Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:


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324 Responses to Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

  1. alan g says:

    Seen tonight on BBC World – adverts for:

    Shell
    Vattenfall (Swedish energy company)
    Lexus
    Turkish Ministry of Tourism

    Remember boys and girls, no advertising on the BBC!

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  2. pounce says:

    The BBC, their Guantanamo three and half a story;

    The US military says it has prepared fresh charges against three terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay. The three men – an Australian, a Canadian and a Yemeni – face charges including murder, conspiracy and material support for terrorism. The move is the first step towards trials by new military commissions set up by the Bush administration. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that the previous system of tribunals was unlawful.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6326767.stm

    David Hicks is the only Australian held at Guantanamo
    Silly me, and there I was thinking he was British. Well according to the BBC he is.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4524256.stm

    Mr Hicks was detained in Afghanistan in 2001 on suspicion of fighting for al-Qaeda and later transferred to the US detention camp in Cuba. The charges prepared against him are providing material support for terrorism and attempted murder in violation of the law of war. The lawyer also said that there was no evidence that Mr Hicks had shot at anyone in Afghanistan.
    Yeah right. And I suppose while he was in Kashmir and Kosovo he didn’t either

    Salim Hamdan has been accused by the prosecution of acting as Osama bin Laden’s driver in Afghanistan and of transporting weapons for al-Qaeda
    And the BBC leaves out the part about him being OBL bodyguard?

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  3. pounce says:

    Omar Khadr – who was captured in Afghanistan in 2004 – faces charges of murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, spying, conspiracy and also providing material support for terrorism.

    Ah the Khadr family. In a nutshell. Immigrants to Canada. (The children were born there) Father got arrested in Pakistan after the Egyptian embassy got blown up there.
    Pleaded innocence, Canadian government got him released. Said thank you by burning Canadian passports and upping family to Afghanistan and working for OBL. After getting himself killed his family returned to Canada playing “we are Canadian citizens” card. Cause huge uproar by demanding medical treatment for son injured by playing with American marines.
    Here is the full terrorist family background;
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/khadr/family/

    Funny how the BBC kind of left it out.

    The BBC, their Guantanamo three and half a story;

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  4. pounce says:

    The BBC, its love of the ‘H’ word and half a story.
    I noticed this story at the time. But needed to gather a little more info;

    Clashes leave Gaza truce in ruins
    Clashes in Gaza between forces loyal to two rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have continued throughout the night – despite a declared truce.
    ……………………………..
    Fatah-linked forces, who earlier stormed a university seen as a Hamas bastion, have laid siege to the interior ministry run by Hamas…The assault on the Islamic University in Gaza City began late on Thursday. Its aim was apparently to search for weapons.
    And
    On Thursday, six people died when Hamas militants hijacked a convoy delivering supplies to the Fatah-allied security forces…Earlier on Thursday, gun battles erupted in the centre of the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked and captured a lorry it said was carrying weapons to the presidential guard, brought in from Israel.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6321411.stm

    So according to the BBC Fatah was attempting to find weapons while Hamas did find them…

    Which is strange as they omitted this little snippet which has been working its way round the non BBC news briefs.

    Weapons stockpile found
    By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
    GAZA — Seven Iranian weapons experts were arrested in Gaza City during a raid on a Hamas stronghold by Palestinian security forces affiliated with Fatah. The weapons experts, including an Iranian Army general, were arrested Thursday night at Islamic University, the Jerusalem Post reported Friday….
    The soldiers also found 1,400 Kalashnikov rifles, rockets and several RPG and LAU missiles at the compound.
    http://wpherald.com/articles/3271/1/Seven-Iranians-including-general-arrested-in-Gaza-raid/Weapons-stockpile-found.html

    Even AFP mentions a weapons find;
    Several armed men were arrested and weapons and explosives were confiscated following a search of the campus, the source said. The presidential guard decided to move in after Hamas militants there fired mortar shells and rocket propelled grenades at the offices of the Palestinian presidency in Gaza City.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070202/wl_afp/mideastpalestinianconflictgaza_070202031546

