174 Responses to OPEN THREAD…

  1. matthew rowe says:

    Just for a bit of fun ! can we get the BBC re branded as their support for red Eds Labour is getting swamped by all the right-wing comment in the MSM I think they should be called ‘BBC  P.F.I’ in honour of the dear leaders greatest works  and to gloss over the total disaster at the school at Hyton that they failed to mention with any gusto also  the fact it will cost us billions like Gordians pup! 
    Mind bit stuck over what P.F.I should mean  =
    Packed with friendly interviewers !
    Politically f%^&*ed up ingrates !
    Please fire immediately!
    Palin fact inventors !
    Proudly fondling immigrants!
    Pally friendly idiots!

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  2. Gerald says:

    A little odd the BBC coverage of the electoral reform bill being held up in the House of Lords.

    Not once have I heard the probing questioning of a Labour Lord as to just what the problem is.

    It is NOT the Alternative Vote referendum but the reduction of number of M.Ps. and consequent redrawing of boundaries.

    The BBC was happy before the last election to throw in the statement that the Toriesw need 40% of the vote for a majority but Labour only need 35% without really explaining it.

    This Bill basically addresses that problem of Labour constituencies having noticeably fewer electors than average and Tory vice versa meaning that the majority of seats lost will be Labour, put up a monkey with a red rosette on and he’ll be an M.P., seats.

    Labour cannot delay it in the House of Commons hence the use of H. of L. procedures to fight a desparate rearguard action.

    Come on the BBC get Lord Falconer on and “Paxman” him for the truth by constanrtly repeating “Its only about maintaining Labour’s unfair advantage isn’t it”.

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    • Martin says:

      Yes and normally the BBC is first to attack the HOL when they block the BBC’s favoured legislation.

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  3. Sres says:

    On the way home from work I was listening to R4  there was a piece on the NHS, have a listen from 4min 30sec.  I always thought it was evolution and not evilution…

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xh8nl/Six_OClock_News_17_01_2011/

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  4. Umbongo says:

    It’s gone very quiet on the Brisbane floods at the BBC.  The floods following Katrina were in the BBC searchlight for months.  Do you think it has anything to do with the increasingly apparent likelihood that the disastrous effects in Brisbane are directly traceable to political decisions insisted on by warmists whereas the effects of Katrina could be laid (incorrectly but, hey, this is the BBC) at the door of Bushitler?

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    • George R says:

      And in contrast to Australia, INBBC is still very concerned about the 2010 summer floods in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; there’s a feature STILL up on INBBC news webpage for ‘South Asia’.

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    • Natsman says:

      Without a doubt.
       
      But there are much more important, coalition-bashing items to harp on about instead.  Let’s face it, one can blame the coalition on (and for) Global Warming – much more fun, it seems…

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    • Sres says:

      It died a death because the la nino was being linked with it and as such they can’t twist their man made bullshit with that natural phenomenon.

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    • Cassandra King says:

      Yes, keeping the dam above Brisbane at 100% capacity when the authorities knew damn well that the rainfall in the catchment area was going to become a problem is not newsworthy for the BBC it seems.

      Water policy dictated that levels should be kept as high as possible was a direct result of failed AGW models promising drought in the region, the drongos had plenty of warning as the rain front slowly moved on and the runoff increased and ignored it until it looked like the dam would fail and then they opened the sluice gates and the flood followed. If they had released water sooner there would have been no flood, its almost as if the people in charge wanted a flood.

      That aint news? That aint a scandal that cost lives? A totally avoidable tragedy and the root cause was failed AGW models and failed climate forecasting and failed political leadership.

      A total failure to listen to the right people and a stunningly stupid series of mistakes and a Stalinist rigidity in obeying the CAGW dogma regardless of the consequences.

      That isnt newsworthy according to the BBC is it? As soon as the BBC learned that CAGW could not be blamed and who the real culprits were they dropped the story faster than you can say biased BBC.

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    • Grant says:

      Umbongo,
      Obviously it can’t be because the Aussie PM is a socialist.

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      • Chairman of Selectors says:

        She’s worse than that. She’s a welsh communist robot. It is truly extraordinary that a woman of her dismal calibre has somehow risen to that lofty postion. Remarkable.

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  5. Martin says:

    Just watching the Daily Politics for the first time in a while, what has happened to Brillo? He’s been castrated.

    Bum boy Burnham was allowed to spout the biggest loads of bollocks and was left unchallenged by Brillo (bum boy claimed that in opposition the Liebour party never made claims they couldn’t back up in Government, what like no tuition fees? why didn’t Brillio pick him upon that little one?)

    Then we get a Republican political add which of course shows someone with a gun, why didn’t the BBC show the DEMOCRAT with his gun shooting at Barry’s Cap and Trade bill?

    Of course Brillo stayed silent.

    It’s obvious Brillo has been told to shut up if he wants to keep his job.

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    • David Jones says:

      That can be the only explanation. It’s sad; the extinction of a species (slightly right wing interviewer on the bBC).

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    • Guest Who says:

      Sadly this seems mirrored in his blog. Rare original posts, few thread comments in response, and a plug pull almost immediately.

      Must be a fun place to work if you are of a mind to be anything other than one of the BBCorg’s hive.

      Ironically, it was ‘inspired’ in house of course…

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    • Grant says:

      Martin,

      Yes, I have posted to that effect a few times over the last 6 months. Brillo has been nobbled.  RIP

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  6. Samantha Vickers says:

    There has been something of a change at the BBC’s economics department as its head Stephanie Flanders has spotted that we have inflation in the UK. Obviously most people spotted this ages ago but not Ms.Flanders who kept insisting there were no signs of it.

    But fear not as Ms.Fanders advice is that we should still do nothing.After all everyone has an inflation-linked pension like the one at the BBC don’t they?

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    • 1327 says:

      Inflation after the Government has just spent the last three years printing money surely that has never happened before !

      Presumably because this had never been spelled out in press release by a left leaning think tank it had never occurred to Ms Flanders. 

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      • matthew rowe says:

        “Stephanie Flanders has spotted that we have inflation in the UK.”  oh now be fair it’s very diffucult to see much when there’s a labour MP the caliber of Balls [there’s a pun here about thrusting or giving ED i know it ??] or Millie on top of you!

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    • Cassandra King says:

      Quantative easing anyone? When combined with the green eco fraud price inflation is causing this inflation we see now.

      The root causes will remain a secret of course.

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    • Samantha Vickers says:

      Kirsty Wark on Newsnight assured us that Paul Mason was an expert on inflation and had been ahead of events. It was a shame that he had only shared his views with her and not with the BBC’s viewers.Perhaps he had advised her to put as much money as she could into the BBC’s index-linked pension.

      It was a bigger shame that the so-called expert then got the commodity price trends wrong.Foodstuffs for example are above their 2008 levels…

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  7. Charlie says:

    The BBC have finally cottoned on to something quite serious, food shortages.  After spending so much time and effort on Man made GW and increased CO2 production.

    Wheat in 2006 was £50 ton it has jumped to £200 along with other crops OSR.(oil seed rape).  Oil is now $100 per barrel which is essential for farmers to plant and harvest crops.

    Agricultural land is diminishing rapidly under concrete, even the Chinese are leasing land in Africa to grow food for themselves.

    The C02 which the greenies were so obsessed with is going to be needed to grow more crops on less land. They may now realise that this gas is a necessary  plant food.

