to fight crime, to protect property, to enforce racial hierarchies, etc. I pose a simpler question: What do cops do?

Having spent many years observing cop behavior, reading news about cops, and occasionally even asking them for help, I have come to a pretty simple but comprehensive answer: They do what is easy, and avoid what is difficult. Seen through that rubric, much cop behavior suddenly becomes much more explicable.


Of all the improbable things about accused subway shooter Frank James’s last hours of freedom, the weirdest is how easy it is to imagine James still on the run, today, if he’d decided to do almost anything differently. Learning that he phoned in a tip on himself from a McDonald’s, and then that he eventually got tired of waiting there and left, was a sort of sublime punchline to the entire comic manhunt, in which New York City’s enormous and well-funded police department failed at basically every moment to stop or capture a dangerous criminal who literally told them where he was."

https://theap.substack.com/p/what-do-cops-do?s=r

[Pepe]

Gawker :harold:

[hfswjyr]

Is the defund the police debate limited to America? I haven't seen much coverage of the same rhetoric for any other country catch on.

[Ben]

Not really, but it's apples and oranges trying to compare their police to the rest of the world. I read a stat not long ago that only the U.S. and Chinese militaries have more funding than the U.S. police.

[Spikey M]

Most (first world) countries don't have police like they do in America.

[Lewis]

Is the defund the police debate limited to America? I haven't seen much coverage of the same rhetoric for any other country catch on.

There are a few maniacs and race baiters here who go for it, but only insofar as their politics are entirely determined by American fashions rather than because they have given it any thought.

[Lofty]

Is the defund the police debate limited to America? I haven't seen much coverage of the same rhetoric for any other country catch on.

The main problem in the UK is the Police have already been defunded to the point that they don't investigate crimes unless they are really serious. The U-turn on police staffing by the government may address this to a degree in the long run but comparing UK police funding and US police funding is like comparing Morris dancing and Mardi Gras.

I live in a town with a population of 25,000 people, the local police station was closed until recently. The US equivalent would be open with a SWAT team, Tank, all the bells and whistles. The problem is when your SWAT team stand around flicking each others dicks when they know an active shooter is loose in a school, I suppose.

[Boydy]

1534639563167105025

:sick:

Appatently it includes international airports too so the actual map will be a lot worse. Most of the country will be covered.

[niko_cee]

Mr Boule sounds a bit of a case reading the opening bits of that opinion or whatever it is.

I'm guessing there's nuance to it anyway. 'Constitutional protections' is a bit of a red flag, I would imagine there are other forms of protection/remedies available outwith a need to resort to a constitutional claim. Sounds all a bit separation of powersy which the yanks are big on.


Second, Congress has provided alternative remedies for aggrieved parties in Boule’s position that independently foreclose a
Bivens action here. By regulation, Border Patrol must investigate
“[a]lleged violations” and accept grievances from “[a]ny persons.” 8
CFR §§287.10(a)–(b). Boule claims that this regulatory grievance procedure was inadequate, but this Court has never held that a Bivens
alternative must afford rights such as judicial review of an adverse
determination. Bivens “is concerned solely with deterring the unconstitutional acts of individual officers.” Correctional Services Corp. v.
Malesko, 534 U. S. 61, 71. And, regardless, the question whether a
given remedy is adequate is a legislative determination. As in Hernández, this Court has no warrant to doubt that the consideration of
Boule’s grievance secured adequate deterrence and afforded Boule an
alternative remedy. See 589 U. S., at ___. Pp. 12–13.

[Spikey M]

1534639563167105025

:sick:

Appatently it includes international airports too so the actual map will be a lot worse. Most of the country will be covered.

In the laaaaaaaand of the freeeeeeee.

[niko_cee]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61763333

:D

I have no words for this.

[Giggles]

If she wins the public should beat her to death to nip it in the bud.

[Giggles]

And the judge.

[Disco]

Fuck insurance companies, I hope she gets to keep every penny.

[Shindig]

The car did nothing wrong.

[Spikey M]

Yeah, but someone went into the back of her.

Ian, can I get a phwoar?