    AP even has a photo of mentioned Arms haul from the Islamic University;
    http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/080601mideast/im:/070202/481/lon10802021939;_ylt=AshE6GEytlfCiyN6iuH4rLRgWscF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3dmhrOGVvBHNlYwNzc20-

    Now I wonder why the BBC kind of omits from the story line an actual weapons find by Fatah made on Hamas. Yet they are more than happy to shout out how a truck load of tents from Eygpt was full of weapons from Israel. (Err BBC CAIR to publish the photos as I can’t find any?)

    Yup,
    The BBC, its love of the ‘H’ word and half a story.

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  5. Jon says:

    The semantics of climate change
    By Richard Black
    Environment correspondent, BBC News

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6324357.stm

    Read this if you can.

    He says in a nutshell that politicians use different words when talking about reducing carbon emissions than scientists.

    He then goes on to say that the US energy secretary at a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which included businesses put out a statement that they wanted to cut greenhouse emissions through cleaner technology.

    He then says

    “That is it. No really, it is. I went back and checked my recording. This is the exact quote: “I believe that the people who run the private sector, who run these companies: they too have children, they too have grandchildren, they too live and breathe in the world. And they would like things dealt with effectively.”
    Call me cynical if you will, but my first thought was, so you mean, what, corporations like Enron? Or Arthur Andersen? Or WorldCom? ”

    “Cynical” no I’d call you an idiot.

    • he then rabbits on about David Milliband and himself in some third world country..

    “When a scientist talks about ‘reducing greenhouse gas emissions’ … he or she means just that; actually reducing them. But what it is coming to mean in the political lexicon is something very different; The meeting in Sydney made that abundantly clear.”

    So the upshot is that he thinks that business (he says politicians but it is obvious who he is targeting) mean something different when talking about reducing emissions than what scientists mean.

    I think what he is really getting at, though it is not clear, is that when scientists say they want to “reduce emissions” they really mean “cutting emissions” and when business say “reducing emissions” they mean “reducing emissions.”

    It’s a really stupid piece of clap trap. And gives him a chance to praise Milliband and attack the US and Business in one fell swoop.

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  6. Biodegradable says:

    Bowen to be given his marching orders?

    One can but hope, but I’m not holding my breath:
    http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2007/02/editor_ouster_i.html

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  7. dave t says:

    Meanwhile the Mail and other press organs are claiming that the Chief Constable responsible for Brum is tearing his hair out as government spinners are playing up the alleged beheading plot for all they are worth; including telling everyone what is going on whilst the police were actually in pursuit of one of the suspects and trying to keep the operation secret! It is believed that this mega story is being pushed hard by No 10 to topple Blair’s second interview with the Police and the other bad news off the front pages…. how unusual. And how interesting that the Beeb doesn’t pick up on they way they are being used….

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  8. Jon says:

    “Environmental activists have defaced a photo exhibition sponsored by oil giant Shell at the Natural History Museum.”

    http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6328049.stm

    Shouldn’t that be “vandals”. This was carried out by members of Camp for Climate Action – the BBC does not say if anyone was arrested but to be helpful to all other “activists” who might like to join they give a link to Camp for Climate Action web site.

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  9. Jon says:

    Interesting piece on climate change here.

    “Chaotic world of climate truth”

    http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6115644.stm

    But notice the piece says:

    “Some recent examples of the catastrophists include Tony Blair, who a few weeks back warned in an open letter to EU head of states: “We have a window of only 10-15 years to take the steps we need to avoid crossing a catastrophic tipping point.”

    The picture shows David Cameron – funny that.

