248 Responses to FRIDAY OPEN THREAD…

  1. AsISeeIt says:

    I wonder how the BBC DG is getting on in his new job?
    (Apologies to Eric Idle and The Rutles)
    Lord Tony Hall BBC DG:
    ‘Suddenly, everyone has become amazingly litigious. I now get up in the morning. Start an Internal Inquiry. Check in the papers that I haven’t been fired. Go to the office. Pick up the morning’s Internal Inquiries. Read the Internal Inquiries. Announce a new Internal Inquiry. Go out for lunch. Start an Internal Inquiry into the restaurant. Get back in, collect the Internal Inquiries that had been received that afternoon. Watch BBC Newsnight. Call BBC Newsnight into my office. Start an Internal Inquiry into BBC Newsnight. Then go home. Do a quick Internal Inquiry into the wife.’

       28 likes

    • Richard Pinder says:

      What Lord Hall thinks?

      (1) Oh no, all roads lead to Helen Boaden.
      (2) Oh no, not BBC Newsnight.
      (3) Oh no, not Helen Boaden, Newsnight and a Climate Change scandal.
      (4) Oh well, its still hidden for now.
      (5) I hope Philip Davies won’t mention it the next time I go.
      (6) Oh hell, but what about the BBC Charter.
      (7) I know, I’ll resign just before I go.

         16 likes

  2. AsISeeIt says:

    Gone to Earth

    Perhaps in some strange tribute to May Webb the BBC tucks this away in their Shropshire news….

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-22379414

    ‘The High Court has upheld a decision by a judge that a man accused of child sex abuse offences whose trial collapsed is mentally unfit to stand trial again.’

    ‘Noshad Hussain, 23, was cleared of trafficking a girl, 14, at a trial last year, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on four charges of engaging in sexual activity with her.’

    Gone to Earth?

    Gone to earth was written in 1916 during the dark uncertainty and horror of the First World War. It is a novel most intimately related to this sad period; yet there is no direct mention of the war in its pages. This poignant story of a country girl, set in a remote area of the Shropshire border hills, and with only a handful of rural characters, is nevertheless an implicit and profoundly moving expression of the tragic spirit of those years when multitudes, slaughtered, were indeed ‘gone to earth’.

       14 likes

    • Derek says:

      BBC ‘flexible’ reporting and Leftie thinking:

      “Laura Johnston, director of children and family services at Telford and Wrekin Council, welcomed the sentences and said the council would continue to offer support to the victims.”

      Of course, some Lefties will somehow be thinking that the Muslims are also the victims. Given the state of our subverted public bodies that could even be the real meaning, as it is not explicitly specific.

      I can say that because making the ‘so familiar it is now predictable’ attempt for victim status we have:
      “The Telford Muslim Forum condemned the offences and said the whole community had been shocked by what had happened, particularly as it was “in their back yard”.*
      [Far-Leftie thinking:- Yes, how very dare the culturally insensitive police go there – what’s wrong with them? These young girls were making lifestyle choices – to be drugged, raped and pimped out.]

      The forum’s chairman, Dr Mohammed Quershi said the past few years had been “hard times,” but “branding a whole community because of the actions of a few is not the right way”.

      Gosh – “hard times” – that must have been so difficult, but somehow I think not a patch on what those girls were put through. How about branding a belief system that supports and encourages this:
      “motivations went beyond profit and “involved sheer gratuitous pleasure in the power you exercised over these unhappy girls”?

      So how about explicitly condemining the crime and the criminals and any similar or supporting practices, instead of the passive ‘condemned the offences’ which could easily be portrayed in translations as a condemnation of English Law?

      * – “shocked by what had happened, particularly as it was “in their back yard””, could as easily mean shocked at having to drive all the way to Birmingham and back when all the time…

         21 likes

  3. George R says:

    SYRIA.

    Re- INBBC’s euphemistic ‘reporting’:

    “Syrian refugees ‘sold for marriage’ in Jordan”
    By INBBC’s Beth McLeod,
    ‘The World Tonight’, Amman.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22473573

    a translation of above –

    Islamic Jihadists use refugees as prostitutes.

    For Ms McLeod’s edification:-

    ‘Jihadwatch’ (March, 2013):-

    “Tunisian girls going on ‘sexual jihad’ in Syria”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/03/tunisian-girls-going-on-sexual-jihad-in-syria.html

    Also:-

    Items on:
    Islam and prostitution –

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/br0nc0s/managed-mt/mt-srch.cgi?search=islam+prostitution&IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20

       19 likes

    • Buggy says:

      That’s a good name for a pop group if anybody’s looking : Sexual Jihad.

         7 likes

  4. will says:

    Will the BBC be able to see through their tears to report this?

    Britain’s double dip recession appears to have been erased from the history books after the Office for National Statistics revised up its estimate of construction industry growth for the start of last year.

       36 likes

  5. DYKEVISIONS says:

    I am afraid no bias here but a bit of light relief.

    My daughter forced me to listen to Radio 1 yesterday afternoon in the car and a young lady film ‘reviewer’ called Rhianna piped up with her insightful comments on a new film called ‘Mud.’ Spot the black hole in her edukation…
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s7st2 at 51 minutes in.
    ‘Ark Kansas’ where the hell is that?!! I blame that Gove chap.
    Why am I paying for her to come out with this childish pap? Oh, I have just seen her ‘attributes’ in the picture of her on the website, it all makes sense.

    Also John ‘got the Hump’ is beginning to show us that he should draw stumps before it is too late. On yesterday’s Today programme he literally lost the plot… http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s8qx7 at
    1 hour 15minutes 30seconds.

       15 likes

    • Buggy says:

      I’m pretty sure that, leafing through one of those lists of curious State laws that occasionally fill up a blank space in the Sunday papers (“It’s illegal to hang out blue clothing before noon on a Friday in Delaware”, that sort of thing) I was once informed that pronouncing ‘Arkansas’ as spelt is some sort of civil offence. At least in Arkansas.

      Perhaps Laurie Penny or some such could be sent on a jolly to Little Rock to find out whether this is really true, and what penalty is invoked (*Crosses fingers* “Jail time, jail time, jail time…..”)

         8 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        ‘Perhaps Laurie Penny or some such could be sent on a jolly to Little Rock’
        If Ms. P does head that way in the spirit of extending her horizons, it is to be hoped that she is not seduced into any internship duties that may appeal to her ideological bent, or talk to over-friendly strangers in the new local library.
        Things could transpire that really tasks the BBC hierarchy of grief prioritisation dept.

           9 likes

        • Joshaw says:

          It might extend her horizons. On the other hand, the sight of the unfamiliar might bring her to her knees.

             11 likes

          • Mat says:

            ‘bring her to her knees.’
            Masons been trying to get her like that for years !

               4 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      So the dopey girl saw enough of the film to declare that it’s “brilliant”, but doesn’t know how they pronounced the effing location? At least the other hip DJ had a clue.

      I didn’t find the bit with Humprhys, but at 1:14:43, Evan Davies openly snorted at Grant Shapps’ statement about a policy helping hard working families. After playing the audio clip of Shapps, Davis snorted, “Pfft! Hard working families…”

      Go on, defenders of the indefensible and those who like to create yet another insult-based email address to post a reply, tell me I was imagining it and Davis merely has a cold.

         16 likes

      • DYKEVISIONS says:

        Apologies, David, no attention to detail by myself, it is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s8qx7

        at 1 hour 50 min and 15 seconds in, definitely worth a listen.

           5 likes

        • David Preiser (USA) says:

          Did you mean the bit where Humphrys forgot they’d just done the Thought for the Day and laughed at his senior moment? I heard that, but assumed by “lost the plot” you meant he went ballistic on some guest or something.

             2 likes

  6. Beness says:

    On the subject of immigraton;

    I get fed up with the number of people who suggest that “we” colonised half the world so expect it back.

    For a start, my family were working class so we never got to go colonising, however we get to pay the price with neighbourhoods being turned into ghettos.

    a point some of the posters of the BBC’s Mark Easton blogg could have noted.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21511904

       54 likes

    • MartinW says:

      I think we call him “Labour’s Mark Easton” nowadays.

         37 likes

    • John Anderson says:

      My historical impression is that the Brits colonised 2 types of place :

      1 Largely empty space – North America, Filling a virtual vacuum. later on Australia and New Zealand. That is where the vast majority of British (and Irish) migrants went. They emigrated to open up new territories, to farm it, to settle it.

