171 Responses to OPEN THREAD…

  1. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC rushes to the defense of the WikiLeaks hacker who helped some disgruntled private hack into the DoD system to steal all those documents.

    The report is about how the hacker (for that’s what this guy is.  Did the BBC forget to tell you that?  Why, yes they did.) can’t have any blood on his hands as there’s no evidence that any informants have been killed due to the information he stole and leaked to the public.

    It’s very early days, of course, and any honest journalist would know that, so there should be a big “YET” at the end of the hacker’s statement.  The BBC doesn’t even point out that it’s way too early to claim that there’s no evidence anyone has been killed yet.  This is an absolute joke, and the BBC approves of it.

    This guy should be very glad he didn’t do this to the CRU, or there would be BBC hell to pay.  Bunch of hacks.

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  2. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Update:  Apparently a hacker turned in the disgruntled soldier behind the “leaks” revealed by WikiLeaks.  He says a fellow hacker claimed to have helped the soldier hack into the system.  Just like we said from the start.


    So these are hacked documents, not “leaked”.  Will the BBC change their editorial policy now?

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  3. Cassandra King says:

    Whats the difference between hacked and leaked/stolen and released?

    Dear friends its all about PERSPECTIVE you see! If the BBC agree in principle with the aims and ambitions of wikileaks and enjoys close contacts and mutual support then from their perspective wikileaks is a valid news gathering opperation with laudable aims and values.
    The BBC has no oversight body or group that can call it to account for its actions, it has become a law unto itself and all done using the cover of impartial reporting, they can scream ‘editorial interference’ which they do on a regular basis to hide their own bias and jolly successful its been upto now. The BBCs political enemies have been effectively neutered by this simple device.

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  4. deegee says:

    Global cluster bomb ban comes into force

    Well yes and no.
    *How does the BBC decide where to place articles on the website? For example, why does this arguably universal piece appear under Middle East?
    *Why did they chose this caption to the second image? Israel is believed to have dropped 4m bomblets onto southern Lebanon in the last days of the war although the photograph shows artificial limbs in an undisclosed location and has no direct reference to the Lebanon war. (OK I know why.  🙁
    *Why does the article say But many of the world’s major military powers – including the US, Russia and China – are not signatories to the treaty. and not the largest militaries in the world?
    *Why doesn’t the article mention that the United Kingdom? It only became a signatory three month’s ago. In the past, the UK used cluster munitions in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas (1982), Iraq and Kuwait (1991), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia including Kosovo (1999) and Iraq (2003). It produced, exported and imported the weapon, and amassed a sizable stockpile.
    *Surely a more accurate headline would be, Most of world ignore Cluster Bomb ban? Only 30 countries have ratified. Only 105 have signed i.e. about half the approximately 192 countries in the world. Figures Wikipedia)

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  5. George R says:

    What  Islam Not BBC (INBBC) does not report on TURKEY:

    “As David Cameron calls for Turkey to join the EU, Peter Hitchens on the disturbing picture of growing repression at the heart of ‘Eurabia'”

    (by Peter Hitchens in Istanbul.)

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1299213/Peter-Hitchens-disturbing-picture-growing-repression-heart-Eurabia.html#ixzz0vL6siYrL

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  6. NotaSheep says:

    5Live 10:30 Kate Silverton – What is the BBC for?

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  7. David Preiser (USA) says:

    God, still more coverage of the Clinton offspring wedding on BBC News 24.  The female Beeboid in the studio just closed the segment by saying, “Do like her dress.”  The report – which required at least three Beeboids on site for this important story – told us that Chelsea and her husband had known each other since childhood.  The report did not tell us that the father-in-law is a nasty banker who did prison time for fraud.

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  8. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Where is the BBC report on this?  American Muslims Make Video to Rebut Militants

    A recent spate of arrests of Muslims accused of terrorism in the United States has revealed that many of them were radicalized by militant preaching they found on the Internet.

    Now nine influential American Muslim scholars have come together in a YouTube video  to repudiate the militants’ message. The nine represent a diversity of theological schools within Islam, and several of them have large followings among American Muslim youths.

