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 also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.
General BBC-related comment thread!
Bookmark the permalink.
“How come Sony can put copy protection on CD’s etc but the world 5th largest ecocomy can’t?
Martin | 17.06.08 – 11:12 pm”
indeed. IR35 had something to do with it… destroyed the freelance IT contractor market – and most of those brains went off to America, Switzerland and other more favourable climes…
And IR35 was introduced by – none other than Gordon Brown.
david – you are kidding me.
he really DID say this:
“and a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably.”
my my – thats one hell of a “change” to Reagan’s quotes about government.
i hope to God – and i am atheist, so i dont say that lightly(!) – that America seens sense and doesnt vote for a Marxist.
for that is what he is. period. end of.
Anyone ever noticed that the “great political minds” don’t seem to ever sod off and leave us alone and go overseas?
why should they Martin? the teat of the taxpayer gravy train is too much for them to pull away.
they cannot face the shock and horror of going to a foreign clime and actually making it for themselves.
i dunno if anyone has noticed – but the media luvvies seem to infect the BBC with a “britain is the best place ever ever ever”, whereas the reality is that the French, Germans, Yanks, Aussies etc couldnt give a shit if Britain sank tommorow. the rest of the world will continue on.
Brilliant! Obama is a Marxist! This place never ceases to entertain me.
by the way – thats not meant to be an anti-britain comment. its just reality. britain is a nice place (in parts) – but its not the entire world.
and lot of normal British people have that attitude. well, except the beeboids on the taxpayer gravy train – then you end up with the rampant anti-americanism of the likes of Jeremy Clarkson (right wing, but loved by the luvvies cos he hates America…)
“korova | 17.06.08 – 11:28 pm ”
bit too heavy on the Moloko tonight, eh?
sorry mate, but when someone says something, all you can do is take it as face value.
explain to me Korova Milk Bar, which bit of
“and a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably.”
is not marxist?
cos i cant find it.
“Biodegradable | 17.06.08 – 7:29 pm
Yes, Bio-D, by publishing the Hamas press release version that there is, in fact, a truce, as a headline, even though it is not confirmed by Israel, the BBC invariably will have free reign to blame Israel should the truce be “violated” or even “not agreed to” ultimately.
simon | 17.06.08 – 9:58 pm |”
And, in fact, Biodegradable, lo and behold here is the infinitely more responsible Guardian headline: “Hamas claims agreement with Israel on Gaza truce”. ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/17/israelandthepalestinians.egypt )
No been cutting down on the old Moloko my old chelloveck.
Martin | 17.06.08 – 6:32 pm |
Interesting that when that garage was charging £2 a litre people were still paying for it. That means McBean knows there is a lot more that can be screwed out of people yet.
A no brainer surely? I’ll continue to fill up the DB9 until there’s only me on the road. And it drinks like a Prescott in a brewery.
Of course people will pay – THEY HAVE TO if they want to get to work – not everyone has a bus near them that goes where they want.
When will you stop paying? £5, £10 per litre?
I would say more Keynesian than Marxist, gaping maw
Didn’t the Labour party do this already?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7459695.stm
The Cattle Prod of Destiny: Actually my company pays my fuel so they can charge £20 a litre so long as it gets all those unwashed Labour voters off the road and onto buses!!!
Blears is a liberal. The obvious questions will not be asked.
It’s the template!! It’s the template.
Here’s how it works. We are the kgBBC and we all know that liberals have no bad intent. Liberals are good, warm loving and caring. If a liberal is caught with his/her hand in the cookie jar, he/she was merely trying to feed the children.
Nothing to see here. Story over.
Cattle prod. The left wants the prices on fuel to be high. They want to FORCE you stop driving. Their problem is. THEIR CONSTITUENCIES are the ones who’ll be fu@3ed. Not me. I’m going to drive and I’m living nearly 30 miles outside of my city.
Liberals are retarded. Thus they are LIBTARDS. They don’t EVER tell the truth. They talk in circles. Here in America LIBTARDS don’t want us to drill for our own oil. WE HAVE ZILLIONS OF BARRELS.
They want to control peoples habits and life style choices.
They say it’s for the environment or that we need “alternative sources” or the fish will die, the birds will suffer, the children will get tooth decay.
They’re liars. They want YOU to do what THEY want.
BOB
Thanks for the assurance mate – i thought perhaps the critique of “bird” was very BBC.
It was freddy forsyth i have found out.
PBUH
I don’t know whether anyone else has commented on this but the Czech president is a very interesting man and his views on climate change are so far removed from the BBC consensus as to make him a candidate for “the man we most hate” in the perfumed corridors of the BBC.This is apart from his less than enthusiastic comments on the Lisbon treaty.He has published a book
“Blue Planet in Green Shackles” and his address to the National press club of Washington on the 27th May(sorry I cannot give a link but it is easy to find)is somwhat forthright in equating the new tyranny of climate change orthodoxy with the old tyranny of marxism.Would not think the BBC and it’s fellow travellers will give much if any publicity to him or his book.Stand by for a onslaught on those unreliable Czechs from our usual suspects.