      2 The other type of colonisation was where the Brits conquered an established people. The Indian sub-continent, other countries in Asia and Africa. For the most part there was not heavy settlement by Brits in those countries. The links were primarily based on trade, not settlement. India was ruled by a relatively small British army supplemented by local troops, Englsih and Scots traders went there and also Welsh missionaries. Likewise other countries. So – there is no justification to say that hordes of Brits went to these countries so hordes times 10 can come here.

         48 likes

      • Joshaw says:

        Not an expert, but I believe that large parts of India were left more or less untouched.

        It won’t be long before the (reasonable) empty space generalisation is “corrected”.

        5…4…3…2…1..

           13 likes

      • Richard Pinder says:

        Her majesty the Queen still rules over 100 territories in the World, three of them are still empty space territories. (1) British Antarctic Territory, (2) Australian Antarctic Territory, and the (3) Ross dependency.

        But we haven’t any ex-Slave ships left, to transport illegal immigrants to these territories.

        I think they all rotted away in Sydney harbour, many years ago.

           10 likes

      • Ian Rushlow says:

        The British population in India never exceeded 150,000 (except for a few years during WW2 for fairly obvious military reasons). The population of India was nearly 300 million at the time of independence, meaning that there was only 1 Briton for every 2,000 Indians. At its height, the total population of the British Empire was around 458 million in 1938. Applying this ratio of 1:2000, we could reasonably expect a total of 229,000 immigrants from the former Empire. Any supposed “debt” has been repaid dozens of times over.

           27 likes

    • JimS says:

      It only takes a moment to work out that an island the size of Britain just didn’t have the population or military forces to ‘rule’ the world. Trade, alliances with local rulers and the ‘discovery’ of sparsely populated lands were the only practical options.

      Even today if the ‘British’ (new and old) were to spread around the world they would only represent 1% of the population. On the other hand if 5% of India’s population moved here our new friends would put the rest of us into the minority.

         18 likes

    • Ian Hills says:

      By “we” they must be referring to their own families. And if they feel so guilty about inheriting colonial loot they can always dish out some compo.

         5 likes

    • John wood says:

      Well 3 of the top rated comments were removed for breaching BBC rules.

         2 likes

  7. George R says:

    INBBC’s Cairo Bureau gone awol?:

    “JIHAD IN EGYPT: AMERICAN STABBED OUTSIDE CAIRO EMBASSY”

    http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2013/05/jihad-in-egypt-american-stabbed-outside-cairo-embassy.html

       11 likes

    • deegee says:

      It’s too embarrassing. The professor was a strong anti Zionist who thought that (undoubtedly with the help of Barak Obama’s Cairo submission and $2.8 billion p.a. in aid) he was perfectly safe. He was stabbed because he was American.

         3 likes

  8. RCE says:

    Today between 8 and 9 this morning was an absolute disgrace; possibly the lowest low the BBC has ever stooped to and a classic piece of dissembling and evasion that would make North Korean propagandists blush.

    Humphries incredulous that West Yorkshire Police had not caught Jimmy Saville back in the 70’s: he lived in Leeds and would sometimes be in the same room as policemen, you see?

    Humphries took the line that even though no-one had actually reported Saville to the police they should’ve known he was a paedo anyway. No mention of the fact that Beeboids like Esther Rantzen knew what Saville was up to but never said anything.

    Reality was truly departed when Humph quoted Saville’s book. Which reminded me of another admission of predeliction for young girls that featured in another autobiography:

    “Girls were lining up outside my hotel room. Some were around 13, but hell, I didn’t ask for ID”.

    And who was this despicable individual that – according to Humphries – should’ve been banged up immediately? Why, the BBC’s very own darling John Peel.

       49 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      Worth pointing out that a darn sight more BBC people knew ABOUT Saville than police officers who KNEW Saville.

         48 likes

      • Andrew says:

        You are right. I heard all of it and it was, even by Humphrys’ standards of moral evasion and dishonesty, a shocking interview. The giant hairy mammoth in the studio remained ignored: why on earth did the BBC itself do nothing?!

           32 likes

        • Phil Ford says:

          “…why on earth did the BBC itself do nothing?!”

          Well, they’re certainly trying to make up for it now. I hear endless waffle about how the BBC is ‘restoring public trust’ in itself; about how much the public ‘trust’ the BBC as the nation’s broadcaster, etc.

          That’s the thing with the BBC politburo – all they have to do is to keep saying it, over-and-over. It doesn’t mean anything, of course, but then that’s hardly the point, really, is it..?

             38 likes

          • Guest Who says:

            ‘all they have to do is to keep saying it, over-and-over’
            Sort of a ‘tell it often enough’ kind of deal?
            It might, just work.
            All they’d need is access to a vast means of broadcast, absolute powers of censorship and no outside accountability.

               19 likes

        • RCE says:

          Pity the supine, pusillanimous excuse for a senior police officer didn’t have the guts to point that out.

          Pathetic. With the likes of her in charge it’s no wonder those men have the run of the streets.

             10 likes

      • noggin says:

        lots of reports going back to the late 50s, …
        the myopic “see no (Savile) evil” ignorance of the west yorks king sh-t cops.
        the obvious and deliberate “protection” over various reports at the bbc

        Saville s own biographer Dan Davies tells us that Saville received an ornamental lighter from ahem “all your friends in the vice squad”
        how about extended coffee mornings, for ranked policeman at So-viles penthouse flat
        hmmm bbc/police all points to a very unsavoury situation

           6 likes

  9. George R says:

    BULGARIA: more mass immigration to UK in 2014.

    Radio 5 just been discussing current Bulgarian political protests against economic and political conditions by citizens who set themselves on fire, and whether such Bulgarians will bring this practice to Britain next year.

    Note: the issue for BBC-NUJ is NOT how to stop mass immigration to U.K.

       25 likes

    • Buggy says:

      What’s Bulgaria like ? Might be worth emigrating there if the Bulgars (whether Volga or not) are heading this way en masse.

         7 likes

      • Derek says:

        It’s trying to improve and move on from what the BBC would like to turn the UK into.

           6 likes

  10. George R says:

    Abu Qatada.

    Is this what INBBC’s Dhimmi Cascaiani is, in effect, saying?:-

    ‘Islamic jihadist should, and will decide his own future’.

    INBBC:-

    “Abu Qatada ‘would return to Jordan'”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22480089

       16 likes

    • noggin says:

      ahh! yes … HE will decide … how decent eh!
      i mean … its only right
      and of course he must think,
      allah ackbar … islam superior to any of your laws
      oh! … and thanks for spending so much … kaffir :-D.

         19 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      I don’t see this as Casciani saying that it’s Abu Qatada’s right to decide his own future. It’s more like he’s saying that the guy’s just getting the assurance of a safe and fair trial that anyone deserves. A bit naive, perhaps, and a personal political opinion about what’s right and what isn’t, but that’s what the deal supposedly does.

      But I do see bias in the way he approaches this new treaty. The article mentions that six home secretaries have tried to deport the guy, and at last there’s a treaty which does the decent thing. No praise for Teresa May and the nasty Tories for doing something five Labour Home Secretaries couldn’t do? No praise for the nasty Tories doing what Casciani says is the decent thing, something which the previous Government was unable to do?

      If Casciani can praise the result – which he does – then surely he ought to be able to acknowledge that it’s a success for May and Cameron, and, I guess, Hague. Instead, he plays it as just an end to wrong-doing.

      Although, since Casciani claims that the UK ought to live up to what you tell other nations – “only deport people back to countries that respect basic human rights” – you won’t be deporting anyone to the US any time soon. 🙂

