Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:


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935 Responses to Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

  1. Abandon ship! says:

    They are so secure in their own smug and cliched bubble chamber, that they don’t even realise what they are saying. The Today team that is.

    Montaquinn:

    “Is it possible to play Margaret Thatcher in a sympathetic light?”

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  2. Abandon ship! says:

    Lots of sneering on the piece about Margaret Thatcher on Today this morning (referred to above).

    Shame on Ian Dale for
    1. Appearing on this embarassing piece about Margaret Thatcher, where the other interviewee was the guy who did her voice for Spitting Image
    2. Whilst appearing, not standing up more strongly to the likes of Montaquinn and Naughtie with their arrogant drivel.

    Still, I suppose Naughtie had to strike back with something strong after the love of his life has been termed “a Stalinist”.

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  3. archduke says:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/

    “0810 Following a spate of violent crime amongst young people in London we hear a special report from ‘G Money’, Presenter and Journalist on the BBC’s Black Music station 1Xtra”

    we’re all going to DIE!!! arrggh!!!

    “0820 25 years on from the Falklands campaign, the BBC is making a drama documentary on Margaret Thatcher and the crisis.”

    lets have a go at Maggie. chortle chortle.

    “0830 Was the war in Iraq justified? We look at regional variations of opinion in the UK.”

    iraq war is baaad, mmkay???

    “0835 The US Chemical Safety Board reports today on the BP Texas City oil refinery blast in March 2005 in which 15 people were killed.”

    capitalism = bad bad bad. its even worse if it happens in america. and worst of all, if its an OIL COMPANY.. for that is the worst of all.

    “0845 The UK’s medicines regulator warns people to stay away from pills called BZP which are said to have health risks.”

    we’re all going to DIE!!

    “0850 A new book co-written by Jeffrey Archer claims to shed a sympathetic new light on the motives for Judas’ betrayal of Christ.”

    ha ha ha. Jeffrey Archer. Judas. Chortle chortle.

    amazing. out of that prime time morning slot, i see a story that is 25 years old, something about iraq (thats 4 years old), something that happened in 2005, a health SCARE, and Jeffrey Archer.

    is there any chance the Today program could , one day, actually do the NEWS?
    you know – stuff thats happening today?

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  4. Field.size says:

    If a man of the stature of Wilberforce can be denigrated & marginalised by the thought Police of the BBC, what chance a politician that they so obviously despise beyond even a hint of “impartiality”.

    Their constant infantile attempts to influence the weak minded into their view of the world is a constant source of mirth to me.
    Those who would be persuaded by these morons deserve to be.

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  5. TPO says:

    Britons think life before the EU was better

    An FT-Harris poll finds that lives for 52 per cent of Britons have got worse since the UK joined the EU in 1973.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=2OE2H30TCVZODQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/03/20/weu20.xml

    Out of those polled – the Germans, French, British, Italian and Spanish – only Spain, which joined in 1986, could muster a majority (53 per cent) who thought life had got better in the EU.
    Spain and its citizens have benefited from the lion’s share of EU funds, regarded as a key factor in its economic success story.

    The BBC will be running the findings of this poll any minute now.

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  6. archduke says:

    tpo – whats even more interesting is that the Germans, Italians and French seemed to have joined the Brits in their scepticism:

    “Out of those polled – the Germans, French, British, Italian and Spanish – only Spain, which joined in 1986, could muster a majority (53 per cent) who thought life had got better in the EU.”

    wall to wall coverage on the BBC any second now. they just love to jump on poll findings dont they? oh wait. maybe not.

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  7. archduke says:

    sent down for 5 years (out in 2 no doubt) for

    “eight months of savagery they and other gang members together committed an estimated 150 robberies.”

    http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23389555-details/'Good%20mugging%20guide'%20gang%20hearing%20halted%20by%20screaming%20social%20worker/article.do

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  8. matthew says:

    this is pretty shocking

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6455879.stm

    “Europhiles and Eurosceptics can argue until the cows come home about whether membership of the EU brings more benefits or disadvantages.
    But both sides can agree that many, if not most, of the laws passed in the 27 member states stem from EU legislation.

