h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry, with link this time. Good blog on the topic here.

http://www.thefootballsupernova.com/2012/01/suarezevra-incident-some-thoughts.html

FB

@post 77: yeah. Because I only mentioned muslims.

I see Suarez has now issued a sort of apology.

If he had said this after the match he might even have diffused the situation rather.

#fail

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Hashtags? On h2g2?

Sorry forgot where I was for a moment!

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#obsoletetechnology

Maybe Suarez was taken out of context and was referring to something that happened centuries ago?

We should ban Abbott for 8 games and sack Suarez from the Shadow Cabinet.

In all seriousness, why does she still have a job in the Shadow Cabinet. I don't think she should lose her seat, that's for her constituents do decide, but she certainly shouldn't have a high profile political job any more.

Miliband, E. certainly isn't helping himself either. It's getting depressing that I have no one worthy of my vote.

I see she's going to have problems getting taxis in London from now on

Well it was a lovely distraction for everyone, wasn't it.

First we had slavery, then we had colonialism, then we had extreme, violent racism. Now in the blink of an eye that's all done and dusted and all we have to worry about is black racism.

I couldn't care less what colour Diane Abbott is, her ethnicity neither compounds nor excuses the offensiveness of what she said. From an objective stance what she said was wrong - it'd have been wrong regardless of what race or gender the person who said it was.

It also demonstrates a worrying grip on reality (i.e none) on the part of Abbott: making out like white society (and black) is monolithic when in fact both are hugely fractured.

Just to go back to the implications of the OP-- And a previous comment about Liverpool "victims"


It was only last year that I got around to reading the economic history of Britain written by C.R. Fay c1928. Fay was a proud Lancastrian, but was the first historian I have read who explained that the industrial revolution in Lancashire in the eighteenth century had been very closely connected with the lack of protection afforded to workers, trades and even to the local community. The kind of thing that we are now seeing in China and India.

Hence the Lancashire cotton industry- which was resisted in the established textile regions- was able to profit from lack of regulation and lack of protection. This also applied to the growth of the port of Liverpool, so that it progessively took over from Bristol as THE port for the African and Atlantic trades. Among the advantages of Liverpool was that the ships were often manned by Pauper Apprentices many decades before the scandal of the factory Apprenticeship system. And all "hands" were less well payed and often less professional than the Bristol competitors not least because they were working with unwilling forced child-labour- and the adults that they grew into.

Cheap labour and desperate entrepreneurship was also associated with migration into Lancashire and that region by people fleeing desperate poverty and worse in Ireland and Scotland: people like the Pauper Apprentices who were not really identified by any process of law and justice- unlike most of the people traded by the African states as slaves, who had been enslaved by African law and custom.

But, of course, the drive towards American Independence was closely associated with a desire to break the British Crown control and regulation of trade; which succeeded when the slave trade started up again after the seven year interruption between 1776-and 1783. Then the Zong Affair did reflect the new deregulated market conditions. What is the Primart slogan- Pile them high. Sell them cheap.

I disagree with the reply she made and agree with the point that the guy she was responding to said.

But let's take a moment to think about the scandalous story that isn't being reported - because it doesn't really fit as neatly into the news cycle as a politician making a Twitter gaffe - which was the subject of the Twitter convo:

In the coverage of a story whose salient feature was that it was about anything but black gangs, the BBC thought that the leading candidate to represent black opinion was an ex-gang member.

Wow. Could you ask for a better textbook example of institutional racism?

'We need a black guy!'

'Right! I'll phone around some ex-gang leaders. They're black.'

Eighteen years on.

I think Abbot's point is 'Yeah, but - at least we've got *a* community leader on TV, so let's show solidarity' but I think the BBC's shoddiness is so egregious that I disagree with her.

And she phrased it embarrassingly badly as people often do in the heat of a Twitter and has given ammunition to the 'They're just as bad!' mentality. But even that, I feel, isn't as egregious as *what the conversation was about.*

But none of the media reports even seem to notice what story they're reporting on.

"Liverpool" are back in the news, some of (their) "fans" are alleged to have taunted a player of colour (?) on the opposition side during yesterdays FA Cup match. Liverpool FCs opponents were Oldham Athletic, a side that lie two divisions below Liverpool in the English League. The match had to be temporarily suspended.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16452241.stm

Remarkable! And yet we heard on this very thread that racism is no longer a problem.

#92 CASSEROLEON. So apart from providing a natural (alternate) harbour, one of the main reasons for Liverpool's development was as a cheaper alternative to the port of Bristol, where workers (including child labour) could be more easily "exploited".

@Casserole:

HI and I both know a pub in a Liverpool suburb that was involved in organising blockade busting activities with the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Britain is rightly proud of its record in abolishing the slave trade. But it's worth remembering that we continued to profit from slavery long after.

(The Liver, HI - if you didn't know)

Yep, I know the Liver's history well. The Confederate consulate was just around the corner.

Perhaps a petty gripe but when folk are talking about Liverpool football club, could they say that please rather than just abbreviating it to Liverpool.

There are an awful lot of people in the city who have nothing to do with that hooting gang of morons and the vainglorious club they support. As otto says, there's a whole other footie team whose regulars wouldn't stand for this nonsense if it were one of our lot.

True. And a lot of fans of Liverpoolfootballclub are not from Liverpool.

(I'm not either, incidentally - I support Everton because my best friend in primary school was from Liverpool, and I used to go with them to games in London/South East. By the time I was old enough to realise that I should support a local team, it would have been a greater sin to change support).