#source: outnumbered bbc

[fxckadoodledoomunson]

Eddie: I’d like a job involving travel.

Wayne: Like?

Eddie: A rockstar or a human cannonball.

[cromwellrex2]

The Return of the King: ‘And all the world in a merry mood because of the King’s coming.’

Charles Restored to his Throne

Source: The BBC

SO CLOSE to being able to resume his throne, Charles II displayed a subtlety and flexibility that had always eluded his father, in order to achieve his ultimate goal. In consultation with Monck, the exiled King and his courtiers, principally Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, drew up the Declaration of Breda, a conciliatory document, issued on 4th April 1660, representing Charles’ commitments to the English people, recognising the altered political reality of his soon to be reclaimed Kingdom. The Declaration promised an amnesty for all who had fought against the Stuarts, with the exception of those who had signed Charles I’s death warrant (the so-called “regicides”) and high-ranking republicans. The sale of Royalist estates would remain in situ; the Army’s pay arrears would be made good, and religious toleration extended to all but Roman Catholics. Crucially, regular Parliaments were promised, along with Parliamentary control of the Army. It was a masterful document, designed to placate majority moderate Parliamentary opinion, and by implication, promising no return to Royal absolutism. In this context, Parliamentary elections were held and resulted in a Parliament absolutely committed to the restoration of the King and the terms of the Declaration of Breda. This Parliament, officially called the “Convention Parliament”, given the absence of a constitution to sanction it, unsurprisingly became popularly known as the “Cavalier Parliament”. It did not take long for the new Parliament to take on the appearance of a government of the victors, for all Charles’ bridge-building.

There was one last attempt to resuscitate the Good Old Cause. John Lambert escaped from the Tower and sought to raise a republican army to oppose the Restoration, choosing his rallying spot, perhaps symbolically, as Edgehill, the site of the first battle of England’s civil wars. Some four troops of cavalry joined Lambert, but the Army, firmly under Monck’s control and seduced by Charles’ promises of pensions and back pay, at last turned its back on its former commander. Lambert’s force was soon outnumbered and overpowered by a New Model detachment under the command of one of the regicides, Colonel Ingoldsby, who took his former colleague into custody. Ingoldsby would go on to become a significant figure at Charles’ court, unlike Lambert, for whom a lifetime of imprisonment awaited. On 1st May 1660, the Declaration of Breda was read to both Houses with the understanding that it would form the basis of the restoration of the English monarchy.

The way was prepared. Nothing now stood in the path of Charles’ triumphal return to England. Following a formal and personal invitation to return home by Monck and Sir Thomas Fairfax, Charles set sail from The Hague and landed at Dover on 25th May and from there processed through Kent to the capital, greeted all along his route by cheering and ecstatic crowds. His reception in London, once the centre of Parliamentary revolt against his father, was little short of delirious, characterised by bonfires, tolling bells, tapestries hung from windows and fountains allegedly running with wine. He was escorted by 20,000 soldiers, most derived from New Model regiments - perhaps the greatest irony of what became known as “The Restoration”. On 29th May, Charles received loyal addresses from the Speaker of the House of Commons and the former Parliamentary commander, the Earl of Manchester, representing the Other House. Charles was then proclaimed King.

Although the Restoration is generally viewed as being bloodless and a typically English counter-revolution, there was in fact a considerable amount of reckoning. Despite the narrative being set that the Parliamentarians won the civil wars and that the restored monarchy was a shadow of Charles I’s Personal Rule, this is only partially true. Charles II did ensure Parliament passed an Act of Oblivion and Indemnity, which pardoned all who had fought with the Commonwealth’s armed forces, but many of the stalwarts of the Commonwealth were exempted from the Act. In addition to John Lambert’s life imprisonment, several army officers were executed, the most notable being the New Model general and Fifth Monarchist, Thomas Harrison, who was hung, drawn and quartered, meeting his grisly fate with the cheery confidence of someone who knew he would return at God’s right hand to wreak vengeance on his oppressors. Most of the regicides that the new regime could get its hands on were executed, but some survived or were rehabilitated by the new government. General Charles Fleetwood, head of the Army under the post-Cromwell Protectorate, for instance, despite being sentenced to death, managed to successfully claim he had been coerced into signing Charles I’s death warrant, although the fact Monck vouched for him was probably significant. Most of the Major-Generals managed to escape abroad, usually to Europe, while Edward Whalley fled to North America, where he sought refuge amongst the Puritan communities there. John Desborough actually plotted republican revolt from Europe. Extradited, he managed to avoid trial and ultimately retired to Hackney.

Thomas Fairfax, a known opponent to the trial of Charles I and a crucial figure in securing the success of Monck’s overthrow of the Commonwealth, received a royal pardon, and resumed his peaceful retirement, living until 1679, his reputation intact. Arthur Heselrige, fierce republican but scourge of the Protectorate, was perhaps an ambiguous figure to the Royalist regime. He was not arraigned for treason, but he was imprisoned in the Tower. Any ongoing debate as to what to do with the veteran Parliamentarian was resolved by his death within the year. Richard Cromwell, continued his somewhat charmed existence. After his deposition by the Army, Richard lived in exile in France, and was eventually permitted to return to England, dying in 1680. Richard’s brother Henry, often viewed as potentially a more effective successor to their father as Lord Protector, was left unmolested, and became part of the Anglo-Irish landowning class until his death in 1674. In acts of performative “justice”, the deceased regicides, Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, Thomas Pride and John Bradshaw, had their corpses exhumed, were posthumously beheaded, and their bodies publicly displayed as traitors.

The matter of retribution and punishment settled, Charles was now faced with ruling a much-changed English Kingdom and with reaching an equitable settlement with both Scotland and Ireland. Charles handled the post-civil war realms with dexterity and thoughtfulness, but his reign, although undeniably successful given the difficulties of his inheritance, did not do enough to fully resolve the issues of governance and sovereignty that had led to the destruction of his father, and he could not, ultimately, do enough to save the House of Stuart.

[incorrectbuttonhouse]

Pat: You have to treat everybody's views, whatever they believe, with equal respect.

Fanny: What, even idiots?

[dayintheproductivelife]

#28 The German genocide before that genocide

Put the words “German” and “genocide” together and we all know what is meant. Except, that’s not what I mean, and those people in the photo aren’t Jews, they are Herero people. 

Let’s rewind. In 1884, Germany partook in the European scramble to conquer, colonise and exploit Africa. And, after generations of very few memorable attempts to colonise, Germany finally succeeded, earning itself the particularly depressing title of “third-largest colonial empire”. Luckily enough, Germany did not hold these colonies for very long - losing them after WW1.

What happened in those 35 years, however, is bleak. In “German South-West Africa”, todays Namibia, the Herero people were cattle herders who were in a protracted conflict with the Nama, a group of indigenous people. Both were threatened by the Germans, who chose to turn the land into a settler colony. In other words, they took the land from the locals and began the slow process of replacing Africans by Europeans. 

Both the Herero and the Nama people rose up repeatedly against their colonisers. But for the Hereros, the conflict escalated in 1904. Shots fell in the morning - whose shots, we don’t know - and by noon, the Herero had laid siege to a German fort. This went on for weeks, the Herero being able to put up a good fight as they were well-armed and outnumbered the colonisers. After 123 Germans were killed, in came Lieut. Gen. von Trotha, a man now infamous. 

By the time von Trotha arrived, the Herero had retreated to the edge of the Kalahari desert, awaiting negotiations and positioning themselves to flee. Instead, the Germans encircled them, attacked them with artillery and drove them into the desert, where many died of thirst or were killed upon capture.

That’s not what made von Trotha so famous. What did it was this quote:

Within the German boundaries, every Herero, whether found armed or unarmed, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall not accept any more women and children.

The German government overturned this policy and - it doesn’t get any better - decided to build concentration camps instead, following the British precedent set in South Africa. This is where the Nama landed, too, after their uprising failed. Technically, they were work camps set up wherever labour was most needed. Practically, conditions were so atrocious that half of the prisoners died within the first year - not to mention skulls being sent to Germany for eugenics “research” and other atrocities of the type. In the end, 75% of Hereros and 50% of Namas died at the hands of Germany.

So, any happy thoughts to end on? Well, the German government has admitted to this having been genocide, a word that wasn’t used for a long time. While they are continuing to deny reparations, last month, they promised €1.1 billion in development aid. And that, at least, is something.

