82 Responses to OPEN THREAD

  1. 1327 says:

    Did anyone else catch Springwatch (or whatever it is called) on the Beeb on Monday night. I started watching it about 5 minutes in and was pleasantly surprised that for the next 20 minutes there could be a show about changing patterns of wildlife without any mention of Climate Change or similar rubbish and thought a corner had been turned. But I spoke to soon as for the last 5 minutes of the show the presenters sat down outside for a nice scripted “chat” and us that everyone knew climate change was happening etc etc. 

    It was an odd segment which appeared to have been bolted on to the rest of the show. I have to wonder if the wildlife unit had actually made a show in which climate change wasn’t mentioned but this was then discovered by one of the political commissars who gave the order that this must be put right. 

       0 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      It’s why I rarely watch documentaries on the BBC these days.  They can still do a good job with these, but they’ve ALWAYS got to tag on something about climate change.

      I broke my rule and watched Dan Snow’s programme on dirty cities the other week.  I found it very interesting, and enjoyed it, but even then they had to tack on a bit about how we are producing different sorts of dirt now, and causing climate change.  Cue rising blood pressure.

         0 likes

    • fred bloggs says:

      Actually there was a fact that clashed with climate change.  While talking about flower sightings a presenter noted the 2 day difference between his notes and those of Gilbert White 250 years earlier.   As he had just stated that these flowerings are triggered by temperature, there was not a balancing comment saying; ‘well this flies in the face of climate change’.

         0 likes

    • gud says:

      Yeah, similar tale to tell here.
      I watched a prog on bBBC4 last week, called ‘Rain’, and i thought i’d gotten away without having my sanity threatened with the usual CC bollox… but then it finally came. Should’ve known better really.
      If only i’d read the blurb beforehand…
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jz8gj

         0 likes

  2. Daniel Clucas says:

    BBCLauraK Laura Kuenssberg British Chambers of Commerce say figures are ‘mediocre’

    BBCLauraK Laura Kuenssberg Treasury sources claim return to growth vindicates govt’s strategy – point to success in manufacturing and service sector

    Subtle.

       0 likes

    • NotaSheep says:

      The old ‘say’ versus ‘claim’ distinction; the BBC are true masters of this subtle language distinction.

         0 likes

      • Daniel Clucas says:

        She’s getting all lathered up over Cameron’s PMQs jibe now:

        BBCLauraK Laura Kuenssberg Labour calling for an apology after Cameron told Angela Eagle to ‘Calm down dear’ – one Lab MP said to me the remark was ‘pure Bullingdon’
        I’m sure they did, over lunch was it Laura 😉

           0 likes

        • Deborah says:

          This morning on Today it was inevitable that there would be an item on the ‘Calm Down, dear’ jibe.  I considered it a humour malfunction on the part of Ms Eagle.  But the press correspndents being interviewed – (Melissa Kite was one and a n other but I got them confused) admitted that as soon as Cameron said it the Labour spin doctors were all over the place – ie before Ms Eagle had time to announce how offended she was.

          Rather than show Cameron as a Tory toff – I thought it showed he was a man of the people – who actually sometimes must watch ITV (and how much lower class than that can you get?)

             0 likes

    • Llew says:

      Subtle is exactly what they do. Should have mentioned it earlier but on yesterday’s Breakfast show, they had a piece about the Yes/No and local council canvasers collecting leaflets etc to go out knocking on doors.

      Each side got about equal time to do their little story to camera but one camera shot stood out a mile. Someone was sorting out leaflets on a table and behind them was a bare wall with a clearly visible poster slap bang in the middle of it and the shot. No other party got a clear, 2 second lingering view of their poster or their slogan. Message on the poster?…..”Vote Labour” of course. Subtle, not. 

      I just wish ALL their news bulletins would turn up on iplayer because they regularly sneak in a bit of bias hoping no one will notice.

         0 likes

  3. fred bloggs says:

    5 years ago there was this article:

    http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23371617-we-are-biased-admit-the-stars-of-bbc-news.do

    Well has anything changed? Judging by this blog it is just as bad.  To me it shows that unless there is a fundamental change at the very top, i.e Mark Thompson, it will stay the same.

       0 likes

  4. George R says:

    MEXICO’s Drug Gang Murderers and the United States.

    Glenn Beck asks questions of Obama administration;

    BBC-Democrat doesn’t.

    1.)
    Glenn Beck (40 min video of 26 April show; see first section  especially):-



    2.)
    BBC-Democrat:

    “Mexican officials recover 96 bodies so far in Durango”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13206231

       0 likes

  5. sue says:

    This article about the treasonous  I Am Nasty International includes a big chunk about ex BBC Middle East correspondent Tim Llewellyn who has been saying for years that the BBC “is tainted by pro Israel bias,” which he puts down to Tony Blair’s friendship with Lord Levy.
    This is the sort of complaint that makes up the numbers in the statistical equivalence between complaints received by the BBC about their pro and anti Israel bias that people like the departing chairman of the BBC Trust Sir Michael Lyons says proves their impartiality.

