– Dr Who was ace. Perhaps the best ever.
Apart from that, this is an open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:
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.
Don’t blink.
Jeremy Bowen must be annoyed that (D)HYS ever introduced the “readers recommended” feature…
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?sortBy=2&threadID=6582&edition=1&ttl=20070612211700&#paginator
Ha!
So the killer immediately admitted (or thereabouts?)
Worst. Bias. Ever.
PC implicated in murder.
by the way – that boycott has seriously pissed off americans. expect withdrawals of capital , investments and such like if it continues. from reading the blogs, the anger is incredible over there.
perfect excuse to hammer the City which has been beating the crap out of New York…
Come now, gentlemen, calm down….
Heron | 12.06.07 – 11:51 am
to represent it {honour killing among Muslims} as ‘commonplace’ would have a ring of truth about it, n’est-ce pas?
No. If the figure quoted earlier in this thread are accurate, the incidence of honour-killings among UK Muslims is 7.5 per million of population per annum.
That’s certainly lower than the incidence of •say • child sex abuse in your neck of the woods.
Which suggests that one of your Muslim neighbours is far less likely to kill one of his children in an honour killing, than one of your other neighbours is to sodomize his.
So if you want the MSM to go about saying honour killing is commonplace among Muslims, then you’d have to accept that, when reporting Salford, they also say that nonces are commonplace down your way. Somehow I doubt if that would go down too well locally.
archduke | 12.06.07 – 8:10 pm
can anyone back up these claims?
Yes, see my post at
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/760953733203267066/#359558
Also, GCooper and others who doubt the importance of social and cultural factors (as opposed to purely religious ones) might care to remember that only a month ago there was discussion on this blog about another Kurdish woman being stoned to death in an honour-killing perpetrated by Yazidis, not Muslims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi
That said, I see nothing wrong in mentioning that the father in this case was a Muslim, I just wouldn’t do so in a way that suggests no further explanation is required.
” Ultraviolets | 12.06.07 – 9:37 pm”
i read countless stories such as that. from holland, from belgium, from sweden, from germany… the drip drip drip..
just thinking out loud here – are the political elites setting us up for an all powerful fascist europe? in that, they will allow crime to go to such a level that we will be DEMANDING facism?
one has to stand back and look at the bigger picture here. its happening in a lot of European countries. why is that? is the EU setting itself up as the “rescuer” – the “solver of problems” as Hitler did?
one cannot discount that possibility.
” John Reith | 12.06.07 – 9:41 pm |”
i thought so. i was a bit uneasy with “honour killings” being labelled with a muslim-only tag.
for if we do that, we then ignore the Hindu and Sikh victims of it. and i really do not want to do that, much as i am anti-islam. its just that this “honor killing” stuff has no place in england, and we should clamp down on it HARD ..
John Reith writes:
“Also, GCooper and others who doubt the importance of social and cultural factors ”
I have not said I doubt any such thing. What I have done is state a fact: that the BBC neglected to mention the religious factor in its reports.
If that’s the standard of accuracy you apply in your work, Reith, it’s a wonder you still have a job.
But then, you do work for the BBC, don’t you?
So, conservative Glastonbury – the final line up….
Cliff
Geri Halliwell
Lynyrd Skynyrd (all the talented ones dead)
C’n’W singer called George Strait (me neither)
Phil Collins
Ted “My Baby Likes My Butter on Her Grits” Nugent
Compere: Jim Davidson
Oh, wait, I think I’m washing my hair that night. Might see you there. But probably not.
Have fun….
i have to complement andrew marr on the just broadcast “thatcher” docu
and i quote
” we arent wilsons children, we arent majors children, or heaths or blairs. we are- like it or not – thatchers children”
” hillhunt | 12.06.07 – 9:59 pm ”
you’re missing the point of rock’n’roll , or punk or acid house. its not right or left – its hedonistic…
ever take an E at a rave?
if you havent then you’ll never get the point of it.