Sources:

BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast (2021). Namibia: The price of genocide. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09bz9lr

Casper Erichsen (2021). German-Herero conflict of 1904–07. Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/German-Herero-conflict-of-1904-1907

Wikipedia. Herero and Namaqua genocide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_genocide

SWR2 Wissen (2019). Deutschland und der Kolonialismus. https://www.swr.de/swr2/wissen/broadcastcontrib-swr-16784.html

[scotiaeire]

GREED WAS DIFFERENT IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

(PLS EXCUSE CAPS, SIGHT ISSUES)

“ Stanford historian Laura Stokes is uncovering how attitudes toward "acceptable greed" have done a turnaround in the past 500 years. Self-serving behavior deemed necessary on Wall Street today might have been despised in medieval Europe. One might even have been murdered for using wealth as a justification for circumventing societal norms. “

I WAS RAISED IN RURAL SCOTLAND. SINCE SCOTLAND IS OWNED BY ENGLAND, THE CONCEPT OF GREED WAS ALWAYS AROUND. LARGELY IN THE FAMILIAR FIGURE OF “THE ESTATE”. THESE ARE LARGE TRACTS OF SCOTTISH LANDSCAPE NORMALLY OWNED AND HELD BY ABSENTEE ENGLISH LANDLORDS.

THEY ARE USED FOR FORESTRY (CASH CROP) HUNTING, SHOOTING AND FISHING (MORE “CASH CROPS”) AND AS THEIR OWN PRIVATE GETAWAYS. PRETTY MUCH LIKE BALMORAL, WHICH QUEEN ELIZABETH, SECOND OF ENGLAND, FIRST OF SCOTS (NOT SCOTLAND..THE SCOTS ACTUALLY HAVE TO GIVE HER CONSENT TO BE THEIR QUEEN AND WHATEVER FECKING EEJITS DID THAT NEED SHOT IMO) AND WHERE CHARLIE RAN AND HID WHEN THE COVID19 SURFACED, PRETENDING TO BE “SELF  ISOLATING” WHEN ALL THEY WERE DOING WAS SHOVING HIM SOMEWHERE REMOTE, SO THEY COULD PROTECT THE HEIR TO THE THRONE (DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ IN THOSE TRASHY MAGS. ENGLISH ROYALTY HAS A SUPREMELY STRICT INHERITANCE STRUCTURE).

ANYWAY, AYE, *THAT*  KIND OF GREED. SO VAST AREAS OF LAND THAT FORMERLY BELONGED TO THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND, WHO ELECTED CLAN CHIEFS TO ACT ON THEIR BEHALF, WELL, ALL OF THAT CHANGED WHEN THOSE CLAN CHIEFS WERE BOUGHT  OFF BY ENGLISH GOLD AND WAYS AND INSTALLED THE ENGLISH FEUDAL SYSTEM.

NO, I’M NOT A FAN OF ENGLISH GOVERNANCE. IS ANYONE? IF YOU ARE, YOU’RE AN IDIOT OR A TORY. POSSIBLY BOTH. AND I’M LONG PAST THE AGE OF CARING WHAT FOLKS THINK OF ME.

SO, BACK TO GREED. WHAT THIS MEANS  IS THAT, IN SCOTLAND, ABSENTEE LANDLORDISM CREATES ISSUES BECAUSE OF GREED FOR LAND. THERE ARE NO NEW HOMES BUILT FOR LOCALS AND THEIR CHILDREN. THIS IN TURN FORCES THE CHILDREN TO LEAVE THE PLACE OF THEIR BIRTH AND GO TRY TO FIND WORK, OFTEN SO FAR FROM HOME MANY OF THEM NEVER RETURN. IT DEPOPULATES COMMUNITIES THAT ONCE WERE TIGHT KNIT AND FULL OF PEOPLE WHO CARED FOR THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE. A “TRIBAL” SYSTEM WHICH BENEFITTED EVERYONE, IN WHICH EVERYONE HAD A FAIR SHARE, DID THEIR SHARE OF THE WORK NEEDED TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE, AND ANSWERED ONLY TO THEIR CHIEFTAIN.

ALL THAT WENT WHEN THE CONCEPT OF ENGLISH GREED ENTERED SCOTLAND AND CHANGED THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE OF HIGHLAND SOCIETY. (I’M NOT EVEN GOING THERE WITH THE CLEARANCES OR I’LL BE HERE ALL DAY)

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS THE SHORT VERSION OF “HOW ENGLAND FUCKED UP AND KILLED SCOTLAND”. BY GREED. (IT’S STILL GOING ON, IF ANYONE’S INTERESTED...AN EXAMPLE BEING, 98% OF SCOTLAND’S OIL PROFITS GO TO WESTMINSTER. NEXT TIME THEY SAY THERE’S NO CASH FOR THE NHS ASK BORIS WHERE THOSE PROFITS WENT)

SO, I KNOW FIRSTHAND WHAT AN IMPACT GREED, AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, CAN HAVE ON SOCIETY, FAMILY AND INDIVIDUALS.

MY HISTORICAL INTERESTS GO BEYOND THAT OF PRE-UNION SCOTLAND, AND INTO THE ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY AND CULTURES OF THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES. A TIME WHERE GREED AS WE SEE IT TODAY WOULD NOT BE CONDONED.

YES, THE VIKINGS PLUNDERED. THEN THEY TOOK WHAT THEY HAD FOUGHT FOR, SHARED IT OUT (WOULD *YOU* GO A-VIKING IF THERE WAS NOTHING IN IT FOR YE?) AND TOOK THE EXCESS BACK HOME TO IMPROVE YOUR LANDHOLDINGS AND SHARE AMONGST YOUR PEOPLE. (THERE *WERE* THE ODD EXCEPTION. THEY WEREN’T LOOKED KINDLY UPON)

SEE, FOR VIKING AGE PEOPLES, “FUN” WAS IMPORTANT. FEASTING, DRINKING, MORE FEASTING AND DRINKING, THAT WAS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT THAT FORMED ALLIANCES, (OR BROKE THEM DEPENDING ON HOW PLASTERED A GUEST GOT TO THE POINT HE INSULTED THE HOST) AND REINFORCED FAMILY TIES. TO DO THIS...BECAUSE IN THOSE TIMES AND PLACES, A STINGY HOST WAS NO HOST AT ALL...WEALTH WAS NEEDED. BECAUSE OFTEN, THE ONUS ON GIFT GIVING WAS ACTUALLY ON THE HOST, NOT THE PARTYGOER. AYE, THAT’S RIGHT. THE HOST GAVE PRESENTS TO THOSE ATTENDING HIS FEASTS. AND THE MORE LAVISH THE GIFTS, THE MORE CHANCE OF CEMENTING THAT ALLIANCE, OR FIRMING THOSE TIES.

YOU MIGHT THINK THAT SHALLOW AND IN IT’S OWN WAY, GREED DRIVEN. BUT IT WASN’T. IN THE SAME WAY AS WOMAN (AND MEN!) OF THOSE TIMES WORE THEIR WEALTH, OFTEN WALKING OUT IN EVERY PIECE OF JEWELLERY THEY OWNED. AT  ONCE. SO THE WOMEN IN PARTICULAR COULD SAY “LOOK HOW STRONG AND GOOD AT PROVIDING FOR ME MY MAN IS” OR, YES, “LOOK AT HOW F*CKING GREAT I AM AT GETTING MYSELF SORTED* THEN THE LOCAL VIKING HERO OR CHIEFTAIN/KING WOULD GIVE THE MOST LAVISH GIFTS HE COULD. IT WAS A WAY OF SAY “LOOK AT ME. THE GODS FAVOUR ME. AND SINCE OUR GODS ARE KICKASS GODS, THINK HOW DAMN *GOOD* THEY MUST BELIEVE I AM, AS A KING, AS A WARRIOR, AS A MAN, TO BE SO FAVOURED. SO IT DOES YOU GOOD TO HOOK UP WITH ME, JUST REMEMBER THAT”.

(POTTED HISTORY OF WEALTH AND GIFT GIVING IN THE VIKING AGE)

NOWADAYS? WELL...I LOOK AT FOLKS LIKE THE KARDASHIANS, WHO CLAIM TO “WORK HARD” FOR THEIR MONEY BUT IN REALITY, HOW MUCH WILL THEY MAKE WHEN THEIR LOOKS GO? AND WHAT KIND OF A SOCIETY BUYS THEIR GOODS BASED JUST ON A PRETTY FACE? WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT MINDSET? (I COULD TELL YE’S BUT I MIGHT BE LOCKED OUT OF TUMBLR BY DOING SO).

