272 Responses to WEDNESDAY OPEN THREAD…..

  1. will says:

    Ignoring that there is no market for the left wing press (Guardian, Independent) the BBC foolishly thought there was a market for a left wing opinionated travel guide. All that income extracted by threat blinds them.

    The BBC lost £100million in a disastrous takeover of the Lonely Planet travel guide business, an internal report has revealed.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2491654/BBC-lost-100m-travel-guide-flop-Corporations-commercial-arm-accused-getting-carried-away-highly-optimistic-plans-Lonely-Planet-series.html

       14 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      Aw c’cmon, Lord Tony has already said he was ‘disappointed’ with it (in the same way that you or I may be ‘disappointed’ with the sherry trifle at luncheon.)

      I mean what’s a hundred million quid here or there.

         17 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:

      It’s also worth reminding everybody that the man responsible for initiating the Lonely Planet purchase, John Smith, was awarded a £800,000 pay off when he subsequently left the BBC.

      The BBC Trust has responded to the latest findings of the £100M loss by saying:
      Diane Coyle, vice-chairman of the BBC Trust, said: ‘Mistakes were made in the acquisition and handling of Lonely Planet.

      ‘The important thing now is that the lessons highlighted by this review are implemented, alongside broader improvements to the strategy and oversight of the BBC’s commercial operations.

      ‘Lessons have been learned, blah blah blah’.
      The BBC can continue ad nauseam to make all manner of mistakes and come back with the ‘lessons have been learned’ mantra. Any private company has only so many attempts to ‘get it right’, before there’s no money left to ‘learn any more lessons’. The BBC mindset, sucking at the never ending’ public teat, can afford to keep getting it wrong, and rewarding themselves even greater benefits for doing so.

      How much longer will the government and public allow this ridiculous situation to continue?

         11 likes

  2. George R says:

    Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood.

    INBBC continues its political support with PR sob stuff such as this:-

    “Mohammed Morsi ‘steadfast’ in jail, says wife after visit”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24861490

    Alternatively:-

    “The Morsi-Zawahiri Connection”

    By Raymond Ibrahim.

    http://frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/the-morsi-zawahiri-connection/

       10 likes

  3. ember2013 says:

    In the old days, to be a Professor, you had to be expert in a range of subjects within a recognisable field. For example, Professor of English who also taught about poetry. Now we have people with limited scope like Zephaniah.

    According to that YT clip above he is Professor of Poetry at Brunel University?

    Or did he make that up for the caption people?

       13 likes

    • David Kay says:

      Zephaniah isnt a real Professor, he’s not an academic. All his qualifications are honourary. At the risk of sounding racist, the colour of his skin probably helped him along the way

      “He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of North London (in 1998), the University of Central England (in 1999), Staffordshire University (in 2001),London South Bank University (in 2003), the University of Exeter and the University of Westminster (in 2006). On 17 July 2008 Zephaniah received an honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Zephaniah#Achievements

         15 likes

      • David Kay says:

        Jeremy Clarkson has honourary doctorates, why isnt he presented as Professor Clarkson?

           17 likes

        • ember2013 says:

          In the old days a celebrity with an honourary degree would enjoy the ceremony but not mention it afterwards. It seems today that some celebs try to capitalise on such awards, despite the fact the awards do not actually confer acknowledgement of expertise at all.

             13 likes

    • hadda says:

      Professor is a job title, not a degree or qualification, though a job of that level/status is usually only attained after years of academic and teaching excellence, not on account of a collection of imaginary — sorry, ‘honorary’ — degrees and a high media profile.

      For reasons unfathomable, Brunel do indeed employ him in that capacity and honour him with that title:

      http://www.brunel.ac.uk/arts/creative-writing/staff/benjamin-zephaniah

         6 likes

      • The Beebinator says:

        when i was at university the professors all had PhD’s and after years of being just a “doctor” and after writing lots of books, they became professors

           5 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:

      Apparently the BBC doesn’t find anything wrong with having criminals telling the public the rights and wrongs of the country.
      Besides Pryce, who is also apparently currently involved with a disgraced ex-MP, there was also Zephaniah, who was found guilty of burglary earlier on in his life. The latter was a real waste of space on the programme, but definitely preferable to the insidious Russell Brand.

