58 Responses to Open thread

  1. Heads on poles says:

    What is the connection between
    the BBC and Apple?
    Last week on the Toady programme, an announcement was made that Apple were going to release a new product today.
    The Toady anchorman asked “what is it, what does it do?”
    The answer was:
    “we don’t know”
    Fantastic.
    Have a look at their (our?) website to see what is going on with everything Apple – do they get free toys I wonder?
    BTW, with all the fuss the BBC makes about the iphone, it only has a 17% market share, you wouldn’t think that was the case to listen to them.

       1 likes

    • Scott M says:

      Wow – one single product has a 17% share of the entire mobile phone market? In such a disparate market, that’s actually quite an achievement.

         1 likes

    • Asuka Langley Soryu says:

      What is the connection between the BBC and Apple? 

      They’re both make overpriced, substandard products which’re liked only by elitist, semi-literate faggots. However, at I have a choice in whether I buy one of Apple’s abortions.

         1 likes

    • Guest says:

      I must say I thought using the proxy of a long and rambling, but positive ‘review’ by a more than occasional BBC employee seemed an interesting commercial endorsement that many competitors must have envied.

      Like so much… unique. Should a few eyebrows get cranked, one s sure our money will get used for a U2-esque whitewash and lessons will, again, be learned.

      Meanwhile many more iPhones will be purchased to ensure that only those who can enhance the narrative get invited on to ensure events get ‘interpreted’ ‘correctly’.

         1 likes

  2. mr angry says:

    Echo
    It wouldn’t be the first time the BBC decides to promote one technology over others. I’m sure others have noticed how Twitter is being championed (given free publicity) from an institution that as one of its justification for imposing this yearly tax on the owners of TV sets by their refusal to generate funds through advertising. I digress.
    The main point I want to make with respect to twitter is as follows…
    While I can see the atraction  for famous people with their feeblminded star struck followers.
    BBC radio presenters seem to have no awareness that  twitter might be a different experience for their  not in the public spotlight listners. 
    Eric

       1 likes

    • Martin says:

      I’m reminded of Stephen Fry on Top Gear who displayed his homosexual cruising application (in a discussion with Clarkson about the iphone that has now appeared in a couple of Top Gear episodes) that allowed you to track local homosexuals. Now it was a bit of fun, but would the BBC have allowed Top gear to go out if a non homosexual guest had an application on his phone that allowed him to track female prostitutes for sex?

      I think we all know the fat ugly wimmin who run the BBC would have strongly objected.

         1 likes

      • Mailman says:

        Martin,

        I wouldnt get too caught up in what Top Gear is doing…especially since Clarkson takes the p1ss out of al beeb at every opportunity.

        Mailman

           1 likes

  3. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Oh, dear.  A blow to those who want the “war criminals” in the Bush Administration to be strung up:

    Justice Official Clears Bush Lawyers in Torture Memo Probe

    Seeing as how this week’s BBC top story – other than footballer sex stories and Haiti – is the Chilcot inquiry and the hope of busting Blair for crimes related to Iraq, I wonder if they’ll be addressing this on Today soon?

    Now the left is going to be upset: an upcoming Justice Department report from its ethics-watchdog unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), clears the Bush administration lawyers who authored the “torture” memos of professional-misconduct allegations.

       1 likes

  4. David Preiser (USA) says:

    I wonder if the BBC will inform you about this?

    Harriet Harman, Ed Miliband, Ken Livingtone, and the man who justified killing British troops

    Two members of the Cabinet are to speak at the same event as a leading Muslim radical who has justified the killing of British soldiers in Iraq, praised a spiritual leader of al-Qaeda, and denied the Mumbai attacks were “terrorism.”
    Azad Ali will speak at today’s “Progressive London” conference organised by Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London, alongside Harriet Harman, the leader of the House of Commons and Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary. 
    Mr Ali, a civil servant for the Treasury, was suspended from his job last year after praising Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden’s key mentor. Writing on his blog, he described Azzam as one of the “few Muslims who promote the understanding of the term jihad in its comprehensive glory” as both a doctrine of “self-purification” and of “warfare.”

