Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may be moderated.
The BBC,Pot kettle black
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9703/image1ff8.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7171648.stm
The BBC,Pot kettle black
Congratulations BBC, Radio Free Europe is now the voice of sane Europeans standing for human rights:
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/1/ec3b38a0-00af-4743-9943-5d00e920249f.html
Since everyone must pay, why not give all that billions to Radio Free Europe?
In fact why can’t the free citizens of Europe choose where their media taxes are going?
cos we’re british not european thank you very much and i dont wanna watch that foreign junk
The Joseph Rowntree Trust has issued a prissy whinge against the Army’s recruitment campaign, claiming it glamorises warfare.
In the immortal analysis of Homer Simpson, Duh!
That’s what recruitment drives for any organisation do. However the Quaker recruitment drive while a little short on flash has plenty of glam.
:+: Religious knowledge, like the appreciation of beauty, is not attained by a logical process of thought but by experience and feeling.
:+: as children of God, we had inherited powers from God. Each of us was given a measure of this power or light and in accordance with how we used it, so more would be given to us.
:+: we can find God ourselves and establish a living relationship thus being able to live in the world free from the burden and guilt of sin.
Knowledge, Power and a Living Relationship with God. Sounds persuasive to me.
Advertising – It’s what we do! 🙂
On the BBC’s use of ‘right-wing’ but not ‘left-wing’, I suspect that there may be a sound reason for it. Those groups which the BBC terms as ‘right-wing’ are indeed to the right OF THE BBC. No need to label leftist groups simply because they are not to the left of the BBC and therefore, from the perspective of the BBC, are not left-wing.
Atlas shrugged | 08.01.08 – 12:01 am,
OK you win. The BBC is an arm of British intelligence. As a cover it pretends to be anti-British by holding sympathetic interviews with the Taleban, ignoring British troops returning from Afghanistan, teaching little children that bin Laden is an everyday sort of guy with genuine grievances, calling for info on coalition troop movements in Iraq, campaigning against those who would expose Islamic terrorist literature in mosques, trashing Christianity while elevating Islam and so on and so forth.
The BBC is aware that by doing these things it encourages and strengthens the enemies of Britain while at the same time weakening Britain but it feels this is a small price to pay for maintaining its cover. The BBC is not biased. It is simply playing an elaborate game of espionage.
I hope you are satisfied with that and can now move on to the next conspiracy theory.
Further to the Bishop of Rochester, Dr. Nazir-Ali, and his comments about Islamic extremism turning some areas of the UK into ‘no-go’ zones, the BBC should be aware of some follow-up comments on this, e.g.:
1.) Richard Littlejohn, “Britain’s ‘no go’ zones? Don’t even go there.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/dailymail.html?in_article_id=506675&in_page_id=1790
2.)In an article entitled, “More About the Bishop of Rochester”, parts of the following towns and cities are described by site readers as having ‘no go’ areas:-
Accrington
Blackburn
Burnley
Coventry
Dewsbury
Glasgow
Keighley
Oldham
Reading
Rushholme (M/c)
Slough
Tower Hamlets (GLC)
Walthamstow (GLC)
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/01/more-about-bishop-of-rochester.html
No doubt, the BBC will be following up this story. Have other areas been missed? Which, if any parts of Birmingham, should be included? This is an ideal issue for the BBC’s vast army of local TV and radio reporters to get their teeth into.
Bryan | 07.01.08 – 11:28 pm
There are a lot of things that maybe you are unaware of, but which the BBC knows very well. You imagine, for example, that we are supposed to be metric (or ‘decimal’ as you put it). One day you will perhaps visit England and be happily surprised that we still use miles.
One of the things the BBC does day in day out is to talk to senior officers in the Army. Very senior officers. Both in Iraq and back at the MoD.
The kind of thing you were objecting to in Jane Corbin’s report are things that Army sources have themselves been saying for some time. And it is not only the BBC who has been reporting it.
Let’s take a look at some of your objections:
And spin it she certainly did. Though there’s a good deal of coverage of Shia militia atrocities, especially against women, the spin leaves people with the impression that though the Shia obviously think getting rid of Saddam was a good thing, they blame the British for the current murderous chaos.