         6 likes

  11. AsISeeIt says:

    BBC Radio news headlines mid-morning today in which we are told that the activities of ‘several men from the Telford area’ were ‘not racist’ and then we hear once more about the ‘Racist Murder of Stephen Lawrence’.
    Right there, encapsulated within one BBC news bulletin we have two sides to the ‘racist’ debate. Good old BBC balance?
    Clearly the tone and background noise from the BBC agrees with the first assertion of non-racism. Personally I don’t know whether the so-called ‘Asian’ ‘loverboys’ acted in a racist way or whether they hold racist views. How can I know? I do know the idea was simply aired in this case as a rhetorical notion so that it could be loudly and publically refuted.
    With the national debate being so dominated by the BBC, the BBC’s narratives and BBC’s agendas I’ve lost track of whether racism is now to be a) ‘felt’ in the opinion of the person on the receiving end, b) in the eye of the beholder (in which case I am allowed to decide), or maybe only exists c) after some process of investigation or inquiry and to be judged as a fact that is legalistically proved and pronounced.
    The BBC is emphatic about Stephen Lawrence. They are consistent and clear that the crime was ‘racist’. Now, contrary to my confusion about the Telford men, I am very clear about this – at least about what I am supposed to think in this instance. The Courts, the public prosecution authorities and the Police all judge that this was a racist crime. I don’t know a great deal about the perpetrators but I assume that had they been associated with some organised racist group (the BNP, KKK?) I would have heard about it. Had they published racist literature or mounted a racial local political campaign, again I am sure I would have heard about it. Amateur, casual racists then? What it seems to boil down to is their selection of victim and their use of racial epithets during and after the murder. From what I have seen in the press they were a group of local toughs with close family links to organised crime and drug dealing. My instinct – call it ‘The Suspicions of Mr AsISeeIt’ – is that the young white men were a tight knit gang who, rightly or wrongly, saw Lawrence as encroaching on their territory. In recent years we have become almost accustomed to regular youth gang related, particularly drug dealing gang related, so-called postcode street murders. And of course the Police were branded with racism for their shoddy treatment of the murder investigation. First they assumed a black boy’s stabbing was likely by another black boy. Then they bungled investigations and gave it low priority. Not excusable but in context completely understandable errors. I am still rather bemused at why this was supposed to have been such a landmark ‘racism’ case.
    So I’m left with the impression that the Lawrence murder has been taken up in true Bonfire of the Vanities-style by the race-hustling industry. That it is now emblematic of attitudes and political beliefs. Used again and again by certain factions for political ends. Aided and abetted and never to be questioned by the BBC.

    The BBC has also now seen fit to make up our collective mind about the motives of those loverboys.

       48 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      The definition given by Sir William Macpherson in the Stephen Lawrence enquiry appears to have been given the effect of law.

      “A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.”

      That is how my daughter’s school defines it, and I’d bet money that more or less every public body has followed suit, lest it be accused by the BBC of institutional racism, an accusation against which no known defence exists. “I say you’re a racist, therefore you are”.

      And yet… and yet….

      I’d put any winnings from the above bet that if I, as a white male, were to say I perceived an incident as racist, it somehow wouldn’t apply.

         48 likes

      • Joshaw says:

        “I’d put any winnings from the above bet that if I, as a white male, were to say I perceived an incident as racist, it somehow wouldn’t apply.”

        I think that Aaron Dugmore’s suicide proves your point.

           24 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      According to the Macpherson Report, a crime is “racist” if the victim or any other person considers it to be and it should be treated as such . The “any other person” need not have been present or even have anything to do with it. Why, he or she could just be a member of the race relations industry or Labour Party or BBC fantasist or any other busy body. Obviously there are some safeguards against malicious accusations and to protect against abuse. For instance, members of privileged ethnic minorities cannot be accused of racism by Whites.

         17 likes

    • Dave666 says:

      I had to search round the BBc website to find thishttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-22379414
      ITMA (It’s those men again)another week another set of “men” in court no surprises. This one was buried on the site.

         11 likes

  12. Joshaw says:

    I found this interesting:

    Why are taxpayers supporting pro-immigration charities?

    “Among the groups involved is the Migration Observatory, which often appears on the BBC as an impartial observer on immigration. The Observatory has received £350,000 from the groups that were part of the Changing Minds project, which it describes as just a “conversation”.”

       39 likes

    • Buggy says:

      “…the Changing Minds project…

      That sounds like entirely non-judgmental fun. Wonder if there are camps of some description involved ?

         21 likes

  13. George R says:

    Well, well, well –

    “South Africa’s Desmond Tutu: ‘I will not vote for ANC'”
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22478916

    But I don’t expect INBBC will waver in its continuing support for ANC.

       18 likes

    • deegee says:

      But I don’t expect INBBC will waver in its continuing support for ANC. But I don’t expect INBBC will waver in its continuing support for Desmond Tutu.

         1 likes

      • Cosmo says:

        After all that the Jewish people did for Black people to help topple “TRUE” apartheid in South Africa he stabs them in the back repeatedly. He is a disgrace to the cloth.

           3 likes

  14. George R says:

    Meanwhile, in LIBYA, today:-

    “UK withdraws some embassy staff from Libya”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22478132

    -Nothing to do with the unmentioned, ongoing, Islamic jihad threat….

       17 likes

    • Expat John says:

      You see, Hilary, you’re supposed to move the staff before…..

         11 likes

      • Andrew says:

        “Before, after, … what does it matter at this point?” (i.e. now the Presidential Election is safely over).

           9 likes

  15. Louis Robinson says:

    Driving thrpugh Virginia listening to R4 (gardeners QT) Just heard about a sex ring busted on Uk involving over 100 women. The BBC described the ringleaders as ‘men’. Do I make the usual assumption?

       39 likes

    • George R says:

      Yes.

      Still reading between the line, and with no reference to ‘Islam’ nor to ‘Muslims’, INBBC has:-

      “Operation Chalice: Child sex abuse case concludes”

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-22379414

         27 likes

      • George R says:

        More info here:

        ‘Shropshire Star’:-

        “Telford gang is jailed for sexually abusing girls.
        “Today the Shropshire Star can finally tell the horrific story of sexual abuse and exploitation of schoolgirls by a group of men in Telford.”

        At end of this report, the ‘Star’ refers to a special 3-page report supplement.

        And ‘Star has this from above, which INBBC censors, and leaves as merely a West Midlands report, devoid of Islamic context:-

        “The subsequent police investigation, dubbed Operation Chalice, revealed details of a network of men from the Muslim community who targeted young and vulnerable teenage girls.

        “After West Mercia Police’s investigation into suspected under-age sex and child prostitution, seven men were finally convicted in cases stretching over two years.”

        http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/crime/2013/05/10/horror-of-telford-girls-sex-abuse-ordeal/

           18 likes

        • Vote Lib/Lab/Con for as yet (undisclosed) expenses says:

          Strangely lacking in details: names, ages, how many were unemployed, married? Terrible reporting from both.

             7 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      Do you make the usual assumption?

      Oh yes.

      Shame that you have to assume it rather than be told so by ‘the world’s most trusted broadcaster’

      http://tinyurl.com/d4ur2ns

         31 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      BBC News Shropshire….

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-22379414

      Mug shots of some local men.

         16 likes

  16. George R says:

    Update:

    Oddly, Radio 5 had this as main story at 4 pm, but BBC news online still has story relegated to West Midlands regional page!

    Radio 5, of course, consulted with the ‘Muslim Community’ to get the acknowledgement that this may be a ‘problem’.

    Of course, there is nothing from the victims.

       29 likes

  17. DB says:

    Following the latest ABC revelations re Benghazi Mardell admits he was wrong (in a roundabout way):

    “In the interests of full disclosure I have to say I have not in the past been persuaded that allegations of a cover-up were a big deal. It seemed to me a partisan attack based on very little…
    …This is now very serious, and I suspect heads will roll. The White House will be on the defensive for a while.”

       20 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Gosh, now why would Mardell have thought that and ignored all the evidence for so long? Good thing he’s not held to as high a standard as defenders of the indefensible hold us.

         24 likes

    • Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

      And Mardell’s excuse is that he was just indulging in the usual leftie groupthink …
      I remember listening to reports from the BBC and others at the time that did suggest the attack in Benghazi was a spontaneous reaction to a rather puerile anti-Islamic video.

         16 likes

      • DB says:

        Yup. Said it many times before – amazing how easily BBC hacks allow their journalistic scepticism to be replaced by obedient fawning credulity where the Obama administration is concerned.

           18 likes

    • Buggy says:

      Some doozies amongst the comments. I particualrly like this one, and wonder what coulour the sky is in his world:

      “14. manu
      3 HOURS AGO
      Mark, you have always taken the sides of the Republicans even in your previous articles. Will heads roll, let us wait and see! Republicans lost the elections, made Susan Rice to withdraw her candidacy, killed firearm bill, now it is the use of smear campaign to rubbish the obama admin and possibly Hillary Clinton. We all know the aim is not to find the truth but the election in 2016.”

         10 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Well, they do get “complaints from both sides”. I’d love to hear an explanation as to how Mardell sides with Republicans. Is that why he refers to them as the President’s “enemies”? Is that why he’s dismissed the complaints about Benghazi as mere partisan hackery? This commenter is saying the exact same thing Mardell has admitted that he himself thought, so WTF?

           11 likes

    • DB says:

      Select journos have been getting their instructions it seems:

      The White House held an off-the-record briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO.

      The meeting began around 12:45 p.m. and postponed the daily, on-the-record White House press briefing to 1:45 p.m. White House press secretary Jay Carney did not respond to a request for confirmation of the meeting.