    Here are 10 good things the EU has done for the ordinary citizen. ”

    So basically 10 things allegedly positive about the EU, and no coverage of the negative…

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  9. GCcooper says:

    In yet another BBC commissioned poll, a third of those surveyed are clamed to have said they think the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was a Good Thing.

    Which I can only say is possibly the most fearsome resistance to a vicious propaganda siege ever displayed.

    Who knows, perhaps had the BBC not become the mouthpiece for the ‘Not In My Name’ brigade, nine tenths might now think it was a sensible move?

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  10. BaggieJonathan says:

    BBC show ever increasing signs that their ‘news’ is not NEW. You would have thought this was definitional but not for Al Beebzera.

    The Today ‘programme’ is a shining beacon of this principle (perhaps shining beacon is not the right phrase).

    This morning’s example given by others above is alas no exceptional event.

    I have been complaining about In Depth: Muslims In Europe being a permanent fixture when it was not even updated in two months.

    If the argument is that it its an ongoing story it still needs updates or its not NEW.

    If it must persist can we some some other similar sets of articles? Christians In Asia, Buddhists in America, Athiests In Antarctica, Agnostics In Australasia, Hindus In Africa…
    No, thought not.

    You can’t even seem to invest in a dictionary BBC – time you had a very very long rest.

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  11. archduke says:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6455879.stm

    i’ll have a go at fisking this

    easy travel – could be covered by a simple free trade agreement. no need for a multi-billion bureaucracy

    living abroad – ditto

    equal pay & non discrimination – the wonderful EU human rights laws that give more rights to criminals than victims. Votes for prisoners anyone?

    paid leave – the working time directive thats causing massive unemployment in France (with the resultant inflow of about 300,000 young french people seeking work here)

    foreign study – again, could be covered by international treaties. no need for an EU

    cheap flights – err. since when was RyanAir a branch of the EU?

    cheap telephone calls – err. not if you have a mobile.

    consumer protection – errr.. you cant buy cigarettes online from Latvia.

    food labelling – pandering to the GM food hysteria green rent-a-mob.

    clean rivers and clean air – the wonderful recycling nuttiness that resulting in our toxic waste being exported to China and RFID chips being put in wheely bins.

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  12. archduke says:

    oh dear god. the “veil” issue has popped up again.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/default.stm

    i wonder if they’ll drag out Mozzam Begg from his terrorist training camp, ahem, cough,no scrap that – his “islamic bookshop”, to whine about victimhood about the “Moooslims”

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  13. archduke says:

    ” Abandon ship! | 20.03.07 – 9:52 am |”

    just listening to it. utterly bizarre.

    a less schoolboy news organisation would have squared up an right wing Argentine nationalist against Mr Dale. that would have been far more interesting.

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  14. Biodegradable says:

    More from the “Palestinians=Good, Israelis=Bad” Dept.

    Palestinian invents queuing socks
    A West Bank woman has developed special socks to help Palestinians suffering from swollen feet as they wait at Israeli military checkpoints.

    A real Israeli military checkpoint:
    http://www.idfisrael.com/checkpoint.htm

    The BBC, dedicated to the cause of demonizing Jews, whatever the excuse.

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  15. D Burbage says:

    where is pounce?

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  16. archduke says:

    taking a break probably. criticising the BBC involves actually listening to bbc news and reading their website – both are not good for your mental health.

    one needs to take a break from it from time to time.

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  17. Sicktodeath says:

    The Sunday Times publishes an ORB opinion poll (sample of 5000) yesterday.

    In it the majority of Iraqis interviewed say that life is getting better; the majority of Iraqis prefer life now to that under Saddam; less than one in four think the country is even in a state of civil war.

    http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=67

    Fast forward 24 hours and the BBC is reporting an entirely different ICM poll (sample of 1000) today, with an entirely different set of results. Doom and gloom.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6467147.stm

    Funny coincidence that, isn’t it? Especially when you try to find any news about the ORB poll on the BBC website.