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  8. hippiepooter says:

    A story not going to be covered any time soon by the BBC:-

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1348147/How-children-grow-schools-wont-let-risks-A-passionate-attack-politically-correct-nannying-inspirational-teacher-sacked-allowing-pupils-go.html

    Weep for England (ok, he’s in Wales, let’s make that Britain)

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  9. David Jones says:

    I think this from Robin Shepherd is really interesting. Could we be turning the corner on the multi culti farce with Israel leading the way. God I hope so.

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    • Sres says:

      Israeli politics makes my head spin.

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    • Charlie says:

      This bit is worth repeating.

      “For what applies in Israel is surely an augury of what is coming elsewhere in the West. Europe in particular is creaking under the strain of multiculturalist agendas that look less and less sustainable as the years go by. As the trial of Geert Wilders — the first political trial in post-Cold War Europe — for insulting Islam in the Netherlands illustrates all too clearly, it is now ever harder to argue that the assumptions of multi-culturalism are truly compatible with sustainable democratic societies. The collapse of self-belief that multi-culturalism implies, and the concomitant strategy of appeasement that it tends to bring with it, weaken western democracies to the point of collapse.”

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  10. David Jones says:

    So much reading to do and so little time to post! I’ve printed this out and I’m looking forward to reading it in the bath this evening.

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  11. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC fans the flames of racism over the New Cross Fire:
    Did the New Cross fire create a black British identity?
    On 18 January 1981, 13 black youngsters died in a London house fire which some feared may have been a racist arson attack, prompting a vocal outpouring of grief from Britain’s Afro-Caribbean communities….The blaze at 439 New Cross Road was greeted not only with sadness at the lives lost, but also anger at the perceived indifference of the police investigating the cause of the blaze in the aftermath of rumours that it might have been a racially motivated arson attack…..Despite the police investigation being reopened after 16 years and two inquests, the precise cause of the fire has never been established and nobody has ever been charged in relation to the blaze….”And there can’t be any discussion now about there being ‘no black in the Union Jack’ because black soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

    Strange how after  2 inquests the start point of the fire was found to be under an armchair. I quote from the Independant:
    In 1997 the Metropolitan Police reopened the investigation, later passing the matter on to the Race and Violent Crimes task force which uncovered fresh evidence using new forensic science techniques. The findings suggested the fire may have been started deliberately, although it was unlikely to have come from a petrol bomb thrown from outside as some had suggested…May 2001: Police recommend a new inquest. Det Ch Supt Mike Parkes says: “The science of rebuilding how a fire starts has advanced to such a stage that we are now able to say that the fire started in the armchair underneath the window.”

    And here is how the Guardian reported on this story 10 years ago:

    At the start of the original investigation, police believed it was a racist attack – that a firebomb was thrown through a downstairs window. The first officers on the scene said as much to people who had escaped from the house. But after studying scientific evidence, they concluded the fire had started inside the house – either by accident or on purpose. Officers came up with the theory that a fight had broken out between a group of boys at the party – and that the boys involved held the key to their inquiry. 


    McKenzie was one of the boys called in for questioning. “They refused to listen to me when I told them that there wasn’t a fight,” he says. “They had their version of events and I felt I had to go along with them. In the end I caved in and told them what I thought they wanted.” 


    Eight boys who had been at the party made statements to the police, testifying that a fight had taken place. The local community, who remained convinced that the fire had been a racist attack, were angered and hurt by the turn the investigation had taken – a hurt compounded by public indifference and media hostility.

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    • Umbongo says:

      I was working in the City at the time and I remember the “protest at racism” march organised I think by Darcus Howe which proceeded through central London in the middle of a working day. 

      Unlike the “vox pop” interviewees in the BBC hagiography of the event I don’t recall a “peaceful” march but, there again, unlike those selected for quotation by the BBC I was an eyewitness (on Fleet Street I think).  Among other things I was verbally abused by the protestors (and some of their supporters on the pavement next to me) for being white (natch – this was an “anti-racism” march after all) and (worse) dressed in a suit and tie.  During and after the march property along the route was vandalised and more or less organised looting occurred. 

      I don’t think the march created a “black British” identity.  All it did was reinforce the unfortunate stereotyping of young “black British” as chippy loudmouths revelling in victimhood and given to thuggery and violent criminality at the drop of a hat.  As I recall, later that year black rioting was a feature of the urban landscape and, instead of treading on it sharpish or treating it as opportunist criminality, the government (despite being led by Mrs T) decided on appeasement with the usual consequences.

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  12. Man With a Polish Wife says:

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    Electric Car Journey – London to Edinburgh  – Part 1

    There is something seriously wrong with Mr Milligan’s account of his exploits as summarised at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12138420 .  Parts of the story are true, but the errors, inconsistencies and narrative read more like an adventure story, and a badly written one at that.

    The direct journey from London to Edinburgh is but 404 miles.  However, Mr Milligan knew in advance that his journey would be 20% longer, 484 miles.  And, that apparently is the precise distance he travelled. 

    Considering that he incorporated a 38-mile detour at the last minute, to the additional charging point in Berwick, and his published graphic makes no mention of this, then this is indeed a mystery.  By adding up point-to-point distances from postcode to postcode, I can account for 374 miles (the originally planned diversions to the charging points equals 436 miles).  Presumably, the other 10 miles was achieved by driving around and around a car park in Nottingham.

    However, for Mr Milligan to predict 484 miles and achieve that precisely is simply impossible.

    The errors are significant given the amount of time Mr Milligan had to craft his story.  For example, “It’s only day two of my electric mini challenge” on his drive from Milton Keynes to Leicester, but this is supposed to be the second leg of his day one itinerary.

    On his arrival in Nottingham on day two he states as he reached the charging point,  “We enter the large Victoria Centre car park (well one of them) and drive round for a good half hour trying to spot one of the two likely plug sockets.  Across the gloomy car-park this isn’t easy.  However, we finally find an attendant who can help us out.”

    Mr Milligan then goes on to add, “Car-park attendants from all over central Nottingham are summoned by walkie-talkie to come and admire the spectacle of an electric car plugged in to a socket.”

    Questions for Mr Milligan.  Did you really manage to correctly guess the car park, yet trust your luck by driving around and around and around for that long before giving up and asking, and have you exaggerated every so lightly on the efficiency of the integrated Nottingham car park walkie-talkie network and their military commanded attendants.

    However, en route earlier from Leicester we were informed, “At one stage the display says I have 18 miles charge left in the battery, and it’s nearly 20 miles to Nottingham.”  But, according to the report, the Mini received a full eight hours overnight charge in Leicester and the distance from there to Nottingham is just 28 miles to begin with.  Must have been a mighty traffic jam that morning to use up nearly all the juice in just eight miles.   He doesn’t mention it though.  What he does say is,  “But then my little Mini is apt to be a little vague in the mornings.   Just when I need precision.”   Perhaps there is another reason!

    Could Mr Milligan actually have spent the night in Milton Keynes.  He notes, “And there’s not a lot to pass the time at Mercedes, other than a rather fine collection of chick lit in the company canteen.  Not feeling up to Penny Vincenzi, I check the battery levels again.”  If he had found reason to spend the night there during his six-hour wait, then this would account for his day two error mentioned above.  Curiouser and curiouser…

    As well as the range readings, the biggest clue to the discrepancies between the ‘story’ and reality are in the distances given for the overnight posts.  Night two should have been spent in York at 232 miles, whereas the narrative gives 181 miles, i.e. Sheffield.  For day three, the stopover is supposedly at Wark 350 miles, but the narrative gives 285 miles, i.e. Stockton.  There are no explanations given as to why.