Two points:
Until 16 December last year, the British were responsible for law and order in Basra Province. If there was no order… if the situation had degenerated into the violent chaos of faction-fighting between rival militias • then that represented a failure of British policy.
The British pull-out to the airport amidst rumours with ‘deals’ with various militias has been controversial.
Second, Corbin was quite right to leave people with the impression that the Shias (though they’re glad Saddam was toppled) blame the British for the current murderous chaos. Because they do. A recent opinion poll showed 86 per cent thought the overall effect of having British troops in Basra province since the 2003 invasion had been negative.
Only 2 per cent believed that it had been positive.
I just find it reprehensible that someone from the British Broadcasting Corporation would go over to Basra and point the finger of blame ….at her British compatriots.
You don’t really believe in the freedom of the press or impartial journalism, do you? Well, many Britons have given their lives for the principles of freedom by which our media can hold up our government’s actions to scrutiny and we intend to cherish them.
Because you also seem to subscribe to a form of political Manicheanism, you think that any critical analysis of the government must be ‘left-wing’
Nonsense, of course.
Here are articles published by conservative newspapers in the past few months, addressing the same issues:
From the Daily Telegraph:
One of the most senior British commanders in Iraq has claimed that there is no point in fighting on in Basra, likening British troops in the city to “Robocop” and admitting that innocent people were hurt as a result of their actions……The officer, who is responsible for thousands of troops, said the decision to pull soldiers out of the centre of Basra last month came after commanders concluded that using Iraqi forces would be more effective. “We would go down there [Basra], dressed as Robocop, shooting at people if they shot at us, and innocent people were getting hurt,” he said. “We don’t speak Arabic to explain and our translators were too scared to work for us any more. What benefit were we bringing to these people?”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/28/nbasra128.xml
From the Daily Mail:
Local Iraqis chose a different interpretation. They cheered what they see as a defeat for an occupying army.
Sadoun Hami, an Iraqi military officer, was jubilant as he expressed what seemed to be the majority opinion.
“We are happy to be rid of the British,” he said. “They were harassing us in the streets and raiding our houses and arresting our sons. We now want to see them out of greater Basra.” ……Local trader Ahmed Ali Omar, 35, said: “This is a victory for honest resistance. We had long been wishing for the occupier to go so that stability can be restored.”
But the withdrawal has left the city largely in the hands of warring Shia militias, with the bloody prospect of more killings and kidnappings as they battle for power.
The police, who now take on the task of ensuring law and order, have been heavily infiltrated by militia members.
One Army source admitted last night: “We are leaving the Iraqi people to the mercy of our own mistakes. We should have finished what we started, but we have done a runner instead.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=479468&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490
I’d love to know which part of Rusholme is a no go area, because I’ve never seen it even after 4 years of living there
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2008/01/07/nwinnett107.xml
Atlas shrugged | 07.01.08 – 10:07 pm
How many D notices are the BBC currently restricted by?
Five.
All seem very sensible to me, and not in the least sinister.
In this article, the author suggests that:
“Politicians are in denial about No-Go Areas”
http://pubphilosopher.blogs.com/pub_philosopher/
Of course, this does not mean, does it, that the BBC will deny licence-payers significant reporting on this?
I wonder what the trends on Muslim ‘no-go’ area will means in e.g. 10 years time? Sharia law replacing Britsh law in more areas,etc.?
In today’s ‘Daily Mail’ poll:
“Does Britain have no-go areas for non-Muslims?”
84% say ‘YES’.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/pollsanddebates/pollsanddebates.html?in_page_id=2006
Scanning through the comments, a couple of things.
Yes, the BBC use “right wing” when they would never use “left wing”.
This morning’s “Today” programme was quite something. Half an hour about the American primaries, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that the election was between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as opposed to the Republicans and Democrats.
And then half an hour of carte blanche hyper-statist socialist driven from David Blunkett.
And then, a couple of moments before the 9.00 news, just time to put the boot into the Conservative welfare reform proposals!
