125 Responses to OPEN THREAD

  1. fred bloggs says:

    Continuing the schools judgement:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12452502

    The judgement was ‘Damming’.   ‘abuse of power’ was taken as a usual legal term that has been applied to Ministerial judgements since the 17th century.  I saw the exchange and Gove wiped the floor with Liebour.   It gave the coalition every chance to show that BSF money allocation was done on a political basis and not on a needs basis.

    Again showing that bBC is ‘not fit for purpose’.

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  2. fred bloggs says:

    The economy; so 24H news goes to Germany and the interview is ‘well we have similar economies  what is going right for Germany’.   Similar economies;  the interview then showed that Germany has a balance of payments of +115B, we have -45B, mostly by manufacturing.  They have 24% of GDP in manufacturing, our manufacuring is 12%. Note our % used to be 20%, but after 13 years of Liebour it is now 1.7M jobs less.

    Our economy has nothing similar to Germany, the bBC should show us the reason why!

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  3. FAIRFACTS MEDIA says:

    Lunchtime news.
    First of all, the inflation story said nothing about quantitative easing.
    Made it appear rising raw material prices and the VAT rise was solely to blame.
    Second, and more significant was Germany’s booming economy.
    Seems having workers on company boards and company investment is the solution.
    Not a mention  of Angela Merkel and her prudent government.
    How you can refer to a country , praise its economy without mentioning it’s leader and centre-right government is an amazing example of verbal gymnastics from a propaganda outfit twisting the news in ever more bizarre ways.

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    • Cassandra King says:

      Spot on analysis Fairfacts media and welcome to B-BBC home of the brave and land of the free 😀 .

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      • Grant says:

        Another contrast between the Germans and British is that the Germans believe in hard work. 

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  4. Shay says:

    I have not been watching the BBC series “Outcasts” for the reasons suggested in this comment to the DT written after the first instalment aired – I wonder if the commenter has been proved correct.

    The commenter considered the instalment pro-feminist, anti-gun & pro-authority, adding “They didn’t have the opportunity to work in antiracism, multi-culturalism and promotion of homosexuality in the first episode, but I’ll eat my night vision sights if they don’t manage them by the end of the season.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8309545/Outcasts-BBC-One-review.html

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  5. Bupendra Bhakta says:

    Marcus Borestock, right-on, on-message, and on-speed dial pretrendy-leftie quote unquote comedian, ecotwat, and great friend of BBBC readers, in a Sunday supplement.

    ‘I rarely fly, for environmental reasons…’

    ‘I went to the Maldives last year.’

    ‘I went to China for a brief working visit’.

    ‘My son’ sister, niece and I were sea-kayaking in Mexico’.

    Dream trip ‘India’.

    Favourite city: ‘New York’.

    Where next: ‘snow-boarding i Val d’Isere’

    Marcus will be performing in…Mayrhofen Austria.

    Worst hotel: Varadero, Cuba.

    I’ve also had some of my happiest holidays in Mallorca.

    ———————————————————

    Thank the Lord he only flies ‘rarely’, imagine his carbon footprint if he flew ‘a lot’.

    Go on Marcus, twitter that.

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    • Natsman says:

      He goes everywhere on foot, by bike, or he rows or sails. Of course he does.  Hypocrisy?  Surely not…

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      • Bupendra Bhakta says:

        Meh, couple of trips to the Arctic as well. 

        Think those were by canoe, though I confess I may be getting my eco-stunts mixed up.

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    • Grant says:

      I seem to remember that the repulsive Borestock also owns a big gas-guzzling camper-van.  

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  6. David Preiser (USA) says:

    BBC News Channel again trying to prove that, even though Germany got it right with their economic policies, it still doesn’t matter because their culture is different from the UK.  Thus, Cameron is still wrong to cut spending.  Even though the German finance guy is saying that Britain has a real problem with everyone being too invested in home ownership, so the British have too much capital tied down compared to Germany.

    “Very different ways of thinking,” intones the Beeboid.

    I guess my post below has been rebutted.  They do mention that Germany got it right, although unfortunately they still say there’s no reason to follow their example.

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    • Grant says:

      DP,
      And, as I posted above, they work harder !

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      • Barry says:

        And they have an education system that works for more than 20% of the population.

        Many of them speak better English than we do. Mind you that’s like setting the bar pretty low and shit innit?

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  7. Millie Tant says:

    I’m enjoying the funny openings to the open thread. Meant to mention this the previous time when Craig did the honours. 

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  8. Johnny Norfolk says:

    Regretably I had to listen to some of Womans Hour ( for female lefties). They were doing a piece about the womans demo in Italy against Silvio Berlusconi . They had 3 yes 3 italian woman slagging him off and not one of his supporters to put forward his view of things. Its just everywhere in the BBC. Who will ever do something about the BBC that breaks its charter all the time. How do they get away with it. They think that balanced reporting is someone that does it from a tight rope.

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    • Grant says:

      Johnny,
      Unlike you , I am not a sexist.  But, I had to laugh at the slogan of some Italian female protesters  ”  Yes to sex, no to Bunga Bunga “.
      Sometimes women are their own worst enemies.

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    • Millie Tant says:

      What? The female lefties held you down and made you listen, Johnny? =-O

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  9. Grant says:

    Daily Politics today with Andrew ” am I hanging to the left ? ”  Neil  and the ever-expanding Anita Anand.
    To be fair to Brillo, he has cottoned-on to Labour and the Left’s sudden and almost miraculous admiration, respect, and support for our Armed Services.
    The pathetic and ridiculous Jim Murphy was shedding crocodile tears for our servicemen , talking about the “military covenant”.  Brillo asked him why Labour never enshrined the “military covenant” into legislation. No answer from Murphy.

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  10. Grant says:

    Is Alistair Campbell on holiday ?

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  11. Chuffer says:

    Thank goodness for the One Show yesterday – Monday. There I was thinking that travellers spent all their time driving round the countryside will only two aims: first to nick everything that isn’t bolted down, and second, to find a peaceful piece of countrside to occupy and trash with a loathsome and illegal combination of tarmac and caravans.

    Now, thanks to the One Show, I know that they are lovely, peaceful, God-fearing (see lots of loving lingering shots of relgious statues in the homestaeds) and misunderstood folk who are only being moved on because the council has a hidden agenda to build on ‘their’ plot, as Neil Morrissey points out just after the report.