BBC & ISRAELI QUOTES DISEASE
In spite of HillHunt protests the BBC just can NOT mention anything to do with Israel with using “scare quotes”
this most recent example is a classic. why would they have needed to put the words Close Vote in quotes?
‘Close vote’ for Israel’s Labour
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6743365.stm
Maybe because its in the BBC in house Style Book.
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/760953733203267066/#359410
Blair and Gaddafi agree – 7 years in prison should be just enough to teach the Lockerbie bomber a stern lesson. (That’s about 9 days for each body).
Photo
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
Typical leftwing BBC apologetic reply when it comes to defending Islamic Honour crimes.
BBC Clone John Reith writes;
“No. If the figure quoted earlier in this thread are accurate, the incidence of honour-killings among UK Muslims is 7.5 per million of population per annum.
That’s certainly lower than the incidence of –say – child sex abuse in your neck of the woods. Which suggests that one of your Muslim neighbours is far less likely to kill one of his children in an honour killing, than one of your other neighbours is to sodomize his.”
So lets look at what Mr Reith (and by default I refer to the BBC) alleges under the microscope.
Honour Killings are usually the final act in a campaign of oppression, torture and mental abuse carried out by families against women (predominantly Islamic) for when they fail to live up to the unwritten guidelines they have to abide to. Note I say final act. Before the girl hears the immortal lines, “Allah Ackba” she will have been Physically abused, mentally abused, ostracised. Told what to wear, told what to say, told how to act. This abuse isn’t carried out by a single person secure in the knowledge that nobody knows what he is up to. Rather it is carried out in the full knowledge of the family and in a lot of cases the neighbours. This on its own makes it worse than messing about with a child. But what sets the western world apart from the Eastern world. (And I refer to the enclaves of the East here found in the West) is that in the west we had agencies, Hot lines and adverts where children who are abused can run to. Here is the one run by the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_1570000/newsid_1579300/1579385.stm
We have a safety net. Yes acts of abuse do fall through the net, but as a whole the net works. (I know as my sister and I were caught by that net and taken away from my Islamic violent father and taken into care). The British people as a whole do not stand silent went it comes to child abuse and will not only report it but will defend the child.
Now contrast that with honour crimes Where the family, friends and neighbours of honour abuse remain silent. Honour crimes don’t have to result in Murder, but can result in outward going children becoming introverted. It also installs a climate of fear where the victims of such oppression do as they are told. (What to wear, who to marry, who to talk to) The recorded number of murders in the Uk adds up to around 12 a year. But that figure discounts the huge amount of women who are taken abroad (usually Pakistan) and disappear, the number of women who live in fear (Did you read the bit about that poor girls sister who not only does not live at home but refuses to walk outside without a Burka in case she is recognised) and of course the number of Islamic children who are sexually abused. When we take those figures into account Mr Reith I think you will find that the scales of justice fall heavily towards the east. Defending the indefensible is something the liberal world does so well. The problem is people simply don’t believe Liberal fools such as yourself anymore.
You may wish to continue.
It was a while ago but there was some discussion of Bashar Assad’s professional qualifications.
Here it is from the horse’s mouth(Royal College of Opthamologists)
We think he was trained at the western eye hospital but didn’t complete his training and was not a member (sic of the R.C.O).
I suppose to be accurate we should describe the President of Syria as a trainee opthamologist.
Hmm, good post Pounce.
“just thinking out loud here – are the political elites setting us up for an all powerful fascist europe? in that, they will allow crime to go to such a level that we will be DEMANDING facism?
”
I’ve heard it suggested. I think it was called ‘Brazilianization’ – a tiny oligarchy ruling over a vast chaotic mass with no money and no property. Taxing the middle class until it emigrates is implicit in this regard.
