No it hasn’t. The Independent also names a second witness on it;
*A second eyewitness Clarke Rothwell told the Examiner the man shouted “Britain First, Britain First”. She was reportedly within yards of the attack in Birstall.
He added: “I looked round and there was a guy standing over a woman on the floor. He seemed to have what looked like an old gun, like a musket, in his hand and he shot her again in the middle. He then seemed to shoot a third time, towards her head or face.*
Dunno what you’re talking about “unconfirmed if she was the target”, the nutjob shot the poor woman three times then stabbed her a bunch of times, how in the hell is that “unconfirmed”.
Link to retraction, please? I’ve read some reported hearing it and some reported not hearing it, but not a retraction, and I’d be interested.
Still, it does come down to the “don’t report until you have a solid grasp on things” mentality that I wish news outlets had, but they don’t. And wouldn’t keep viewers/readers if they did - as long as some other agency did report.
But seriously, when you look back six months later on stories that broke fairly real-time, the amount misinformation is staggering.
I’m not sure why we have to give a reminder in every breaking news thread. At this point I won’t give a warning but it’s a close thing at this point. Let me remind you and everyone about the rule once more. Do not hijack or derail the thread.
[QUOTE=Ed Zotti]
No political/religious jabs in breaking news threads in MPSIMS
This is not a new rule but rather codifies the existing informal guidelines.
MPSIMS threads are often started to call attention to breaking news stories. Many posters value these threads because they offer new information and multiple cites about the event in one place. Often the information is rapidly changing and these threads can move fast. One of the advantages of the SDMB is that with many posters from around the world we often have a poster local to the situation or even involved who can give unique insights.
Unfortunately, since these types of threads commonly involve hot-button issues, they often fall prey to hijacks and rants about political, religious or other emotionally charged subjects. MPSIMS is not the place for such comments, which detract from the usefulness of breaking-news threads. If you wish to use a current event as a springboard for a commentary about a hot-button issue, please post it in Great Debates or the Pit. You may post a link to your GD or Pit post in MPSIMS, but don’t use that as an excuse to rehash your argument.
Posters starting threads about breaking news stories may wish to identify them with “breaking news” or similar in the title. However, that’s not required.
All posters are reminded to be considerate of other users and continue to observe the above rule. Any violation will be strictly moderated.
[/QUOTE]
ETA: I will update the thread title to reflect the death of MP Cox.
Just to add, the UK doesn’t really have a state-level equivalent in England. There is the UK parliament, but no England-wide or regional legislating body as in Scotland or (to a much more limited degree) Wales. As with Washington DC, the UK Parliament also governs England-and-Wales as a region (or just England for devolved remits). Local government is administered by the County Council. Remember that the population of the entire UK is around the same as California + Texas and a bit smaller than Michigan in square miles, or less than two Canadas by population and a bit less than two Nova Scotias by area.
I didn’t know Jo Cox, but the more I read about her this evening, the more I wish I had; she sounds like she was an exceptional person, and we need all the exceptional people we can get. Her friends and, especially, her family must be reeling - no one expects this kind of thing to happen to MPs.
The guy who did it sounds like he might have been ill - I think it would be a mistake to ascribe this to Britain First, or racism more generally, or any other ideology. Although I did think this article was well-written and made a good point. I hope he gets proper treatment.
Of course he was ill. It’s not a rational political move. That doesn’t mean that his illness, his impulses, were not shaped by racism, and triggered by Brexit rhetoric.
That’s a more generous interpretation of the current campaigns than most objective people would venture. Did you see Nigel’s new poster campaign, unveiled this morning?
This is a Daily Mail link, for balance and shit
The dog whistle is all too suddenly audible to all.
Not really “immigrants” I think. All those royals of Europe are intricately related, and the last king/queen of England who wasn’t born in the isles was George II, over 230 years ago.
My WAG theory is that the general hateful xenophobic culture that has pervaded the whole world lately is influencing the easily-swayed, including the mentally ill. There’s no one person or group to blame, it’s just a pervasive miasma.