This morning’s “Today” programme was quite something. Half an hour about the American primaries, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that the election was between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as opposed to the Republicans and Democrats.
But that’s the point of a primary….it IS between the candidates of the same part.
The Dems vs Reps bit comes later.
They’re at it again today.
Nothing obvious on the Beeb website on Labour’s latest donation scandal (about Hain’s ever increasing embarrassments) – which is a major Grauniad story this morning:-
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/funding/story/0,,2236993,00.html
Guido has more:-
http://www.order-order.com/2008/01/more-steve-morgan-anecdotes-please.html
Couldn’t find anything under News or Politics on the website but (to save JR getting RSI from googling) there is an audio clip tucked away if you run a site search.
Business as usual then.
But that’s the point of a primary….it IS between the candidates of the same part.
The Dems vs Reps bit comes later.
Nope. John McCain won the Republican NH nomination but the BBC barely mentioned it, instead started playing liberal top trumps with Obama and Clinton.
Pauls
Good point, and the sort of detail beyond your average Beeboid. But it doesn’t detract from “the wider truth” detailed by Steve Edwards, which is of course that Obama is the Beeboid luvvy-boy for the next few months. I mean, did you hear Naughtie’s vomit-inducing “Ode to Barak” on Today this morning?
Even more seriously, there is a paradox here for signed-up Beeboids – if Americans are so dumb, how can they understand the US electoral system? And if Republicans are dumb-ass creationist homophobe red necks, how come they understood the electoral system well enough to have won the last two elections? Unless they have been taking lessons from Nairobi. Come on Matt Frei, we need to be told.
“And then half an hour of carte blanche hyper-statist socialist driven from David Blunkett.”
The irony was lost on the Today comrades. Here we have a major engineer of lack of social mobility over the last decade talking about how he will actually make it worse by giving sink estate truants even more benefit handouts.
I say it’s the blind leading the blind.
Sorry, missed out the juiciest bit of Guido’s revelations about Hain:-
http://www.order-order.com/2008/01/hain-got-5000-from-loan-company-ceo.html
I expect we’ll see all this up on the Beeb site any minute now…..
…will we, JR??
Ah! Found it.
There’s nothing on the main page, and nothing if you click on Politics – but if you click “main”/”UK”/”politics” – there’s a piece where Hain apologises (again) for an “administrative problem” (can’t get the staff you know).
All neatly tucked away four clicks from the passing floating voter.
“I’d love to know which part of Rusholme is a no go area, because I’ve never seen it even after 4 years of living there”
The curry house on the corner near the Academy used to be a no go area if you didn’t want the sh*ts for a fortnight but that was many many years ago now.
I notice that Littlejohn suggests that parts of Mile End and Whitechapel might be ‘no go’ for non Muslims. Now I have a decent knowledge of both these areas and have never had any problems whatsoever so either the local’s religious fanatism isn’t fanatical enough to confront large Christians with what my Mum calls an ‘unecessarily aggressive’ haircut or this is a lot overblown. I’ve heard parts of the North are worse though?
deegee:
John Reith,
Do BBC staff have access to a far better BBC search engine than the clunker the general public is saddled with?
Please advise how you can always locate BBC articles often years back, so quickly.
deegee | 07.01.08 – 9:17 pm | #
And while he’s doing it (hah!) he might also try to come up with a coherent expansion of his statement, some time ago, that the reason that searches of the BBC site for reports on racially motivated assaults throw up something like four times as many examples of white-on-minority-ethnic asssaults than ethnic-minority-on-white ones (despite national statistics showing more e-m-on-w ones than vice versa) is some design peculiarity in the search engine!
“Or maybe he is again seeking attention because he needs it so, sad guy that he is.”
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/yasmin_alibhai_brown/article3315054.ece
“One day you will perhaps visit England and be happily surprised that we still use miles.”
But Wraith old thing,do tell him not to try to sell a pound of apples otherwise he”ll end up in prison.
“The curry house on the corner near the Academy used to be a no go area if you didn’t want the sh*ts for a fortnight but that was many many years ago now.”