“The result was that the media was increasingly “and to a dangerous degree” driven by “impact” which was, in turn, “unravelling standards, driving them down,” he said.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6744261.stm
He may be right – but his only concern is for politician’s reputations. What about media scares spun by politicians, such as MMGW, Bird Flu, etc. New Labour has used the media for years to gets its policies through and nothing compares to the policies of MMGW. When it comes to MMGW the politicians far outweigh anything in the media for its unfounded sensationalism.
“The associate editor of the Sun newspaper, Trevor Kavanagh, said Mr Blair’s comments were rather “sour” and “ill-advised” and out of character.
He added that Mr Blair and his government had received the most benign coverage of any leader in recent years.”
And if you take the issue of Iraq out of the frame – they still do.
thats a new one to me.
“Brazilianization”
jon -> lets be dead honest. blair does have a point.
just go over to the EU Referendum blog for a view of the media from a right wing perspective. especially on military matters. now, that blog is NOT pro blair, but it does raise questions – a lot of questions about the state of the MSM. i think blair is touching on those issues – and he is more free to do so because he is leaving office.
just because he spun like crazy during his tenure, doesnt mean that we should ignore what he says.
“(I know as my sister and I were caught by that net and taken away from my Islamic violent father and taken into care).”
bloody hell. i wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy. your welcome to my house and you can have a few pints on me anytime mate.
“The British people as a whole do not stand silent went it comes to child abuse and will not only report it but will defend the child.”
exactly. when you really push the english, you get this incredibly tolerant culture. this is , after all, a culture that defeated Nazism. a fact that seems to be forgotten about nowadays.
i trace it back to Rome. Roman temples were quite unique in britain – they included Celtic gods. a suitably “british” way of sorting out a conflict. and no, i’m not making that up. this goes back 2000 years.
but 2000 years ago, we didnt have “diversity” training officers. what i’m trying to say is that the brits are by NATURE used to difference… its in their blood. what they actually hate is some government body, such as the EU , telling them HOW they should think and act.
“..just because he spun like crazy during his tenure, doesn’t mean that we should ignore what he says.”
Quite – I was mildly surprised at what he said. The problem is that he always says things after the problems have become dire. New Labour have used the BBC to denigrate any common sense voices. Granted the BBC did not need much encouragement but it has been spurred on by New labour spin.
While I agree with the sentiments – I cannot have any sympathy for Tony Blair. What he has done to this country will take decades to put right and I feel cheated that I will not be around to see it.
i agree with you jon. it felt like a “mea culpa” from blair. of course the MSM got all indignant on newsnight and didnt get the bigger picture. idiots that they are…
oh – for new people reading this, and for the record, i am irish. my comments above are from my experience of living in southern england for the past 15 years. it will take a lot for me to leave this green and pleasant land. and i shall defend it to my dying days.
bijan daneshmand:
In spite of HillHunt protests the BBC just can NOT mention anything to do with Israel with using “scare quotes”
this most recent example is a classic. why would they have needed to put the words Close Vote in quotes?
‘Close vote’ for Israel’s Labour
Possibly because the result has not yet been announced and is therefore provisional…
Make that probably.
BBC & JRs ANALYSIS OF WOMEN UNDER ISLAM LACKS IS IMMORAL
Once again jumping to the defence of the BBC and by proxy the political Islam that the BBC supports JR is doing any objective reader a disservice in his attempt to defend the INDEFNSIBLE.
Pounce has already rebutted JR at length. And in making his point about child abuse in this country JR misses the vital distinction between the abuse of women in Islamic societies and any random abuse that occurs here (BTW the sexual buse of children has had a long and noble tradition in Islamic societies, starting with Mohammed and his 9 year old “wife” Aisha, so drop the sex abuse line of argument JR it makes your ignorance obvious) ….
in Islamic societies there is the INSTITUTIONAL suppression of women and a denial to women of the rights afforded to men
Islamic societies are build on 2 elements
(1) the written traditions of the QORAN & HADITH … both these documents contain a multitude of misogynistic passages …
(2) An empowered politicised ULEMA (Clerics who are all MEN) are entrusted with adminstering SHARIA LAW by interpreting the Qoran and issuing FATWAS (law governing daily life based on Quranic interpretation). As these adopt a taste for power they habitually issue fatwas that restrict and diminish any rights afforded to women.
