BBC Question Time LiveChat 17th May 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Cardiff from the original Welsh "Cahhhhdeff". The "You Are Leaving Cardiff" sign has been voted Most Welcome Sight for six years running. The dialling code for Cardiff is 029 which came second in the 2011 Wales Most Interesting Area Code competition, losing out to Newport's 01633.*

On the panel: Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller (who? And why do they need a Minister?); the only ever UK Cabinet Minister to have stood trial for bank robbery Peter Hain (TheEye asked that in our pub quiz two weeks ago!); Leanne Wood, a republican socialist who is leader of something which looks like a bad hand at Scrabble called Plaid Cymru and the usually quite splendid Kelvin MacKenzie, Daily Mail columnist and former editor of the Sun. Also appearing is someone billed on the BBC website as author and comedy scriptwriter John O'Farrell.

Will Dimbleby also mention that he was a Labour candidate in the 2001 General Election? Or that he wrote the "jokes" in speeches given by Blair, Brown and other Labour politicians? Who'll open the betting? Make me an offer. 

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

Question Time is followed by This Week. Andrew Neil is cursed with the world pie-eating champion Diane Abbott, Michael Portillo - probably in a shirt resembling a 60's deckchair - the unspeakably stupid Mehdi Hasan, Jilly Goolden, and a Greek stand-up commedienne called Katerina Vrana. No, I hadn't heard of her either, before you ask, but she lists Eddie Izzard as her favourite comedian so on that basis alone she probably needs to be set on fire and the flames put out with a golf shoe.

 Prediction: it's going to be dreadful. And in other unexpected news, Fernando Alonso complains about the lack of charm in modern F1 and Brian Blessed calls for everyone to quiet down.  


* May contain traces of lie.

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Ghostly Goings On

The Eye occasionally explores the outer reaches of the truth - something which occasionally causes domestic grief ..."how was I to know it was a strip club? We were just going for a beer in a different part of town" But this is rather good and will be stored away for future use:

A young mother has been evicted from her council home after blaming a ghost for the noise coming from all-night parties. Leanne Fennell, 20, from Hull told her neighbours a poltergeist was responsible for the late-night noises and rubbish thrown around her home.
In January, neighbours complained to the council that parties at the property lasted until the early hours of the morning, up to four times in a single week.
A neighbour told the Hull Daily Mail: "She told us a poltergeist would keep switching the music on really loud when she was in bed."

If it had worked as a plea it would have been awesome.

A doff of the fedora to Plato

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Question Time LiveChat 10th May 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Oldham - which holds the record for the most Vauxhall Corsas per square mile. The name derives from Aldehulme; an Old Norse word meaning "Get the horses; we're off"

On the panel: Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman MP who famously paid for her nanny on expenses, the Labour bloke who posted a picture of himself on the internet in his Y-fronts Chris Bryant MP, Liberal Democrat peer and serial troublemaker Lord Oakeshitt, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and "Too Ugly For Television" Mary Beard, and the serial flip-flopping opinions-for-short-term-rent Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne.

 Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward. Question Time is followed by This Week. Andrew Neil has Louise Mensch, Alan Johnson and Charles *hic* Kennedy for company.

 The lefty French journalist and Guardian political commentator Agnes Poirier looks at the consequences of the election of Francois Hollande in France, and what it could mean for Europe and the UK. Quentin Letts gives a round-up of the Queen's Speech week and the aftermath of last week's elections.

 The tedious Will Self looks at stigma, and will pontificate on gay marriage (presumably he's in favour) and child sex grooming (presumably he's against).
 

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BBC Question Time LiveChat 3rd May 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Question Time from London for the second week in a row - presumably because the BBC chickened out of the promised Mayoral Special last week.

 On the panel: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith MP, Labour's deputy leader Harriet Hatemen MP, former leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Walter "Ming" Campbell MP, leader of the PCS union and semi-detached nutter Mark Serwotka and the businessman and panelist on Dragons' Den Theo Paphitis 

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

 At 11:35pm (UK time) the BBC's election coverage will begin so we will probably keep the chat window open for a while longer to watch the early biased punditry.

 

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A Gerkhin With That, Madam?

TheEye is a fan of off-the-wall news and so is delighted to once again bring you news of great international importance*.

Indeed.

The Toowoomba Chronicle brings us serious and disturbing tidings of the discovery of a (very poorly drawn, it must be said) cock inside a burger box.

"If they have drawn that in there, what else have they done to my burger?" 

The doesn't look anything like the real one woman called Kylie was interviewed for the slow news day article by...wait for it...Stuart Cumming.

You can't make this rubbish up.