         11 likes

    • RCE says:

      And upon that admission, I expect every effort to be made to drag this story kicking and screaming to the memory hole.

         3 likes

  18. onlyne says:

    A few days back, there was some discussion of the subliminal ways the Beeb reports things, twisting headlines to send out a false idea etc. Go back to the change in the TV weather forecast, when suddenly the UK went from being the green and pleasant land we have grown up with, to something that looks like the Lybian desert. No need for words, the message is there everytime you look at the map.

       12 likes

  19. DJ says:

    File this under ‘Multiple Layers of Fact Checking’:

    “When I was away from my computer screen, I asked the Co-op to email me a number for the value of group assets….

    For some reason, it didn’t occur to me that the £82bn included all those tens of billions of pounds of financial assets… More relevant for assessing the ability of the non-financial part of the group to support the bank is the Co-op’s gross assets in non-financial operations of £6.3bn and the larger Co-op’s net equity of £4.5bn.”

    So out by a factor of more than 10x and almost 2.5x as much as Tesco and no alarm bells are ringing?

       6 likes

  20. George R says:

    SYRIA.
    Info for INBBC:-

    “Free Syrian Army fighters defecting to Al Nusrah Front.”

    By BILL ROGGIO.

    [Concluding sentence]:-

    “With mass defections of FSA forces to Al Nusrah, there is no better way to ensure that US funds and weapons will fall into al Qaeda’s hands.”

    Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/05/free_syrian_army_fighters_defe.php#ixzz2SuWXgOyT

       7 likes

  21. Alex says:

    The very fact the BBC fail to have the news that Muslim scum have raped over a hundred white girls as headline news, but instead tuck it away 16 minutes after the program has started confirms the BBC’s spineless, revolting, loathsome and repulsive Islamic groveling.

       53 likes

    • Vote Lib/Lab/Con for as yet (undisclosed) expenses says:

      But really that is like saying the four year old in Kansas is christian scum, their religion is not what defined their actions at all. They should nonetheless have made this a national headline about the number of men, their ages and their location.

         0 likes

      • #tiredofexplainingtheobvious says:

        ‘Their religion is not what defined their actions… ‘ I respect your comment but on this occasion will politely disagree. Now, I’m not saying that all Muslims are child rapists, but those who’ve been caught (an ever growing number) are scum and constitute a worrying trend of being Muslim and not interested in integrating into our culture. Incidentally, have you read the Koran, recently? I suggest you do so as it makes interesting reading if you have a passing concern for women’s rights.
        A strong and undeniable pattern has emerged of young Pakistani Muslim men abusing mainly white girls, not just in the UK but around the world. But let’s not get into how women are treated in the world of Islam – it’s well-known. This loathsome pattern of abuse stems from the strict Islamic codes that prohibit pre-marital sexual relations and those relationships that fall outside Islamic circles. There is an arrogance and contempt towards Western culture from many Muslims and these abuses are intrinsic to this mindset… a frame of mind that almost certainly explains the lack of integration one witnesses in the Islamic communities up and down communities in Western countries. Just as this abuse is frequent within the Catholic church, so it is in Islam.

           15 likes

  22. AsISeeIt says:

    The unspoken BBC Caution
    “Policeman/woman, you do not have to say anything. But it will seriously harm your case if anything you may say goes against the BBC narrative and agenda. Anything you do mention when questioned by the BBC may be contradicted later in a BBC report.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22476937

    ‘A West Yorkshire Police report has found “no evidence” Jimmy Savile was protected from arrest or prosecution by his relationship with the force. ‘

    However as per the BBC Caution….

    ‘A lawyer representing 40 of Savile’s victims, Alan Collins, said the report “doesn’t add up”.’

    And then there is this story

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22477002

    ‘Daniel Morgan murder: Inquiry to examine ‘police corruption”

    However, the BBC Police Caution does not apply in this report…

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-22379414

    ‘Operation Chalice: Child sex abuse case concludes’

    Peter Alan on BBC 5 Live asks the Police spokes person ‘was this racism?’

    The Police say no.

    Peter Alan is happy with what he has been told.

       10 likes

  23. AsISeeIt says:

    Peter Alan & Anna Foster present dumbed down BBC news for 21st century non Radio 4 Britian. Alan provides what he believes to be whimsy. Foster provides… a bit of female box ticking.

    Peter Alan: ‘Text us your stories of places you were refused entry to’

    Anna Foster: ‘I wasn’t allowed into the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I had shorts on…. I was only 14. They wouldn’t let me in. I don’t know why? Perhaps the little bit at the bottom was some kind of church?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

    ‘The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply the Tower of Pisa (Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa’

    Note to BBC: For the love of Alah, don’t ever send her to Mecca.

       22 likes

  24. Dispatches did a programme recently about war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence in Bangladesh . it appears that their are some very senior people involved in genocide and other war crimes living in the UK. They could be prosecuted for their crimes under British law. However they have lived here in peace and safety, whilst attacking our society and peddling Islamist propaganda.

    One of the organisations associated with an alleged genocidist is Jamaat-e-Islami, expressed in the UK through institutions such as the Islamic Foundation (IF), Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and East London Mosque (ELM). “All three are currently being endorsed by Jewish interfaith involvement (see here and here and here).
    One of the most prominent Jamaat-e-Islami figures in Britain is the anti-Rushdie campaigner,Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, who was formerly Vice Chairman of the ELM and Deputy Director of the IF; he is also one of the founders of the MCB. Mueen Uddin has now been indicted for his role in the Al-Badr Islamist death squads in the genocide of some 3 million civilians during the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence – most of the victims being Hindu and Christian religious minorities, as well as Muslim intellectuals”. This is from Harry’s Place.

       20 likes

  25. Hi one and all. This is a warning, you need to take MOST seriously. Do you ride a motor cycle? If you do, you need to be extra careful. It appears, according to certain MSM outlets, that the IDF is targeting motor cyclist for liquidation.


    The full story is at the above.

       4 likes

  26. Big Dick says:

    Next week ,on 17th May ,its the 70th anniversary of the Dambuster`s raid . The Axis of Evil, (bbc) is doing various programmes on Radio 2 & BBC 2 & More 4 (chan 4) too. It will be interesting to note whether Guy Gibsons mutt .gets a mention on Al beeb . The dog was killed on the afternoon prior to the raid, he is buried at RAF Scampton ,a sort of official war grave . Lets see if he is suddenly renamed “Trigger” or” Blackie” or airbrushed from our history ,I await the results with baited breathe !

       9 likes

  27. thoughtful says:

    Oh Jeez now the bBC have found that the black guy who rescued the girl from captivity said ‘I knew something was wrong when a pretty white girl ran into a black mans arms’ A pretty innocuous statement – how many pretty girls would do that in circumstances which were anything other than wrong?
    But the PC beeb have decided that this is small indicator as to the state of race relations in America, and a chance to use its bully word Waycism over & over again.
    Or how to make a story when there isn’t one there!

       16 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      The Beeboids in the US are always looking for an excuse to get back on that hobby horse. It’s pretty much all they have left now. They published two news briefs about Kermit Gosnell, but didn’t do a whole feature on abortion clinics or how a racist US ignored that tragedy because he was a black man killing mostly black babies, not to mention that doing so might affect the sanctity of abortion, so they’re hypocrites as well as bores.

         4 likes

  28. Vote Lib/Lab/Con for as yet (undisclosed) expenses says:

    Pattern spotted. In BBC News under the coalition crime is under-reported in national news unlike ever before. This stifles our recognition of shortness and danger of our lives and of whatever fortunate wealth and happiness we have. This avoids mention of personal responsibility. Instead of this, is their order of priorities:
    1. Economic setbacks
    2. Rants at government/opposition without details
    3. Speculation and suffering in Syria
    4. Sport speculations (notice Newswatch’s robust defence of Man Utd manager change beating Queens Speech) saying vacuously and tritely: this was an above-average sports story.
    5. Pseudo-science and obscure findings, particularly in social trends, fashions and property prices.
    6. Alleged danger of cutting anything government.
    6b. Fears of anything. Don’t believe me? Listen out for the word fear of or fears of in their next main national news bulletin.
    7. 1-to-1s with bereaved charity founders, not only to pick up their goodwill, but also to suggest lack of willingness of the government to improve lives, and by implication or direct reference, being the cause of the plight.

       7 likes

  29. Old Goat says:

    Slumbers shattered this morning, when the BBC informed us that CO2 had reached the dizzying heights of 400 ppm, that temperatures were rising because of this, and were going to continue to rise, and that we were all going to die. Added to which, the poor old tufted duck wasn’t coming any more because of “rising temperatures”.

