Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts.
A Happy New Year to all our readers and commenters. It may take a while for posting to get up to speed – but here’s a new open thread before the old one bursts a seam.
Will Al Beeb extend a hand of friendship to ‘Al Qaeda TV’?
Or will Al Beeb explicitly criticise this TV station, more than say, ‘John Reith’ criticises this blogspot?
‘Al Qaeda TV’
http://frontpagemagazine.com
(‘Weekly Standard’) 4 Jan.
Here’s an exellent example of a sweeping statement from John Reith:
Most people in the BBC are contemptuously dismissive of this blog.
He adds:
The BBC employs around 25,000 people.
John Reith | 04.01.07 – 8:27 am
So John Reith is either personally acquainted with at least 12,501 BBC employees who have spoken to him of their contempt for this blog, or he has access to an in house BBC poll, the results of which indicate the contempt of the aforementioned 12,501, or he’s bullsh*tting.
And re the website, if there really are only 130 employees on it, the BBC should employ a few more – if only to instruct existing employees on what a headline actually is and how to write one, and to wean the editors off their addiction to stealth editing.
On the subject of headlines, take the one to the Katya Adler article linked to by Market Participant at 9:46 pm:
Sharon’s shadow looms over Israel
Aside from the obvious anti-Israel flavour to the headline, whoever wrote it evidently doesn’t understand that the word loom implies an impending threat. How is that applicable to the waning influence of a man in an irreversible coma?
John Reith is really going to have to do something about his headline writers. Their incompetence is making the BBC’s propaganda blatantly obvious. And we can’t have that.
Come on Pounce, Chuffer get it right:
“American Knife murders Muslim during Eid”
The BBC shovels loads of free publicity in the direction of a new movie based upon a right-wing shock-jock’s radio show.
Nah! Just kidding • a show with a fan base that is largely urban liberal and the scourge of many right-wingers. The BBC features a Q&A with the show’s host:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6229215.stm
Bryan:
You wouldn’t be referring to this sort of thing, would you?
BBC credibility ‘on line’ over shoddy journalism standards
“A significant number of BBC news reports are untrustworthy and littered with errors because the corporation’s journalists fail to check their facts, according to e-mails sent by one of the BBC’s most senior news managers. His messages reveal that the credibility of the news service is “on the line” because of a climate of sloppiness.
The internal memos, which have been obtained by The Telegraph, highlight concerns about the standard of journalism on local BBC television and radio, as well as on the BBC’s flagship News Online service. They suggest that the corporation is struggling to keep its promise to improve the standards of its news services following damning criticisms levelled against it by the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly.”
I suppose it’s possible you could be.
Davet wrote;
“Lep tanks were also sold to Australia ”
Lep 1 now replaced by the M1 tank silly me I’m wrong make that US has sold the M1 tank to 4 countries.
Canada also uses the Lep 1 tank and has just deployed a few to Afganistan.
Here’s a short guide on how to obfuscate clear cases of Islamist hate-mongering and treason, courtesy of al-BBCeera.
Following on from the BBC coverage of the Umran Javed trial, let’s look back to see how the Beeb reported the courtcase of one Mizanur Rahman back in November. This was an earlier ‘cartoon rage’ trial.
Cartoon protest man apologises
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6121960.stm
First, note the lack of the infamous BBC apostrophes around ‘apologises’. Now read the actual ‘apology’:
Mr Rahman said he did not “recognise” himself and apologised for his words.
He told the court: “I didn’t think about what I was saying or the consequences…”
“I feel almost ashamed. I feel the words didn’t make sense. I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously.”
“Almost ashamed”? What kind of apology is that?
At the same time, just like in the case of Umran Javed, the BBC didn’t report that these individuals were active members of al-Muhajiroun and other banned Islamic groups. This can be verified on BBC’s own website (maybe that’s why John Reith plays down its importance).
Here’s an example from 2003:
Al Muhajiroun spokesman Umran Javed said: “For us to air our views with regard to this issue, should in fact fall into the category freedom of speech.