       0 likes

  6. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Just listened to Evan Davis’s sob story about low productivity and employment difficulty in Wales.  He actually mentioned that more than a quarter of all employment in Wales is in the public sector, even suggesting that this isn’t the best balance.  Not only that, but when talking to a taxpayer-funded “micro-broadcasting” advocate, he actually asked if the scheme would attract more businesses to Wales which weren’t subsidized by the taxpayer.  
     
    However, all the answers provided in his piece by the people he interviewed pointed to government investment as a means to bring new industries to Wales.  Even though Davis payed lip-service to the notion that government spending isn’t the answer to everything, the ultimate point of his piece was that the government needs to invest lots more in Wales.  The only thing he seemed interested in was in which new industries should the government be investing.  
     
    One other point Davis forgot to mention (didn’t know?  wasn’t interested?) about employment concerns education.  Davis spoke with three post-grads about their prospects.  They all said that the high-end jobs they were looking for didn’t seem to be in Cardiff, so they’d probably have to look elsewhere.  All the exciting jobs, they say, are in places like London, where most of their friends are.

    Davis didn’t seem concerned that any high-end jobs in Wales would require more government spending, even as he asked if they should be concerned about a “brain drain”.  The female student said that jobs were scarce for her in publishing as she did not speak Welsh.  What degree was she studying, then, and what’s the point of talking to her?  May as well ask someone who graduated with a degree in playing the clarinet why he’s disappointed that he can’t find a local job as a violinist.

    She mentioned the Welsh Assembly and councils as the primary source of high-end jobs, which is telling as more than half of all those employed in the Welsh public sector have higher degrees, as opposed to less than a quarter in the private sector.  Davis didn’t bother to point that out, as it would confuse the point he was trying to make.  No need to distract the audience with silly things like where the brains are actually going and why they’re not so productive.  Or are all those educated people in the Welsh public sector not so smart and competent?  Hmm.


    In any case, I wonder if one added that 25% of people employed in the public sector to however many people would be employed in jobs subsidized by public “investment” in Wales, just how many people would ultimately be supported by the taxpayer?  More than half, from the sound of it.  So why can’t Davis be honest about what he’s doing here?

       0 likes

    • dave s says:

      I suspect he knows full well that Wales is doomed to be supported indefinitely by the taxpayers of England and just did not want to come straight out with it. I spend time in Wales and it is obviously a failed state economically and will remain at best a 50/50 state or more likely a 60/40 public private split.
      What has happened is the result of the rapid de-industrialisation from the 80s onwards and the continual exporting of jobs to the far East.
      A difficult situation that cannot be blamed upon the people and will probably be repeated in the rest of GB given time.

         0 likes

  7. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC is not happy that the President has at last been forced to release His birth certificate.  The Beeboid reporting from the US sneered at Donald Trump, suggesting that it was only Trump’s opinion that he had forced the issue and won a victory against the President.  We were assured that wasn’t the case, that instead everyone on both sides had become concerned that this was a distraction from the vital issues we all face. 

    Even Mark Mardell got into the act from his vacation, saying that all the locals in the diner where he caught the press conference on TV (analysis inset) agreed with the President that naughty people were had made this a problem and the real worry was about rising gas prices.  What a shock, the President says what the people have been telling Him for weeks, and Mardell spins it the other way.

    Mardell won’t give Trump credit either.  Nor will he or the BBC seriously criticize the President for screwing this up and not dealing with it two years ago.  But they are being the dutiful foreign relations mouthpiece for the White House and splashing the birth certificate all over the place, while giving the public the White House talking points about the issue.

       0 likes

    • deegee says:

      Trump was only the last straw. Obama could have released the document two years ago and ended the distraction. It is a measure of his confidence that he didn’t.

         0 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Exactly.  That’s why the BBC is spinning it the other way.  It’s other people’s fault this has become a distraction now, not His.  I saw the press conference Mardell refers to, and the President was clearly pointing the finger at the media as much as anyone else.  In fact, he closed with a scowl and remarks aimed squarely at the media.  He doesn’t like it when they don’t protect Him at all costs, and basically scolded them today.  Mardell didn’t pick up on that, or didn’t have space to mention it.  Let’s see if he or another Beeboid points that out today or tomorrow.

           0 likes

        • ltwf1964 says:

          if there was no problem,why did big ears spend over $1 million trying to prevent publication?

          something fishy going on……….