    First item here:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00yrj70/The_One_Show_14_02_2011/

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  12. Andrew says:

    Justin Webb waxing Lyrical again:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9394259.stm

    Having read it I was reminded of the time I sat in a meeting with some marketing guy who talked totally unintelligable tosh.  I wasn’t really sure where he was going unti the end and then we got it:

    So the debate about whether President Obama moves now to the centre-ground is at least in part irrelevant – this remains a nation unable to address sensibly the deepest questions – including guns but including plenty else as well.

    This was about the chosen one and seems to be questioning the view that he needs to move to the centre ground of US politics in order to reason with a group that behaved irrationally as exemplified by buying guns in a crime free area.

    Except that maybe the idea that this is totally crime free doesn’t quite stack up:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/real-estate/neighborhoods/20016-crime.html

    Scroll down to the risk below the map.  Given the demographic distribution I too might be more inclined that not to have a firearm:

    http://www.city-data.com/zips/20016.html

    The last 30 days show 5 assaults with deadly weapons, 28 theft from vehicles, 2 robberies, 41 thefts, 1 sexual assault and 6 registered sex offenders.

    All of that before you start playing with the toy and messing with the surrounding zip codes of 20015, 20008 and 20007 when you simply stop counting the number of icons on the map.

    Webb’s suggestion that somehow the citizens of this zip code have somehow taken leave of their senses and that somehow they exemplify an irrational group that Obama shouldn’t waste his presidencey to appeal two is disingenuous to say the least.

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  13. David Preiser (USA) says:

    BBC still trying to discredit George Osborne and the Torie’s claim that severe winter storms curtailed business and caused the tiny step back from economic growth in January.  Here they try to tell you that the US economy improved despite the snow, thus defeating Osborne’s defense.

    US retail sales rise despite severe weather

    So the Narrative is right there in the headline, even though the BBC backtracks ever so slightly in the lead.


    US retail sales rose in January for the seventh consecutive month, although the increase was below expectations.

    Retail sales rose by 0.3%, less than analysts’ expectations of a 0.6% increase, as extreme weather in large parts of the country kept some shoppers at home.

    Oh, wait, that’s not just a slight backtrack: that’s a complete contradiction of the headline.

    Sales rose only half what analysts expected, and this is a success story?  This is more like bad news compared to what happend over the 4th Quarter, when sales were up thanks to a more than 11% increase in online retail.  January of last year was crap, so everyone expected at least some improvement this year.  Yet we got barely half the small amount the experts expected.  Not a win.

    Actually, retail sales didn’t so as well in January at least in part because everyone was buying food and fuel.  But never mind that. This is still the BBC faking a headline as part of a Narrative to counter a specific position held by the Conservative-led Coalition Government.

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  14. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The Obamessiah’s press conference to announce His Budget Plan For Us does not go over well even with the usually supportive US media.

    BBC:  ZZZzzzzzzzzz

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  15. Liquid says:

    The thing about the BBC journalists is -they’re simply crap.
    The knob of a sports correspondent was telling us that West Ham had a right to the Olympic stadium, because it was ‘a short distance away’ – the camera panned to the left from Upton Park and if you squinted, you could just about see the stadium on the horizon.

    Another BBC genius described the happy scenes  in Cairo as the people (the people is this case only applies to crowds of males) oh the gaiety as they waved their ‘brightly coloured flags’.

    Brightly coloured – black, red and white – since when has black been bright?!  Itll be brightly coloured black burkahs next.

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  16. D B says:

    If this all the BBC does to remember George Shearing I’m going to Broadcasting House and take me some hostages.

    You have 24 hours.

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    • George R says:

      Yes; one might think that a very talented, knighted musician, Englishman/American citizen would get more recognition. (In the past the BBC has done some musical tributes to him, which could have been revived here.)

      The ‘Telegraph’ obituary is here:

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8324291/Sir-George-Shearing.html#

      ‘I won’t dance’   

      http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ep3u_george-shearing-i-won-t-dance_music

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      • Millie Tant says:

        I love that song and I enjoyed the clip. Thanks. It prompted me to go off to Youtube to listen to versions sung by Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra. Wildly different of course but so enjoyable I listened to both of them twice!

        Recently, Radio 2 took a decision to stop playing music from before 1940 so of course it stopped doing programmes I used to enjoy:”music of the dance band days”, big band, swing etc. Even Mark Lamarr with his interest in the unusual and not so well known, such as his obscure rock and roll tracks, has left or is leaving after falling out with the bosses over scheduling. What’s left is some sort of bland modern pop soup that I wouldn’t listen to at all.

        But amidst the gloop and gloom,  I have found an interesting programme tonight at 10 o’clock dedicated to the song Mack the Knife. Should be good – it’s a great song and Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and most of the top singers have done it.

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    • Umbongo says:

      George Shearing was, unfortunately, white.  Had he not been he might have had the benefit of a tribute equivalent to Will Gomperz’s hyper-drivel concerning the Brit Award laureates.  The awards, going solely on the evidence of the clips and WG’s encomiums in the BBC1 news at 10 tonight, comprised prizes awarded to black musicians from inner cities in the UK.  As one functionally illiterate artist commented (and this is a rough translation you understand) the success of Britain’s street (?) music is all to to with the wonder of multi-culti.  So now you know:  our rulers, encouraged by the BBC, might have destroyed a Britain once loved and cherished by its indigenous inhabitants but, hey, it was all worth it for a few baubles at the Brits.  No wonder Shearing doesn’t get a look-in.

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      • George R says:

        I fear you are right; and if there were to be some extended BBC tribute it might well be as a footnote to what the BBC propagandises: that jazz is, and should be, a black cultural hegemony.

         While it is true that black musicians have dominated the history of jazz, the contribution of white musicians has also been significant, and worthy of recognition.

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  17. cjhartnett says:

    If Berlusconi gets up the nose and never into the knickers of the sour sisters at the Beeb then more power to his…elbow I guess!

    Surely being a vulnerable member of the European family and still exploring his sexuality, Harriets Harpies might knit him something nice and warm and show some compassion for this confused and hurting young man.

    Surely any friend of Tonys is a friend of ours-and how many people actively wear a bandana unless they are ill! Has he not suffered enough by having the Blairs laying waste to his fridge for weeks on end!

    He seems to be quite well-off. So he won`t fiddle his expenses will he and we might even gat an aria or two?

    Insist on your right to vote him back in-postal form and preferably from your local prison. Isn`t there a by election coming soon that we can parachute him in for?

    Berlusconi-you know he`s just an honest Clinton really! Vote for Silvio!