AND I LOOK AT CORRUPT POLITICIANS, LINING THEIR POCKETS AT THE EXPENSE OF SOCIETY’S MOST VULNERABLE, SO THAT PEOPLE DIE ON A DAILY BASIS OF STARVATION, LACK OF HEALTH CARE OF SHELTER, OR BY BEING ABUSED, MURDERED, AND WELL, YOU GET THE PICTURE. I’M SURE MOST OF YOU KNOW THE SITUATION REGARDING THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN YOUR OWN COUNTRIES. CERTAINLY, IN SCOTLAND (I HAVE TO POINT OUT I LIVE IN IRELAND NOW, AS THE ENGLISH GOV WOULDN’T LET ME REMAIN IN MY NATIVE SCOTLAND BECAUSE I MARRIED A DISABLED BELGIAN MAN. BREXSHIT.) ENGLAND GETS THE BULK OF PROFITS FROM SCOTLAND’S NATURAL RESOURCES, TRADE AND INDUSTRY (EVEN TO THE POINT THEY REBRAND SCOTCH WHISKY WITH THE UNION FLAG AND CALL IT “BRITISH” WHICH KINDA MAKES ME FEEL....SICK....)

SO AYE, THIS ARTICLE’S WORTH A READ, I GUESS.

BUT WHAT MIGHT BE MORE IMPORTANT IS THAT THE UPCOMING GENERATION (SORRY GUYS, HAS TO BE YOU. WHEN YOU GET TO MY AGE YOUR ACTIVISM DAYS ARE BEHIND YOU. I JOINED CND AND MARCHED AGAINST NUKES BACK IN THE DAY. DID IT CHANGE ANYTHING? NOT ONE SINGLE THING. BUT DINNAE STOP TRYING PLEASE) ANYWAY, HOPING THE UPCOMING GENERATION, WHO ARE MORE SAVVY THAN SAID POLITICIANS AND ROYALS GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR ON THE WHOLE (KARDASHIAN WORSHIPPERS ASIDE) CAN CHANGE THINGS. BECAUSE AT THE ROOT OF IT ALL IS GREED. CLIMATE ISSUES..GREED FOR ENERGY. MILLIONS STARVING..GREED FOR NATURAL RESOURCES TO SELL ABROAD FOR CASH, GENERALLY. I WON’T GO ON.

AMASSING WEALTH ISN’T, IN ITSELF, A BAD THING. USING IT TO FURTHER STEAL FROM OTHERS IS. USING IT TO LORD IT OVER OTHERS AND DICTATE THEIR LIVES IS.

PERSONAL NOTE: THERE’S MORE OF US..THE POOR FOLKS...THAN THE RICH ELITE.

THEY’RE OUTNUMBERED.

SO SOMEONE TELL ME *WHY* WE ALLOW THEM TO DO WHAT THEY DO TO THE PLANET, TO US, AND TO OUR CHILDREN?

BECAUSE ALL THE “NON VIOLENT PROTESTS” IN THE WORLD CHANGES LITTLE. SOMETIMES, YOU NEED TO SMACK THE BULLY DOWN SO THEY DON’T GET UP AGAIN, SO THEY NEVER WANT TO BULLY ANYONE EVER AGAIN.

YES, THERE *ARE* TIMES WHEN VIOLENCE IS JUSTIFIED AND I MAKE NO APOLOGIES FOR SAYING SO.

SCOTLAND HAD AN INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM IN 2014. ROUGHLY HALF OF SCOTS, SAID THE POLLS, WANTED FREEDOM. (SADLY, THE LARGE NUMBER OF ENGLISH SETTLERS IN SCOTLAND DON’T). THE REALITY WAS, WE WON. AND IT WAS STOLEN FROM US. BLANK BACKED BALLOT PAPERS (MINE, FOR EXAMPLE) WHICH WERE MEANT TO HAVE BAR CODES AND UNIQUE NUMBERS ON THE BACKS. MISSING BALLOT PAPERS (A WOMAN WHO FOUND A BUNDLE IN TRASH CANS HANDED THEM INTO THE POLICE. *SHE* WAS ARRESTED AND HAS BEEN MADE TO SIGN A SILENCE ORDER BEFORE BEING RELEASED. FACT.) POLITICIANS OPENING POSTAL VOTES BEFORE THE VOTING HAD EVEN ENDED, ON LIVE TELEVISION. (AYE, DAVIDSON, LOOKING YOU, WOMAN,,,) AND A CONSTANT BARRAGE OF ASSAULT ON THE OLD, BY THE ENGLISH MOUTHPIECE IN SCOTLAND, THE BBC, TELLING PENSIONERS THAT UNDER INDEPENDENCE THEY’D LOSE THEIR PENSION (LIES), THAT UNDER INDEPENDENCE FOLKS WOULD NEED PASSPORTS TO GO BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND (LIES) AND MORE, WHEN THE TRUTH IS THAT SCOTLAND’S RESOURCES SHORE UP ENGLAND’S ECONOMY.

NOW *THAT* IS GREED ON A GRAND SCALE. AND THAT IS WHY ENGLAND REFUSES TO LET GO OF IT’S OWN CASH COW...

WHATEVER THE FUTURE HOLDS, I HOPE THE UPCOMING GENERATION CAN COPE WITH IT. BUT MORE, I HOPE THEY CAN CHANGE IT. I HOPE THEY HAVE THE COURAGE TO DO WHAT IT TAKES. LOOK AT THE PAST, SEE WHAT OTHERS DID, DON’T REPEAT.

BECAUSE GREED IS WHAT’S KILLING US ALL, IN TRUTH.

ARTICLE SOURCE HERE: https://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/august/greed-middle-ages-080212.html

[griffinwho]

Time Lord Victorious - BF Update

Master Thief by Sophie Iles (BF) - Ainley and/or Delgado Master

The Master wants to plunder one of the most secure vaults in the universe, the Repository. He’s got a plan, and a deadly new weapon to assist him. However, as the Master quickly discovers, getting in might be easy, but getting away with it might cost him everything.

Lesser Evils by Simon Guerrier (BF) Ainley and/or Delgado Master

The Kotturuh have arrived on the planet Alexis to distribute the gift of the death to its inhabitants. The only person standing in their way is a renegade Time Lord, who has sworn to protect the locals. A Time Lord called the Master...

The hooded chap is presumably a Kotturuh (going by the other covers). They seem to be a major driving force if not antagonist of this event. It’ll be intresting to see if the Master will play a larger role in proceedings, and if so any other incarnations than these two? Or the Masters involvement could be limited to these short trips.

He Kills me, He kills me not by Carrie Thompson (BF) - 8th Doctor

On the desert world of Atharna, the Doctor’s life is about to be changed forever.

Looking to visit one of the Seven Hundred Wonders of the Universe, he’s quickly embroiled in a web of deceit. Worse than that, this Wonder of the Universe is missing, and the Doctor is about to encounter one of his most dangerous and duplicitous adversaries.

The Doctor is about to meet Brian.

Given Silas Carson is credited as him Brian is presumably the Ood.

The Enemy of My Enemy by Tracy Ann Baines (BF) - 8th Doctor

The people of Wrax are happy to begin peaceful negotiations with the Dalek Empire. The two species are preparing to engage in an alliance that will last throughout the ages.

The only one who seems to object to this happy union is the Doctor. He knows that you can never trust the Daleks.

But more than that, he knows that the Wraxians should never have existed…

Hmm, I assume the Wraxians have been saved/brought into exsistence by the actions of the 10th Doctor. Perhaps it’s these events that get the daleks involved in the whole event too.

Mutually Assured Destruction by Lizzie Hopley (BF) - 8th Doctor

The fallout of the great battle.

Outnumbered and alone, on a Dalek time-ship careering through the vortex, the Doctor must use all his cunning to survive. As the saucer disintegrates around them, the Doctor is trapped with a crew of increasingly desperate Daleks.

Or are the Daleks trapped with him?

Possibly of note, Samantha Béart who plays Tiska in this is credited as a security guard in The Enemy of My Enemy. She’s probably just playing two roles, but it could be a connection I suppose.

The Knight, The Fool and The Dead by Steve Cole (BBC Books) - 10th Doctor / Brian

We live forever, barring accidents. Just like everyone else in the universe.

The Doctor travels back to the Dark Times, an era where life flourishes and death is barely known...

Then come the Kotturuh – creatures who spread through the cosmos dispensing mortality. They judge each and every species and decree its allotted time to live. For the first time, living things know the fear of ending. And they will go to any lengths to escape this grim new spectre, death.

The Doctor is an old hand at cheating death. Now, at last, he can stop it at source. He is coming for the Kotturuh, ready to change everything so that life wins from the start.

Not just the last of the Time Lords. The Time Lord Victorious.

This is presuambly where things kick off for the event then, and Brian is involved somehow. People were speculating that the ood would be related to the liberated ood from series 4/Ood Sigma (which is logical given the placement for the 10th Doctor, but that might not be the case. He’s very sharply dressed, maybe he’ll turn out to be the master, no rule the master can’t be an ood.

All flesh is Grass by Una McCormak (BBC Books) 8th/9th/10th Doctors

Even a Time Lord can’t change the past.