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  18. sicktodeathofit says:

    ‘Sicktodeath’

    I’ve found my cyber soul mate!

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  19. IngSoc Is Doublethink says:

    Afternoon chaps.

    GCoopers is pushing the right buttons today me thinks

    I want to try and tie in “The Trap” supposed insight into the ‘1984’ world in which we live in and the utopic, peaceful and innocent Iraq under the rule of Saddam.

    According to the EU Commition on Human Rights (a favourite of the Beeb) in 2002 Saddam’s Government was guilty of “systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” including:
    • Summary and arbitrary executions
    • Rape as a political tool, including actions of the executive.
    • Disappearances into “protective custody’.
    • Public beheadings
    • Children as young as five forcibly removed from there families to receive military and psychological training for recruitment in to Saddam’s Cubs and later Saddam Fayadeen.
    • Political participation was only allowed for the Arab Baath party.
    • Controlled media and political movements including the Iraqi Trade Union movement (spot the Labour link there).
    • Police checkpoints on Iraq’s roads prevented ordinary citizens from traveling abroad without government permission and expensive exit visa. Before traveling, an Iraqi citizen had to post collateral. Iraqi women could not travel outside of the country without the escort of a male relative. The activities of citizens living inside Iraq who received money from relatives abroad were closely monitored.
    • Gathering of people were banned and dispersed with lethal force.

    I could go on to talk about the Iran-Iraq War, the Anfal Campaign, Kuwait and a plethora of other hideous things, but when you consider that before the US and UK turned up, Iraq was a giant death camp.

    And a “million” people turned out in support of this man, because they simply didn’t like GWB and TB. That to me is the real horror.

    The utter sickening hypocrisy is these “voices” urge us to act in Sudan but not in Iraq. They urge us to run from evil rather than confront it, as though Hitler had never happened.

    The Iraqi’s have had 35 years of Uncle Saddam teaching them death and hatred. They have had thirty five years of fear, the very real fear of your children going to the police because you weren’t political correct, or your neighbour denouncing you before you do. Of having your every move watched and death in the guise of an IIS officer. I’ve never heard the “voices” speak out with regards to this.Isn’t it obvious that in a country where most people are under the age of 35 and only know Saddam’s “way” why there is so much violence and hatred today.

    We didn’t support Germany when she was a weak democratic country in the 20’s and that lead to the Nazi’s coming to power.We will do so again in Iraq if we ‘cut and run’.

    So I am glad a “third” (and I believe growing) think that real dictatorship and tyranny needs confronting,but I’m confused,why talk about “our” totalitarian state BBC when you could study Saddam’s instead….

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  20. archduke says:

    throwing passports around like confetti.
    its gone beyond the joke.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6470179.stm

    “An estimated 10,000 passports were issued to fraudulent applicants in 12 months, the Home Office has said.”

    and thats what the HO has admitted too.

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  21. Nigel says:

    One more example to add to the mountain of anecdotal evidence.

    http://www.spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=1925

    At this year’s conference, I was stopped by a BBC radio reporter who was soliciting opinions on the scandal involving Israel’s president. “Should he resign?” asked the reporter.

    “I’m not sure,” I replied. “I don’t know the facts.”

    “Nice to be able to sit on the fence,” the BBC’s seeker of truth responded.

    “Sorry,” I added, “but in my country, someone is innocent until proven guilty.”

    He was obviously disappointed by my wanting to examine the evidence before voicing an opinion. That’s apparently not a requirement for the BBC in its coverage of accusations of Israelis’ transgressions.

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  22. Alan says:

    Al Beeb fails to understand the essentials of Islam; it fails to emphasis this report which gets to the heart of what Islam (and the current leadership in Iran) is about:

    ” 2 journalists go on trial in Azerbaijan for criticising Islam, Muhammad.” (19 Mar.) (Scroll down)

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch

    P.S. I see Rageh Omaar of Al Jazeera is back on Al Beeb (BBC 2) yet again next week, giving us more Islamic fairy-tales, this time about modern child slavery. In his pre-publicity blurb, he says:
    ” Poverty underlies almost all aspects of the phenomenon of modern child slavery.”

