大象传媒

so the guy walks into a Bank and will not take his helmet off, next minute he is surrounded by armed police, can you tell me the difference if a lady refuses to take off her burkha, when in Rome and all that.....

"...Our Economics editor Paul Mason is at the Independent Commission on Banking presser, .."

Is a presser
a) a nickname for Johnny two jags?
b) a lesser salted pretzel
c) some sort of audible alert (like a buzzer)
d) Sloppy writing
e) ALL of the above
f) NONE of the above


But seriously.......

Separation does seem like a reasonable move. But I imagine it will come at a price for personal banking customers, especially those who currently receive most of their services free.

Interesting times.

MP's have returned to the trough to get "their" expenses back

A separation in all but reality:



"The ICB Interim report states that 鈥淪ecuritisation鈥� should only reside in the 鈥淧ermitted in non-bank institutions鈥� box. I鈥檓 curious as to how the commission expects that this will work in practice given that 鈥淪ecuritisation鈥� actually transcends Retail & Investment banking. The retail arm Originates the loan in the first place. So they must hand it over (i.e. sell it) to the Investment arm for them to package up and re-sell!"

This is a firewall without any walls!

WESTMINSTER REGARDS US WITH CONTEMPT (#4)

My MP echoes that contempt in a (very) small way. When I pressed him to answer (showing working, so to speak) how to read: "The Conservatives Must Win Here to Stop 5 More Years of Gordon Brown" AS TRUE, he offered a fatuous non-starter explanation, and DECLARED THE MATTER CLOSED.

CONTEMPT, from the self-styled HONOURABLE, is the sort of thing our governance has excelled in, for centuries. Dave is a 'high' exponent. Note how he set the NO campaign at the level of YES-voter vilification (with a special smear for Nick Clegg).

Until we dismantle Westminster, CONTEMPT shall be their finest dispensation.

SPOILPARTYGAMES.

Perhaps 'presser' is jargon for press conference? - but just who is envisaged as putting pressure on whom?

NEW NEWBURY DISCTIONARY (#3)

Presser (n) A pressing agenda item - typically unaddressed.

"That 大象传媒 Newsnight does not investigate matters of manifest importance to its listeners, is a real presser."

Cf: biggie - no-no - doozie.

A CLASS BIT OF STANDUP

Hillary (ay, 'ere's one) Clinton, says the arrest of Mr Gbagbo sends a clear signal to tyrants all round the world.

WILL THAT INCLUDE AMERICAN ONES?

COMING DOWN IN TWO-PART HARMONY

McCavity Brown and Omi Darling are singing from the same FLIMSY hymn sheet.

NOW WE KNOW - nobody knew that banking was global! It was no one's fault.

Just who does the (belated) new Reality get off what hook? And why now? Balls?*

But I'm still not clear if Brown saved the world . . .

"We must be mad - literally mad": every time we throw out a bunch of inept ninnies and elect a new government and PM

WE GET OURSELVES ANOTHER ONE.

* Probably.

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE WAR AND WESTMINSTER POLITICS

Have you heard the horse race analogy to AV, turned out by the Conservative Obfuscation Unit? I hold no brief for AV, but to make out it computes as described, in the Conservative nonsense, SHOULD break misrepresentation law. But as I have indicated THE POLITICAL LIE is outside the law.

I wonder if Disingenuous Dave (the better looking Cameron) will be making another appearance on a poster?



It could say: "Trust me - I'm Dave. AV is an illusion: what you see is not what you get."

"And as France becomes the first European country to make it illegal for Muslim women to cover their faces with veils in public"

I'm not sure that the veil is the problem. The problem is that Islam is more a political ideology rather than a religion and is clearly not sitting well with any of its hosts. We need a re-think on Islam. Was it a good idea to allow Islam to flourish in the west?..well I think you know the answer to that.

Could it happen here?

Answer: Not before it is too late, by which time it will be .... too late!

And then what?


Should it happen here?

Answer: Yes, before it is too late!


But there is a more pressing question to face .......

Should we, as did the French, ban the hijab in schools? (鈥渇aith鈥� or otherwise)

Answer: Yes. It is the UK equivalent of the wall around Israel, the walls in Northern Ireland. It is restrictive yoke and a segregationist tool.