    Well, since most BBC employees agree with Azzam, and wouldn’t dream of tarnishing senior Labour figures now that the election cycle has begun, they’ll probably keep shtum.

    Or maybe it’s just that online access to anything with Andrew Gilligan’s byline is blocked at the BBC offices, and Andrew Neil isn’t in to share his copy of the Telegraph, so the intrepid, unbiased reporters at BBC News just don’t know about it.

       1 likes

  5. Martin says:

    So when will the BBC report that Barry isn’t going ot get his terrorist trials in New york after all? I wonder how the BBC will spin that one?

       1 likes

  6. David vance says:

    Asuka

    Please mind your language. “Faggots” is not appropriate. Thanks.

       1 likes

    • Asuka Langley Soryu says:

      Sure thing. But what about the suffix ‘-fag’? i.e. Emofag, Indiefag, Ecofag, &c. Is that inappropriate?

         1 likes

      • deegee says:

        Surely none of the above.  Not everybody who uses Apple products an elitist, semi-literate faggot. Actually I object to the insulting semi-literate and elitist more than the faggot slur.

        In the interest of transparency I intend to buy an iPad especially as Amazon’s Kindle and all the main competitors is still not available in my country.

           1 likes

        • Biodegradable says:

          I use two Macs, a G4 Quicksilver and a MacBook. I also have an iPod.  😛

             1 likes

          • Philip says:

            Counterjihad (non-) Fag here too: Souped-up iMac and a Macbook, various iPods – no iPhone though, just a crappy old PAYG Sony Ericsson that does the job and syncs to the Macs.

            My other half also has three (yes three!) macs and an iPhone  😀

            No faggotry here then (and we’re reasonably literate too).

               1 likes

  7. David vance says:

    Debate here can be passionate, witty, acidic but not vulgar. Please help keep it that way.

       1 likes

  8. George R says:

    BBC hasn’t got around yet to reporting the latest in Brown’s anti-bullying campaign:

    “Angry Gordon Brown ‘hit out at aide and yanked secretary from her chair'”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247357/Angry-Gordon-Brown-hit-aide-yanked-secretary-chair.html#ixzz0eC2Ie9XM

       1 likes

  9. George R says:

    This following report is in the ‘Times’; there’s no reason to expect the BBC to pick up on it, is there, given the subject-matter?:

    “Audit Commission’s anti-Tory plot”

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7009751.ece

     One anti-Tory quango, the BBC, not criticising another, the Audit Commission.

       1 likes

  10. deegee says:

    What would the BBC advise the British Government to do?
    Long history of Israel’s ‘covert killing’

    It does take a PC mind to write this paragraph.
    Among the best documented of Israel’s assassinations were a wave of killings of pro-Palestinian militants in Paris, Nicosia, Beirut and Athens, carried out in response to the hostage crisis at the Munich Olympics in 1972 which resulted in the deaths of 11 Israelis.

    How about Palestinian (not pro, that implies they were not Palestinian)? Terrorists (if the murder of 11 athletes at the Olympics is not clearly terrorism the word has no meaning)? Munich Massacre not hostage crisis? Two Isrealis were killed in the kidnap event and nine when the Palestinian terrorists blew up the helicopter with their captives and opened fire on the wreckage not resulted in the deaths as if it was an accident?

    Still, these are old complaints. It is the implication that the UK should treat declared enemies who are also the killers of its citizens as untouchable unless a court of law rules for the death penalty that worries me. Under what circumstances would the BBC reccomend armed force beyond it’s borders to protect its citizens?

       0 likes

  11. David Preiser (USA) says:

    A Tea Party-backed candidate for governor of Illinois has just held a fundraiser, and had Lech Walesa as the keynote speaker.  I didn’t comment about this before because I figured that, even though Walesa is a major political figure from a historical perspective, he’s doing this more because the guy is of Polish descent than because of any shared political values.  So I didn’t mention it as a sign of the increasing importance and profile of the Tea Party movement, or complain that the BBC wasn’t reporting it.

