On Sunday I noticed a report on BBConline which talked about the international aid effort to Pakistan which was then underway. Knowing that such affairs are almost becoming a catwalk for the compassion of the developed world, I approached with caution.
Anyway, a read of the report showed the BBC magnanimously including the US in the lede about international aid swinging into action- generally an upbeat presentation. However, I say maganimously because the US is listed as having pledged just 100,000 dollars- far less than the EU or even the UK (this issue of EU aid versus individual EU countries giving aid is very much an unresolved reporting issue for the Beeb- for instance, having effectively headlined the EU in lede and list, they throw this line in at the end, ‘France, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece have all allocated funds or pledged to assist with immediate needs.’Meanwhile, Ireland had pledged about a third of that, I subsequently learnt.)
Needless to say, the BBC’s assertion that the US had pledged just $100,000 seems to have been flat out wrong: this report (of the same day, timestamp ‘earlier’- but later given transatlantic timezones) says the US had given– not pledged (a v. important distinction oft abused in BBC journalism as elsewhere)- 500,000 dollars to the Pakistan Red Cross via the relevant US agency, and that this took place on Saturday, by way of a beginning.
Although the Beeb follow up the 100,000 assertion- a figure I found was actually repeated from an earlier article– by quoting Bush that ‘”Our initial deployments of assistance are under way, and we stand ready to provide additional assistance as needed,” they fail to point out what that initial deployment had actually meant- all they needed to do was quote Bush… a little more:
‘Speaking in the Oval Office with the Pakistani Embassy’s deputy chief of mission, Mohammad Sadiq, by his side, Bush said that the United States has already sent some financial aid — the U.S. Agency for International Development sent $500,000 to the Red Cross in Pakistan on Saturday.
A second relief package in the form of emergency supplies, military helicopters and emergency management personnel was on its way. Two C-130 and a C-17 U.S. military aircraft containing blankets, winterized tents and other relief supplies were in motion already.
“We’re moving choppers. Secretary Rumsfeld is surveying the assets they may be able to move in the area,” Bush said. “Pakistan’s a friend, and the United States government and the people of the United States will help as best as we possibly can.’
Geddit Beeb?- costly, present actions: the choppers probably no-one else will send, plus aircraft and crewmen. I wonder how much it costs per day to fuel, maintain and man these kinds of items in foreign terrain? Wassa matter, Beeb, Bush’s colloquialism ‘choppers’ too low brow for ya t’report? $100,000- pah!
The Beeb, it seems clear, learnt nothing from their failures over reporting the US contribution to the tsunami. Even if situations move quickly, what would have been wrong in updating the report (the most recent I can find under a ‘Pakistan Aid’ search of the BBC website)?
One last note- I see that in addition to top-billing the EU, the Beeb also co-mentioned the ‘several Islamic nations’. Concerning this latter group: A)Where’s the beef? (statistically, in the article, I mean- no doubt the Beeb would get the facts wrong but still it would be something to go on) and B)Where’s the rest of Allah’s righteous nations in showing love to the Ummah? (a question I am sure they’d rather leave to the relevant heralded Panorama)
Update: Well, I did say ”c’mon’, and lo! they came (on)- the Beeb got to the US aid delivery 24 hours (or more) after their competitor news organisation. They also updated the old story (similarly late). But the explicitness with which they refer to the US role (could actually be more explicit) almost makes me think they took a hint from someone…
‘The US has promised $50m for relief operations and Kuwait pledged $100m.Six helicopters have now arrived in Pakistan from the US airbase in neighbouring Afghanistan.
(that’ll be ‘US helicopters’- ed’s guess)
The US ambassador to Islamabad, Ryan Crocker, said planes with US relief supplies were forming a “virtual air bridge” into Pakistan.’