A wasteland. A dead world… No, there is a biodome rising from the ashes. Here, life teems and flourishes, with strange, lush plants and many-winged insects with bright carapaces – and one solitary sentient creature, who spends its days talking to the insects and tending this lonely garden. This is Inyit, the Last of the Kotturuh.

In All Flesh is Grass we are transported back to The Dark Times. The Tenth Doctor has sworn to stop the Kotturuh, ending death and bringing life to the universe. But his plan is unravelling – instead of bringing life, nothing has changed and all around him people are dying. Death is everywhere. Now he must confront his former selves – one in league with their greatest nemesis and the other manning a ship of the undead…

This sounds like the finale, though given they’ve said that you should be able to follow one medium and still get a complete picture who knows. Now, which Doctor is in league with their greatest nemesis and wich isr manning a ship of the undead. The 8th Doctor could be arrivng here on the back off Mutually Assured Destruction, perhaps.

So, that’s BBC Books and Big Finish annoucements done. Only one story with the ninth so far, so perhaps he’s going to feature more in the comics side of things. It’s not unexpected that most of BFs stuff involves McGann, though I must say it’s a bit dissapointing there’s no multi-doctor happenings there. I hope All flesh is Grass isn't the only one.

Also, it’s curious that Rose Tyler (or any Billie Piper based character) is yet to appear in a cover or synopsis. I wonder how she’ll factor into this. The obvious would be as the 9th Doctors companion, but it’s not a certainty.

Anyway, there’s still Penguin Random House, Doctor Who Magazine, Titan Comics, Escape Hunt, , Eaglemoss Hero Collector, Immersive Everywhere, Maze Theory, and BBC Audio content to be announced. It’s exciting!

[funface2]

Paul Merton’s 36 best jokes and funniest one-liners from Have I Got News for You – iNews

He’s a mainstay of long-running panel show Have I Got News For You, and now funny-man Paul Merton is on a mission to unearth long-lost ancestors as part of BBC One’s Who Do You Think You Are?

To celebrate the quick-quipper’s nearly 40-year career, we’ve compiled almost as many of his best jokes and one-liners from his work on HIGNFY and beyond.

“I’m always amazed to hear of air crash victims so badly mutilated that they have to be identified by their dental records. What I can’t understand is, if they don’t know who you are, how do they know who your dentist is?”

Angus Deayton: “And did you chat with the Queen Mother?” Paul Merton: “We talked about you.” Angus Deayton: “No, you didn’t.” Paul Merton: “Yes, we did.” Angus Deayton: “What did she say about me?” Paul Merton: “I’ve never heard such language in all my life.”

“I’ll never forget my first experience of swede. It was at school and I thought I was getting mashed potato. I’ve never got over it.”

“If you stay in a house and you go to the bathroom and there’s no toilet paper, you can always slide down the banisters. Don’t tell me you haven’t done it.”

“I don’t consider myself a fashion victim. I consider fashion a victim of me.”

Ian Hislop: “And they’re behind Theresa May like Stormtroopers!” Paul Merton: “You’re having one of your turns again, Ian! You asked us to tell you when it happens! His nose bleeds when he has to deal with Popular Culture…”

“I think Iran and Iraq had a war simply because their names are so similar. They keep getting each other’s post.”

(Photo: BBC)

“Every story ever written’s in the Dictionary! You just have to put the words in the right order.”

“Gromit is one of the great silent comedians. He’s up there with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. He may even be above them, because he’s still working.”

Sean Lock: “Only 2% of people go to church in this country.” Paul Merton: “And they’re priests!”

Jacob Rees-Mogg: “We know the plan! We are going to leave the EU! Brexit means Brexit!” Paul Merton: “That’s the Aim! What’s the plan?”

“My school days were the happiest days of my life, which should give you some indication of the misery I’ve endured over the past 25 years.”

“All disc jockeys are without talent. Noel Edmonds – I can’t stand Noel Edmonds.”

“Bono was up on stage saying ‘Every time I click my fingers, a child dies!’ and someone yelled ‘Well, stop clicking your fingers, then!’”

“The first Underground station ever opened was Baker Street in 1906. What was the point of that? Where would you go?”

[On Chris Evans] “He’s got the look of a comedian but without the talent or the writing ability or the timing.”

(Photo: Getty)

“On my first day in New York a guy asked me if I knew where Central Park was. When I told him I didn’t, he said: ‘Do you mind if I mug you here?’”

Clive Anderson: “Do you still live in Islington as well, Boris?” Boris Johnson: “Partly, yes.” Paul Merton: “I don’t think you live on the planet Earth, never mind Islington!”

“It’s amazing how many people think they’ve got dignity to lose, isn’t it?”

[On the Queen at Harry and Meghan’s reception] “She’ll have a footman chucking cheesy Wotsits at her.”

“Am I the only one who’s always tempted to light the wick on top of a beret?”

“My aunt died at precisely 10.47am and the old grandfather clock stopped at precisely the same time also. It fell on her.”

“Anne Widdecombe is the Odd One Out because she’s the only one holding a Decapitated Barn Owl.”

“There are various ways to give up smoking – nicotine patches, nicotine gum. My auntie used to pour a gallon of petrol over herself every morning.”

Frankie Boyle: “A new Superbreed of Sex-Mad, Sleepless Slugs has arrived from Spain.” Paul Merton: “Ah, an Alliterative Threat!”

(Photo: BBC)

“My hair’s got a life of its own. Last week I found it in the kitchen, making an omelette…”

[On reading the A to Z] “Can’t wait to see what happens at the end. The characters aren’t up to much but the places, they seem so real.”

“I used to go out with a giraffe. Used to take it to the pictures and that. You’d always get some bloke complaining that he couldn’t see the screen. It’s a giraffe, mate. What do you expect? ‘Well he can take his hat off for a start!’”

“Mugabe is a Yorkshireman in reverse. Because his name is Ee by gum backwards. 37 years waiting for that laugh…”

“You’ve heard of Sheep gambolling in the meadows, well it was Poker they were playing!”

Paul Merton: “He doesn’t look old enough to have been a Milkman for 50 years!” Host: “They start them very young there. As soon as you can reach the udder, you’re away.” Paul Merton: “That’s not just Milkmen. For many people, that’s a good night out!”

“It’s silly to make generalisations, but if you talk to anyone in the south for longer than five minutes, they will try to sell you fruit.”

Paul Merton: “There are other reasons for squinting in bed, of course.” Angus Deayton: “Such as?” Paul Merton: “Use your imagination, Angus! We’d send out a search party for it, but they’d never come back!”

“Michael Gove! That is how a man dresses when his wife doesn’t see him leaving the house.”

(Photo: BBC)

Host: “But who would have loved to have been there? Justin O’ Schmidt!” Paul Merton: “Did the vicar drop him at the Baptism?”

“I’ve never been disappointed by politicians. I’ve never invested that much in them in the first place.”

More jokes:

38 of the funniest cat jokes and memes Jeremy Hardy: remembering the comedian’s funniest jokes and quotes 34 of the best Valentine’s Day jokes and funniest one-liners 30 of Michael McIntyre’s best jokes and funniest one-liners Best father of the bride jokes for a wedding speech to remember 100 best Christmas jokes and funniest festive season one-liners 100 of the funniest dirty jokes that will make you laugh and gasp Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer’s 41 best jokes and most surreal quotes 30 of the best jokes about Theresa May 25 of Dara Ó Briain’s best jokes and funniest quotes 38 of the funniest Russell Howard jokes The 28 funniest Greg Davies jokes and quotes The best Graham Norton jokes and most scathing put-downs Here are 10 of the funniest jokes written by kids 35 of the funniest jokes by Northern comedians The 31 funniest South Park jokes and quotes 100 of the funniest ever jokes and best one-liners 100 of the best knock knock jokes (some of which are actually funny) 26 of Seann Walsh’s greatest jokes 16 of Barry Chuckle’s greatest jokes 34 of Lee Evans’ funniest jokes and quotes 30 of Romesh Ranganathan’s funniest jokes and quotes 26 of Sara Pascoe’s funniest jokes and quotes 41 of Eddie Izzard’s funniest jokes and quotes 41 of David Mitchell’s funniest jokes and quotes 21 of Rhod Gilbert’s funniest jokes and one-liners 45 of the funniest 8 out of 10 Cats jokes 41 of Stewart Francis’ most ingenious jokes and one-liners 19 of the funniest World Cup jokes from stand-up comedians 30 of Jack Whitehall’s funniest jokes 43 of the funniest Donald Trump jokes 100 pun-based jokes that will make you laugh and cringe 50 Edinburgh Fringe one-liners that deserved to win Funniest Joke 31 Best Man jokes that will work for any wedding 100 of the funniest short jokes that will have you laughing in seconds 105 of the best bad jokes 105 of the best clean jokes and one-liners 50 football jokes to make you laugh – or groan 100 of the best jokes for kids that are actually funny 25 of Peter Kay’s most ingenious jokes and one-liners 26 of Stewart Lee’s most gloriously acerbic jokes 49 of Monty Python’s funniest jokes 45 of Ricky Gervais’ funniest jokes 17 of Ken Dodd’s most ingeniously funny jokes 27 of Sarah Millican’s laugh out loud jokes 50 of Jimmy Carr’s funniest jokes and one-liners 50 of Milton Jones’s most ingenious jokes and one-liners 50 of Tim Vine’s most ingenious jokes and one-liners 50 of Frankie Boyle’s funniest (and darkest) jokes 25 of Charlie Brooker’s most cutting jokes and insults 25 of Lee Mack’s wittiest jokes and one-liners 75 of Billy Connolly’s best jokes, one-liners and quips 30 of the best-ever jokes about Scotland – from Scotland