    No, it doesn’t, Mr. Omaar; Islam ‘underlies almost all aspects of modern child slavery.’ As Hugh Fitzgerald puts it:

    “What slave trade began earlier, ended (where it ended at all) later, and claimed the greatest number of victims of black African slaves?…

    “Why the Muslim slavers – above all the Arab slavers. They have never apologised, they have never discussed, they have never been asked to make amends.”

    Hugh Fitzgerald, “Reparations” (19 Mar.) (It takes many seconds to connect; then scroll down.)
    http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_category.cfm?cat_id=11

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  23. GCcooper says:

    IngSoc Is Doublethink writes:

    “GCoopers is pushing the right buttons today me thinks”

    Thank you.

    “The utter sickening hypocrisy is these “voices” urge us to act in Sudan but not in Iraq.”

    Indeed, yes. The inherent contradictions in the causes the Left chooses to espouse and those it ignores never fail to amaze me. On the one hand they nagged and cajoled the West until it took (in my view wrongheaded) action in Serbia, yet they remained silent during Saddam’s thuggish regime and have maintained a barrage of abuse and complaint since, because the West did precisely what they had demanded it do elsewhere.

    The same is true of South Africa, where the apartheid regime was the subject of a massive decades-long, campaign, while ‘Butcher Bob’ Mugabe goes about his psychotic business without a single duffle-coated protester to be seen in Trafalgar Sq.

    I s’pose it’s ‘cos ‘e is black, innit?

    In the end you can only conclude that the British Left contains the sorriest mess of canting hypocrites, liars and morons imaginable, and that they should be treated with nothing but scorn and contempt.

    Sadly, their ranks include the majority working in our worthless media.

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  24. archduke says:

    ” GCcooper | 20.03.07 – 2:38 pm”
    just had an example of the loony left on jeremy vine, where a caller wanted 1 million iraqi refugees to come to britain cos it was , of course, “all our fault”.

    i agree – its terrible that skinhead Essex lads are going over with car bombs made in Aldermaston.

    silly me. i should have realised.
    of course , its all our fault.

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  25. Martin Belam says:

    Can I be at least one canting hypocrite, liar and moron to go on record and say I deplore the way the British government and political parties of all hues in the UK have been so silent about the regime in Zimbabwe

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  26. GCcooper says:

    Martin Belam writes:

    “Can I be at least one canting hypocrite, liar and moron to go on record and say I deplore the way the British government and political parties of all hues in the UK have been so silent about the regime in Zimbabwe”

    I’m not picking on you, Mr Belam, but, seeing you have raised this, how do you stand on the Serbia/Iraq issue?

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  27. archduke says:

    bbc radio news:
    councillor charged with prostituting his girlfriend. west midlands.

    no mention whatsoever as to what his party was

    hmmm.. here is the story on the bbc.
    no mention of what party he’s from.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/6470621.stm

    so , how come Sky News mention it in the headline:
    http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1256614,00.html

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  28. . says:

    Why the Future May Not Belong to Islam

    http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=2560&cid=2&sid=2
    .

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  29. Martin Belam says:

    Well, trying to condense very complicated situations down into messageboard soundbites:

    Serbia – there is a long history of Serbian nationalism going back to the late 19th century and beyond – I don’t think without intervention from the West we would have ended up where we are today with relatively peaceful stable states in FYROM, Slovenia, Croatia. The situation in Bosnia may not be sustainable in the long term, and Kosovo and Montenegro seem very small to ever be economically viable IMHO. I visited Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia last year actually – a beautiful region of the world benighted by racial and religious intolerance going back a long, long way. In my view – military intervention a good thing, with a result that will keep a region that has been unstable since about the 7th century at least stable for a while.