    Shock, horror. Has anyone noticed the “rising temperatures”? I certainly haven’t, and by all accounts they haven’t risen for 16 years, or so, whilst the CO2 component has gently, almost imperceptibly risen to this horrendous figure. “It’s never reached this level before during the existence of mankind” they trumpet – I’m dubious about that, and considering that it is known to have been at 4,000 ppm in the past, when all life flourished, I’m not particularly bothered about it.

    The “CO2 drives temperature” idea has been roundly trounced, so why they continue pushing it, God only knows.

    This “warming” mantra goes on, and on – they must be pretty desperate, as fewer and fewer folk believe it any more. Quite rightly – we’ve all been majorly had over.

       21 likes

    • Deborah says:

      and the review of the papers when (I think it was the Daily Mail) the Today programme reported that David Cameron is surrounding himself with climate skeptics and 3 scientists had either left or taken sideways moves. I thought ‘good’ but I don’t think it was what I was supposed to think.

         15 likes

      • Old Goat says:

        Cameron’s days, I would think, are numbered, as are those of the climate scam. One wonders just how far they are prepared to go to ruin the economy, force us into Hades, and limit our life expectancy before many cry “enough” and take some kind of useful action. Bearing in mind that it’s the Former UK, from which the fight died long ago, I doubt anyone will have the cojones…

           12 likes

    • Bob Nelson says:

      They did not mention that the 400ppm is a spike and will revert back once the northern hemisphere trees and flora leaf and absorb the CO2. This has been delayed by the extreme cold experienced across the NH this year allowing CO2 to rise to 0.04% (from 0.0393%) in some places.

      The Tufted Duck story is complete nonsense. If it was getting warmer they would travel even further north, not stay near their winter feeding grounds around the Med. It is more likely that it is, again, the cold which has delayed their migration.

         13 likes

    • Richard Pinder says:

      I wonder if Hawaii is the only place on Earth where they measure CO2 levels?

      But I think this piece of evidence solves the problem with ice core data.

      “Over the first 80 years that Ice Cores are formed CO2 is absorbed by cold water, there has been 180 years of Atmospheric CO2 gas analysis by chemical methods (Beck, 2007). This means that from 1810 to 1930 we have both Ice core and direct measurements of CO2 in the Atmosphere. This shows that ice cores have CO2 levels about 40 percent lower than the original atmosphere (Jaworowski, 2007). This also shows that CO2 levels were 470ppm in 1828 and 290ppm in 1888”

      I think the 4,000 ppm data is obtained by geological methods that are used to obtain data before the ice core records began.

         1 likes

  30. AsISeeIt says:

    And now we go over to join Eurovision 2015
    The BBC wishes the very best of luck to the British performer this year, Ed Miliband, who sings to the tune of Mull of Kintyre….
    Postal Votes
    Oh votes rolling in from nowhere
    My desire is always to be here
    Oh Postal Votes
    Not far Hampstead have I travelled and not much have I seen
    A few dark distant constituencies, alliances with the greens
    Past painted placards, my soapbox soon abandoned
    As they carry me home to my bubble in North London

    Gdansk to Nairobi
    Albania to Sri Lanka
    Bagdad to Bengal
    It was welcome most welcome one and all

    Multicultural Britain the notion we had one millennium night
    That was the plan to forever put the Tories to flight
    Wide open borders false visa bogus students fake marriage
    NHS State Education Housing Benefit Electoral Register

    Awkward performances I make car crash radio
    Vast Union funding, Unite pull my strings
    I just can’t speak human my dad was an academic red
    Justine gave me the nose job – it was an anniversary present

    Scottish Votes
    Oh votes rolling in from the Scots,
    My desire is always to be here
    Oh Scottish Votes

    A Wonky Advisor, I was parachuted in
    Carry me back to the days I knew then
    Nights spent with Gordon, McBride and Ed Balls as we plotted against Blair
    Oh the fun and smears we made there

    Future in the EU
    My future lies over the sea
    My desire will be to get right out of here
    Oh Future in the EU

    EU Commissioner in the sunshine
    Leaving the UK in the rain
    Take me off to Brussels where my loyalty remains
    Flickering embers growing higher and higher
    As I dream of the civil disorder of British cities on fire

       19 likes

  31. George R says:

    “Up to three-quarters of BBC daytime shows are repeats – and one programme shown three times in five days”

    Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/up-three-quarters-bbc-daytime-shows-1881605?#ixzz2SyPv0IZu

       7 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘Angry Mirror readers said the BBC’s output was poor value.’
      Blimmin’ right wing rag-reading ingrates.
      Until they get Ed back in and the ‘fee’ can be hiked again, what do they expect the money to be used for? Programming?
      What about all the compo claims, hush money, pay offs, new hires, recruiter commissions, legal costs, pensions-that-can-only-go-up propping, etc?
      These are the real priorities.

         14 likes

    • Old Goat says:

      Much the same in the evening, too – why they need half their channels, heaven only knows. With the myriad of ways to “catch-up” (should you want to) with old programmes, I can’t see the need to show things on BBC2, then BBC4 a day or two later (or vice-versa), especially all these once-good documentaries which are trotted out ad-nauseam night after night. I am now an expert on canals, railways, coaches, ocean liners, etc.

         8 likes

      • John Anderson says:

        On Friday evenings I skim through the listings for the past week for all 4 channels on iPlayer.

        Last night I had a result ! There were actually 4 programmes across the week I thought worth watching – but 3 of them were repeats.

        My impression used to be that you could cut the BBC down to 2 channels. But there are so many repeats in the evenings as well as the daytime – some progs being repeated 3 times in a week – and so much total dross, that maybe 1 channel would be more than enough to handle the BBC’s pathetic programme offerings

           15 likes

        • Mat says:

          The BBC is failing to use the Darwin principle in it’s programming it’s
          ‘survival of the fittest’
          Not
          ‘Revival of the sh*test ‘
          Mind with rehashing Bergerac and Poldark I think a Darwin award may be in the offing !

             8 likes

  32. George R says:

    Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
    INBBC hypes up that there is an election there;
    and relegates that Islamic jihadist bombers have just killed 11 people there.

    INBBC’s M.* Ilyas Khan, in Islamabad (* ‘M’ stands for what):-

    [Excerpt]-

    “The vote marks Pakistan’s first transition from one civilian government to another in its 66-year history.

    “However, the run-up to the election has been marred by violence in which more than 100 people have been killed.

    “A bomb blast in the port city of Karachi on Saturday morning left 11 people dead and 40 others wounded, officials said.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22487805

    Also:

    ‘Telegraph’-

    “New York Times Pakistan bureau chief Declan Walsh ordered to leave”

    [Excerpt]:-

    “The ‘expulsion’ of Mr Walsh ‘contradicts’ the impression that Pakistan has reached a democratic milestone, wrote Jill Abramson, the executive editor of the New York Times, in a letter of protest to the interior minister.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10050803/New-York-Times-Pakistan-bureau-chief-Declan-Walsh-ordered-to-leave.html

       3 likes

    • Andrew says:

      OK, wise arse, then how do you explain the prejudiced reporting by (supposedly) above-average-IQ humanities graduate types in the BBC ? Why do they love Blacks, Muslims, Mandela and Obama so much? It’s just a different sort of racism and bigotry … anti-White.

         29 likes

      • colditz says:

        Andrew,

        It seems you believe that graduates (and I presume you aren’t one) are all prejudiced.

        So the BBC sound be promoting racism and discrimination. Which is of course the point of the original post. It just encourages more silly bigotry. So why would you want to encourage more hate and not tolerance and understanding. Which are British values?

           6 likes

        • Andrew says:

          I am almost – though not quite – ashamed to be … a Humanities Graduate! Believe it or not, one CAN actually study foreign literature, languages and history without it making you an anti-British, anti-White, internationalist self-hating ‘liberal’ bigot.

             22 likes

        • Dave s says:

          The liberal definition of tolerance is not the same as a conservative one
          Tolerance means just that. It does not mean accepting or agreeing with or even showing understanding . Liberal word changing is how they corrupt debate in their favour.

             9 likes

    • Mat says:

      Lol running off the the Catholics for help and in Asia no less ! hehe you BBC chorus boys and your minor hobbies !

         3 likes

    • Richard Pinder says:

      Well, I have an IQ of 164 and am a Mensa member.
      I would say that Mensa is more hideously White than the Tory party.
      There are a few Asians and Chinese types, but Blacks are very rare.

      But from personal experience, I do not think that intelligent people live in the inner-city areas and vote Labour, while the thick people live in the country side and vote Tory, because that contradicts both common sense and the practical results of a meritocracy.