[Giggles]

It's another end of the world moment. Imagine what follows if that wins?

[Spikey M]

£trillion insurance premiums.

[Giggles]

Will get further than most people can reach anyway, without getting dramatic with the trillions.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I caught my right shin on my car door today, can I get some money?

[Ian]

Yeah, but someone went into the back of her.

Ian, can I get a phwoar?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQjuWkg_uXvXLyzTEy7h-Vn0Z54Wijn72PgTA&usqp=CAU

[Shindig]

It's another end of the world moment. Imagine what follows if that wins?

"So I was shagging in the car park and an onlooker hurt my feelings, your honour."

[Giggles]

"So I was shagging in the car park and an onlooker hurt my feelings, your honour."

Cool. Have 2 million quid.

[Lofty]

Nominative Determinism? (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61773202)

[hfswjyr]

That's brilliant.

[Manc]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/14/wagwan-why-are-more-and-more-britons-speaking-multicultural-london-english

One for Giggles.

[Giggles]

They should bring back capital punishment just for the word mandem.

[Jimmy Floyd]

As a former linguistics goon, I always thought that 'street talk' was characterised by using a smaller area of the mouth than ever (standard English already uses far less of the mouth than it did 300 years ago, and far less than other modern languages). Basically it's linguistic Darwinism and the lazier option always wins.

Say 'bare' instead of 'very' or 'really', it's just far less effort.

[hfswjyr]

My favourite version (which I may have posted before).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitkern_language

[Baz]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-61801804

This is outrageous. Honestly puts me off the internet.

[Spikey M]

They're only doing what they did in the staff room 30 years ago.

[Ian]

Behaving in such a way that has you nicknamed The Rapist: lololol crack on big man #lad
Being a cunt in a Whatsapp group: sacked

Makes sense.

[Lewis]

You can see why they would have sacked him, but prison for that (and other such stuff) is insane and makes a mockery of the justice system.

[Shindig]

Community service at best, really.

[Ben]

I feel there must be more to it.

[niko_cee]

Meanwhile (https://uk.yahoo.com/news/john-fisher-child-rapist-walks-free-dementia-diagnosis-trial-165422176.html)

[Baz]

As a legitimate Dementia Friends Ambassador I do not condone that.

[randomlegend]

The justice system needs to stick by the principles it's based on - in the given example, requiring someone to be mentally competent to stand trial - regardless of how abhorrent the crime is.

Putting a demented person on trial is just a show designed to satisfy people's need for vengeance rather than an attempt at justice.

It's fucking dreadful for the victims, I can't begin to imagine how it must feel for them, but that's not a good enough reason to abandon principle.

[Lewis]

Another demented person should go and kill him.

[Alex]

1538970467880554496

All the people mentioned in this article are just fucking drips, aren't they? Even this guy:


Graham Benton had been due to catch a train to London on Tuesday for a heart operation, but because of the strikes he will now have to pay £165 for a taxi to get there.

"I am having a procedure on my heart tomorrow which is very stressful," the 48-year-old from Portsmouth says.

"The operation is in central London so I have booked a taxi with one of those airport taxi firms... at 05:30 tomorrow. "

Well your options, as I see it Graham, are either £165 or death. So you're still getting quite a good deal really, aren't you?

Also, imagine how much of a cunt you must be to make it through 48 years of life and not know a single person who will drive you the couple of hours from Portsmouth to London for literal life saving surgery.

[Boydy]

Are there even trains running at 5:30am?

[phonics]

Are there even trains running at 5:30am?

Trains go faster than a car. Class traitor alert.

[Lewis]

You could probably beat the train to this central London hospital if you left at half-five.

[Ben]

The media, some not surprising but even the BBC are joining in, seem to be making a big effort to turn everyone against the strike action. So much for workers' rights, eh.

[Baz]

Fuck you Lofty you lazy scrote.

[Spikey M]

Poor train drivers, struggling along on Lionel Messi's wage. :(

[Kikó]

The strike isn't about train drivers pay.

[Giggles]

Who cares? PEOPLE ARE MISSING LIFE EVENTS.