Yet I do notice how Kuwait gets a starring role, in grating juxtaposition with the US’ effort. And, if you’re going to talk in those terms, why not Ireland, the ultimate David-like persona to grate with? Didn’t they pledgemuch more than Kuwait? And (cherry on top time) why leave it to an ambassador of the USA to say that the US airforce is forming a ‘virtual air bridge’? Isn’t it near enough a very expensive and yet vital fact?
The US is acting, promptly and decisively (surprise!), and this is doubtless costly too. Knowing the US stance on aid, it probably isn’t even counting the gift of the choppers etc as part of any sum of money it’s pledging to give. After all, you can’t pledge what you’ve already given. One thing that’s certain is that while all the other aid may line the pockets of various bureaucratic layers, trickling on down to the bereaved and the homeless, this is one donationgoing where it’s really needed. It’s just difficult to get the BBC to admit it.
Mike
Agreed, making the Bank of England independent has worked out well, but that wasn’t Brown’s choice to make. He had to do that by Euro diktat. All the various sovereign nations affiliated to the EU have had to do it. If the Tories had won in 1997 they would have done the same thing simply because they would have had to.
Pete
Thank you. I didn’t know that. Always good to learn new things 😉
Pete_London re. Allah:
My sentiments exactly. I always see Muslims (often in Pakistan) burning British and US flags and now they’re expecting help? Nah, sorry… I’ve donated 200 Dollars to the US Red Cross after Katrina. No money for Pakistan from me, sorry. Let Allah sort it.
P.S.: On Panorama they had a discussion about the relief efforts. Paxman suggested a new organisation to oversee all aid relief whenever relief is needed. Probably another UN operation – big administration inclusive.
P_O_L
While there is an almost visceral irony in the fact that that people from Islam are now begging for help from those they have been reviling vociferously for the past 5 years or even more; even ludicrous that some of them have asserted that the natural disasters that have occurred in the US are the ‘punishment of Allah’ and are now ravaged themselves by an even worse disaster; surely there does come a time in the affairs of humanity when we (who consider ourselves to be more humane, moderate and enlightened than the Islamofascists and savages who commit atrocities in the name of Allah) should perhaps curb the temptation to gloat over the extreme misery of millions of innocent families. The vast majority of them probably have no interest in anything other than feeding their children and trying to survive in an area of the world that is at the mercy of Nature’s most ferocious tantrums. At times like this perhaps politics should be gently laid to one side; when it’s Nature v Humanity, aren’t we all on the same side? Even if some of ‘them’ can’t see that, I feel that we should. Just a thought.
OT Alistair Beeton was on Simon Mayo’s Radio 5 show today to discuss his Channel 4 comedy about the Blunkett affair.
The following exchange occurred – ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/mayo.shtml – click on Listen Again for Monday, about 2hrs 43 in)
“Alistair Beeton: Don’t worry, I’m not going to say what it is, but we all know there’s an affair in the Prime Minister’s private world that the media’s agreed to suppress… and yet the Prime Minister still sends out Christmas cards with nice pictures of his kids, so they’ve got double standards and I think we have the right to ask questions about it.
Simon Mayo: Let’s not go down that road.”
I’ve had a quick look at the Radio Five station message boards and it looks like all direct references to these comments are being censored.
The US blogs would’ve been all over something like this by now, even if it was just to discredit what Beeton had said.
I solidly support every word Pete_London wrote. Tony Blair is probably the most mendacious, destructive, pig ignorant and malicious prime minister in the history of our islands. Certainly his tenure in Downing St has seen the dissolution of Britain’s civil society as he has imposed “non-judgemental” on British judges and courts, ceded ever more of our sovereignty to Brussels on the quiet, wrecked our centuries old constitution, created work “human rights lawyers” and zips round the world twittering on the plane he and Her Cherieness had specially converted for their personal use at the expense of the British taxpayer.
On Pakistan, I just don’t know why these people can’t accept the will of Allah! Why are they whining, as though suicide bombers had randomly killed their loved ones, or something?