      No, it is quite obvious that left-wing people who vote Labour are inferior in intelligence to the rest of society.

      All it proves is that right-wing people are more tolerant of “Free Speech” and therefore do not like the “Moderation of Comments”.

      Also they are less racist against intelligent races such as “Jews and East Asians“, while being more honest about the low intelligence of “Blacks”, which is seen as racism or racial hatred by the lefties.

         5 likes

      • colditz says:

        “Mensa” means stupid in Spanish.

           10 likes

        • Andrew says:

          ?Eres un poquito loco tu tambien?

             0 likes

        • Richard Pinder says:

          Mensa is an adjective that means stupid girl in Mexican Spanish.

          Mexican Mensa is called “El Mensajero“, meaning “The Messenger“.

          Mensa means table, and Spanish Mensa is called “Mensa Espana“.

             3 likes

          • stewart says:

            where as you are just a ………

               6 likes

          • Richard Pinder says:

            You should not say Cunt, its rude.

            But as a Libertarian, I am glad to see you have not been censored by the Moderator, as would be the case with the BBC.

               7 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Perhaps if you spent more of that IQ on highlighting BBC bias, people might not get the impression that MENSA is full of people who think blacks are genetically inferior. And not very tolerant.

        Despite your IQ, you seem to have a poor grasp of the concept of “Free Speech” as well. Freedom of speech is something that’s the government’s responsibility to protect (although there’s apparently precious little of it in Britain these days). Privately-run blogs are free do do whatever they like. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism of that speech. If you want a place where you can post your personal opinions about things which have nothing to do with the BBC, and about which you do not want to hear any criticism, go start your own blog.

           9 likes

        • Richard Pinder says:

          Your post is also not about BBC Bias.

          Evolution does not need intelligence, in evolutionary theory “Genetically inferior” only exists in dead people.

             3 likes

      • Teddy Bear says:

        Word to the wise.

        You ‘proudly’ state your IQ based on the assumption that we are going to be in awe of it. You really don’t know what ours might be, so there is kind of an ignorance on your part for doing so.

        You also think membership in Mensa is something to laud. You have done it on numerous occasions. Can you imagine that there are those who don’t want to join an organisation for the purpose of telling everybody else ‘how intelligent they are’?

        Intelligence speaks for itself, or as Forrest Gump’s mother might say – “Intelligence is as intelligence does”.

        You make some valuable contributions here Richard regarding exposing BBC bias, but low intelligence of “Blacks” is patently absurd and IS completely racist.

        P.S. – I’m not a lefty!
        🙄

           9 likes

        • Richard Pinder says:

          Well, I suppose I should have taken the advice of Dr Jacob Bronowsky, when asked if he thought that there where differences in the intelligence of races. After some thought he replied, “Well I don’t think it really matters“.

          So if it makes you think I am a racist, then just like the Doctor, we will just have to ignore some Japanese scientists who have discovered the reasons why, because it does not really matter.

          Also, I assume all right-wingers are potential Mensa members, and left-wingers are always in error, and need to be corrected with some proud boasting.

             3 likes

          • Teddy Bear says:

            A tribe of jungle pygmies were taken by Jahota to the plains, where they thought the distant buffalo were ants because in the jungle they had never been able to see depth on that scale.

            Overall the evidence is that some parts of perception are learned and some innate, and although it tends to be the more complex ones that are learned, there is still no total certainty as to which are inate and which rely on experience.

            To an Eskimo you would be ignorant in the matters of snow.

            Science tells us that we were once ALL black, and migrated from Africa.

            Human beings develop the skills they need over time to best fit into their environment.

            There are many environments in the world that your intelligence, as it is, would not enable you to survive. You could be regarded by those who have over generations as stupid.

            What you show first by announcing your IQ and Mensa membership is a need to do so, probably from an inner inferiority complex, or insecurity. That you seem to need to find that you as a human being are more intelligent than certain other human beings tends to confirm and compound that.

            You should be more intelligent., and not so hung up on it.

               3 likes

            • ROBERT BROWN says:

              I have known a few people who claim membership of Mensa, and they were all, to put it frankly, a little s t r a n g e……

                 2 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      As one who does appreciate irony, I have to appreciate the latest/top comment too:
      ‘Ironic that some of the replies comment upon the skincolour of the racists in the picture’
      Maybe in rushing to jump the bandwagon, they didn’t recognise themselves?

         3 likes

  33. George R says:

    INBBC uses British licence-payers’ money to represent ‘an Islamic community’ in Virginia, over burial of Boston Islamic jihadist:-

    “Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s secret Virginia burial upsets locals”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22490345

       10 likes

  34. Framer says:

    Just finally failed to penetrate the BBC’s anti-FOI wall with a request in relation to the pointless, expensive and needless global opinion poll on whether Obama was popular, just before last year’s election:

    “Poll: Rest of world favours Obama
    A BBC World Service opinion poll has found sharply higher overseas approval ratings for US President Barack Obama than Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
    An average of 50% favoured Mr Obama, with 9% for Mr Romney, in the survey of 21,797 people in 21 countries.
    Only Pakistan’s respondents said they would prefer to see Mr Romney win November’s election.
    France was the most strongly pro-Obama (72%).
    The survey was conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA between 3 July and 3 September.”

    They have the money so they spend it – the curse of annual budgets in the public sector where if you underspend you are a failure.

    My FOI request was finally distilled down to why that much favoured (UN-friendly) company, GlobeScan, was chosen but even that is related to ‘journalism’; and outside the Act, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the Balen/Sugar appeal.

    The only way in now is internal matters that are strictly commercial and non-broadcasting like moving a billion pounds from the licence fee into the BBC staff pension fund last year.

    Look out for the next go at that as the fund deficit has since rocketed further.

    That loss of revenue explains the repeat programmes more than anything else.

       11 likes

    • Richard Pinder says:

      I think that the Islamic World wants George Galloway to be our Prime Minister.

         4 likes

  35. colditz says:

    to the pointless, expensive and needless global opinion poll on whether Obama was popular…

    It’s called the BBC World Service. There’s a clue in the title. It broadcasts globally so why wouldn’t the BBC World Service want to know who other countries would want to win? Seems very reasonable.

    Or is it just you don’t like the answer so therefore it must be biased?

       13 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      Coalpitz

      ‘Or is it just you don’t like the answer’

      Have it paid for by a subscription not a tax and then we can each decide. Fair?

         13 likes

    • stewart says:

      “There’s a clue in the title”
      British Broadcasting Company .Let the U.N. fund their
      own Agitprop service

         11 likes

    • Framer says:

      The BBC World Service should surely be broadcasting the views of Britain to the world not the world to Britain. Something got badly reversed about 25 years ago.

         20 likes

      • MartinW says:

        Exactly so. It is now a complete reversion of what it should be. The World Service is now in a dreadful condition, and urgently needs a complete overhaul. It used to be a shining beacon of impartiality, balance and good taste, but has now become the worst of the worst. It is now a dumbed-down mish-mash of multi-culti, anti-American, anti-West, anti-Israel, anti-Christian left-liberal bias, often hosted by presenters having apparently little knowledge of the subject they are presenting, and half the time sounding like gabbling teenagers. It is an embarassment. And if you want to listen to endless ‘climate-change’ propaganda without any pretence of balance, that’s the network for you.

           10 likes

  36. John Anderson says:

    Mardell and other BBC US staff have shown a sickening avoidance of the facts – or certainly the clear implications – of the Benghazi affair. Part of the rally-round-Obama pattern of virtually all their reporting.

    Obama and Clinton and their puppets Susan Rice and Jay Carney lied and kept lying about the cause of the Benghazi deaths. That was clear to them from the outset – the Libyan President himself had stated clearly that the attack was a preplanned terrorist attack.

    Here’s Mark Steyn really putting the boot in :

    http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/10/steyn-they-let-chris-stevens-die-audio/

       19 likes

  37. thoughtful says:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22484907

    Despite suffering some of the coldest winters on record over the past 3 – 5 years it would appear that the recorded figures of low temperatures are actually warmer!

    Now how anyone can work that kind of double think is beyond me but it appears that the bBC are expert at it!

       12 likes

  38. thoughtful says:

    https://twitter.com/PopulusPolls/status/332843047664635904/photo/1

    Populus poll on which news stories people have noticed this week. Compare which stories have been manipulated.