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  10. will says:

    Nigel Farndale writing in the Telegraph

    Frankly, I couldn’t care less what the friends and relatives of these suspects think. I will if the suspects are released without charge. If. Right now I’d rather know what the police think. And I’d be quite intrigued to know the reaction of Birmingham’s non-Muslims to these arrests, too. You won’t find out from watching the BBC because its reporters dare not ask them. That would be insensitive. But the BBC is happy enough to leave its viewers with the impression that the police have made a terrible mistake in arresting these nine suspects.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/02/04/do0407.xml

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  11. max says:

    There isn’t a place in the world safe from Cultural Marxism Corporation(tm) these days.
    It’s grotesque.
    http://rwdb.blogspot.com/2007/02/grotesque-race-riot-features-chanters.html

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  12. Bryan says:

    Biodegradable | 04.02.07 – 12:43 am

    Interesting, but I’m afraid the complaint will have the reverse effect since the BBC is notorious for dismissing complaints about its “journalists”.

    It will certainly dig its heels in and stand by Bowen, no matter how biased he is proven to be.

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  13. Anat says:

    I don’t know about you, folks, but I find myself watching television much less than before. I get news entirely online, and also for films etc there are increasingly alternative possibilities.
    So how long before license fee boycot becomes feasible?
    Privatise the BBC.

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  14. Bryan says:

    I haven’t had TV for years.

    I read that the BBC is gearing up to extend the license fee to online content. I don’t know if they can, but I suppose with Big Brother (not the TV version) anything is possible.

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  15. Alan says:

    “Security forces foil plot every 6 weeks” (‘S.Telegraph’, 4 Feb.)
    (We’re talking “Islamist terror plots”, of course, in the UK.)

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk
    (go to ‘News’)
    I don’t know if this is ‘newsworthy’ enough for Al Beeb.

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  16. DG says:

    http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/8577/bbc1mt9.jpg

    The above link is to a screenshot of a BBC Football webpage. Please do not view the image if you are offended by four-letter swear words.

    Sport isn’t covered on B-BBC very often but, certainly in Scotland, the most frequent examples of BBC Bias are in this area, nearly all aimed at Rangers FC (the above being just the latest example).

    The article concerns the recent transfer of Kevin Thomson from Hibernian to Rangers, and displays a picture of Thomson in his first outing for his new club. The issue is that the image’s filename contains his first and last names with a choice obscenity in between (which I doubt will be found on his birth certificate).

    The obscenity was on the filename on that page for about 12 hours before being changed, but the original filepath is still valid!

    Despite hundreds of complaints, no apology has so far been issued or disciplinary action confirmed.

    The BBC in Scotland has a history of rank indiscipline as far as Rangers are concerned. Not only are they ultra-sensitive to the actions of Rangers and their (considered un-PC) supporters, they have consistently used the airwaves and website as a platform for snide digs and outright insults poorly disguised as humour.

    I could also discuss the travesty of their many undertalented sports reporters setting themselves up as social commentators, but that’s for another post…

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  17. archonix says:

    The three men – an Australian, a Canadian and a Yemeni

    Sounds like a bit of a joke to me. And that’s just the coverage…

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  18. Jon says:

    Just caught a snippet from the Politics Show. Obviously its all about the arrests in Birmingham and how politicians are tarring the “muslim community” in Britain – and who is the “moderate muslim” they are interviewing – no less than the Respect councillor who appeared at the Clash of Civilizations, Ken Livingstones side kick.

    If I remember rightly there was a piece on Radio 5 Live on Friday saying that Police and the Council had about 140 people who raided houses in 2 streets in Liverpool to target the anti-social behaviour there. As far as I can tell there were no leaflets distributed to “moderate citizens” in the street, no big headlines in the papers and no one interviewed any of the tenants about their reaction.

    If the BBC did not keep portraying the “muslim community” as victims and asking their opinion on everything they might just think it would be better to integrate into society. The BBC make me sick.

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  19. GCooper says:

    Jon writes:

    “If the BBC did not keep portraying the “muslim community” as victims and asking their opinion on everything they might just think it would be better to integrate into society.”