    The video is one indication that American Muslim leaders are increasingly engaging the war of ideas being waged within Islam.

    How about it, BBC?  Or was Peres not so wrong?

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  9. David Preiser (USA) says:

    BBC News Channel now doing as story on heartless Isreal wanting to deport illegal “migrant” workers, even if they have anchor babies born in Israel.  It’s their “birthright”, says an African illegal alien, referring to his daughter born in Israel and – the BBC made sure to point out – fluent in Hebrew.  It’s “unfair and unjust”, says the lawbreaker who knew the entire time what he was doing.

    The BBC trots out their favorite Narrative:  they blame Israel for  “inviting foreign workers to do those lowly-paid jobs” the locals “don’t want to do”.  Does that sound familiar?

    No mention whatsoever that there are perfectly legal ways of doing this.  Anchor babies are legitimate reasons for breaking the law and skirting around rules and regulations, according to the BBC.

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  10. Craig says:

    Sue mentioned topicality earlier. This isn’t remotely topical, except that it smells of the JournOList.

    Katie Connolly, BBC newbie, is intimately tied in to the JournOLista crowd, and BBC political analyst Max Deveson was suspiciously keen to report their opinions.

    What about Jude Sheerin, Max’s colleague at the time of the 2008 US election?

    The whiff of JournOLism is a little less obvious but..,

    Jude’s live coverage of the Biden-Palin debate is heavy with JournOListas and strongly biased against Sarah Palin.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7649760.stm

    Jude quotes several bloggers/journalists. Here’s how they stack up:

    Conservative (pro-Palin/anti-Biden)
    Erick Erickson, RedState.com (1)
    Michelle Malkin, michellemalkin.com (1)

    Conservative (anti-Palin/pro-Biden)
    Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic blog, The Daily Dish (2) (his ‘conservatism’ is hotly disputed)

    Liberal (anti-Palin/pro-Biden)
    Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress (3)
    Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo (1)
    Katharine Q. Seelye, New York Times blog, The Caucus (2)
    Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic (1)
    Ben Smith, Politico.com (1)
    Steve Benen, The Washington Monthly (1)
    Chris Cillizza, The Fix, Washington Post (1)

    Total of posts pro-Palin/anti-Biden – 2
    Total of posts anti-Palin/pro-Biden – 12

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      All the Liberals are either JournoListers themselves, or work at publications infested with them.  Andrew Sullivan is apparenlty too insane even for the JournoList, and is conservative only on a handful of fiscal issues and about small government (when he can use that for his personal benefit).  Other than that he is very far to the Left these days.

      But these publications are also where Justin Webb always looked to for ideas to blog about, and all the Beeboids covering the US take their lead from these places (plus the Huffington Post).  So it’s Groupthink at least.

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  11. Craig says:

    Jude Sheerin’s live coverage of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech to the Democratic Convention produced the following statistics:  
     
    Anti-Obama  
    Jim Geraghty (3)  
     
    Pro-Obama   
    Andrew Sullivan (2)  
    Ezra Klein (2)  
    Ben Smith (1)  
    Michael Crowley (3)  
    Josh Marshall (2)  
     
    Total posts against Obama – 3  
    Total posts for Obama – 10  
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7586392.stm
     
     
    His live coverage (I presume Jude’s a ‘he’) of McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican Convention produced these statistics:    
       
    Pro-McCain    
    Jim Geraghty (2)    
       
    Anti-McCain     
    Andrew Sullivan (1)    
    Marc Ambinder (1)    
    Michael Crowley (3)    
    Josh Marshall (1)    
     
    Total posts for McCain – 2    
    Total posts against McCain – 6    
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7598174.stm

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    • John Anderson says:

      Craig

      Good stuff as usual.

      The release of the JournOList names (135 so far out of 400) shows how closely BBC reporting of US affairs is linked to the Dem/Obama side.

      A challenge to the BBC would be – OK,  you have given over 75% or more of your US comments, interviews, quotes to liberal publications and journalists for several years.

      To balance things out – from now until the 2012 US election,  all articles and reports should have a 75% or more bias towards Republican commentators, media and websites.