       1 likes

  39. chrisH says:

    Why aren`t the BBC all over those Pakistani elections then?
    Where are the Dimblebys for Lahore Central or Rawalpindi South?…I would have been happy to Jon Snows Beeboid equivalent to get out there and tell us all about the Climate Change agenda being vital or otherwise.
    Why do all the fellow travellers seem to prefer hive duplications throughout the USA ,to giving us real news about all those postal votes being a show of democratic fervour for Imran or whoever?
    Not scared are they?..after all, isn`t Islam a “Religion of Peace”…and aren`t all those exotic tribal champions oh-so-hospitable to al-Liberal types in chic pith helmets?
    I demand recounts-and won` believe the results until both Newsnight AND Channel 4 News are there to show me with their own eyes!
    I trust them you see!

       14 likes

  40. noggin says:

    bbc news page the lead story No1
    with a hilarious pic of a queue of shuffling women, in ” full bin bag” attire, THE most important news –
    elections in pakistan?
    Election day –
    Election –
    in 90 seconds –
    Watch
    Unpredictable election –
    Secularists face militant threat
    Latest Live –
    As it happened: Pakistan’s vote –
    ‘Queues grow steadily longer’ –
    Watch In pictures: –
    Pakistan votes –
    Q&A –
    Analysis – on and on it goes

    the Sleaze Douche pops in with 3 consecutive tweets –

    Are you in Pakistan?
    Share your experience of election day?
    send us your comments: ya da ya da ya da

    for crying out loud … it this bbc bradford news or what?

    anything new about Benghazi hearings? …
    hello … – “UK and Ireland ‘becoming too warm’ for ducks”
    Benghazi? anyone there? … – “Malcolm X s grandson dies in Mexico”
    those Hearings at all, Bengha … ” a Banksy mural is up for auction”

       17 likes

    • noggin says:

      how about KattyKay then?
      BBC via Twitter
      Busy Friday – police in Texas have launched a criminal investigation into the fertilizer plant explosion?
      lard Mardell
      Did State dept cover up after the Benghazi murders?

      sheesh! –
      how about the indepth report then?
      Talking points about an attack on a US consulate in Libya were edited by the state department to remove references to terrorism, some US media reports ….

      maybe the “overworked” staff had a lie in?

         7 likes

    • Chop says:

      You aint gonna get owt from “The worlds most trusted news gatherer in the world….ever” until both Hillary & The great leader are in chains regarding Benghazi.

         9 likes

  41. noggin says:

    how bad is the pandering, with the Obama admin and islam?
    maybe this bad

       9 likes

    • Chop says:

      Heard about this on Jeff Kuhner, this is the 1st time I have seen it.

      It’s another travesty that is being investigated, as to why the 30 US seals died in a slow, old helicopter…

      All things pointing at the Obama administration, yet the Beeb only tell us how brilliant he is.

         10 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      That’s nothing. The President Himself, with “global inspiration” Hillary Clinton standing by His side, apologized to the Muslim World about that stupid little video which He knowingly, falsely claimed was the cause of the attack in Benghazi.

         7 likes

      • David Brims says:

        Michael Savage said the American ambassador in Benghazi was supply arms to the Syrian ” freedom fighters”. Obama didn’t want that covert operation discovered.

           3 likes

  42. George R says:

    Islamic Republic of PAKISTAN:

    -Islam v. Freedom on Election Day.

    But, in its headline, INBBC regards the Islamic jihad bombing massacre in Karachi as merely ‘unrest’, which only ‘marred’ the wonderful election:-

    “Landmark Pakistan election marred by Karachi unrest”

    As reported by Lyse ‘the humanity of the Taliban’ DOUCET.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22495034

    “Bomb blasts cast shadow over Pakistan’s milestone election”

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Bomb-blasts-cast-shadow-over-Pakistans-milestone-election/articleshow/20001327.cms

       4 likes

  43. noggin says:

    On this site these figures have been, i m sure, mentioned before.
    27,725 Romanians were arrested for offences in London over the past five years, (Scotland Yard) including pickpocketing gangs, organised theft, extortion, violent assault, 10 for murder and more than 140 for rape.
    The figures,(Freedom of Information Act), will fuel fears of a crime wave when restrictions on workers from Romania and Bulgaria are lifted in January next year.
    Romanians came second only to Poles, who accounted for 34,905 arrests, including 84 for murder and almost 130 for rape. However, there were some 587,000 migrants born in Poland living in the UK in 2011, estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed, compared with only 87,000 Romanians.
    Sir Andrew Green, Migration Watch UK, said: “The extent of this Romanian criminality is a real concern for the ending of all immigration controls on Romanians and Bulgarians next year.”
    The figures also showed some 2,887 Bulgarians were arrested in London over the same period, including two for murder and 22 for rape.
    The Metropolitan Police, Britain’s largest force, deals with around half of all crime committed in Britain by foreign nationals and has set up Operation Nexus to particulary tackle the issue

    these are figures are known, on radio, the net, or if you read the papers
    … with this in mind, give this a listen, typical doctored bbc
    – programme and audience
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01s8vw7/ – @ 19 mins 40 secs
    (the figure quoted was very slightly out, but the example was totally valid, and cogent to the question)

       15 likes

  44. thoughtful says:

    Broadcasting house is just a multi culti left wing bias fest which has really wound me up this Sunday morning.

    The worst part was the immigration / UKIP is hiding closet racism with some black guy telling blatant lies to make his point.

    Pakistan features – how wonderful it is so many voters turn out despite the threats – no mention that here people are so thoroughly hacked off that we effectively only have one party to vote for!

       11 likes

  45. Chris H in Wales says:

    Sorry a little bit random but here goes!…. I have noticed on two occasions so far the BBC censoring films very slightly so the vast majority would not notice but to suit their agenda. The first was a while ago when watching Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner (please dont tell my friends I watched it!), there is a part where they are sitting around the campfire and Azeem played by Morgan Freeman is offered alcohol

    “Dialog – [The outlaws are passing a jug of mead around a circle; one of them finishes, then start to pass the bottle past Azeem]
    Robin of Locksley: Has English hospitality changed in six years.
    Hal: But he’s a savage, sire.
    Robin of Locksley: That he is… but, no more than you or I. And don’t call me sire.
    [The Woodsman offer the jug to Azeem]
    Azeem: With regret, I must decline. Allah forbids it.
    John Little: Your bloody loss, mate.
    ” – ‘

    In the film shown on the BBC this part is cut and I cannot think why!

    The second example was in Pirates of the Caribbean when Pintel played by Lee Arenberg arrives at Elizabeth Swanns house and raps on the door and the servant opens the door to be greeted by ‘Hello Chum’ (or words to that effect) and then he is shot and falls back. In the BBC version the image of him falling down is cut.

    I realise these are minor differences but I am sure that I have not noticed the only two that the BBC have ever edited. If I watch a film (rated 12 after 9pm by the way) then I wish to watch it in its entirety not some version that the BBC feels will not damage and corrupt my simple brain. Thoughts please folks!

       6 likes

    • pah says:

      They could be watershed issues – ho ho.

      Its bad enough that they have to shoe horn in black actors into historical films, as if black people are incapable of enjoying such films without a black face to calm their nerves(!), without introducing the racism of the blind character. He’s supposed to be an ordinary peasant and yet all the other peasants don’t seem to even blink an eye at Azeem. Perhaps being blind makes him bitter? What it shows is the liberal’s inability to do anything without political comment …

      Of more concern with Robin Prince of Thieves is the way they managed to travel from Dover to Nottingham via Hadrian’s wall. After that the notion of historical accuracy becomes somewhat moot.

         6 likes

      • Joshaw says:

        “as if black people are incapable of enjoying such films without a black face to calm their nerves(!)”

        But then this shoe horning is not intended to appease black people anyway, or at least not most of them. IMO it’s aimed at children – getting them used to a wholly false idea of what this country used to be like.

           11 likes

        • colditz says:

          Maybe you could enlighten us on a country which hasn’t changed in the past 90 years?BTW non white people have been a feature of the British isles for many centuries, being brought in as sailors and servants. Some were radical and involved in the Cato st conspiracy and Chartists movement. Only when they are arrested is there a record. Look at portaits in the Georgian era to see black faces staring back. It’s incorrect to think of Britain (I assume you mean Britain and not England, although it applies to both) being just full of pure Brits. It was always subject to new groups arriving. (6 million have an Irish grandparent and countless millions have Irish blood in the lineage. Maybe even you!)

          And of course the Roman Legionnaires who settled were from North Africa and the Middle East. So even in antiquity England was a mixed society.

          So it’s not a false idea. What is false is to assume there is only one identikit identity for being British. There isn’t.

             6 likes

          • David Brims says:

            Utter garbage.

