# Great unhappiness



## Ilovepatnevin (Feb 26, 2009)

When I lived on the Costa Blanca it seemed that the preferred reading of the British was the Daily Mail. In fact, for every one other newspaper there seemed to be at least 20 Daily Mails on sale. Occasionally, it was the only newspaper available.
It did seem to chime with the fact that expats were generally so unhappy with their lives.
I now live somewhere where the British, and their newspapers, are almost impossible to find. But I do catch myself wondering; how many of you read the Daily Mail?


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I do not consider the Daily Mail to be a newspaper. It is a biased, bigoted, dangerous rag that delights in flattering working-class and lower-middle class people into thinking they are 'middle class'. It prints untruths and foments suspicion and distrust of minorities. It is at the same time both prurient and salacious.
It was an ardent supporter of Hitler's regime in the thirties and some columnists seem to hark back nostalgically to this time.
I would be ashamed to be seen with a copy and am saddened to learn that it is the favoured newspaper of British immigrants in Spain. It certainly wasn't in Prague, where The Independent and The Guardian were widely available.
But I do read it
Only online, though, and chiefly to post comments on stories in order to bait the semi-fascist illiterate vox pop posters whose inane drivel either infuriates, amuses me or both.
Give me 'The Sun' any day....a comparatively honest in-yer-face tabloid with a reading age of nine.

PS I am a very happy immigrant to Spain


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Ilovepatnevin said:


> When I lived on the Costa Blanca it seemed that the preferred reading of the British was the Daily Mail. In fact, for every one other newspaper there seemed to be at least 20 Daily Mails on sale. Occasionally, it was the only newspaper available.
> It did seem to chime with the fact that expats were generally so unhappy with their lives.
> I now live somewhere where the British, and their newspapers, are almost impossible to find. But I do catch myself wondering; how many of you read the Daily Mail?



I reads "The Sun" and love it. Not for any other reason than its light, easy and always over reacts! When I'm in a serious mood I read "The Times" But most of the broadsheets take themselves too seriously and are too anal IMO. My exhusband was a journalist with the daily telegraph and he definitely took himself too seriously and thought he was always right!!!!!!!!

As for the Mail, well on the odd occasion when I've read it, I've found it too wordy and too patronising! It kinda reads like its been written for children

Jo xx


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I don't read it. I've heard it gives you cancer of the brain.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thanks, Alca.
I was just about to post suggesting you posted that clip again....
Now I know why I keep getting those headaches lately


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

...... Mind you, there are those who do enjoy reading the Mail and thats fine too. Its not fair to judge people on what they read - its doesnt make them bad people!

Jo xx


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jojo said:


> ...... Mind you, there are those who do enjoy reading the Mail and thats fine too. Its not fair to judge people on what they read - its doesnt make them bad people!
> 
> Jo xx


Well, it's not fine if it turns them into whingeing ill-informed bigots. Bad people or not, if you read the same rubbish every day eventually some of it has to sink in.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> Well, it's not fine if it turns them into whingeing ill-informed bigots. Bad people or not, if you read the same rubbish every day eventually some of it has to sink in.



Ah, but which comes first, do they choose a paper to suit their opinions or do they change their opinions to suit their paper?????

Its also a tad bigoted to judge a person or their personality by the newspaper they read

Jo xxx


----------



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Interesting thread, I would never have believed that the mail was so bad, and the other boring rags were so good. 

Thank goodness that none of them are available here. Over the years I have been misquoted in so many news papers that now I do not waste my money on any.

