General BBC-related comment thread!

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.

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177 Responses to General BBC-related comment thread!

  1. Atlas shrugged says:

    If anyone of you lot ever considered what exactly a true conservative really is, and what conservatism actually achieves. This is my opinion on the matter, which may or may not help.

    I am Atlas.

    I do therefore represent the individual human spirit, that alone ‘holds up’ the ENTIRE GLOBE. IMO there is absolutely nothing, more conservative then that.

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  2. Jack Bauer says:

    From my OED

    MOVEMENT — a group of people working together to advance their shared political, social or artistic ideas.

    Hence a “conservative movement” that one can either leave or join on many levels. You seem to be working under the misapprehension the phrase is a proper noun. there is no Conservative Party in the United States.

    Anything else would be idiotic wouldn’t it?
    Cockney | 19.11.08 – 5:49 pm | #

    You’re the expert on idiocy. Don’t you have anything better to do than make idiotic points, or attempt to find distictions without a difference?

    Seriously dude, less of the pompous pseudo-intellect, please.

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  3. AndrewSouthLondon says:

    Publishing party membership would have smoked out more of the doubtful relationship between extreme Far-Left parties and our cosy legal system on a nice earner for defending terrorists. Case in point this repulsive woman –

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Christian

    http://www.christiankhan.co.uk/ViewNews.asp?NewsID=138

    More money needed for “Skooools and ‘ospitals!?” Gordon tells us when they piss it away on the red lawyers. Or perhaps the Belmarsh detainees paid for ther own briefs at £90 an hour. Ahem I think not.

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  4. GCooper says:

    Linda Smith – hard Left.

    Though I disagree with their politics, the BNP has been shamefully treated by the BBC over this – as usual.

    They allowed that smug windbag, Lord Lester (a man with a voice begging for a slap,) to shout down a speaker with an opposing view, when they waxed lyrical on this topic, earlier today.

    Lester it was who came up with the act allowing trades unions to ban BNP members from membership. Fair enough, were unions genuinely private organisations – but they are not. The act is, in effect, a further bar to employment for BNP members.

    And who from the BNP did the BBC ask to provide balance to this repellent Leftist? Actually, it was Dr Sean Gabb of the Libertarian Alliance (and I’m fairly sure they referred to him as ‘Gadd’, throughout).

    Whatever one thinks of the BNP, it is not the BBC’s job to openly campaign against it – particularly, as has been pointed out, given its missionary zeal for equally extreme points of view from the Left.

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  5. Whiteswineilliberal says:

    Whilst having no truck with the BNP,I see the Labour party as far more dangerous.But isn’t this all part of the coming election campaign? It is Labour from whom the BNP was taking voters.All part and parcel of the get Osborne neutralise the opposition.Lord Minge is back.

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  6. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Robert Peston’s at it again. Yesterday and today he has been explaining that yes, HBOS really will be taken over by Lloyds, and that the loss of jobs, etc., is better than being nationalized. Peston has been warning (correctly, in my view) against nationalization of banks from the start, so that’s consistent.

    Because he has figured out that some people will want to blame someone for the loss of jobs, he points to Alistair Darling, and “some members of the government”. The thing is, when the Lloyds takeover was first announced – by Peston on his blog, which caused a share price reaction which he still pretends not to notice – he was claiming that his very own Mr. Brown was behind it all. He reinforced this idea in some of his on-air appearances.

    This takeover was going to happen all along, and the “government” wanted it from the start because they didn’t want to deal with another Northern Rock so soon. It was even covered on this blog. Now that it’s finally going through, people are having to confront the idea of the usual post-takeover massive job loss.

    I’m sure Peston could hear the grumbling in his comments section before he hit “Save” on yesterday’s blog post. Better shift the blame from Dear Leader, and fast. Thank you, Darling.

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  7. Jonathan Boyd Hunt says:

    GCooper | 19.11.08 – 8:24 pm;

    GCooper, I’m very aware you’ve taken an interest in our research over the years, so, given your above post, you’ll be interested to know that Lord Anthony Lester QC is actually an acquiescent ‘conspirator’ in the Guardian-Fayed criminal cover-up with respect to the Cash for Questions affair.

    I use scare quotes around the word conspirator because Lester had no active role, though his role as represented by Fayed and The Guardian is fundamental to their cover-up.