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    • Natsman says:

      It’s all contrived bollocks, isn’t it?  He’s hardly likely to report that “this stupid mission was destined to fail, and of course it has, but I’m not admitting it, because it’s not within the remit of my instructions – I’m told to report that the thing is brilliant, and it WILL do what it says on the tin, and everybody MUST own an electric mini and try to drive to Edinburgh to save the planet”.

      It would be interesting to chronicle an independent journey…

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      • Cassandra King says:

        “It’s all contrived bollocks, isn’t it?”

        That encapsulates the entire BBC output of current afairs and news perfectly, a new catchphrase for the BBC?

        Contrived bollocks, its what we do.

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    • Millie Tant says:

      By the end of paragraph 3, I was well and truly lost and longing for a map after going from 404 to 484, 38, 374, 436 and ending up mysteriously with the other 10 miles.   

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      • Man With a Polish Wife says:

        Apologies, one typo made it through.  The 374 miles should read 474 miles.  Then 436+38=474, 474+10=484.

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  13. Man With a Polish Wife says:

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    Electric Car Journey – London to Edinburgh  – Part 2

    Mr Milligan states that he arrived at Edinburgh Castle “late at night”.  He had a very long journey to complete on day four: two legs of 68 and 59 miles from Wark to Edinburgh via Berwick.  Three of the previous legs had been around 55 miles, and Mr Milligan had repeatedly complained about “range anxiety” with barely enough charge to complete these journeys.   However, they were mainly on motorway standard roads with slight inclines.  For the last two legs, the car would have had to endure cross country motoring on minor roads with many bends and inclines, as well as more traffic lights, etc.  Hardly conclusive to improved performance.

    I find it hard to believe that the Mini completed these two legs under its own steam with just the one top up in Berwick.  If Mr Milligan left Wark at 7:00am (on day two he mentions that he is on the M1 at 7:30am) then why did he arrive “late at night”.  The driving time for the two legs is given as just over three hours.  With an eight-hour charge, the journey should have been possible in 12 hours, however slowly he was driving, meaning that Mr Milligan would have arrived in Edinburgh at 7:00pm.  Why did he need at least five hours more – if he arrived at (say) midnight.  We need to know what happened – did he get one, or most probably two extra charge ups at willing garages somewhere – after all, all you need is access to a plug.

    And when Mr Milligan arrived in Edinburgh, could the car do the homewards journey under its own steam.  No, there aren’t any public charging points in Edinburgh – so why choose that destination in the first place.

    None of the reports on the BBC web site cover Mr Milligan’s interview on the BBC Breakfast show on Friday 14 January at 7:25am.  Here he finally acknowledges the costs and inconvenience of the overnight stays through a passing reference to the many comments received on the story, but all he really says is that the electricity would have cost around £10.  (Note: It is illegal to charge for an electric charge point for three years from installation according to the regulations governing their installation, which is why they are free at the moment).  Does anyone have a transcript of this broadcast or a recording of it, as it would be useful to capture what was actually said?

    On the subject of overnight stays, he makes no mention of how far away from each charging point is his overnight hostelry, and how does he get to them, and absolutely no mention of these costs.  Does he walk to each hotel with all his luggage or do the production team give him a lift.  He doesn’t include this down time in his calculations, but by my reckoning he travelled for 87 hours (minimum) for the 484 miles, giving 5.5 miles per hour – not the 6 miles per hour given.  Why be petty and count travelling and charging time only – his stops were governed by car park opening hours, so he could not just turn up somewhere at three in the morning. 

    As the direct route is only 404 miles, then his true average speed is less than five miles per hour, and I can walk that fast (yes, I know I would need to stop, etc.) and these comments are just another means of highlighting the absurdity of the whole experiment.

    So how does Mr Milligan sum up his adventure:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12189321

    “A journey which proves that the electric car can now cover long distances which reinforces its claim on the future.”

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    • matthew rowe says:

      M.W.P.W thanks for the brilliant dissection of this BBC greenish PR stunt! great work when you go at something  you really go at it !lol

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    • Natsman says:

      I refer readers to my previous post…

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    • Guest Who says:

      Seems that in addition to weddings and probably not Bar Mitzvahs, Leni Riefenstahl is alive, well and crafting BBC  ‘news’ daily.

      Truly, a ‘triumph’ of the the wheel.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2011/01/electric_car_challenge.html

      Even the groupies seem a smidge uneasy here.

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    • John Horne Tooke says:

      Booker also has this to say about the car journey.

      “In its obsessive desire to promote the virtues of electric cars, the BBC proudly showed us last week how its reporter Brian Milligan was able to drive an electric Mini from London to Edinburgh in a mere four days – with nine stops of up to 10 hours to recharge the batteries (with electricity from fossil fuels).

      What the BBC omitted to tell us was that in the 1830s, a stagecoach was able to make the same journey in half the time, with two days and nights of continuous driving.”
      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8262095/London-to-Edinburgh-by-electric-car-it-was-quicker-by-stagecoach.html

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    • Martin says:

      Anyone who thinks the electric car in its present form has a future is a twat, which is 20,000 twats at the BBC.

      That’s a great piece of work MWPW when that twat first started his journey I posted that it was a pile of bollocks, the range on the car is nothing like as realistic as they claim, not to mention the fact you can’t run the heater or use your lights all the time (good job he didn’t try to drive all through the night)

      His report is the biggest piece of crap churned out by the BBC since Harrabin’s last  churned out a piece of crap.

      Jeremy Clarkson once drove a large Audi I think it was from London to Edinburgh and back on a single tank of fuel and I think that was a V6 diesel.

      A blue motion VW Golf or Polo could have done that journey up to Scotland and back and probably overall kicked out less pollution than the crappy Mini.

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      • RGH says:

        German TV featured a Diesel Golf driving from Frankfurt to Rome on one tank recently (over the Alps). 782 miles at average 65 mph. 12.5 hours

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    • John Horne Tooke says:

      Who are the biggest electric car liars – the BBC, or Tesla Motors?
      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/18/bbc_tesla_edinburgh_e_car_shenanigans/

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      • matthew rowe says:

        Great article well worth reading till the end ! I have no time for the pillock  Llewellyn as he seems to have become obsessed with being  Kryten a BBC created robot who believes he is here to help the world and  whose programming has gone a bit defective as he seems to be stuck in lie mode !

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  14. David Jones says:

    Big Journalism gets into genetics and shows bias is in the genes.

     

    The New York Times Public Editor claims that the “inappropriate reframing” of the Giffords shooting story “was an honest mistake”:

     

    “So why does a story get framed this way? Journalism educators characterize this kind of framing as a storytelling habit — one of relating new facts to an existing storyline — and also as a reflex of news organizations that are built to handle some topics well, and others less well.

     

    Jerry Ceppos, dean of the journalism school at the University of Nevada, Reno, said journalists’ impulse to quickly impose a frame on a story is “genetic.”