         11 likes

  4. uncle bup says:

    Gameshow ‘lozatexagreenwime’ Nikki really excelled himself this morning.

    As another Taleban leader meets his maker courtesy of a drone strike…

    ‘The Americans would surely have known this would ramp things up and make peace talks difficult’.

    That’s right, do the Taleban’s PR for them.

    Lest we forget – 442 UK service personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001

    Nikki, man, just fuck off will yer.

       21 likes

  5. GCooper says:

    So Carlos Ghosn, the South American born employee of the state-owned Renault/Nissan company ‘warns’ Britain yet again that if it leaves the EU, Renault will reconsider its investment here.

    Ghosn has been tooting his master’s trumpet with this tune for over a decade,. yet somehow the the BBC thinks this is front page news.

    Bias? What bias?

       24 likes

  6. Llareggub says:

    Death of Arafat. So it was the Joos. Note how ‘Palestinian Officials say’ is often used as an opener, like ‘Labour says’.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24863138

       14 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      One perhaps should be grateful they didn’t pull their usual trick of popping a definitive statement in quotes at the beginning and any qualifier as to who saying it (which can have a bearing) at the end, in hope it falls off the end of a mobile or twitter headline.
      However, there does seems still space for the word ‘claim’, which the BBC can deploy, or not, depending on how they wish the ‘news’ they share to be taken.
      I would read the full thing to see what else is in there, but as it’s a BBC ‘report’ on a Palestinian sources who say ‘story’, it is hardly worth it.

         9 likes

  7. Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

    John Cole has died. Although another from the usual Guardian-BBC merry-go-round, I don’t remember him showing bias.
    I look forward to next week’s Private Eye ‘Hondootedly Mossis Thotcher …’

       16 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      Sorry to hear that. I always looked forward to his piece. Don’t recall any bias either, although in truth I wasn’t so attuned to it back then.

         15 likes

  8. Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

    Question of hate How anti-Semitic is Germany 75 years after Kristallnacht?
    This weird article, with its biased headline, is trying to show that present-day Germans are biased against Jews. But there is a growing Jewish population in Germany and Jews in Germany often say that they find much more anti-Semitism when they go abroad. And the one quoted example of physical violence in Germany was a Rabbi attacked by a group of youths of Middle Eastern appearance. So, not really anti-Semitic Germans at all then.

       18 likes

    • pah says:

      One of the few European countries where you are likely to find armed guards outside of synagogues. Make of that what you will.

         4 likes

      • Maturecheese says:

        I visited North London a few weeks ago and I saw guards outside the synagogue near where we were staying. I doubt if they are allowed to be armed here but I also doubt if they were protecting the synagogue from Indigenous British people. I would suggest it was more likely those followers the Religion of Peace that they were guarding against.

           12 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      I heard some of this one-sided, pro-Islam reporting. Apparently Muslims are attacking Jews in Europe because they feel such anger at what Israel is doing in the Middle East (taken as read, no counter view) and unfortunately such anger occasionally boils over into violence. Also, apparently, the far right see Jews as on their side because Jews also have Muslims as their enemy. Meanwhile Muslims also feel under attack for their customs, including the way their women dress to ‘protect their modesty’ (Irony alert, BBC – this week it also protected an Islamic terrorist).

      So there we have the BBC world view: Muslims can only be victims.

      This would have been like listening to right-wing satire, had such a thing existed.

         13 likes

  9. AsISeeIt says:

    Given that you have a Lefty campaign you want to push…

    The question has been raised hereabouts – what are the criterion for a nice big plug from Nicky Campbell et al at the BBC?

    Well number one hint is get yourself on Twitter…

    Colin McFarlane ‏@colinmcfarlane 4h
    Great chat with the brill @NickyAACampbell on @bbc5live – lazy stereotyping of black actors on TV. Catch again on iPlayer. Join the debate!

    Brenda King ‏@king_brenda10 2h
    @colinmcfarlane @NickyAACampbell @bbc5live. You were fantastic! An inspiration! And you have a velvety voice that’s perfect for radio.

    Colin McFarlane ‏@colinmcfarlane 1h
    @king_brenda10 @NickyAACampbell @bbc5live Thank you! They looked after me beautifully at such an early hour!