    According to the Guardian-Fayed camp, the Cash for Questions affair began when Fayed asked his counsel, Lord Anthony Lester QC, to contact The Guardian’s then chairman, Hugo Young, offering information about certain MPs’ misdemeanours, of which CfQ was one aspect.

    The evidence proves that this account is false. The evidence proves that it was the other way round – the evidence proves that the Guardian had contacted Fayed through his counsel Lord Lester (who was a close friend of Hugo Young) seeking assistance with the paper’s ongoing proactive inquiries into the lobbyist Ian Greer (who, of course, is the person whom The Guardian went on to accuse of bribing Neil Hamilton to table parliamentary questions).

    Which is why Lester has never uttered a single word nor ever signed a witness statement about his role as represented by the The Guardian and Fayed.

    All interesting stuff, eh?

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  8. GCooper says:

    It certainly is, JBH, and altogether typical of how the Left operates.

    Thirty or forty years ago, the common complaint was about ‘the establishment’ – by which the young Turks meant the upper-class Tory establishment.

    Well, they’ve replaced that with a close network of corrupt lawyers, broadcasters, journalists, academics and CEOs all of their very own.

    The dire consequences are all around us.

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  9. Jonathan Boyd Hunt says:

    GCooper | 19.11.08 – 9:45 pm:

    You got that right. (And thanks for your interest in our work, BTW.)

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  10. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The BBC seems to use any opportunity to show a little Venezuela love.

    Connecting Classrooms is an educational exchange program run by the British Council, and has projects all over the world.

    However, nobody would ever know that from this BBC report about the latest exchange visit of British teachers to Caracas:

    UK teachers taught Latin lessons

    The article opens right up with a shameless mention of Red Ken’s Venezuelan oil deal, and his stint as a traffic adviser in Caracas. The rest of the article is seemingly unbiased, with lovely accounts of an open and earnest exchange of education ideas (despite the one-sided headline). It’s unbiased right until the very end:

    Current Mayor of London Boris Johnson may have scrapped the city’s oil deal with Venezuela but for now, it seems, the informal twinning of Caracas and south-east England continues to flourish.

    Say what? The “informal twinning”? So Red Ken’s plans covered all of like Kent and Sussex as well? And despite the fact that Connecting Classrooms has an international reach, and has nothing whatsoever to do anything Red Ken or Hugo Chavez, this is really part of some special relationship with Caracas?

    No, it’s just the BBC using a completely innocent story for their own nefarious political agenda. This was decided by an editor, no doubt.

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  11. Jimbob says:

    al qaeda vs. obama

    which side is al beeb on ?

    when it’s bush vs. osama then you are a valiant anit globalisation warrior.the evil bush will fail inshallah.

    when it’s osama vs. obama it’s all change. this is what al beeb says about al zawahiri’s “house negro” comment –

    “Barack Obama is hugely popular world-wide and his colour and background make him a much tougher target to attack than President George W Bush in the eyes of a global audience..”

    roughly translated from beebspeak – everyone loves obama. we don’t like osama now we have obama.

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  12. Robert S. McNamara says:

    Did the BBC used to report al-Zawihiri videos? Or even bin Laden ones for that matter? Or is it just because it’s to do with Obama? That’s a genuine enquiry.

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  13. TPO says:

    Nick Cohen never ceases to surprise.

    Let the BBC beware of the wrath of suburbia

    http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23588996-details/Let+the+BBC+beware+of+the+wrath++of+suburbia/article.do

    ‘……As for the Tories, David Cameron recalled “sitting next to a BBC presenter at a function and being told it was just about all right to have Conservative politicians on the radio, but ‘there weren’t really any you would want to see socially’.”
    Having had similar private confirmations of BBC bias I can say with assurance that a sliver of ice enters the heart when you realise some at the corporation can never be even-handed.
    My guess is that the Tories in power will slash funding, and Labour will do the same if it wins. It’s the smart political move, after all. There are more votes in suburbia than the Groucho Club.’

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  14. Jack Hughes says:

    < ahref="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?sortBy=2&forumID=5673&edition=2&ttl=20081120003136&#paginator">What should be done to combat piracy?

    Some great posts – especially…

    Only negotiate with the pirates via the HYS webpages. After waiting hours for their messages not to appear the pirates would soon get disheartened and look for something else to do.