    However, it seems that I was wrong.  Walesa has more to say than just supporting someone of Polish descent.


    Walesa says his endorsement is about more than merely sharing Polish heritage. He believes the Hinsdale businessman would bring a new honest approach to Illinois government.
    “Because he has no baggage. He is open. He can put things in order. Clean house,” said Walesa.
    The former Polish president is well aware of the stain of corruption in Illinois politics. He joked, tongue-in-cheek, that he won’t need to visit his chosen candidate in prison.

    (The last two governors of Illinois have gone to prison for corruption.  It’s the Chicago Way.)

    Adrzejewski is running for the Republican nomination, so this is yet another example of the Tea Party movement trying to influence the Republican Party, and not – as the BBC and defenders of the indefensible would have you believe – the other way around.  The BBC won’t report this because it would make the Tea Party movement look good.

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  12. Future History of Great Britian says:

    Womas hour, all the problems with not enough Chinese women? 24 million men without a women they report? Why whats wrong with women from other countries? I thought it was rasist they way they reported it, are the chinese only going to marry within their race?

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  13. David Preiser (USA) says:

    More info on Lech Walesa’s appearance in Illinois to support a Tea Party-backed candidate for the Republican nomination for governor.

    Walesa agrees that the US is slipping towards Socialism

    I think he’d probably be one to know it when he sees it.  The BBC won’t tell you about this, as it will detract from the Narrative.

       0 likes

  14. Marky says:

    Reading through some Telegraph comments I noticed this:

    “This might help explain the AGW bias of the BBC, the Environment Agency, some Governments and some Universities.

    http://www.iigcc.org/index.aspx

    “The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) is a forum for collaboration on climate change for European investors. The group’s objective is to catalyse greater investment in a low carbon economy by bringing investors together to use their collective influence with companies, policymakers and investors. The group currently has over 50 members, including some of the largest pension funds and asset managers in Europe, and represents assets of around €4trillion. A full list of members is available on the membership page”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/7113594/We-need-facts-not-spin-in-the-climate-debate.html

    http://www.iigcc.org/membership.aspx

       0 likes

  15. Heads on poles says:

    BBC have been having a dig at Boris Johnson all day.
    Interestingly, they’ve sought opinion from the opposition within County Hall to back up their arguments.
    When the red newt lover didn’t raise the council tax, the BBBC didn’t say a word.
    Boris does the same and the word on their lips today is cuts.
    Cute.
    ipads for all…..

       0 likes

    • All Seeing Eye says:

      Say “cuts in the State” to me and I’ll reply, “Excellent start, but whatever they are they could and should be deeper”.

      But yes, his small scratching of the surface of London bloat seems to involve firstborn killing in Beeb-land, doesn’t it?

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  16. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Here’s an advertisement for a Radio 3 programme masquerading as a news report:

    Music and politics colour Greek pilgrimage to Trebizond

    I have an interest in music, and it’s always amusing to read about the latest Greek-Turk scuffle, so I checked this out.  I thought it was legitimate news story, seeing as how there was a link to it on a BBC News Online page, and it certainly has all the trappings of a news article.

    I had no reason to suspect it might not be a legitimate news item until the fourth paragraph, which began:


    Last August I was at the monastery…

    I kept reading, expecting to be brought into the present at any moment.  That never happened, and I was a bit confused until I saw this at the bottom:

    Tom de Waal presents Songs of Trebizond on <!– S ILIN –> BBC Radio 3 <!– E ILIN –> at 2150GMT on Sunday, 31 January. He is a specialist on the Caucasus with the Carnegie Endowment in Washingto

    And there it was.  An advertisement masquerading as a news article.  Is this really necessary? Doesn’t say much for the integrity of BBC News Online.

