…doesn’t mean the Beeb has to agree. This “story” is bogus. President Bush, after all, was not slow to declare a state of emergency along the Gulf Coast. Mayor Nagin’s reaction to this “news” is laughable and hypocritical but the Beeb is happy to serve us New Orleans sludge.
Update: DFH, one of our B-BBC commenterati has two very helpful posts here and here. Auntie can’t get away with what she once did.
jowellgate – bbc says it not of much interest in Italy. really? so ITALIAN prosecutors going after them are a figment of my imagination so, eh?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
“Ignored in Italy : Mills-Jowell Affair is not big nows in scandal hardened country”
oh right – now its not a “Jowell” affair, thanks to that handy “separation”.
which links to here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4774464.stm
and that “separation” might only be temporary – this is whats buried in Nick Robinsons blog:
We are told that they are now separating, but the hints from what I am being told, the hints from the statement from David Mills’ solicitor, that this is temporary and that they hope to get back together again, suggest partly a painful personal decision but partly a calculation – to separate off the vulnerable political person, the minister, from her husband so that both can deal with their own problems in their own ways without becoming intertwined.
still no mention of the much larger amounts of money (over $1 million) that were uncovered by the Financial Times:
http://governancefocus.blogspot.com/2006/03/complex-web-of-deals-at-heart-of-mills.html
The BBC stealth edits the Katrina video story –
http://drinkingfromhome.blogspot.com/2006/03/bbc-katrina-video-stealth-edit.html
very badly. (One of the top links at Memeorandum at the moment, too!)
DFH | Homepage | 04.03.06 – 6:04 pm | #
…………………….
If Winston Smith in “1984” had done his job this badly he wouldn’t have lasted long.
“We are told that they are now separating, but the hints from what I am being told, the hints from the statement from David Mills’ solicitor, that this is temporary and that they hope to get back together again, suggest partly a painful personal decision but partly a calculation – to separate off the vulnerable political person, the minister, from her husband so that both can deal with their own problems in their own ways without becoming intertwined.”
Yeah, Robbo. Tell us something we don’t know, eh?
His waffle can be summarised thus: they are separating until the whole thing blows over.
how doubleplusungood of you to point that out gordon. of course we shouldnt mention the prolefeed of the BBC should we?
taol -> it smells of legal necessity more than political expediency. all those co-signed mortgage agreements and all that…
smells – to high heaven. where is the boy king David , eh? not got the rottweillers out yet or have they all turned into compassionate Labrador puppy conservatives?
Jowell is the BBC’s friend in government – she has agreed a generous license settlement for them and this is the payback – softly softly reporting and playing the whole thing down.
Archduke
More evidence that politicians have more in common with each other than they could ever have with us. As if any was needed.
However letts face it. I have been watching politicians for a long time. The Conservative party had problems stongly condeming anything socialists have done for the last 60 years. It has not got any easier, and thats for sure. That is why things ended up so bad in 1979.
Conservative politicians are generaly well-off and buzy getting more well off. Who ever is in goverment. They have a grand plan of only bothering to get involved in the dirty business of goverment, when things are so bad the people will even let a public schoolboy Tory run the country. It has generaly worked for them in the past so why change now. Why should they put up with all that name calling abuse and kissing babies. When they dont need the cash, and their mums or rich tart wives, would not like it anyway. What is the point of telling people that goverment does not work, before they work it out for themselves? You just get more rotten eggs in the face. You also run the risk of the BBC telling your wife about your 15 year old homo/bi/hetrosexual affair you have been having.
You can see their point.
The BBC is the main reason for the abuse the rotten eggs, and peoples tottal ignorence of how things really work, in the world. The BBC must be closed down not only for the good of the people, but for their very survival as people at all.ASAP
This must be a united movement of the people. The Tory party is our only hope. Like it or not. Do not wait for them to do something they are not the ones who are really suffering. WE ARE.