[Spikey M]

The strike isn't about train drivers pay.

The strike isn't about your mum's pay.

[Ben]

Looks like the internet is down. Loads of Cloudflare errors, including TfL and National Rail websites. :D

[Ben]

Poor train drivers, struggling along on Lionel Messi's wage. :(

Drivers aren't on strike. Different union.

[Kikó]

Who cares? PEOPLE ARE MISSING LIFE EVENTS.

Had to skip the heart op, fuck sake

[Jimmy Floyd]

The RMT are a bunch of intractable cunts, no one should ever support them.

[Boydy]

The RMT are great and what every union should be.

[Ben]

Absolutely shocked to see that the Government are telling rail firms not to negotiate with RMT. More divide and conquer shit that the retired electorate will lap up.

[Waffdon]

The RMT are a bunch of intractable cunts, no one should ever support them.

Another example of Jimmy Floyd being born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'll take that over whatever kind of spoon it is that makes people stand around with Soviet era iconography chatting shit on picket lines for no tangible benefit to themselves or others.

[phonics]

Jimmy, son of the Metropolitan Police saying that Railway Unions are a problem.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The police aren't allowed to strike, obvs, because it would be fucking stupid if they were. Can think of a few other sectors where that should apply.

[Lofty]

Fuck you Lofty you lazy scrote.

My union isn't on strike, yet anyway. Ballot in the post.

There are definite benefits for passengers long term defending customer facing jobs and opposing the drive to close all ticket offices. Baring in mind a lot of older people are completely reliant on the trains but also useless at using them without assistance at all stages. I once had a nana flag my train down at 9pm at a request stop station, purely to ask me a question about timetables for another date :D

The government hates ticket offices but they are necessary, especially when the ticketing system is prohbitively complicated. I once went to an RMT demo at the DFT and even with a group of rail staff getting some stafg discount tickets out of the machines on the tube required assistance.

Their dream is a near fully automated railway with some minimum wage mooks mopping up any issues, which doesn't work in reality. They already trialled it with lower paid 'revenue assistants' and some of them couldn't find their arse with both hands never mind react quickly to emergencies/effectively manage hundreds of people at a time on their own.

Never mind their proposals to strip back track workers when they themselves identified lack of maintenance was the key factor in crashes like Grayrigg, Potter's Bar and Hatfield. The culture at Network Rail has always been 'health and safety unless it costs too much' but it is definitely escalating to cut back regardless of the effects.

One way to save a lot of money would be to end franchising and the ROSCO system but that makes high level people who hate strikes too much money so just sack the plebs instead. The current offer is 2% backdated to April and a further 1% in October contingent on accepting 'reforms' that eviscerate jobs. Comical considering Merseyrail were given 7% no strings recently.

Some people seem to think that the government plans will save them money on fares if they come to fruition, which seems to me as misguided as the idea we wouldn't pay national insurance anymore if the NHS was privatised. The quickest way to modernise the railway and save money is to take all franchised back into public ownership and eliminated tens of millions in executive salaries by only needing 1 of each top job, again unpopular with the toffs.

I fully expect ASLEF and TSSA to join the RMT when their ballot results are announced.

[Lewis]

The Conservative Party has a bit of a mong idea of unions based on old notions that they were always striking for a laugh, rather than because the inflation they caused was mental. The 'inherent bad faith model' in action. That said, the railways have led a bit of a charmed existence these last couple of years (second only to irreplaceable civil servants like myself), so I don't know or particularly care about this one.

[Lofty]

1539162820956377088

[Jimmy Floyd]

The government are being mongs politically (they should just let unions do whatever and not start slinging mud at them, imagining that this will impress anyone) but that's nothing new for this lot.

[randomlegend]

The thing with the Kay Burley clip is there is actually have a reasonable question underneath what she's saying, but for some reason she's completely incapable of actually asking it and instead looks like her brain is exploding.

[Spikey M]

She's just terrible all round. She's so desperate for drama and GOTCHA moments that she just lurces betweek hyperbole and strawmen that make her sound retarded.