             0 likes

          • David Preiser (USA) says:

            He did it out of arrogance and stubbornness.  He didn’t think it was important, didn’t want to cede even the tiniest point to an opponent (President “I won”), and knew the press would cover for Him.  Worked pretty well for a couple years.

               0 likes

          • Grant says:

            Maybe it took 2 years to get an accurate fake and doctor the registrar records.

               0 likes

    • Cassandra King says:

      I too noticed the desperate spin by the BBC, they know full well that Obama looked at the numbers and he was forced to release hi full certificate, it was a democreep spin and as usual the BBC picked up that spin and ran with it.

      No mention of just how long it took Obama to release the full certificate, the excuses and delays only fostered the doubts and the BBC also knows full well that it was the direct intervention of Trump that forced Obamas hand.

      You can always trust the BBC to accept partisan spin as the truth, the sneering comments by Obama loving Mardell proves the direct and utlra close links to the US democreeps.

         0 likes

  8. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Jon Donnison just told a big fat lie on the News Channel.  He said that Hamas won the election in 2007, but Israel and Fatah didn’t recognize it, which is why there’s a split between Hamas and Fatah.  This is, of course, insane, as the whole reason Hamas exists is to provide a different path for the Palestinians than Fatah.

    Furthermore, the election was in 2006, not 2007, and it resulted in fact in a unity government.  Hamas disputed the result, and in 2007 used violence to take over Gaza.  Not how Donnison presented it at all.  Why is he spouting Hamas propaganda and not facts?  How partisan can he get?

    At the end of his biased description of the Palestinian political factions, he said that the ultimate goal of both Fatah and Hamas is to end the “Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories”.  That’s “territories” plural. 

    Except Israel does not occupy Gaza, and doesn’t really occupy the West Bank, either.  A border blockade IS NOT occupation, no matter what the Hamas propaganda says.  I know that on one side of the argument all the checkpoints in the West Bank count as “occupation”, but even if we accept the partisan definition, how many Palestinian territories are there?  Which ones are “occupied”?  I suppose East Jerusalem is an “occupied territory”?  If that’s what Donnison meant, he is again taking the Palestinian position, full stop.

    Bias.

       0 likes

    • NotaSheep says:

      To many at the BBC all of Isreal is on occupied land and they will not be happy until it is ‘returned’ to the Palestinians.

         0 likes

  9. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Very amusing to see Stephanie Flanders try to have it both ways when asked who was right about economic growth: George Osborne or her ex-boyfriend and economic soulmate.  Even more amusing was just now when Emily Maitlis was asking some pundit if the economy actually was going to grow and said, “I don’t want to force you to say ‘green shoots'”.

    No green shoots now that the Tories are in charge, eh, Emily?  Funny how the Beeboids saw green shoots and signs of recovery about every five minutes while Mr. Brown was still in charge.  A search on this blog for “green shoots” shows the massive difference in BBC reporting when Labour was in power.

       0 likes

    • Jane Tracy says:

      Dont worry Stephanie Floundering Flanders is still parading her economic fantasies. For example a couple of days ago on Andrew Sentance she said this.

      “There’s not much sign that the Bank’s reputation for curbing inflation has been permanently hit”

      Only someone who has spent the last 2 years in such a dreamworld that they missed the rise in inflation could say that…

         0 likes

  10. George R says:

    ‘News Thump’

    “Woman uses super injunction to prevent identification as Andrew Marr’s sexual partner”

    http://newsthump.com/2011/04/26/woman-uses-super-injunction-to-prevent-identification-as-andrew-marrs-sexual-partner/

       0 likes

  11. Grant says:

    Back in the UK after almost 2 months in sunny Gambia and Senegal, a little longer than I intended.
    The good news is that the satellite dish at our apartment is broken so I couldn’t watch BBC 24 hour news. I asked my, Gambian, wife if she wanted me to get it fixed. She said no, we can just watch DVDs and listen to music. Guess she is tired of me throwing my machete at the TV.
    The bad news is that the local radio station, West Coast Radio, has started broadcasting the BBC World Service news from 1-2 every day. Did I listen ?  Hell no.  Did I miss the BBC ? Is the Pope a catholic ?
    Missed you guys and girls at BBBC though  !!!

       0 likes

    • Cassandra King says:

      Welcome home Grant, your contributions have been greatly missed.

      I have not posted much over the last couple months due to bias overload, it was partly cured by switching off the TV as much as possible.

         0 likes

      • Grant says:

        Thanks, Cassie.  I get the impression that the BBC has given up any pretence at impartiality while I have been away, presumebly because they realise this weak government will do nothing. This is what happens when I leave the country 😀

        Almost 2 months without the BBC did wonders for my blood pressure !