    Iraq – I’ve stated on here before that I think the UK govmt mis-“sold” the war in Iraq to the British people, and were dishonourable in doing so. I’ve also stated that if Saddam’s regime was so bad it had to be changed, I don’t understand why we haven’t intervened in Zimbabwe. However, I am also of the view that the whilst I believe the planning for the post-war period in Iraq has been lamentable, it would be immoral to pull troops out now and leave the country in even more of a mess. Unlike some people, I see little point sitting on the sidelines delighting in saying to the U.S.A. “Well, you f***ed that up didn’t you” without offering any kind of practical alternative. I’d also suggest that as a strategy for drawing the world’s Islamic terrorists into one big battle-front which distracts them from planning further spectaculars in the US homeland, and diverts arms away from the Palestine/Israel crucible, it is working very nicely. In my view – removal of Saddam Hussein from power a good thing, but achieved by military intervention carried out under false pretences, which we are morally obliged to stay the course with.

    >> I’m not picking on you

    No problem

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  30. GCooper says:

    Martin Belam writes:

    “In my view – removal of Saddam Hussein from power a good thing, but achieved by military intervention carried out under false pretences, which we are morally obliged to stay the course with.”

    A view with which I entirely agree and which seems perfectly consistent.

    I’m sure you can take the point about some of your fellow colleagues at the BBC, however…

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  31. Umbongo says:

    archduke

    The BBC says the councillor-pimp is “Independent”, Sky says he’s “Tory”. Well this official Sandwell site confirms him as an Independent. For once – BBC 1:Sky 0

    You can’t trust anyone these days!

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  32. Oscar says:

    On the BBC led poll of Iraqis, it should be noted that the Sunday Times poll on Iraq came up with precisely the opposite results. In fact if you look at the detail the contradictions aren’t so great – it’s just that al beeb’s editors insist on creating pessimistic headlines, whatever the news from Iraq. But as we all know – the BBC isn’t really in the business of providing news – as the seriously stupid socks at the Israeli checkpoint ‘story’ well illustrates (thanks for that one BioD).

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1530762.ece

    http://washingtontimes.com/world/20070319-100718-5752r.htm

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  33. Martin Belam says:

    >> For once – BBC 1:Sky 0

    Actually looks a bit more 50:50.

    As far as I can tell in 2004 he was *elected* as a Conservative and has subsequently *become* an indepedent.

    http://www.laws.sandwell.gov.uk/ccm/content/corporateservices/legalanddemocratic/election2004/charlemont-with-grove-vale-ward.en

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  34. Fabio P.Barbieri says:

    To the various people who proposed intervening in Zimbabwe and Darfur? and we would invade them from where? Darfur is lost in the middle of Africa, with the closest possible airport in a friendly country at Njamena, Chad, maybe a thousand mile away, and desert and scrub in between; and Zimbabwe is still supported, alas, by the only neighbour that matters, South Africa. Both areas are landlocked and cannot possibly be accessed from distant parts of the world; this allowed Ian Smith’s regime to defy the world for fourteen years, and now allows Mugabe to do the same. America invaded Iraq from the sea, and Afghanistan from the territory of a very hostile neighbour that had already had a mini-war of its own with the Taliban; neither luxury is available in these circumstances.

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  35. IngSoc Is Doublethink says:

    Martin

    “I’ve stated on here before that I think the UK govmt mis-“sold” the war in Iraq to the British people, and were dishonourable in doing so.”

    I’m interested in the idea of mis-selling because your are assuming I suspect that the UK Government “knew” otherwise.

    But let us concider who was actually spinning what.

    Go back to September 2002,you have Ming Campbell and Drunken Kennedy bleating on about the “evidence” to take us to war. You have hacks writing all manner of things, and you have the PM getting hot under the collar at dinner parties because his mates are saying your an “American poodle”

    He then, stupidly in my opinion, tries to quash all that and releases a amended JIC report for public disclosure in September and an utter farce in November.