[Baz]

lurces betweek ... sound retarded.
:dirk:

[Boydy]

1539227086426185728

:lol:

[Spikey M]

:dirk:

:mad:

[Boydy]

1539249444822065152

Has anyone done a normal interview with him?

[Yevrah]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-61882384

What the hell is this and what joke was it? Whatever law/regulation/rule that made the police follow that up needs to be binned now.

[Giggles]

I thought we were bad but your country is falling apart with shit like that. I really thought you’d be of the last ones left that would be largely bullshit free.

[Lofty]

1539249444822065152

Has anyone done a normal interview with him?

1539220201555869696

Apparently not.

[Lewis]

Didn't think they could better Big Bad Bob, especially after the European Union killed him, but Mighty Mick might top him over the coming weeks.

[Yevrah]

I thought we were bad but your country is falling apart with shit like that. I really thought you’d be of the last ones left that would be largely bullshit free.

It's absolute madness and I've no idea what's driving it.

[Boydy]

1538903712638414851

I fucking love him.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Mighty Mick :cool:

[Boydy]

1539372860426289153

You fucking tell 'em, Mick. :drool:

[Manc]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/21/man-arrested-for-stealing-sausage-rolls-killed-himself-after-police-labelled-him-a-paedophile

Brutal.

[Pepe]

Oh, it was a 'genuine human error?' We're good then.

[Ben]

Mick. :cool:

[Boydy]

Big Mick is on Question Time this week. :drool:

[Spikey M]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61896411

Who had Polio in the "next extinction attempt Bingo"?

[Shindig]

I thought all kids got the drops? Although this is London so some of them are probably leaving it to God.

[Spikey M]

I thought all kids got the drops? Although this is London so some of them are probably leaving it to God.

They think it's someone from abroad that has recently had the live virus vaccine. Apparently you can be contagious after having it, so most countries use a dead virus one.


London 80-something% vaccinated, rest of the country 90-something %. Should be fine. It does feel like someone is trying to fuck us up though. :D

[Lofty]

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/gary-lineker-racist-abuse-b2106034.html?amp

[Jimmy Floyd]

Heads have gone.

[Disco]

Darkish skin? He had a tan.

[Lofty]

1539706505846464513

[Jimmy Floyd]

They have no answer to articulate plain speech, do they. All they know is PPE blather and media training.

[Yevrah]

He is really good. Question Time should be a cracker.

[Don]

Presumably he's alienating a healthy number of people by spouting such plain truths if it's taken a geezer without political ties to say them. What a populace.

[Pepe]

The quick removal of the tweets. :D

[Pepe]

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/gary-lineker-racist-abuse-b2106034.html?amp

That's what happens when being a victim is made a desirable trait.

[Spikey M]

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/gary-lineker-racist-abuse-b2106034.html?amp

Oh fuck off :D

[Spikey M]

He is really good. Question Time should be a cracker.

It's usually 5 or 6 of them.

[Yevrah]

Looks like Martin Lewis is gearing up to get into politics.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61869649

Would very much welcome that, exactly the sort of straight talking and factually correct individual that should shake things up a bit.

[Giggles]

For some reason I thought of the lad out of Sherlock.

[Ian]

You're thinking of Morgan Freeman.

[Yevrah]

More people who apparently only know how to use a train when it comes to transport.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61866971

[SvN]

What is the point of that article? It's not news.

[Lofty]

Looks like Martin Lewis is gearing up to get into politics.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61869649

Would very much welcome that, exactly the sort of straight talking and factually correct individual that should shake things up a bit.

Didn't he sue his university for awarding him a 2:2?

[Yevrah]

What is the point of that article? It's not news.

Indeed. I can only assume there's some twat in the editorial team at the BBC online who hates the idea of strikes and will put any old shit on the website to hammer home how much they're RUINING lives.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've always thought Martin Lewis was an absolute pompous bell end, I seem to be the only person in the world holding this opinion as far as I know. Like a Waitrose Jack Monroe.

[Waffdon]

There’s some good old dosages of pot kettle black in there.

