THE BRITISH THREAD II

Tse Germöns!

Quote:

31st January

Jens Lehmann (FC Arsenal, German National Football Team)
Crucial differences between German and English football on the national and club level
Chair: Prof Simon Hix (LSE Government Department)
Place & Time: D602, 6pm to 7pm

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No link?

Was that a Liverpool accent, as exemplified by Stan Boardman?

"Dse Djeeehrmans"

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McTag wrote:

No link?

LINK

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Parliament gravy train/ Conway MP case

Heard on the radio this morning: Conservative MPs Nicholas and Mrs Winterton bought a house, put it in a trust in their children's names, and rent it back from the trust.
The rent they claim on "expenses".

This, in a week where supplementary benefits and unemployment benefits for the population are being proposed cut.

At PMQ there was a deafening silence about the Conway case, no debate at all in the House, raising the suspicion that they're all at it.

Frank Field called it embezzlement, which it is.

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Havin a beer or what?

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Shocking this parliamentary gravy train. Will get my Mole in the House to find out more....

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Mind it doesn't dart up your inside leg love.

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not that blind, moles

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Mac wrote-

Quote:

raising the suspicion that they're all at it.

Suspicion indeed. It's taken for granted. If I was in there I would be bang at it goodstyle. Mrs Thatcher makes this lot look like a Penny Arcade.

Hands up anybody who ever voted for that nitwit.

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Quote:

LONDON (AFP) - Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

None of this stuff means anything without an examination of the statistical methods used and the results themselves. However, I have seen so much of this stuff posted about the states, that I just couldn't bear to deprive you of the pleasure.

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It's in the papers today - though not on the frontpages (The Herald, page 8; both The Telegraph and the Daily Mail have it on page 11 ... )

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McTag wrote:

Parliament gravy train/ Conway MP case

Heard on the radio this morning: Conservative MPs Nicholas and Mrs Winterton bought a house, put it in a trust in their children's names, and rent it back from the trust.
The rent they claim on "expenses".

This, in a week where supplementary benefits and unemployment benefits for the population are being proposed cut.

At PMQ there was a deafening silence about the Conway case, no debate at all in the House, raising the suspicion that they're all at it.

Frank Field called it embezzlement, which it is.

Had similar here a few years ago. Cant find a link but very similar situation.

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George wrote-

Quote:

LONDON (AFP) - Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

I don't think those figures show that "Britons are losing their grip on reality".

Reality itself is now a myth which obviously means that myths are now reality. Television, and radio to some extent, present a myth to the public and television is a reality therefore myths are reality.

If a myth takes a hole below the waterline, as in the Conway case, the spinners spin a new myth. An illusion of transparency is created in the name of becoming more transparent. They just get better at it. They evolve.

What's so great about reality anyway?

Why doesn't UKTV Gold get on with making TV programmes instead of asking carefully crafted questions of 3,000 people, possibly selected to get the answer required and possibly invented even?

Is it a myth to believe that UKTV Gold have any sort of grasp on reality. Is their survey mythical? Have people who allow it credibility lost their grip on reality? Have people who think a publicity stunt represents any sort of sociological or psychcological reality lost all sense of reality themselves.

And any scrutiny of the Churchill biographies, and particularly the Lord Moran one, will show quite clearly that the image of Mr Churchill is a myth. Most of his radio broadcasts were performed by an impressionist.

Wasn't John Wayne a war hero?

What are spin doctors for except to create myths.

Is Mr Bush a myth?

What's a myth George. A myth I suppose.

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spendius wrote:

I don't think those figures show that "Britons are losing their grip on reality".

Reality itself is now a myth which obviously means that myths are now reality. Television, and radio to some extent, present a myth to the public and television is a reality therefore myths are reality. .

I generally agree.

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georgeob1 wrote:

spendius wrote:

I don't think those figures show that "Britons are losing their grip on reality".

Reality itself is now a myth which obviously means that myths are now reality. Television, and radio to some extent, present a myth to the public and television is a reality therefore myths are reality. .

I generally agree.

I never thought about this before. But it must be true. How else do you account for the queues of thousands of self-deluding youngsters, and many not so young, who present themselves as entertainment stars-in-the-making on X-Factor and American Idol? What sort of world do they live in?

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Sir Bobby Charlton and others are concerned there may be an outbreak of loutish behaviour at the next ManU/ City local derby, the anniversary of the Munich disaster.
And indeed there may be, regrettably.

For which City fans will be blamed.

However I was at a Dennis Irwin testimonial at Old Trafford between these teams, a friendly for a charitable cause, at which the ManU fans at the Scoreboard End kept up a chant/song "We F*cking Hate City" to the tune of "These Were The Days".
Thousand of the blighters kept up their moronic, vile, insulting song for ten minutes or more, and no message came over the tannoy to ask them to desist. It was awful to listen to, and there were families and children there too.

I would have warned them, then cleared the section out- which was about a quarter of the ground. But the club management did nothing. They were happy enough to accept the gate money, presumably, but not responsibility for their fans.

So I say, stuff the lot of them, and stuff their hypocrisy. You can't expect to impose standards on a football crowd where there has been such licence in the past.

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That's what they go for Mac.

Rage turned outwards to avoid depression.

You don't want the NHS overwhelmed do you? And a lot of them have something to be angry about when they work in the sorts of jobs they do and live in the surroundings that they do and they see the Wintertons and Conways of this world living in luxury and with easy jobs having it off with their tax contributions. And posturing as saints.

It has to be contained somehow. What I find disgusting is seeing tots with painted faces at football matches.

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What I find disgusting is football clubs overpricing their replica kits, a must-have for the young fans who want to have their faces painted, and changing the design twice a year so the parents have to keep shelling out if they want to appear a "true fan". I don't know why they keep falling for it.

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discussion on footbal hooliganism and violence here has postulated that the lack of scoring is the key aspect.

Tension builds as your team works toward goal only to be rebuffed on the last line of defense. the ball seesaws between goals each forward thrust building the tension and stress higher and higher in expectation.

All that crowd adrenalin tension and stress ends up channeled into aggressive behavior which manifests itself as violence or unruly behavior.

Games which have the opportunity for more regular scoring assist the release of crowd tension and reduce stress levels each time a goal is scored by cheering and general flag waving (ie physical activity reduces stress).

<shrug> its a theory.

unruly crowd behavior here in Aust, both cricket and football, is quickly nipped in the bus and protagonists ejected from the ground. even if you are not involved but those around you are you stand the chance of being ejected so fans tend to police themselves. "Oy pull yer head in or we'll all get chucked out."
There certainly does appear to be more of a problem with soccer fans here than other codes. Idiots light flares and generally incite.

Many teams here have their roots embedded in the country of origin. Greek, Italian, Macedonia, Croatia etc. Nationalistic fervor boils over into racial violence, even though most of the protagonists and the players were born here and have never actually been to the home country.

Still none of that will help to you chaps.

I just cant see a police contingent ejecting 500/1000 unruly fans from bay 27. Maybe it has come to that.

I can only imagine what would happen if officials, on the outbreak of violence called the game and players off.

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Great post dp. I didn't think you had that in you.

I had wondered why basketball was so popular. It does look ridiculous you must admit.

Are you suggesting that basketball audiences are so aggressive that they need the cathartic effect of constant scoring to keep them under wraps.

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