Are all ex-pats on the Costas unhappy with their lives? if so thank goodness there are only three here. However you must remember that there are those that will moan about life wherever they are, better known as the doom and gloom merchants, or like the Aussies call them Whining P.O.M.'s

Hepa


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojo said:


> Ah, but which comes first, do they choose a paper to suit their opinions or do they change their opinions to suit their paper?????
> 
> Its also a tad bigoted to judge a person or their personality by the newspaper they read
> 
> Jo xxx


I think most people choose the paper to fit their opinions. I certainly do. 
Generally speaking you're right, it's not fair to judge a person by what they read or the music they listen to. I love Wagner and I'm no Nazi My dil reads The Mail every day and she's a mainstream Tory. She is aware that it doesn't reflect her opinions but finds it an easy read on the train.
But there's something about the Mail that's horrible, insidious...like something nasty on your shoe. You see it in the -usually misleading - headlines they use, their choice of stories with a sexual angle to disgust and titillate in equal measure.
Mind you, they did one decent thing in going for the scumbag racist murderers of Stephen Lawrence. Strange that they took up that case but they did and credit where credit's due.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> I think most people choose the paper to fit their opinions. I certainly do.
> Generally speaking you're right, it's not fair to judge a person by what they read or the music they listen to. I love Wagner and I'm no Nazi My dil reads The Mail every day and she's a mainstream Tory. She is aware that it doesn't reflect her opinions but finds it an easy read on the train.
> But there's something about the Mail that's horrible, insidious...like something nasty on your shoe. You see it in the -usually misleading - headlines they use, their choice of stories with a sexual angle to disgust and titillate in equal measure.
> Mind you, they did one decent thing in going for the scumbag racist murderers of Stephen Lawrence. Strange that they took up that case but they did and credit where credit's due.



True!! I'm not sure I choose a paper that reflects my views particularly, altho maybe its subliminal??? Eeeeek, is that why I'm a Sunreader????? I think its more likely that its because for some strange reason its in "my favourites" on my PC, so its easy to glance at and you dont have to pay to read it (unlike a lot of them these days) - I never buy "actual" newspapers, OH brings the telegraph over when he comes cos he buys it at the airport!

Jo xxx


----------



## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

I read the Mail online as research. One thing I will say about it is that the online format is very good. But that's it.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jojo said:


> Ah, but which comes first, do they choose a paper to suit their opinions or do they change their opinions to suit their paper?????
> 
> Its also a tad bigoted to judge a person or their personality by the newspaper they read.
> 
> Jo xxx


The Mail (and to a slightly lesser extent the Express) manipulate people's fears and concerns. They can take practically any story and turn it into something threatening. Check out the "Daily Mail List of Things that Give You Cancer" on Facebook!

I don't judge people by the newspapers they read, but by the views they express, and by how ready they are to listen to someone else's point of view. Mary reads the Daily Mail but she doesn't start threads in the Expat Lounge on virtually every headline that involves some Muslim cleric.


----------



## Ilovepatnevin (Feb 26, 2009)

> Its also a tad bigoted to judge a person or their personality by the newspaper they read.
> Jo xxx


It's their opinions, not their personality, that bothers me. I think if someone chooses to read a paper with specific views on a regular basis then it is a pretty good indication as to what opinions they hold. 
Of course, it could be that all these Mail readers are pinko liberals indulging in some sort of self-flagellation.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

I do find that the Mail, now that they have changed the paper that it is printed on is quite good especially for fish and chips since the oil seeps through less. I do prefer the broadsheets though for use in the loo, they tend to be a little more absorbent and last so much longer.

I used to like the Telegraph for the crossword, it was a tad more challenging than the Times which became more dumbed down under Murdoch and, last time I saw it, seemed to be barely one step above its sister paper, the Sun.

Nowadays, I don't take any newspaper other than, occasionally, Ideal or Jaén. No news is not only good news, it is definitely better!


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Ilovepatnevin said:


> It's their opinions, not their personality, that bothers me. I think if someone chooses to read a paper with specific views on a regular basis then it is a pretty good indication as to what opinions they hold.
> Of course, it could be that all these Mail readers are pinko liberals indulging in some sort of self-flagellation.



hhmmm. We dont want to sound too priggish tho! We all have our different preferences and its good to have variety of opinions

Jo xxx


----------



## Ilovepatnevin (Feb 26, 2009)

I just love comments starting with hhmmmm.

Anyway, back to the point. Is the Mail really so ubiquitous, or is it just my limited experience? What is the ratio of Mail to other papers where you lot live?