* May contain traces of Lie

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Eco Fascists Aren't Always Cuddly

From the Guardian of all places: German far-right extremists tap into green movement for support

Debunking the popular view that equates eco-friendliness with cuddly, left-leaning greens, ...Hotbeds of far-right eco-warriors are to be found throughout Germany. In the Mecklenburg region in the north, they have been quietly settling in communities since the 1990s in an effort to reinvigorate the traditions of the Artaman League – a farming movement whose roots lie in the 19th century romantic ideal of "blood and soil" ruralism, which was adopted by the Nazis.

Heinrich Himmler, the SS leader, was a member.

At the same time as it was butchering millions of people, the Nazi party supported animal rights and nature conservation. But it is disturbing for many Germans to think that while they support local producers and reject genetically modified food, pesticides and intensive livestock farming, there is now little – superficially at least – to distinguish a supposedly well-meaning, leftist Green from a far-right eco enthusiast.

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

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Brilliant Election Stupidity

 This is going to cause some grumpiness...

"Sandwell Borough Council Election of a Borough Councillor

The following is a statement of the persons nominated for election as a Borough Councillor for Great Bridge Ward
ROWLEY Derek  The Labour Party Candidate
ROWLEY Derek Joseph  The Conservative Party Candidate"

Standing in Rowley ward of Sandwell borough would have really hit the jackpot...but this is a lawyers version of comedy gold already.

TheEye will be watching the lawsuits here.

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Our Bright Green Tomorrow

This is from The Scotsman and you have to promise in advance not to laugh. Agreed?

The residents of Foula, Scotland’s most remote inhabited island which achieved a remarkable first by becoming 100 per cent self-sufficient with renewable energy, are now forced to endure black-outs. An all-night black-out has had to be brought into force for the 22 homes on the isolated Shetland community, because of teething problems in the island’s £1.5 million hydro and solar power schemes. Foula’s three wind turbines have been out of action since Christmas, when 100mph winds damaged the blades of one of the turbines. Now islanders are back to relying on costly diesel generator until the faults can be rectified. Two years ago the islanders, who live 20 miles from the Shetland mainland, were awarded £200,000 in funding from the Big Lottery Fund towards their combination of wind, solar and hydro power, enabling Foula to become the first Shetland community to become self-sufficient in energy. The final phase was completed last October. But it has been revealed a series of problems with the pioneering green energy scheme has left the islanders having to rely on back-up diesel generators to power their homes. And, because of crippling fuel costs, they are operating a blackout from 12:30am to 7am.

Okay, admit it. You laughed. You'd have to have a greeny fanatics stone heart not to.

Crossposted at ATangledWeb.org

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BBC Question Time LiveBlog 26th April 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Question Time from Romford in East London. On the panel: Employment Minister Chris Grayling MP, Shadow Health Minister Diane Abbott MP, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Simon Hughes MP, UK Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage MEP and Tuscany villa-owning socialist Polly Toynbee. Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward. It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we will suffer the maddess that is This Week. Don't forget to look for Blue Nun Bingo updates on David Mosque's website dedicated to the game here.

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Madeleine McCann: Police Release Photo Of Her As She'd Look Today

...which about sums it up. Oh, and this probably helps too...

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Question Time LiveBlog 19th April 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Leeds. On the panel tonight Conservative party co-chairman and beacon of promoted-beyond-their-ability tokenism Sayeeda Warsi, shadow home secretary and screechy self-righteous harpy Yvette Balls (Cooper), the Respect MP and professional cat impersonator George Galloway, president of the Liberal Democrats and odious backstabbing leadership-wannabe Tim Farron; and the Times columnist David Aaronovitch Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward. It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we will suffer the maddess that is This Week. Don't forget to look for Blue Nun Bingo updates on David Mosque's website dedicated to the game here. See you here later!

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A Fond Farewell

It's with a touch of sadness that I add my voice to those saying farewell to "The Crazy Red Chicken" as we called her.

Today was the final decommissioning ceremony of HMS Liverpool. She was my home for a while last year, and we had some good sport (READ HERE).

The chaps at the ministry claim that she is being replaced by Type 45s. Well I'm not sure how good you are at maths, but there were 16 type 42s and there will only be 6 Type 45s!!

The type 45s are not even ready to take over! The one that the Argies are currently complaining about is still tied up in Pompey! The others have many "teething" issues that would stop them doing anything like a decent job, or even putting to sea in some cases!

The long "ribbon" you see on the picture is her decommissioning pennant. It's length is based on her years of service.

Goodbye Old Girl. Thanks for the fun.

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Question Time LiveBlog 22nd March 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Grimsby.

On the panel tonight we have former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, Business Secretary and serial leaker Vince Cable, talentless BBC favourite Chuka Umunna, Telegraph writer Melissa Kite and Lefty novelist Marina Lewycka

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we will suffer the maddess that is This Week.

Don't forget to look for Blue Nun Bingo updates on David Mosque's website dedicated to the game here.