“I don’t see how people should have a problem with it.
“We believe what these individuals carried out on September 11 was an extraordinary event.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3193137.stm
Here’s another one, buried deep in a Panorama transcript from 2001:
UMRAN JAVED
Al Muhajiroun
“For us Muslims living here in Britain, the military institutions within this country are legitimate targets.
Nevertheless, having said that, our role here as Muslims is one of support for those Muslims who are on the
receiving end in Afghanistan.”
INTERVIEWER: As British forces are now engaged in armed action, you’re saying that British bases and British
forces are legitimate targets now?
JAVED: “That isn’t something that is my opinion, it’s the verdict that Islam states quite clearly. If you’re at
war with a nation then obviously you’re fighting with the army of that particular country.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_14_10_01.txt
Instead, the BBC thinks it is more important to inform us that both Mr Rahman and Mr Javed are “married with a young child.” Both fine, upstanding members of the jihadi community, just like the BBC likes them.
Pounce,
Sorry if I’m too late for the ‘spot the tank competition’, but I’ve jumped straight to the end without reading all the other posts.
I think it might be American. Anyway, I’ve made a note of its flat hull, relatively short barrel and tapered rear turret.
Wikipedia has let me down. It doesn’t appear to be on the list of Cold War tanks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cold_War_tanks
To be honest, I’m a bit stumped.
Anyone notice how the letter ‘B’ appears in ‘BBC’ and ‘Blair’? The corportaion just seeps with bias.
Stop the world, I’d like to get off now please.
JBH writes:
“The internal memos, which have been obtained by The Telegraph, highlight concerns about the standard of journalism on local BBC television and radio, as well as on the BBC’s flagship News Online service.”
Ah! That would be the flagship News Online service which John Reith pathetically tried to suggest we focus too closely on, would it?
Shame I was busily earning my living earlier today. I would like to have mocked that idiotic gambit of his rather earlier.
Bob | 05.01.07 – 12:34 am
“Anyone notice how the letter ‘B’ appears in ‘BBC’ and ‘Blair’? The corportaion just seeps with bias.
Stop the world, I’d like to get off now please.”
‘B’ appears only once in ‘Blair’ but twice in ‘BBC’ and ‘Bob’. Do you work for the BBC, Bob? I hope not, John Reith will not be pleased about your spelling of ‘corportaion’.
Grimer wrote;
“Wikipedia has let me down. It doesn’t appear to be on the list of Cold War tanks:”
Please don’t take this the wrong way. But said tank is listed on that wiki link under MBT-70
In my defence, your photo cuts off the : back of the tank. I thought I was looking for a tank that would ‘show some air’ between the hull and the rear of the turret – a bit like this
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y179/grimerking/tank.jpg
Touche Nom de guerre.
Thats a fair point. My spelling is usually perfect but my standards seem to slip when posting here. I think it’s because no one else seems to bother. I guess that is the same thing that happens to people when they join the BBC. Only kidding!
Grimer sorry about the lack of air space. But I was going to use this picture;
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/5007/dsc01634qs6.jpg
But thought it would give too much away
Compare and contrast.
BBC: Iranians ‘up to no good’ in Iraq
Five Iranians arrested by US troops in Baghdad last month were on a covert mission to influence Iraq’s government, British officials have told the BBC.
The five men were senior intelligence officers “up to no good”, an unnamed official told the Newsnight programme…Officials told Newsnight the arrests produced highly important intelligence, but no “smoking gun” about weapons supplies or attacks on coalition forces.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6232735.stm
New York Sun: Iran’s Secret Plan For Mayhem
Iran is supporting both Sunni and Shiite terrorists in the Iraqi civil war, according to secret Iranian documents captured by Americans in Iraq.