    You then get hacks looking for something “new” other than the “known stuff’ discovered by Rutter and Co two years before. There eyes are drawn to the 45 minute claim (of which there are four lines) and that forms the bases of the headline and not on the “meat” of the findings .

    And after we invade, after six months of “searching” the conclusion reached by sections of the media was -no WMD therefore GWB/ TB are lairs.

    And because it didn’t match what the JIC report the smoking gun as far as Al Beeb was concerned said (which is an educated guess because that is after all what intelligence is) and there were eggs on faces in Al Beeb as well, you get the Kelly Affair and the “sexing up” claim.

    You cannot lie about a thing you don’t know, and believe me we didn’t have a clue (we are only starting to just understand now)

    Never mind the broad point that Saddam was engaged in illegal activities (Re Oil for Food) and breaching UN law which was the other reason why we went to war.

    So I suggest Martin that the whole debate has been framed around an agenda from Al Beeb and Chums not the facts stated.

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  36. Martin Belam says:

    >> You cannot lie about a thing you don’t know, and believe me we didn’t have a clue

    Well, someone put Colin Powell’S PowerPoint presentation together didn’t they.

    Also, GCooper did promise earlier he wasn’t picking on me – I was hoping that might extend further 😉

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  37. Steve E says:

    Watching Huw Edwards on News 24 and the One O’clock News today, I was struck by the fact that the man has travelled thousands of miles to speak to us live from Basra, and yet • apparently • couldn’t be arsed to drive a few miles down the road to compile a report on this morning’s handing over of a military base in the centre of the city from British to Iraqi control.

    For a description of the day’s events, the MOD have provided to following…

    http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/FirstCoalitionBaseIsHandedOverToIraqiArmy.htm

    As for an explanation as to Edwards’ motivations?

    Suffice to say, he managed to put to the British commanding officer the latest opinion poll conducted by the Beeb showing that at present two thirds of the nation believe that the invason of Iraq was unjustified. And that, I suppose, justifies his air miles.

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  38. Biodegradable says:

    But as we all know – the BBC isn’t really in the business of providing news – as the seriously stupid socks at the Israeli checkpoint ‘story’ well illustrates (thanks for that one BioD).

    Oscar | 20.03.07 – 4:52 pm

    Still nothing from the Bombers’ Broadcasting Conspiracy about the Hamas bomber caught by the Egyptians while awaiting instrucions, or the Israeli electrician wounded by a Hamas sniper.

    The BBC considers continuous attempts by terrorists on Israel to be irrelevant – we only hear about ‘Israeli incursions’ and the like, giving the impression that the “Palestinians” are mere passive victims awaiting the next Israeli aggression.

    The BBC even had its own correspondent (until he was kidnapped by his ‘friends’) in Gaza who they admitted was there solely to report on the ‘predicament’ of the poor, long-suffering ‘Gazans’.

    Meanwhile, Rocks thrown at Israeli cars south of Bethlehem, and while Al-Beeb assures us that Abbas is a ‘moderate’ and Hamas really is thinking of recognizing Israel Religious extremism slowly, steadily consuming Palestinian society

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6470669.stm
    The current platform talks of “respecting” peace deals, but also the “legitimate right” to all forms of Palestinian resistance, which US and EU say could include terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

    The US and the EU don’t say that – Hamas itself says it and their actions prove it! But, as long as the BBC don’t tell us what’s happening on the ground they’re free to churn out that sort of pro-terror propaganda.

    The BBC, no longer a news gathering organization.

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  39. Oscar says:

    On the subject of Darfur – it’s not widely known (because of course the BBC wouldn’t cover it) that hundreds of assylum seekers are showing up in Israel having escaped the Darfur hellhole and trekked across Egypt. These refugees seem to expect better treatment from the Jewish “apartheid” State than from their fellow Muslims. Interesting that the BBC prefers to record inanities about checkpoint socks than cover a story like this.