    The droolingly sycophantic coverage of ‘Moslem unease’ over the Birmingham raids has, undoubtedly, achieved two things.

    It has furher alienated the majority of the population from the BBC and it has intensified that deeply unpleasant mixture of self-pity and aggression which has become all too common when anyone in the UK dares confront Islamic terrorism.

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  20. Jon says:

    The BBC in their fawning over the “muslim community” is having a deep impact on society – they not only turn people away from the BBC as GCooper states but they also alienate the majority population – this can only lead to further alienation of the “muslim community” – its a vicious circle.

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  21. Alan says:

    In contrast, Fox News is showing documentary on ‘Radical Islam’ at 9 pm (UK time) TONIGHT, ( Sky channel 510).

    I trust Al Beeb and MSM will be monitoring it.

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  22. disillusioned_german says:

    It was on last night, Alan. I guess tonight’s showing is the first repeat. Pretty interesting stuff and most of it comes from the “horse’s mouth”… At the end E.D. Hill is talking to a “moderate” US (based) imam who isn’t quite as moderate as one might have thought (surprise?).

    The report features Steve Emerson, Walid Shoebat, Mark Ginsburg, Whalid Phares, Brigitte Gabriel and Wafa Sultan.

    It’s already on YouTube (in six parts): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKt7J1U1Cs8

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  23. george whyte says:

    Three women have been raped. In all three cases the BBC have reported that: “In each case, the women were wearing skirts, police said.” Why do we need to know that? Should women stop wearing skirts? A description of the rapist is helpful but to tell us the women were wearing skirts – very strange, I think. Are we supposed to differentiate now between women who wear skirts and women who wear burkas? Any clarification would most welcome.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6327469.stm

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  24. very rarely post says:

    George Whyte, the police are on a “blame the victim” campaign. No doubt you’ve seen the adverts blaming the victims of theft for the acts of criminals. This is just more of the same.

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  25. Alan says:

    The story (discussed on this site yesterday) of the vicious, unfair sacking by SLOUGH Council of supply teacher, was carried by BBC. The original headline:”Teacher sacked over Race row”, has now been stealth-changed (slightly) to “Teacher sacked over Religion row”. Protests to Slough Council.

    The story had been taken up by Jihadwatch., under: “UK: Teacher fired for saying most suicide bombers are Muslims”. (4 Feb.).Report and good blog on it at:
    http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/

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  26. FTP says:

    The Fox News “Radical Islam” is actually Obsession. I imagine most of us have already seen that.

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  27. Umbongo says:

    Was it only 72 hours ago that David Shukman (BBC Environment and Science Correspondent) told us that the climate change debate is all over? After all 2,500 scientists funded by 100+ governments took a vote and voted in favour of . . er . . government action. So the debate must be over! Oddly, I cannot find on the BBC web any reference to this analysis of the summary of the UN Report (Shukman failed to tell us that what was released is a partial summary of the full report which is still in the process of finalisation and amendment!) The analysis is Christopher Monckton’s follow-up to his disembowelling of the Stern Report. Monckton is a distinguished and authoritative commentator on the anthropogenic causes of climate change. He does not toe the party line beloved of NuLabour, BluLabour and the BBC. Surprisingly the BBC seems to prefer giving endless virtually unchallenged publicity to self-publicists like Monbiot whose views and policy recommendations are as predictable as they are fatuous

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  28. Fabio P.Barbieri says:

    Umbongo – I regard myself as fairly centre-left (except where my Catholic faith is threatened), but even when I occasionally read The Guardian long ago, I quickly ceased to pay any attention to George Monbiot. His by-line on any article was a guarantee of one-sidedness, paranoia and shallowness. I really cannot imagine that any sensible person would treat him as an authority. Some extremists (Noam Chomsky, for instance) can be read for perverseness and the occasional insight, but Monbiot does not even have that. He is both extreme and boring – the kiss of death.