And some hilarious quotes:

29 best Gavin and Stacey quotes and funniest jokes from James Corden and Ruth Jones’ comedy 38 of the funniest Ron Swanson quotes that made Parks and Recreation unmissable 31 Richard Madeley quotes, gaffes and surreal moments that prove he truly is Alan Partridge Valentine’s poems: 32 most romantic quotes from history’s greatest poets 38 of the most darkly funny League of Gentlemen quotes 41 of the funniest quotes from The Good Place about life and death 30 of Stephen Fry’s funniest jokes and quotes Burt Reynolds’ greatest quotes – remembering the actor’s wit and wisdom following his death aged 82 23 of Outnumbered’s funniest (and possibly unscripted) quotes) 35 of Blackadder’s most cunning quips and insults 29 of the most outlandishly funny Mighty Boosh quotes 20 of the most absurdly funny quotes from Nathan Barley 39 of the greatest Brass Eye and Day Today quotes 25 of the most outrageous Summer Heights High quotes 25 of Rik Mayall’s greatest quotes 25 of the funniest ever Still Game quotes 50 of the funniest Father Ted quotes Red Dwarf: 30 of the funniest quotes and one-liners Derry Girls: 35 of the funniest quotes and one-liners 25 of the most cantankerous Martin Crane quotes from Frasier 25 of the most ‘textbook’ Alan Partridge quotes 50 of the best lines from Peep Show 20 of The Young Ones’ most gloriously silly quotes

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source link

Bài viết Paul Merton’s 36 best jokes and funniest one-liners from Have I Got News for You – iNews đã xuất hiện đầu tiên vào ngày Funface.

from Funface https://funface.net/funny-quotes/paul-mertons-36-best-jokes-and-funniest-one-liners-from-have-i-got-news-for-you-inews/

[hethrewmyheartinthecut]

The Real Jessie Eden

an article by Graham Stevenson in the Morning Star, a Birmingham socialist periodical that describes the real Jessie Eden and calls out the rampant misogyny of her PB storyline:

SOMETHING of a stir has accompanied an initiative to hold an event celebrating the real life of Birmingham heroine Jessie Eden, who features in the BBC TV series Peaky Blinders. 

Local trade unionists are a tad slighted over the way that the programme, which is set in the city, has used her character in a “love interest” subplot — even if the popularity of the series has brought attention to communist pioneers of the region’s special brand of mass factory trade unionism.

Although the TV series’ cinematography, music and fast-paced action is obviously attractive, especially matched to outstanding charismatic performances, it’s disappointing that an expert in Tudor history was the historical adviser to the series, rather than someone with a background in trade unionism or communism. 

Many local trade unionists are now asking, if you want to write about trade unionists in history, would it not be wise to ask trade unionists? Of course historical drama needs to be subject to the same rigour as historical fact. 

The series implies a thoroughly modern social outlook among the programme’s characters. Seemingly, the 1920s working class held a sophisticated sexual knowledge and their values and tastes were not dissimilar to those held today. 

I knew Eden, and as a callow 22-year-old, I didn’t ask the 70-year-old Jessie about her relationships, let alone sex life. But I doubt her private life was as complicated or dramatic as her eponymous character’s. Nor can I see any young woman during the 1920s gratuitously going into a gents’ toilets, as Eden is shown doing, for any reason at all other than life or death. The social values of the programme are ahistorical. 

It is surely the conceit that Tommy Shelby, the gangster villain-hero of the series, could ever convince a woman like Eden to be wined and dined, let alone be seduced, that finally reveals the true motives of the creators of the programme. A character tells us of Shelby’s plan to “defeat revolution with his cock.” For the British army has offered him lucrative contracts if he can help entrap leading communists. 

Peaky Blinders’ commercially minded creative team displays an outdated and traditional view of women. The focus is on a white male viewership, but Peaky Blinders has many female fans, who have created Pinterest boards and Tumblrs and are creating their own fan fiction. Will some now draw on the real Jessie Eden? 

Especially now that she has been turned into yet another disposable love interest to show off Tommy’s machismo — disposed of like many female characters. 

The creator of the series, Stephen Knight, conceived it as a kind of Western. Raw masculinity seems to need strong women to enable heroic men to shine, but the outcome is always sadly misogynistic, as they can never win. Peaky Blinders denies female characters a role in driving the narrative and frequently diminishes their status or hurts them. Many have noticed small issues of non-fact, perhaps because the source is mainly a novel from four decades ago, rather than contemporary records. 

For example, Georgia in the Caucasus is described as tsarist in the Soviet civil war, whereas it had been Menshevik, but was conquered by the Bolsheviks before the time of the story, and Winston Churchill wasn’t home secretary in 1919 but had been a decade before. 

Stories around the IRA, which appear to be sourced from online biographies of communists from Birmingham and Coventry who actively supported the war of Irish independence, are closer to the 1970s scene than 50 years before, but worryingly, they take no account of the distinct position that communists took in each instance. 

And it’s highly unlikely that gangsters named Peaky Blinders ever used razor blades in their caps. The name probably just came from the peaked flat cap, which could hurt if you were poked in the eye with it. Peaky Blinders were, like Teds in the 1950s, a name for a style of youth dressing, which dated from 30 years before the series is set. 

Eden wasn’t a mass union leader in 1926, merely a shop steward of a small group of unionised women, hugely outnumbered by 10,000 non-unionised women at the Lucas motor vehicle factory. Unlike the portrayal in the TV series, she was never a professional paid official for a union, able to clad herself in Roaring Twenties flapper finery. Making her the “area convener for the Boilermakers’ Union” is a travesty of understanding of what a convener was for, let alone which unions dominated the locality. Yet seemingly, “with a single blow of a whistle she can bring the whole of Birmingham’s workforce out on strike.” This is some accomplishment given the many hundreds of unions and the relative absence of joint shop stewards committees at that time. 

The show is planned to end with air raid sirens sounding in World War II, over another two series. How will it deal with Eden’s greatest achievements, thus far unshown? For her remarkable true story has been obscured in the drive for mass marketability. 

Eden’s leadership triggered the founding of mass factory trade unionism for women and young workers in the Midlands. And also so far unshown is her equally extraordinary achievement in bringing 45,000 Birmingham Council tenants out on rent strike in 1939 — and winning. From her late forties to her retirement she was the key official of the city’s tenants’ association. 

[fxckadoodledoomunson]

El: Hopper, I’ve made my New Year’s resolution.

El (reads from list): I will not smack anyone with a roller skate.

Hopper: Didn’t know that you did that, but okay.

El: I will not chew on my duvet…I will not call people mouth breathers.

Hopper: Good…

El: Hopper will stop nagging me.

Hopper: Wait, you can’t make resolutions for other people.

El: Hopper will give me Eggos every day.

[xtruss]

England Releases a Report Revealing 62% of Alleged COVID Deaths Are People Who’ve Been Vaccinated

The report also reveals the case fatality rate for the Delta variant is an 'astronomical' 0.1%

The Daily Expose | Anti-Empire | June 26, 2021

Editor’s note: The unvaccinated make for 58% of the cases but 37% of the deaths, however, this is a function of the unvaccinated being on average younger than the vaccinated. Among the over 50s the unvaccinated make for 10 percent of the cases, but 38 percent of the deaths. This would imply the vaccine offers some protection against a COVID death but not at the claimed 90+ percent efficacy.

The fully vaccinated with two doses make up for 44 percent of the cases among the over 50s, but 46 percent of such deaths. This would imply a single dose offers better protection than two doses but is in fact again a function of age — the older an individual is, the likelier they are to be fully vaccinated. Thus in fact age, rather than vaccination status, remains the biggest risk factor by far.

Breaking news on the morning of Friday June 25th revealed Matt Hancock has been having a secret affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo. We imagine it’s all the nation has been talking about since the images of Hancock embracing the millionaire lobbyist were published, it’s certainly all over the mainstream media and we doubt it will cease to be front page news any time soon.