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  18. cjhartnett says:

    Well done BBC!
    On the “P.M” programme, young Edward had a talk about bad Uncle Sivio with one Rocco Buttiglioni.
    Remember him?-he was the proposed EU Commissioner that was blackballed(can I still say that?) by the E.U in Nov 2004.
    His crime was not mortgage fiddles or passport dealings-nor was it crooked financial doings in his home counrty-sacre bleu! These indeed are qualities that the E.U likes for its collection of nomarks, crooks and junketeers like Kinnock ,Mandelson and Ashton! Where else would we recycle such unelected chancers?
    No-Buttiglioni was a CATHOLIC-and he was not in step regarding the proseletysing for gay “rights”. Not that he had said as much. Not that he was to be put in charge of sexual health or whatever either. No-not being a militant homosexualist was enough to get him blocked.

    Since then he has presumably laid low in Italy.
    Imagine his surprise when the BBC found his number on the old speed dial-was that an option in 2004?

    Wouldn`t you have thought that Berlusconis clear bias towards heterosexual activities was enough to get him hung in effigy by Harriet, Jenni and chums? Why then get a Catholic of all people to condemn poor Silvio?
    Where is your sense of balance Edward?…where are the gay family in their condemnation in his wanton flaunting of his sexuality-and at that age as well!
    E.U not letting powdered tiger gonads in at Bari are they?

    Welcome back Rocco-and looking forward to hearing you again in 2018!

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  19. pounce_uk says:

    The bBC and the company it keeps.

    How many times have you seen a representive of MPACUK been allowed to strut their stuff on the bBC. The bBC promotes them as so called spokepersons for the Islamic voice in the Uk.
    Well here is the latest offering from MPACUK from its website:

    Western States the real terrorists – not Muslims.

    Muslims are being branded as extremists and terrorists. We are being asked to tackle our extremism problem. But has one ever stopped to ask what is fuelling this East-West divide.

    Britain relies heavily on foreign oil, gas and other natural minerals. It has no gold, silver or diamond mines of its own and in the past had nothing more to mine, but coal and yet is so rich. However, countries/continents that have been blessed with such natural wealth, are living in adverse poverty. Do people not realise one of the reasons why Britain and other Western states are so rich and powerful is because their foreign policy has systematically raped, pillaged, plundered and looted the lands and wealth of others and in return have left nothing but death and destruction. It is no surprise Eduardo Galeano, in his book Open Veins of Latin America, a book praised by Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, refers to these rich Western countries as “the pimps of misery”. 


    Every year there are fund-raisers like Comic Relief for places like Africa. We are shown how so many of their people are living well-below the poverty line, dying of simple yet curable diseases and have no access to fresh water. Fundraisers would not be necessary if the foreign policy of these Western states had not raped the lands so thoroughly.


    We are told we are terrorists, particularly when referring to September 11. John Pilger, in his book The New Rulers of the World reminds us how the Taliban asked for evidence of Usama bin Laden’s guilt saying they will try him, but no proof was ever produced. Instead, four weeks after the attacks America and its allies were bombing Afghanistan. An ordinary burglary can take longer to solve, yet an attack on such a scale, was solved within a matter of weeks. Remarkable! Mind you, September 11 is still dwarfed when compared to the American bombings of a civilian population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which claimed between 150,000-200,000 lives, the American war in Vietnam which claimed around 3 million lives and now in Iraq, over a million people lie dead. This goes to show for all our sins, we are no match when compared to the real contenders.

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    • pounce_uk says:

      Part 2

      John Newsinger, a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University College, in his book The Blood Never Dried writes “….by any objective criteria the most dangerous terrorist organisation in the post-war world has not been Al Qaida, but the American CIA. The CIA has assassinated and tortured people across the world, sponsored covert wars that have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and overthrown democratically elected governments.” If this is the case, why then do we agree to put labels of terrorists and extremists, on fellow Muslims which are not be-fitting? Meanwhile, American and other Western leaders refer to themselves as being part of “the Civilised World.”


      One must remember, it was not the Muslims that were responsible for such heinous crimes as the slave trade. Along with treating the blacks as sub-human, their women were sexually harassed and raped by these “civilised” people. Some slave masters would even defecate in the mouths of their slaves as punishment. 


      Muslims have by and large lived peacefully in the UK, contributing heavily to its economy, to the extent we now have Muslim MPs, Muslim barristers, Muslim businessmen and women, Muslim doctors and nurses and teachers. Our shopkeepers are Muslims, as are our bus-drivers and support-workers right down to our cleaners. In fact, everywhere one looks, one finds in the overwhelming majority, Muslims having integrated successfully, working hard and abiding by UK law. Contrast this with the actions of when Britain went into India, ruling it for 200 years, massacring and imposing their rules upon the people, never integrating, never learning their languages and forcibly trying to convert its people to their customs and religion. Their final “gift” to the people of India was partition – a gift so great it up-rooted people from their homes, divided neighbours and families and left over a million people dead. To this day there is hatred between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, when once these 3 people lived in harmony as one, side by side. So how are Muslims the extremists and terrorists?

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      • pounce_uk says:

        Part 3

        The legacy of the British Empire is so lasting and permanent that entire people have forever been removed from their lands and culture, with native languages having been forgotten and self-identities permanently lost. Yet, incredibly the British Empire is honoured annually in the Queens Honours List, where citizens are awarded MBE’s – Member of the order of the BRITISH EMPIRE, OBEs – Officer of the order of the BRITISH EMPIRE and CBEs – Commander of the order of the BRITISH EMPIRE. This would be the equivalent of handing out MNPs – Member of the order of the Nazi Party, ONPs – Officer of the order of the Nazi Party and CNPs – Commander of the order of the Nazi Party to celebrate German achievements in all walks of life. Indeed this would be highly offensive and insensitive to the victims of Nazi Germany, so why is it any different for the victims of the British Empire?


        Much death and destruction has been committed by the British Government, yet it is British Muslims who label each other as terrorists, seeking to disassociate ourselves from fellow Muslims. It is not for us to disassociate ourselves from anyone, but rather British Muslims and the wider British population at large should hold their Government accountable over their foreign policies. We should be putting pressure upon our leaders to ensure such crimes against humanity are not repeated and that all forms of exploitation are ceased with immediate effect. It is not just for British Muslims to apologise.


        But when Muslims are called terrorists by the media we remain silent, do not speak up and incredibly – accept it. We do not follow Allah’s message. We are told in the Quran “O you who believe, if a rebellious evil person comes to you with news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance.” (Surah 49:6). So why is it when news comes to us we do not verify it, why do we accept it so readily?