[Ben]

Indeed. I can only assume there's some twat in the editorial team at the BBC online who hates the idea of strikes and will put any old shit on the website to hammer home how much they're RUINING lives.

It seems the media as a whole despises strikes. It's to be expected of most of the media but even the BBC are very thinly disguising the "look at how strikes are just fucking with everybody" trope without much journalism dedicated to describing why strikes are happening.

[Ian]

What is the point of that article? It's not news.

BBC have been putting non-"news" stuff on the front page for years. Absolutely chock full of bullshit.

[SvN]

It seems like a very forceful attempt to convince the public that the rail workers are cunts who are ruining the lives of the poor passengers. It's shameful.

[Boydy]

People finally turning on the media class. :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

The media industry has been broken for a long time, to be honest the main concern is what replaces it in a world where no one is prepared to pay a penny for their media. The most obvious answer seems to be some form of state/corporate propaganda.

[Manc]

Led by Piers Morgan.

[Ben]

People finally turning on the media class. :drool:

I think the Tories are taking themselves the same way. Since the 2008 financial crisis they've basically had the population wrapped around their little finger, to the point where people bend over backwards to justify their ridiculous policies, incompetence, cronyism and corruption. Brexit has amplified this massively. The Government reaction to bent COVID contracts, lockdown parties and now Boris trying to give his mistress a top job is one of complete apathy because their behaviour is so normalised now that it's just accepted, even though in any other era they'd be out on their arses long ago.

Tories are masters at divide and conquer and their approach is just to keep pushing the envelope further but I think the tipping point is near; the population will go the other way after the winter when they finally realise they've been completely sold up the river for the past decade-plus.

[Kikó]

I can't read the BBC. Complete garbage most of the time.

Can anyone point to anything good the Tories have done in power related to domestic policy? I think the gay marriage one is the only positive.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't think there's apathy at all. Remember there hasn't been a GE since the start of Covid, and in any elections there have been (locals/by elections etc) the Tories have taken a hammering. Boris is deeply unpopular in every section of society and won't last much longer.

If the Tories face long term issues it's because they've propped up boomers to a ridiculous degree.

[Ben]

I didn't phrase it well. I meant the apathy is from the Tories, not the electorate. They seem to have convinced themselves (naively) that they're untouchable so they can continue to be corrupt and hammer the working class and they'll keep winning elections. The locals and by-elections don't seem to have moved them, somewhat surprisingly, but this isn't the Conservative Party that it used to be. They're sleepwalking into a decade in the gutters, but the Brexit lot have done enough damage to take the country with them.

[Lofty]

I've always thought Martin Lewis was an absolute pompous bell end, I seem to be the only person in the world holding this opinion as far as I know. Like a Waitrose Jack Monroe.

No, I agree. A good comparison as the two regularly sniff each others farts on twitter. Apparently his brother was her pro bono lawyer in the Katie Hopkins case? Possibly just the same surname. I read an anecdote once that after he had sold his company for a fortune (on the back of directing people to deals that weren't transparent as not the best for the consumer but did make him referral money) the new owners made the office at his spot open plan, to which he had a massive meltdown and took over a remaining office and put a print out on the door with his name on it :D

[Spikey M]

Martin Lewis is a smug cunt, but he is alot of help to poor people that have never had any kind of financial help. I hear his name from the people I help on pretty much a daily basis. He does more good than Alan fucking Sugar for starters.

[Lofty]

His advice to sit tight when my energy supplier collapsed and Octopus were offering me £130 a month fixed for two years has arse fucked me now I'm a British Gas variable customer.

[Baz]

Just like anyone else who’s a regular on This Morning or similar (Vanessa Feltz, Gino Dicampo, that weirdly mismatched couple who talk about phobias, etc), he is clearly a knob.

[wullie]

That therapist couple who don't have any actual qualifications are the weirdest looking people I've seen on daytime TV, and anyone who's seen Dickinson's Real Deal will know there's a lot of competition in that regard.

[Lewis]

I can't believe the media have suddenly become shit. They were excellent before when it was things I agreed with.

[Kikó]

I'm a fan of Martin Lewis. A lot of very good advice in there (I'm not arsed if he gets a kickback) which has saved me money on many occasion.