The news that American forces had captured Iranians in Iraq was widely reported last month, but less well known is that the Iranians were carrying documents that offered Americans insight into Iranian activities in Iraq…Another American official who has seen the summaries of the reporting affiliated with the arrests said it comprised a “smoking gun.”
http://www.nysun.com/article/46032?page_no=1
They say ‘jump’ and the BBC says ‘how high?’
Don’t expect to see this covered anytime soon on the BBC.
U.S. death sentences drop to 30-year low
We all know how much the BBC loves victims. We all know how they love to give various human rights NGOs a free platform to champion their respective causes. We even see how zealously they report on the church-going habits of various couples in totally bizarre contexts (see pounce’s example above). So you would have thought that they would be all over International Christian Concern’s recent ‘Christian Persecution – Hall of Shame’ report. Right? Wrong! After all, it might open some people’s eyes to the true nature of the Religion of Peace™.
http://civoc.com/society/?p=108 – the introduction
http://www.persecution.org/suffering/pdfs/HallofShame2007.pdf – the actual report
Biodegradable | 05.01.07 – 1:59 am |
indeed
last year, IIRC, the bbc expended much ink on the fact that the usa had executed or were about to execute the 1000th person in – TWENTY-FIVE years.
meanwhile, again IIRC, during last year ALONE, china executed over 3,400 people, to minimal bbc comment
even allowing just for the difference in population, this ratio is staggering: approx 3400 per year (china) vs 40 per year (usa), or 85 to 1.
so tell me, somebody, anybody, why is it that 85 china executions merit far less concern than ONE execution in the usa?
on another note, why is it that that saddam’s execution, even if after a questionable-to-some trial, has merited far more negative comment, including from beeboids, than the hundreds of thousands whom that monster caused to be tortured and butchered and raped and worse?
to quote the words of one of those sharing in the bbc’s billions, “[such] people are mad”
I suspect that one of the reasons the BBC regard this place as a collection of mere green-ink nutters is the obsession commenters here have with the BBC News Website.
We’re “obsessed” because the anti-right wing, anti-Tory, anti-GOP, anti-Israel, anti-US bias of the BBC is so pervasive and easy to spot.
John Reith and the other pro-Beeboids who drop in here are unable to tip the scales with examples of pro-right wing, pro-Tory, pro-GOP, pro-Israel, pro-US bias. After all, if they’re truly unbiased shouldn’t there be equal numbers of examples on both sides?
Jeff Randall’s comment (sidebar) is spot on.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6232835.stm
The report follows Romania and Hungary’s recent entrance to the EU – though their citizens will only have limited access to UK jobs.
Sloppy • Hungary have been in since 2004.
Watch newssniffer for amendments.
Seems that a former
representative to the UN human rights committee(!) is about to go to the gallows:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6233009.stm
No doubt Jeremy Hardy disapproves as the guy was only in charge of Iraq’s Secret Police, not someone truly sinister like a ballerina.
amimissingsomething | 05.01.07 – 2:39 am:
You say, with respect to executions in the USA and China:
“so tell me, somebody, anybody, why is it that 85 china executions merit far less concern than ONE execution in the usa?”
Of course your question is rhetorical, and I wouldn’t want to tell you how to suck eggs, but for the benefit of casual visitors here’s the answer to your question:
Soft-brained groupthink BBC News & Current Affairs staff adopt their thinking on all the big issues from their bible, the leftist journalist-run Guardian. Like teenagers who never grew out of their rebelliousness towards their elders, The Guardian possesses an embittered hatred of conservatism and all it stands for.
This manifests itself especially in a seemingly irrational disdain of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, simply because it is they who did most to defeat their beloved ideology around the world. Since Tony Blair has acknowledged that they were right (privatisation, union reforms), he too has come to be vilified.
The adoption of American capitalism across the world merely embitters the travellers who infest The Guardian and BBC N&CA even more. Want to enrage a Guardianista or a Beeboid? Show them photos of MacDonald’s and KFC in Shanghai and Moscow.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, The Guardian’s and Beeb’s bitterness towards conservatives has got a whole lot worse, and it manifests itself in every way. Radical fascistic Muslims on a terror crusade against freedom and liberty? That’ll do nicely, comrade! Global warming? It’s the fault of George W. Bush! Hurricane Katrina? It was the federal government’s fault! Christianity? The refuge of nutters! WMD? We knew Saddam didn’t have any all along! (Let’s just hope no-one remembers this.)