    Nicky Campbell ‏@NickyAACampbell 1h
    @colinmcfarlane @king_brenda10 @bbc5live he was great

    Spread the lurve….

    Number two hint: make your campaign Lefty-minded

    Number three, four and five….

    Get yourself on Twitter and spread the lurve

    By the way I for one would give Colin MacFarlane and his velvety voice a chance on BBC 5 Lice.

    He can’t possibly be more biased, more self-regarding, more toadying to the Left and overall a bigger twit than Campbell.

    Sod off Campbell and give the man a chance

       10 likes

  10. The disconnect between the narrative on last nights QT and the views of real Bostonians must be obvious.

    QT is clearly biased, but what can be done?

    Is is possible to frame a FOI request that asks for the formulation and policy of picking audience members? Of course they will fob that one off with the usual drivel about balance, but is it at all possible that actual data, of the type they collect with their online application to be released for scrutiny?

       14 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘Is is possible to frame a FOI request…’
      Of course it is.
      However, as you rightly surmise, the fobbing off will be swift and harsh.
      I also doubt it will get as far as any explanation on anything, as they hide their rigging of audiences under ‘purposes of enhancing the narrative’.

         9 likes

  11. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ is STILL biased in favour of mass immigration into Britain.

    Here’s a mild ‘liberal’ piece which many Beeboids, such as Easton, have trouble in politically accepting.

    “With Britain’s population set to grow by 10 million… The dangerous liberal myth that it’s racist to want to curb immigration”
    By PROFESSOR PAUL COLLIER.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2491733/With-Britains-population-set-grow-10-million–The-dangerous-liberal-myth-racist-want-curb-immigration.html

       12 likes

  12. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ seems disinterested in the abuse of the Human Rights Act, as in the case of Mr Mohamed.

    ” Human Rights Act is a gift to our enemies”

    By DAILY MAIL COMMENT.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2491872/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Human-Rights-Act-gift-enemies.html

       12 likes

  13. Thoughtful says:

    The HATE that the BBC dare not speak its name !

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24852131

    So they do a piece of anti Semitism on the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht in Berlin. They tell us about how anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany, and how a Rabbi was attacked because he was identified as a Jew.

    They tell us that “A year ago, Rabbi Daniel Alter was attacked by a group of youths of Middle Eastern appearance as he walked with his young daughter.”

    So no mention of the fact that this rise in Anti-Semitism is most probably down to the fact that the multicultural hell hole Europe has been turned into has invited hate filled Muslims into our midst who have no intention of behaving to the pink tinted fluffy cloud vision of the fascist left.

    The fact that these people are top of the hierarchy of isms, and that ‘Muslims must never be criticised no matter what they do’ means that the problem can only get worse.

    Oh the vibrancy !

       23 likes

  14. Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

    This probably merits a thread on its own, and adding to ‘In Their Own Words’. Pity it’s behind the Times paywall (£).
    BBC is too big and too left-wing, says former executive

    The BBC has become too big, veers to the left and should not have shut out critics of the European Union and ever higher immigration, one its most senior former executives says in an article in The Times today.

    Roger Mosey, whose 33-year career included editing Radio 4’s Today programme and overseeing the BBC’s 2012 Olympics coverage, calls for ministers to consider handing part of the licence fee to competitors.

       14 likes

    • Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

      The Times’s own opinion (£) is that The licence fee should be cut and the BBC should cease to be a publisher.
      Roger Mosey’s article has an interesting, but contorted, explanation for why they’re all left-wingers. Because the BBC has around 70% of news consumption, on TV and radio, it has to have a consistent ‘editorial voice‘. This means that the editorial content has to be coordinated (he used to do that job himself), so there has to be a ‘shared understanding about stories within a framework of editorial guidelines‘.
      Co-ordination can therefore lead to homogeneity‘, he says. ‘The BBC Trust speaks the language of diversity but in its edicts it promotes conformity‘. (Why did he suddenly switch to mention the BBC Trust there?) ‘This has obvious risks when compounded by editors’ judgements that are naturally influenced by like-minded peers.’
      To me, this sounds like a weak excuse for employing only left-wingers. If they followed their Charter and broadcast material impartially, they could allow staff of any background and political leaning. But because they have to spout only a left-wing ‘editorial voice’, they couldn’t trust anyone but fellow-lefties to do it.

