Unpopular Opinions You Hold

[Parafox]

1 minute ago, Facecloth said:

Not what he said though. He said he still has plenty of support and saying he's loathed is ignoring a large chunk of the population who do like him.

fair response 

[peach0000]

8 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Did you pay attention to his policies and proposals for any government he might lead? Not saying you're a Corbyn supporter btw.

Facecloth responded as well as I could. Was more pointing out that he has a significant proportion of the population who like him and that can’t be easily over looked.

 

Edit: just for clarity I’m definitely not a hardened Corbyn supporter but I do believe there was some merit in some of his policies even though there was a lot I disagreed with. I voted Labour as I believed it was better than the alternative and I still do believe that.

Edited 15 February 2021 by peach0000

[Nalis]

This is for the before covid times and hopefully the times ahead - Going to live acts who were legends (but are now past it) is shite.

 

My old housemate was obsessed with doing this and seeing people before they died but most of them were awful live. James Brown was a legend but I've seen him live about 15 years ago - was utter shite, felt embarrassed for him in the end. Not his fault obviously as he wants a last pay day but we shouldnt pretend it is any good. Go and see a decent local band instead, far better quality.

Edited 16 February 2021 by Nalis

[The Bear]

I saw James Brown at a V Festival in either 1999 or 2000. He was still just about capable back then, but still looking old 

[worth_the_wait]

On 31/01/2021 at 10:46, worth_the_wait said:

I was going to say something similar.
 
In the last fortnight, on several occasions the BBC have put up in the news headlines "player racially abused on social media".   All that happens is that a couple of days later, another idiot does the same.   It's called the "copycat effect".
 
Best to just privately report it to the police, and let them investigate and take the appropriate action.   Most people who spend their life on social media abusing people are idiots, and can usually be tracked down fairly quickly.  (unless they happen to be using the dark web, or a non-registered burner phone ... tracking via IP address is pretty straightforward).
 
One of the reasons they don't publicise suicides, is that it has a strong copycat effect.  This may sounds bonkers, but it is absolutely true.   Numerous studies around the world have shown that when they publicise it happening in areas, they get an increase over the following days/weeks.
 
In a similar way, they also try not to publicse bomb hoaxes during period of tension or terrorism.   It just encourages loads more idiots to follow suit.
 
And in the late 1970/80's, they generally only publicsed major disturbances at football matches ... because they knew that by publicing football hooliganism - showing fans invading pitches, fighting, smashing up buses and trains ... it had a copycat effect, and encouraged 1000's more to behave like that.

 

Apologies for bumping my own post from a few weeks ago, but the journalist Martin Samuel wrote this today ...

 

 

Publicising the racist posts isn't stopping the contagion

 

In the month after Marilyn Monroe died from an overdose of barbiturates, instances of suicide in America went up 12 per cent.

 

This is contagion. It is the reason the reporting of suicide, particularly celebrity suicide, must be sensitive. Suicide cannot become inspirational or aspirational.

 

After Gary Speed’s death, there was an ill-considered campaign on social media to make him Coach of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality awards. Those who work in the field of mental health were horrified. What message would that send to those entertaining thoughts of suicide? Kill yourself and win a prize? Kill yourself and everyone loves and remembers you?

 

What is happening now, with the abuse of black footballers on social media, is contagion, too.

 

The more it is publicised the more impact it seems to be having on some very sick minds. Decisions will soon have to be made.

 

Between 1984 and 1987 there was a growing spate of suicides on the Vienna subway network. One track even became known as ‘the suicide line’ due to the frequency. A working group, the Austrian Association for Suicide Prevention, developed media guidelines and initiated discussions which culminated in an agreement to abstain from reporting on cases of suicide.

 

By the end of 1987, the rate had fallen by 75 per cent, a drop sustained for the next five years.

 

Those who campaign against racism talk of highlighting the issue by ensuring instances of abuse on social media are publicised and stay central to the debate. Yet it isn’t going away. If anything, it is getting worse.

 

Nobody wants to silence black voices, or to tell black footballers to simply block or ignore, but the present approach is failing.

 

The social media giants have already announced they will continue to support online anonymity and will not introduce verification to identify those who perpetrate abuse.

 

The intention is to focus on moderation and closing accounts. Yet this is hopeless too. The complexities of verification are well known, particularly in countries that do not value freedom of speech, but it is far harder to reopen a verified account, once closed, because it requires official forms of identification.

