Thursday 9th March 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[refitman]

Saw this and thought of Sky

[refitman]

[refitman]

Following on from Roger's post yesterday

[gilsey]

This Be The Verse
BY PHILIP LARKIN
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.

[gilsey]

[refitman]

[AnatolyKasparov]

Treasury Brain on steroids.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Where's my snow? I was promised snow. Where is it???

I genuinely cannot wait to hear the likes of Jenrick and Richard effing Madeley pompously pontificate about Gary Lineker this evening.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Looks like the BBC aren't giving the Tories and their media the pound of flesh they want, though.

Which still more invites the question of exactly who made that desperately craven decision to lead last night's 10 PM news on this total non story.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Which still more invites the question of exactly who made that desperately craven decision to lead last night's 10 PM news on this total non story.

Or Newsnight with that clown Matthew Syed making a total fool of himself (again) claiming it was a big problem because Lineker was the 'voice of the BBC' before getting his arse well and truly handed to him by Alastair Campbell.

[RogerOThornhill]

He shoots! He Scores!

[Sky'sGoneOut]

I don't suppose anyone else watched the SNP leadership debate on CH4 news?

Besides her feeble obfuscation when it came to her personal view of abortion I thought Kate Forbes came out on top.

[AnatolyKasparov]

God, if that Morduant footballing "metaphor" clunked any harder you would be able to hear it from Mars.

(she is meant to be one of their relative grown ups as well, remember)

[tinyclanger2]

I never expected, watching Lineker punditing on Euro '96, that he would become a real hero. Now he's up there with Kathy Burke.

[refitman]

Here we go, today's worst take

[refitman]

Here we go, today's worst take

[frog222]

[frog222]

Where's my snow? I was promised snow. Where is it???

I genuinely cannot wait to hear the likes of Jenrick and Richard effing Madeley pompously pontificate about Gary Lineker this evening.

I am very much looking forward to the QT Report tomorrow morning . xx !!

[AnatolyKasparov]

Here we go, today's worst take

Is there anything - *anything* - more reliably a dickhead indicator than "Nazis were left wing, ACTUALLY" takes?

[PorFavor]

Good morfternoon.

Is anybody watching the Robert Jenrick Show, compered by Fiona Bruce?

(On which Richard Madeley is rather surprising me.)

[gilsey]

I don't suppose anyone else watched the SNP leadership debate on CH4 news?

Besides her feeble obfuscation when it came to her personal view of abortion I thought Kate Forbes came out on top.

Forbes personal view of abortion should disqualify her, regardless of her other attributes. IMO.

[gilsey]

Good morfternoon.

Is anybody watching the Robert Jenrick Show, compered by Fiona Bruce?

(On which Richard Madeley is rather surprising me.)

Hi PF.

Saw a bit of it and even Bruce seemed to be arguing with him at one point.

He bemoaned the fact that so many of the asylum seekers were fit young men and almost simultaneously bemoaned the drain they'd be on our resources.

[PorFavor]

Europe’s far right praise UK’s illegal migration bill

Alternative für Deutschland leaders were among those lauding Sunak’s bill, while other EU figures raised doubts about its legality (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... ation-bill

[Sky'sGoneOut]

QT tonight came to you from Islington I think...somewhere in London anyway.

For the Conservatives we had Robert Jenrick. Is there anyone more slappable than Robert? Arrogant, tin eared, quick to take offence and sneeringly condescending. I can't imagine the man has a friend in the world outside the Tory party other than people he's done financial favours for. I bet it's why so many of them join the party, a desperate effort to find the only kind of wretched companionship they can because nobody else can stand to be in a room with them. Tonight Robert smugly sneered at those who took issue with his government effectively making it illegal for anyone to claim asylum in this country. The United Nations, the EU, multiple refugee charities, Gary Lineker, even the Board of Deputies of British Jews, they could all fuck off because his government had been infinitely generous to refugees. Why just look at the statistics, they show that...(Robert is interrupted and shown statistics showing the UK taking a fraction of the number of refugees of Germany or France)...but of course what those statistics don't show is the people that we have allowed in through resettlement schemes...(Robert has it pointed out to him if those were included it would make the UK look worse)...the majority of people agree with us, pressure on public services, strain on public finances, blah, fascist blah. Cunt.

For Labour we had Sarah Jones. To say Sarah was disappointing would be somewhat of an understatement. With a government minister for immigration spouting far right rhetoric what did she have to offer in response? Barely a squeak. A bit here about tackling people smuggling gangs, a bit there about opening up safe routes. I mean don't get me wrong those things need to be done but she just sat quietly and allowed a jumped up little fascist to pontificate at length while keeping her gob firmly shut. Why? I think we all know.

For the Tory remainer heretics we had Ken Clarke. Ken's become a bit of a cult figure amongst naive remainers who regard him wistfully as the face of sensible Conservatism extinguished by Johnson but hopefully tonight might have been a bit of a wake up call. Ken is all for the government's immigration plans, he might not think they'll work but he's for them in principle. For those of us old enough to remember his brief spell as Home Secretary that will come as no surprise. A genial fat old wolf in sheep's clothing.

For a laugh presumably we had Richard Madeley. I do love Richard's performative pondering, the way he makes a show of it. Hand massaging chin, moving to forehead, face creasing, taking his time as if we're about to hear the considered opinion of a sage of our times...then he comes out with the most vapidly obvious thing imaginable and seems inordinately pleased with himself. It's like watching a nature documentary where a chimp pokes a stick into a termite mound to catch termites and Attenborough tells you how clever it is and you think, 'Yeah but it's not going to be adding 2+2 anytime soon.' Richard can probably add 2+2 but would he be smart enough to use a stick to catch termites?

For the good we had Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Quite how Yasmin didn't punch Jenrick is beyond me. He sneered, he tried to talk over her, but she wasn't having it. She was the only one on the panel who stood up for Lineker pointing out it was the language he was criticising rather than making a crude comparison of the Tories with the Nazis. She also called out Labour for their pusillanimous lack of objection to the anti-refugee rhetoric and topped it all by reciting from a WH Auden poem written about the attitudes towards refugees during WWII, of which his wife was one.

Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said;
"If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread":
He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Saw this and thought of Sky

I would rather sit through endless bad Nicolas Cage films than watch a single Marvel superhero film again.

Being a total woke lefty dick I tried Wonder Woman and Black Panther and they were just awful.

Say what you like about Cage's beard but it's real and it conforms to the laws of physics.

I'll be reviewing 'Next' next on Sunday, the Philip K Dick one you mentioned.

My expectations are suitably meagre.



Edited because whatever.

[Sky'sGoneOut]