         13 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        ‘….so there has to be a ‘shared understanding about stories within a framework of editorial guidelines‘.

        No there doesn’t. Their job is to report news and current affairs in a balanced and impartial way, and thus all should be trained accordingly. If they step away from this brief, they get pulled up on it.

        What could be simpler?

           8 likes

      • Dave s says:

        They only employ pod people. Have done since the 60s. They call themselves liberals I call them fantasising idiots.

           8 likes

  15. Guest Who says:

    As nights draw in and the week to its conclusion, a quote that appeals, quoting a quote about quotes, which applies neatly to today’s MSM ‘news’ midden, but is especially true of the BBC’s 8,000 cubicle cubs and their elders and better paids….
    http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/correction-by-punctuation-pnas-fixes-paper-by-putting-quotes-around-plagiarized-passages/
    ‘To paraphrase Beyoncé: If you like it, better put some quotation marks around it.’
    That’s ‘like’ in seeing a way to enhance the headline to a point where the actual story may be something else entirely to the point of misrepresentation.
    The BBC admitting it no longer has space for accuracy even if its staff had the skill or will.

       5 likes

  16. Dave666 says:

    Breakfast slipping in adverts for charities this morning.Child soldiers Charity blah blah age of joining the Army here blah blah. Well failed to mention that you shouldn’t be in a combat situation until you are 18. In fact I joined the army at almost 17. Still nice mention for some crappy little charity Followed by employers should alcohol test their staff. By yes a party who has a vested interest in this. Let alo9ne who is going to carry the cost of all this testing. After I had left a well know company they started drug testing staff, not because I had left obviously. The story I was told by an ex colleague is that some had sussed out over the counter medicines that would give a positive result. They would then be suspended on full pay until the full results came back giving a clear result.

       10 likes

    • Number 7 says:

      “Child Soldiers” – as described – join at the age of 16.

      At any time, until they sign up, they are free to leave – up until the day before their 18th birthday. At this time (18th birthday) they cannot be engaged in active service and are not under any sort of contract to do as such.

         4 likes

  17. ember2013 says:

    We’re all aware of the BBC’s double standards when reporting bad incidents between certain groups. Muslim on non Muslim in the UK is treated with kid gloves with regards the language used. So it will be interesting how far they push the “Murderous British army” line when reporting the Royal Marine case. Also, see if Newsnight tries generalising about British army tactics, tonight.

    I’m hoping they will treat this aberration as they would any other rare case involving ethnic groups. After all, stoking hate amongst certain Muslims, towards the British army has already had repurcussions this year with Lee Rigby.

    Come on BBC: be reasonable.

       16 likes

  18. Alex says:

    Whose side are the BBC on? I couldn’t care less if our brave soldiers blew a Taliban terrorist’s brains out. Waste of a good bullet if you ask me.

       18 likes

    • Llareggub says:

      Oh the murderous British Army theme will be brought out to balance evidence against those accused of murdering Lee Rigby at the forthcoming trial. I do suspect that the sentence imposed on the British soldier in Afghanistan has been endorsed by our appeasing hug a hoodie, tag a terrorist Prime Minister. Appeasement runs from Downing Street to the BBC.

         14 likes

  19. jpt says:

    Just watched a bit of Eastenders and in it a war memorial bench had been vandalized by the graffiti ‘WHFC’ – are West Ham fans in the habit of doing this kind of thing??
    Don’t think so (I’m one by the way).
    The BBC couldn’t quite bring themselves to show graffiti from the ‘community’ who often actually do this sort of thing.

       20 likes

  20. ember2013 says:

    Although “Have I got news for you” can sometimes be an effort not to notice the bias it was good to see Godfrey Bloom give as good as he was inevitably going to receive: only a BBC audience could sneer at a photo of an adult man burying his head in the bosom of a topless woman.

    Yep, it’s far too normal for a corporation that enabled various presenters to seduce underage girls. Far too normal. They must have needed the sickbags.

