First, an apology for absence. Some work took rather longer than I had anticipated and I had to drop the blogging for the week. Here are some emails and posts that caught my eye.
- A commenter writes simply “terrible article” and sends a link to this. It’s called “Israeli poll deepens Palestinian gloom.” I didn’t think much of it, either. Throughout the Palestinians are presented as seekers after peace cruelly thwarted by Mr Olmert and his new Kadima government. For instance,
The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, clearly suspects that genuine negotiations may not be on the Israeli agenda.
I call this technique Bias by Assumed Telepathy.
Of Hamas, the article says,
It considers not only the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza as occupied Palestinian territory – but the whole of Israel too.
Nearly there, BBC, and congrats for bringing yourselves to say that much. In fact if one goes to the Hamas Charter you can learn about the aims of Hamas as described by Hamas:
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.
I think it’s safe to presume that the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, subscribes to the Charter of his own organisation, belief in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and all. The BBC as usual did not see fit to mention this fundamental context when it quoted Mr Meshaal as saying that:
“The Zionist position,” he said, “be it that of Kadima or others, is one that buries the peace process, negates its existence and does not give it a chance.”
Incidentally, the linking headline for this story was “From Bad to Worse.”
- Here is a relatively new media bias blog, Newsround, dealing with the BBC children’s news programme of the same name. The masthead says,
BBC Newsround is biased and patronising and non-inclusive, particularly about lgbt issues and homophobia. For over two years I’ve made suggestions to try to get them to improve it, without any success so far.
I expect there are a range of opinions among both commenters and B-BBC posters on how or whether Newsround should treat these issues, but that variety of opinion is no obstacle to my adding Newsround to our links on the sidebar to the right.
- A few days ago someone emailed me thus:
The last few days in Denmark have been a bit of a media feeding frenzy regarding comments by one of the Danish imams who went on the tour of the middle east to whip up the cartoon furore. Caught on a secret camera suggesting bombing a moderate muslim politician who has formed a group of moderate muslims to distance themselves from the rabid imams and their followers, the imam first denied doing it then said it was a joke (having seen it on tv there’s a small smile on his face but no laughter and no criticism from any others).
You can read more on it here: Agora
Suffice it to say the BBC have totally ignored the story.
Since that email was written, the story has had a line or two from the BBC, here. A line or two. And the story was mentioned as having been covered by the Danish press in this European Press review.
Good sleuthing, will !
Remeber all the stuff about the use by Paul Reynolds of the Lancet death figures for iraq, which was taken up by The American Expat and covered at this blog.
The Lancet sample study had extrapolated to a huge possible range – 8,000 to 194,000 I think, from which people falsely “averaged” to 100,000, as well as being heavily skewed away from the “safer” areas of Kurdish and Basra/South Iraq.
I still think Mr Reynolds was wrong to refer to the Lancet 100,000 figure without qualification, at least mentioning that it had been sharply criticised.
RTE in Dublin go further. They refuse to use the Lancet figures altogether.
http://toirtap.blogspot.com/2006/04/rte-finds-lancet-unreliable.html
Maybe the BBC should be asked why they use without qualification/caveat a study that RTE spurns totally.
(Another sign of better numeracy across the Irish Sea ?)
A real test for the BBC will be if/how they report this case when it comes to trial:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=501212006
THREE men accused of murdering schoolboy Kriss Donald, 15, by stabbing him and setting him on fire almost two years ago appeared at the High Court in Glasgow for the second time yesterday. Imran Shahid, 29, Mohammed Mushtaq, 27, and Zeeshan Shahid, 28, deny murder.
The case was adjourned and the next hearing was set for 2 May.
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 03/04/2006)
Hamas yesterday faced its toughest internal challenge since being swept unexpectedly to power in the Palestinian territories when rival militant groups in Gaza took part in a series of clashes that left four dead and dozens wounded.
Clashes were sparked by the murder of Abu Yussef al-Gouga
Said Siam, the newly appointed Hamas interior minister, appealed for calm and warned that his government would clamp down heavily on armed groups who used their weapons against each other rather than in the struggle against Israel.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/03/wmid03.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/03/ixworld.html
While the BBC concentrates on this stuff:
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East BBC News provides trusted World and UK news·
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Hamas chief killed in air strike
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Hamas faces future without Yassin
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Many dead in Baghdad mosque raid
It appears that “local communities” are refusing to come forward to help the police with the enquiries into the London bombings :
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060404/ts_nm/security_britain_dc
Bet the BBC does not report this.
By Barry Rubin
Hamas’ Haniyeh: a hardliner presiding over a hardline cabinet
There’s good news at last about Palestinian politics! Hamas has not appointed any suicide bombers to its Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet. Of course, the joke is that the only reason is that they are dead.
http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2006/31-4/hamas31-4.htm
That’s what a 100% casualty rate does for you.