           0 likes

        • Grant says:

          PS  Cassie  ” home”.  One of the things I was welcomed by was the sinister census form.  When I got to the question  ” what do you FEEL to be your national identity ? ” , or words to that effect,  I , truthfully, answered “Gambian “.  That is how fed up I am with the UK. I wonder if the Thought Police will come knocking at my door !

             0 likes

  12. Grant says:

    PS  Has Martin still gone AWOL   ?

       0 likes

  13. George R says:

    “Who Is Al Qaeda’s Insider At The BBC?”


    [Extract]:

    “The US military has seized a number of phone books and phones from jihadis that contain the number of a line at the BBC.
    What can it mean?
    When the BBC reporter Alan Johnson was abducted by Gaza Islamists in 2007, Fayad Abu Shamala was allowed to help with his release. Shamala was employed by the BBC. Shamal was also a member of Hamas.
    Martin Walker told us:
    There was the disturbing case of Fayad Abu Shamala, the BBC Arabic Service correspondent, who addressed a Hamas rally on May 6, 2001, and was recorded declaring that journalists in Gaza, apparently including the BBC, were “waging the campaign shoulder to shoulder together with the Palestinian people”. Pressed for an explanation, the subsequent BBC statement said: “Fayad’s remarks were made in a private capacity. His reports have always matched the best standards of balance required by the BBC.”

    http://www.anorak.co.uk/279489/media/who-is-al-qaedas-insider-at-the-bbc.html

       0 likes

  14. George R says:

    “Liberal rot, al Qaeda terrorists and the BBC”

    http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/04/26/liberal-rot-al-qaeda-terrorists-and-the-bbc/

       0 likes

  15. My Site (click to edit) says:

    As the only market value seems to be comedic, I do still question why the public is required to fund what appears to be the ultimate ‘telephone number jobs for the boys’ scam:

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/neilmidgley/100010073/did-low-pay-stop-mark-thompson-getting-the-best-head-of-tv-for-the-bbc/

       0 likes

  16. George R says:

    SAUDI ARABIA.

    Wot – no 9/11 connection? No Islam?

    INBBC gets a guest columnist ( from Islamised LSE, natch) to put this politically sanitised view of the Saudis:

    “Saudi Arabia’s new role in the emerging Middle East”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13208800

    An alternative non-INBBC, non-LSE analysis:

    “A second look at the Saudis”

    [Extract, from 4-Part analysis, PDF ]:

    “On one level, it should already be apparent that the Saudi government bears direct
    responsibility for the rise of Al Qaeda.
    They have ultimate control over the Kingdom’s basic
    social institutions, such as the education system and mass media, which they have ceded to the
    extremist Wahhabi religious authorities.
    Moreover, they have pumped billions in petrodollars
    into the effort to spread Wahhabi Islam throughout the Muslim world.
    Indeed, it’s important to
    remember that the Saudi royals are themselves the product of the very same education system.
    And at times, Wahhabi enmity for the West has made itself known even amongst the most senior
    members of the Saudi royal family.” (page 1, Part 4.)

    http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com/

       0 likes

  17. ltwf1964 says:

    I thought fat arse Mardell’s 2report” on Obarmy’s birth certificate was going to end with the minger literally kissing his idol’s arse at the end

    full of the usual bbC crap

    “some say”

    thinly veiled insults at Trump for daring to challenge the Obamessiah’s credentials

    barmy Americans for daring to think independently

    you get the picture……the single transferrable bBC “reportage”

       0 likes

  18. Bupendra Bhakta says:

    All BBCC outlets running with Deariegate this a.m., a complete and utter non-story. ‘s what happens when your news agenda is set daily by The Office Of Middle England Ed.

    BBCC have also ran with ‘Consumer confidence low since the 2009 recession say researchers’.  So crap is BBCC that you have to google to find out who the researchers are, then google again to see if the ‘researchers’ have an agenda.  Or listen to a proper news outlet.  Unfortunately there isn’t one.

    Some business droid who hasn’t started shaving opened his report on Shell profits with, ‘As prices rise at the pumps Shell profits rise by 20%’.  Profits – baaaaaad.

    Another even younger business droid interviewing the CEO of Whitbread thought it relevant to comment that Costa Coffee (Whitbread brand) had opened a shop locally forcing two independents to close down.

    Firstly, I happen to find Costa a bit tatty and £2.40 for a medium cappuccino is hardly predatory pricing. And secondly, oi sonny, if you want to be a business reporter – report.  If you want to be an eyelash moustached activist then f*** off and see if UKUncut can rustle you up a salary.

    And finally, a teenage droid interviewing WPP’s Sorrell wept about UK’s ‘terrible cuts’.  Sorrell immediately slapped him down with ‘that’s paying for all the excesses of the past’.

    Sorrell lives in the real world you see.