“Brilliant! Obama is a Marxist! This place never ceases to entertain me.”
His mother and father were both Marxists.
… even though it is not confirmed by Israel, the BBC invariably will have free reign to blame Israel should the truce be “violated” or even “not agreed to” ultimately.
simon | 17.06.08 – 9:58 pm
Eggsactally!!!
It’s a tried and tested tactic that they’ve used before and it works for them.
Note also that true to Palestinian form they’re already reneging on promises made to the BBC before the “ceasefire” has even come into effect:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7459200.stm
Palestinian and Egyptian officials say the truce is to come into effect at 0600 (0300 GMT) on Thursday. As well as a halt to all hostilities, this stage of the deal also envisages a partial reopening of Gaza’s borders, they add.
A second stage would focus on the return of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and on a deal to reopen the main Rafah crossing into Egypt, they say.
Who says?
Zahar: No link between Gaza truce and Schalit
“There is no link between the [Gaza] truce deal and [captured IDF soldier] Gilad Schalit,” Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Tuesday during a press conference in the Strip.
Speaking after Hamas official Halil al-Haya outlined the details of the purported cease-fire agreement, Zahar said Hamas would not put down its weapons, because he did not believe Israel would implement the cease-fire. “We don’t trust them, but let’s see,” he said.
By the way, you’d think the BBC would report that some of the terrorists slotted yesterday by the IDF were involved in Al An-Johnson’s kidnapping.
IAF kills five linked to Schalit capture
Five members of the Army of Islam – the group involved in the capture of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit and the kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnson – were killed Tuesday when an IAF aircraft targeted a car in the southern Gaza Strip, east of Khan Yunis.
According to Palestinian reports, among the dead was the commander of the organization, Muntaz Dughmush.
Huzzah!
Compare and contrast:
The BBC says this man was insulted about his weight
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7458873.stm
Strangely enough I had already read this in the local paper the Birmingham Evening Mail, where the story was it would appear verbatimly copied from.
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2008/06/17/hospital-apology-over-fat-comment-97319-21086785/
Except of course it was way stronger and more offensive a comment by the radiographer, showing the whole spitefulness of the real story, the BBC decided not to report the phrase (even though it was appropriately censored) despite virtually word for word on the rest of the story.
Forget that everyone has a right to use the hospital for healing the sick, expect a certain bedside manner and the employees concerned would not have a job if it weren’t for the sick in their hospital.
But hey, why not make it out its a fatty complaning about virtually nothing eh BBC?
I bet you were only sad he wasn’t American.
David Preiser (USA) | 17.06.08 – 9:11 pm
gaping maw | 17.06.08 – 9:43 pm
You both appear to have totally missed the point about Robert Peston’s blog. He was not writing his own views but was rather being ‘in character’ as announced at the top:
This is an open letter to the governor of the Bank of England and to the chancellor of the exchequer from Mr Two-Point-Two, a thirty-four-year old school teacher from Anytown, UK.
Geddit?
Spot the missing word:
Reuters UK: Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza truce
Daily Mail: Israel and Hamas to begin Gaza truce tomorrow
Guardian: Israel and Hamas agree ceasefire
Times: Hamas and Israel ‘agree ceasefire’
Telegraph: Hamas and Israel agree truce after months of talks
Independent: Israel and Hamas ‘agree Gaza truce’
Mirror: Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza truce
Associated press: Hamas says it’s reached cease-fire with Israel
and The BBC: Israel agrees to Gaza ceasefire
Hugh | 18.06.08 – 9:40 am
Israel Agrees to Truce With Hamas in Gaza • New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/world/middleeast/19mideast.html?partner=MOREOVERNEWS&ei=5040
Israel confirms agreement to Gaza truce with Hamas • Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1726455820080618
Israel and Hamas ‘agree truce’ • BBC (04:43 GMT)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7459200.stm
So no real bias point there at all.
And how do you find that story if you don’t work at the BBC? It’s not on the front page or Middle East section and seems to have been replaced less than three hours later by this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7460504.stm
Is the BBC obliged to do a video report every time Spencer Tunick does one of his nudist “installations”? I presume that other artists exist but the BBC doesn’t seem to think so!
I’ve just listened to Radio 2’s Che Lives! I think “shit” is the kindest thing I can say about it. It should be used in journalism schools as an example of how not to make a documentary. Totally biased and at times laughably bad. In fact, I did laugh out loud at one point when the obtrusive background music (which never ceases for the entire headache-inducing hour) suddenly turned into a dah-diddley-diddley Irish folk song to signify Guevara’s trip to Ireland. If he’d visited Scotland I’m sure we’d have heard “Donald Where’s Your Troosers?”