      The BBC would have a fit if they were required to counter-balance all their NOW-PROVEN prior bias.

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      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Here’s an updated list of 155 JournoListas.  No Beeboids as yet.  But there are at least 2 Democratic Party operatives, including two people who work for the far-Left, labor union-oriented Campaign for American Progess.  It’s important to remember that the JournoList was not just journalists talking amongst themselves.  This was a coordinated effort to bring together far Left activists with sympathetic people in the media in order to figure out how they wanted to control the news.

        A search on the BBC website for “JournoList” yields zero results.  Any bets that if they ever does report this growing story that the word “hacked” will magically reappear in the BBC lexicon?

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        • Craig says:

          Aha! And there on the updated list is Steve Benen. Another BBC contact,

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          • Craig says:

            Unfortunately anonymous (luckilly for the beeboid concerned) but check out the four comments on this BBC article called Broad support for Obama Iraq plan.  
            http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7916339.stm
             
             
            It’s hardly surprising there’s “broad support” for Obama when three of the four comments  come from:  
             
            Marc Ambinder, Atlantic Monthly (JournOLister)  
            Steve Benen, Washington Monthly (JournOLister)  
            Spencer Ackerman, firedoglake.com (JournOLister)  
            Tom Donnelly, The Weekly Standard  
             
            (The Weekly Standard is the conservative exception, not that Mr Donnelly is being harsh on Obama in this extract at all).

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            • David Preiser (USA) says:

              What’s interesting about the BBC’s linking to the three JournoListers is that these guys are hardly the top opinion mongers in the US media.  Surely they could have found more important, more respectable columnists?  And I’d ask the same question about every time they link to these people, who are important only within their own circle.

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              • Craig says:

                David, here’s another example.
                http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seealso/2010/04/no_pulitzer_for_the_national_e.html

                Beeboid Clare Spencer blogs on the National Enquirer‘s snub over their “controversial” investigation into the marital affairs of Democrat VP candidate John Edwards. Commentators react to the news.

                The first commentator is Michael Roston of True/Slant, who “welcomes” the snub. After the Enquirer‘s editor Barry Levine‘s protest is noted, Joy J Harris Jr at the Washington Post argues that the snub is good news for journalism. The actual winner, though, is attacked for being “anti-feminist” by  Feministing editor Jessica Valenti. The selection ends with thanks praise for the Washington Post by Marc Ambinder.

                That’s a biased enough article to begin with but…

                Mark Roston is a JournOLister. As is Marc Ambinder. And Jessica Valenti is married to Andrew Golis of Talking Points Memo, another JournOLister.

                (The poor chap from the National Enquirer isn’t!!)

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                • David Preiser (USA) says:

                  Wow. So the BBC is being exposed as a mouthpiece for the White House via the JournoList.  Who could have imagined?

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                • Craig says:

                  Ye gods, they’re everywhere!!

                  Obama welcomes US economic growth
                  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8331497.stm

                  Only two experts are quoted, one of whom is “Dean Baker, co-director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research.”

                  This is the same Dean Baker who used to be at The American Prospect – another JournOLister!

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            • John Anderson says:

              all members of JournOlist.  Who’d have thunk it ?

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  12. George R says:

    Islam Not BBC (INBBC) has its Paul Reynolds comment on the fact that PM Cameron’s criticisms of Pakistan were made in India.

    That’s nothing: INBBC’s criticisms of Israel are often made from the area of the hospitality of an Israeli hotel bedroom, while Beeboid praise for Hamas’s Gaza is not usually made from a Beeboid resident in that area.
    (Perhaps Beeboids rank Gaza and Manchester in one column, and London and Jerusalem in another.)

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  13. David Preiser (USA) says:

    It’s pretty sickening to see the BBC News Channel trumpeting India’s allegedly wonderful national health care system.  The feature included Vince Cable’s smiling skull expressing his delight over how great it is.  Then the BBC reporter starts talking about some Indian doctor/administrator starting up a similar deal in the Cayman Islands “to attract American” patients.  He then asks if this could be a new kind of model for national health care.