    Head Droid Thompson complains that BBC execs are underpaid – ‘Only two people applied for my job’, smirked he.

    For once he and I are in agreement.  They should have paid more and got someone better.

    In fact I would quite happily see a Head Droid paid ten million quid a year but only on the understanding that after 2016 BBCC would have to be self-funding.

       0 likes

  19. fred bloggs says:

    Bias by Omission:

    This article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/04a9838e-7039-11e0-bea7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Knpu4uOL

    was discussed on 5dead news at about 5.35pm.  It is about the education of children and how white children have been let down.  The first word of the artilcles title is ‘Labour’.  However all the time Anita and the NUT person spoke about it, I cannot remember it ever being used.  They said the goverment many times but failed to add that it was the previous LABOUR gov that was at fault.

       0 likes

    • My Site (click to edit) says:

      Maybe there was not enough space for ‘Labour’?

      Oddly, one imagines that, had it been any other way, ‘Conservative’ would have squeeeeeeezed in.

         0 likes

      • Roland Deschain says:

        But Conservative is easily shortened to a four-letter word.

           0 likes

      • NotaSheep says:

        Tory is shorter…

           0 likes

      • My Site (click to edit) says:

        I do of course realise that Conservative and Tory sit at opposing ends of the letter count scale in political headlines.

        So I guess my point could be lost that, despite such things, the BBC always seem to have a reason/excuse based on headline length that suits the narrative more than logic.

           0 likes

  20. TooTrue says:

    There are specks of light in the BBC darkness. Yesterday I was astounded to hear, on the World Service, an informed and bold exploration of the violent oppression of Christians in Pakistan by members of the Religion of Peace. This included the savage murders of those who oppose the blasphemy ‘laws’, an interview with the courageous Christian who has taken the baton from his murdered brother and continues to work for changes to the system and an interview with the frightened wife of a Christian man jailed under sentence of death for ‘blasphemy’ because he had the cheek to object to being defrauded by a Muslim:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00….blasphemy_laws/

    And the programme was introduced by Alan Johnston, who was of course the chief BBC propagandist for Hamas for the three years he lived in Gaza.

    Could just be that Johnston became a touch disillusioned with Islamic terrorists after he was kidnapped and held by them for months.

    It’s also possible that someone near the top of the rotten BBC heap is kicking butt, having noticed that the BBC’s approach over the years to persecution of Christians by Muslims is to downplay it, ignore it or suggest that Christians and Muslims are equally to blame for the sorry state of affairs.

    But then, like the proverbial rubber band snapping back, the World Service returned to its usual apologetic tone when “reporting” on Muslims, pretending not to notice that Turkey’s PM, Erdogan, violently objected to a giant statue symbolising the potential improvement in relations between Turkey and Armenia because it was higher than a nearby Muslim shrine.

    The statue, naturally, is being taken down, despite objections by the artists. Can’t have an infidel-friendly work of art towering over an Islamic shrine. And the BBC, naturally, will tread gingerly on egg shells around that issue.

       0 likes

    • Bupendra Bhakta says:

      ‘Could just be that Johnston became a touch disillusioned with Islamic terrorists after he was kidnapped and held by them for months. ‘

      **************************************

      And BBCC of course reminded us that, ‘… kidnappings of this kind do nothing to help the Palestinian cause’.

      Kidnapping Israeli soldiers – mmm good.

      Kidnapping BBC journos – oooh bad.

         0 likes

      • deegee says:

        Actually kidnappings do help the Palestinian cause. They send the message to all journos, “Step out of line and we know where you live”.

           0 likes

        • David Preiser (USA) says:

          Kidnappings also help the Palestinian cause because they give the media yet another opportunity to spell out the grievances and justify their cause.

             0 likes

  21. Cassandra King says:

    If you consider that the ecofascist greenshirt party has just one MP in the form of that lizard eyed nutter Lucas, the BBC certainly invites it on a lot dont they? The BBC certainly loves its regulars like unisham an Lucas, giving them a platform their support does not deserve.

    This AM on BBC toady, Lucas was freely able to lump the BNP in with the Tories in yet another left left debate between two leftists about an issue that the majority of us have no interest in. The referendum on a falwed voting system so utterly flawed and unwanted that even the full on piping by the BBC cannot raise any interest in it.

    Arguing about a flawed compromise of an electoral reform that will solve nothing and change nothing and mean nothing, an expensive useless excersise in political expediency roced upon us by the junior partner in the condem regime. Who cares? The nutter Lucas likes it because it is a step on the road to a political dictatorship, Owen hates it because it is not the political dictatorship he so desires.

    Both want the same end its jut that one wants it now and the other wants it a bit later, well knock me down with a bleedin feather eh?
    A perfectly balanced and impartial debate by the BBC presenting all the opinions that really matter…to the left.