THIS THE ALLOWS the ABUSE of Women on a societal level and results in societies liek Iran which after 30 years of Islamic rule is a living hell for women … as seen here
http://www.wfafi.org/
So please drop the self righteous tone JR … in Islamic societies women ARE ABUSED as they have FAR LESS RIGHTS ..
archduke | 12.06.07 – 11:34 pm | # Hope your days will be long and happy from a Nord Angelnen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angles
further to above, i would hazard a guess that nearly every middle class English family in this country would gladly offer their homes as refuge for these girls – on condition of anonymity – and if said homes are located in “hideously white” areas. there is a long tradition of this in the english psyche – from taking in persecuted Germans during WW1 and WW2 (when they were all rounded up…) to persecuted Jews during WW2 when the government was turning them away , to taking in Belfast children for a summer holiday when the troubles were at their height in 1970s.
the English are at heart a very charitable lot – one only needs to ask. sadly , that is not happening, and the “honour killings” keep happening and unmentioned because of “cultural sensitivity”.
honestly , if P.C. plod asked me to take in a young Indian girl for a week or two, i’d do so. (and please no fnar fnar double entendre… i’m being serious here. i’m a family man, in hideously white middle class southern england)
archduke | 12.06.07 – 8:18 pm
Here’s a true story about a couple who foster kids regularly, and their experience fostering a young Kurdish girl:
http://www.sumption.org/2007/04/25/culturally-inappropriate/
(hillhunt; please note what he says about “a culture where it is considered acceptible to have sex with girls from the age of 12”)
See this other blog entry too.
http://www.sumption.org/2007/04/30/i-am-not-a-rapist/
Bijan:
BTW the sexual buse of children has had a long and noble tradition in Islamic societies, starting with Mohammed and his 9 year old “wife” Aisha
Not forgetting the Prophets (pbuh) molestations of Fatima, his own daughter, and the creation of a revelation from Allah which commanded him to marry Zaynab, the wife of his adopted son!
One quote I do like is as follows: “For the Muslim faithful, it must surely be a source of embarrassment that Allah evidently had more interest in Muhammad’s personal sex life than he did about tolerance.”
bijan daneshmand:
We get it. You really don’t like Islam. Neither does pounce, for understandable personal reasons.
Truth is that almost all God-botherers of evry creed have a poor record on gender relations, and so do their sacred texts. Catholics and Anglicans in the UK (and everywhere else) have nothing to be smug about on institutionalised child abuse, and the Vatican’s attitude to condoms in the Third World is misogynistic, life-denying and contemptible.
If the BBC’s reporting on Muslims must be preceded at all times by a health warning that followers of the prophet are bad for us, shouldn’t we extend that to the other, er, great faiths?
Haha, you still here Hilly!
We at B-BBC must be very, very important to you. Thanks for the compliment of your continued attentions.
I’m still scrolling past all of your garbage (as usual) but I hope other users will inform me if any of your efforts are worth scrolling back to (reverse scroll practice always welcome).
Biodegradababble:
(hillhunt; please note what he says about “a culture where it is considered acceptible to have sex with girls from the age of 12”)
You, too, BioD. Not a fan of the prophet, either, are you?
The foster parent’s blog was touching and one can feel his frustration.
Fact is, as it happens, I have spent a fair time in white British cultures in places as diverse as Yorkshire, Cheshire, South London, Humberside, Glasgow and Dublin, where “consensual” sex was commonplace for very young girls, often with much older boys, occasionally with grown men. In our society, it’s more to do with bad parenting and shockingly low self-esteem among the girls than any religious or cultural force.