    Andy, Chashire

    Recommended by 97 people

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  15. George R says:

    ‘Times’ report:

    “BBC One and BBC Two to stream live online from next week”

    (by Dan Sabbagh, Media Editor)

    [Extract]:

    “The BBC is to begin showing all its programmes live over the internet from next week, raising questions about the long-term viability of the licence fee.

    “Critics said that although viewers would still need to buy a licence to watch programmes on their computers, it would become harder to ensure payment. There are also questions over whether the telephone network could cope with the expected rise in internet traffic.

    “Sir Howard Davies, the director of the London School of Economics, who sat on a committee reviewing the future of the licence fee at the beginning of the decade, said: ‘What are they going to do? Seize your computer and look through your history? Can you imagine the licensing people doing that level of enforcement?'”

    http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article5191774.ece

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  16. Roland Deschain says:

    Can you imagine the licensing people doing that level of enforcement?

    Yes.

    What a wonderful excuse for the Government to snoop on us even more.

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  17. Peter says:

    From my Aunty… in Singapore.

    How did these comedians see it coming when financial reporters did not?

    http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/187.html

    Interesting how others see us.

    A bunch of clowns. At least we’re still good at that.

    I have commended to her the ongoing observational series that is Silly Money.

    http://www.channel4.com/video/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=bremner-bird-and-fortune-silly-money

    Might be worth some in Aunty checking it out to see how to ‘do’ finance… and quality comedy.

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  18. DB says:

    Ted Nugent has been threatening to run for public office for years but BBC Radio Ulster’s Stuart Baillie has just heard the news and finds the prospect far too alarming:
    The last time I saw Ted he was in his dressing room at the Hammersmith Apollo. He was raving about the outdoor life, about hunting with a bow and arrow and the paternal pride he felt when his song (sic) killed his first deer. We were lectured in the finer points of skinning said animal (“first you make a slit in the anal vent..”) and then we bid him farewell.
    Ted’s views have become even more alarming in recent years, and the guy is threatening to run as Republican Governor of Michigan in 2012. You should be warned.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stuartbailie/2008/11/the_shock_of_the_nuge.shtml

    Warned? Try thrilled, delighted, amused, enthused…

    And I see Justin Webb has addressed the How Obama Got Elected video/poll. His response – yeah but no but yeah but what about McCain voters?
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/2008/11/confirming_our_prejudices.html

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Baffoon Boris Johnson on BBC Today program

    Boris Johnson walked right in to the John Humphrys set up this morning and undid six months Tory campaign work.. At the top of his voice John Humphrys was allowed to say “Gordon Browns financial plan is working” Johnson may as well have not been there.
    Boris Johnson has become a liability to the Conservative Party

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  20. Biodegradable says:

    DB,

    A thoroughly amusing and inspiring interview here with Ted Nugent:
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ted-nugent-off-his-rocker-479556.html

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  21. TPO says:

    Lead story on the BBC website:

    Retail sales bring scant comfort
    http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7738947.stm

    Ah! I see it’s all the fault of business, and if not, the consumers.
    Meanwhile in the real world here is the real lead news story.

    Biggest deficit since records began reveal state of public finances
    The deteriorating state of Britain’s public finances was underlined with figures that showed the biggest deficit since records began in 1993.
    ……”Had the government been more disciplined when times were good it would have more room for manoeuvre now that we are entering recession. Higher taxes and/or lower spending are certain once the economy has been restored to health,” he said.
    The Government’s £43billion projected borrowing is now far out of reach for the Treasury, and Mr Darling is expected to rip up those projections at the Pre-Budget Report.
    Economists at Capital Economics believe that borrowing could be as high as £70billion this year, rising to £150billion over the next few years.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/3490172/Biggest-deficit-since-records-began-reveal-state-of-public-finances.html

    The BBC. Just a stupid propaganda machine for Labour

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  22. George R says:

    ‘Evening Standard’, Londoner’s Diary:

    “Beeb number crunching” :

    “THE troops are revolting at the BBC. In a letter to today’s ‘Ariel’, the Beeb inhouse paper, a senior BBC producer David Gallagher has come up with this radical intiative. ‘Inspired by Mark Thompson’s stirring defence of his pay packet, I dug out the annual report and the back of an envelope. Last year Thompson got £816,000. The prime minister got between £180,000 and £190,000. Suppose we’d paid Thompson £150,000 and similarly scaled down the salaries of the other 671 BBC managers who were paid over £70,000. After the DG, the next big cheeses could have their salaries scaled down to £130,000; the next 11 from c£235,000 to £120,000; next 15 from c£205,000 to £110,000; next 44 from c£175,000 to £100,000; next 89 from c£145,000 to £90,000; next 171 from c£115,000 to £80,000 and the next 329 from c£85,000 to £70,000. The total annual saving would be £25,970,000.