And so, with conservatism on the back foot in the UK, and riding high in the States, it’s on America where the Beeb and Guardian now focus their guns – and they’ll use every propagandist ploy on offer to vent their animus.
There are few things more dangerous and given to evil than a frustrated defeated army that still retains lethal power in its own sphere of operation. History is littered with such examples, but one of the best to be documented is that of Oradour-sur-Glane, 10th June 1944. Embittered, distilled, spite. Pure and simple.
That’s the answer to your question.
O/T a bit.
From the looks of this piece it would seem that for most people in Iraq things may be getting better. There might even be the beginnings of a capitalist economy. Wonder if the BBC’s looked into it?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12262006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_boom_outside_baghdad_opedcolumnists_amir_taheri.htm?page=0
Rueful Red
Slowly but surely, life is getting better in Iraq, but this does not fit the BBC’s agenda.
Yes, it is still very dangerous, but you’d be amazed how life is progressing here.
Most violence is by Shia extremist groups, funded and trained by Iran. Or Al Quada jihadi’s coming in through Syria (after receiving training there)
Attack rates are the same now as before Saddam’s exacution. I have the exact intelligence report figures, but I cannot and will not divulge any futher info from that source.
None of the above suits the Beebs line, so it’s igorned or distorted.
The BBC are part of the problem here!
Tim, Al Mansur (red zone) Baghdad
You mean this might turn out not to have been “the biggest foreign policy disaster in 50 years”? Golly. I’d never have guessed from the BBC’s coverage. I thought they were going to have a civil war….
the biggest home policy disaster in 50 years, is the continuing public funding of the BBC!
Scientists “fear” their work may be halted.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6230945.stm
What “work” would that be?
Why, only “creation of hybrid human-animal embryos”. Probably 99 percent of people would want that sort of work to be halted, IMHO.
What planet is the BBC broadcasting from?
Jonathan Boyd Hunt | Homepage | 04.01.07 – 11:26 pm
Thanks for that rare example of introspection at the BBC. But evidently those internal e-mails didn’t help. The BBC is still staffed overwhelmingly by a lazy, ignorant bunch of indoctrinated propagandists.
As I write I’m listening to Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and the discussion concerns the Equal Opportunities Commission report on the apparent failure of women to reach the commanding heights of the economy and politics. The contributors (surprise surprise) are all tut-tutting about the wickedness of the establishment/business in not creating Equality Now!!. Guess what, there’s no dissenting voice: actually, forget about dissension, there’s no sceptical voice, there’s no voice which expresses even a scintilla of doubt about the report and that the EOC may be mistaken in its vision of an ever more “equal” outcome for whatever it happens to opine on. Of course not – this is the “impartial” BBC.
Ok help me here. Why is the fact that these people go to church (thus pointing out they are Christians) in the story. When numerous stories on the BBC don’t inform you of the faith of racist murderers in Scotland, Honour Killers in England or of terrorist plumbers in London then why does the BBC have to inform me these people are god fearing people?
The BBC and its hatred of the Church in the UK.
pounce | 04.01.07 – 8:44 pm | #
Pounce, as John Reith will tell you, it’ll just be “sloppy reporting”. All examples of “sloppy reporting” seem to paint England, America, Israel, Christians or white heterosexual males in a bad light, but it’s still just “sloppy reporting”. How many times do you need to be told: Move along, there’s nothing to see here.
Bryan
“So John Reith is either personally acquainted with at least 12,501 BBC employees who have spoken to him of their contempt for this blog, or he has access to an in house BBC poll, the results of which indicate the contempt of the aforementioned 12,501, or he’s bullsh*tting.”