What did they have in common? Few were overly religious, but they were all poor in every sense, especially in education, ambition and basic family care.
I also know a number of people subject to low-level but spirit-draining abuse from some of our more preachy religious bretheren. All of them shining examples of Christianity in action.
I know you’re not a follower of Jesus, but one of his cuter sayings was that old thing about throwing the first stone. Don’t you think?
HILLHUNT & JR IM STILL WAITING FOR YOUR RESPONSE … WHY THE BBC HAS NOT GIVEN ANY PROMINENCE TO THIS STORY
An AP photographer caught Palestinian “militants”/”activists” using the cover of TV Journalists to attack an Israeli position .. in a failed kidnap attempt … this action has been roundly condemed by all and sundry including Palestinian journalists and “Human Rights Watch” but the BBC has stood out by hardly reporting this violation .. in fact I had to go to Google to dig out this one refence which was never linked to on the BBC websites Middle East Section … and even in this one refence they simply making a passing reference to the violation …. interesting that the date stamp doesnt match when it showed up in Google … I think this is a new twist on “stealth editing” … its a “stealth plant” story by the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6737617.stm
Why has the BBC has given ZERO coverage to this story …. when its has given so much prominence to other incidents that have endangered the lives of reporters …
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/760953733203267066/#359417
Here is the Reuters Report …
In the June 9 incident, four armed Palestinians drove a white jeep bearing “TV” insignias to a fence on the Gaza-Israel border and fired at Israeli soldiers. The Israelis returned fire, killing one Palestinian. Spokesmen for Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an offshoot of Fatah, claimed responsibility for the attack. An Islamic Jihad spokesperson denied that Palestinians had put press markings on the jeep used in the June 9 attack, and accused the Israeli military of doing so after the fact. However, photos taken by the Associated Press as the attack was under way show the letters “TV” written in red on the front of the jeep.
“Using a vehicle with press markings to carry out a military attack is a serious violation of the laws of war, and it also puts journalists at risk,” said Whitson.
Customary international humanitarian law provides that journalists not taking direct part in hostilities in armed conflict zones “shall be considered as civilians.” The deliberate abuse of this protected status in order to breach the confidence of an adversary in an attempt to kill, injure or capture them, would amount to an act of perfidy, a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
The Palestinian Journalists Union on Sunday criticized the use by armed factions of press insignia in a statement: “The use of vehicles that carry ‘Press,’ ‘TV’ or other signs … exposes journalists’ lives to danger, gives the Israeli occupation a pretext to target and kill journalists and restricts their ability to perform their professional and national duties. � We demand all parties stop using these methods.”
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/4a7fd32c19f417eb23b19e71fd4d7492.htm
I hope other users will inform me if any of your efforts are worth scrolling back to (reverse scroll practice always welcome).
Wayne | 13.06.07 – 12:53 am
No, you’re not missing anything Wayne. He’s still replying to EVERY topic that arises superbly missing the point of each one and engaging in moral equivalence (“all religions are bad yaddah yaddah”), when he’s not fishing for red herrings and creating straw men.
Worzel Gummidge springs to mind.
arch thin white duke:
you’re missing the point of rock’n’roll , or punk or acid house. its not right or left – its hedonistic…
Y-e-e-e-s. Been a while, though, since I heard a singer punch the air and demand the rolling back of the state. But you do hear a lot of support for liberal causes, don’t you?
ever take an E at a rave?
if you havent then you’ll never get the point of it.
Basic rule: If you have to take drugs to enjoy music, the music’s sh*t…
.
If the BBC’s reporting on Muslims must be preceded at all times by a health warning that followers of the prophet are bad for us, shouldn’t we extend that to the other, er, great faiths?
Hillhunt is that the best you could come up with? The fact is that the BBC is constantly pointing out instances of abuse when it occurs in the Catholic church and other churches for that matter.