I鈥檝e said it many times .....

If the hijab signifies the 鈥榓scent鈥� to puberty then why are they increasingly being worn by girls in primary schools?

Answer: They clearly 'trumpet' the desire and intent to separate and segregate.

Social cohesion in action?

Oops! typo鈥� - hopefully -corrected below:

Answer: Yes. It is the UK equivalent of the wall around Israel and the walls in Northern Ireland. It is a restrictive yoke and a segregationalist tool.

I think you've got this wrong NN, wasn't it Belgium who first banned the burka?



I don't remember demonstrations, but then I'm not interested in the islamic religion.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

See you can do it !

鈥渋t鈥� being ....

Lead, don鈥檛 follow!

Well done, Boyo!


Shock, horror, probe ..... there鈥檚 that word again .....

鈥�..... many ....鈥�

Completely meaningless and totally invalid!



The following four words used by the young female muslim in the piece sums up everything that we should be very fearful of .......


鈥�.... seen as too westernised, ....鈥�

and the male 鈥榓cademic鈥� just helped to confirm the point!

Excellent Jeremy tonight - particularly on the Burkha/Niqab debate. Richard's report on the Muslim woman who was constantly harassed for refusing to wear the Hijab or Burkha and stated why it should be banned. Well done to the Muslim feminist who shot down Tariq Ramadan in flames! As explained in the programme, the burkha is NOT in the Koran, and therefore cannot be regarded as religious freedom or expression. If only Cameron had Sarkozy's backbone......

GOVERNMENT CAN CONTROL US IN CRASS WAYS ON A WHIM - SHOCK HORROR

Jeremy was 'doing the face' again, about government controls. Does he not know that a delusional wally with little more than innate acting skills, was elevated to Prime Minister of this country, where he manipulated us into Dubya's Crusade? A great many more faces were covered in Iraq - rubble, blood, intestines, fear, despair - than the Nikab will ever drape.

Controlling whether a small number of individuals wear, or not wear, this or that piece of kit, really should not warrant 'the face'. The face is far too award-winning for Jeremy to go spraying it about, willy nilly, on minor matters.

I would be pleased to see NewsyNighty harrying the Blair/IDS (let us never forget the Iain Duncan Smith error) war, nightly (not unlike a Shock and Awe campaign).

THAT is what 'the face' is for Jeremy.

Watched your 'debate' and coverage on the Niqab ban in France. Can't stop thinking it's a shame you did not invite any guests who are directly affected by this debate in France, trying to look at the issue from their perspective. I am more precisely thinking of women's groups in France who supported the ban. After all it is women who are first and more directly affected by the ban.

I was actually more disappointed by the manner in which Jeremy Paxman only seemed interested in debating the role of the State in telling people what to wear while allowing Tariq Ramadan a platform to advocate his own interests (the way Islam is being singled out in Europe). The other two guests were ignored while trying to debate the fact that some women in Muslim communities are being forced to wear the Niqab (yes Mr. Paxman there are women being forced to cover up and live in invisibility).
Paxman did not make any attempt to give Mona Eltahawy the space and respect to share her views, allowing Ramadan to interrupt her in a patronising manner, while putting an abrupt end to the debate.

It would be actually intersting to have a real debate without an agenda setting by the main interviewer, with a careful handling of the space given to different opinions and not just to the voices of those who speak louder.

"ACTION FOR HAPPINESS" - WE ARE SAVED!

Alternatively, if you are seeking happiness - better still: contentment - join me in 'ACTION AGAINST CRAPPINESS'. No Messiahs, no Vogons, no MPs.

Nuff sed.

18, 21 Good points

Jeremy seemed uninterested in the issue.

It would have been more sociable if the studio guest sat facing the screens as did J.

It would have been useful if J had asked Tariq what he thought would happen, or what he would do or say, IF he came across a woman with a covered face who said 'actually no, I do not want to wear this'. Maybe it is hypothetical but I think it would have opened up the discussion in interesting ways.

At the moment, we seem to be being led down a path of 'learning' how to classify clothing and how to pronounce book titles. It is starting to feel like a daily national re-education programme.

France鈥檚 burka ban is a victory for tolerance