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.
General BBC-related Comment Thread
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Compare Matt Frei’s wide-eyed dance through Fairyland with Theodore Dalrylmple’s more sober assessment.
Eg…
Matt Frei: “…he vowed to have his new director of the congressional budget office go through the existing budgets with a scalpel or an axe, depending on what is needed, to cut out any waste.
Previous presidents-in-waiting have also made such claims. But such is Mr Obama’s steely-eyed determination and unsmiling sense of purpose that you actually believe him.”
Theodore Dalrymple: “When I heard him promise that he would cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, I wondered how anyone could believe it for a moment, or that he would go through the budget line by line, as he said he would. Compared to that, Fairyland is intensely real.”
Matt Frei: “So what about the team? Yes, there are an awful lot of faces from the Clinton past… The Obama administration is a chance for them to prove their critics wrong and to live up to past expectations.”
Theodore Dalrymple: “I had a powerful sense of looking at a Politburo: gray-faced old men, tried and tested—which is not quite the same as successful, of course, except in the most careerist terms.
They were the living—or perhaps undead—embodiment of old ideas, the other side of the coin to Obama’s soaring speeches. That rhetoric was always stale, despite the excellence of its delivery.”
David Preiser (USA) | Homepage | 26.11.08 – 5:07 pm
Tony Sharp commented on this earlier today:
http://tonysharp.blogspot.com/2008/11/185-vat-story-bbc-has-questions-to.html
DB | 26.11.08 – 5:07 pm |
Matt Frei behaves perfectly as predicted. He was dreamily musing about a new glorious Clinton Administration last November – on air, in the anchor’s chair – and now that he’s mostly got one, he doesn’t bother to disguise his joy.
What a ¢µÑ±.
Cameron,
welcome to 21st century Britain. This is a land of tortured logic and rule by a mealy mouthed aristocracy of petty liars.
You will be pleased to hear that in official jargon your Council has “empowered you to self-provide” and it will attain an enviable three star status as a result. (The same status attained by Harringay Social Services). You will only have to pay a 12.5% increase in your Council tax to ‘implement and monitor the pilot programme of bin empowerment’
I find that this “empowerment” is a growing trend. Doing it yourself whilst the people that you pay to deliver a ‘service’ spend all their time “incentivising you” with chip and bin fines, cameras and ASBOS for keeping chickens for example.
You horrifying bin scheme is a manifestation of this “empowerment” – bullshit of course and the worst of all worlds. You pay for the service, do it yourself and have to endure bullying from the state. Marvelous expect a full BBC praise show.
There is a process here, I think of it this way. Do you remember petrol stations that used to have a person fill your tank and collect the money? I do, just. These have all vanished and the petrol companies pocketed the saved wages. Prices were never adjusted downwards. Now Tescos are trying very hard to force you to check your own food out on “self-service” tills. No discount mind you for the customer. How long before all check outs are self service? I went to a bank last week – there were no teller staff and no counter just an array of machines. I stared at them for a while in bafflement until the only visible member of staff (she was hanging around looking vacant) ‘explained’ to me in patronising tones, what “I had to do”. I told her the first thing I would do was never darken the door of that institution again.
Your regularly scheduled ‘Republicans are evil bigots’ post from BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7749474.stm
“Obama victory prompts US gun rush”
“America’s gun owners are worried that the incoming Obama administration, which is coming to power offering hope and change, is going to mean something rather different for them – restriction and regulation. ”
“It is a reminder that Barack Obama’s win was not just a victory of optimism and energy over age and staleness, it was also a victory across a cultural divide, of one sort of America over another. “
‘The Moral Maze’ tonight discuss:
“Should a person’s political views ever disqualify them from doing a job”?
BBC, RADIO 4, 8 PM GMT:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/religion/moralmaze.shtml
How interesting that the BBC ignores one of the main reasons that Woolworths has gone down the pan.
Town Councils that have driven the car out of their centres by congestion charges or high parking fees.
Our high streets are dying because of the fat one eyed jock and his obsession with hating the car.
Anyone see shithead Harrabin wanking on about recycling again? His claim that people support ‘pay as you throw’ is of course total nonsense and a lie by the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7747853.stm
I wonder if the BBC agree that people should pay for what they use with other public services as well?
Fine, then can I please have a refund on the NHS, the education system and social security as I haven’t used any of those services in over 30 years.
Let those that use the most pay the most. Isn’t that fair BBC?
Shouldn’t the BBC be pay as you watch as well?
I wonder if the camp Roger Harrabin would agree?