       0 likes

  17. George R says:

    BBC’s pro-Election campaign (cont’d):

    Labour and the BBC have decided to ignore this:

    “Rattled Brown fights off claims of violence to staff”

    http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/155409/Rattled-Brown-fights-off-claims-of-violence-to-staff

       0 likes

  18. deegee says:

    Not strictly BBC but relevant, relevant. The Herziliya Conference second webcast on Israel’s strategic communications starts at 12:15 Israel Time i.e 10:15 Greenwich.

    Herzliya Conference
    Webcast

       0 likes

  19. It's all too much says:

    Anyone notice the level of coverage that the BBC is giving to the tax protest by the patron saint of mockney bolshevism – William Bragg.  This appauling remnant of the militant tendancy has taken it upon himself to represent me as being “unwilling to stand for this anymore” in his support of the universal bankers bonus scapegoating exercise being conducted by the socialists.  You see it is all their fault that the country is bankrupt, and nothing to do with a wildly financially incontinent government pi**ing away 200 billion pounds a year more than it takes in in tax.

    I do hope that the tax may sequestrates his assets in leafy Dorset, and chucks him into prison.  You can be certain that they would do that to me if I refused to pay taxes until such times as all the existing laws relating to benefit fraud were properly enforced.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8467309.stm

    Would the BBC stand for this if you changed the word “bankers” for any other group?  It seems that bankers are, in BBC eyes,  entirely legitimate hate figures.  Would Bragg, the self proclaimed hero of the workers (how many calluses are on his hands?), be willing to protest at the entirely obscene incomes and despicable behaviour of our footballers?  Thought not, the actual working class loves football and loves spending money on what they want.  What Bragg really represents is the non-working class who sit in their over heated houses, with me picking up the bills,  and demand more money from my pocket whilst wailing about how unfair it is that I will  inherit a few thousand pounds from my relatives when they die.

    There is no legitimate reason for this level of coverage of Bragg.  Did Charles Moore get loads of air time when he refused to pay his Television tax?

       0 likes

  20. Biodegradable says:

    Israel disciplines top officers on white phosphorus

    Yes indeed, while Hamas denies targeting civilians by firing rockets aimed at Sderot, where there are no military objectives, at the exact times of day when children are going to and leaving school. But the BBC simply can’t give credit where it’s due so they have a sub-heading:

    ‘Buried’

    Our correspondent says the admission was buried in the document handed to the United Nations on Friday.

    What is that supposed to mean? That Israel didn’t really want anybody to see their “admission”?

    On a similar theme see the second video linked from Harry’s Place.

    The BBC don’t want us to know that terrorists teach their small children to kill Jews; not Israelis or even Zionists; Jews.

       0 likes

  21. ryan says:

    I recommend this for a laugh… http://twitter.com/eyespymp

    Here’s a taste….

    Friday: grumpy beret wearing Diane Abbot seen stocking up as she shuffles back up to the 5th floor. Hot Choc with marshmallows and 2 Bagels!

       0 likes

  22. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC pressing for a more “equal” society once again.  Justin Webb on Today leads Michael Gove and author Richard Wilkinson through a set-up to make the Tories look less than helpful. Gove, of course, fell for it.

    Ol’ Justin’s main goal was to smack the Tories with the theme of Wilkinson’s book: societies which are more “equal” tend to do better.  He was very keen to point out the additional claim from the book that marriage (or at least a two-parent situation) is not an important factor in childrens’ success.  Only “equality”.  According to Wilkinson, it is wealth equality, full stop, which prevents the success of children, basically dismissing all cultural factors.

    Justin, still retaining at least one positive memory of his years in the US, challenged this assertion ever so slightly by pointing out that the US is not the most “equal” society, yet is a leader in innovation, better economy, etc.  Wilkinson hemmed and hawwed, said he’s not an economist and can’t say, innovation doesn’t necessarily mean anything to economists.  Webb accepts it and moves on.