Is Matt Frei reporting from the scene, with his droning, leaden disappointment in American alacrity to help people to whom they owe nothing? Is Matt Wells reporting from an air-conditioned condo gym in Rawalpindi – furious with the Pakistani government for too little too late? No? How about furious with the American government for too little too late? That’s better! Matt can get some steam up over that! Can we have Gavin Wossname picking gamely through the rubble, dressed in pajamas and kurta, personally rescuing families of children then dropping them off on the freeway overpass far from home when the moment’s milked? Oh, please, BBC! Make it perfect! Matt, Matt & Gavin!
Verity
What about the Hindus, Christians and atheists, even, on the other side of the border? Not even a tad of compassion for those? C’mon, Verity, there must be a chink in that carapace of cynicism, somewhere.
Couldn’t agree more about Blair though. Great rant! 🙂
Frank P – Probably not many Christians or atheists. Over the border in INDIA (not “the disputed territory of Kashmir” according to the Beebola; it has always been legally part of India since Partition) there are fellow Islamics. Way further up north, after Kargil, all the way up to Leh, it is Buddhist and borders on Tibet. They are Tibetan Buddhists. But I think the earthquake only hit the Islamic bits. Go figure.
“But I think the earthquake only hit the Islamic bits.”
Tosh.
Dear Anonymous Tosh – Which Buddhist parts of the Indian state of Kashmir did the earthquake hit? Do tell!
On Blair, didn’t he also win because of postal voting fraud committed by the Labour Party? I’m on the other side of the pond so someone correct me if I’m wrong but it seems to me the Tories lost because they didn’t have a backbone. And they seem to think they need someone like Blair in their party but doh! Why would Tory voters want someone like Blair? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of voting Tory?
I have sympathy for the Pakistani Muslims. If the situation were reversed, and 40,000 of us US infidels had been wiped out by a natural disaster, I know a lot of them would be cheering and handing out “sweets” to celebrate, but that doesn’t mean I have to stoop to their level.
Wasn’t it the Pakistanis who were chanting “Death to America!” after 9/11?
I agree with Ted!
With regard to Pakistan, I do wonder what has happened to all those who said that Katrina was God’s retribution for the war in Iraq. I suspect that those that said it know, beyond all doubt that it was nothing to do with God or Allah or any other fictitious beings, but rather just something that happens. Unfortunately for them, a worse situation (certainly by bodycount) has occurred in a Muslim region and their silence is deafening. It says a lot.
BUT, I don’t think it’s fair to tar everyone in Pakistan with that brush. Muslims get a lot of grief as a consequence of a vocal (murderous) minority. It really isn’t fair not to help the others because of this though.
To make me fit for work, there is nothing better to rise the blood pressure than listening to the wonderful 5Live breakfast rubbish.
They were talking on and off about the earthquake disaster.
I didnt hear America mentioned once.
BBC in a strop?
O/T – They were going to have a ‘discussion’ regarding the new telly tax amount. Sorry didnt get the exact time but it was between 8:10-9.
Might be worth a listen again.
I recall that after the tsunami hit, a BBC reporter interviewed the commander of a US warship that was in Indonesian waters preparing to provide aid, including water, to the stricken population.
The reporter was incredulous. “How can you possibly provide enough water to make a difference,” he whined. The commander patiently explained how his ship didn’t simply store fresh water, but produced it.
The BBC bias is incurable.
BUT, I don’t think it’s fair to tar everyone in Pakistan with that brush. Muslims get a lot of grief as a consequence of a vocal (murderous) minority.
Mike, I agree with the first statement, but query the second. Do we really know that murderous Pakistani Muslims are in the minority?
The US has promised $50m for relief operations and Kuwait pledged $100m.
Is the use of the words ‘promised’ and ‘pledged’ yet another oh-so-subtle indication of BBC bias? Isn’t a pledge of money close to actually providing it while a promise can be construed as vague? And Kuwait is talking about double the US amount! Heroes, those Kuwaities. We look forward to the BBC image of teams of them desperately clawing through the rubble with their bare hands to free their injured fellow-Muslims. And since it’s such a short hop from Kuwait to Kashmir we expect to see it very soon.