       8 likes

    • MartinW says:

      I have watched with dismay the relentless trend to left-wingery on HIGNIFY. However, Godrey Bloom did himself no favours. He revealed himself to be boorish, thoughtness and stupid man.

         1 likes

  21. Doyle says:

    The first contestant on tonight’s Mastermind answered questions on Star Trek the original series but what was his first question? Go on, have a guess.

    In which episode of Star Trek do Captain James T Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura forced to kiss in what is widely cited as the first interracial kiss on mainstream American television?

    Just can’t help themselves can they?
    (oh, and there was another Islam question)

       12 likes

  22. George R says:

    More murdering by Islamic jihadists in Somalia.

    (Are their ‘human rights’ protected by us?

    Do they want ‘legal aid’ money from us?)

    Two reports:-

    1.) ‘Jihad Watch’:-

    “Somalia: Islamic jihadists murder at least four with car bomb at popular hotel”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/11/somalia-islamic-jihadists-murder-at-least-four-with-car-bomb-at-popular-hotel.html

    2.) INBBC:

    “The BBC’s Ibrahim Mohamed Adan in Mogadishu says” –

    “Mogadishu blast: ‘Suicide attack’ in Somali capital”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24873912

       4 likes

    • George R says:

      Come on, Mr Adan, you can do better than ‘suicide attack’-
      try the appropirate word, ‘ISLAMIKAZE.’

         6 likes

      • George R says:

        Appropriate word: ‘Islamikaze’-title of Raphael Israeli’s book. ‘Look inside’ it here:-

           5 likes

  23. +james says:

    Just saw a quite good but rather bizarre documentary about the history of British jet fighters, Cold War, Hot Jets BBC 9pm.

    In it America was portrayed as evil aggressive anti-Communists and Stalin as peace loving and misunderstood. But at least we found out that it was a cash strapped Clement Atlee and the Labour Government that sold our secret jet technology to the Soviets. And it was this jet technology that cost the lives of British pilots during the Korean War.

    It was a interesting documentary spoiled by Anti-Americanism and pro-Communism.

       11 likes

  24. AsISeeIt says:

    cough, cough… excuse me… cough cough….
    really sorry about that…. you see the BBC keep ramming wimmins sport down my throat.

       6 likes

    • +james says:

      I don’t get it. The Beeb tries to turn wimmins sports into a political issue. There are only a few wimmins sports worth watching. Gymnastics, Dressage/Show jumping, Beach Volleyball, Lingerie Football and Tennis.

      But when it comes Soccer or Rugby the pace is so slow the game is dull. And maybe if women actually supported sports like Netball they would gain greater media coverage.

      It is painfully obvious when they show wimmins soccer that the stadium is always half full and all the spectators are bussed in on freebees. My local amateur soccer club gets larger turn outs.

         5 likes

      • +james says:

        My favorite Ladies sport, Lingerie Football.

           4 likes

        • Milverton says:

          Women want to be men and men want to be women, and within the BBC I have little doubt that is seen as the norm.

          Although this silly wimmens’ sport fixation will pass there are far more serious future implications of the race for complete equality.

          How will a British Army unit with women fare in hand to hand combat against an enemy which consists entirely of men? Are the MoD examining these issues?

          Sooner or later the West and China are going to bump heads. Are the Chinese filling their front line with women as we will soon, and if not are liberal social experiments really worth gambling our entire civilisation upon?

             6 likes

      • Number 7 says:

        It would be interesting to see the women’s England Rugby XV vs. a village club second team – let alone the Extra B’s ( c. The art of Course Rugby).

           5 likes

  25. George R says:

    Will Beeboids pick up on this video lampooning of the ‘foreign aid’ industry for Africa?

    “How the foreign aid industry demeans Africa”

    By Fraser Nelson.

    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/11/how-the-foreign-aid-industry-demeans-africa/

       8 likes

  26. Reed says:

    Interesting comment from an ‘ex-BBC’ employee.