Much more emidiate direct pressure has to be put on them to change things. This is difficult, they are conservatives, after all.
There is tottaly no point in complaining to the Labour party or the BBC they know exactly what they are doing. That is taking the piss out of us, and keeping themselves in a lifestile that they could never get doing anything else.
If the British people cant muster a protest large enough that even the BBC cant miss it. Then quite frankly, the British people, dont deserve their freedom or their name.
The best if not the only way to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY in the long term in Britain is to MAKE THE BBC HISTORY. The extra £125 a year will help, but trust me they are costing “working poor” people much much more than that.
The IBC / GBC have decided to give a forum to Al-Zawahiri again:
“…Al-Qaeda ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri has attacked the West for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, in video footage shown by Arab TV network al-Jazeera…”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4775222.stm
So he’s now toned down and uses verbal attacks? What do we think what this mass-murdering **** says? Why does the IBC / GBC think we need to read what this mass-murdering **** thinks? They just put online what he seems to have said. How about a (D) HYS “Is Al-Zawahiri right?”
P.S.: Am I the only person who thinks the “hole” in his forehead makes a good target if you have a high-powered rifle?
Replace “What do we think what this mass-murdering **** says?” with “What do we care what this mass-murdering **** says?”
And how about a story along the line of “West berates Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda for being a mass-murdering ****” ???
If I get any positive response from anyone about my above comments. I promiss I will not just say it at the next party meeting. I will shout it. Even if you lott cant be bothered.
Gary Powell: “This must be a united movement of the people. The Tory party is our only hope. Like it or not. Do not wait for them to do something they are not the ones who are really suffering. WE ARE.”
The truth never sounded so good.
But Gary, has the Tory, Cameron, already done a deal with the BBC???
I feel that he has.
And make no mistake, the BBC approaches leaders of viable political parties well before they even think about approaching them.
And no current political party in Britain has a stated broadcasting policy against the dominant interests of the BBC !!!
Ken Kautsky
Thank you. I fear someones going to get a head pain. You make a good point. That is why pressure has to be visibly put by the people. However if DC did intend to do anything, he would be a tottal fool to say so. He is not that stupid. That is why the protest must come from the people not the Tory party. If it does not, nothing will happen. Thats the way the Tory party works. Thatcher was an aberation not the norm.
You have to be in a meeting of Conservative activist to appreciate how differently Conservative policy is formulated, from Labour.
It simply is not formulated by anyone or any thing. It is a reactionary party. There job is to react against the things the people did not like changed. Change back the things that did not work and possibly keep the things that did. However if the people dont seem to dislike it that much, they wont change it. Thats conservatism.
Gary Powell on the Conservative party: “It is a reactionary party.”
Then maybe you need a new “progressive” party that believes in doing the right thing on as many occasions as possible.
One that has the courage to have a stated broadcasting policy that does not include dominant players of the State.
However, maybe people are just too lazy these days.
Oh for Panorama in the old days….or World In Action ……………..
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1723807,00.html
Enough is enough. I’ve written to the bbc about Humph the mumbler, and I hope all of you have too. In addition to Humphrey’s inappropriate opinions, (he’s supposed to be an ‘objective’ journo, ha!) he mumbles a lot of inaudible words, not that they’re worth hearing anyway.
Now then, re Ming Ding — I wouldn’t vote for anyone who pronounces his own name according to some arcane rules formulated by 42 or so people living on the side of a remote mountain in the Highlands. Also, isn’t it a bit strange that the Mingus party, like Labour, doesn’t seem to know what season it is. They too are holding a “Spring” conference in winter! Or is the word winter now pronounced ‘spring’, in keeping with Ming-speak?
Gary ->
Hard Talk interview with John Major:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4767412.stm
very interesting – especially the bit where Major points out that the gap between rich and poor actually DECLINED during his premiership – but then increased again under Labour.
The Beeboid hive mind just went puff on that one.
overall though – good interview. worth watching.