Peter- on the question of the slowness of the BBC in bringing us the news, I would suspect that’s partly because all news has to be filtered through their teams of propagandists. I’m sure they scrutinise all reports microscopically for un-PC content.
OT
I am not paying an increase in licence fee as per Teletext this morning.
If the BBC wants more money to invest in digital tv, then reduce your headcount and reinvest money saved like any other business.
THis isnt a charity.
The BBC just confirmed my fears that they quite simply just don’t care.
More to the point, i am not funding those huge salaries, generous final salary pensions and other trimmings any longer.
Licence fee
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has said the licence fee is “not perfect” but is still the fairest way to fund the BBC.
How can she make such a ridiculous statement? Can’t she see that the BBC is but one of several broadcasters & that there is no reason that everyone should pay, whether they watch or not?
Alternatively if she sees the BBC as another tax funded service, how can a flat rate fee be the “fairest”?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4328514.stm
Michael Grade’s comment:
“”We commend it to government as an efficient business plan designed to meet licence payers’ expectations at the lowest cost.”
One of the most ludicrous statements ever made by a public figure. Does he expect us to believe that this gigantic, bloated propagandist bureaucracy can deliver ANYTHING at anything but the highest cost?
I’m amazed that nobody from the blog hosts team fisked the Blair v Blair Panorama programme. I’m certain it would have kicked off a a lively thread.
One gold standard Blair triumph; convincing the electorate that he is “centre right” when his every policy has been aimed to move British subjects into a state of dependency on the government. This makes us more likely to support Labour as we have a benefit to lose, and easier to govern as we lose our motivation in a swamp of welfarism. It also fits many people definition of left wing policies.
The man is a first rate con-artist, the best of his (or any other) generation. It’s not often I find myself able to praise him so highly.
o/t Flat Tax
BBC (rubbishing Flat Tax, of course) is claiming that some bloke who worked for the Heath government “invented” the flat tax. I thought Hong Kong had had it since 1948?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4325866.stm
Israel waits to see if Pakistan will accept aid offer.
This article was dated 10th of October. And Pakistan still hasn’t reponded.
Well, I guess there’s no urgent need to do everything they can to pull injured people from under the rubble, as long as there are political points to be made.
Meanwhile India has been really tardy in accepting Israel’s offer of aid. I just heard an Israeli spokesman on the radio indicating that India has finally given the nod and the Israelis will be sending a team ‘later in the week.’
By then I imagine there will be nothing more than mopping-up operations to be done.
Well, maybe India has its situation under control, but I have this strong need to express disgust with Pakistan……..
There, I just did, but it’s not fit to print
The BBC used their augmented presence in Louisiana to make observations on the society there – black underclass, tobacco-stained drawls of local politicians – in an entirely deprecating manner. Now that they are in North-east kashmir in some numbers, will they notice anything about how the people there live under allah. For example, I heard on one BBC report that scores of boys had been killed in a collapsed school. Where were the girls? A. Not at school: Pakistani girls don’t usually get an education. This will be below the BBC’s radar which is only set to detect things anti-American.
A Blair achievement: consistently low interest rates and inflation over 8 years.
Maybe not his personal responsibility but a government lead by no other PM’s has managed it recently…
Other than that he’s been average at best but thanks anyway.
I agree with most above. this site does appear to offer “selective” topics at times, almost as if to steer people away from commenting on issues the govt and bbc dont want.
i.e. Blair v Blair,
But in relation to the Earthquake, the reporters keep going on about lack of helicopters or ability to transport supplies. Now maybe they might understand why the army is important, and airforce, they are the only people capable of such tasks with helicopters.
Moreover, the USA gave $50m to start with, we the UK gave £100 000, a bit embarrasing as usual..no one
and re: licence fee, what a joke.
