Does anyone here ever post on the Guardian's web-site? What's happened to the old liberal 'everyone's entitled to an opinion' philosophy?

You post something perfectly polite but mildly critical of their articles, and next time you log in your post's been removed.

I'll stick with the Private Eye

Well, I always liked Private Eye myself, but it's not so funny anymore (erm apart from the cartoons). And Hislop himself is a bit of a drag these days. Too clever by arf.

I read the Guardian online. Don't post there, but had spotted an illiberal use of post deletions in relation to the referendum on the EU.

A couple of days ago one of their columnists wrote a particularly sneering article about the Out campaign, suggesting that anyone with half a brain would vote to stay in. This provoked lots of sensible posts criticising Cameron's smoke and mirrors act over winning a better deal, along with complaints that other posts to the same effect were being removed for no good reason.

The news content is OK but their columnists have mostly sucked since the Blair worship days. One clown is still trying to justify the Iraq war.

I have contributed to the Viz if that counts

Well even the writers say its not as funny as it used to be

Think it might be even narrower than that - it's the paper for people with white collar public sector jobs.

Never ever ever ever read the comments on an article.

also never read a youtube video comments.

it's for the idiots of the world to communicate.

I didn`t say when I had contributed did I
But for your info, it was the Quumfing piece, you may be familiar with my work!

You are correct there marra! sh*t paper compared to what it used to be. Back in early 80s it was the paper to be seen with if you were a smart football hooligan going to the match. Not anymore!

The Guardian has been shite for years. What really tipped me over the edge was an article a couple of months ago which mentioned something about Viz, and referred to it as coming 'from our friends in the north'.

That spoke volumes for me, the fact that 'the north' is viewed by the journos as 'the other', reinforcing their Hoxton-centric view of the world. As if no-one reading it would actually be in the north.

Such a shame, as it is the one of the few organs left in opposition to the Tory propoganda shitpipes that are lapped up by an increasing proportion of the population.

Oh that's a ringing endorsement of the paper right there. I wonder if they'll start a new ad campaign with a young chap in his finest Sergio Tachinni tracksuit? Stylishly accessorised with a pen knife in his pocket, a double mocha frappuccino (to go) and guardian in his hand?

Bring back the good old days. Leave your best garments at home and bring the Huffington Post for York at home. There's no need for fighting down church street when we can scare them off with our radical left wing agenda.

Jeez, thank god the English disease is being left behind. That disease being the Guardian in this case.

What is your point exactly? Unlike today a lot of football supporters , back in the 80s, contrary to the perception/myth of the time lots of lads were actually skilled tradesmen who were left leaning rather than the right wing numpties of today. To carry the Guardian was a statement that we ( football supporters, particularly northern ones) weren't all Sun reading thicko's. At the time that was what we were trying to get away from. Some of us were trying to be different, aware of even then of what was going to happen in the future. 30 years later. we were proved right,. but in terms of influencing others we failed spectacularly

I was just struggling to come to terms with the fact that since its inception it was a symbol for anything other than middle class snobbery and pity, but clearly I haven't been around long enough to know any different.

Interesting that though, to be fair. How refined the scene was back then. The top boy must have been a tracksuit wearing Paul the Apostle, with the Guardian in his hand. How times change.

Admit it, you mean you and him have drifted apart in your 'world view'.

Probably! There's a lot not to like about him...the smugness, the nastiness to people who are not quite as urbane as he is on HIGNFY, the boy scout's hat. I could go on.

Times do certainly change. The Guardian was born in 1821, following the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, when hundreds of peaceful supporters were killed or injured by police charges into the crowd. The crowd had gathered to listen to people speak in favour of democracy and against poverty. The Guardian supported that sort of cause then, didn't merely pay lip service as so many of their journalists do now.

Great song about the right wing press.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjClJJ1cOHg

Same as most papers they've cut their staff to the bone and don't spend freelancers any more either. End result is a flow of 'opinion' pieces written by the few remaining journalists who only have time to follow what they can find on the internet. Worst one of the lot is Marina Hyde who writes on football regularly but never goes to see a match. Apparently, cynical musings on acts of naughtiness by players, owners and administrators counts as sports writing and it saves the bother of actually watching some sport.

Actually she isn't as bad as Tim Dowling who somehow manages to get paid for utter drivel. The other week he was on about how hard it is to buy fish.

Think the fashion rubbish is just recycled from press releases. Who cares who buys anything? Its just there to fill the section up

The manner in which the Guardian have slavishly followed the anti-Corbyn line has become embarrassing. A shadow of the paper it once was, aiming for an audience that stops roughly where the M25 does.

You've missed the most important point; she can't write for toffee.

There was an excellent article on this in the LRB recently (I'm sure I've said that before), but it was much more scathing of the BBC anti Corbyn bias. Read it here:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n20/paul-myerscough/corbyn-in-the-media

Next you'll be suggesting that she had a close relationship with the editor.

Or the fish. Once he started claiming that it was hard to buy some fucking fish I'd had enough. They binned off a lot of very good writers, Martin Kelner for example - he always made me laugh a bit whether he was on about football or TV. They kept on some fucker who can't even buy some fish. Worse, he can't even make failing to buy fish funny.

The more I think about it the more I think that Dowling is the heart of the beast. He needs to be stopped with a wooden stake, possibly a long dowel, plunged into his chest.

Oh yeah the Guardian, alongside the beano and dandy, one the greatest comics of all time.

Anyway, great article in the northern echo the other day about the Conservative government in the 80's who ploughed a billion pound into the north east in the late 80's/early 90's into the Teesside Developement Corporation including hundreds of millions into the massive re-developement of the area that is now Hartlepool Marina, an area that stood derelict and barren under the great days of the 60's/70's Labour governments. Also Stockton Riverside and Middlesbrough were given a huge makeover too. Maybe the left-wing experts on social class and how we should live had missed it so I thought I'd mention it.

Funny that you didn't also mention how the Tories closed down the coal industry as an act of political revenge and decimated manufacturing in this region as in all others in the name of creating a 'service economy' based on banking and jobs in shops. And we all know where that's got us...

Stick to the Mail and the Express, even the Grauniad is obviously too hard a read otherwise you wouldn't be calling it a comic.

3Quid does realise the Guardian is a Liberal newspaper, doesn't he?

? It was in days gone by when it was the Manchester Guardian. It's been 'centre left' (right wing Labour) in recent decades, apart from the 2010 election when it agreed with Nick.

Yeah, but right wing Labour isn't Labour
I think the reason the Graun supported Nick was because the official line was Liberal, wasn't it? Though obviously they have writers across the political spectrum.

Anyway, this kind of proves my point to 3Quid. In his mind-set, all political arguments are reduced to Labour v Tories, which are really only meaningless labels.
I was trying to introduce a bit of air into his brain........

To achieve this, may i suggest bellows inserted up the barking spider and pfft, fanny is your aunt

The Guardian is massively Sinophobic. For example, China gets one city in the top 50 polluted cities, according to the WHO and it's not even Beijing. Day on day, there's articles about Beijings pollution.

Their Chinese pieces are full of 'experts say', and 'it is alleged that,' or 'China is land grabbing.'

This is enlightening: http://www.mepc.org/articles-commentary ... -china-sea

Sorry, no it's not. We were discussing something else altogether.

Bunker thread goes off at a tangent shocker! Quelle surprise, as they say in't Guardian.

Is this enlightening?

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n21/chaohua-wang/im-a-petitioner-open-fire

Spender is the only person I know who would pop onto a north of England message board to whip up support for the country that's just played a major part in killing off the British steel industry.

With all due respect, both parts of that are utter horseshit.