Yup, gotta be careful! If you ever pass through, Al Nawaz is one of the better ones now.
“I notice that Littlejohn suggests that parts of Mile End and Whitechapel might be ‘no go’ for non Muslims. Now I have a decent knowledge of both these areas and have never had any problems whatsoever so either the local’s religious fanatism isn’t fanatical enough to confront large Christians with what my Mum calls an ‘unecessarily aggressive’ haircut or this is a lot overblown. I’ve heard parts of the North are worse though?”
Cockney | 08.01.08 – 12:35 pm | #
As a northerner from a town/city with a large muslim population I can’t say I’ve ever come across areas that I’d class as no-go. Rough areas, yes.
I’ve spoken to my mates in Oldham and Chadderton and they’re wondering where these areas no one dares to go are.
I seriously think it’s more a case of people seeing them as no-go because such a high proportion of the people are asian. They feel uncomfortable, so have made the decision not to go into them. They’ve somehow equated this with no-go.
Forgive me if I don’t take that daily mail poll entirely seriously..
But Wraith old thing,do tell him not to try to sell a pound of apples otherwise he”ll end up in prison.
Peter | 08.01.08 – 1:06 pm | #
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988521.stm
Keep up at the back
Steve Edwards | 08.01.08 – 12:14 pm |
John McCain won the Republican NH nomination but the BBC barely mentioned it
Hard to report something that hasn’t happened yet.
Forgive me if I don’t take that daily mail poll entirely seriously..
Ben | 08.01.08 – 1:07 pm |
i feel much the same about your post.
But that’s the point of a primary….it IS between the candidates of the same part.
Both parties run in the primaries. It does seem that the media are more interested in the Democratic party race for some reason.
PS I mean obviously their polling is separate but mostly they poll on the same day.
The BBC, Islamic terrorism and half a story.
Man admits three terror charges
A man has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to preparing for the commission of terrorist acts. Sohail Qureshi planned to travel from Heathrow Airport with cash, a night sight, two metal batons and a computer hard drive, prosecutors said. He was arrested in 2006 at the airport as he prepared to fly to Pakistan.
Qureshi, 29, also admitted possessing articles for terrorist purposes and possessing articles likely to be useful to a terrorist.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7176832.stm
The BBC reports on yet another plumber caught going abroad in which to;
1) Find a wife
2) Find a computer course
3) Do charity work etc…
The thing is the BBC doesn’t elaborate on who this person is linked to.
Here let the Guardian inform you;
Two face Old Bailey trial on terror charges
A woman accused of keeping terrorist handbooks and a weapons manual and poison information on her computer and a man who allegedly tried to go to Pakistan for terrorist purposes denied a series of charges at the Old Bailey yesterday. Samina Malik, 23, an IT student of Southall, west London, and Sohail Qureshi, 29, of Forest Gate, east London, who were in contact by email, face trial in October. Qureshi is said to have planned to fly to Pakistan with cash, a night sight, two metal batons, two sleeping bags, two rucksacks, medical supplies, CD-Roms and a computer hard drive.
Press Association
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2077911,00.html
Now just who is Samina Malik ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7085889.stm
Strange how the BBC kind of omits the link between the two.
The BBC, Islamic terrorism and half a story.
If Hillary or Obama wins the US Elections I wonder if there will be empty Champagne bottles strewn around BBC Television centre again?
“And then half an hour of carte blanche hyper-statist socialist driven from David Blunkett.”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing that. Where on earth did that come from? What on earth has he done to deserve such airtime?
i feel much the same about your post.
teddy | 08.01.08 – 1:22 pm | #
Crushing!
pounce | 08.01.08 – 1:26 pm
There’s a court order explicitly forbidding making the connection you make. It was issued 29 Oct 2007. Probably safest to ask the mods to delete your last post.
SCIENCE SPIN
An email from David Whitehouse [david@davidwhitehouse.com]:
Here is a good example of how to ‘interpret’ scientific data. I can’t help thinking that the public has been fed the most outrageous spin – not by politicians but by scientists who should know better, but hey, this is global warming and the UK’s Met Office is seeing what it wants to see.