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Ilovepatnevin said:


> I just love comments starting with hhmmmm.
> 
> Anyway, back to the point. Is the Mail really so ubiquitous, or is it just my limited experience? What is the ratio of Mail to other papers where you lot live?


Don't get British or any other foreign newspapers here.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Don't get British or any other foreign newspapers here.


Nor here. Every bar has a copy of Marca and the Diario de Cadiz, and we buy El Pais on Saturdays. We have one British couple who drive to Gibraltar every Sunday morning, she does the shopping while he reads the Sunday Telegraph in Morrisons cafe. Other than that, it's the Indy online or whatever visitors from the UK remember to bring in their luggage.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Reading the title of this thread reminded me of the joke about the young Red Indian girl who got wed and her mother was so concerned and worried about her daughter so she stood outside the marital tepee and was over the moon when she thought she heard her daughter cry out "What happiness. Such happiness..." then it was pointed out to her that "happiness" was TWO words!


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Ilovepatnevin said:


> I just love comments starting with hhmmmm.
> 
> Anyway, back to the point. Is the Mail really so ubiquitous, or is it just my limited experience? What is the ratio of Mail to other papers where you lot live?


I've no idea. I live in a small community on the outskirts of Benalmadena (we only have one english neighbour in our road and he's married to a Chillean lady)! I dont know where they'd sell the Daily Mail or any other british newspapers - maybe in the main town or along the seafront??? I guess you could look at people and guess what papers they'd read, but lifes too short lol!


Jo xxx


----------



## Ilovepatnevin (Feb 26, 2009)

I dont know where they'd sell the Daily Mail or any other british newspapers I’m sorry, I obviously haven’t explained myself well. If there are no British papers where you live then you can’t help me with the question I posed.


----------



## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

About 8km from me there's a village with expats livingt in & the local supermarket has papers for them. On the occasions I've looked it seems that the Daily Mail is the most stocked , then the Sun. 
In Lorca itself the news vendor in the main street has the Dail mail, Times & Telegraph but this started due to the local language school asking the old dear who runs it to get them in for students & not because any Brits buy them there !


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

There is a garage on the A7 not far from us that has The Mail plus a selection of Irish and Scottish tabloids but in the village it's only Spanish papers and magazines.
As I said earlier, I read the Maul and other papers online apart from The Times which you have to pay to view.
I feel betrayed and disappointed by The Guardian which was my mentor for decades and now seems the house journal of the well-heeled metropolitan left.
So I read the Torygraph and The Indie.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I've got to just mention that I've just had a browse at the Sun on line and its the headlines I love - just scrolling thru. They really are quite hillarious. Some are clever, some are tacky, but none are boring!!!

Jo xxx


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Sadly my parents read the Mail and it's true to say that their entire political spectrum is based on what the Mail tells them. IMO it is a racist, hideous and almost pointless rag, a terrible waste of trees. My parents delight in the almost senseless rants covered in the Mail about immigration, although they are very happy I am an immigrant in Spain. So the Mail is good for fish and chips?? Trouble is I'd have to buy a copy to find out and that would mean running the risk that people might see me carrying it. I did think of hanging a copy in the loo but then it might damage the soakaway. I used to read the Guardian and The Times in the hope of getting a balanced view. Too expensive over here to justify so I make do with the London Evening Standard online which is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

jojo said:


> I've got to just mention that I've just had a browse at the Sun on line and its the headlines I love - just scrolling thru. They really are quite hillarious. Some are clever, some are tacky, but none are boring!!!
> 
> Jo xxx


Many many years ago I knew the headline writer for the Sun. It's not as easy as you might think and he was paid a lot of money for dreaming them up. And he had a Phd in cosmology....


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

thrax said:


> Sadly my parents read the Mail and it's true to say that their entire political spectrum is based on what the Mail tells them. IMO it is a racist, hideous and almost pointless rag, a terrible waste of trees. My parents delight in the almost senseless rants covered in the Mail about immigration, although they are very happy I am an immigrant in Spain. So the Mail is good for fish and chips?? Trouble is I'd have to buy a copy to find out and that would mean running the risk that people might see me carrying it. I did think of hanging a copy in the loo but then it might damage the soakaway. I used to read the Guardian and The Times in the hope of getting a balanced view. Too expensive over here to justify so I make do with the London Evening Standard online which is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.