Nah, he’s using the world-renowned Lancet method of extrapolation. Someone he knows who works as a gaffer for the BBC doesn’t think much of this website. A mutual friend also tells him that this gaffer doesn’t really like B-BBC. That actually means that 200% of the BBC are contemptuously dismissive of Biased BBC. Hope that explains.
JBH – would not be averse to a drink, though it would have to be wine as I’m off beer ’til the cricket season. Natalie, could you pass my details on at your leisure?
Nick Gowing excelling himself on BBC World a couple of nights ago. Firstly, giving referential treatment to terrorist apologist Fr Read and taking his blaming the Spanish Government for ETA´s terrorist outrage as an ex cathedra statment. Next A Saddam lawyer who didn´t express another outrage at the misconduct at his client´s funeral, he turned to a member of the Sunni ´Iraqi Islamic Party´in the studio and egged him on to give him some juicer morsels of outrage. Personally, I would love to see Her Majesty´s Government send British soldiers to kick down his studio doors and drag him by the neck screaming to the nearest prison cell. If I remember correctly, Nick Gowing was impartial. Wonder what happened to him, after promotion? It would have been difficult for him to have been more biased if he was getting paid wad loads of Arab oil money all of a sudden … (and last night he was acting with outrage that an Israeli spokesman didn´t accept that a ´peace process´ with the Palestinians meant Palestinian terrorists should be free to plan and launch atrocities against Israeli civilians with impunity … sheeesh!
Heron,
Silly me. I forgot about extrapolation. Looks like John Reith has painted himself into a corner here, inadvertently acknowledging BBC groupthink.
‘Airlines savaged over environment’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6233019.stm
Another righteous comrade has been denounced the evils of capitalism in today’s Pravda (sorry, Guardian). Of course, the BBC is right behind them.
A minister has launched an outspoken attack on the airline industry over its failure to tackle carbon emissions.
Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Environment Minister Ian Pearson said budget airline Ryanair was the “irresponsible face of capitalism”.
He singled out US airlines’ attitude to cutting emissions as “a disgrace”.
Let’s see. Environmental scaremongering? Check. Capitalism bad? Check. America bad? Check.
Stashed away at the very end of that report is the real reason why Ryanair has incurred the BBC’s wrath:
“It just so happens that Ryanair has the view that anything which looks or feels like a tax in any way is a tax and needs to be opposed.”
*that should be ‘denouncing’
BBC’s Russian language Service alleged to be infiltrated by ex-KGB and Communists
http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?article5286
( And the Pope is Catholic..)
Tim
Great to hear from you – Happy New Year!
Good to hear your upbeat comment about life in Iraq. Before John Reith gets going with the car bomb stats, how would YOU say life is getting better – what sort of evidence do you observe on the ground?
Keep posting!
Fran
Oh, BTW when you next try mulled wine, get some lemons, make deep cuts in them and squeeze them open a little before putting them into the wine as it warms. (I use 4 small ones to a litre of wine) to add to that sugar, cinnamon and whatever hooch is your tipple.
The lemons just take the edge off all that sugary, alcoholy, warming deliciousness!
A hopeful sign of the times:
Lecture by MICHAEL GOVE, MP
” Are We Seeing the Emergence of a
New Anti-Islamist Intelligensia?”
MONDAY, 22 January, 7 fo 7.30 pm,
Portcullis House, Westminster.
” The British intelligensia has
been characterised by its adherence to the doctrine of multiculturalism,
cultural relativism and internationalism.
” But as Western values face an onslaught from a hostile and increasingly emboldened Islam, and established political allegiances either fracture or make disturbing
new alliances, are we witnessing a major new intellectual shift?
” Some of the foremost literary figures of our time – Martin Amis,
Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie – have
spoken about the threat which Islam
poses to Western culture.”