    Gove babbles about how he wants to create government programs to support children of lower income families to give them better opportunities.  But he never brings up the most important point of all, something the BBC never allows to be spoken on air:

    The Socialists in the Labour Government and the BBC don’t want equality of opportunity – they want equality of outcome.  That’s the real thrust of Wilkinson’s book.  Gove realizes, obviously, that his policies could never guarantee such a thing, nor is that even his goal.  It’s an impossible dream, stinks of Harrison Bergeron, and Gove is rational enough to know that.  Justin Webb isn’t, nor are his fellow travelers.

    This is the implicit goal in a discussion about “equality”.  Ol’ Justin has set up the Tory to fail here.  Nothing Gove can say will make it seem like the Tories are interested in creating equality of outcome, only equality of opportunity.  But that’s clearly not good enough, as the reason Wilkinson is there is to provide evidence for the idea that children don’t do well because their parents don’t have enough money.

    So in the end, it’s obvious that, while a couple of the policies Gove mentioned sound nice, they don’t solve the problem of the parent(s) having less money than others.  That’s what Justin Webb means by “equality”.  It’s a different definition than what Gove was going for, and this whole thing was a set-up from the start to make the Tories look like they aren’t going to solve the problem of “equality” in the form of wealth redistribution.

       0 likes

    • John Horne Tooke says:

      Either the Tories have not got a clue what they want to do or they are just too scared to open their mouths in case the BBC disaprove. Did you ever hear Enoch Powell or Tony Benn umm and ah when answering questions? 

         0 likes

  23. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The bias at the BBC even reaches the Technology page of the website.

    The top story is the recent problems at Wikileaks.  Check out the two stories about “leaks” the Beeboids chose to highlight with it: the leak of the BNP membership list from last October, and the hack of Sarah Palin’s personal email from September 2008!

    What about more important issues such as Germany’s attempt to shut it down, or China’s censorship of it?  But no, the BBC News Online sub-editor trainee tasked with finding relevant stories merely looked at the Wikipedia page, and picked the two stories in the “Notable leaks” section which hit the right emotionally biased notes:  the BNP and Sarah Palin.

    Yet another example of bias even in the lowest places at the BBC.

       0 likes

  24. David Preiser (USA) says:

    I’ve spent the last couple weeks watching loads of Have I Got News For You.  I found several years’ worth on YouTube, and have now seen nearly every installment from 2004 until this past Christmas.

    As much as they let Hislop go after Gordon Brown, and everybody hated Blair after Iraq, I noticed something else:  endless Bush gags, unflattering photos, etc., but not a single joke about The Obamessiah or Warmism.

    I’ve heard that Hislop is a committed Warmist, and Private Eye has totally ignored the CRU emails and all the ClimateGate scandals.  But he doesn’t write the show.  Even the equal opportunity offenders at HIGNFY don’t dare allow a negative word about the two main in-house religions at the BBC.

    It’s really disappointing, because I think it’s otherwise a great show, and can only dream of having something like this in the US.  Maybe the new series will have something.

       0 likes

  25. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Compare and contrast the following two photos, and remember them the next time the BBC talks about “moderate Muslims” or does another feature on women wearing the hijab and other coverings.

    The Narrative is clear.  They’ve redefined the term beyond credibility.

       0 likes

  26. Gerald says:

    Can anyone tell me if the BBC in reporting the Obama State of the Nation speech told us that he received all round applause for substantially increasing government underwriting of  construction of more nuclear power stations as a way of helping tackle “climate change”.  One would have thought that such a move would have received adulatory coverage from such as Mr Harrabin.

    Interesting item on The Today Programme this morning just before 7 a.m between JH and a representative of FOREST. Having commented about the growing illiberality in the U.K. JH does the typical BBC thing when you disagree with the interviewee of jumping in and effectively ending all further sensible discussion. How I wish he would be as obnoxious with the “too many (women) in prison brigade” and other liberal left causes, but then it is the BBC.