I like Sackur – there’s none of the off-putting sneering/arrogance of say, Humphries.
“hey too are holding a “Spring” conference in winter! Or is the word winter now pronounced ‘spring’, in keeping with Ming-speak?”
huh? i always thought winter was november, dec, january – with spring starting in feb.
sunday am this morning:
ming ding ping – global warming, tax tax tax, iraq war wrong
david attenborough – global warming
joan baez – iraq war wrong. america bad.
so, we’re all going to die because america is bad.
no change there so.
now they have david “i’m a closet marxist but dont tell anyone” milliband on.
wonderful.
archduke
Oh, has Joan Baez released and album? Does that mean the BBC will find a slot for her to repeat that hippy dippy shit on live TV? You betcha. But what about those piercing questions from Andrew Marr:
“So Joan, tell us about Woodie Guthrie.”
Joan Baez: … Woodie Guthrie … blah blah … Martin Luther King … blah blah … Bob Dylan … blah blah … Michael Moore … Cindy Sheehan …
The old hippy says “We need Bob Dylan’s music more than ever.” Marr responds with a maked, rising “mmmMMMMM!” It was a mmmMMMM filled with “Oh yes Joan!”
Join us after the break for more josticks, kumbaya and other bollocks.
Oh quick everyone, Joan Baez is about to sing about Guantanamo Bay. Hurry!
oh dear god – they WOULD have to get a dig at Gitmo in.
we’re all going to die because of a gitmo iraq warming war – aaaaaaaargh!!!!
hmmm – seriously though , i dont remember David Frost being THAT blatantly biased.
BBC 1 (socialism ths) Sunday AM
Andrew Marr exhumed and brushed off a hippy from an ancient Red Indian burial site, strapped some electrodes to her ass and made her sing some Free Love Hippy shit from the sixties as he salivated and genuflected before her.
………and they say that Politicians have lost trust, respect and relevance.
Like french kissing ones own mother, this was real agony. Still, at least she treated him like the whacked out relativist that he is.
“Like french kissing ones own mother, this was real agony”
is there a sado-machocist streak in Marr – knowing full well that most people watching his show will have a hangover on sunday morning?
look at the quote by andrew marr on this website. ha ha.
today is the 70th anniversary of the maiden flight of the spitfire:
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/03/way-we-were.html
So we should be grateful to Lady Houston, heiress to the Thomson-Houston fortune for funding the Schneider Trophy entry; to Henry Royce for funding the PV-12 (Private Venture 12) development of the Merlin engine when the Air Ministry would not put up funds; and to R J Mitchell who spent his final years developing this beauty before cancer carried him off.
We should not forget also that it was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Neville Chamberlain who pushed funding into the RAF to build up fighter squadrons after the 1935 Election when Baldwin refused to campaign on rearmament.
The Spitfire story has so many angles which illustrate the different persons and their influence on events.
I thought Marr had cut baez down from the light-fitting……I know that scarf wrapped around the neck is to hide scraggy neckline (or Marr’s love bites) but I actually thought she had to be cut down so depressed was she at appearing on this dire programme
now they have david “i’m a closet marxist but dont tell anyone” milliband on.
Did you really write David “My father was a Marxist but I’m in the closet” Miliband ?
Michael Totten visits a genocide museum in Kurdistan:
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001068.html
A lone blogger, depending on paypal donations, brings us something that the £2 billion BBC fails to do.
incredible.
Winter begins sometime around December 21st (Winter Solstice) and ends sometime around March 21st (Vernal Equinox)
rob ->but culturally , the winter solstice is mid-winter – with the beginning of winter marked by halloween.
in meteorology november-dec-january is considered winter.
your definition is the astronomical one – which , granted, is equally valid. i suppose it all depends on what you were taught as a youngster in school.
The word vernal in vernal equinox (21 March) is defined as “occurring in the spring”. Autumnal equinox is 21 September, when the sun crosses the Equator in the other direction.