Don’t waste your time listening to this crap (they should put my face on a fucking T-shirt • I’m the real martyr for having suffered through such bollocks). All you need to know about the documentary’s bias can be gleaned from the fact that the opening and closing comments are both made by George Galloway.
Galloway at the beginning of the programme (speaking over the Beatles’ ‘Revolution’ – it must’ve taken all of ½ a second to come up with that inspired choice): “Well I think Che Guevara’s the most inspiring man of our era and Che of course said that the true revolutionary is motivated first and foremost by love. Love of mankind. Love of humanity.”
Galloway at the end of the programme: “Not only in life was Guevara this extraordinarily striking image but in death even more so. Nobody will ever forget Che Guevara and his mission, his ideology, his sacrifice inspires other now getting on for two generations later and I don’t think it will be different a hundred years from now.”
That certainly will be the case if the BBC continues to broadcast blatant propaganda like this. Next time they want to make a documentary about this commie murderer with a legacy of totalitarian brutality I suggest they get a different Hollywood actor to help out; instead of Antonio Banderas they should ask Andy Garcia.
IAF kills five linked to Schalit capture
Five members of the Army of Islam – the group involved in the capture of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit and the kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnson – were killed Tuesday when an IAF aircraft targeted a car in the southern Gaza Strip, east of Khan Yunis.
Mossad sends its regards.
I can only assume the Israeli’s must have definitive knowledge that Gilad has been murdered.
typo — I mean “Israelis”
Surprise surprise, the BBC running yet another story about Tory corruption on News 24:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7461032.stm
BBC and the rain in Spain.
In case you missed it.
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/rain_in_spain/
marc | Homepage | 18.06.08 – 11:47 am
I tipped Tim that one. Mentioned it here first.
Hugh | 18.06.08 – 11:08 am
And how do you find that story if you don’t work at the BBC? It’s not on the front page or Middle East section …
Until a short time ago (and including the time you first posted) it was actually linked as a key story from the right hand column of the very story you cited. It has now been overtaken by events and quite properly removed.
Isn’t the British judicial system wonderful? – It has allowed bail to Abu Qatada, described in the reasonable, but not brilliant, BBC report as ‘Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe’, BUT the conditions of bail do exclude him from attending a mosque.
Are the Judges catching on and realising that there may be a connection between the teachings of Islam, and jihad against infidels?
The Labour government has shown how easy it is for such Islamic jihadists and their supporters to get into the UK, via the stealth mass immigration policy which has assisted so many of them from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Somalia, Algeria, Jordan,etc.,etc.
And the Abu Qatada case shows how hard it is to get rid of them.
“Abu Qatada’s bail ‘disappinting'”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7460490.
stm
The ‘Daily Telegraph’ fleshes out its report more, and makes an important point omitted by BBC:
“Even if the government is successful in its appeal to the Law Lords, Qatada could take his case to the European Court on the grounds that deportation would breach his right to a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights.”
Which British political party is committed to taking the UK OUT of the so-called European Convention on Human Rights?
” Abu Qatada: Islamic cleric is released from jail ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2147168/Abu-Qatada-Islamic-cleric-is-released-from-jail.html
I wish that Peston pest would learn how to write and spell properly.
The bankers WHO were responsible… (not WHOM) and… the brunt was BORNE (not BORN), as any fule no.
WHO (not WHOM) is responsible for this man’s illiteracy and how much are they (or rather, WE) paying him for this sub-standard scribbling?
Anonymous: 12:18 pm above is me.
I’m glad I wasn’t alone in wincing at Peston’s appalling grammar. No doubt some BBC lackey will be along in a minute to tell us that was ‘in character’ too.
Looking forward to the programme on Hasidic Jews tonight, should be very interesting. Wonder if there will be an outcry about how some of these sects treat women……
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7458926.stm
I shouldn’t laugh…
I shouldn’t laugh…
Joel | Homepage | 18.06.08 – 1:18 pm | #
Yes you should. Atrocious bit of copy innit.
GCooper:
The funny thing is the character in Peston’s epistle is meant to be a schoolteacher!
Which is it to be?:
1.) BBC report-
“Brown denies French navy merger”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7461261.stm
2.)’Evening Standard’ report-
“France set to hijack our Royal Navy to create a European military force”
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23496123-details/France+set+to+hijack+our+Royal+Navy+to+create+a+European+military+force/article.do
If Obama is a Marxist then what is Bush?
Bush has presided over a massive, illegal socialist welfare handout by the Federal Reserve. By giving $30 billon of taxpayers money to JP Morgan, Ben Bernanke has shown himself to be either corrupt or a total moron, or more likely, both.