       0 likes

  27. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC is reporting on the little Twatter spat between Speaker Bercow’s wife and EyeSpyMP.  It seems that Sally is upset at the EyeSpy guys tweaking her a bit, and says “You are not being v. nice. You are clearly a bunch of Tories.”

    I thought this was funny, as Bercow is a Conservative MP.  At least I thought he was until I read the very next sentence:

    Mrs Bercow, whose husband John was a Conservative MP before being elected Speaker last year, is a frequent Twitter user.

    Was?  Has Bercow switched parties?  Or is he no longer a Tory now that he’s Speaker?  No longer a sitting MP?  What?  The official site of Parliament still lists him as the MP for Buckingham, and says the the Speaker is a sitting MP.  I can’t find anything that mentions party affiliation.

    Are the Beeboids engaging in wishful thinking?  Or just sloppy and ignorant?  I know the Speaker is supposed to be non-partisan, but this still looks incorrect.

       0 likes

    • Scott M says:

      “Are the Beeboids engaging in wishful thinking?  Or just sloppy and ignorant?”

      Neither. They’re being factually accurate.

      From the official Parliament website:

      Speakers must be politically impartial. Therefore, on election the new Speaker must resign from their political party and remain separate from political issues even in retirement. However, the Speaker will deal with their constituents’ problems like a normal MP.

         0 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        It’s still somewhat inaccurate.  Bercow is still an MP.  I suppose I’ve just missed something in translation there.

           0 likes

        • Scott M says:

          “It’s still somewhat inaccurate.”

           

          No – it said he used to be a Conservative MP, and he no longer is.

           

          “I suppose I’ve just missed something in translation there.”

           

          Yes, I’m sure you’re right. It must the BBC’s fault you accused them of being “sloppy and ignorant”. Just as I’m sure it’s their fault that epithet applies more to you in this instance than it does to them.

             0 likes

          • David Preiser (USA) says:

            Relax, Scott.  I was admitting that I missed a semantic nuance due to my foreignness.  Not sloppy, just ignorant in this case.

            I still say that a more precise line would be that Bercow was a member of the Conservative Party before being elected Speaker.  It would fit the story just as well, and would be less sloppy.

               0 likes

            • Scott M says:

              “I was admitting that I missed a semantic nuance due to my foreignness.”

              No, you were accusing the BBC of being ignorant because you didn’t bother to do your research. But of course, that’s somebody else’s fault.

                 1 likes

              • David Preiser (USA) says:

                Now you’re incorrect.  I did my research. As you can see from my initial comment, I went to the Parliament website and looked it all up.  I even linked to it in two places. Did you notice that?  Does that not tell you I made an effort?  Or are ignoring that entirely due to one miscalculation on my part?  It would seem so. The only thing I missed was that the Speaker had to resign from his Party.  I even said in my initial comment that he was supposed to be non-partisan.

                My contention was not only about the Party designation, but the BBC piece gave me the impression that he was no longer an MP, which isn’t quite right, is it?  I barely got one tiny element wrong there, and you are grossly exaggerating that error.

                But I agree that you have triumphed over the lowest-possible hanging fruit.  Well done.  It totally makes up for your failures elsewhere, and total silence on 99% of my other comments here.

                   1 likes

                • Scott M says:

                  My, you do get uppity when challenged, don’t you. Let’s face it, the BBC resport was accurate (Bercow, as they said, used to be a Conservative MP) and there was nothing to suggest that they were being “sloppy and ignorant”, as you said.

                  Maybe, if you didn’t post in such an aggressively arrogant manner, more people might respond and debate with you more of the time? As it is, I wonder if your rather haughty tone makes people run a mile…

                     1 likes

  28. Terry Aherne says:

    cricket

       1 likes

  29. Gerald says:

    If the Tories don’t put up a candidate in the Speaker’s constituency for the forthcoming election it would be no surprise to see one Nigel Farage as an M.P. soon. Should he manage to hang on as an M.P. he may well go down in history as one of the shortest serving Speakers!