If you treat the equinox and solstice dates as being in the dead centre of the respective seasons, spring would start in the second week of Feb, summer in the second week of May, autumn in the second week of August, and winter in the second week of November. But these dates are patently wrong. So lets allow a couple of weeks for the effect of the time-lag in warming up/cooling down of the sea. That would give spring as starting at the beginning of March = March/April/May (cast ne’er a clout till May is out)…. summer as June(Wimbledon tennis)/July/August (with Indian summers falling in September or even October), autumn being Sept/Oct/Nov and the harshest part of winter = Dec/Jan/Feb, which I would regard as the months when you don’t do any gardening and when you could expect frosts and some snow.
I don’t know what vthe Islamic dates are, but I expect the BBC will be telling us. They won’t tell us how successful Bush’s tour of India and Pakistan.
archduke “A lone blogger, depending on paypal donations, brings us something that the £2 billion BBC fails to do.”
A Sunday Times report on white paper on BBC
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2070294,00.html
The white paper will also state that the corporation can justify its licence fee only if it offers something distinct from commercial television and radio stations. This means the BBC will have to give a far clearer definition of public service broadcasting, and then stick to it, from next year when its new royal charter comes into effect.
I agree that there is only any argument for a licence fee if we get ditinctive programming from the BBC. It is a farce that we are forced to pay for the present output which is in no way unique & could be seen on a combination of other commercial channels.
But will the great TV viewing public stand to be charged for worthy programmes that they don’t want to watch? Would the BBC become an extension of the Arts Council, funding matters in which the middle class express an interest (because it improves their image as being civilised people – opera, Brit Art, experimental theatre, ethnic dancing etc.)?
funding matters in which the middle class express an interest
Obviously more programmes about Bantus settling into life in multiculti Britain; Mohammed as a source of inspiration for Anglicans in Wokingham; and a five year series of “Evil Republican Presidents of US History”; and “Collected Reminiscences of Chairman Mao” are just the sort of offerings Britains right-on Guardian-reading middle class will pay for
Archduke,
Heartening to hear that you and your views on the Tessa Jewell separation have already been smeared as “some cynical people will say”.
I see
The Rt Hon Baroness Jay of Paddington PC
speaking up for Tessa.
Remember this?
Education Secretary Estelle Morris leaves her office to applause from staff after she resigned .
And this?
Ex-minister Morris becomes peer,
The Right Honourable Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, PC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2355059.stm
Just a bit of fun – PC multi-cultis falling out as their world of contractictions and paradoxes starts to implode.
Come on, boys, don’t whinge
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1723822,00.html
“The averagely liberal media worker, right now, is guilt-tripped to the gills by squawking fundamentalists of all stripes, tying our work and our words into increasingly constraining knots to the glorious end that they will not be offended.”
And from Mark Steyn:
“Or perhaps Ms. Bailey’s preferred type of Muslim immigrant is a chap like Sir Iqbal Sacranie, a Muslim of such exemplary “moderation” he’s been knighted by the Queen. Sir Iqbal, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, was on the BBC the other day and expressed the view that homosexuality was “immoral,” “not acceptable,” “spreads disease” and “damaged the very foundations of society.” A gay group complained and Sir Iqbal was investigated by Scotland Yard’s “community safety unit” which deals with “hate crimes” and “homophobia.”
Independently but simultaneously, the magazine of GALHA (the Gay And Lesbian Humanist Association) called Islam a “barmy doctrine” growing “like a canker” and deeply “homophobic.” In return, the London Race Hate Crime Forum asked Scotland Yard to investigate GALHA for “Islamophobia.”
