Tag: soccer

Vikki Spit and her fiancée. Spit has become the first person in the UK to receive compensation from the government for a death — her fiancée’s — resulting from the Covid-19 vaccine.

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Beware the Ides of June

Under British parliamentary rules, a vote of no confidence in a Prime Minister is similar to a recall vote in the United States, but it is the members of the incumbent PM’s parliamentary party — 359 Conservative MPs, in this case — who vote, and not the people. The peons only get to vote in general elections, where their choice is essentially between two brands of the same soap powder. (more…)

British MP Jeremy Hunt, whose surname is as perfect an example of Cockney rhyming slang as you could find.

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A bad month for the Iron Lady and the suffragette

There is never a good time to be a statue in England. You are out in all weathers, for a start, and on the rare days the Sun does shine pigeons seize the opportunity to take a dump on your head. But you do usually get to hang around on your pedestal or plinth for a few decades, or even centuries, before you are abused by humans. That, like much in the old country, is changing, and 2020 shall henceforth be known as the year of the great toppling. But the last month has seen attacks on statues of two famous English women, proving equality is alive and well. (more…)

Self-described Nazi Thomas Leech, who was recently convicted in the UK on terrorism charges, shows that today’s Nazis don’t really live up to their more fashionable predecessors.

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A rose by any other name

When I was growing up, or at least getting bigger, my parents were fairly liberal about swearing in the house. “Cussing” is, I believe, an American equivalent. This was not an injunction for or against swearing an oath on the Bible. But rules are rules, and there was always one word banned in our house: the dread C-word. How nice to be reminded of this childhood memory by Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), still wasting money after all these years. They have indeed banned the C-word. (more…)

J. K. Rowling, who earned praise for getting herself cancelled this year by refusing to back down from her normal views on genitalia and gender.

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We can be heroes just for one day. — David Bowie

Hans, are we the baddies? — Mitchell and Webb sketch featuring Nazi soldiers

As European and Commonwealth countries act like faithful servants to the autocratic global coup currently taking place, my own home country of England has fallen into step like a good foot-soldier. The government, nominally Conservative but actually a sort of Green Socialist elite oligarchy, has gone full Bezmenov, contradicting itself on a daily basis about COVID and preventing its people from seeing dying loved ones while it parties maskless indoors. (more…)

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The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
the score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
a sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. (more…)

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In the final days of the holy Pride Month, the National Football League told the world: “Football is gay.”

The message came in a pro-gay ad released by the macho sports league. The ad also said that: “Football is lesbian;” “Football is queer;” “Football is transgender; “Football is bisexual;” “Football is American;” and “Football is for everyone.” (more…)

It is easy to spot the Croatian team. They are the white ones.

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The ZMan’s Blog is always worth reading, and today is no exception. Avoiding the cliché post about or around Bastaille Day, ZMan digs into the game at the heart of the recent World Cup hoo-haw: football, or as you Yanks call it, “soccer.”[1] (more…)

Germany’s World Cup victors. Clothes by Hugo Boss.

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The World Cup in Brazil is over, and Germany — with its predominantly white squad — is the first European team in history to win in Latin America. And, in the views of football experts and neutral fans around the world, it was a well-deserved victory.  (more…)

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“Football now has an immense social responsibility, which it must meet.”

— Anti-discrimination sociologist and “fan researcher” Gerd Dembowski

A recent spate of articles celebrating multiculturalism and FIFA’s World Cup argue that more diverse football squads do better.[1] (more…)