     

    “Journalists developed automatic framing protocols generations ago because of the need to report quickly,” he said. “Today’s hyper-deadlines, requiring journalists to report all day long and all night long, made that genetic disposition even more dominant.”

     

    Big Journalism comments:

     

    In no way does this explanation pass the BS test. We’re to believe that journalists are simply genetically predisposed to be anti-tea party bigots and hate-mongers? And well, since it’s genetic, we can’t hold them accountable. Boys will be boys. Bigots will be bigots. Haters will be haters.

     

    Brizzy [the Public Editor] also blames the hyper-demanding news cycle.

     

    “The circumstances were these: A major breaking news event, occurring on a Saturday afternoon with a small staff on duty, with print deadlines to worry about and a Web site that needed to be fed as fast and as frequently as possible.”

     

    There’s a wave of racial and ethnic hatred out there that was a direct result of the misrepresentation of the story by the NYT and its palls, and all Brizzy can say is boys will be boys, and, “sorry guys, deadlines are tough.” OK Arthur, you and your pals maligned millions of people and in so doing became everything you proclaim to hate, and you lack the character to apologize like a person of integrity. It’s pathetic and you demonstrate why the Establishment Media is dying.

     

    I like that.

     

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    • Guest Who says:

      Not sure the whole invoking genetics thing was quiet the way to go, cred-wise, in certain quarters. 

      Eh, Helen?

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  15. Tomfiglio says:

    Here’s an interesting post (via Guido Fawkes)

    http://davidmaclean.eu/the-basic-law-of-council-reporting/

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  16. Biodegradable says:

    Contrast & Compare:

    IDF foils attempted terror attack along Gaza border

    One Palestinian was killed and two others wounded in violence along the border with Israel, a medical official in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday.

    The IDF fired at two terrorists who approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip, in what appeared to be an attempt to plant an explosive device. 


    Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said the casualties were caused by Israeli tank fire. There was no word on their identities.

    The IDF had no comment on the claims of tank fire, but said Gazans fired five mortar shells at Israel earlier Tuesday. The shells landed in open areas, causing no injuries or damage.

    ……………..

    Israeli tanks take part in deadly Gaza Strip raid

    Israeli tanks have entered the northern Gaza Strip, sparking fighting that killed one Palestinian and injured two.

    AFP news agency reported that seven tanks had made a limited incursion 200m into Palestinian territory on Tuesday, sparking a shootout with militants.

    Other reports suggested armoured vehicles and bulldozers were involved.

    Hamas emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said Amjad al-Zaanein, 23, had been killed by Israeli tank fire east of Beit Hanoun.

    Local Palestinians said the casualties had been collecting stones to recycle into bricks when they came under fire.

    Israel’s military said it was responding to an attack by Palestinian militants who had detonated an explosive device targeting an army patrol along the border.
    “A short while after the incident, soldiers identified two militants handling the device trigger system and consequently opened fire on them,” a military spokeswoman was quoted as telling AFP. “A hit was confirmed.”

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    • Grant says:

      Bio,
      It is the same old nonsense.  Why would the IDF suddenly take it upon itself to send tanks 200m into Gaza for no apparent reason, putting themselves at risk, apart from anything else ?
      “collecting stones”.  Yeah, right.

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      • RGH says:

        The sort of report the BBC just sits on.

        Hamas blames PA for Gaza medical shortages

        Gaza is lacking about 40 percent of basic medicines, the Hamas health minister said on Thursday, accusing the Palestinian Authority of withholding key stocks.

        The charge was rejected by his opposite number in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), who pointed the finger back at Hamas  saying the shortages were the result of “mismanagement.”
        “The health situation in Gaza is very difficult, if there is any new Israeli war the situation will be catastrophic,” Hamas health minister Bassem Naim told AFP, saying the health services were missing 182 out of 450 basic types of medicine.
        “This is because of a political decision by the government in Ramallah not to send it,” he said.

        PS I’ve heard of making bricks without straw, but bricks with stones is a new one on me.

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        • Grant says:

          RGH,
          And this despite Gaza having the highest overseas per capita aid in the world. Is someone nicking it ?
          Poor Africans often put stones in bricks when making them from mud , but what is the Palestinians’ excuse, when they have all that money ?
          Maybe, they have alternative uses for stones !

             0 likes

      • Biodegradable says:

        Note that it was the Israeli tanks that “sparked the fighting”, not the terrorists planting explosive devices, nor the other explosive device that detonated near an Israeli patrol.

           0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        “It is two years since a war in Gaza which left 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead”.  The BBC dont miss a propaganda trick!

        It is 2 years since the BBC have been using this propaganda trick to make the unsuspecting mind think that the Jews kill Palestinians for fun.

        It is two years since the BBC have failed to mention that the Israeli incursion was in response to some 17,000 rockets launced from Gaza against them (8,000 in the year before the incursion).

        It is two years since the BBC have failed to highlight that Israel has suffered minimum civilian casualties because they have built bomb shelters and have air raid warnings.

        It is two years since the BBC have failed to report that Hamas operates from behind the cover of schools and hospitals and only build shelters for themselves not civilians.

        It is two years since the BBC fail to note that at least half of the casualties on the Palestinian side were Hamas terrorists.

        It is two years since the BBC failed to reported that Israeli efforts to avoid civilian casualties are unprecedented in the history of warfare.

        It is two years since the BBC failed to report that Hamas sought to maximise their own civilian deaths for propaganda purposes.

        It is two years since the BBC has served the propaganda purposes of the terrorist organisation Hamas.

           0 likes

  17. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ agenda:

    BBC-NUJ seems to have omitted this report:-

    UK: Muslim who killed girl in hit-and-run attack fights to stay in country

    Instead, BBC-NUJ leads with this story about homosexuality on its ‘England’ webpage:

    “Bristol gay couple win Cornwall B&B bed ban case”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-12214368

       0 likes

  18. Grant says:

    Not BBC , I know but Jon Snow (at least he admits he is a pinko ) was interviewing Andrew Lansley on Channel 4 News about the NHS reforms.
    Snow aggressive and interrupting. Lansley asked Snow to let him finish a point, but Snow just talked over him and Lansley accepted it.
    Quite frankly these spineless Tory wimpos deserve  all that’s coming to them. They seem to enjoy being humiliated. Pathetic.

       0 likes

    • hippiepooter says:

      I think part of the reason why so many Tories tolerate this garbage is the complete lack of back up they would get if they did round on the culprit (this time the bent Ch4 Jon Snow) for their complete lack of professional integrity.

         0 likes

  19. All Seeing Eye says:

    The Question Time panel has been announced for this Thursday night.

    Bloody George bloody Galloway again!

       0 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      He’s indefatigable.

         0 likes

      • Demon1001 says:

        3 Hard Left, 1 Right and 1 unknown.  Normal for a QT panel.

           0 likes

        • Grant says:

          Demon,
          You can be sure the “unknown” is Left-wing.

             0 likes

          • Demon1001 says:

            @Grant.  My guess is that too or else he wouldn’t be invited on.  I normally record Countdown and saw the episodes Mr Carlisle was on and he came across as a decent sort. 

               0 likes

    • Martin says:

      I thought you had to have an MP or MEP to get on QT? Galloway’s respect party doesn’t have anyone now does it?