[Spikey M]

I can't believe the media have suddenly become shit. They were excellent before when it was things I agreed with.

Yeah, it's not as if we have a 239 page thread devoted pretty much entirely to taking the piss out of the media over the last 7 years.

[Yevrah]

I'm a fan of Martin Lewis. A lot of very good advice in there (I'm not arsed if he gets a kickback) which has saved me money on many occasion.

He is properly good. His takedown of the student loan idiocy was top top work.

[Manc]

His advice to sit tight when my energy supplier collapsed and Octopus were offering me £130 a month fixed for two years has arse fucked me now I'm a British Gas variable customer.

Why are you taking the advice of a "pompous bell end"?

[Disco]

Careful, this place is built on the advice of pompous bellends.

[Lofty]

Why are you taking the advice of a "pompous bell end"?

Almost like I revised my opinion of him after the fact.

[Lewis]

Nominating yourself for a peerage is a bit self-important, as is pretending you didn't want one afterwards.

[Manc]

Almost like I revised my opinion of him after the fact.

Hopefully you never cross paths with Mellberg.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Nominating yourself for a peerage is a bit self-important, as is pretending you didn't want one afterwards.

I didn't even know you could until now, I thought you had to have some old fruit tap you on the shoulder.

[Shindig]

And now it's Waco. Someone shoot this paedo. (https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/ezra-miller-young-children-vermont-farm-1372295/)

[Ben]

https://www.politico.eu/article/mick-lynch-the-union-chief-running-rings-around-britains-politicos/

Mick :cool:

[Ben]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61919581

How?!

[Disco]

https://i.imgur.com/9we8uns.png

[Gray Fox]

It seems the Americans just set themselves back to the 70's over abortion rights.

[Ben]

See above image.

[Ian]

Victim blaming (or punishing, at least) made law in the most extreme way. Love to see it.

[Shindig]

Nevermind, girls. At least you can all grab a pistol. Gun your womb up.

[Lewis]

It might be for the best if it forces them to revert back to states doing their own thing. It's the only way the retards will be able to co-exist in the long-term.

[Pepe]

People pissing their pants over nothing.

[Lewis]

1540366939347894272

[Jimmy Floyd]

Every time I read about the American supreme court voting to ban abortion / legalise rape / give assault rifles to livestock, I'm reminded of the traitor, Tony Blair, being desperate to introduce a Supreme Court over here (and sort of doing so). Absolutely mental how the glamour and money of yank politics rubs off on some people.

[Spikey M]

The place is just a dump (if you aren't rich) and it keeps managing to get worse.

[Lewis]

The average American is pretty rich by European (certainly British) standards. If you aren't a cripple or living in San Francisco you have it a lot better, even once you've paid for your healthcare which is also vastly superior to ours.

But yes, the less we have to do with them the better.

[Lofty]

1540286602869710848

[Shindig]

Good job, internet. :D

[Pepe]

They did not vote to ban abortion or anything like that. They rule on individual cases. If you want to lol at something, lol at the inability of their legislative branch to pass laws, which is their only job.

[Giggles]

They did not vote to ban abortion or anything like that. They rule on individual cases. If you want to lol at something, lol at the inability of their legislative branch to pass laws, which is their only job.

Go away with your facts. How can outrage be created with those?

[Spikey M]

Whatever they've done (I suspect "set a precedent") is enough for several states to immediately change their abortion laws.

But let's not get in the way of Pepe being weirdly Mert like whenever America is in the mud, bruh.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Whatever they've done (I suspect "set a precedent") is enough for several states to immediately change their abortion laws.

But let's not get in the way of Pepe being weirdly Mert like whenever America is in the mud, bruh.

They monitor forriners on the internet, any bad mouthing/letting others bad mouth AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL and they get their green card revoked.

[Shindig]

If he gets deported to France, we can call him Pepé .

[Yevrah]

They did not vote to ban abortion or anything like that. They rule on individual cases. If you want to lol at something, lol at the inability of their legislative branch to pass laws, which is their only job.