Where’s the raw data for the two pro-environmentalist surveys the BBC has been promoting today? The article about the HSBC poll doesn’t even mention which polling organisation conducted it, and neither the BBC or NOP has published the results of their poll into waste disposal. What questions were asked, and how were they framed? We don’t know, and by the time we find out the BBC’s news cycle will have moved on to the next piece of green propaganda.
Breaking news: terrorist attacks in Mumbai/Bombay.
In addition to Sky and BBC reports there is coverage live on ND TV (India), in English, available in UK on Sky channel 511.
ND TV website has:
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080074206
David Preiser (USA) | Homepage | 26.11.08 – 5:07 pm Peston is getting inside information and playing like he’s some kind of mind reader and soothsayer. Look likes we were right. Peston’s a charlatan, and the BBC is complicit.
Yet on Tuesday’s Today it was the BBC’s Humphrys who was looking to dwell upon the leaking of PBR proposals & that shite Geoffrey Robinson who was anxious to move on, nothing to see, let’s talk about how brill is Gordon.
JohnA,
Regarding my comment to you @ 4:17pm about the BBC questioning Zhu about Tibet, I got mixed up – it was John Simpson, not Humphrys. Sorry.
Mumbai terror attacks:
A reporter on Sky News, about 5 minutes ago, said that Islamic groups are suspected.
The BBC may mention that next week.
Fox News coverage of Mumbai attacks currently seems better than that of BBC.
The timing of the BBC bin tax ‘poll’ is the giveaway here – perfectly coinciding with the latest scam from this socialist kleptocracy.
How can anyone possibly claim the BBC is independent when it so transparently works in lock step with the government to promote the latter’s policies?
Harrabins report was sheer pro-govt spin. Characters selected to reinforce the message, ie avuncular enviro chap, vs chav waster. And did he really fly to Korea for a 10 second segment supporting his views?
Whats that enviro pressure group he’s a member of?
Mumbai terrorist attacks:
the contrast in the television coverage of e.g. Sky News, with BBC News is that Sky News sees the Mumbai attacks as a big, developing news event and gives it THE priority; in contrast, the BBC, although it has some qualified staff around, seems to see the Mumbai news as a kind of ‘interruption’ to what the BBC had prepared for us earlier.
We’ll see if the BBC can get itself into gear on this later.
Maybe on such news, it shows the BBC’s:
1.) lack of flexibilty in journalistic response:
2.) and possibly a reluctance to heavily weight a story which may conflict with the BBC’s directives on how to report news pertaining to Islam.
One of the headline links on the BBC News main page at the moment: Obama girls ‘to still do chores’
Coming soon – Gavin Hewitt: “How much of the sun shines out of Obama’s backside? All of it!”
Justin Webb: “Sceptical is as sceptical does, but I can’t help myself – I love Obama almost as much as I hate Palin!”
Matt Frei: “Gobble slurp swallow. Thank you Mr Obama.”
DB: I don’t see how the sun CAN shine out of Obama’s backisde. A beeboid usually has his tongue up it.
Mumbai terrorist attacks:
One of the differences between the BBC News reports and all the other reports from all other broadcasting organizations is that the BBC suggests that the perpetrators may be Islamic ‘militants’ or Hindu ‘extremists’ (-see first section of report). All the other reports mention only possible Islamic perpetrators.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7751160.stm
A ‘Sky News’ report:
“Terrorists target Brits in Mumbai”
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Mumbai-Hotel-Beseiged-Reports-Of-At-Least-A-Dozen-Injured-In-Shooting/Article/200811415162454?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15162454_Mumbai_Hotel_Beseiged%3A_Reports_Of_At_Least_A_Dozen_Injured_In_Shooting
D. Miliband (F.O.), has condemned these terror attacks, (but he will continue to support mass immigration into the UK, and to support ‘multiculturalism’).
i might have misheard this – but the entire board of Unilever are trapped in one of the hotels attacked…
the times of india mention 80 dead, 900 injured
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
George R:
Just heard the female newsreader on the BBC Views Channel refer to the Mumbai attacks by “terrorists.”
No doubt she’ll be reprimanded in due course for using ‘judgemental’ language.
times of india confirms the unilever story:
“The chairman of Hindustan Unilever Harish Manwani and CEO of the company Nitin Paranjpe were among the guests trapped at the Oberoi. All the internal board members of the multinational giant were reported to be holed up in the Oberoi hotel.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Terrorists_strike_Mumbai_80_dead_900_hurt/articleshow/3761410.cms
Meanwhile, the movement of non-payment of the telly tax is quietly gaining momentum. These two reports, from the North Devon Gazette and Cambridge News, are certainly worth a look:
First, the North Devon Gazette piece:
TV licence fee rebels make a stand
A RETIRED couple from Hulham Road have been waging a crusade against BBC bias – by refusing to buy a TV licence for six years.