    I wonder what the BBC saw in him? Sounds like their standard take on those who speak about immigration and UKIP in general…

    Tony McMahon : All demagogues get rumbled at some point and Farage has had a good run spitting out dubious “facts” in a blokey, bar room style that has fooled the credulous and mildly racist. Well, the bubble has burst. Last night he was trying to blame hospital waiting lists and kids having to travel to schools far away on immigrants – none of this is a proven “fact”. As for the nonsense here about the BBC setting him up (and I am ex-BBC employee for the record), the Beeb has given that man a platform that has morphed into a scaffold from which he’s hung himself (pardon the tortuous analogy). But he’s not been denied airtime and Dimbleby even rescued him at one point last night. So enough of the BBC bashing – it’s a yawn. Farage has had his day.

    Simon Fay : “Farage has had his day” Wish I could say the same for your former employer.

    Tony McMahon : My former employer will be around long after Farage keels over on a golf course.

       6 likes

  27. Thoughtful says:

    Doesn’t take long before you can see the far left bias in an interviewer, and although they are not supposed to express opinions they come out in the questions they ask.

    There’s a piece about entrance examinations to secondary schools and how they can be structured to mitigate the effect of private tutors (which apparently they cannot wholly).

    So there’s a bit of a pause, and out it comes ” what about the children of poorer families who can’t afford a tutor?”

    Perhaps they should have turned round to her and said, well when you receive a salary it’s yours to spend on what you choose. What about the child of relatively well off parents who chose to buy a big house and choose not to employ a tutor?

    Typical anti freedom fascist left BBC again

       6 likes

  28. OldBloke says:

    Coming to an Off Licence near you?
    This report came in from another web source and there is video evidence to support it. It was the security guard that was shot at point blank range.
    Have the BBC reported this event yet ( I can find no internet report) or have they been to busy reporting the alleged murder by a British soldier?

    [A security guard was shot and a bomb exploded at a southern Russia liquor store Friday, officials said, reporting one person dead and two wounded.The store in Makhachkala, the capital of Russia’s republic of Dagestan, was destroyed in the attack,.

    A law enforcement official said that a militant entered the store, shot a security guard, planted the bomb and fled.

    The bomb was then detonated remotely, the official said. It was unclear whether the guard was the person killed.

    Last week, a similar attack against a liquor shop in Makhachkala killed two and injured 15 people.

    The owner of the store had been intimidated by Islamic radicals in mostly
    Muslim Dagestan because he sold alcohol, the official said.

    “It is not the first time that this store has been bombed,” the official said, explaining that it also was bombed Aug 3.

    Islamic insurgents in Daghestan and other restive republics of Russia’s
    volatile North Caucasus region frequently attack liquor stores and other
    public places selling alcoholic beverages, as Islam prohibits the drinking of alcohol.]

    How long before this starts to happen in the U.K.? Not that this would be of any importance to the BBC of course.

       10 likes

    • MartinW says:

      Surely there have been instances (very little publicised by the BBC, or not at all) of shopkeepers in mussselmen-dominated parts of London and elsewhere being intimidated by islamists for selling items they do not approve of. It’s not a future occurrence, it’s happening now.

         8 likes

  29. Thoughtful says:

    It’s the story of the soldier found guilty of murder and there are two experts talking about culpability and the cumulative effects of battle.

    In comes the naïve Beeboid who say ‘ but surely the law is the law and he knew he was breaking it, there shouldn’t be any excuse for the effects of battle?’

    This is the reason why I believe that the UK should reduce it’s armed forced to a bare minimum. To prevent idiots who from their comfy chairs have not the first idea of what war is about, but want to send to our troops to every Muslim conflict zone imaginable.

    If he hadn’t been stopped in his tracks, British soldiers would now be in Syria fighting with Al Qaeeda, and no doubt the greedy weasels would be rubbing their hands together for all the cases they could bring against them.

       10 likes

    • Llareggub says:

      There is no doubt what the BBC feels about the soldier found guilty of murder. Tucked into an article about what happens to prisoners in war is the BBC line:
      “From the first comments caught on the camera to those spoken by Marine A after he fired that final shot, there is no mercy, or even humanity. This was a cold, calculated murder away from the heat of battle.”