Read it all at:
http://newcultureforum.blogsspot.com/
Apologies. Corrected reference to above:
http://newcultureforum.blogspot.com/
re my earlier post at 2:39 am
having mentioned the population difference, i promptly neglected to allow for it
which reduces the ratio to approx 20 to 1 – noteworthy at least, i suppose, but i imagine that is low enough to remain under the radar for the bbc
still suffering from too much eggnog.
Jonathan Boyd Hunt | Homepage | 05.01.07 – 9:10 am | #
thank you, jbh!
Gushing support for the BBC & for the indefinite continuation of the telly tax by Ms Jowell (or Mrs Mills).
She must be dismayed that she couldn’t get a bigger rise in the licence fee, as it seems that the country could only prosper more if we had a bigger BBC.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-2531939,00.html
Thanks Fran,
I get all the stats daily and you can read into them what you will:
Car bombings up here, rocket attacks down there, suicide attacks up there.
The Beeb will of course twist them for their own perverted means.
I don’t want to paint an overly rosey picture hear and today has been a very bad day for the city. Friday’s (Prayer day) is often bad, which is why a vehicle ban is imposed from 11am until 4pm.
Today I’ve not been out, but have heard sirens constantly throughout the day and several explosions locally. Our locals have said that 7 mosques have been attacked in Baghdad today. (this is of course hearsay, but they are normally pretty acurate)
All in all, a bad day for the city, I did predict an upturn in violence after Eid and this looks like it (Not Saddam related)
Life will go on here and in a couple of days this spike in violence will subside.
I will post tomorrow on the progress that is being made in the country, but today I feel it would not be appropriate.
Tim your unbiased reporter in Baghdad.
In a world of bewildering choice and change, the public tell us they want a trusted guide that they can use as a benchmark to measure others against. This will be even more true over the next six years, as the nation converts to digital television. There is more need than ever for a trusted institution able to help people through the demands of new technologies. –Tessa Jowell
Translation: The government needs a centralised information service to reinforce its groupthink mentality among the proles.
amimissingsomething | 05.01.07 – 2:29 pm
Yes you are missing something. The importance of cultural affinity.
If my best friend • or my cousin – were to do something I didn’t approve of • join the BNP, say… ( to take a topical example), then it would certainly be talked about around the family dinner table.
But if some scruffy Herbert from the council estate were to join the BNP • I’d take one look at his in-bred father, take brief note of his harridan of a mother screeching expletives at her youngest at the supermarket checkout and conclude it was par for the course. I probably wouldn’t even mention the news to Lady Reith.
Just as I find the scruffy Herbert clan barbaric, we as a people find the Communist regime in China barbaric. We aren’t surprised when they kill people. That’s what we expect them to do. But our cousins and best friends are different.
That’s why crimes, executions, even road accidents in the US are often news, while the same events in other countries are not.
By the same token, if the Irish Taoisach were to drop dead tomorrow, it would be on the 10 O’Clock News. But if the Father of the Nation of Guinea-Bissau were to snuff it – it would most likely warrant a passing mention on World Service.
Does that mean we value Irish lives more than African lives?
No. But a death in the (extended )family counts in a different way than the death of a stranger.
That’s why crimes, executions, even road accidents in the US are often news, while the same events in other countries are not.
John Reith | 05.01.07 – 3:18 pm
But the BBC does not consider it news when U.S. death sentences drop to 30-year low
Why not?
John Reith | 05.01.07 – 3:18 pm
But if some scruffy Herbert from the council estate were to join the BNP • I’d take one look at his in-bred father, take brief note of his harridan of a mother screeching expletives at her youngest at the supermarket checkout and conclude it was par for the course.
Nasty example of what beeboids call stereotyping.
How the BBC sees the USA and executions:
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=all&edition=i&q=execution+US&go.x=0&go.y=0&go=go
Balanced?
No.
A Left wing agenda?
Yes.
I wouldn’t be so dismissive of the “scruffy Herberts from council estates” if I were you, John Reith. After all, they contribute to the salaries of your 25,000+ colleagues just like the rest of the Great British public. Talk about biting the hand that feeds.