See you here later!

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Relative Popularity of US Presidents

Saw this factoid and found it quite interesting.

These figures are comparisons at the 1145 day of each respective Presidency.

You can compare President Obama’s job approval rating to any other President, all the way back to Harry Truman here.

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Question Time LiveBlog 15th March 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from St Andrews.

On the panel tonight we have Conservative leader in Scotland Ruth Davidson, Charlie *hic* Kennedy, Labour rebel Frank Field, Scottish National Party MSP Humza Yousaf and irritating toothy professional whinger Janet Street-Porter.

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we will suffer the maddess that is This Week. In the past it's been fair to say that QTs from Scotland have brought out some quite strong views from Commenters here. These days; satire, wit, banter and amusing heckling are welcome as always but plain abuse won't get past moderation.

Don't forget to look for Blue Nun Bingo updates on David Mosque's website dedicated to the game here.

See you here later!

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Question Time LiveBlog 8th March 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Guildford.

David Dimbleby is joined on the panel by Sec of State for Local Govt Eric Pickles (presumably on a reinforced chair), Shadow Sec of State for Energy and "Climate Change" Caroline Flint, Daily Mail columnist and UKIPper Janice Atkinson-Small and Will Self.

Oh, and well known political commentator and philosopher Will Young. Unbelievable. Although it's good to have two elected frontbenchers on again. Not often that happens.

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we will suffer the maddess that is This Week.

For those who enjoy the Blue Nun Bingo whilst watching This Week (and also for those who don't understand it) take a look at David Mosque's website dedicated to the game here.

See you here later!

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Question Time LiveBlog 1st March 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Dewsbury; home of Mohammad Sidique Khan who was ringleader of the group responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

David Dimbleby is joined on the panel by ex Sec of State for Wales John Redwood, Rachel Reeves (who likes wedding cakes and flower arranging), Nick Clegg's PPS Jo Swinson, historian Prof David Starkey and footballer Clarke Carlisle (making his 2nd QT appearance after previously appearing on 20 Jan 2011).

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we will suffer the maddess that is This Week. It's not Jacqui Smith this week. We've got ex-Marxist Alan Johnson instead. Joy.

For those who enjoy the Blue Nun Bingo whilst watching This Week (and also for those who don't understand it) take a look at David Mosque's website dedicated to the game here.

See you here later!

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Question Time LiveBlog 23rd February 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Tunbridge Wells.

David Dimbleby is joined on the panel by Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey, Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry, UKIPs Paul Nuttall MEP, journalist Cristina Odone and dreary lefty Simon Schama.

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

It's a 10:30pm kick off and afterwards we bid a welcome return to the maddess that is This Week. Unfortunately there's a return for the odious Jacqui Smith but you can't have everything.

For those who enjoy the Blue Nun Bingo whilst watching This Week (and also for those who don't understand it) David Mosque has created a website dedicated to the game here. Awesome effort and well worth a look.

See you here later!

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Question Time LiveBlog 16th February 2012

Tonight Question Time comes from Nottingham.

David Dimbleby is joined by Ken Clarke, John Prescott, LibDem Susan Kramer, businesswoman Julie Meyer* and a random lefty freak called Owen Jones. In fact ignore that last link - you'll just encourage him with the hits on his blog.

So with the possible exception of Julie Meyer that means no-one right of centre on the panel tonight. Oh dear.

As with last week, please remember that humour is good, sarcasm is fine, biting wit is even better but direct threats of violence and disgusting language are not acceptable. We will not add such comments. Have fun - but be good now...

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward. David Vance has taken the awesome option of heading out to a concert tonight. I suspect we will all envy him within minutes of kick-off.

It's a 10:30pm kick off and there is no This Week afterwards so drinking can be focused and intense. See you here later!

UPDATE: For those who enjoy the Blue Nun Bingo whilst watching This Week (and also for those who don't understand it) David Mosque has created a website dedicated to the game here. Genius. No other word for it. Genius.



* Oh yes

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AllSeeingEye BlogMeet Feb 2012

TheEye once again apologises for being AWOL on the blog for a good few months now. To be fair, most of the reasons are sorted out now in a positive way - it's just getting back to the discipline of posting.

However a welcome excuse to get out and about is on the horizon.

Exercise MEDSPLASH 2012 is the annual jaunt to warmer bits of the world for the Royal Navy's Submarine Parachute Assistance Group and joining them in the stupidity of throwing themselves out of a perfectly serviceable Hercules will be our resident blogger here St Crispin.

This week of parachuting idiocy will call for, as usual, a post-jump Run Ashore or two.

Anyone who fancies sampling the ridiculously cheap drinks in the officers mess at HMS Rooke or an extended bimble around the bars of Gibraltar need only apply to the usual address. All welcome!

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