    “‘Last year the basic grade 6 salary in London was £26,519; the base grade 7 salary outside London was £25,647. So we could employ about 1000 extra production staff. Just a thought.'”

    http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2008/11/beeb-number-cru.html

    (Yes, but why should that annual saving of BBC licencepayers’ money be spent on an extra 1000 BBC production staff? Do those figures exclude Mr. J.Ross’s £6m a year?)

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  23. MarkE says:

    One of the current “debates” on (D)HYS is What has the space station achieved?

    One might have thought it was the job of a broadcaster to include some coverage so we knew what it had achieved. We could then have an informed debate on whether we thought it was value for money, or correctly directed, or if the international dimension was compromising the research, or almost anything about the damned thing. Instead the BBC has to ask what is actually being done.

    It was Naughty proudly boasting that he understood (and wanted to understand) nothing about science that made me finally give up on the Toady programme, and today is the first time I’ve regretted that decision, having heard about Sir Phillip Green’s conversation with Humphreys.

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  24. George R says:

    MarkE 4:13 pm

    Apparently we’ll have to wait until 2009 for the BBC’s approach to science, exemplified in its 3-part ‘Science and Islam’ TV series to be presented by an Iraqi-born physicist.

    In this, we will get more on the myth of the “achievement of the great scientists of the medieval Islamic world” (BBC press release/propaganda).

    A counterview to BBC:

    “Hyping Islam’s role in the History of Science”
    http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/07/hyping_islam_s_role_in_the_his.html

    ALSO: another counterview to BBC on this:

    “Fjordman:Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, Parts 1,2 and 3”

    http://jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/018368.php

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  25. David Preiser (USA) says:

    DB | 20.11.08 – 11:38 am |

    Classic BBC inanity. Nice finds.

    From Baillie we get more accepted prejudice from the BBC about who should be disqualified from holding public office, simply because they have beliefs not approved by the Leftoids.

    Attention all hunters: the BBC is perfectly happy to let their presenters tell you that you should be prohibited from holding public office. But terminal heroine users are cool, compared to someone who hunts and carries a gun. If I was a hunter, I’d be organizing a group complaint to the BBC right now.

    (Actually, if Ted Nugent is elected governor, the citizens of Michigan should be more worried about letting their teenage daughters near him than anything else.)

    And then right on cue, the original BBC bigot himself, Justin Webb, doesn’t know what to make of the video showing up the mindlessness of some Obamessiah supporters, simply because his usual sources haven’t told him what to think yet. Instead, he links to a waffle in the Western Standard (Hey Justin, that’s a friggin’ Canadian outlet. Is that the best you can do?). Alistair Cooke is spinning in his grave.

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  26. George R says:

    BBC propaganda for its ‘multiculturalist’ Britain, writ large here:

    ‘Our First Plural City’
    Thursday 20 November 2008 20:00-20:30 (Radio 4 FM)

    “Tim Whewell reports from the city of Leicester, which in the next few years is predicted to become Europe’s first ‘plural city’, where no one group is in a majority.

    “He explores the ‘Leicester Model’ of successful race relations, and the way in which different ethnic communities coexist alongside a dwindling inner-city white population. Tim finds out where the power lies in the government of the city and how the multicultural fabric of the city will fare as the newer arrivals jostle with the white and Asian communities in a time of looming recession.”

    (BBC ‘multiculturalist’ summary of programme’s outlook and model for a future Britain, resulting from stealth mass immigration.)

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  27. johnj says:

    Typical BBC tea and sympathy for terrorists!

    “Tired of terror”
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/11/081103_tired_of_terror.shtml

    One really does “feel” for Iram, and as the bbc journalist says:
    “He’s so young looking it’s hard to believe he ever wielded a gun but he was a central member of feared terror cell Hizbbul Mujhadeen.”

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