       1 likes

  30. Simon Fay says:

    Old friend of B-BBC Justin Webb writes a column for the Mail. In his latest despatch he takes a line whose peculiarity is only explicable when considered in the light of the wilful perversity that characterises his ilk.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247287/Britains-broken-bracing-grim–I-adore-says-BBC-newsman-Justin-Webb.html

    Reminds me of a piece I read a few years back by some Grauniad hack extolling the virtues of Johannesburg, and how the good manners he was greeted with as a customer in shops could easily (and excitingly-randomly) turn to deathly violence outside. All part of the stimulation-seeking junky-like cruising-and-auto-erotic-buzz paradigm, I suppose. Very urban ,very vibrant, very scuzzy, very NOW.

       1 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Thanks for this link, Simon.  Oh my goodness, what an elitist boob he is.  Policemen chasing somebody near his own neighborhood is a disgraceful scene, something “unimaginable outside the ghettos” in the US?  What planet does Justin Webb live on?  Whichever planet it is, it’s clearly one where the British were never the type to quietly muddle through when surrounded by adversity.

      But not Justin.  He high-fives the panhandler outside the BBC office every day.  Charming.

      And of course he reveals his Warmist beliefs:

      They believe stuff can be renewed – that’s partly why they don’t worry so much about climate change. Something will turn up.

      Wrong.  We don’t worry so much about it because we’re learning that it’s a crock.  And we were right about something turning up:  the CRU incriminating emails, phony data, faulty computer models, hidden data, the subversion of the peer-review process, and silly things like that.  Although that’s probably not what Ol’ Justin meant.

         1 likes

  31. Marky says:

    “Anyway – as a result, Radio 5 called me immediately afterwards. They said that they had already received a complaint from something called the Ramadan Foundation – a group of semi-professional offence-takers. They claimed, incorrectly, that Mr Davies’s remarks could be interpreted by listeners as meaning that Muslims are all rapists or some such thing. No reasonable person could have taken such a thought away from the interview. Which is why the Ramadan Foundation did. To cut a long story slightly shorter, I ended up going on and had a rather predictable barnie.

    There are two reasons I mention this strange affair. One is that it was perfectly clear that Mr Davies’s comments could not in any way be interpreted in the way one complainant thought they could, yet the BBC made up a new segment within the hour based on this unwarranted complaint.”

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglasmurray/100024650/a-conservative-mp-mentions-honour-based-violence-against-women-the-bbc-and-tories-freak-out/

    Had it been a Tory, Christian, right-winger, MMGW denier…

       1 likes

  32. Lloyd says:

    Do you think we’ll ever see a similar story to this, highlights similar tactics in the field of AGW?

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8490291.stm

       1 likes

  33. Grant says:

    A little bit late, but last week on Radio 4  ” From our own correspondent”, the BBC reporter ( can’t remember her name , but the usual bog-standard BBC issue )  had managed to discover a region of Nigeria where there was some evidence of Christians persecuting Muslims. Maybe the BBC were reporting on it as it is a rare example of role reversal.
    The narrative was spoilt when she visited a village where the church had been destroyed but “for some reason” the mosque was still standing. 
    Anyway, I look forward to a BBC series on religious persecution generally. No doubt the Buddhists will be found to be the worst offenders.

       1 likes

  34. Grant says:

    On the subject of the odious John Bercow, surely when an MP is appointed Speaker, he/she should have to resign their seat, thereby triggering a by-election,  to ensure total impartiality ?

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  35. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Here’s something the BBC would rather you didn’t know:

    N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in US

    Mr. Williams’ decision to leave Canada for the surgery has raised eyebrows over his apparent shunning of Canada’s health-care system.
    “It was never an option offered to him to have this procedure done in this province,” said Ms. Dunderdale, refusing to answer whether the procedure could be done elsewhere in Canada.

    That’s really not going to help the Narrative about Socialized health care.

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