        We should not be seeking to apologise for anything, it is these war criminals that need to apologise to us and hang their heads in shame – not us.

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        • pounce_uk says:

          Conclusion 

          That diatribe was taken from here. If ever there was a revison of history there it is. It openly professes a hatred of the British by equating them to the Nazis and yet again promotes a victim angle in which to brainwash the young and impressionable Muslims that only by fighting can they achieve justice. This is the group the bBC rings at short notice in which to give an Islamic viewpoint, So on that note when was the last time you saw the bBC bringing out the odious EDL/BNP in which to talk about the British way of life?

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          • Guest Who says:

            The bBC and the company it keeps.  

            That featured tweet by the MC regarding its approval for another hatchet job cited in another thread, being a pretty good additional measure in complement.

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          • Demon1001 says:

            One must remember, it was not the Muslims that were responsible for such heinous crimes as the slave trade. Along with treating the blacks as sub-human, their women were sexually harassed and raped by these “civilised” people. Some slave masters would even defecate in the mouths of their slaves as punishment.   

            Of all the many lies stated in the article this one amused me (not in a good way) more than the rest – The Muslims were heavily involved in the slave trade, and without them, and also many African peoples, the trade would only have been a fraction of its size or wouldn’t have happened at all.  And guess what, some Muslim leaders still have slaves today.  

            As far as that mouth defecation story – it’s one I’ve not heard before so I assume it is either a fantasy of the blog’s author, or he has heard of it happening in the Muslim slave trade.

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    • John Anderson says:

      I saw that report about the CBS female reporter several times yesterday when scanning the news-aggregation websites in the US – RealClearPolitics,  HotAir, DailyCaller etc.   Also reports about other journalists being beaten up by the Cairo crowd.

      Funny,  the BBC screams it from the rooftops if some “journalist” gets into bother in Palestine or Iraq.  But silence when they hear about this appalling attack on the CBS woman.

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      • Millie Tant says:

        From my scanning of newspapers online, there have also been loads of attacks on western journalists, men as well as women being beaten, punched, kicked etc. Has the Beeboid Corporation been informing us about this? I don’t listen to the babble of pompous windbag Simpson and co, so I don’t know.

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  20. fred bloggs says:

    5Dead, 9.20am  Foggarty talking about council salaries.  Caller says Cameron does not have a problem as he can top up his wages from his overseas bank accounts.  Foggerty says nothing, next caller gives it to her in the neck for saying nothing.  What if the next caller had not picked her up?

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  21. Guest Who says:

    Just started the iPlayer to review further. On another story, the vox pop ‘I am a single muvva wiv two kids; how am i supposed to…’

    Might this be a cuts, Cuts, CUTS!!!! lead in?

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  22. George R says:

    Mass Islamic illegal immigration from TUNISIA to E.U., ITALY & BRITAIN.

    Note: in INBBC reporting on this, Tunisian illegal immigrants become: ‘migrants’.

    INBBC headline:

    “Tunisia migrants: Italy puts Europe on alert”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12461866

    INBBC,  does not make clear the ease with which the E.U. (and UK) can be inundated with such illegal immigration from North Africa.

    There’s no indication whether:

    1.) 5,000+ illegal immigrant Tunisians will be returned to Tunisia;

    2.) further mass illegal immigrant invasions can be stopped;

    3.)  large numbers of Tunisian families to be added to numbers of illegals;

    4.)  people get E.U./’human rights’ to settle in Britain.

    And this is only the first wave of ‘economic’ immigrants from there, post-uprising.

    ‘The wages of instability’

    http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/02/wages-of-instability.html

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    • Umbongo says:

      A clip shown on BBC News at 10 last night included Berlusconi touring some prefabs in Sicily which are being prepared to receive the “migrants”.  Also, according to the paper MSM (and it might also have been reported by the BBC) Italy has requested £100+ million from the EU as a contribution to the cost of dealing with this migration.  So we’re partly paying for it and, yes, once on the mainland you can bet that some of the migrants will find their way to benefits/housing heaven in England.

      BTW it always seems to be England; there’s not a massive African migrant population in Edinburgh or Glasgow for example.  Mind you, given a choice, a Tunisian (or even Somali) migrant might  prefer Tunis or Mogadishu to  Glasgow’s inner city.  Lucky for them though, the migrants can choose much more salubrious areas in which to relax at the taxpayers’ expense.  OTOH the mugs who pay their benefits and provide their housing and access to the NHS don’t get any choice on where (or even if) they settle here.

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      The BBC style guide really has twisted the English language.  Refugees become “migrants”, a fundamentalist group becomes “moderate”.  All because of a twisted editorial agenda.

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  23. pounce_uk says:

    The bBC, and how its so called defence experts know SFA about guns 
     
    Teen British soldiers go on tour in Afghanistan  
    Picture 4  
    John carries the biggest weapons system-The general purpose machine gun(GPMG)-which means he often has to cover the patrol leader while he moves forward and scans the ground for IEDs.  
     
    Actually bBC, the weapon John is holding, is the Light Machine Gun( aka FN Minimi a different weapon entirely as it uses 5.56mm rounds as opposed to the GPMG 7.62mm rounds. Which is why the latter is a squad weapon, has a 2 man crew uses a tripod and weights over 14 kgs (on its own). Where the Minimi is a one man weapon coming in at 7kg  Also Patrol leaders don’t move forward and check for IEDs,(granted everyman in a patrol will be looking) the main person for the job is the Point man. Section/squad leaders are always further back so as to be able to control the situation.  
     
     
    But then any half decent so called defence expert would know that. 

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  24. PDC says:

    More stories the BBC won’t dare report:
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8327684/Egypt-US-reporter-sexually-assaulted-in-Tahrir-Square.html
    What? These kind protestors in Cairo don’t respect women who aren’t in a burkha? She was asking for it m’lud.

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      The BBC did find the time to copy and paste a news brief about it but, as james1070 pointed out on the previous page of this thread, they sanitized the incident for the headline, unlike more honest news organizations.

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      • PDC says:

        Oops. Apologies, David Preiser, missed that posting.
        The BBC is also strangely silent about the attack on ABC’s Brian Hartman. He was threatened with beheading. Now, what does that remind me of?

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  25. Guest Who says:

    As part of my job, I access and surf a broad variety of sources, including many activist organisations.

    And after the latest rabble rally by email, it has sunk in: these bozos really only care about themselves; and when they bang on about hardship, it is actually naked self-interest.