Yet when it comes to Islam all it does is either turn a blind eye,deflect to culture or justify the abuse … case in point is its coverage of honor killings.
Now there is a word in the language to charcterise that type of behaviour … what is it .. ah its come to me …. BIAS
bijan daneshmand | 13.06.07 – 1:23 am
you
hit
the
nail
on
the
head!
:+:
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Expediency Council [which mediates between the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) and the Guardian Council] passed into law a bill sanctioning ‘the marriage of girls before 13 years of age and boys before 15 years of age pending permission of their guardians and the court’. The passing into law of this bill once again places Islamic laws vis-à-vis people’s revulsion. This bill officially declares that the sexual abuse of children is legal in Islam.”
http://www.marzeporgohar.org/index.php?l=1&cat=20&scat=&artid=93
The difference hillhunt is that this is ILLEGAL in Britain.
And by the way Dublin is in Ireland.
Nice one Jon ..well done … it takes Hillhunt and JR to clarify what wrong with the BBC …. for them its just a mind set … like Jeff Randall says its visceral ….
Ja, BBC bias.
Chew on this – it’s easy to imagine a Catholic Church without Paedophillia.
” You really don’t like Islam. Neither does pounce, for understandable personal reasons.”
Why don’t you[deleted] You have insulted his intellect.
It’s so typical of leftist nihilists to equate ideas with the person speaking them instead of criticising the idea. Does Marxisms long love affair with Freud ring a bell? If there’s someone you don’t like, you diagnose him as insane by means of base rhetoric. “Authoritarian Personality” “Anal Sadism Regression”. A good example “Islamophobia”. Or perhaps attributing Pounces views to an unhappy childhood. It must feel so safe and good to be able to box people up and label them – so that they are contained.
Edited By Siteowner
Honour in killing your daughter?
Jan Moir on honour killings.
“Even though Banaz grew up here, her decision to act as an individual of free will, like the rest of us, was like signing a medieval death warrant. Strangled with a bootlace, stuffed into a suitcase, then buried 10ft deep in a suburban garden on her father’s wishes? What a terrible way for a young woman to die.
Honour killings are on the increase here and in Europe, the inevitable result of migrant movement and a tectonic clash of ancient and modern cultures. In societies dominated by patriarchal and religious values, a woman’s honour can be regarded as a family commodity, something that confers status and respect.
On the menfolk, of course. Not her. According to the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (a group fearful enough to have a panic button on its website, quickly to hide the pages from prying male eyes), Muslim Kurdish women, within the confines of their own society, have no human rights at all, not even the right to live.
They are expected to be pure, modest and obedient at all times. A virgin at marriage, of course. Women and girls are punished for trivial reasons: for looking out of the window, or laughing in public. Many have paid with their lives for falling in love with someone forbidden to them, or for seeking a divorce, or any number of things believed to bring shame on their families.
It seems incredible that some of this abuse happens on British soil to British citizens, many of whom are controlled by unbending men imposing their own laws inside their own ethnic niches. No doubt their asylum was hard fought for, but sometimes one wonders why they came, and what it is that they want. Despite government questionnaires compiled to measure some opaque thing called Britishness, events such as Banaz Mahmod’s death challenge the very notion of a society defined by the place we live.
Ms Mahmod speaks from beyond the grave, via the video message she recorded from a hospital bed after her father first attacked her, and the resigned radio interviews given by her older sister. Bekhal, who is fearful for her own life. No wonder.
There was no shortage of men ready to assist in the murder, including the girls’ uncle and a community that closed ranks. The police offered Banaz a personal alarm, then a place in a refuge, but she turned them both down, still hoping that her mother might be able to save her.
The next day, someone tied a shoelace around her neck, on her father’s orders, and they got her in the end”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/06/13/nosplit/do1303.xml
Anonymous | 13.06.07 – 5:58 am
and a community that closed ranks.
That is the bigger threat.