    The next free and fair debate? Should the evil Tories and their BNP allies be gassed, the BBC asks the green party, the UAF, the labour party, the SWP and respect.

       0 likes

  22. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ: supporting illegal immigrants.

     BBC-NUJ suggests that any European/British citizen advocating border controls against illegal immigrants (inc from Islamic contries of North Africa) is at leat one of the following: ‘right-wing’, ‘racist’ or ‘xenophobic”.

    So BBC-NUJ ‘reporters’ travel with illegal immigrants in Europe, propagandising for them, unconcerned about the Islamisation of E.U., and the impact on British people.

    ‘Express’:-

    “FRENCH POLICE RAID ON ARAB MIGRANTS ‘COULD DRIVE THEM TO BRITAIN’ ”

    Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/243379/French-police-raid-on-Arab-migrants-could-drive-them-to-Britain-French-police-raid-on-Arab-migrants-could-drive-them-to-Britain-#ixzz1KnwdyIpz

    Also:

    Stephen Glover –

    “The French mocked Britain for warning that tearing up EU borders would be a disaster. Look who’s whingeing now!”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1381372/The-French-mocked-Britain-warning-tearing-EU-borders-disaster-Look-whos-whingeing-now.html#ixzz1KnxFMdif

       0 likes

  23. TooTrue says:

    Stephen Sackur had Nadine Gordimer, white chronicler of the anti-Apartheid struggle on Hardtalk. It was more like Softtalk as his admiration for the ANC member shone through. Still he did manage to get in a few controversial questions, probing for disillusionment with the ANC regime – which Gordimer confirmed while nevertheless swearing undying allegiance to the party:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00g589n/Hardtalk_Nadine_Gordimer_Nobel_prizewinning_author_and_political_activist/

       0 likes

  24. deegee says:

    Palestinian hope and caution over Hamas-Fatah deal
    By Jon Donnison
    BBC News, West Bank

    One can read this analysis from beginning to end without gaining the slightest idea of the fundamental differences and incompatibility between Fatah and Hamas.

       0 likes

  25. George R says:

    A non-INBBC analysis, in 3 parts, relevant to MARRAKESH jihad mass murders today:

    “Al Qaeda’s North African Connection”

    http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.4588/pub_detail.asp

       0 likes

  26. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC invents friction where friction doesn’t exist.
    India chooses European fighters over US rivals
    India has shortlisted two European fighters and ruled out two US rivals for a key $11bn military contract. The Indian defence ministry picked the pan-European Eurofighter and France-based Dessault’s Rafale ahead of jets made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The US ambassador in India said the US was “deeply disappointed” by the news. President Barack Obama had personally lobbied on behalf of the US defence contractors…. However, some commentators suggested there could be some political fallout from the decision.”The Americans will be very unhappy and people who have been backing the contract will say India has not sufficiently taken into account the political relationship with the US,” said former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.”That is a political setback for relations.”
     
    Reading the above do you get the impression that India is sticking two fingers up at the US, especially after Obama himself lobbied on behalf of the US. Well here is what the so called defence experts at the bBC don’t tell you.

    <!–[if !supportLists]–>1)      <!–[endif]–>While promoting the US snub, the bBC leave out that Russia, yes Russia is the biggest arms supplier to India and that Russia faced an even bigger snub than the Yanks by having their Mig 35 (Mig 29 in new clothes) rejected.

    <!–[if !supportLists]–>2)      <!–[endif]–>The reason why India rejected the F16NF18, Mig35 and the Swedish Grippen  in favour of the other two is simply because the rest are old frames which have been flying for over 20-30 years. In otherwords mutton dressed as Lamb. The Eurofighter  only came into service in 2003 with the Rafale coming in 3 years before.

     

    <!–[if !supportLists]–>3)      

       0 likes

    • pounce_uk says:

      As for India snubbing the US, the article leaves out how in recent years India concerned about the build up of Chinas military has gravitated away from Russian arms towards Western ones. (BecauseChina uses clones of russian equipment Which kind of explains why in the past few years they have ordered:

      Sixteen C17 (Over US$10 Billion) six C-130J Super Hercules aircraft (Over US$1 Billion) eight Boeing P-8I planes ( US$2 billion) 145 US built 155mm howitzers (US$650 million) USS Trenton a helicopter landing ship for US$48 million, 22 Apache (AH64D block 3) helicopters (US$1.4 Billion)  1000s of Javelin anti tank missiles and 512, 1000lb cluster bombs for US$126 million.

       

      Also the US is tendering for the Indian air forces requirement for 10 small  AWACs  with the B 737-700 platform AEW&C, 15 heavy lift transport helicopters and the replacement of its air tanker fleet

       

      All of the above shows that rather than been snubbed the US is doing very nicely from India. Something the bBC doesn’t impart to the reader, instead painting a picture totally opposite on US/Indian relations on the ground. But then the bBC is very pro Pakistan.