         0 likes

    • Grant says:

      The Universal Simon, no comment required.
      Alastair Campbell, what is his status, blast from the past ?
      The Chairman of the PFA,  what the four-x has QT got to do with football ?.
      But, notice, the token Tory is Caroline Spelman, one of the most pathetic specimens. The panel and audience will eat her for breakfast.
      Still, if the Tories won’t heed my advice and boycott QT, they deserve all that is coming to them.

         0 likes

      • Roland Deschain says:

        Caroline Spelman, one of the most pathetic specimens

        That’s quite an achievement, given the amount of competition there is within the Tories for that description.

           0 likes

  20. morpork says:

    It will be interesting to see if the BBC toes the Baldwin line:

    http://order-order.com/2011/01/18/baldwin-forces-line/

       0 likes

    • All Seeing Eye says:

      For consistency they’d also have to say that it was a Conservative-led govt during WWII then. 

         0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        Not really.  That Coalition Government had no opposition (and elections were suspended).

        I think Mr Baldwin makes some reasonable points.  One would hope that any media organisation that claims to be impartial would canvass the opinion of his opposite number/s before making a decision on the democratic merits of his case.

        Given the endemic bias of the BBC, this note will, I very strongly suspect, be used as a green light to give a hard time to any colleague who doesn’t fall in line in implementing this Labour wish.

           0 likes

    • Demon1001 says:

      I’ve just read that.  Unbelievable how open they are.  They know that if a Conservative had made a similar request it would be top story on the news for 24 hours, and all the house comedians would be trying to come up with jokes against the Coalition.

      However, I had a thought starting from one of Guido’s comments and taken up by some of the posters, reflecting the cocaine use by Beboids (also regularly alleged on here); the new name for the Beboids should be “The Boys from the White Stuff“. 

         0 likes

  21. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC reports on the military stand off between China and Taiwan.  
    Taiwan in live-fire missile tests  
    Taiwan has held live-fire missile tests, as Chinese President Hu Jintao travels to the US for a state visit. Five out of 19 missiles failed to hit their targets, at the drill attended by President Ma Ying-jeou.Officials said the drills sent a message to the US that Taiwan still needs American help to defend itself, despite improving ties with China. Analysts say Taiwan is worried about a potential threat from Beijing after China unveiled a prototype stealth jet…He said that Taiwan was developing its own advanced missiles, which would be able to reach military bases and airports on China’s east coast.  
     
     
    So after reading that bBC report would you get the impression that Taiwan is warmongering that  they have all of a sudden become concerned about China’s new stealth fighter?  
     
    Here is what the bBC doesn’t tell you: Taken from Janes defence in Jan 2009:  
    China has around 1,400 Dong Feng 11 and Dong Feng 15 short-range ballistic missiles and nearly 200 cruise missiles targeting Taiwan, according to MND estimates. (That figure is now over 2000)  
     
    700 aircraft within range of Taiwan and 375,000 troops across the border from Taiwan.  
     

       0 likes

    • pounce_uk says:

      (Part 2)

      Yet not only does the bBC omit this salient information, their so called defense experts didn’t happen to notice that the missile fired in their film clip is the Hawk missile which first saw the light of day in 1960, the version Taiwan fields in the Phase 3 which came on line in 1989 and which was removed from US service in 2002. It is virtually now obsolete. (Well the Phase 3 is) which is why Taiwan bought 3 Patriot missile systems in 1994 and another 4 in 2009,(with the original 3 upgraded to the latest version as of 2009) another of the missiles which failed was an RIM-7M Sparrow(First entered service in 1981)which has been replaced in service by most armed forces by the AIM-120 AMRAAM of which Taiwan has

      purchased over 500  
      In fact Taiwan has purchased thousands of stingersAvenger ,  
      Chaparral missiles which are a lot more capable than the missiles Taiwan fired off today. Something any half decent defence expert would know.

         0 likes

      • Grant says:

        Pounce,
        The BBC’s “defence correspondent ”  is Caroline Wyatt who was previously Paris Correspondent.  That tells us all we need to know about the sheer amateurism of the BBC.

           0 likes

    • Grant says:

      Pounce,
      The twisted lunatics at the BBC probably think Taiwan is about to invade China !

         0 likes

  22. Johnny Norfolk says:

    I note the BBC has yet to comment on this, They only like bad news for the coalition.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8238555/Record-manufacturing-data-lifts-UK-recovery-hopes.html

       0 likes

  23. Will says:

    Self reinforcing world of the BBC
    Dame Nikki sneers that there is a cynical response  from listeners about the proposed health service changes. Could that be because the only information provided by the programme has been supplied by an old lefty academic from Huddersfield University (another speed dial contact no doubt) who inevitably raised the BBC version of Godwin’s Law by bringing Mrs Thatcher into his spiel?

       0 likes

    • Martin says:

      Not to mention Dame Nikki reading out the anti Tory comments from his favourite ugly fat hag hack St Polly Toynbee.

      As if some fat hairy faced hag who writes for a rag read by 9 people in the world is somehow relevant.

      Don’t remember Dame Nikki reading outRichard Littlejohn’s comments on the crap NHS.

         0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        My mate Nicky did state that M/s Toynbee’s view was coming from the left.  After the prof woman was on a guy in favour of the reform was interviewed, although one might say he was a poor choice from the other side as his business was benefitting from the reforms.  So we have the juxtaposition of a ‘neutral’ person opposing the reforms and someone with a self-interest supporting them.

        Still, as I have commented below, I thought Nicky C was his usual impeccable self in conducting the phone-in.

           0 likes

        • Martin says:

          Sorry HP but Dame Nikki reads out crap from the Guardian every day, the fact is HIS position is that of Polly Fatso, but Dame Nikki can’t openly say it, so he reads out a piece by the useless irrelevant Toynbee.

          Why didn’t he read out a piece to counter balance what she said?

          Why can’t the BBC work out the NHS is shit? Name one Country in the west that has copied out NHS?

          All the BBC do is moan that competiton is bad (no shock from the BBC then) yet what Country has the best healthcare in the world? The USA. Where do you see people continually raising money to send a family member to, Maidstone hospital or Mid Stafsf hospital? Nope, not unless you want them killed, it’s the USA with its ‘evil competiton model’

          Yes the American healthcare system has its faults, but what is DOES do is put you and your doctor in the driving seat, unlike here in the UK where the NHS is a joke, run by commie unions and often employing half witted staff.

          You can stick the NHS up your arse BBC.

             0 likes

          • Grant says:

            Martin,
            I can’t let you get away with that outrageous slur on the NHS.
            Why don’t you go and be ill in France, Germany, Holland , Luxemburg, Norway, Sweden, Finland etc….. if you want to see what rubbish health services are like.
            Er…..wait a minute….is this the right script  ?

            As to your last sentence, that would be a first even for a Beeboid.

               0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Self reinforcement is an apposite term. The trouble with this practice is that, as with any conduit, eventually the layers pile up and the system becomes closed.

      I just have a vision of Aunty facing some 60’s bearded throwback, each with their fingers jammed in the others ears, talking at each other as they look adoringly in each other’s eyes. Somehow this is spun as broadcast information and entertainment which, by some oddly unique quirk, I have to co-fund.

      a cynical response  from listeners’

      None to hard to achieve, given the ‘unique’ manner issues are handled, from preselection of topic and ‘guests’ by producers, and audience and their responses by ‘researchers’, the competence and integrity of ‘professional’ presenters, all topped off in the edit suite to iron out anything that didn’t conform.