               14 likes

          • John Anderson says:

            You talk trash, Colditz. Which countries haven’t changed in the past 90 years, you ask ? I assume relative population mix.

            How about every country in the Middle East, Asia and Africa ? They still have huge majorities of their indigenous peoples.

               17 likes

            • Big Dick says:

              Japan too , over 99% , of the population are ? Erm , you guessed right Japanese ! Might be one or two South Korean`s in there too , but don`t tell the Japanese !

                 5 likes

          • Dave s says:

            Why write such easily refuted things?
            I assume that when you write” a country that hasn’t changed” you are referring to the population not the transport system.
            What about Japan? A major nation if ever there is one. And China? Korea and say Mexico. Substantial populations and major countries.
            I will ask you again and expect a reply. Between the Norman Conquest (an invasion of a ruling elite only) and say 1870 apart from the Hugenots ( lest we forget them) who were the major immigrant groups to England and where did they come from? The liberal elites tell us that period was full of waves of immigrants. It is not true. To be blunt a liberal lie to serve another agenda. There has never been an immigrant invasion to compare with the current one. We all know it and are sick of the lies.

               13 likes

            • colditz says:

              There are over 2 million foreigners in Japan.

              1 million in Mexico

              I million in S Korea

              600K+ in China

              Most African countries have non african living there, including huge numbers in most of southern Africa.

              The Irish, Scots, Welsh and Cornish are er not English and spoke different languages. There were waves of them throughout history. Don’t pick and choose your immigrant groups.

              My point is that ALL countries change. Are changing. will change.

              Hardly dishonest. Dishonesty would be to pretend the clock will turn back to some Golden Age that never existed.

                 3 likes

              • Dave s says:

                You failed to answer. In England between the Conquest and say 1870 who were the immigrants and where did they come from? .Hugenots excepted. I did not mention Ireland, Scotland or Wales but you did.
                And in passing 600,000 immigrants in China hardly consitiute a multi whatever society. In a population of 1 billion plus.
                And please clarity. Do you class a foreigner in Japan as an immigrant or a foreigner? There is a difference. Exactly how many foreigners have been given Japanes or Chinese citizenship do you think. ?
                Nothing is so absurd as a liberal desperate to defy reality.

                   11 likes

          • Joshaw says:

            Colditz – Small communities of black people in places like Deptford, Bristol and other ports were not typical. You know this perfectly well.

            Early photographs of ordinary people taken in ordinary circumstances are, to all intents in purposes, entirely white. I’m also old enough and well travelled enough to know what this country looked like several decades ago.

            Searching historical records and paintings to find rare evidence of black people, and then using this to paint a wholly unrepresentative picture of Britain as a whole, is dishonest.

            Your whole approach to this, Colditz, is dishonest – as we have come to expect.

               18 likes

            • Iain Muir says:

              I wouldn’t use art as a reliable guide to the past demography of the country. Artists do not generally feel bound to represent reality and it’s quite likely that they seized upon the rare black person to add colour (no pun intended here) and interest to their work.

                 3 likes

          • Kyoto says:

            I grew up 200 yards from Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle, and well I can remember as I walked toward the bus stop stumbling across those long-settled enrichers and vibrants who were praying to Mithradites or the Egyptian sun god. Yes Newcastle-upon-Tyne such a melting-pot.

            Curiously enough north of the wall-line it was terribly monocultural, though the locals did their best by painting their faces blue.

            Also since you always seem so persnickety on minor points would the soldiers from the Middle East have been more likely to be auxiliaries rather than legionaries.

               4 likes

            • Iain Muir says:

              You were lucky.

              Praying to a sun god in my part of the world would have been the last word in futility.

                 5 likes

        • pah says:

          Indeed it is not, but it is often an excuse that is used.

          I’d be interested in hearing from any black readers, if there are any, as to whether or not the colour of the cast matters at all. Anyone care to comment?

             0 likes

    • David Brims says:

      In the Ben Affleck film The Sum of All Fears 2002. The baddies were changed from muslim terrorists to nazis. Of course, we’re tripping over nazis every day of the week, aren’t we ?

      http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2002/05/the_sum_of_all_pc.html

         7 likes

      • John wood says:

        Who was the assassin in “Angels and Demons” a) in the book and b) in the film

           0 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      I’m still awaiting the reruns of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

      Although to be fair the BBC gives us no end of Caroline Quentin and Lee Mack.

      🙁

         6 likes

  46. noggin says:

    as a parting shot on the thread.
    check out radio BBC 5 live
    Double Take, 10am (about 45 mins in)
    the BBC does its best to totally rubbish
    a RAF Dambusters Commemoration, and
    absurdly tries a “guilt trip” narrative
    thankfully, they are succinctly corrected
    on air :-D, but can t help themselves as the
    interviewee states he ll look forward to seeing
    a majestic Lancaster fly past …
    hmmm majestic but intimidating drones our beebot
    to end the segment 😀

       13 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      If you’re a tali in Helmand you probably find an Apache flying overhead ‘intimidating’.

      If you’re an al-qaeda operative in Pakistan you probably find a Reaper drone flying overhead ‘intimidating’ (that is if you see it before it zaps you)

      If you’re a droid in Salford you find a WW2 Wellington flying overhead ‘intimidating’.

      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      They truly are effing halfwits.

         17 likes

  47. pah says:

    Gove on the touchy-feely, sorry, Andrew Marr show this morning, when asked about the vote for a referendum on Europe, says he will abstain.

    News reader 30 seconds later says he will vote to leave Europe …

       12 likes

  48. Leha says:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22481151

    the safe staffing alliance, now who could that be?
    ahhhhh…..

    RCN/UNison, why didn’t you say that in the first place?

       9 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Well, when they want views, who knows who may proffer some before they even get to select those they fancy passing on?
      Are you concerned about staffing levels on your wards?
      Have you been a patient concerned about the staffing levels on the ward?

      One may wonder if there were any questions of a similar nature around the time Mid Staffs was honing its Shipmaneseque skills, and if so what form they took?
      Are you concerned about staff on your wards hired more for degree status than care ability?
      Have you been a patient concerned about staff on the ward so busy they can’t miss a goss at the Pilgrim station when a patient needs water or help to the loo?

      Nothing another high cost round of public sector ‘re-training’ can’t sweep under the carpet until the next time.

         6 likes

  49. thoughtful says:

    Interesting write up today on the UK polling site:

    “Immigration

    The public do not rate the government’s current handling of immigration – only 15% think they are doing well on the issue, compared to 75% who think they are handling it badly. Asked which party they would most trust on the issue of immigration UKIP now have a convincing lead, 30% to the Conservative’s 17% (Labour are picked by only 12%).”

    EU Referendum
    62% of people think there should be a referendum on Europe (as usual!), with the vast majority of these thinking it should be held before the next general election (if you support something, why wait?).

    Asked how they would vote if there was a referendum, at present 30% would vote to stay, 47% to leave. This is a comparatively large lead for the “OUT” vote compared to YouGov’s recent polls on the topic,

    Read the entire article at http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/

       7 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      ‘The public do not rate the government’s current handling of immigration’.
      ————————————————————————

      The government can do nothing today to stop immigration from the EU. That’s why they have to blather on about the meaningless (in this context) ‘net immigration’.

      The government could of course be a bit more honest about why they can do nothing about immigration from the EU.

      But why be honest when you can carry on fooling ‘the little people’.

         12 likes

      • Expat John says:

        Absolutely.
        Now that the economically and financially illiterate, left-wing, bbc (but I repeat myself) barrage of lies about the consequences of Britain leaving the UK has started, expect the debate to centre on mythical future job losses and unheard of levels of economic devastation, brought to you by the big corporations who work hand in hand with the big unions and big government.
        They will concentrate on this issue, lest the ‘little people’ should be reminded that it’s the EU that forces us to open our borders to all and sundry.

           8 likes

        • It's all too much says:

          I remember 1990 , vividly, Hessletine telling me unequivocally that there would be a mass exodus of foreign investment the loss of three million jobs (still quoted today) and a collapse of the pound if Britain withdrew from the ERM. Followed by withdrawl, a rapid fall in interest rates and Nissan building a huge car plant in Sunderland

             6 likes

        • pah says:

          the ‘little people’ should be reminded that it’s the EU that forces us to open our borders to all and sundry
          That raises an interesting point. If the EU were to exempt the UK from Schengen so that no furriners could enter the country; would the ‘little people’ be happy with that and the UK remains in the EU?

          Is that why people are pissed off with the EU? Personally there’s a lot of worse things the EU is doing …

             1 likes