       

       

       

         0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        Allison Pearson of The Telegraph has a message for His Grace the Archibishop of Canterbury about his R4 Easter Message:-

        The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his Easter message on Radio 4, suggested there should be a new law that compelled politicians, newspaper editors and financiers to spend a couple of hours every year serving school dinners “in a primary school on a council estate” so that the elite would be reminded that the reason to exercise power is so that “ordinary people may be treasured and looked after”. The message of Port Talbot’s Passion was even more radical and, dare I say it, Christian. It was that “ordinary people”, if given the opportunity, could look after themselves and love their neighbour better than any politician or financier, thanks all the same.

           0 likes

        • Grant says:

          That is excellent that Beardie believes in self-sufficiency and is against socialism !

             0 likes

          • NRG says:

            Or maybe Archbishops in the Anglican faith could be compelled to spend a couple of hours talking about Anglican Christianity rather tahn lefty islamic bullcrap. Just a thought.

               0 likes

  27. George R says:

    INBBC censorship on MOROCCO mass murders.

    As more information comes out on this, the more INBBC conceals.

    In  its latest ‘report’, INBBC censors out any reference to Islam, Muslims, Islamic jihad, and Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM):

    “Morocco probes deadly Marrakesh cafe blast”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13234438

    ‘Daily Mail’:

    “Briton confirmed among 16 killed in terrorist attack at tourist hotspot in Marrakesh”

    [Extract]:

    “Quoting an unnamed security familiar with the investigation, the independent news portal Lakome.com also said it was a suicide attack. According to the source, the bomber was freed from prison two months ago after having been sentenced to eight years in jail for rape.

    “If confirmed as the work of Islamist militants, the attack would be the first such major attack in Morocco since the Casablanca suicide bombings of 2003 in which 12 terrorists killed 33 members of the public in coordinated strikes on the business hub.”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381850/Briton-confirmed-16-killed-terrorist-attack-tourist-hotspot-Marrakesh.html#ixzz1KuVi8crq

       0 likes

  28. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Check out how Mark Easton spins away yet another set of figures to protect Labour.  This time it’s about benefits fraud, and Easton is trying to prove the “red-top press” wrong about what the figures mean.

    The truth about sicknote Britain

    Apparently a recent report shows that a significant proportion of people applying for more benefits are actually fit for work and were just trying to be scroungers and cheats.  Since the nasty Tories have long made a point about hammering Labour over their legacy of the benefits culture, Easton has to spin this to prove them wrong.

    He says that these people were only following government instructions to apply for benefits.  Who wouldn’t do the same in their place, he asks.  Of course, even Easton admits that, except for a couple of months, this was all going on under Labour.  Which is why he has to throw a bit of blame Boris Johnson’s way.  See, Easton is telling you, even the Golden Boy was telling people to apply, so it can’t be Labour’s fault at all.

    What Easton doesn’t want you to think is that these figures show that the whole point of this scheme is to get even more people suckling at the public teat.  So it’s an absolute joke for him to play it as not encouraging scroungers to get even more.  The government asks you to apply for more benefits, but that’s not encouraging a benefits culture?  Only in the partisan mind of a Beeboid.

       0 likes

    • My Site (click to edit) says:

      There are so many instances now, but this really highlights the de facto opposition stance taken by the BBC and its minions.

      Beyond the breathtaking arrogance of presuming to be the purveyor of ‘truth’ that only a Boadenesque mindset could delude into credibility, one is really not sure that shoehorning opinionated narrative enhancing into events interpretation is really this bloke’s business.

      At least, not if seriously claiming to be impartial.

      And, I note, he’s being called on it. A lot.

      Also, much as i concede most redtops are only interested in one thing – ratings – and will headline in whatever way suits that aim, we all know that and judge accordingly. There is also the option of not supporting them with subscription or eyeballs if they blow it.

      Sadly, so far, one has to swallow the BBC and Mr. Easton’s ‘truth’ no matter what. And often times, they make the redtops seem like souls of professional and ethical probity.

         0 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Right. Easton’s whole premise is based on this:


        But I suspect many are simply individuals who don’t want to miss out on a welfare payment to which they may be eligible. There is nothing ‘dodgy’ about seeing if you meet the criteria for something.

        Which isn’t the actual point.  The real issue here is that Labour was ramping up the benefits culture by creating more entitlements and encouraging people to sign up for them.  Easton creates a smokescreen to hide this.

           0 likes

        • George R says:

          BBC-NUJ’s Easton spends UK licerncepayers’ money campaigning for ‘open-door’ laws for these specific interest groups which he seems to be particularly committed to:

          a.) unlimited numbers of immigrants;

          b.) homosexuals;

          c.) incapacity benefit claimants;

          d.) drug users.