      I feel a BBC poll coming on.

         0 likes

  24. George R says:

     BBC-NUJ loudly publiciises the case for  human rights for homosexuals in Christian hotel (lead story ‘England’ page yesterday):

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-12214368

    But BBC-NUJ is nowhere to be seen on this story on human rights and Islam:

    UK: Hotel brushes aside human rights protests, hosts Islamic conference featuring preachers calling for execution of gays

       0 likes

  25. fred bloggs says:

    What business are the bBC in?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8267523/BBC-online-chief-quits-for-Intel-before-cuts.html

    £407k salary!  FFS this lefty, we help the poor and down trodden,  certainly know how to pay themselves.

       0 likes

    • Martin says:

      No one at the BBC should earn more than 50K a year.

         0 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        ‘No one at the BBC should earn more than 50K a year.’

        Ah, but then we would get poor quality, bad programming, lack of professionalism, activists seeking a bully pulpit, did I mention lack of professionalism, chancers. mates…………… oh.

           0 likes

  26. fred bloggs says:

    5 Live,  VD has a spot were Warsi condemns the Labour peers for trying to wreck a bill.  VD then shifts emphasis to the splitting of the bill.  Does not go back to the point that the Lords is an unelected revising house and not their job to wreck bills.

       0 likes

    • Martin says:

      Also avoids real issue that Liebour will lose 50 MPs (yippee) as they have a built in bias that must go.

         0 likes

  27. hippiepooter says:

    Another quiet day at work, and I’ve just listened to Nicky Campbell with Rachel Burden and then afterwards Nicky Campbell conducted a phone-in on Coalition NHS reforms.  As usual, I found Mr Campbell impeccable and a class act.  On his early morning double act, commenting on what libraries had to offer, he said “There’s more joy to be had at a library than a Silvio Berlusconi party”.  Top talent!  
     
    Again, I am still waiting for some to indulge me and explain in a few paragraphs why Mr Campbell is so widely regarded as biased here?

       0 likes

    • Grant says:

      Can’t help you Hippie as I never listen to Nikkie.  Does he ever make jokes about Left-wing politicians ?

         0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        Grant, I dont recall, but I’m sure if there was a leftie Prime Minister with the alleged moral failings of Berlusconi I’m sure he would have made the same quip.

           0 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          If?

             0 likes

        • Roland Deschain says:

          I don’t listen to him either.  But Gordon Brown had (has!) many failings which I’m sure would have been ripe for his wit.  Did he indulge?  I’d be interested to know, because there are such contrasting reports about him in the comments here.

             0 likes

        • Martin says:

          Well he never attacked the one eyed prat that’s for sure.

             0 likes

        • Grant says:

          Hippie,
          Well we could start with Blair and Gordon the Moron. I can’t think of two more immoral Leftie Prime Ministers than that wretched pair.

             0 likes

    • Bupendra Bhakta says:

      In an article about the attempted Lords filibuster they had a Labour peer and a Tory peer on.  When the Tory mentioned the equalising of constituency numbers The Dame jumped in with ‘…that will benefit the Tories’.

      True, but as there was a Labour peer there, why does Gameshow Nick have to jump in.  Can’t he just leave them to it.

      Secondly, the status quo benefits Labour – Gameshow could have made *that* point.  But didn’t.

      The man is a form horse for interjecting with his Labour-friendly/Tory-hating interjections.

         0 likes

      • Bupendra Bhakta says:

        Quite recently Gameshow’s sidekick Sheila Tittering-Coquette was interviewing a Minister of the Crown.  When he said,

        ‘If I could just make one last point’,

        T-Q jumped in with,

        ‘Yes, if you’re quick’.

        Bloody cheek.  She was in a rush, you see, to get back to playing footsie with Gameshow and generally flirting with his sorry ass.

        Radio 5 Completely-and-Utterly-Moribund.

           0 likes

  28. JohnM says:

    http://davidmaclean.eu/the-basic-law-of-council-reporting/

    Quote:

    Then a local BBC TV reporter – who shall remain nameless – bounded in half an hour late. He sat down, quickly glanced at the report, then said:

    “Right how many old folks homes are closing?”

    “Er, none” the officer replied.

    “Right how many youth clubs are closing?”

    “Er, none. Actually we’re just covering all this now.”

    “Right what’s closing then. Come on, something must be closing. What’s closing?”


       0 likes

    • JohnM says:

      I see Tomfiglio got there first

         0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      At first I simply shared yet another laugh at these unprofessional, hypocritical, morally bankrupt numpties (with a few treasured exceptions locally, most I have had the misfortune to come across really haven’t sussed that while a bit of local cover is nice for the PR file, no one is under any illusions that they represent a worthwhile ticket to useful national reach, so swanning about is, well, silly. ‘Fragile ego’ must be both the perfect encapsulation of tautology in two words, plus description of most local ‘news’ ‘stars’).

      But now I simply wonder, unless it’s simply ‘absorbed’ by checking out the top table’s efforts and hence gets aped by default by osmosis in hope of a promotion, if there is a memo knocking about that gets eventually down to their pay grade. One setting out the ediotorial agenda to be shaped in advance, that explains the idiot above’s line of questions (well, statements).

      Do Jules and his merry leakers have sub-branches?

         0 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Just switched off SKY whilst having my lunchtime sarnie as the oddly pervasive man of the people Kevin Maguire was on to share his winter tan… er… views on succession (note to Boulton & Co: these ad eyeballs are off if you carry on with such tripe. I do at least have that option).

         

        However prior to this was an interesting discussion around the ‘cuts du jour’, namely this school run bung as a ‘reward’ for turning up to be educated for free.

         

        The frizzy haired lady teacher from the Tory conference, making a hash frankly, set out the case for cuts, and a very articulate young black man making the case against.

         

        Had to say I was erring his way, until Mr. B very gently asked what, then, he would cut if not his favoured area.

         

        Blimey, more waffle than a McDonald’s dessert promo! ‘Er… very difficult… really couldn’t say… er… but not what I am talking about here!’

         

        I am sure the resident archive vultures will oblige, but am struggling to recall the last time anyone from the BBC confronted a cuts, Cuts, CUTS!!!! interview moppet or ‘commentator’ with that rather obvious question.

         

        Being that THERE IS NO MORE MONEY, just a few times on our unique national broadcaster I’d like the parasite classes to be confronted with the money fairy having being mugged once too often, and thus also having to face up to tough calls.

         

        You can’t have it all ways, though Martin does make a case for that being a view with traction inside the M25 media set.

           0 likes

  29. hippiepooter says:

    Ooh, look what this search ‘Alya Al-Safar‘ produced on the BBC website.  
     
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/?q=Alya%20Al-Safar
     
     
    Only two media outlets covering this case – and not the BBC!

       0 likes

  30. hippiepooter says:

    Very quiet at work today.  Listened to the Victoria Derbyshire phone-in on the abolition of the college student EMA grant.  If there was any bias it erred towards a schoolmarmish disapproval of this just being beer money.

    I came to 5Live a couple of years before I left Blighty 9 years ago.  I came as a ‘political refugee’ from Radio 4.  It seemed impossible to turn on Radio 4 without listening to some Correctnick warbling on about ‘racism’, ‘sexism’, ‘homophobia’, although 5Live was resembling it by the time I caught the Easyjet to Spain – as with all BBC outputs.