But because you’ve been busy delighting in Hancock’s embarrassment, you’re probably not aware that Public Health England released a report on the very same day which showed the majority of alleged Covid-19 deaths are significantly higher in people who have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with the highest number of deaths occurring in people who are supposed to be fully vaccinated.

The report titled ‘SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England’, is the 17th technical briefing on alleged variants of concern in the United Kingdom and makes for extremely interesting reading once you realise what the statistics are actually telling us.

PHE have compiled a helpful table which shows the number of alleged confirmed Delta variant cases in the UK alongside the number of alleged deaths due to the variant. The table shows that since the 1st February 2021 up to the 21st June 2021 there have been 9,571 alleged confirmed cases of the Delta variant in people over the age of 50. Of these 8,025 had been confirmed in the past 28 days alone.

But the data shows that people over the age of 50 who are unvaccinated account for just 10% of the alleged confirm Covid cases, whilst those who are fully vaccinated account for 37% of the alleged confirmed cases. A further 40% of the alleged cases are people who had received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at least 21 days prior to their alleged confirmed Covid-19 infection.

As you can see from the above table the number of people over 50 who are fully vaccinated with an alleged confirmed case of the Delta variant outnumber those who are unvaccinated by 3 to 1, whilst the number of people over 50 who have had at least one dose of the Covid jab and have an alleged confirmed case of the Delta variant outnumber those who are unvaccinated by nearly 9 to 1.

When the Covid-19 vaccines were given emergency use authorisation the authorities did not have a clue as to whether they would work. The limited trials carried out only measured whether or not a vaccinated person suffered serious disease if infected with Covid-19, they did not measure whether a vaccinated person could still become infected with Covid-19, and they did not measure whether or not a vaccinated person could still spread the virus in line with the mainstream accepted germ theory.

It is claimed that the vaccines reduce the chances of suffering serious illness if infected with Covid-19 significantly, so although a significantly higher amount of vaccinated over 50’s have a confirmed case of the Delta variant compared to those who are unvaccinated, you would assume that the opposite would be seen in the number of people who have allegedly died to the Delta variant?

Because Mr Hancock has told us time and time again that the Covid-19 vaccines are our only route back to normal and we must come forward, roll up our sleeves and get the jab when called upon to do so. So the vaccines must surely do what they say on the tin? It’s not as if Mr Hancock would lie to us, is it? He might have lied to his wife of fifteen years and engaged in an affair with an aide who he appointed to scrutinise the Department of Health as well as awarding her Taxpayers money for doing so, but he wouldn’t lie to the British people, would he?

Unfortunately, it looks like Mr Hancock has been lying again and instead of the Covid-19 vaccines being our route back to normal they are instead quite the opposite. Because the data published by Public Health England shows us that the number of alleged deaths due to the Delta variant are highest among those who have received two doses of the vaccine. (That’s only true in the absolute.)

Of the 117 alleged Covid deaths to have occurred since the 1st February, a huge 60% of them were people who had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine which is allegedly supposed to protect them from serious illness. But the majority were not people who had only received one dose, 70% of those who had died even after at least one dose of the Covid-19 jab were in fact fully vaccinated, and a further 27% of those who’d had at least one dose had received their first dose at least 21 days prior to their death.

The number of unvaccinated people to have allegedly died of the Delta variant accounted for just 37% of all alleged Covid deaths according to PHE data.

PHE also revealed just how frighteningly dangerous the Delta variant is within their report. Table 2 shows us that the case fatality rate for the Delta variant is an astronomical 0.1%.

We wonder if you were surprised as we were to see a fatality rate as low as 0.1%? Maybe it’s a mistake, because the people who religiously watch BBC news, trust the Government, and the WHO, wear a mask religiously, preach to others that there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to taking an experimental vaccine because “science is just quicker now”, and attempt to coerce others into getting the jab because “the delta variant is really dangerous”, can’t all be wrong, can they?

— Source: The Daily Expose

[dailynewswebsite]

Carols, ration books and bomb shelters: how Britain celebrated Christmas in 1940

Nonetheless picture from the 1940 propaganda movie 'Christmas Underneath Hearth' produced by the Crown Movie Unit. BFI Archive

At Christmas 1939, Britons had been capable of keep a semblance of normality. The blackout prevented shows of lighted Christmas timber in entrance home windows, however there was no rationing and Britain’s key ally, France, remained unconquered behind the allegedly impregnable Maginot Line.

Following the autumn of France, the evacuation at Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, Christmas 1940 was a lot bleaker – the primary actual wartime Christmas. It befell in the midst of the Blitz. In December, the Luftwaffe attacked Southampton, Bristol, Sheffield and Leicester. Manchester took heavy pounding on the evening of December 22/23 and once more on Christmas Eve. Rationing was starting to chew onerous because the German occupation of Europe and blockade by U-boats minimize off necessary sources of provide.

As Historian Angus Calder reminds us, in a blatant however compelling propaganda movie produced by the Crown Movie Unit, Christmas Underneath Hearth, the American correspondent Quentin Reynolds described the ambiance because the Ministry of Info wished it to be depicted.

“This 12 months” started his script, “England celebrates Christmas underground … The secure in Bethlehem was a shelter too.”

However the nation was decided that its kids ought to benefit from the festive season and Reynold’s sonorous tones insisted that Britain remained “unbeaten, unconquered, unafraid”. The usage of carols from King’s School Choir reminded Britain – and the world – that valuable traditions endured.

Scrooges and Santas

Modern newspapers give a fuller flavour of the general public temper. Within the mass circulation Each day Mirror on December 16, columnist Kathleen Pearcey nervous that girls readers would possibly really feel responsible about having fun with the festive season. “The concept giving or going to a celebration in struggle time places you within the Fifth Column Class is quick dying out”, she defined. “To have enjoyable, to decorate up, to snort and play video games is sense. It’s Christmas and the one man who issues is coming dwelling on go away.”

The favored left-wing day by day didn’t ignore the hardships imposed by strict rationing. Three days earlier than Christmas, “Voice of the Folks” columnist Stuart Campbell demanded that the minister for meals, Lord Woolton “begin a clean-up drive on the people who find themselves making us pay for the struggle by our stomachs”. Campbell warned that meals racketeers have been “The Scrooges of 1940.” He accused them of treating Christmas as “ time to earn a living” by ratcheting up costs in order that solely the rich might afford festive treats.

Troopers give a Christmas social gathering for youngsters, 1940. Warfare Workplace official photographers/Imperial Warfare Museum

However hardship was a actuality. Sensible items akin to gardening instruments and fertiliser have been in style Christmas items. In a modest gesture of official generosity, the tea ration was doubled for one week. Imported luxuries akin to wine have been accessible solely to the rich. Nonetheless, the Mirror’s editorial on Christmas Eve insisted:

Nothing besides the trump of Doomsday will ever stop the English individuals from figuring out to be “merrie” at Christmas… On this second Christmas of the second struggle to finish struggle, we hope they are going to succeed.

Stille nacht

The Conservative institution Each day Telegraph insisted that life was troublesome in Hitler’s Germany too. It republished dispatches despatched from Berlin by American correspondents. A narrative initially filed for the New York Instances and reprinted within the Each day Telegraph on Christmas Eve 1940 revealed that Christmas procuring was troublesome within the capital of the Reich: “Many articles that in regular instances are purchased as items usually are not accessible underneath the totalitarian struggle economic system.”

The favored Conservative paper Each day Mail took a candid strategy. Its Christmas Eve editorial lamented:

We will not hear the as soon as acquainted church bells tomorrow… They’re muted, ready for a sterner name, the summons (please God that it could by no means come) to defend our houses towards the invader.

It was a potent reminder that, regardless of a morale-boosting latest victory for outnumbered British forces towards the Italian Tenth Military on the Battle of Sidi Barrani in early December, the UK was preventing for survival. The Soviet Union remained linked to Nazi Germany by the non-aggression pact of August 1939. The continued presence of American correspondents in Berlin confirmed the reluctance of the US president, Theodore Roosevelt, to guide his nation into struggle.

Stirring the pud: sailors on the Royal Navy barracks at Devonport, England, November 1940. Imperial Warfare Museum archive, CC BY-NC

On Christmas Eve, the Each day Mail suggested its readers that their “first thought” should be for these “to whom no respite of any form from responsibility is feasible at Christmas or another time till peace is received”. It recognized them as “The RAF, the Royal Navy, males of the Service provider Service, troops underneath arms, anti-aircraft males at their weapons, the Dwelling Guard, ARP Providers, wardens and firemen, medical doctors and nurses.”