James Biga
“Palestinian” Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar: “I dream of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it.” “This dream will become real one day. I’m certain of this because there is no place for the state of Israel on this land.” Are you listening Israel? Are you listening United States? Are you listening United Nations?
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/jbiga_20060404.html
I will add Are you listening BBC?
Here is a full riposte to the BBC’s line that conservative thinkers in the US are all at odds over Iraq – it points out that there is only a small group of dissenters, and then demolishes their arguments :
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008182
SECURITY ALERT!! READ THIS!!
BBC Being Used to Exploit IE flaw
Techtree News Staff Email Print
Apr 3, 2006
The BBC News website, “bbc.co.uk,” has been made the centre of a scam by hackers looking to exploit the flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE).
The modus operandi is that computer users receive spam e-mails from hackers containing the abstract of a BBC news story. When they click on the link, “Read More,” they are directed to a forged copy of BBC’s Web site wherein keylogging software designed to capture financial information then attempts to exploit the Microsoft IE vulnerability.
This software is designed such that it monitors activity on various financial Web sites, and transmits the data back to the hacker.
http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=72313&cat_id=582
O/T but good god is this true:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=381799&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments
The British police are no longer going to arrest child molesters, burglars and arsonists because there is no prison space?
The BBC News website, “bbc.co.uk,” has been made the centre of a scam by hackers looking to exploit the flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE).
Is the BBC issuing a warning?
The British police are no longer going to arrest child molesters, burglars and arsonists because there is no prison space?
Blame the Victorians Susan, the crime rate wasn’t high enough then to justify building any more and so we, their descendants are stuck with the infrastructure they bequeathed us……………like so much else – railways, sewers, houses, hospitals – if the Victorians hadn’t built them, we wouldn’t have them !
Susan,
This one is standing idle
HM Prison Maze (known colloqually as The H Blocks, Long Kesh or The Maze) is a disused prison sited at the former RAF station at Long Kesh
The prison was closed in 2000.
A monitoring group was set up on 14th January 2003 to debate the future of the 360 acre site. With close motorway and rail links, there are many proposals including a museum; a multi-purpose sports stadium and an office, hotel and leisure village.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4663512.stm
looking to exploit the flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE).
THE flaw ?????????????? !!!!!!!!!!!!
Try looking at http://secunia.com/product/11/
as of June 2005, there were between 20 and 27 such vulnerabilities reported in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP SP2, and 146 in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows 2000 SP4. As of 14 March 2006, Secunia reports 93 vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, 23 of which are unpatched [14]. In contrast, Mozilla Firefox, the main competitor to Internet Explorer, reports only 27 security patches, of which 2 remain unpatched [15]. Opera, another competitor to Internet Explorer, has 13 vulnerabilities and none of them remain unpatched. [16]
Source: Wiki
This is also severely insane:
http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16901781&method=full&siteid=50020&headline=london-bombers-not-terrorists—professor–name_page.html
The 7/7 bombings were “just” an extreme form of a Muslim protest demonstration?
Is there something in you guys’ water that’s causing this stuff? I keep thinking about that experiment gone wrong in 28 Days Later where nearly everyone in the UK was turned into a monster raving looney. . .
Susan
Weren’t the Yorkshire bombers involved in “youth work” – the sort of course this nutty prof is teaching at “Chester University” ?
Just heard a BBC Newsnight presenter asking an interviewee why the Northern Ireland Police didn’t have the ability to prevent the killing of the British spy who was killed today in County Donegal. The interviewee, Ian Paisley Junior was polite enough to sidestep this gaffe and carry on with his points.
The BBC expects us to believe it is a news source of world renown. On its major TV current affairs programme broadcast in the UK it is unable to distinguish what happens in the UK and what happens outside it. Maybe it is the unique way it is funded that causes this mess.
dumbcisco -> Mozam Beg was involved in a similar thing – he wanted to set up a girls school in Afghanistan. “youth work”.
nice cover story – it gets the Marrs of this world all going “coo coo – there’s a lovely Islamist… coo coo, arent you just lovely”
I must be severely depraved because I laughed when I read that Cheshire Online piece.
“LONDON’S suicide bombings were not the acts of terrorists but just an extreme Muslim demonstration, a Chester professor has claimed.
“The attacks that killed 52 people and threw the country into shock last July were part of a long history of demonstrations sparked by British Muslims, according to Professor Ron Geaves.”
Indeed, Ron. And 911 was just a practical joke that went wrong.
Susan
The comments on the article you posted show what most folk here feel – seething anger. But that line will not be reflected by the BBC, if they ever get round to reporting the story.
“Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime …..” was Blair’s catchphrase before 1997. Fraud.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=381799&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments
“Prof Geaves is also pioneering the UK’s first ever Muslim Youth Work degree programme.”
hundreds of years of sectarianism in Northern Ireland, and still these idiots never learn.
“From next year, Muslim students can gain professional youth work credentials at the only course of its kind.
It is thought that the course, to be based in Warrington and run through the University of Chester, will be copied by academic institutions elsewhere in the country as a measure to engage young British Muslims.”
wonderful. in order to combat Muslim disassociation from mainstream society, lets make them even more segregated by creating “Muslim only” degree programs.
Substitute the word “black” or “Catholic” for “Muslim” and that’ll give you an idea about how seriously stupid, and downright dangerous this really is.
my only hope is that some bright spark takes them to the European court of human rights for sectarian discrimination.
Isn’t Chester where Lewis Carroll had his house?
Perhaps they’ve taken on the Red Queen, the Doremouse and the Mad Hatter as role models?
“Off with their heads!” — oops, no need to give the future “youth workers” any ideas.
dumbcisco -> my local council in its latest glossy magazine, mentions a 19 year old thug who has been involved in crime locally since the age of 13.
it literally BOASTS that this scumbag is doing community service, because its saving the tax payer £50,000 per year, because he isnt in prison.
when it gets to that stage, you know that something is seriously wrong. personally speaking i couldnt give a flying fuck if it cost a million a year to lock up a scumbag. get them off the streets – thats the lesson of New York City’s “zero tolerance”. it works. end of story.
I shouldn’t be too smug about the US. A few months ago a black professor at some East Cost US university opined that all white people in the US should be exterminated. MSM ignored the story, the “professor” is still on staff AFAIK. The insanity of multi-culturalism on full display in both cases.
Multiculturalism seems to have crossed the line at some point from just being a “let’s hate white people” cult to the next logical step. . .
welcome back archduke, that coo coo islamist thing that Andrew Marx does made me laugh, thanks.
“A glass marble was found lodged in Damilola’s mouth during a post mortem examination but the fact was only made public in June last year when a newspaper ran the story.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/engla…and/ 1855722.stm ”
The reason being is that the BBC wanted Damilola’s death to be another racially motivated murder, like Stephen Lawrence, and were obviously dissapointed that it didn’t turn out to be so. I was living in Peckham at the time and remember the Grundian and the Beeb’s sick early spinning of this tragic case!
Sw: Who says the murder wasn’t racially motivated? Look at what’s happening in Darfur. Non-black Muslims hate black people, they consider them subhuman. A couple of years ago (in my home-town) a young black woman was attacked by several Turks who shouted racial abuse at her. Maybe that’s the reason behind Damilola’s murder. But when muslims kill a black child that’s no racism as far as the Beeb are concerned. We all know how outraged they would have been had the killer been white. They were trying to paint it as a “racist crime” but as soon as it turned out the suspects were muslim the Beeb dropped the “racist” from the headlines.
Africa is tribal, this is never mentioned on BBC News.
Sierra Leone has 31 tribes. The first question an African will ask you when meeting you for the first time is, “What tribe do you belong to?”
Time to be getting on with building the conflict transformation centre.
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba84/feat1.shtml
By far the most controversial element is the International Centre for Conflict Transformation (ICCT), earmarked to cover 15 acres (6ha), with the only retained elements. These would be an H Block, administration building, hospital building and chapel alongside a Nissen hut (transported from its original location), a section of perimeter wall, a watch tower and second world war remains.
“Sw: Who says the murder wasn’t racially motivated?”
When I was living in Peckham at the time there was obvious animosity between the Jamiacian and recently arrived African communities. Which again, the Beeb and the left-wing press didn’t even bother to pick up on.
I was, however, speaking from the BBC’s notion of “racism”, which they only believe seems to go one way. Personaly speaking I think there was some sort of ethnic element involved in the Damilola case. That was the opinion of a lot of people living in the area. But the Grundian and Beeb were clearly dissapointed that they couldn’t manipulate it into a white guilt-trip/bash the police exercise, so they lost interest.
Sw
That is also because the BBC is too lazy to do real reporting, real investigative stuff.
I thought Damilola’s killers were of the unmentionable ethnic background that starts with “M”?
Its as if the BBC have a list of whos life they feel is most valiable.
I shall leave it to you to imagine who is close to bottom. I can say for sure that a BBC presenter is very close to the TOP.
We are all becoming worthless people stuck in a worthless country. Already our property, only has value to an insurence company.
On top of this the socialists just cant wait another 100 years for globle warming/freezing to finally finish this place off.
Much quicker to just give the Iranians a Trident sub and show then where to point it.
.