    I really liked listening to Campbell, Derbyshire and Allen, to name a few (they grated once in while, but no ‘biggies’).  There were unbearably biased presenters in the Naughtie/Humphrys mode (their names escape me, although Adrian Chiles managed to slip in his Thought Policing on his sports show!), but it wasn’t anywhere near as ‘drip-fed’ as you get on R4.

    A tuppence worth from a long standing critic of BBC bias.  I admittedly have caught very little of 5Live since leaving England – catching up now – but from what I’ve heard very little has changed in what I used to enjoy.  What stood Nicky Campbell out when I was a regular listener is he would often have read out listeners emails criticising him for bias!

       0 likes

    • Martin says:

      Ah you have to be careful with Radio 5, they will sometimes read out a comment that attacks them for bias, often one from each side, but the BBC’s main narratives of pro the TV tax, pro Islam, anti white English, anti Palin, anti Tea Party, pro EU, pro Climate Change is unswerving.

      You should have listened to Vicki Pollard during the party conference season or the election, the Tories never stood a chance.

         0 likes

  31. hippiepooter says:

    5Live news bulletins are undoubtedly biased though.  It’s like you’ve got a New Labour Commisar sitting in when deciding what’s put out.

    I’ve just been listening to PMQ’s and the punditry after, which all seemed fair enough.  But then in the 13:00 News bulletin the feature Ed Miliband’s best soundbite and that’s it on PMQ’s.  Blatant bias.  To my mind Cameron just about mopped the floor with Miliband but the BBC tries to shape public perception in the best way possible for Miliband.

       0 likes

    • Martin says:

      Cameron used to mop the floor with the one eyed mong as well. Miliband is useless, as was Hattie Harpie, Bliar although I detest him was good at PMQ’s, but if anyone thinks Red Ed is any good, they need their head examining.

         0 likes

    • Grant says:

      Hippie,
      When Labour were in power, R4 consistently played soundbites from Blair and Gordon the Moron at PMQs without giving the Leader of the opposition’s reply.

         0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        My abiding memory of the coverage of PMQs in the transition in 1997 was, whereas when PM Major asked the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition a question, Caroline Quinn was always quick to jump in ‘PMQs is for the Prime Minister to ask questions not answer them’, but when Blair was Prime Minister, a couple of times I heard him ask the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition a question and both times she said snidely ‘Oh, I dont think he’s going to answer that’.

           0 likes

    • Martin says:

      John Pinhead is the worst by a mile, his pro Liebour bias makes Toenails look like a John Redwood supporter!!!

         0 likes

  32. Martin says:

    More lefty bollocks from the BBC. The BBC are whining about the scrapping of the student grant (£30 a week).

    Why should kids get this? I stayed on to 18 at school and guess what? during the holidays I used to work in a factory either pushing a brush around or doing other jobs, it was well paid and got me used to the real world.

    To the kids moaning now, GET A BLOODY JOB.

       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Except for the first and last terms, I worked full time nearly all the way through school.  Actually, I was working full time my final year as well, but that was in music, which was what I was studying, so isn’t the same as the other job I did previously.  In addition, I worked part time cleaning pools and doing yard work.

      Almost everyone I know worked while in school, with only positive effects.

         0 likes

      • Grant says:

        Cue the Monty Python “Four Yorkshiremen” sketch  !

        Eee, by gum, Martin and David P, you soft southerner and soft yankee don’t know the meaning of hard work.

        When I was at school I worked in an engineering factory de-greasing metal parts by putting them in a hand-basket and lowering them into a vile vat of noxious solvent. No “pushing a brush around” for me , Martin.

        One Uni. holiday job was working for a contractor on the beautiful Isle of Arran.  Up at 5 , starting work emptying dustbins until 12 , then the rest of the day delivering coal bags.

        No turning music scores and fiddling with violins for me , David.

        Those were the days !

           0 likes

  33. Manfred VR says:

    Having stopped for my afternoon cup of tea, I turned the Telly on and switched to BBC news channel.
    The mournful, sepulcral tone of the presenter only needed to be accompanied by the sound of slow muffled bells, to complete the effect.
    The message that was attempting to being implanted by the quisling was this;
    We are now living in a bleak hostile land ruled over by greedy bankers, Large Corporations and horrible, nasty Tories. There is no hope, now that the nice Liberals have gone nasty, and sided with the forces of evil.
    Our only hope, is to bring the people to their senses, by inciting them to violence against the enemies, and to disrupt and decry the Government every way we can with the ultimate aim of toppling them and replacing them with our Masters, the glorious Labour party, headed by that talented and great communicator Red Ed. (multi-millionaire and privately educated).
    Unemployment, inflation, education, ema grants were being ground into my face remorselessly, but when they switched to live debate in the Commons on EMA’s, and showed every sign of lingering there indefinitely, I gave in and switched to Sky News.
    I was suddenly in a totally different place. Yes things are hard, but don’t forget the private sector has been in recession for three years, but is showing signs of recovery; Lord Paul is on trial for fraud, now why weren’t the BBC reporting that…..
    As mentioned in an earlier comment, a very articulate student was discussing EMA’s and interviewer asked, well if EMA’s aren’t cut, what would you cut instead?
    The whole tone of the Sky coverage was measured and fair, and certainly not wrist slashingly grim like the BBC’s.
    I really think the BBC should have a warning up at all times on the news channel saying ‘Viewing this may damage your mental health’.

    Funny thing is, at the height of the banking crisis when we should all have been scared shitless, as the country stared over the abyss, the BBC were positively joyous in their reporting, now why would that be, eh? 

       0 likes

  34. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC’s coverage on the News Channel just now about the nasty boodget coots to local councils is such biased BS.  Some local councillor is allowed to moan on and on about how unfair it all is, how they were misled, etc.

    The female Beeboid on site asks him how everyone is taking it, and her questioning here is as if she were asking how the orphans feel now that their parents have been killed.

    She then sets up further partisan moaning by asking that, while the cuts will save X amount of pounds, which services will feel the axe?

    Answer:  “I can tell you it won’t be the children’s services,” and not the usual assortment of touchy-feely programmes, it will not affect the Save Drowning Puppies Outreach scheme, etc.

    What will it affect, then, asks the Beeboid, after a full minute of which soap opera storylines it will not affect.  The councillor is then allowed, unchallenged, to babble on in negative fashion.

    There is no attempt to ask if maybe there was some bloat or unnecessary spending that needed to be cut. No, it’s all as if these are bastard cuts made for no reason other than meanness (in both senses of the word).

       0 likes

    • Grant says:

      My Council is the useless Edinburgh District Council and, over Christmas, they did not empty my street’s dustbins ( I have a bit of a thing about dustbins ) for 4 weeks. Our street is quite accessable.
      Anyway, I am sure we will get a rebate on our council tax.

         0 likes

      • Martin says:

        My council is tory, they still use bin bags and not those crappy bins, they will collect your rubbish even if you don’t put it right at the edge of your property, they collect in between xmas and new year, they come every week and they have a voluntary scheme for re-cycling.

           0 likes

        • Grant says:

          You are almost tempting me to move south , Martin, almost  !