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1173700685556

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  40. Sicktodeath says:

    Oscar: ?Oscar | 20.03.07 – 4:52 pm |

    ” the BBC led poll of Iraqis, it should be noted that the Sunday Times poll on Iraq came up with precisely the opposite results. In fact if you look at the detail the contradictions aren’t so great – it’s just that al beeb’s editors insist on creating pessimistic headlines, whatever the news from Iraq.”

    I agree.

    The remarkable thing about the BBC — in this instance, as in so many others — if the way that they create the illusion that there is no argument on a subject. Other large news and media organisations, even when they have clear axes to grind, still seem capable of accepting there is a worldview or an opinion different to their own.

    The BBC instead just does an impression of a gigantic head, fingers in ears going — “Lalalalalalalala — I can’t hear you”

    On the subject of the two surveys though; it’s funny how ORB published their raw data…
    http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=67
    …alongside their findings, whilst the BBC didn’t.

    Could someone please correct me (and post the link) if they did?

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  41. BaggieJonathan says:

    Umbongo,

    I am a local (well -ish as I am just over the borough boundary) and I was a bit surprised to read of Birkett being described as “independant”.
    I seemed to remember him being deputy conservative leader on Sandwell council in the past.

    The local paper was still calling him a conservative 2 days ago

    http://www.expressandstar.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=19&num=55709

    What you will find is that he was (rightly) suspended by the conservatives on the weekend.

    The official council site has clearly already been updated to reflect his suspension.

    I remain to be convinced how that constitutes 1-0 to the BBC!

    In fact the failure to mention his until very recent political allegiance can only be put down to laziness by the BBC or a desire not to embarrass the new great BBC hype hope Dave.

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  42. BaggieJonathan says:

    Additionally if its any interest I think Birkett was originally elected as a LibDem back in the 90’s and he later defected to the Tories.

    If anyone is counting that is…

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  43. Biodegradable says:

    World ‘ignoring Iraqi refugees’ protests the BBC shrilly.

    Meanwhile, Libya Plans to Deport Palestinians.

    Imagine Israel planning to deport “Palestinans” to Jordan or Egypt?

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  44. Sicktodeath says:

    Apologies to “sicktodeathofit” at 20.03.07 – 1:37 pm

    I didn’t see your username. Damn! It was the first thing I thought of. Great minds… and all that.

    I hereby change my username to “stuck-record”

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  45. Biodegradable says:

    BBC Admits Bias?

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  46. Oscar says:

    Some good comments on Have Your Say about the latest Iraq poll – not quite going the beeboid way

    http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=5805&&&edition=1&ttl=20070320170804

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  47. IngSoc is doublethink says:

    Martin

    “Well, someone put Colin Powell’s PowerPoint presentation together didn’t they?”

    Good point

    Indeed they did, and like Al Beeb, the “neo-cons” are guilty of spinning the war and saying “one kick and it will come crashing down”.

    And that is what the “reality” of the Iraq war is in the West-Slogans and spin and not ideas’s and focus.

    And there is the thrust of my attack, the damaging partisan nature of the debate “encouraged” by all the MSM.Is is corrosive and self deluding to blame one guy or one leader when the problem is so much bigger and deeper than simple US “interference” or what one Government paper says. Because the electorate remains polarized and indecisive there remains an impasse were which are in the worst of both worlds of half hearted political commitment. The relationship between the policymakers and the press needs a very close examination because these “narrations” are not serving the public.

    Perhaps reading Dr Anthony Cordesman (from the CSIS) sober reflection should make us think about the overall conduct of our Iraqi endeavour:

    Click to access 070221_british_basra.pdf

    I don’t care about “who” said “what” or “how” like the tabloid form of news that we know get, which is the “quality” of the debate, because this is too greater issue for that, what I do care about is objective thinking regarding the real world problems and what our policymakers going to DO IN DETAIL rather than the same ol’same ol’……

    Issues like Irainian weapons shipments,crude chemical bombs,the “soft” ethnic clensing as Sunni,Kurd and Shia draw up the battle lines in a 900 year old war.

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  48. Pete says:

    Re. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6469783.stm

    I know its only in the planning stage but should we begin complaining now?

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