Giving welfare handouts to the filthy rich for no logical reason has not done the Republicans any favours.
Anonymous | 18.06.08 – 9:28 am |
You both appear to have totally missed the point about Robert Peston’s blog. He was not writing his own views but was rather being ‘in character’ as announced at the top:
‘”This is an open letter to the governor of the Bank of England and to the chancellor of the exchequer from Mr Two-Point-Two, a thirty-four-year old school teacher from Anytown, UK.”
Geddit?
Yes, I get it. You expect me to believe that Peston doesn’t actually agree with what he is writing; he’s just being a proxy for the thick proles. Peston really knows what’s what, and just believes that the average Brit is confused and has a very poor grasp of the economic situation in which they find themselves (okay, that part is probably true). It can’t possibly be the case that he is writing fully from his own opinion of the economic situation, and that the suggestions and analytical bits are his own beliefs, but he’s just putting it in the context of an average citizen’s perspective.
But you expect me to believe that Peston isn’t putting any of his own opinions or analytical skills (using that term generously) in this little outburst? Do you honestly believe that the business editor of the BBC is going to write such things just for the fun of it, so it’s okay that hardly any of the economic and government points he makes are accurate? In other words, it’s perfectly fine for the business editor of the BBC to spread falsehoods and put erroneous thoughts in the minds of his audience just to make a point?
But let’s play your game, just for a moment. Let’s assume that Peston is just having a laugh, this does not reflect his understanding of economics, and he is merely writing what he believes the average person thinks. Logically, if we’re to take you at your word, this is just proof of what all of us here have been saying for a very long time: that the Beeboids really do hold the public in contempt, looking upon them as the vulgar masses, who must be led by the nose, whose thoughts must be molded by the BBC. Is that how you read this? If so, remember they’re supposed to be very dim, so the subtlety of Peston’s humor may be lost on them. (Oh, the irony, yes, I know.)
Alternatively, prove to me that Peston doesn’t have this muddled economic view, and then I’ll think about it. Until then, I’m not going to fall for it.
Good work, Joel. Now you’ll just have to explain why it was considered front page news and why the BBC – normally so cautious about stirring up tensions – decided to throw caution to the wind on this one and immediately announce the attackers were suspected to be Jewish settlers.
If Obama is a Marxist then what is Bush?
Possibly a neo-mercantilist, but nowhere near a Marxist. He’s definitely someone who understands the importance of big business, although misguided in his belief that the government should bail out their bad decisions. The only “welfare” government should give business is cutting them some slack on their taxes.
Obama is definitely at the socialist end of the spectrum, in that he believes not in equal opportunity but equal results.
Anyone notice this little roundabout anti-war dig in the story about the two animals who shot the teenage kid in his bed in London?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7460553.stm
Former soldier Hakeem, who fell into a life of crime after serving in Iraq, was at a club dealing drugs when his church-going brother was killed.
Is the BBC really sure about this? He was a totally law-abiding guy until of course he was whisked away from his idyllic, respectable upbringing into an atmosphere of war in which he was forced to mix with evil American soldiers, after which his addled war-tainted mind drew him involuntarily into a life of crime he had no control over.
Poor kid. He’s not to blame for his drug dealing – George Bush is.
Here it comes: the BBC’s inevitable long sympathy piece for Abu Qatada. It’s written by the BBC’s Dominic Casciani, but it could have been by S. Chakrabarti herself.
Although this BBC article wrapped itself up in some technicalities of the law, it excludes two vital aspects of the case:
1.) the long list of Islamic jihad activities Abu Qatada has been involved in;
2.) the difficulties of operating traditional British justice now that it is overridden by the European Convention on Human Rights (which the Conservatives and whoever should commit to ending).
So, with the BBC’s omissions on those fronts, we get an insidious al Beeb sympathy story built up for Bin Laden’s ‘right-hand man’.
“Does England have House Arrest?”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7460736.stm
Marcus Brigstocke Watch.
Perhaps the worst example of the lazy art of ‘topical’ comedy is Marcus Brigstocke.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5361/
Zevilyn,
It doesnt take a genious to work out what would have happened had Bear Stearns had been allowed to fold, and the affect that would have had on the entire banking industry (oh, which by the way actually pays the salary’s of a lot of people in america and the UK).
But you know what…at least investors in Bear Sterns still have their shares and although they may be worth a fraction of their former value, they are still worth something and have the ability to appreciate with time.
Compare that to Nothern Rock when it was nationalised. All those small time investers, the average mum and dad invester, lost everything. They no longer have any share holding in the company.
Perhaps if you actually opened both eyes or do us all a favour and go educate yourself on a topic before you start talking dribble.
Mailman