 

At the moment, Sausageface48 can abuse Anthony Martial and, if closed down, reopen immediately as Moggymush21 and carry on as before.

 

And when that little circle of viciousness is reported in headlines, the anonymous user behind it knows he has been noticed. Meanwhile, a like-minded creep is noting the effect and fancying some of the dirty fame.

 

And that’s contagion.

 

 

[Free Falling Foxes]

I think 'Taking the knee' has a similar response. Those who are so inclined will rebel and post even more racist stuff and, perhaps, more likely to carry out hate crimes.

 

There already was/is a anti racist stance in sport generally and football in particular before 'taking the knee'.

 

I even found myself sighing and muttered 'get on with it now' when the players took the knee before the Liverpool match.

[LCFCCHRIS]

User verification is an awful idea IMO. A logistical, financial, and privacy nightmare. Better to have a more robust auto detection and moderation system.

 

IP banning is another option for repeat offenders. Of course, some would get around it with a VPN, but a lot wouldn't bother. 

 

 There will always be idiots at the end of the day, people purely out there to be on the wind up, 'trolls', these people even exist outside of social media. I think if you want to allow comments on a platform, you'll never remove entirely the hateful ones.

[Corky]

1 hour ago, The Bear said:

I saw James Brown at a V Festival in either 1999 or 2000. He was still just about capable back then, but still looking old 

Did you feel good about it?

[The Bear]

17 minutes ago, Corky said:

Did you feel good about it?

Yeah. But then again, I knew that I would. 

[foxile5]

18 hours ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

I think 'Taking the knee' has a similar response. Those who are so inclined will rebel and post even more racist stuff and, perhaps, more likely to carry out hate crimes.

 

There already was/is a anti racist stance in sport generally and football in particular before 'taking the knee'.

 

I even found myself sighing and muttered 'get on with it now' when the players took the knee before the Liverpool match.

It's a bullshit gesture that makes everyone feel like they're doing something powerful. The double twats put their hands up Jesse Owens style - multi millionaires playing football in empty stadiums are so obviously comparable to a black man triumphing over white men in front of Hitler. 

 

The real power of this gesture can be seen in Colin Kapaernick - the NFL star who started this trend of 'taking the knee'. He's still out of a job for standing up to black persecution. Still not playing football. So if, in the times of time super woke, this fruitless gesture can't get back a role for the man who started using it as a form of protest how the **** is it supposed to end racism? 

 

And as a gesture it makes no ****ing sense in the context of the united kingdom. Kapaernick did it as a protest to the national anthem. Something Americans do before sports games and the expectancy is to stand. It was a mark of protest. What, exactly, are premier league footballers rebelling against? There's no anthem playing and no expectancy to stand as a mark of respect. 

 

In short it's ****ing stupid and the sense of satisfaction they get from doing is entirely unwarranted. Those doing the black power fist are the biggest of pricks. 

[leicsmac]

15 minutes ago, foxile5 said:

It's a bullshit gesture that makes everyone feel like they're doing something powerful. The double twats put their hands up Jesse Owens style - multi millionaires playing football in empty stadiums are so obviously comparable to a black man triumphing over white men in front of Hitler. 

 

The real power of this gesture can be seen in Colin Kapaernick - the NFL star who started this trend of 'taking the knee'. He's still out of a job for standing up to black persecution. Still not playing football. So if, in the times of time super woke, this fruitless gesture can't get back a role for the man who started using it as a form of protest how the **** is it supposed to end racism? 

 

And as a gesture it makes no ****ing sense in the context of the united kingdom. Kapaernick did it as a protest to the national anthem. Something Americans do before sports games and the expectancy is to stand. It was a mark of protest. What, exactly, are premier league footballers rebelling against? There's no anthem playing and no expectancy to stand as a mark of respect. 

 

In short it's ****ing stupid and the sense of satisfaction they get from doing is entirely unwarranted. Those doing the black power fist are the biggest of pricks. 

The point here about the overall ineffectiveness of it all is absolutely valid.

 

The rather unfortunate question that follows, however, is...what *is* the best way to deal with the matter? Education and the advance of society seems to have done a lot of work in addressing racism in the UK (though clearly not all of it), but that certainly doesn't seem to be true across the pond, to say nothing of other places - or if it is, it is working way too slowly and costing far too much in terms of lives and futures while it does. 