The Instances, in the meantime, supplied a honest name to Christian piety and reminded its influential readership that whereas “Christmas makes us realise keenly that struggle takes away lots of life’s nice equipment”, our extra critical nature ought to compel us to grasp “how trivial these deprivations ought to appear when the future of the world is at stake, how willingly our small sacrifices needs to be made and the way unworthy are grumbles about them.”

From bombed Manchester, the liberal Manchester Guardian supplied a glimpse of how the still-new know-how of radio might overcome the challenges of distance. It estimated that greater than 300 million listeners all through the British Empire and USA would hear a particular BBC broadcast on Christmas Day. Broadcast as “Christmas Underneath Hearth”, this modern programme united British servicemen world wide.

The Guardian famous that troopers in Palestine could be heard singing the carol O Come All Ye Devoted “from among the many olive timber and vineyards close to Bethlehem”.

The Guardian’s report additionally drew consideration to the persevering with penalties of mass evacuation. Listeners to Christmas Underneath Hearth would additionally hear “bombed out London moms, their kids and mates” thanking “their hosts on the finish of their first struggle time Christmas dinner within the nation”.

Again in Britain’s battered cities, many households would spend Christmas Eve in air raid shelters.

Tim Luckhurst has obtained analysis funding from Information UK and Eire Ltd. He’s a member of the Society of Editors and the Free Speech Union

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/carols-ration-books-and-bomb-shelters-how-britain-celebrated-christmas-in-1940/ via https://growthnews.in

[jessicajackhnd1photo]

First task – Identify where news comes from. List five sources where you would see good photojournalism.

1st Source - https://www.bjp-online.com/about-british-journal-of-photography/

British Journal of Photography are a digital media org with a community of millions of photographers. Their goal is to give photographers the tools they need to succeed. You will find many articles of relevant stories fromm various artists.

2nd Source - https://www.nytimes.com/section/lens

New York Times Lens presents us with a post a day on interesting articles with multimedia reporting.

3rd Source - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in_pictures

BBC NEWS create simple yet effective headlines for their articles as they let their images speak for themselves.

4th Source - https://www.natgeoimagecollection.com

Nat Geo Image Collection tend to report on issues regarding the earth and science.

5th Source - https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/

Magnum Photos Newsroom, a prime source of photojournalism.

All these sources are reliable as they are from reputable companies

Task 2 - Choose two established photojournalists from Magnum or a large photo agency and look at four photographs for each photographer. Look at the photographers background and career. Talk about their approach and style of photography. Comment on the effectiveness of storytelling in their work. Take note of some of the issues they may encounter as a photojournalist. What has made them successful in their field of work?

Magnum Photographer - Carolyn Drake

"Images can describe, abstract, interpret, but they are not absolute"

- © Carolyn Drake

© Carolyn Drake

© Carolyn Drake

© Carolyn Drake

© Carolyn Drake

Carolyn Drake becomes part of the community she is photographing. Coming in as an outsider she tries to learn and be a part of their way a life, this allows her to achieve some authentic images. When i look at these images i see her having fun with the girls of this community, letting them have fun being photographed instead of her observing without making any relationships. She lived there for several years before photographing them as adults. She photographed them as children in this orphanage and when she returned in 2014 she met the same kids but all grown up.

Her work is very affective as i emidiatly saw these images as girls just wanting to let loose and have fun, despite their sheltered life. 

i imagine Carolyn to have a lot of empathy and restraint seeing this girls treated as outcasts from “normal civilisation”. The don't know any better than the life they have grew up in so for her not to take action and try and open their eyes to the rest of the world must be hard. 

Her success comes from her willingness and intrigue in other peoples way of life. She spends years photographing different communities instead of going in for a day and leaving. Making an impact not only to her own life but to her subjects and to the viewers of the images. 

Magnum Photographer - Peter Van Agtmael 

"Photographs are monuments"- Peter van Agtmael

Peter moved to the United States of America in 2015 to photograph KKK members in Tennessee. 

Peter is very much involved in his work, not that he is part of the KKK but is willing to risk his life potentially being around people with such strong beliefs. He doesn't just focus on the members but in the “normal” acts the take part in. In 3 of the images above he is photographing a wedding, instead of it being celebrated normally the involvement of the hatred for black people had to be involved in their ceremony. KKK members take pride in being so and i think Peter is highlight this very subtilely. Why not have a wedding without the presence of the robes? 

He cant voice his opinions when he hears something he disagrees with, he is vastly outnumbered. Also, i think he knows it's not his place to say anything as he was allowed to capture this cult. He must respect his subjects even tho he doesn't necessary agree with them. 

His work in my opinion is slightly effective. I would have liked to see more images where the members are doing casual tasks, to highlight that they are the same as us just with very different beliefs and practices. I do however think the wedding images are effective as its a practice that most of the population take part in, and seeing them celebrate that in their cults clothes is very jarring. 

I think his willingness to not interfere with various communities he has photographed makes his work very successful. He puts himself in situations to learn without a set conception.

[garp20-tomwilson]

LABOUR, ANTISEMITISM AND THE NEWS: A DISINFORMATION PARADIGM, DR JUSTIN SCHLOSBERG, LAURA LAKER; SEPTEMBER 2018

Executive Summary

• Over 250 articles and news segments from the largest UK news providers (online and television) were subjected to in-depth case study analysis involving both quantitative and qualitative methods

• 29 examples of false statements or claims were identified, several of them made by anchors or correspondents themselves, six of them surfacing on BBC television news programmes, and eight on TheGuardian.com

• A further 66 clear instances of misleading or distorted coverage including misquotations, reliance on single source accounts, omission of essential facts or right of reply, and repeated value-based assumptions made by broadcasters without evidence or qualification. In total, a quarter of the sample contained at least one documented inaccuracy or distortion.

• Overwhelming source imbalance, especially on television news where voices critical of Labour’s code of conduct were regularly given an unchallenged and exclusive platform, outnumbering those defending Labour by nearly 4 to 1. Nearly half of Guardian reports on the controversy surrounding Labour’s code of conduct featured no quoted sources defending the party or leadership.

Overall, we found 95 clear cut examples of misleading or inaccurate reporting on mainstream television and online news platforms, with a quarter of the total sample containing at least one such example. The problem was especially pronounced on television – which reaches far wider audiences by comparison – where two thirds of the news segments on television contained at least one reporting error or substantive distortion.

Underlying these figures was a persistent subversion of conventional news values:

Several reports focused on a controversial social media post by Jeremy Corbyn omitted any mention that it was made six years ago, with some emphasising a sense of currency and recency that failed to make clear the historical context of the post.

Journalists covering the launch of Labour’s antisemitism report in 2016 routinely misquoted an activist in ways that were entirely removed from his original comment, in spite of a video recording of the event that was readily and immediately accessible.

Above all, coverage of Labour’s revised code of conduct during the summer of 2018 often entirely omitted critical discussion of the ‘working definition’ of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and wrongly characterized it as consensual and universally adopted.

Dr Justin Schlosber, Laura Laker, Labour Antisemitism and the News: A Disinformation Paradigm 2018https://www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/new-mrc-research-finds-inaccuracies-and-distortions-in-media-coverage-of-antisemitism-and-the-labour-party

[fxckadoodledoomunson]

Yours and Eddie’s kid: When’s daddy coming back from his campaign? I want to show him my picture.

You: That’s nice. What is it?

Kid: This is Vecna, this is Kas, and that’s a Demogorgan riding a dragon. And this is Vecna trying to persuade Kas to jump off the edge of a cliff.

You: Well...that’s lovely.

[starringemiliaclarke]

Press: Emilia Clarke on Game of Thrones fans: 'Airports are a source of fear. It gets kind of freaky'

THE TELEGRAPH – Emilia Clarke walks into a suite at Claridge’s, a gaggle of publicists and agents surrounding her, with the kind of poise that you would expect from a queen.

  To the tens of millions of fans of Game of Thrones, the show that catapulted her to fame only a year out of drama school, it’s a not unfamiliar scene.

  Although of course, as Daenerys Targaryen, the all-powerful, slave-freeing queen of the show, it would be some kind of windswept castle or ancient pyramid, and her retinue would be in armour.

  Even her newly blonde hair is apt (until now she’s worn a wig on the show). Like the character she plays, Emilia’s is a story of success against the odds (of which more later), but there the similarities end.

  At 31, the English rose couldn’t be less like the prickly queen she plays (full title: Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, rightful heir to the Iron Throne, rightful Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains… or just Dany for short).

  Emilia is funny, light-hearted and, that entrance aside, a million miles from grand. She’s much more like the carefree, dancing girl she plays in the new campaign for the Dolce & Gabbana fragrance The One. (When the brand asked if she would be its new face, ‘I was like, “Well, yeah. Duh.”’)