I will be lobbying hard to start all my local residents to stop paying any increases, a little like the council tax rebels..
The BBC used their augmented presence in Louisiana to make observations on the society there – black underclass, tobacco-stained drawls of local politicians – in an entirely deprecating manner
Yes, I am eagerly awaiting the condescending ruminations about “curry-stained” speech patterns and exposes of the awful conditions under which Pakistani Christians and other minorities live. . .waiting. . . waiting. . .where’s Matt Wells when you need him? Perhaps he’ll file a report from his luxury condo in Santa Monica. . .
Oh and I also expect lots of snide commentary about how Pakistan should have spent money on improving local building standards instead of spreading nuclear weapons and financing jihadi terrorist groups all over the world. . .waiting. . .waiting. . .
David Aaronovitch in The Times covers the New Stateman’s story on Grade wanting Humphrys’ head, but chickening out when it was realised that the rest of the media supported Humphrys, & were ready with their BBC as government lacky line.
Aaronovitch is sceptical of Grade ever having made such demands & considers –
It is, in essence, the Gilligan defence again. Never mind the facts, the story fits the preconceptions, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s true or not.
To which we can add that it is also the Rather defence
That line of defence (& attack) is getting all too common.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-1819777_1,00.html
Susan Pakistan should have spent money on improving local building standards instead of spreading nuclear weapons
Oh so true.
Ian,
Bloody Hell, I’ve always thought that this blog was on the side of good and all along it’s been toeing the evil BBC/Labour line in a positively Gramscian manner. How on earth can we escape from this nightmare??!!
Some great comments here….http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4330060.stm
Best one…
“No definitely not, the output is shoddy, lazy and unimaginative at best. We should be entitled to a reduction for “Star Spell” on its own, what utter dross! I pay 5 times as much for Sky but it provides 100 times the value (and I have a choice as to whether I purchase it!).
Andrew, Dorking, UK”
Is that you, Andrew?
Yes. Allan@aberdeen – where were the girls? Says it all, doesn’t it? This whole thing leaves me indifferent. Natural disasters happen. Unlike suicide bombers, they cannot be prevented.
And those buildings collapsed because they were jerry built by builders who knew what they were doing and passed safety inspections via vast payouts from the builders. They weren’t fit to withstand an earthquake in a region that suffers from earthquakes. This is the sleazy way they do business. They should take the consequences of their behaviour and pick up their own pieces. They’ll be throwing more of these buildings up within a month, with Western money. Screw ’em.
BREAKING
Ex-French UN ambassador in custody
BBC flags hidden costs of switchover
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1589689,00.html
“The inflation-busting funding deal the BBC has asked for today could push the annual licence fee over £200 within a decade – but the charge for owning a TV set could end up rising even more steeply, once the full cost of subsidising digital switchover is included.
The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, revealed last month at the RTS Cambridge convention that the government expected a plan to help elderly and disabled people switch to digital to be paid for out of the BBC licence fee.
The scheme will be free for the poorest eligible households – those on income support, jobseekers’ allowance or pension credits. Others will be charged a “modest” fee, as yet unspecified.
However, the government and the BBC have yet to agree how much this digital switchover subsidy scheme might cost.”
The BBC will love this, getting to play the ‘social engineering’ game with government money.
Well said Verity, Blair is totally dishonest and a blatant liar. He is all promises but no performance. Worst prime minister ever.
When the BBC staff see the government throwing cash at the public services with little or no evidence of any tangible improvements, they’d be stupid not to try and ask for the same treatment themselves. From the government’s point of view it makes sense to throw money at its own low-brow entertainment and ‘news’ channels. Nobody has ever found a better way of stupifying a population than cheap TV. The really sad part of all this is the eagerness of so many thousands of BBC staff to participate in the dissemination of drivel, and that cynicism, money or political and moral naivety blinds them to the damage their trash does. I’d be ashamed to work in TV, any TV, not just the BBC. As in pre-broadcasting days, provision of cheap, nasty enetertainment and propaganda should be left to those who wish to provide it, and the government should stay well clear. Scrap the licence fee.