So when the BBC say:


About half of states are now likely to introduce new restrictions or bans

Is that a lie?

[Kikó]

A number of them had laws that would immediately enact once that decision was made.

[Baz]

The number of people (girls) Instagram stories being about this abortion thing is insane. (All in the UK)

[Giggles]

It’s risen the dirty war that we had for the 8th referendum all over again. That one needed left buried where it was.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1540537530369642497

:d

[Ian]

Yeah, women, stop letting rapists spunk in you.

[igor_balis]

Whatever they've done (I suspect "set a precedent") is enough for several states to immediately change their abortion laws.

But let's not get in the way of Pepe being weirdly Mert like whenever America is in the mud, bruh.

I dunno if it's specifically a pro-America thing, I just think it's satisfying to roll your eyes at losers taking things seriously and feel superior to drama queens. Problem is that if you lack a bit empathy, you end up doing it to literally anything that doesn't effect you. Bet he wouldn't be so dismissive if it was the supreme court, er, i dunno, banning lycra.

[Pepe]

So when the BBC say:



Is that a lie?

No. It just means that some states have decided to do that. Just like some states have laws that allow abortion until the day of the birth. The supreme court didn't do any of that. The judicial branch does not make laws.

[Pepe]

But let's not get in the way of Pepe being weirdly Mert like whenever America is in the mud, bruh.

Nah, the country is pretty shit in many ways. Everyone seems to always focus on odd things though. As I said, if you want to lol, just lol at the fact that they have amended their Constitution once since 1971. If Congress was not allergic to making laws, then Supreme Court decisions like the one that has everyone going crazy right now wouldn't matter.

As is, over half of the states allow abortion, with many of them having laws that allow abortion for a longer period than most European countries. As for the other states, well, plenty of companies are already saying that they will pay for the trips + abortions for any of their employees, so something tells me that women will be just fine.

[randomlegend]

As for the other states, well, plenty of companies are already saying that they will pay for the trips + abortions for any of their employees, so something tells me that women will be just fine.

Incredible take.

[Pepe]

Thank you.

[Lewis]

The sort of companies who will pay the expenses will mainly employ girlbosses and trannies as their female quotas, and they aren't the usual customers. It's the poor ones and minorities who will be a bit stuck, but then I would expect the blue states and charity complex to fund their costs as well eventually.

[Pepe]

1532724534788313088

[Lewis]

'I'm pro choice but because of racism. You have never debated someone like me before.'

[phonics]

Can someone explain to me why Prince Charles is taking money from the Qataris. What does a royal need to earn money for. I thought it was the point.

[Yevrah]

Can someone explain to me why Prince Charles is taking money from the Qataris. What does a royal need to earn money for. I thought it was the point.

Sounds like he gave it to charity, which if so, is much better than the alternative.

[Ian]

Some of it supposedly came in a holdall? What? :D

They're saying it's all gone to charities but has anywhere reported what those handing the money over thought they were getting in return?

[Yevrah]

Some of it supposedly came in a holdall? What? :D

They're saying it's all gone to charities but has anywhere reported what those handing the money over thought they were getting in return?

Lunch with Andrew?

[Ian]

Why pay millions when a Pizza Express voucher and a pair of kids pants would achieve the same?

[phonics]

Sounds like he gave it to charity, which if so, is much better than the alternative.

Thats literally money laundering.

[Lewis]

The bloke wanted to donate, the charity banked it, declared it... It couldn't be any less money laundering unless the charity then did an equivalent amount of work for Qatar as a direct result of the donation, which there doesn't appear to be any suggestion of. The story is basically wealthy Arabs like cash.

[Yevrah]

Thats literally money laundering.

Well it isn't and even if it was why would an overtly rich Arab or Prince Charles want to launder money?

[John Arne]

"We need to launder some money lads"
"Ok, I know an Albanian guy in Paris who could help"
"No need, I'll give the future King a call... probably the most discrete way to deal with this"

[Spikey M]

Thats literally money laundering.

I don't think giving money away is Money Laundering.

Unless it was to the Princes Trust or something. Then maybe (but no).