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  29. Umbongo says:

    FPB

    “He is both extreme and boring – the kiss of death”, is heard incessantly on the BBC – rather like Billy Bragg – and is the muse on all things ecological of the leader of the “Conservative” Party.

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  30. crossbow says:

    The BBC could be relied on to greet the recent UN report on “climate change” with grunting approval.
    Higher taxes, greater state control, further restrictions on private travel and expenditure — with allowances to be made in the case of certain public-sector organizations — what more could any of the BBC corporate-comrades ask for ?
    The fact that “climate change” has gone on for millions of years is no reason for the BBC to miss this golden opportunity to get their collective snouts further into the public trough — while telling the rest of the public that they must be prepared for a period of regrettable financial stringency.

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  31. Mike says:

    Hi All:

    While the whole media are psychologically killing Jade, Danielle and O’mera without giving any room for explanation.. here’s the most shocking news for SHLIPA LOVERS:

    Shilpa shetty and a TV presenter were seen laughing hysterically at an Indian actor playing the ‘coon’ in full blackface, including red lips and a fuzzy wig. The programme was a Shilpa Shetty special on India’s ETC Music.

    Check this for more details:

    http://blackbritain.co.uk/columnists/details.aspx?i=2144318291&c=Race&h=Don%e2%80%99t+shed+tears+for+high+caste+Shilpa+Shetty+as+Afrikans+and+untouchables+are+the+real+victims+of+racism

    However media (and especially BBC ) will ignore this RACIST thing.

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  32. Jon says:

    “Raids target ‘immigration abuse'”

    “Police have arrested 70 men in an operation targeting abuses of the immigration system.”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6326517.stm

    At the bottom of the page the BBC have included this:

    “Have you been affected by this story? If you have any information you would like to share with the BBC you can do so using the form below.”

    The BBC obviously looking for more “victims” to speak out against heavy handed police tactics

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  33. archduke says:

    “I don’t know about you, folks, but I find myself watching television much less than before. I get news entirely online, and also for films etc there are increasingly alternative possibilities.
    So how long before license fee boycot becomes feasible?
    Privatise the BBC.
    Anat | 04.02.07 – 7:43 am”

    same hear anat. same hear. and its not only television – i’m listening to less and less radio as well, thanks to podcasts.

    http://www.digg.com/podcasts

    i basically pick and choose what audio i want to listen to. there’s so much of the stuff available that i can quite easily fill up on audio for the entire week.

    the tech for playback is starting to appear in car hifi units – with slots for sd cards/usb and ipod:

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_238019_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_31445_crumb_31265-31371_parentcategoryrn_31445
    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&mpe_id=12551&jspStoreDir=HalfordsConsumerDirect&intv_id=17034&partNumber=312389&evtype=CpgnClick&langId=-1&catalogId=10151&ddkey=ClickInfo

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  34. joe bonanno says:

    I admit that I am very sceptical on this despite all the “overwhelming” evidence from the IPCC
    —————————————————————————————————————–

    As I’ve said before, oh for a proper debate on this.

    I mean let’s face it is something called The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ever ever likely to come up with a conclusion that the climate isn’t changing?

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  35. Anonymous says:

    “In due course, and perhaps even early course, children will be encouraged to rat their parents out to the authorities for ‘unGreen’ behaviour. Such is the pattern for the legitimisation of ruling class ideologies;indoctrinate the young and persuade them of the need to meekly accept poverty, austerity and political control for the sake of ‘saving the planet’.

    ‘Global warming’ does indeed present a grave threat; as a tool of political power it is a threat to freedom, prosperity, trade, progress and all the health, wealth and happiness that those things make possible and if anyone has been inclined to regard the whole ‘climate change’ nostrum as a joke, then I humbly suggest that this is a mistake. Our masters are clearly taking it very seriously indeed and we have a momentous battle on our hands if we intend to stop them from going down the path that they already begun to forge.