             0 likes

        • John Horne Tooke says:

          You should come up North – the council here expects old grannies of 80+ to wheel their 3 massive bins (one for general rubbish, one for bottles and the other for plastic and paper)  through their houses so they can put it on the kerb at the front of the house , for the not so macho Plastic Container Engineers to empty. They will then leave them where they drop as they are not strong enough to put them back where they got them. Did I say that I live in a Labour controlled council area?

             0 likes

  35. David Preiser (USA) says:

    BBC again bleating about more nasty boodget coots to councils.  They are clearly comfortable with the idea that quality reporting is simply spouting figures of how much money will supposedly be saved and how many jobs are being cut.  In fact, real reporting which informs the public about just what the hell is going on should attempt to examine if there was actually anything that really needed cutting.  Poor standards at BBC News.

    Job losses are down in Scotland.  Why?  Green jobs and Amazon.  It’s a winning combination, apparently.  Are those green jobs funded by tax money and so shouldn’t count as private sector contributions?  The BBC’s economics editor for Scotland isn’t saying.

       0 likes

    • Grant says:

      David P,
      You mean the Socialist Republic of Scotland ?  I certainly wouldn’t trust any statistics coming out of the Scottish Executive. Everything is fiddled by “wee nyaff”, Alex the Dodger.

         0 likes

  36. Span Ows says:

    Posted on behalf of Kendall:
    Impartiality rules? Impartiality does NOT rule at the BBC. Here it has been caught red-handed: http://tiny.cc/ui4nc
    Excellent Kendall! Funnily enough I thought the exact same thing today with the BBC unemployment headline (even the Guardian had the fall in claimants!)  

     
    If you ahven’t done it already this should go in the Open thread (look for the gunsight!)

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  37. Martin says:

    Well Red Ed and co will be happy with the BBC 6PM news.

    Basically every BBC story was about ‘evil Tory cuts’ for the first 25 minutes.

    No doubt Tories will be moaning that no one really understands their policies, well that’s because the BBC doesn’t want people to know, all they want is to repeat CUTS, CUTS, CUTS all night long.

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  38. Stuart says:

    Looks like we’ll have another quality balanced Question Time this week from Burnley:

    > Burnley’s Clarke Carlisle to go on BBC’s Question Time,

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-12226079

    We have:

    > Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, Deputy Liberal Democrat Leader Simon Hughes, Respect MP George Galloway and Alastair Campbell will also appear.

    The article then goes on that the footballer brings a layman’s perspective to politics.

    Yikes…

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  39. Jim says:

    Not often you see a whitehall mandarin being so frank. Saw this on Sky News, wonder if it will make the Beeb (hasn’t yet).

    Labour govt lost control of public spending:

    http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201009115899368

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    • Martin says:

      Sorry for repeating the post jim, you can bet the BBC will ignore it or they will attack Mcpherson.

      The BBC ignored the letters the civil servants wrote to Liebour ministers demanding written confirmation of the spending they wanted to do because the civil servants thought it reckless.

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  40. Martin says:

    So Obama bows to the Chinese leader, how come I had to watch ITV news to find this out? Why didn’t the BBC point this out?  
     
    Oh hang on Sarah Palin has just farted and the BBC are going to run a Panorama special on it.  
     
    How humiliating for Americans, but then again China owns a lot of obama’s debt.  
     
    Oh and ITV News manage dot deal with the ‘cuts’ story in 9 minutes, the BBC spent 25 on it.

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    • Grant says:

      Martin,
      Channel 4 News showed a Democrat, yes Democrat, Senator ( I think )  slagging off Obama for even shaking hands with Hu because of China’s Human Rights record.
      I wonder if that will feature on BBC News ?

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      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        You should check out Matt Frei’s panel segment with four young people promoting the Narrative to the US that China is our friend and that we fear China’s power only out of pure ignorance.

        And of course he gets on someone to say that democracy is an obstacle to global power.  Good old Frei Boy, he sure loves him some autocracy.

        Only stupid yokels who are angry about losing their jobs think there’s anything wrong with China taking everything over.

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        • Grant says:

          Beeboids have never seen a dictatorship that they don’t worship.

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        • hippiepooter says:

          Hi, I didn’t catch one of the 5 students saying democracy is an obstacle to global power?

          I thought it was quite a balanced chit chat (although why so weighted with Chinese born students?).  Was very interesting the non-commital responses of the Chinese students (US citizens I was given to believe) if they had to choose between China and the US in a global bust-up.

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  41. pounce_uk says:

    This morning Hezb-allah ran a dummy run in Beirut of taking control of the city. While the rest of the world media reports this:
    Australia
    America
    Middle East
    Israel
    Sky News
    Yahoo
    The bBC remains silent, I wonder why?

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  42. Kendall Massey says:

    I have been advised to post this here. BBC caught red handed spinning unemployment message http://tiny.cc/ui4nc

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  43. Craig says:

    If you missed Alistair Campbell talking to Matt Frei on Monday’s Newsnight you can catch up with the retired corrupter of politics on tomorrow’s Open Book talking to Mariella Frostrup about his top five books. If you miss him then, he’ll be on Loose Ends on Saturday night chatting to Clive Anderson.
    What is it with the BBC and Alistair Campbell? From open warfare a few years ago to an open door now.

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    • Martin says:

      That probably means the c**t will be on with mongo Bacon on Radio5, on with crater face on Radio 5 on Sunday and probably on with Andrew Mongar as well

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  44. Charlie says:

    Multiculturalism is finally beginning to work in the UK.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348564/British-mothers-toddlers-banned-council-funded-playgroup-immigrants.html

    But not for the English.

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  45. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Matt Frei continues his attempt to climb up the greasy BBC pole (hosting Newsnight) and is allowed to write his own blurb.

    Why “Hutzbah”, Matt?  Isn’t that an editorial opinion about Cameron’s defiance of Socialism?

    Judging from his many cringeworthy attempts at witty turns of phrase, I think Frei Boy was a headline writer for the Sun in a past life.  Or is best left to be one now.

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  46. Martin says:

    God Frei is awful on Newsnight, he’s really up his own arse like Peston.

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  47. Martin says:

    Oh god now Paul Mason is almost masturbating on TV as he’s talking to two 12 year old anarchists..sorry thick mongs, one of course a Muslim who “wont da anarchy in da UK as itz nevur bin tryd man”  
     
    Mason walking along with more thick shitty plebs who haven’t got a clue. If Cameron is taking £30 a week off these twats he’s doing the tax payer a favour.  
     
    None the less Mason is literally playing with himself on Newsnight.
      
     
    Ha! now Frei is talking to three posh kids who don’t need £30 as daddy provides.

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  48. George R says:

    Glenn Beck video on China, fuller version:

    http://www.watchglennbeck.com/

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  49. Guest Who says:

    There’s a debate on ‘free’ news…

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2011/01/news_as_an_app.html#P105382749

    Rather tongue-in-cheekily cherry picking (or, as the BBC would defend the practice, ‘enhancing the narrative’ by ‘editting’), let me quote this comment as more apposite than perhaps intended:

    ‘I don’t know what to think: personally I get my news for free, mostly from this BBC site.’

    The irony is, I sense the poster is fine with the situation he goes on to amplify upon. For reasons of space (it’s like I am using the ‘real’ editorial manual as opposed to that one they printed recently and tried to claim they follow), in conclusion:

    ‘…then I’ll be content to live out the remainder of my days in blissful ignorance.’

    Much… is explained. Worryingly.

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