It’s just released the 2007 global temperature figures and its forecast for 2008. 2007 it says was a top ten year but it’s what it doesn’t say in the main part of the press release (usually the only part that is read by journalists) that is alarming. Look further down the press release and you will see, tucked away in a list of notes to editors the admission that 2007 was, temperature wise, the same as 2006 and every year since 2001 – it admits there has been no global warming for 7 years!
But how does that square with the comment by Prof Phil Jones, Director of the Climatic Research Institute of the University of East Anglia, who produced the figures, “The fact that 2008 is forecast to be cooler than any of the last 7 years (and that 2007 did not break the record that was set in 1998) doesn’t mean that global warming has gone away. What matters is the underlying rate of warming.”
That is misleading. The data obviously suggests that for the past 7 years at least global warming has gone away. Of course the past decade has been warmer than pervious decades but the recent decade’s underlying rate of warming, the parameter by which Prof Jones sets so much store, is ZERO. No global warming. Anyone can see that if they look at the figures.
The press release put out by the Met Office, and swallowed by many media outlets, including the BBC, misrepresents the data of global warming. The public are not being given the whole truth.
http://antigreen.blogspot.com/
deegee | 07.01.08 – 9:17 pm
I never use the bbc search engine. I just use Google’s advanced search.
The irony was lost on the Today comrades. Here we have a major engineer of lack of social mobility over the last decade talking about how he will actually make it worse by giving sink estate truants even more benefit handouts.
It’s amazing, when you think about the state of social decay in Britain that’s so palpable and visible to anyone who steps outside their front door, or examines the evidence, that when you turn on PM or Today, the only thing that this country has to worry about is global warming.
But Benji dear,the Trading Standards have not given up. I see you are a fully paid up member of the EU fount of everything brigade.
“I’ve spoken to my mates in Oldham and Chadderton and they’re wondering where these areas no one dares to go are.”
You have friends? Try Glodwick.
“Sohail Qureshi planned to travel from Heathrow Airport with cash, a night sight, two metal batons and a computer hard drive,”
1) Find a wife
Hence the night sight,
2) Find a computer course
Ditto the hard drive.
3) Do charity work etc…
Obviously “Masochists Sans Frontieres”
You need those batons.
This morning’s Today programme was as like listening to the media wing of the Labour party as possible – with a dose of coverage of the Democratic contest in the States thrown in for good measure. (The mentions of the GOP are sheer tokenism). The David Blunkett piece was a triumph of Today editorial bias. Never mind it made no sense (the kids have opportunities for education an earlier generation could only dream of – but they have no motivation and no ambition. So what’s the solution? Spend large amounts of public money for more educational opportunities). Meanwhile the reasons for knocking the Conservative proposals are just as nonsensical. There are three liens of attack each contradicting the other (a) they are plagiarising Labour who are already doing this stuff (b) the plans are unaffordable (c) the plans are nasty. Meanwhile Gordon Brown gets away with a truly punitive proposal for below inflation wage settlements breaking arbitration agreements and making it illegal for prison officers to strike. If the Tories proposed this the Today attack dogs would be let loose but as it’s Labour they are kept on a leash and instead the Labour spin is wheeled out.This is pure bias – the Today programme playing tribal politics without any underlying principle or consistency. Simply a case of Labour = good. Tory = bad. Pathetic.
“But Benji dear,the Trading Standards have not given up. I see you are a fully paid up member of the EU fount of everything brigade.”
I see you’re falling back on your usual sweeping accusations – and it’s perfectly fine by Trading Standards to display in imperial, as long as it’s alongside metric, which is fair enough really
“You have friends? Try Glodwick.”
Indeed I do, some of us have better things to do than sit about whinging all day. If Glodwick is as much a “no-go” as Rusholme, I think I’d take my chances. Some of us like to leave our houses though!
Indeed I do, some of us have better things to do than sit about whinging all day.