HH (aka Mr. Rock n roll): “You hear a lot of support for liberal causes” – only if you listen to sad moany garbage like BBC-approved Billy Bragg. Ever heard of the concept of “Search and Destroy” (maybe you were in washing your close-cropped hair when the Stooges last played)…
Another day, another series of murders of innocents in the name of the RoP.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/112142.htm
John Reith, can you tell us why the BBC is silent on this?
‘You, too, BioD. Not a fan of the prophet, either, are you?’ (Hillhunt)
There is absolutely no point in engaging HH. His mission here is is to defend Islamism regardless of any information he is presented with.
Snigger Watch
The Today programme just announced the important topic for discussion after 8 – Geroge Bush lost his wrist watch in Albania – or did he? (background sniggering audible). Hey why talk about civil war in Gaza when you can discuss whether or not the Albanians nicked Bush’s watch? Of course the BBC think anything to do with Bush is game for a laugh – but Albanians? How PC is that?
Oscar, I find it unbearable nowadays to listen to Today as I do watching Question Time. The pomposity, bias and sheer malice of the presenters makes me ill.
archduke | 12.06.07 – 9:14 pm
my god. andrew marr is actually doing a sympathetic portrayal of Thatcher right now…
You got that right!
Eventually the more intelligent among the tribe tire of following the Groupthink and they start to rebel • among the first cracks to manifest themselves were the “impartiality summit”.
Marr’s account of Thatcher was astonishing: following a faithful account of the industrial anarchy that had beset Britain for decades and which culminated in the so-called “Winter of Discontent” of 1978-9, and the dead being left unburied in Liverpool, he said this:
“This was modern Britain’s crack-up mode. … What happened here haunted British politics for many years to come. Britain wasn’t just the sick man of Europe. To many people our politics seemed mortally ill. But a saviour was waiting in the wings.” (cue Margaret Thatcher).
Can you believe it? “A saviour waiting in the wings.” From the BBC? But by God Margaret Thatcher was Britain’s saviour! And Liverpool’s too! Anyone here of 50 or older will remember what Britain • and Liverpool • was like before her. (To those who want an unbiased inkling in as short a time as possible, pop down to the local library and get out The Times’s Index from any year from 1963-1979. Look up the control words “Ford”; Vauxhall; “Halewood”; and “Ellesmere Port”. Look up the same words in any Times Index from the years 1990-2006. Add up the number of news stories about strikes in each case and compare.)
Marr’s astonishingly honest and fair programme will have rankled many, maybe most, of the BBC’s institutionally Leftist staff • especially the younger ones who didn’t live through the anarchy of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and who’ve been force-fed “Thatcher-is-bad, Thatcher-is-bad, Thatcher-is-bad” ever since uni. However other Lefties, keen to demonstrate their independence of mind, will defend it.
Regardless, 10 years ago it would have been seen as positively heretic. The fact that the script passed editorial scrutiny without the usual claptrap rider “Thatcher destroyed Britain’s industrial base” is immensely significant. But now, conceivably, the BBC might unconsciously be beginning to adopt a different agenda • that is, surviving, by attempting to demonstrate that it is in fact as impartial as it claims.
Hmm. But there’s an almighty obstacle to that • and it concerns the BBC’s continuing failure to air the explosive facts that constitute the untold side of the story that “helped bring down the last Conservative government.”
lots of “man” people in the headlines today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/default.stm
enjoy it while it lasts. they’ll probably change “man” to “person” next week when EU Directive 4420133131.4 comes into effect.
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa
But Oscar, did you hear what the sports reporter said at the end of the piece? Paraphrased:
“But did he notice that his shirt and trousers were missing as well? Well of course it was George Bush”
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa
“Basic rule: If you have to take drugs to enjoy music, the music’s sh*t…
.
hillhunt | 13.06.07 – 1:21 am”
yawn. tired old 1960s hippy ciche.
but the, the bbc is stuffed full of tired old ciches…