    As the few remaining income-generators are taxed and tapped out, so the only credible solution to dig out of the no-money hole is to purge the parasite classes. Especially with the near horizon of their batty pension deals looming.

    No wonder the BBC is in full flounce mode supporting this sorry shower at the drop of a ‘cuts!’ story… they are simply more of the same. A lot more.

       0 likes

  26. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Things in Iran must be getting really bad for the mad mullahs.  I just heard on FoxNews.com (not the TV, the online version) that they sent two warships into the Mediterranean to try and provoke Israel.  A perfect distraction to the unhappy masses, they hope.

    The BBC will blame Israel.

       0 likes

    • Grant says:

      I may be paranoid , but the tone of the snippets I have heard on the BBC about renewed protests in Iran sounds markedly different to the tone adopted for Egypt.

         0 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Could it have anything to do with the recent charges that BBC Persia is obedient to the mullahs?

           0 likes

  27. david hanson says:

    I see that American oil giant Chevron has been fined 8 billion dollars by a court in Ecuador for causing massive pollution in the Amazon rainforest by their activities. Does this mean that we can expect the Obamessiah to be as vociferous in his condemnation as he was when “British” Petroleum did something similar? I won’t hold my breath.

       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      He loves seeing oil companies punished.  Especially when He’s not a top recipient of their cash.

         0 likes

    • Umbongo says:

      The $8 billion will be a bit difficult to collect.  AFAIAA Chevron has no assets in Ecuador.  I also have a feeling that the US courts will be a mite reluctant to enforce the judgement (if Ecuador attempts the necessary action in the US).  My advice to Ecuador is to try its luck here.  After all the English courts are a pushover for anyone from the third- (well, in this case, second-) world with a sob story.  If that fails, an appeal from the English courts to the ECHR is bound to be successful.

         0 likes

  28. Grant says:

    The current “Private Eye” has a headline  ” Radio 4 Audience Must Move North “.

       0 likes

  29. pounce_uk says:

    Is the bBC promoting an anti government message? 
     

     One of the stories aired today was the one about how the NHS (yes NHS) has decided that in order to give a better service to children they are going to consolidate all their child heart surgeons at a number of hospitals. (I may not agree with them, but that is what they said) And here is how the bBC reports that story:  

     

     It seems that while the left regularly mock the Daily Mail and its readers, for scare mongering  it appears that their favourite news channel is guilty of doing exactly what they accuse the DM of doing. Or is there as I suspect a darker side to those headlines which at first sight give the impression that the Government doing away with Child health in which to save money?

     

     

       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      The News Channel was talking to some mother of a child in need of surgery earlier today.  She was complaining about having to send her boy farther away for treatment, and was upset that he would no longer be in familiar surroundings.  Fair enough, I suppose, but all we heard was her complaints about the unfairness, and there was nobody else brought in even later on to explain the other side.  Tim Willcox laid out the government line, playing devil’s advocate like he’s supposed to do, but that’s not enough to counter the impact of a personal sob story.  The BBC just wants to bring in as many negatives as possible.  How about hearing from a couple of surgeons or something?

         0 likes

  30. cjhartnett says:

    The Beeb are hung over the Paedophile appeals I notice!
    Aren`t all such vulnerable victims with no prospect of appeal or rehabilitation entitled to the ministrations of the professional stickybeaks with their manuals and medications? Have the BBC told us all not to be so judgemental and be a little more enlightened-Human Rights are only so when they are conferred on thsoe we do not approve of, lifestyle -wise.
    Yet we hear Yvette Cooper in Parliament wanting to chuck the book at them! The BBC are far from happy and think this may be the bridge too far-but logically they are stitched up. Only one of many crimes is it not…and didn`t Harman, Woodhead and suchlike blur the boundaries before they became the political elite of today? Margaret Hodge thought such victims as being confused and probably partial when she was linked with childrens homes way back.
    Worth watching this case!

       0 likes

  31. cjhartnett says:

    A delight to hear Justin Webb come out on behalf of our misunderstood and vulnerable Council leaders(er CEOs as they like to call themselves these days)

    Justin thinks that mob rule may prevail and that local PollTax Payers may be politicised-hell,wasn`t Eric Pickles(his oppo) a Marxist way back as he took pains to tell us.

    The issue was a smokescreen and politicisng populism-as if Labour and the Beeb had only just discovered the concept. We won`t get the best people and even your local head would have to run the gauntlet. That this was not true did not stop both the LGA and the BBC from levelling the accusation in the interview.

    So now we have it-bankers are parasites even though they are nominally in the private sector. Faithful public servants on vast salaries though are being scapegoated and a drop in the ocean when it comes to thier troughing being highlighted.
    Wonder if Justin and his Beeboids think council salaries are to be defended because his and theirs may yet get the spotlight that has been way too long coming-can`t imagine a Sweeney,Theroux or Brooker getting the green light to make any programme on THEIR salaries!

       0 likes

  32. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Still censored from the BBC’s sub-optimal report about the brutal assault and gang-rape of CBS reporter Lara Logan:


    CBS reporter’s Cairo nightmare

    “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan was repeatedly sexually assaulted by thugs yelling, “Jew! Jew!” as she covered the chaotic fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo’s main square Friday, CBS and sources said yesterday.

    The TV crew with Logan, who is also the network’s chief foreign correspondent, had its cameras rolling moments before she was dragged off — and caught her on tape looking tense and trying to head away from a crowd of men behind her in Tahrir Square.

    This sounds suspiciously like the moment the Reuters photo was taken which the BBC is currently using for their report.  The BBC will never tell you this unless the rest of the world makes a fuss and they’re forced to admit it.  Until then, this is not considered newsworthy by BBC editors.

       0 likes

    • Umbongo says:

      You can always tell when the BBC doesn’t want to report something.  It plants the seed of doubt by getting in the killer phrase, in this case, “the US network says” she was assaulted.  I also noticed that the thugs’ chants of “Jew Jew” as they assaulted Logan were not mentioned by the BBC – not even as a “claim” by CBS.  This is a familiar tactic used in the BBC’s “impartial” reporting in Gaza: it’s always “the Israelis say” but slavish relaying of Hamas allegations are almost invariably conveyed as the unvarnished truth and rarely prefaced by “Hamas claims”.