      In my opinion the soldier should have been charged with wasting a bullet and the cost of that bullet deducted from his pay.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24849151

         7 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        All a bit #2wrongs, I concede, but I don’t recall such projection of impression in lingering prose on what transpired in a camper van in BBC car parks over decades, with the passive complicity of BBC staff and management in support.
        Or such a desire to scratch such a scab.
        Guessing Lord Hall Hall’s notion of regret, apology and moving on extends, as with all things BBC, along curiously astounding selective paths.
        Of many shameless failings, the moral relativism the BBC & staff deploy .. alllll the time…. is beyond parody.
        What happened, was proven and saw sentence is these days under pressures spared all in combat even a few decades ago. A burden professional soldiers have imposed I would not want & hence would not volunteer to bear.
        However, to find the media at home rushing to offer propaganda succour of such scope and tone, to enemies seldom if ever held to a fraction of an equal standard, is frankly sickening.

           5 likes

    • noggin says:

      yep! … the al bbc narrative on loop ad nauseum
      There is no time for overpaid lazy latte drinking nation haters thank you very much, not in Afghanistan.

      You try to assist these thankless reprobate, lawless wonders, like the 2 soldiers who got shot in the back
      only last week by the “policeman” they were patrolling with? … yes!,
      how many bloody days of outrage from the BBC? for that?

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487867/RAF-policeman-grins-alongside-rogue-Afghan-policeman-opened-comrade-moments-later.html

      Marine guilty of Afghanistan murder,
      Afghan ‘execution’ audio released,
      Marines ‘had shooting cover-up plan,
      Marines murder trial highlights battlefield rules
      Marines trial explored battle rules
      How often are captured enemies killed?
      Has case harmed marines’ reputation?

      By the way has Cameron finished apologising and handwringing yet?

         7 likes

      • Llareggub says:

        And I thought Cameron was opposed to gruesome be-heading, killings etc being shown publicly by Facebook. OK to release the audio if it can be used to discredited our soldiers rather than the drug lords and Jihadists.

           5 likes

    • George R says:

      2’Taliban hung our mates’ body parts from trees during six months of hell’: Horrific testimony of Marines fighting in ‘Death Valley.’
      “Marines tried for murder of Taliban insurgent describe their ‘tour from hell'”
      By DAVID WILLIAMS and IAN DRURY

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2493892/Taliban-hung-mates-body-parts-trees-months-hell-Horrific-testimony-Marines-fighting-Death-Valley.html?ico=news^headlines

         4 likes

  30. BongoBongo says:

    The nearer the UK gets to the European Elections, the more you will see the pro Europe gray train riders, big business bosses who like to keep wages low, and the troughing cabal from the House of Clowns, paraded by the BBC, to give to the nation their scare mongering stories, in a deliberate attempt to influence those elections.
    Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that someone from UKIP exposes the amount of grants/subsidies/gifts/donations etc that the BBC receives from that corrupt organisation each year?

       11 likes

  31. JimS says:

    A ghost story on Radio 4, set in Edinburgh, The Face at the Window, the Wave of the Hand. Fiona sees a face at the window, could it be her friend, Margaret?

    So far, so plausible, typical Scots female names.

    Then we are in to BBC lah-lah land. No it can’t be Margaret because the face was white and Margaret, of course, is brown and is Doctor Gupta and is NOT my friend but my wife!
    I expect we should be grateful that Dr. Gupta didn’t claim to be head of the IPCC.

       7 likes

  32. Geoff says:

    More dumbing down The Lord Mayors show for 8 year olds. Skelton and Collins thinking they’re presenting Blue Peter..

    Already we’ve told three times that the new mayor is only the 2nd woman to hold the post…

    Check out the diversity…

       8 likes

  33. Klaus says:

    BBC News website headlines right now:

    Murder ‘must not besmirch marines’
    Guardian to face MPs over NSA leaks

    This anti-left bias must end!

       3 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      So, after a bit of a sulk what you didn’t see here but wanted to, now what you did see on the BBC home page and felt was… what… too objectively factual for once? Shouldn’t have been mentioned?
      Anyway, it sounds like the special instant response complaint line the BBC reserves for special occasions, and colleagues, has heard you and responded…
      “How often are detainees killed?”
      “Has case harmed marines’ reputation?”
      It will be interesting how many teams are now en route around the world to see just how outraged various folk are and even whip ’em up a bit, perhaps without asking if this sensation has been mirrored when they were whipping out their moblys to upload the latest bit of fun & games from their side of the ‘hood to FaceBook.

         2 likes