OT :
People smuggling, great result for the police. Now all they have to do is find the whereabouts of some 200 000 illegal migrants in the UK. No problem.
But no mention of that on the BBC news, or for that matter any indication that the govt was actively searching for these people.
Instead trying to make out that they were the victims. It doesnt wash with me.
I have to pay nearly £100 for a passport, queue for visas, instead these people waste £5000 on fake documents, surely going thru the proper channels would actually be better?
We can’t have one rule for one, one for another, that is discrimination against those of us who abide the law. I wish i didnt have to pay but its life.
also i might add, my previous post above had been tampered with..just thought you’d all like to know that..
If they make a £5,000 investment in getting into Britain illegally, they must be expecting a very large payout. As in economic migrant. If they were genuine “asylum seekers” (oh, pulleeeeeeze!), they could have stopped in Germany, Poland – anywhere in the EU is a safe country, really. Funny that they all come to Britain. And I think that 200K figures is a bit low, Ian Barnes. I have read upwards of a quarter of a million criminals (criminal by definition) in Britain illegally – doing what, I wonder?
The next government should prosecute Blair for treason, as this was engineered by him. Just as the dissolution of the British Isles is being engineered by him. This is all done with the complicity, aid and assistance of the foul BBC. It would not have been tolerated had the Ministry of Propaganda not constantly confused the citizenry by putting a favourable gloss on it. Blair’s government and the BBC. A viper’s nest of invertebrates washing each other’s slithering backs.
Ian Barnes says, “also i might add, my previous post above had been tampered with..just thought you’d all like to know that..”
Don’t be paranoid. Probably just a momentary fluctuation in Haloscan and/or your internet connection. Try posting it again.
It is quite true that comments are deleted or censored occasionally. I feel no embarrassment about doing so openly and adding one of those “deleted by siteowner” notes.
Mr Barnes also says, earlier, “I agree with most above. this site does appear to offer “selective” topics at times, almost as if to steer people away from commenting on issues the govt and bbc dont want.
i.e. Blair v Blair”
Yes, “selective topics” is right. It’s a blog and that naturally means that the topics are selected to be those of interest to the bloggers.
Pete in London, Joerg’s, Denise’s and Verity’s comments on the earthquake struck me as callous.
I don’t think it’s admirable to be indifferent when whole villages are wiped out, or schools collapse on the children inside them, because people of the same nationality or religion as the victims – or, indeed, some of the victims themselves – are bad or bigoted.
Verity, I think you’ll find that increases in illegal asylum seekers were largely caused by Conservative cuts in the immigration services budget coupled with a large amount of wars and international instability. Hardly ‘engineered’ by Blair.
The preference for Britain amongst those seeking asylum comes from the fact that we speak English, have a colonial history, are generally a tolerant lot and actually respect the requirements of international treaties (unlike the French). I’m sure the Belgians and Swedes who each have taken on a far larger number of asylum seekers per head, as well as the French who get numerically more these days, would also be amused to hear that we get them ‘all’.
Unfortunately, the only way to prevent ourselves being abused by the bogus contingency is to properly fund the immigration authorities (and the benefit services) to give them the resources to root out the scroungers. Making up lots of enormously nasty rules will in itself achieve jack. Blair won’t fund it properly as it would need to come from the taxpayer. The idea that any other political party could immediately ‘solve’ this is laughable.
Where did I suggest that I am admirable because I’m indifferent, Natalie?
Frank P: “I’m amazed that nobody from the blog hosts team fisked the Blair v Blair Panorama programme. I’m certain it would have kicked off a a lively thread”
Really? How many people do you reckon are on the payroll here at Biased BBC Central? Precisely none is the answer. The contributors here are all volunteers. Recently posting has mostly been Natalie and I, with a few posts from others from time to time. We have lives and families, and sometimes it’s not possible to watch all of the BBC’s output simultaneously and then spend ages writing it up afterwards! Sheeesh, if you have the time, and if you can write well enough I’ll be happy to post your fisking for you. Do it well enough and regularly enough and you might be invited to join the regular team.