  In the past, Emilia has had to deal with uncomfortable questions about how she, as a woman, justified the arguably gratuitous female nudity and gruesome violence for which Game of Thrones initially made headlines.

  But long before the Harvey Weinstein scandal turned Hollywood upside down, the show’s plot pulled a complete 180 – and now it’s the female characters who are fighting over the titular thrones. And everyone, but everyone, is rooting for the 5ft 2in Khaleesi, who is proving to be just as fierce as her dragons.

  Playing the role has sharpened Emilia’s own feminist impulses. ‘It’s given me a real insight into what it feels like to be a woman who stands up to inequality and hate. And as she [Daenerys] has become more empowered as a woman, you can’t hide any more,’ she says. ‘You are adding to the voices that are going to make people realise an equal society is what we’re aiming for.’

  Emilia grew up near Oxford with her older brothers, and was surrounded by strong examples of equality. Her mother, who worked as a marketing executive, was the primary breadwinner, while her father worked as a sound engineer in musical theatre – so it was the norm for Emilia to see a woman in a position of power at work.

  ‘That’s the lens through which I’ve been fortunate enough to view the world,’ she says. ‘It’s only when you go to school that you’re like, “Oh, that’s different, that’s weird.”’

  After attending the private boarding school St Edward’s in Oxford (where she discovered her love of acting through school productions), she was still studying at the Drama Centre in London – and earning money with a catering job – when she was cast in her first role, in an episode of BBC One’s Doctors.

  It was in 2009 that she auditioned for Game of Thrones. The casting director had been looking for a tall, willowy blonde. ‘I genuinely don’t know what it was that set me aside. I mean, I didn’t look the part at all,’ laughs Emilia.

  ‘I [readied] myself, listened to a little Tupac and bowled in, obviously still a bag of nerves. But I just tried to play the truth of it.’ It may have been her sense of humour that helped her win the role – the actress read for her part, but also broke into a ‘funky chicken’ dance in front of the HBO execs.

  As Game of Thrones gained momentum and Emilia has become a recognisable celebrity, she has struggled with some aspects of fame. She gets stopped on the street increasingly often, and finds crowds of fans incredibly stressful.

  ‘Airports are a constant source of fear,’ she admits. ‘When you’re in a really public place and someone asks you for a picture, then suddenly you get people who don’t know who you are, or really care, come up and join in. Then it gets kind of freaky. Because you’re like, “It’s just me. I’m by myself, feeling outnumbered.” It’s overwhelming.’

    One would think that all the nude scenes she’s filmed for Game of Thrones would also have caused her anxiety, but no. She has branded those who criticised her for going naked ‘anti-feminist’.

  Between seasons, Emilia has found time to film some major pop culture, including a role in Solo: A Star Wars Story, a prequel about Hans Solo’s early years to be released next year. The project remains shrouded in secrecy – all Emilia can say is that her character is ‘really cool’.

  She was also the lead in last year’s Me Before You, the adaptation of Jojo Moyes’s bestseller, and next summer she’s due to be reunited with its director, Thea Sharrock, in a West End play called Five Times in One Night.

  Both she and Kit Harington – who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, and (spoiler alert!) is now her on-screen lover -flew to Naples to film adverts for Dolce & Gabbana (today, naturally, she’s in a black Dolce dress, with statement tiger-head buttons on the collar and sleeves). Set against the heady backdrop of a lively street festival, Emilia became swept up in the atmosphere.

  ‘I’ve been to Italy before, but not Naples,’ she says. ‘It was all locals in the advert, which was even funnier because it was so authentic. I think there were a lot of out-takes with me like, “What the hell is going on, this is so cool!” I feel Dolce & Gabbana is [for] girls [who] are at ease in their own skin,’ she says. ‘They have a frivolity and a femininity that I can relate to… It fits really well.’

  For now she’s now back on set for the final series of Game of Thrones. Last season, her Instagram feed was filled with videos of her and Harington goofing around behind the scenes. But this time around the restrictions are more serious.

  ‘We have a very strict social-media ban this year because people need to stop spoiling it for everyone,’ she says, pouting slightly. ‘It’s really frustrating.’ Even Emilia doesn’t know what’s planned for her character (the TV series has now gone past the point George RR Martin’s books have reached).

  ‘They’ve written a number of different endings,’ she says. ‘So none of the cast know what the actual ending is. If there’s ever a leak of any kind, don’t believe it because it’s probably not true.’

  No matter how it ends, Emilia seems deeply sad for Game of Thrones to leave her life. When asked how she’s feeling about it, she simply frowns and says, ‘emotional. It’s a big one.’ That said, being on the show is not without its downsides. During the seven months she spends filming each season, she typically wakes around 4am to head into hair and make-up, with 18-hour shoot days that can often involve riding prosthetic dragons in front of green screens for hours on end.

  As a result of this intense schedule, her personal life has fallen by the wayside. She dated actor Seth MacFarlane between 2012 and 2013, but isn’t currently romantically linked to anyone. Once Game of Thrones wraps for good in 2018, for the first time in seven years she will have free time.

  She often tries to remind herself that in order to create characters, you have to spend time in the real world. ‘The thing with being an actor is, to play the roles you need to have an idea of more than just getting into a car and getting to a set,’ she says.

  Her goal, lately, is to take more time to be herself. She and her best friend – the actor and writer Lola Frears (daughter of director Stephen), with whom she’s also writing a script – have been working their way through a list of 60 influential movies given to her by Solo screenwriter Jon Kasdan. The most recent: All About Eve.

  She’s reading Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, loves Kendrick Lamar and went to Glastonbury for the first time this summer. Fans filmed her dancing wildly to Stormzy’s set, but she didn’t care – she was having too much fun.

  Her family have always supported her dream of acting; although her father, being in the industry, joked early on that she’d only ever need to remember one line: ‘Do you want fries with that?’ Tragically, he died from cancer last summer while the actress was filming upcoming thriller Above Suspicion alongside Jack Huston in Kentucky.

  Now Emilia focuses on her mum and her brother, Bennett, who works in the camera department on Game of Thrones. She credits her interest in Star Wars and Comic Con culture to him. ‘My brother was a huge fan, and I wanted to be like my brother in every way,’ she laughs. ‘Sometimes he does the clapper before my takes [on Game of Thrones]. I’m always like, “Don’t f— it up!” It gets very unprofessional very quickly.’

  Game of Thrones has also brought her security – it has been estimated that she earns up to $500,000 per episode. She owns a house in the LA neighbourhood of Venice, although she admits that she rarely spends time there.

  ‘I can provide [financially] for my friends and family,’ she says. ‘Genuinely, that’s the best thing. Knowing that everyone I love is going to be fine. It sounds like a real Oprah Winfrey sob story, but it’s very true. It’s incredibly empowering as a young lady.’

  Emilia Clarke is the face of Dolce & Gabbana The One, £50 for 30ml edp.

  Press: Emilia Clarke on Game of Thrones fans: ‘Airports are a source of fear. It gets kind of freaky’ was originally published on Enchanting Emilia Clarke

[jordandaytour]

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT JORDAN

1. The official name of Jordan is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. (Source: BBC)

2. Jordan emerged from the post-World War I division of the Middle East made by Britain and France. Known as Transjordan from 1922, it was formally recognized by the UN as an independent sovereign kingdom in 1946. (Source: BBC)

3. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, closely advised leaders of the Great Arab Revolt in Jordan during World War I. The revolt culminated in the surprise attack and defeat of the Turkish forces at the Battle of Aqaba, led from nearby Wadi Rum. (Source: CNN)

4. The population of Transjordan was largely made up of tribes that had taken part in the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. In modern Jordan, those original inhabitants, known as East Bank Jordanians, are outnumbered by the descendants of Palestinian refugees from Israel and the West Bank. (Source: BBC)

5. Jordan is home to the ancient city of Petra. Known as “The Rose City” it is famous for its unique architecture carved directly into the rock face. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. (Source: UNESCO)

6. The final scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed at Petra. (Source: IMBD)

7. Unlike the other Arab states in the Middle East, Jordan has no oil of its own. (Source: BBC)

8. Jordan is home to many biblical sites including, among others, the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Mount Nebo where Moses died, as well as the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Source: The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible)

9. The lowest point on Earth in terms of dry land is the shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan. It lies at 1,378ft (420m) beneath sea level. (Source: Britannica)

10. The capital of Jordan, Amman, was once named Philadelphia. It was named after Ptolemy Philadelphus (283-246 BC) who rebuilt the city during his reign before Amman was taken by Herod around 30 BC and fell under the influence of Rome. (Source: Britannica)

to book your tour to Jordan please fill the form in the link below

https://jordan-car-and-driver.com/quota-itinerary/

or you can see our planned tour

https://jordan-car-and-driver.com/jordan-planned-tour/