Got that? If a Muslim says that Islam is opposed to homosexuality, he can be investigated for homophobia; but if a gay says that Islam is opposed to homosexuality, he can be investigated for Islamophobia. As someone who’s routinely called Islamophobic and homophobic every day of the week, I feel a bit like the former U.S. secretary of state James Baker did about the Balkan civil war: I don’t have a dog in this fight. Actually, it would be truer to say I have both dogs in this fight. “Hate crimes” are thought crimes, a concept more pernicious and harmful than whatever offence is caused by any particular statement. So I’m in favour of everybody suing everybody else over every imaginable phobia until the whole system collapses.“
This is odd, this BBC report has the protests FIRST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4761956.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 1 March 2006, 14:59 GMT
Bush arrives to Indian protests
While this one has the paragraphs reversed!
Last Updated: Thursday, 2 March 2006, 17:43 GMT
US and India seal nuclear accord
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4764826.stm
Ritter,
As I have said before, hurting peoples feelings is a victim less crime. However there now exists a whole industry of criminal law based on peoples feelings. Sad.
sarge -> shockingly , the BBC let the M and I words slip in.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4761956.stm
—————————
“Earlier, about 100,000 protesters gathered in the heart of Delhi in the first of many planned demonstrations against the US president.
Most of them were Muslim.”
—————————
I’d hazard a guess that ALL of them were Muslim.
Great stuff – good to see that our Hindu friends are still our allies.
—————–
“We are against Bush because he is the enemy of Islam,” one protester, Shamsuddin Malik, told the BBC.
—————–
Yeah , indeed. That Bush has been really busy demolishing every mosque in the USA.
—————
“He is a war criminal. America has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Their policy towards humanity is deplorable,” said Mohammad Anwar Hussain of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, a hardline Islamic group.
—————–
rrrright… and of course the Taliban were really cuddly do-gooders, and Saddam was just an Arab version of Santa Claus.
it is interesting from that BBC report, that nobody thought it was a good idea to maybe ask a few Indian Hindus about what they thought of Dubya visiting.
“However there now exists a whole industry of criminal law based on peoples feelings. Sad.”
no to mention copious amounts of police time dedicated to it.
Police seize golliwogs from shop
——————————–
West Mercia police said they had acted under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. It outlawed the display of offensive material, which might cause or was likely to lead to alarm, harassment or distress.
But following a two-week investigation and consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service a spokesman said last night that no action would be taken against Mr Reynolds.
——————————–
so there you have it -in black and white. the cops spent TWO WEEKS investigating … ermm…gollywogs.
next time you are wondering why you havent seen a bobby on the beat in years, theres your answer.
Hurting people’s feelings is not a crime, is it?
Archduke
I saw the interveiw on BBCs Hard talk.
Pity we did not see JM doing more of that sort of thing in power. We might not be in the mess we are now.
However the responsibility can not be put just on him or the Tory party. As he correctly implied. After 18 years of BBC and socialist Tory bashing this was almost inevitable. The British people got spoiled, not just Tories. The Tory party especialy Thatcher never did like or trust the BBC. It is a testimant to the liberal leanings of conservatives that they could not or did not, shut the BBC up compleatly, when in power.
If the Bias of the BBC is so obvious now this is simply because we have had a Labour goverment in for so long. The Labour party is now the party of the establishment, and the BBC is the establishments propergander tool.
This is what makes the BBC now so dangerous. It has 3 times succeeded in having a direct influence on elections. This has never happened before.
The conservative party is what the Conservative Party is, not what you or me would like it to be. If you want them to do something, and they are the ONLY potential governing party that would, what you should do is this.
Get a membership it is only £15
Go to the meeting and tell the very very nice people there that you have come to ask for the help of the Conservative party to END the BBC for good.
An influx of new members with a goal, can, and in the end does have an influence on policy. You will find that their is vertualy no one present that does not have the same opinion as you do, about the BBC. But you will also find that the average age is over 40 and they have as much ability to organise a protest, as win a sprint relay.
So the protest will have to come from the Lazy and also very buzy British public. How this can happen I have no idear. However if Watt Tyler could manage it all those years ago, its got to be easier now with the internet.
Most if not all the great reform acts where passed by the Conservative party. However this only happend when their was genuine unrest in the country. The TOFFS and middle classes, get worried for their own survival.