I don't know you...but I like you xxx


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

At one time, the Mail was owned by Lord Rothermere and everything in it had to reflect *his *views irrespective of reality.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> At one time, the Mail was owned by Lord Rothermere and everything in it had to reflect *his *views irrespective of reality.


Hence the Maul's support for Hitler's Germany....
Isn't it still largely owned by the Rothermere family?
I vaguely remember reading scandalous, salacious..and very entertaining ..stories about the antics of the late Lord's wife, 'Bubbles' Rothermere...


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Isn't it still largely owned by the Rothermere family?


Sorry Mary, I don't really know, since I don't particularly keep up with that stuff.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Sorry Mary, I don't really know, since I don't particularly keep up with that stuff.


I think it helps to know who ownsd/controls our media, though.
Although it seems that Murdoch owns everything in the UK...


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I think it helps to know who ownsd/controls our media, though.
> Although it seems that Murdoch owns everything in the UK...


Not just the UK (Sun, Times, Sunday Times). Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, Fox Broadcasting Company, Sky, even MySpace ...


----------



## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> ...
> Isn't it still largely owned by the Rothermere family?
> ...


Yes, the current Lord Rothmere is chairman & main shareholder.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> Yes, the current Lord Rothmere is chairman & main shareholder.


I seem to remember that the First Lord Rothermere who gained control of The Mail in the early 1920s was very pro Os the Mos and fascism in general and certainly pro-Hitler. It was probably his influence that led to some British support of the Spanish Fascists/Nationals/Franco while Baldwin was preferring to do nothing.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> I seem to remember that the First Lord Rothermere who gained control of The Mail in the early 1920s was very pro Os the Mos and fascism in general and certainly pro-Hitler. It was probably his influence that led to some British support of the Spanish Fascists/Nationals/Franco while Baldwin was preferring to do nothing.


I'm sure that contributed. Most people have forgotten just how pro-Nazi the British aristocracy and ruling class were pre-war. How many Conservative MPs were interned during the war as Nazi sympathisers? I know there was at least one, Captain Ramsey, but I have a feeling there were more. Hess' ill-fated flight was to a Scottish aristocrat....
Although it mustn't be forgotten that Mosley was a Labour politician...Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster...do you know what that post actually entailed, btw?
The world of the Mail is one of paranoia and dark suspicions....it's almost as if readers get a sexual frisson from reading that they are to be hit yet again by a 'middle-class stealth tax' or 'swamped by a tide of Romanian gypsy beggars'...
I read somewhere that the answer to any leading question posed in a Mail headline is 'No'. 
So, recently: 'Is Camilla going to have to curtsey to Kate?' 'Will the Coalition last five years?' 'Will wi-fi fry our brains?'.....No,no and no....
Sorted.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Although it mustn't be forgotten that Mosley was a Labour politician...Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster...do you know what that post actually entailed, btw?


The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch. The Duchy of Cornwall provides income to the Prince of Wales.
The duchy comprises 46,200 acres, including key urban developments, historic buildings, and farm land in many parts of England and Wales, as well as large holdings in Lancashire. As of fiscal year 2010, it is valued at £348 million. The Sovereign is not entitled to the capital of the portfolio nor to capital profits. Revenue profits are distributed to the Sovereign, and are subject to income tax. *The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster* is a Government Minister appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Chancellor is 'answerable to Parliament' for the running of the Duchy. In addition to holding land in Lancashire, the Duchy of Lancaster also exerts some powers and ceremonial duties of The Crown in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the Furness area of Cumbria, which together form the County Palatine of Lancashire. Since the Local Government Act 1972, the Duchy holds and exerts the right to appoint Sheriffs and Lords Lieutenant in the ceremonial counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire, including those areas from the historic county boundaries of Cheshire and Yorkshire.


----------