[foxile5]

7 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

The point here about the overall ineffectiveness of it all is absolutely valid.

 

The rather unfortunate question that follows, however, is...what *is* the best way to deal with the matter? Education and the advance of society seems to have done a lot of work in addressing racism in the UK (though clearly not all of it), but that certainly doesn't seem to be true across the pond, to say nothing of other places - or if it is, it is working way too slowly and costing far too much in terms of lives and futures while it does. 

Oh absolutely there's a question in how to address it. But are people considering the answer whilst they're all patting each other on the back for adoption am Americanism? 

 

I doubt it. 

 

I have no solution for ending racism other than time. It's better than it was twenty years ago but not as good as it will be in twenty years. 

[BenTheFox]

Going to the cinema is a dreadful experience. I've not been in over seven years. 

Edited 17 February 2021 by BenTheFox

[leicsmac]

19 minutes ago, foxile5 said:

Oh absolutely there's a question in how to address it. But are people considering the answer whilst they're all patting each other on the back for adoption am Americanism? 

 

I doubt it. 

 

I have no solution for ending racism other than time. It's better than it was twenty years ago but not as good as it will be in twenty years. 

I agree, but not about the bolded - things are better in the UK, but I'm not sure at all that things are better in that way in enough places over the world than they were twenty - or more to the point, five to ten - years ago.

 

Perhaps it's social media acting as a magnifier, but there does seem to have been stasis at best and a backslide at worst on that in recent times.

[Tuna]

21 minutes ago, BenTheFox said:

Going to the cinema is a dreadful experience. I've not been in over seven years. 

Last time I went was for Skyfall in 2015.

 

Correction! It appears I can do better...It was 2012 

Edited 17 February 2021 by Tuna

[The Bear]

3 hours ago, BenTheFox said:

Going to the cinema is a dreadful experience. I've not been in over seven years. 

Best to book last minute and pick screenings with very few people in. 

[Free Falling Foxes]

7 hours ago, BenTheFox said:

Going to the cinema is a dreadful experience. I've not been in over seven years. 

I could never understand why folk need to load up with sweets - especially noisy ones and drinks - especially Slurpy ones.

If that isn't bad enough, people start chatting to one another during the less captivating scenes. Then there's the cvnt who keeps kicking the back of your seat and those who have already seen the film before and whisper to their mate, 'This is a good bit' or 'He's the one who gets his arm ripped off later'.

I could go on.......

[LiberalFox]

Cinema is exclusively for kids and families or going on a date when you are 13 imo. 

[bovril]

I like going to the cinema on my own, especially to see a film that hasn't been widely released. Is that an unpopular opinion? 

[peach0000]

Cinemas are expensive, noisy and on the whole uncomfortable. Would never choose to go to one! 

[Nalis]

2 hours ago, peach0000 said:

Cinemas are expensive, noisy and on the whole uncomfortable. Would never choose to go to one! 

Depends on the film. Most films are fine to watch on tv with little added value by going to the cinema. Films like Dunkirk though really benefit from the cinematic experience.

[Oxfordfox83]

On 13/02/2021 at 15:51, peach0000 said:

I like VAR. Get's it right more than wrong.

Should bring out VAR for apostrophes...

[Oxfordfox83]

On 14/02/2021 at 20:46, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Brand Boris works.

It's baffling to many people, yes.

But it clearly works.

The gaffe-prone walking-disaster is in charge of a party which has led in 16 of the past 17 opinion polls.

Brand Boris works.

It’s easy to lead in a disaster-you have a common enemy to distract from the absolute shitshow of a party you’re in charge of.

 

Also, Myra Hindley would have beaten Jeremy Corbyn. I blame Corbyn entirely for enabling a party that has Priti Patel *still* in a job, Chris Grayling *still* in a job, and for producing an opposition-free zone while the only interests served belong to the mates of the cabinet.

 

I agree it works though, because everyone seems to know this and he’s still apparently popular. 

[Oxfordfox83]

On 16/02/2021 at 15:27, The Bear said:

I saw James Brown at a V Festival in either 1999 or 2000. He was still just about capable back then, but still looking old 

I saw him at V99, amazing vibe for a kid at a rock-heavy festival. Loads of middle aged black women dancing in space-I loved every second (but I was 16, so maybe not that sophisticated...)

[thankyouleicester]

I can't stand people that use mental health as an excuse for NOT working. I am diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, yet I still take my tablets and go to work every day.