Monthly Archives: October 2008

JUSTIN-NIT FOR THE POISON

By | | ,
44 Comments

.

Wondered if anyone else has been reading Justin Webb’s blog today? Even by his twisted and prejudiced standards, it is dripping with anti-Palin toxicity! Justin is plainly disturbed to witness just how popular Sarah Palin is with Main Street but he admonishes “And yet the Palin world-view – essentially ignorant, unable to name a single paper read – is not the view that a nation facing an economic catastrophe, complex and international and baffling to most minds, is likely to choose.” He goes further saying that “to hear Palin screeching on about Reagan must be painful to many Republicans who knew him. Reagan knew what papers he read. ” Got that – screeching and ignorant.

For years the lousy BBC ridiculed Ronald Reagan, now they ridicule Sarah Pale and Justin Webb is to the fore in the character assassination. Any pretence of objective reporting has been jettisoned and we now see the full-on pro-Dem bias that the BBC exudes. I hope the McCain-Palin camp are observing this.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

NEW BALLS?

By | |
23 Comments

Wonder what you make of the news that the BBC spent thousands of pounds in licence fee payers’ cash entertaining an astonishing 170 guests at Wimbledon?

“The corporation lavished £81,000 on a three-day hospitality event at this year’s championships, equal to almost £500 a head. The gathering was hosted by Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons and trustee Diane Coyle, the wife of BBC reporter Rory Cellan-Jones. They were treated to what was acclaimed as the ‘best-ever Wimbledon final’.The broadcaster’s Wimbledon entertaining budget included a £53,528 bill for ‘marquee and associated costs’ and another £18,281 for hospitality. So now you know how your money is being spent.”

Still, I bet the champagne and strawberries were most enjoyable….

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

DON’T BLAME THE COUNCILS.

By | |
26 Comments

It strikes me that Local Councils throughout the UK are quite often the repository of some of the worst forms of petty-minded bureaucratic tyranny. So you can see the appeal to the BBC which has provided a ringing defence of the financial mess in which many of these Councils now find themselves care of ill-judged financial investment in Icelandic banks! On “Today” this morning, the line being retailed was that the Councils appeal to Chancellor Darling to be treated just as ordinary investors was pretty fair given that central government has encouraged local councils to generate as much financial return as possible. No mention of the fact that investment carries risk and therefore local councils must be conservative in their investment strategies since they are investing our money. Rarely have I heard local councils being given such a doe-eyed PR makeover – even as they lose millions of rate-payers cash. You can always rely on the BBC to support incompetent Statism at every level.

And while we are at it, have you notice the way in which the BBC refers to the US financial package as a “bail-out” whilst the Brown/Darling plan is a “rescue plan”?How nice. The rehabilitation of the Great Leader is now complete as the BBC demonstrated earlier today with the news in “Today in Parliament” that even his critics were now behind him and his innate caution is now being trumpeted as his greatest strength. Wonder if that was the same caution that led the Great Leader to sell off UK gold reserves at virtually an all-time low price, for example? Guess we’ll never know because the BBC sure as hell will not brook any criticism of Prudence in these changed times. What joy it is to have a multi-channel Pravda that we must fund.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

General BBC-related comment thread!

By | |
80 Comments

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

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

THE ITALIAN ECONOMIC MIRACLE

By | |
44 Comments

Well, on a day that sees the partial nationalisation of the British banking system (Cue quick chorus of the Red Flag?) who would have figured that the EU represents a safe haven from global economic woes? Italians, that who – and the BBC was there to convey the news to us! I caught a report on Today before 7am this morning which sang the praises of the EU and the Euro in particular. It revolved around a gathering of businessmen in Northern Italy and they were oh so happy to be part of the wonderful EU. Then again, with Italy being a basket-case of an economy, is that really surprising? Still, what excellent luck the BBC managed to track down this group of Italian Europhiles, eh?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

CHANCELLOR PESTON..

By | | ,
69 Comments

..

Is BBC business editor Robert Peston now running the UK economy, or merely ruining it? I ask this having endured watching him droning away on The Ten O’Clock News and reading this latest entry on the BBC news portal. He hails the Brown £50bn bail out as our banking system is partly nationalised, suggesting that it will make the banks stronger and more ready to lend. It’s been interesting to see a lot of criticism across the blogosphere directed the BBC’s way over the hysterical financial grandstanding by Mr Peston and his apparent admiration for Labour. We are not alone.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

GORDON PREVAILS

By | |
Comments Off on GORDON PREVAILS

The message is clear. Labour has now rallied behind Gordonfollowing his very successful Party conference, the critics have one by one come on board, and in these “serious” times we do need a “serious” political leader such as Mr Brown. That is the narrative that the Labour leadership seeks to convey and it is the narrative that the BBC has obligingly been running with on their behalf. It has permeated BBC news for the past several weeks and it is warning to David Cameron that he will NOT be given a even break by the State Broadcaster, regardless of how liberal he presents himself. The BBC wants to Save Gordon and that is all that matters, the rest is detail. We see a BBC which asks no hard questions of the Brown years as Chancellor. There is an economic memory hole into which the Beeb consigns all of Brown’s disastrous decision making (Anyone got an update on the price of Gold today?) This is the State Broadcaster using its 24/7 influence to re-write history and present the man who took your old age pension as the man who will help save the global economic crisis. You couldn’t make it up.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

General BBC-related comment thread!

By | |
122 Comments

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.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

WHAT EXTINCTION?

By | |
44 Comments

First, let’s quote the facts .There are some 4500 species of mammals , there have been around 110 extinctions, which is 2.444% of the total, or 0.00611% per annum. That’s not a very big figure to worry about, right? But the BBC headline today is “Mammals facing extinction threat” with the further sensational line that 25% of all mammals are on the way out. Oh, and just in case you still don’t embrace the eco-wackery, there’s a fetching picture of a baby seal to pull those heart strings. I appreciate that there is a lobby such as that represented by the Red List of Threatened Species which has a right to have its opinion heard, but by the same token there are many others who profoundly dispute this unscientific sensational. The BBC prefers to only offer a platform to the former group.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

THE ANSWER IS THE EU

By | |
44 Comments

I was interested in the suggestion made by the BBC this morning that the answer for Iceland’s current financial woes is..to join the EU. (Today programme) They never miss the chance to promote the EUSSR, do they? I was also amused by Robert Peston’s blog entry which pretends that Germany’s decision to underwrite ALL of retail savers interests may not quite mean that – so getting Brown, Darling and the gang short term reprieve out of having to respond in kind here. I suggest that what is lost in translation is what suits the BBC’s business editor.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.