         0 likes

  33. pounce_uk says:

    Did anybody watch the 10 O/Clock news tonight and the part where the bbC reported on the ongoing saga with Raymond Davis (The Embassy man who shot dead 2 men) 

     

    Well tonight fresh in from Egypt they had…Orla(They died in their thousands) Guerin reporting from Pakistan, in fact she was filmed where the men died. As this was the shrill of the bBC (Lots of noise, no substance)  she aired the revised bBC version of this story.  Which means that removed were all reference that the men who were shot were armed. That minutes before they had committed another robbery ,  But they did include that one of the men was a 17 year old and that his whole family are ready to commit suicide if Davis is released in which to give the impression that he was nothing more than an innocent victim. 

       0 likes

  34. pounce_uk says:

    Anybody else find it strange how the bBC while reporting on the protests in the Arab states places similar protests in Iran after an article about how 2 Iranian ships have sailed into the med. It is a non-story. Yet the bBC feels it is more important than the protests in Iran. Not as important as the protests in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen mind. Anybody wonder why the bBC gives Iran such an easy time, so much so it is more than happy to push an attempt by Iran to change the subject while it murders its own protesting people.

    Shame on you bBC

     

     

       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      When I first saw this earlier today, I posted this comment (previous page on this thread):

      Things in Iran must be getting really bad for the mad mullahs.  I just heard on FoxNews.com (not the TV, the online version) that they sent two warships into the Mediterranean to try and provoke Israel.  A perfect distraction to the unhappy masses, they hope.  
       
      The BBC will blame Israel.

      It distracted the BBC, alright.  And the whole thing is about Israeli threats.  Job done, BBC Persia.

      Come see the bias inherent in the system.

         0 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Speaking of BBC Persia, check out what they report:

        Israel: Two Iranian warships are headed to the Suez Canal

        The above link is to the actual Persian page, but the headline is how Google translates it.  So the BBC’s tradition of “Israel claims” continues, even when it’s an indisputable fact.  And it gets worse.

        Here’s the Google translation for the rest of it.  Emphases are mine.


        Israel’s foreign minister said Iran sought to send two warships to Syria through the Suez Canal is.


        Avigdor Lieberman, Secretary-wing coalition government of Israel, Iran accused the “stimulation” have, but did not provide evidence for his claim is.


        He said: “Tonight, two Iranian warships intend passing through the Suez Canal and entering the Mediterranean Sea, to go to Syria. For years this has happened.”


        Israel’s Channel One is a public network with the announcement quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the country’s middle path on the two ships are carefully monitored and the “friend zone countries” have been warned.


        Ydvs Hrvnvs Israeli newspaper two ships of the type MK5 and a logistics ship known that Israel does not recognize a serious threat.


        Developments in recent days in Iran, Yemen and Bahrain have increased energy prices.  Sea Brent oil prices to their highest level reached during the past 29 months.


        Sea Brent oil barrel price Wednesday of $ 2.40 was increased to 104.04.


        Israeli Foreign Minister, said: “Sadly, the international community to deal with constant stimulation of Iran does not indicate its readiness. The international community must understand that Israel can not forever ignore the irritation is.”


        America also has said the government information available on this ship has no direction but they will be monitored.


        Iranian news agencies reported during recent weeks that the Iranian Navy cargo ships to protect against sea pirates attacked Somalia sends warship few.

        Blame Israel.  Distract from what the mullahs are doing to their own people.  Everything I’ve bolded above is completely absent from the English language version.  Including the two bits in Iran’s defense.

        I assume this is the kind of thing the BBC will be paying for out of the license fee when the government grant stops.

           0 likes

        • Grant says:

          For the BBC Iran is the model State which they would like to see throughout the Middle East.

             0 likes

  35. John Anderson says:

    A long speech and Q and A by Chris Christie,  Governor of New Jersey since 2009.  He sees his state as being bankrupted – and has intervened fiercely.  “Unpopular decisions”, facing down the special interests,  balancing the state budget – have actually increased his ratings.

    Here he is in Washington,  spelling out how his path in NJ should be followed at national level.

    No teleprompter,  totally in command of the figures (Obama at his press conference on his budget lied openly about his figures,  when challenged by a journalist he repeated the lie inside his incoherent verbiage)

    Nowhere on the BBC do we hear this deep debate,  The debate the Tea Party was all about – fiscal discipline.   It is about why the Republicans swept the board in November 2010.  At root – it is about US national survival, no less.

    All we get from the BBC is flannel,  never addressing the deep realities of US politics.  Never explaining the gulf in policies.

    It is LONG – but an interesting discourse on what people are really thinking about in America – not the crap the BBC is dishing out.

    http://www.aei.org/event/100369

       0 likes

  36. pounce_uk says:

    A little more on that Iran ships transiting the Suez canal to Syria story from the bBC. While the bBC defence expert  shows off knowledge by stating that the Iranian Naval ship in question is one of Iran’s Mk-5 frigates or the new  clone of one. They don’t delve much on the other. A supply ship. Now the above frigate is under 100 metres in length (while compatible frigates are around 120 metres in length) and to be serious’ at 1500 tonnes fully loaded it doesn’t bring much to any fight. (Yes it has 4 C802 missiles) But against a ready or big opponent they just don’t pack a big enough punch to cause much trouble. But back to that supply ship.  For those not in the know, the above frigate has a range of 5000 miles. Iran also has a naval base in the  Eritrean port town of Assab. (which is about halfway to Syria at the most 2500 miles away) As the boasts have  a range of 5000 miles they have more than enough legs to get there and back without refuelling. So why the support ship. The most likely support ship will be the Kharg  – modified Olwen class design- which comes in at 33,000 tonnes fully loaded., it will be docking in Syria. So the questions which should be asked is what will it be unloading?

       0 likes

    • pounce_uk says:

       In conjunction with that here are a few news snippets from today:

      1)      Visiting Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Ankara will not allow the military bases of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Turkey to be used for military purposes against other countries, Iran’s English languagePress TV reported Wednesday.

      2)      TEHRAN – Chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that IRGC will unveil a project soon to “surprise the world,” the force’s website Sepahnews reported. n the near future, the miracle-like project will be unveiled and inaugurated which will surprise the world,Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the chief commander of IRGC was quoted as saying. Jafari made the remarks at a celebration held by IRGC here to mark the victory of Islamic revolution 32 years ago. He said IRGC has made considerable progress in scientific researches as well as military and defense projects, but he did not elaborate on the nature of the project to be unveiled.”The projects which are currently underway in the country will surprise the world if they are concluded,” he was quoted as saying.