Ben | 08.01.08 – 3:46 pm |
i notice that your first post was at 11.20 am and your still here…
unfortunately
“I see you’re falling back on your usual sweeping accusations – and it’s perfectly fine by Trading Standards to display in imperial, as long as it’s alongside metric, which is fair enough really”
We had metric imposed by dictat,how nice we can use Imperial as long as it is by the side of some French Revolutionary measurements.
You are saying we went through the metric terror for fuck all,typical dim little liberal.
Ooh! You go outside, how very brave of you.You and your mates should have a cruise round Moss Side and Cheetham Hill if you don’t fancy Glodwick.Wear your Kevlar underwear.
Sorry, I’m struggling to comprehend the sheer terror people must have endured.
Moss Side, Cheetham hill, Hulme etc….I’d be the first to say they’re not the nicest of areas, but no-go muslim enclaves? Someone needs a reality check I think..
But Wraith old thing,do tell him not to try to sell a pound of apples otherwise he”ll end up in prison.
Peter | 08.01.08 – 1:06 pm | #
Off thread again I’m afraid – but useful for all our non-UK readers:
The “offence” surely is selling produce weighed on machines not calibrated in the units laid down by law. That has been the law since long before metrication – reflecting Edward I’s statue which laid down the principle that there should be but one unit (of whatever) throughout the kingdom. The process whereby we moved from Imperial to SI units has been a long one (and incidentally started years before we joined the EU) and almost all commerce in the UK is now carried out in SI units except retail sales of milk and beer. The pound is not an SI unit but you can still sell a pound of apples as long as you use scales calibrated by your local Trading Standards Officer.
If you don’t you may be fined and your old scales possibly confiscated – but I don’t think you would go to prison except for failure to pay the fine.
Justin Webb’s (Clueless About) America Blog just goes from strength to strength. Today’s entry clearly demonstrates the blinkered mindset from which he approaches all analysis of the US scene.
McCain is leading the New Hampshire polls (and won the first little district that voted at midnight), so Justin’s thoughts are currently taken up with wondering if McCain is strong enough to take on Obama.
“In the absence of another terrorist attack, how does he convince a more relaxed “post war”-feeling nation, that a gritty, elderly man is the right choice?”
The utter obtuseness of this statement is not surprising. This sums up in a nutshell what Justin thinks of the whole war on terror, the realities of what the US currently faces, and the opinions of real Americans (aside from Obama and Clinton dupes). The only reason Americans might want a president who has taken any other position than complete surrender is if there is another terrorist attack. Astonishingly blind, appallingly narrow-minded.
The comments section of Justin’s recent posts feature an inordinate number of young people swooning over Obama. Words like “charisma”, “new”, and “inspiring”. There are also at least two people who close their comments with “Stay safe, Obama”. It’s no wonder the BBC have given over to Obama-mania, against their better judgment that Americans are too racist to elect him. Too bad Justin and his cohorts don’t realize that half of these inspired youngsters won’t bother to vote on the day.
A good take on all of Justin Webb’s (Clueless About) America Blog can be found in this comment on today’s post:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/2008/01/battle_for_the_middle_1.html#c5579612
BTW, this is a comment by someone from the UK, not me.
Matt London,
Preparation,the standardisation began before there was any public admission of a Common Market,let alone European Economic Community or European Union.The germ of the EU came after WWI,this monstrosity has been a long time in the making.
But why should anybody be fined for using weights and measures that people were used to?
Why do we bovinely accept all the fuckwitted ideas foisted upon us by a shower of shysters and mountebanks?
“Moss Side, Cheetham hill, Hulme etc….I’d be the first to say they’re not the nicest of areas, but no-go muslim enclaves? Someone needs a reality check I think..”
When did you last go Benji?
No-go area is probably not the right term. Indeed in some areas, such as parts of Ballsall Heath in Brum many would say that the influx of muslims has had a positive effect in terms of street crime and general safety. Street prostitution has also gone down markedly in this area.
But I guess you have to balance that with the feeling that the area has been virtually completely taken over by those of the muslim persuasion, and one wonders about what the young men are studying and how the women are being treated, and how many can speak English etc.