Ian Barnes: “I agree with most above. this site does appear to offer “selective” topics at times, almost as if to steer people away from commenting on issues the govt and bbc dont want. i.e. Blair v Blair”
What planet are you on? Clickety-click, a well known newspaper – are you here to push some kind of pro-EU line like the rag you’re posting from? Or are you just looking for a free source of stories to lift? As with Frank P, if you want to fisk it and fisk it well, send it on in China.
Ian Barnes: “…also i might add, my previous post above had been tampered with..just thought you’d all like to know that..”
Well, it wasn’t Natalie, and it wasn’t me. Maybe it was MI5 as part of some pro-BBC/Blair Gramscian conspiracy… 🙂
RB: “Ian, Bloody Hell, I’ve always thought that this blog was on the side of good and all along it’s been toeing the evil BBC/Labour line in a positively Gramscian manner. How on earth can we escape from this nightmare??!!”
Nightmare indeed RB! Thank you for your support – pity about the ingrates though!
Rob White: “Some great comments here….http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/ 4330060.stm
Best one… “No definitely not, the output is shoddy, lazy and unimaginative at best. We should be entitled to a reduction for “Star Spell” on its own, what utter dross! I pay 5 times as much for Sky but it provides 100 times the value (and I have a choice as to whether I purchase it!).
Andrew, Dorking, UK”
Is that you, Andrew?”
No.
Verity: (and others too) “Screw ’em”, etc.
As constructive, reasoned and thoughtful as ever! Are you going loco posting from Mexico (“our islands”, as you put it, indeed!), or are you a Blairite/Beeboid Gramscian conspirator out to discredit Biased BBC? 🙂
O/T, porcine aviaries flying over at 10 o’clock position! The Beeb actually acknowledges that Gov. Blank-o and Mayor Moron were major screw-ups during the Katrina crisis. A month too late, but better late than never:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4316366.stm
Credit where credit is due, good for you Beeb!
Someone must have picked up that fourth-grade US civics textbook I’m always threatening to send to them.
Although, I notice they did neglect to mention that Mayor Moron and Gov. Blank-o are both Democrats. Can’t have everything!
We are not afraid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4330000/newsid_4331300/4331312.stm
I have a bad feeling that as soon as the Beeb gets its seven year licence fee hike/deal, all bets will be off and the moonbats will be unleashed. I think in the future we’ll be looking back on the last few months as a ‘restrained’ period……
please understand, i read what i posted i always do. and it was changed, i’m not being an arse. its just what i read before isnt there now.
sorry but its a fact. apart from that i like the blog.
Baaad/stoopid Americans….
The US has got an image problem when it comes to the internet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4327928.stm
“In the face of opposition from countries such as China, Iran and Brazil, and several African nations, the US is now isolated ahead of November’s UN summit.”
Is that the best this BBC reporter can do? So our choice of who runs the internet is China? Iran? Brazil? the EU?
Strange that the B(British)BC doesn’t tell us what the British position is. Not quite the same as the EUs…… A quick googling reveals all…
“Meanwhile, supporting the US are countries like Australia, the UK and Latin American countries such as Argentina and Chile. These countries have rejected the EU proposal with the Australian delegates warning of a “hierarchical and bureaucratic” approach to internet governance if the UN were allowed to assume responsibility for domain names and IP addresses.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/11/enews_net_governance/
So us Brits are with the Yanks on this one. Quite right too. Not that the BBC would want us to know that of course. Not when it get in the way of a USA/Bush-bashing story.
Can you imagine the UN running the internet? or the EU for that matter-“Sorry your email is being held in a queue as the internet is closed on a Sunday/all August/today due to general strike”!