       

      Strange how the bBC whose reporters are more than happy to impart what they think come any story about the militaries of the Americans, British or Israelis don’t appear to be able to do likewise when it comes to Iran. 

         0 likes

    • Andrew says:

      I’ve been following aspects of this story for a little while.  Last time I saw, these ships had been docked in Jeddah, and given the Wikileaks observations about Saudi’s view of Irans persian expansionism into Arab affairs I found it  little odd.  But the I came across this:

      http://www.debka.com/article/20650/

      Which might explain it.  We’re unlikely to hear much because it makes the BBC’s chosen one look a tad foolish to say the least.

      I may have mentioned this somehwere else on these threads, but I have also come across news reports pointing to another Gaza (larger) Gaza flotilla.  Is there a chance that they might try and escort these ships through the Israeli line in order to provoke an international incident?

      These aren’t hard dots to join for the BBC and I’m not sure how long they’re going to be able to hide it or misrepresent it.

         0 likes

  37. pounce_uk says:

    The bBC and how it rewrites history to play the victim card for Somali pirates.
    Somali pirate sentenced to 33 years in US prison
    A Somali man who pleaded guilty to piracy has been sentenced in the US to more than 33 years in prison. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse is the only survivor of the crew of pirates who attacked the Maersk Alabama merchant ship off Somalia’s coast in April 2009.He was captured by the US Navy, whose sharpshooters killed three other pirates trying to escape on a lifeboat with the Alabama’s American captain.
     
    So according to the above story these poor men were shot in cold blood while trying to escape.
    And here is how the bBC reported that story almost 2 years ago:
     US Navy snipers made a split-second decision to shoot dead three Somali pirates holding a cargo ship captain hostage on a lifeboat, officials say. US Navy spokesman Vice-Adm William Gortney said the pirates were shot because Capt Richard Phillips’ life appeared in “imminent danger”. Snipers on a US warship towing the lifeboat fired after seeing a pirate pointing a gun at him, the navy said. Capt Phillips was not hurt, and a fourth pirate surrendered. The US Navy had had contact with the pirates as the stand-off continued, attaching a tow rope and taking one pirate on board for medical help.
    Negotiations involving Somali elders had been going on throughout Sunday to secure the captain’s release, with the fourth pirate still on board the USS Bainbridge. He was taken into military custody.
    The lifeboat, which had no power, was attached on a tow line about 100 ft (27 metres) behind the warship after the pirates had accepted an offer to be moved out of rough seas.
     
    So let me get this right, the life boat which contained 3 pirates and their hostage was been towed by the USS Bainbridge , with the man sentenced today on board the US navy ship receiving medical aid.
    Some escape plan then?

       0 likes

  38. Guest Who says:

    When the disconnect is so extreme, you know they have no shame left…

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100076449/there-is-only-one-way-to-encourage-councils-to-spend-their-resources-on-front-line-services-make-them-self-financing/

    The BBC is sticking to its “Tory cuts” narrative, but most newspapers, including those on the Left, have noticed that some of the councils making the most noise about reducing their services manage, at the same time, to employ dozens of officers on six-figure salaries.’

    The self-financing idea is an interesting one. Can’t think why the BBC might not be keen, conflict of interest-wise.

       0 likes

  39. Johnny Norfolk says:

    We we now know the BBC want AV. I watched the Newsnight debate and the yes people comanded about 66% of the time.I am now even more convinced just what rubbish it is. You vote for a party on its manifesto, the whole thing is then changed by leaders making deals behind closed doors so they can form a government. It is less power for the people and more to politicians.

       0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Newsnight is fast becoming a parody of a late night news magazine.

      Its ‘guest’ selection and ‘questions’ they discuss are a hoot in showing the mindset at play to rig the outcome.

      I believe this effort even had a BBC poll behind it, which they will doubtless spin up to being what ‘the country’ has decided it wants.

      I am open-minded currently, but these days if the BBC is rigging things in favour, i will certainly pay close attention to arguments against (which by the nature of things may require visits elsewhere on account of that famous impartiality).

         0 likes

  40. Guest Who says:

    The power of controlling the edit. My morning twitter feed serves up…

    fannyvonfrank Vickey Tree  by BBCBreakfast@ @BBCBreakfast When and where? 2 years as a temp and i still can’t find a perm role. IDS is talking utter rubbish.
    Possibly entirely legitimate commentary and even reflective of a greater whole. However, along with the input of invited guests and other selected Vox Pops read out by the sofabound teleprompter regurgitator, if things ran contrary to the hive-mandated narrative, might one suspect the RT’s would be less enthusiastically passed on?
    Plus, one presumes, any counters that may have been inspired?

       0 likes

  41. fred bloggs says:

    Although not a new bBC approach, i.e putting the Liebour message in a fiction programme.  I get the feeling it is going to happen, more and more.  Just seen a trailer, about north of England during 1930’s, with a councillor saying, “we need to spend more to get ourselves out of the depression”.  Ghost script writer Goebbels possibly?

       0 likes

  42. Andrew says:

    As I was out and about yesterday I caught plenty of the teenage unemployment on the BBC radio.  I also saw on returning home the BBC website report on it:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12477563

    Although wrapped up in the overall unemploment figure there was clear emphasis on youth unemployment with Milliband accusing Cameron of betraying a whole generation.  The BBC kindly obliges by putting in a table comparing to 2008. A summary thought would have said – higher under tories than under Labour.  Nice summary.

    I thought it odd so had a look at the ONS statistics myself for this age group.  Although 66,000 was being touted for the quarter, the real number for their comparison purposes is 109,000 increase.  Yet 106,000 of that increase occured Oct – Dec 2009. 

    Slap bang in the middle of the Labour Government

    So whilst what we really have here is a general increase in youth unemployment approximately 71% of it happened under Labour which a certain Mr Milliband and Mr Balls were right in the thick of running. 

    Of course a serious look at these numbers will reveal that and the fact that the tories didn’t have this little observation in the counter argument to make clear over and over again is making them look increasingly like fish in a barrel ready for shooting.

    But as to the BBC.  Given their silence on the observation and the selective use of date ranges depending on what apsect of the story they want to tell, they are clearly ringing the bell for Labour. In fact looking back the only time they started banging on about it was in October 2010 after the tories took power, the ineffective future jobs fund got cut.  Nor were they alone.  A quick google search seems to show the TUC were quiet on youth unemployment until the exact same point.

    Nor is it a one off.  When trying to find the story, I briefly spotted another story, pointing to previous record highs in 1992 – oh that would be the tories then wouldn’t it again?

