Sim-O

Brucie has weighed in to defend Anton Du Beke about his ‘paki’ comment saying…

But host Forsyth says that in the past the “slip up” would have been treated in a more light-hearted way.

He told TalkSport: “You go back 25, 30, 40 years and there has always been a bit of humour about the whole thing.”

What the fuck is funny about using the word ‘paki’? Has there always been a bit of humour about using a racially derogative, demeaning term for, not just Pakistanis but pretty much the whole of south Asia*?

(*I’m on about in proper conversation, not within the context of a joke)

There may have been 40-odd years ago there may have been some mirth in the term for Mssrs Smith, Jones & Brown, but I doubt very much it would’ve been the same for Mssrs Singh, Kahn & Patel. Or are they the ones that need to lighten up?

Bruce goes on to equate a term used by the Americans for the British, ‘Limeys’, with it…

He added: “Americans used to call us ‘limeys’ which doesn’t sound very nice, but we used to laugh about it. Everybody has a nickname.”

‘Limeys’ is a nickname that arose because of what the British sailors used to do – eat lots of limes. It may not have been meant in an endearing way, but it hardly had the racially demeaning connatations of one nations oppression of another.

Maybe Brucie, the old git*, should shut the fuck.

*Oh, is that a bit ageist? Well, If any old people out there are offended, let me know and I’ll draft an apology along the lines of Du Bekes’.

Update:

Brucie now says…

To be absolutely clear, the use of racially offensive language is never either funny or acceptable.

Make your bloody mind up. That is the complete opposite to what you said earlier.

Katie Price, a.k.a. Jordan, is on the telly being interviewed by Piers ‘moron’ Morgan.

Why?

What the fuck is she doing on the fucking telly again? Why are people interested in this fucking person?
I realise that she is only doing what we all are – pay the bills. I also understand that the peole who keep putting her in magazines and on telly are also trying to put bread on the table. So can we please just ship of all the people that like this sort of thing to a remote fucking island planet?

What has she done? She’s had several kids by different fathers, got married and is now getting divorced. Along the way she has flashed her tits and got them made bigger, then smaller and also done some shit to her face.

What is so fucking interesting? She may have gone through something more than most single mothers because of Harveys’ problems, but she is not the only one and with the money she has earnt and still earning, she is in better position than most to be able to cope with it. There are thousands of single mothers and families that have gone through what she and Pete have gone through and would make a much better documentary subject too.

Please, everyone, leave Katie alone. Let her sink back into obscurity and do what she wants without forcing it on everyone else.

Jan Moir is comparing the way people reacted to the death of Michael Jackson and the hysteria, the luvvies and all the glitz of his memorial to the quiet dignity of people stopping in the street whilst two recent British casualties of the the war in Afghanistan as they passed through Wootton Bassett.

These very different types of remembrance tell us much about society and celebrity.

But most of all, they tell us about the quiet, steadfast decency of ordinary British people who, left to their own devices, will almost always do the right thing.

I’m not a sociologist or a psychologist or any other ‘-ologist’, but is talking complete bollox.

I’m sure the Americans don’t have MJ style concerts for their war dead. They probably have quiet diginfied affairs as well.

As for ‘left to our own devices, will almost always do the right thing’, I have one word:

Diana.

So the fascination with celebrities by politicians carries on.

Telegraph:

David Cameron was due to unveil a package of proposals aimed at improving numeracy, including a maths task force headed by former Countdown host Carol Vorderman.

I don’t deny Carol is good at maths. To most ordinary people the speed at which she can multiply 7×6 is phenominal. The way she does division, what I’ve always found rather taxing, is just well, stunning. But how good is she? Really? She may be the most famous maths person, but that doesn’t make her the best person for the job. She could be the Austin Allegro of the maths world for all we know.
Does Carol know anything about teaching or teaching methods? I’d guess not. In reality, she is just a TV presenter “with good mathematical skills“.

See also Dungeekin: Vorderman to Front Tory Numeracy Initiative