Why the Guardian is going down the pan!

[Santino]

And?

 

[butchersapron]

I wonder why the what film did you watch last night thread isn't full of posters listing what albums they last listened to and demanding the thread be about albums posters have listened to? Anyone got any ideas why this might be the case?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

And?

Well, that's up to you. Normal etiquette, when you post something which is then rebutted by someone else, is either to respond with an immediate counter-rebuttal or to strategically ignore it and move onto something else. Your response is unusual.

 

[Santino]

Since when has suspecting that something might happen if something that hasn't happened did happen counted as a rebuttal?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Since when has suspecting that something might happen if something that hasn't happened did happen counted as a rebuttal?

The onus is on you. Define your side, and then provide evidence that the "world's leading liberal voice" claims to be on it.

 

[Orang Utan]

Well, that's up to you. Normal etiquette, when you post something which is then rebutted by someone else, is either to respond with an immediate counter-rebuttal or to strategically ignore it and move onto something else. Your response is unusual.

Christ, you are a pompous so and so

 

[Santino]

It's got nothing to do with how I define 'my' side. They claim - they may sometimes believe - that they are on the side of people against vested interests.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

It's got nothing to do with how I define 'my' side. They claim - they may sometimes believe - that they are on the side of people against vested interests.

Where?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

There might well be vested interests which would conflict with actors which view themselves as progressive and liberal, but they might be popular ones. Unions, say, or churches.

 

[butchersapron]

Anyone else reminded of the unhinged Blair butting in on Iraq around June last year and all giving everyone else the benefit of his experience in the region?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Christ, you are a pompous so and so

it's the only language he understands.

 

[Santino]

Where?

I suspect that if you wrote to Alan Rusbridger and asked him to confirm that his paper was on the side of the people against vested interests, then he would do so. And then play the piano for a bit.

 

[brogdale]

Right now, 2015 is all about open shirts...

 

[DotCommunist]

check out the 'six worst jobs' article. Other than dog food taster they are all fairly normal people jobs

 

[fishfinger]

check out the 'six worst jobs' article. Other than dog food taster they are all fairly normal people jobs

I'd rather be a dog food taster than a shopping channel presenter.

 

[DotCommunist]

My brother used to do crime scene clean up for Boing! who contract to northants police. Its dirty work but 'worst job'? and as for taking teens out- loads of people do that job and like it. Right old sneer of an article

 

[Jay Park]

could have nipped over to Qatar and seen what a Bengali's workday looks like.....

 

[DotCommunist]

could have nipped over to Qatar and seen what a Bengali's workday looks like.....

ennit, or to any south east asian SEZ

 

[Jay Park]

i've gotten so used to reading bollocks on the Guardian site, it didn't even register before - television presenter w/ starting salary of 30,000 the 5th worst job in UK. Right.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

I suspect that if you wrote to Alan Rusbridger and asked him to confirm that his paper was on the side of the people against vested interests, then he would do so. And then play the piano for a bit.

Might be worth asking John Witherow as well, as a control. You'd probably get the same answer, or lack of one.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

I suspect that if you wrote to Alan Rusbridger and asked him to confirm that his paper was on the side of the people against vested interests, then he would do so. And then play the piano for a bit.

On the other hand, though, this thread took off because of the Guardian's support for the junior coalition party in 2010.

And in the infamous Hurrah for the Yellowshirts editorial, Rusbridger (for it was surely he) said:

they have remained true to liberal values and human rights in ways that the other parties, Labour more than the Tories in some respects, have not. They are less tied to reactionary and sectional class interests than either of the other parties.

I wonder where "the people" stops and where "a reactionary and sectional class interest" begins. It doesn't sound like unqualified support for the workers by hand and brain against the bosses.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

The Indie, meanwhile is a neo-Aristotelian, semi-consequentialist, Whig radical. It really is. Whether that puts it on the same side as the peevish and gloomy toiler in academic saltmines is moot.

 

[JTG]

and as for taking teens out- loads of people do that job and like it. Right old sneer of an article

While I wouldn't claim to do anything as challenging as outdoor activities for young teenagers, I find myself in charge of groups of 18-20 year olds every summer, often asking them to do jobs they have no previous experience of and face situations many of them find daunting. Lots of them are students, many of them haven't done much in the way of paid work let alone anything that expects them to take a little responsibility.

It can be frustrating but ultimately rewarding to see people grow, take on challenges and work things out for themselves. I really enjoy doing it.

 

[killer b]

They are less tied to reactionary and sectional class interests than either of the other parties.

This bit is incredible.

 

[killer b]

FWIW though, I think Rusbridger is likely of a similar view to Billy Bragg, that class politics is all so last century. So he's on your side, if only you'd accept that the sides are drawn up differently to reality, and from the head of a bubble-ensconced liberal.

 

[lolo]

well for the first time ever the editor in chief job is an open application so i think we should all apply...

 

[Pickman's model]

well for the first time ever the editor in chief job is an open application so i think we should all apply...

sure, one of us must get the post

unless it's an inside job

 

[Pickman's model]

well for the first time ever the editor in chief job is an open application so i think we should all apply...

but why? if one of us did get the job then i think what happened to the pope in 1978 would soon happen to the successful candidate.

 

[lolo]

i was being light hearted -obvs not the correct thread for this, stay angry, as you were

 

[JTG]

Was going to be snarky about yet another blow-in banging on about 'localism' in Bristol here:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...-bristol-graffiti-covers-the-city-head-to-toe

But then I saw a commenter had put it far better than I could have done

Bristol does indeed have an "obsession with localism", but as other comments have pointed out local Bristolians seem to get short shrift. When we moved to Bishopston in 1997 it was still common to hear local accents. Today it seems that most of the Bristolians in the area have been replaced by middle-class blow-ins like myself.

I'm not obsessed with localism, so I while I lament the change I also see it as a natural progression in a dynamic city. But I often wonder how my localism-obsessed neighbours can campaign vigorously for more local shops etc, while ignoring the fact that their increasing presence and influence is destroying a truly unique local entity -- the urban Bristolian.

A classic example of this is the ongoing ding-dong between Bishopston "locals" hell-bent on preventing the supermarket redevelopment of the Bristol Rovers ground, and Rovers' Bristolian supporters, who thanks to the campaign's success can look forward to a bleak future for their club. In this case, localism seems to be all about protecting the interests of businesses that serve largely a middle-class blow-in clientele at the expense of a century-old local institution.

It's not entirely accurate (the scheme isn't dead yet), but does sum up the feelings of an awful lot of born and bred w/c Bristolians