Remember 1979, many now do not. Thatcher was only able to do anything, because we were in such a desperate situation. Protest against the Labour goverment had hit the streets. Rubbish was not getting collected, bodies not being buried, riots, the lott.
JM also made the point that Thatcher gave very few hints as to what her goverments policies were going to be, before being elected. Not much even afterwards. She knew then, that the BBC was not going to like any of them. She was never wrong, was she?
Labour has courted the Muslim vote – especially in constituencies like jack Straw’s. They will continue to do so. The Tories probably get nil Muslim votes or as near as dammit – so why don’t they delineate themselves by making some Tebbit-like statements on how essential it is for the Muslim community to sort itself out. And a few slaps at all the BBC multi-culti nonsense. The quiescent Hindu and Sikh communities in the UK must be pissed off with all the appeasement of Islamists – they have votes too. They see and hear it every day on the BBC – they must be more sick than most about it.
“Shape up or ship out” is a good theme. Plus stringent immigration controls on further influxes. Our policy should match that of Australia – WE get to choose who comes here. And who stays.
archduke next time you are wondering why you havent seen a bobby on the beat in years, theres your answer.
& of course this misapplication of funds & effort applies to those friends of the BBC & liberals – the charidees – or more accurately pressure groups.
THE American Red Cross has come under fire over payments to publicists who recruited stars to add lustre to its image, even as funds ran short for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2069970,00.html
Charities are more & more getting away from the purpose that donors expect. e.g.
Christian Aid devotes much time & effort in castigating Bush’n’Blair.
Cancer Research etc were the major lobbists seeking the ban on smoking in public places. That’s easy “research”, don’t need no science degree for that.
& of course every public utterence by these charities involves a BBC studio visit.
One more point that deserves serious consideration
The Tory party has a very long tradition of stabbing in the back any leader that is not popular with the grandees or the public. Dumping their leader is the way the Conservative party does things. Nazi type socialist Labour parties can not do this, and hope to retain power. At least they have not done it so far.
dumbcisco + gary -> you both raise very good points about the conservative party.
indeed , as dumbcisco points out, one would think that the naturally entrepenurial Hindu community would be a natural Tory heartland.
there’s a disconnect there – for , like the Irish, that immigrant Hindu community votes conservative back home.
it was mentioned earlier that maybe whats needed is a PROGRESSIVE conservative party, rather than the reactionary one that Gary wrote about earlier.
Cameron is good start in that directon , in my view. Give him time is what I say.
Speaking for myself, the official name of the Tory party is “The Conservative and Unionist Party”. Being Irish, that just something that i cant quite bring myself to fully support wholeheartedly. sorry folks – history and all that.
if they drop the unionist bit – that would be progressive in my view.
as big a change as Labour dropping clause 4. the “unionist” bit smacks of Empire – and probably annoys the Hindus as well.
Dumbsisco
Fortuately for the conservative party this is not true. It may well be what the BBC would like you to think. There is a representative proportion of Muslim Members. They are more Thatcherite then most of the rest. Just as dismayed about what is happening here. Very concerned about the future of their businesses and families. Why should they not be? they are Human Beings too. The reason the Labour party like poor Muslims so much is that they can get them trapped easier in their poverty traps. Not because they have anything else in common.
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=332932006
THE BEST Headline yet…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4775700.stm
i think the govt have truly shown their colours to their OWN voters…
No Labour man or woman will be voting for any of that lot any more..especially if their leader cannot answer the following
Simple Question : Gordon doesnt have an Offshore account, do you or your wife or any members of your family?
Moreover, do you have or have you ever had access directly or indirectly to offshore money transfers?
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/03/05/dl0502.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/03/05/ixopinion.html
One thing did crop up, the latest PANTHER Armoured vehicle note ITALIAN MADE, to be supplied to the British Army over the Land Rover, has anyone bothered to check what relations this manufacturer have to this whole deal? Might be worth checking out…