John Kelly, 70, a retired engineering company boss, and his wife Leslie, 69, a former head teacher, have been at loggerheads with TV Licensing for eight years, and have refused to pay the tax since 2002.
Both UKIP activists, their concerns range from what they regard as ‘pro-Europe’ bias by the BBC, tasteless programming and plummeting standards.
“I’ve had threatening letters but no one has ever come to the door. I believe there is growing appetite for revolt,” says Mr Kelly. “There is widespread concern about the BBC and the licence fee. I think the Russell Brand situation could persuade more people not to pay.”
Here’s the Cambridge News report from last week:
Protester opts for no deal with BBC
VLADIMIR Bukovsky is among an increasing host of public figures opposed to the BBC licence fee.
The 65-year-old spoke to the News yesterday (Tuesday, 18 November) from his home in Cambridge about how he has managed to avoid coughing up the £139.50 annual fee since 2002.
Opposition to the annual levy has been fired up in recent weeks on the back of the so-called Sachsgate furore.
Mr Bukovsky, of Gilbert Road, said:
“That scandal is a result of the falling standards at the BBC and the low quality programmes it now offers.”
Mr Bukowsky, who spent seven years in a Soviet jail, became a licence fee “refusenik” because he believes the Beeb has broken its deal with the British public.
He said: “In the Royal Charter for the BBC it states that it will be unbiased and non-prejudiced but that has not been the case in its coverage of the EU and the Israel question and it has a decidedly left-wing bias.”
Given Charles Moore’s stated intention to dispense with his TV licence when Jonathan Ross returns in the New Year, it looks like things could really become quite interesting…
archduke:
Yes; there is terrible hostage situation in two hotels in Mumbai, many of the hostages are ‘Western’, including British and Americans singled out by terrorists.
BBC TV News channel mentioned the name of the group claiming responsibility a few minutes ago (as referred to in the ‘Times of India’ report):”DECCAN MUJAHIDEEN”. BBC comment:’we don’t seem to know anything about that group’. Come on, BBC, the clue’s in the name: it’s about Islamic Jihad. Come on, BBC. You know about Islamic Jihad, don’t you?
(For BBC: ‘MUJAHIDEEN’ -Wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mujahideen
There are reports about the Indian army preparing battle positions.
It looks like the RoP are on the rampage again:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7751160.stm
George R: Sorry but your average beeboid only get their ‘facts’ from the inside door of the mens public toilets on Hampstead Heath.
A Fiery Moral Maze just now. The BNP in all its glory. It’s not up yet, but worth a listen when it is.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00fh64s
I wondered who would qualify as the indigenous population, and how the policy prioritising their needs would be enforced should such a situation come to pass.
* * * * * *
Coming up on Saturday R4 10.30 am
“That’s no Job for an Asian!”
Coming soon: “Asian” will be tagged on to every other programme title and will be all about “Asians”
Asian shipping forecast
Asian News Briefing
Asian prayer for the day
Asian farming today
Today in Asia
Asian Island discs
Asian Book of the week
Another Asian programme
Asian Sitcom
Asian Food programme
Asian weather
That’s only the morning schedule.
I won’t bother with the afternoon and evening schedules because they will probably be all about Asians.
I won’t be joining the BNP though, they wouldn’t have me because of my ‘divided loyalties.’
Re comments above by Martin and Kill the Beeb:
I saw the BBC Panorama programme about aid to Africa. Credit where credit is due: it was a remarkable programme in several respects.
Most amazing was that two words were used in relation to Britain and aid to Sierra Leone and Uganda. Instead of just blaming Britain for all Africa’s ills they actually used the words ‘generous’ and even more remarkable ‘thanks’ when referring to Britain!
The reason, I think, this programme was made and allowed to say these things was it was made by a black man, the admirable Sorius Samura.
Here is a quote from this honest man interviewing Ivan Lewis, British Minister for Dept international Development:
‘Why does the West not require higher accountability from out governments? Is it because we are black?’
I remember Clare Short(?I am pretty sure it was her) a couple of years ago being interviewed. The interviewer asked her why we in Britain don’t take control over the aid we give eg make sure the food reaches the poor. Why do we give the money to the leaders who are often corrupt with the aid? And her reply: That would be patronising to the Africans.
It is worth seeing again when it is repeated early Fri AM 28th Nov 08 00:30 – 01:00
I saw the programme too. Quite disturbing the inside of the hospital with the shot men crawling along on the floor and everyone ignoring them.