    Now here’s a thought.  How odd that they put this at the door of Cameron depsite it also happening under Labour.  Given that they gave Milliband a free ride with his “the economic mess wasn’t our fault – it was part of a global downturn” , they would by extension capture the rise in unemployment as a natural result of that.

    So how come it suddenly doesn’t apply now?

       0 likes

    • fred bloggs says:

      Liam Byrne, he of ‘I have spent all the money’ fame.  Was using that all afternoon in Parliament.  Deny the ONS figures on youth unemployment.  They are supposed to bethe highest ever,  They cannot get there in one giant leap in one year.

         0 likes

  43. George R says:

    Luton:  and Islamic insulters of the British army.

    2 reports:

    1.) ‘Daily Mail’

    “At last, a victory for the rights of the majority: Judges reject appeal by Muslims who shouted abuse at hero soldiers”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1357662/Judges-reject-appeal-Muslims-shouted-abuse-British-soldiers.html#ixzz1EDIfbxrL

    2.) INBBC report:

    “Luton army parade protesters lose High Court appeal”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12480509

       0 likes

  44. George R says:

    INBBC provides fulsome space and sympathetic reporting of Islamic complaint on ‘Dispatches’ programme.

    Of course, in contrast, INBBC is hostile in its presentations of anti-Islam views of, EDL, and of Geert Wilders.


    INBBC report:

    “Dispatches Islamic school to complain to Ofcom”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-12463479

    But ‘Jihadwatch’ has:

    U.K.: School at center of investigation over Islamic supremacist teachings claims victimhood

       0 likes

  45. Millie Tant says:

    Since about the time of the general election, the former Labour spin doctor, sacked / resigned (take your pick) in about 2003, has been touring the Beeboid studios like some newly resurrected ghastly Flying Dutchman.

    Stephen Glover has noticed how Campbell is feted by the Beeboid Corporation:

    ” Mr Powell also approvingly told the UN of a dossier published by the British Government a few days earlier. What he did not know was that this ‘dodgy dossier’ was largely a plagiarism of an article by an Iraqi exile called Ibrahim al-Marashi, which employed information from the first Gulf war in 1991. It did not mention that its information was 12 years old, or that it had inflated some of al-Marashi’s figures.
    Who was responsible for this slippery piece of work? Why, it was compiled by Alastair Campbell on the instructions of his master, Tony Blair — the same Mr Campbell who has just published the second volume of his diaries, who is feted by the BBC (which he once tried to destroy) and treated as a serious and honest man. For this act alone he should have been made to answer in a court of law.

    So in good faith, though somewhat credulously, Mr Powell made an argument for war based in large measure on a fabrication and a misrepresentation. Like many of us, he was gulled — by the CIA, by Mr Campbell’s little work…”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1357773/Chilcot-inquiry-So-Iraq-war-based-lie-Tony-Blair.html#ixzz1EDSOLT00

    I wonder why the Beeboid Corporation is so happy to have him swanning around shamelessly on the Beeboid platform considering the history between him and Beeboids over Iraq.

       0 likes

    • Andrew says:

      I recall the reports at the time.  Although Campbell rounded on the BBC there was still sloppy journalism going on.  I was always suprised watching him given evidence to the Hutton Enquiry where he described timelines etc.  What I marvelled at was that no one questioned why the group was called The Iraq Communications Group.  I mean, what one earth about that group name suggests its purpose is to examine Intelligence Reports?  The name virtually screamed Spin Doctoring.  Also no one seemed to think it odd that an unelected government adviser with no special skill set around the intelligence world (and therefore no business being there) sat on this very small group.  Campbell did his job well to a point in that he shouted down the BBC when they had inadvertantly forced him to talk about this group.  I suspect he had made them see their small error and they therefore didn’t care come back to question the govt actions.

      The problem is in taking on Campbell is that his opponents understimate him.  They seem to think it’s enough to call him slimey and leave it at that.  He knows that’s no threat to him.  Take his recent appearance on QT.  People sat there having a go at him.  What does he do?  He puts on his glasses, refers to his notes with quotes and picks his enemies facts apart.

      He’s probably made all nice with the BBC since NuLabour because both know they need each other in their battle for minds and he his a very effective tool.

         0 likes

  46. Andrew says:

    I’m wondering when the BBC will update this story:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12492867

    Obviously the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine have a military use for sea shells.  This use must be worthy enough for these lads to enter the 300 metre ‘no go’ area leading up to the fence (how odd that all of a sudden it’s no longer a concrete wall).

    http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=208612

    Donnison must have been very busy if all he could spare time to write was this:

    Israel often opens fire on people who “got too close to the fence” to stop attacks by militants, BBC Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison says.

    Of course if he was a bit pushed for time he could have cut and pasted this from Honest Reporting:

    The fact that the youth was injured in the leg and not killed by multiple bullet wounds tallies with how the IDF operates on the border. Warning shots are fired some 10-20m away giving Palestinians in the buffer zone ample time to leave the area without any further incident. In addition, the only soldiers qualified to open fire, after first receiving permission from their commanders, are highly trained snipers who aim for the legs with the specific purpose of preventing fatalities.

    http://honestreporting.com/gaza-border-zone-shooting-context-vanishes-in-no-mans-land-3/

    It might have made it sound a little less entertainment for the IDF as Donnison’s version seems to allude to.

       0 likes

  47. George R says:

    “TV matters: discrimination at the BBC”

    [Extract]:

    “Older female presenters aren’t the only ones to be discriminated against at the BBC: the corporation isn’t keen on men of a certain size, either, it would appear”

    (by Mark Lawson)

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/17/bbc-discrimination-against-weighty-men?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fmedia%2Frss+%28Media%29

       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      I’m sure the BBC is waiting to report this until they do further investigation searching for proof that it was the EDL or similar who did this as a way to raise fear about Muslims.

         0 likes

    • Demon1001 says:

      It’s a Mossad plot.  They conned the Islamists into making this statement, which of course they don’t agree with as they are all in favour of equality for all.

         0 likes

  48. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC is reporting now that Iran has given up for the moment on trying to send a couple ships through the Suez Canal to Syria.  At the end of the report they have this:

    Analysts say the plan had presented a headache for the new military leadership in Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and has since had cold ties with Tehran.

    A “new” leadership signed a treaty in 1979?

    BBC Persian hasn’t gotten around to reporting this yet.  Probably waiting for the cue from the mullahs on how to blame Israel for preventing them from protecting innocents from pirates.

       0 likes