    Hey, BBC (and grinning Vince Cable) do you think the 400,000 street children in Dehli ever see the benefit of such a great national health care system?  How about the other millions of street children around the country?  I guess the system isn’t run as cheaply as Cable said, which seemed to be the reason given for the high praise.

    The BBC’s loyalty to nationalized health care knows no sense or reason.

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  14. Craig says:

    David P, the BBC has finally reported on a story you linked to a week ago:
    California city pay scandal highlights media cuts
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10798426

    For some reason the reporter Peter Bowes uses the story to promote the primacy of the dead tree press and the likes of the BBC as opposed to the ‘new media’ – citizen journalism and the internet.

    The dead tree press and the BBC, however, seem reluctant to mention that the cast-list of Bell ‘fat cats’ largely consists of Democrats.
    http/www.ocregister.com/opinion/bell-259387-city-party.html

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Funny.  I also noticed how there was no comparison made to the Tea Party movement, even though the goals are exactly the same.  If anyone is interested, here’s the video of the protest I originally linked to (same video, different website).  Notice the exact parallels of the statements and signage between this protest of non-whites and the ones the BBC’s Kevin Connolly insulted with a sexual innuendo.

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  15. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Mark Mardell is celebrating the idea that mortgage companies simply have no moral right to expect people to pay them back on time or at all.  This is called Socialism as it is a direct call to redistribute wealth.  It’s also called “theft”.  Any voices in evidence to that effect?  No.  I suppose there’s video of this somewhere.

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    • hippiepooter says:

      A Philedelphia Sherriff refused to enforce repossesions and compulsory sales and that’s ok?  And the Courts, instead of holding him in contempt, change their decisions?  
       
      Mardell quotes the key Judge in question as seeing 200 ‘renegotiations’ taking place in her Court building each day.  Mardell cites two cases of people whose businesses were going badly but thanks to ‘Sherriff lawless’ they kept there homes and now their businesses are going well.  Yes, I’m sure that with 200 cases per day there’s not one example of feckless shysters on the make taking advantage of the Sherriff’s refusal to enforce due process.  
       
      Remind me again why banks and mortgage companies had to be bailed out .. bad loans anyone???  In the States at least being forced to make bad loans to appease groups like ACORN??  Oh wonderful world.

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    • John Anderson says:

      Mardell seems oblivious to the fact that the whole financial crash in the Western world has its roots in the US mortgage market.

      But I suppose he gets all his info from the BBC.  No wonder he is so ignorant.

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      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        No, see, Mardell thinks lending to people who can’t afford to pay it back is just fine.  He’s just against banks doing business with debt.  You can’t expect that he’s actually thought it through past the base emotions of Socialism. After all, when he was Europe editor back during the EU elections, he expressed his astonishment on air that Europeans hadn’t stampeded towards Socialism after the financial crisis started.  His mindset obviously hasn’t changed, and he continues to report from that perspective.

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  16. George R says:

    Update for Islam Not BBC (INBBC) and its Pakistan chums:

    Thanks for nothing: British PM Cameron burned in effigy in Karachi

    [Extract]:

    “Cameron’s recent foray into dhimmitude — from extolling the nebulous, politically correct construct known as ‘real Islam,’ to calling Gaza a ‘prison camp,’ to his understated comments on Pakistan as an exporter of jihadist terrorism — has failed to win hearts and minds here.
    “And Pakistan’s posture is but a variation on the idea of ‘Say Islam is a religion of peace, or we’ll kill you’: Say Pakistan is a great ally and an honest partner with intentions as pure as the driven snow, or lose what little cooperation you’re actually getting, and any terrorism that follows will be all your fault. ISI? Never heard of ’em.”

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    • George R says:

      Of course, the political line which Islam Not BBC (INBBC) takes on conflict between Pakistan and Britain, is that INBBC supports Pakistan against Britain. For INBBC, it is Britain which is causing Pakistan “problems”; in INBBC eyes, it is not Pakistan through support for Islamic jihad which is causing problems for British and other people!

      INBBC headline reflects this anti-British political tone:

      “Cameron’s new diplomacy brings problems with Pakistan”

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10831580

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