    This is a battle we must win – for the sake of the children.”

    http://www.samizdata.net/blog/

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  36. Jon says:

    Last post from me

       0 likes

  37. Socialism is Necrotizing says:

    From Molly to Misbah and back again!

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=433843&in_page_id=1811

    will the BBC/Guardian axis now revert to Molly?

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  38. archduke says:

    MI5,police and SAS practise for a Beslan siege:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2005594,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11

    “Whitehall sources have said that the threat is considered so credible that MI5, the police and the SAS have conducted at least two mock counter-terrorism exercises to work out how to deal with such an eventuality.”

    via this on hotair:
    http://hotair.com/archives/2007/02/03/good-news-uk-commandos-preparing-for-british-beslan/

    and this via the telegraph:
    terror plots foiled every six weeks:
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/04/nterr04.xml

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  39. GCooper says:

    Here we go again: From the BBC’s beloved News Online website, the headline: “Iran strike ‘would be disastrous'”.

    Golly! That’s pretty serious. Who is saying this? Credible military and political analysts?

    Uh, no…. ” Leading charities, faith groups and unions are urging the prime minister to put pressure on the US to enter talks with Tehran.”

    Wow! Some heavy duty (and quite unpredictable) thinkers there!

    Charities, “faith groups” (sic) and unions.

    It’s getting beyond parody.

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  40. pounce says:

    GCooper wrote:
    “Here we go again: From the BBC’s beloved News Online website, the headline: “Iran strike ‘would be disastrous’..Uh, no…. ” Leading charities, faith groups and unions are urging the prime minister to put pressure on the US to enter talks with Tehran.””.

    I read that this morning. I was more concerned how the BBC left out what this coalition of UK organisations call themselves and any link to them.

    The group is called ‘Crisis Action’and here is their website;
    http://www.crisisaction.org/about.htm

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  41. Purple Scorpion says:

    Where is the BBC coverage of the cash for honours stories in yesterday’s News of the World and today’s Times?

    (I summarised them on my blog.)

    Too hot for a news reporting organisation to handle?

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  42. Purple Scorpion says:

    P.S. The Today programme writes –

    “It’s based on “a source”. Without that same source there’s no way of checking the accuracy of the report/s. All we’d be doing is apeing the NoW – and that’s not what most listeners would expect us to do without first verifying the story. And even the Times story, on closer examination, rather hedges its bets.”

    I have replied that I would have expected them to report these important stories as unconfirmed.

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  43. will says:

    Leading charities, faith groups and unions are urging the prime minister to put pressure on the US to enter talks with Tehran.

    The usual cry from the left. The USA is expected seek direct talks with N. Korea, Iran, Syria, etc without those countries doing anything to demonstrate a willingness to change policy, in fact they do the opposite & constantly provoke the USA.

    The left, whose soft attitude to delinquents & criminals has produced ony contempt fom their victim group, consider this failed approach should be extended to international relationships.

    At least their hero Stalin was a realist.

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  44. Umbongo says:

    “Today” reports the news that 3 Jews have got together and set up an organisation independent of the usual Jewish representative organisations in the UK citing “oppressive” pro-Israel sentiment among the Jewish establishment (surprise surprise!). Is this news? I wouldn’t have thought so. As a pro Israel/pro Jewish gentile my perception is that the Jews in the UK tolerate an extremely wide spectrum of opinions on all matters, not least the Middle East. I have not heard that Harold Pinter or Miriam Margolyes have been stoned in the streets of Golders Green or burned in effigy in Stamford Hill. But the BBC – out of all the news in the world – chooses to publicise this pimple on the backside of Jewish communal life in Britain.

    Call me over-sensitive but it seems to me that publicising this non-news is a BBC attempt to smear the Jewish (largely pro-Israel) community in the UK with extremism and intolerance. This is the reverse of the same BBC coin that paints all Muslim communal organisations in the UK as “moderate” (but, unfortunately, compelled to be apologists for terrorism because of British foreign policy).