             0 likes

  29. pounce_uk says:

    The bBC, its so called defence experts and CSE science 
    Pakistan tests ballistic missile

    Pakistan has carried out a successful test of a cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons, military officials say.Hatf-VIII (or Raad, “thunder” in Arabic) was first tested in 2007 and has a range of 350km (220 miles).

    The country which the bBC champions over everybody else when it comes to handing over hundreds of millions in Aid has test fired its latest nuclear capable cruise missile. 

    But hang on, the bBC defence experts claim it is a Ballistic missile. However for anything to be Ballistic it has to follow a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath. The latest Pakistani instrument of war (Where’s CND when Allah’s little helpers are building nukes?) is air launched and flys to its target using a turbofan engine. (Which means it can’t leave the atmosphere as it is an air breather)

    Any so called defence expert would know that.

       0 likes

    • My Site (click to edit) says:

      ‘Expertise’ at the BBC, especially in matters technical or science, seems to be, like so much else, ‘unique’.

      Amazing the talents market rate access to £4b funding doesn’t lead to.

         0 likes

  30. deegee says:

    The BBC may be jumping the gun a little with this link from their news page. Mugabe in Rome for beatification

    I’ve attached a screen grab in case it is no longer there.

       0 likes

    • TooTrue says:

      Mugabe in Rome for beatification??

      Nothing could beautify Mugabe.

         0 likes

  31. My Site (click to edit) says:

    Interesting comments in the main.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/01/bbc-battle-to-keep-stars?CMP=twt_fd

    In an internet era when simply providing exclusive access to large eyeballs and ears can spin off into all sorts of rewarding opportunities, a vast salary on top seems… ‘unique’, unless it is necessary to justify those of the market rates who sign off on such deals.

       0 likes

  32. Craig says:

    Typical Andrew Marr Show sofa guests this morning for the paper review – Labour supporter Simon Schama and Labour supporter Maureen Lipman. Both thought Tony Blair should have been invited to the Royal Wedding and both had reservations about the government’s handling of foreign policy 

    At least they made Andrew Marr squirm over the super-injunction!

       0 likes

    • My Site (click to edit) says:

      At least, in my neck of the woods, the weather is still rather gloriously contrary to that predicted in high places, so the exposure to the MSM weekend morning tosh will be limited after this post. No more PiP PC for me… garden ho!

      I was simply struck by the delusion in politico-media quarters that all is well even though it isn’t, simply by sitting on comfy sofas with equally flawed and mired individuals in some deranged group hug.

      So we have Mr. Marr who thinks his shot credibility as a.. what, exactly, I am not sure… is restored by a couple of teases by a couple of chums.

      And then this laughing stock has on Mr. Clegg, who seems quite frankly to have taken leave of any ability to communicate. A few soft balls from Mr. Marr and he’s stuttering like a G-reg Viva.

      Not sure where the BBC ‘stance’ on all this is, but I’m sensing they now feel AV is worth the sacrifice (especially given the reality of the polls) of further splitting the coalition. 

      Meanwhile, with the wedding more or less out of the way, SKY was staggering towards actually addressing news a few times.

      I rather appreciated an interview with a teaching union head which was, frankly, textbook. Calm, polite… and devastating. Several simple questions had this over-paid, under-brained functionary damning himself and his sorry, self-serving colleagues over and over in his own words.

      I have no clue who the interviewer was, and that is how it should be. They are not supposed to be the story.

         0 likes

  33. Jane Tracy says:

    Yes I guess that is that BBC’s idea of political balance 3 Labour supporters if you include Andrew Marr himself!

    I guess we now know the answers to two questions. The first is why Andrew Marr launched that unpleasant attack on bloggers. Plainly he was trying to protect himself.

    Secondly why his interviewing is so supine and weak, all his guests must have been laughing at him…

    Only at the BBC could Andrew Marr survive as he would have been made to resign for his hypocrisy anywhere else.

       0 likes

    • Craig says:

      Yes, and it also helps explain all those little digs he used to make, especially during his initial run-through of the newspaper front pages, at any Sunday paper leading with a certain kind of gossipy story.

      I had to smile at Andrew Marr’s later statement of ‘balance’. Having had two Labour supporters on the sofa, we then got a Labour politician (Douglas Alexander). Also on were Elfyn Llywd (Plaid Cymru), Nick Clegg (Lib Dems) and David Cameron (Conservatives). But Andrew Marr was still worried that we hadn’t had enough Labour representation…“And if you’d like to hear what Ed Miliband’s saying he’ll be later on the channel with Jon Sopel on ‘The Politics Show’.”

         0 likes