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  45. Bryan says:

    I have not heard that Harold Pinter or Miriam Margolyes have been stoned in the streets of Golders Green or burned in effigy in Stamford Hill.

    And Ken Livingstone is unlikely to have his head separated from his body by Jews angry over his vile anti-Semitism. If he’d shown the same contempt for Muslims that he shows for Jews he’d have to be wary of appearing in public.

    I look forward to an in-depth BBC article explaining why this is the case.

    Well, maybe in another lifetime.

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  46. will says:

    I commented above about the bizarre situation of the US being expected to turn the other cheek, & submit to blackmail, from the rogue nations.

    Jeremy Vine recounts what happens in the real world when the weak show no respect for the strong. A man on the tube had been behaving in an obnoxious manner, now read on ..

    Neanderthal Man rising from his seat because it was his station. He dragged his knuckles off the train and the doors shut behind him. And you made your fatal mistake.

    Once the doors were firmly closed, having seen the anxiety the female passenger had been caused, you did the public-spirited thing and flipped the yob a V-sign as he walked past the window. An appropriate end to the episode. Except the doors then drew open again.

    The man jumped back into the Tube carriage and set about you with his fists. I remember hearing the crump of his knuckles into the side of your head, as well as the whimper of the London Underground guard who was hopping around in dismay at the end of the carriage (this was more than a decade ago, before they were replaced with cameras). Of the 30 people sitting around you, none came to your aid. You were on your knees, and the man was still pummelling. I grabbed my mobile to call the police • the station was above ground • but the battery died as I got through.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/05/ncrime05.xml

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  47. Michael Taylor says:

    Cognitive Dissonance Watch.

    It’s sometimes instructive to contrast the “quotes” the BBC’s editors put up to “illustrate” the debates going on in their Have Your Say section with what’s actually going on in the debates.

    Here’s how it’s playing out right now. They are alternating four “quotes.”

    First up:
    BBC’s chosen quote:“H5N1 is a bigger threat to us all than terrorism.”
    Most recommended post: “ Bird flu? I’m sorry I can’t fit it into my panic schedule until at least June.”

    Second:
    BBC’s chosen quote: “Blair is exactly right to stick to his guns”
    Most recommended post: “I don’t think we should have any less confidence in Tony Blair than we had before the inquiry. Oh, sorry, I meant I don’t think we COULD have any less confidence in Tony Blair than we had before the inquiry.”

    Third:
    BBC’s chosen quote: “Climate change should be studied at school.”
    Most recommended view: None, since no comments yet made or published in the “What should be taught in our schools?” debate.

    Fourth:
    BBC’s chosen quote: “Most Chinese in the UK over 60 don’t speak English”
    Most recommended post. None, since there’s no “top debate” this seems to apply to. It seems genuinely, and therefore interestingly, random.

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  48. Heron says:

    P.S. The Today programme writes –

    “It’s based on “a source”. Without that same source there’s no way of checking the accuracy of the report/s. All we’d be doing is apeing the NoW – and that’s not what most listeners would expect us to do without first verifying the story. And even the Times story, on closer examination, rather hedges its bets.”

    Now I understand why the BBC didn’t report the Lancet figures. Oh, hang on, it did. So it’s OK to go “Apeing” an openly anti-war Medical Journal, but not two separate newspapers. Now I understand.

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  49. Anonanon says:

    BBC priorities. The five-day weather forecast was dropped from Farming Today this morning because there wasn’t enough time, and yet there was ample time for a trailer promoting next Sunday’s Desert Island Discs.

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  50. Anonanon says:

    http://sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=29411&hilite=

    BBC plans to lock viewers into Microsoft monopoly

    The UK’s Open Source trade association has criticised the BBC’s plans to limit access to their on-demand television services to Microsoft Windows. The Open Source Consortium (OSC) believes the plans are anti-competitive and will use public money to lock viewers into the technologies of a repeatedly convicted monopolist.

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