The BBC have plumbed new depths tonight, a BBC Radio 4 news report described the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks tonight as “radicals”. Radicals! These terrorists have killed over 80 people, injured many others and are holding an unknown number of tourists, many of whom are likely to be British (that’s British as in the first B of BBC) and the BBC call them radicals as if they are a group of left-wing intellectuals not murderous terrorists.
In my view the BBC have crossed a line tonight and I require an apology and the resignation of the head of BBC radio news or my TV licence will not be renewed when it comes due.
Re the Panorama programme mentioned above. The pain threshold of some of those injured Africans is unbelievable. There was one unfortunate man who just sat there calmly in a truck with his hand hanging half off after being cut with a matchete.
The reason, I think, this programme was made and allowed to say these things was it was made by a black man, the admirable Sorius Samura.
Here is a quote from this honest man interviewing Ivan Lewis, British Minister for Dept international Development:
‘Why does the West not require higher accountability from out governments? Is it because we are black?’
Good question from Sorius, but the man isn’t honest. I saw a documentary he did (completely faked) on CNN. In it he stated that when he arrived in the UK, he took a menial job but dreamed of becoming a photo journalist. For this he needed a decent camera. He claimed not to be able to save enough from one job, so he took a second (fair enough). He still wasn’t saving enough, so he took a third job and worked 24 hours a day for three months!!!!!
The documentary was offensively dishonest. He travelled north through Africa and Europe investigating aspiring illegal immigrants. ‘Miraculously’ he kept meeting the same people in every single place he visited. It was almost as if he had let them jump in the boot of his car and smuggled them accross the borders himself… You really should watch it. It (almost) puts the Beeb to shame!
I can’t find a complete video, but parts are available here:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/world/0106/africa.exodus/frameset.exclude.html
Notasheep:
Yes, although the BBC may attempt to play down, or euphemistically name the murderous Islamic jihad attacks of Mumbai, they rank in infamy with such other murderous Islamic jihad attacks in recent times as those on New York, Bali, Madrid, London and Sharm al-Sheikh.
NotaSheep, I’ve just come on line and started catching up on the news. What strikes me about the bBC coverage of the attacks in India is that they promote the view that it actually may not be Allah’s little helpers who have the blood of so many people on their hands. I quote;
“The BBC’s Andrew Whitehead says a claim of responsibility by a little-known group, Deccan Mujahideen, may harden suspicions that Islamic radicals are involved. But there are other possible culprits, our correspondent says.”
Ok I’ll accept that any half decent news org won’t say who is behind any attack until it is written in concrete. The problem with Al beeb is that even with the facts rammed up their arse. (As only radical cleric loving liberals can) they always twist the story to say something else.
Thing is, I don’t see any Indian soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan. And the truth be told about Kashmire the Pakistan army invaded and then claimed it as their own. Yet for some reason Muslims (yes Muslims) have been killing as many as they can in which to try and up the anti in India.
and the bBC tries to tell me something else.
I think Mark Easton just makes up his argument as he goes along. His latest defense of the indefensible – this time defending the government and health services against criticism for the two Sheffield girls and Baby P – is slightly more ridiculous than usual.
Rhetorical question: Why does Easton think it’s his job to defend the government?
Not only does he trot out a questionable statistic, but his entire argument is actually a will ‘o the wisp, designed to lead the reader down a path that redirects the entire discussion. His argument twists around onto itself, and ends up being yet another version of “Nothing to see here, move along.” He’s so focused on trying to make the one point that he doesn’t even realize what he’s actually saying.
Spotting a sociopath
I can see that Easton is actually trying to say that social work is a herculean, thankless, task, and that it’s just not possible to catch everybody. That’s certainly true enough. But he works so hard at grasping straws that it comes across badly.
He tries to make the case that because these people are really sociopaths, they’re hard to spot:
The 56-year-old Sheffield businessman who raped his children and the woman and two men who tortured a baby in Haringey would all appear to fit the definition of sociopaths: individuals with a deficit or absence of the social emotions (love, shame, guilt, empathy and remorse), but with a clear facility to deceive and manipulate others.
So really the very nature of sociopaths enables them to elude detection. Don’t blame social services.
Then we get the usual Easton tactic of bringing up a statistic to prove his case:
Academics calculate that sociopaths account for about 3-4% of the male population and less than 1% of the female population. Professor Robert Hare from the University of British Columbia is one the world’s experts on sociopaths and psychopaths. He writes of people “completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others”.
(Curiously, Easton links only to some books by Prof. Hare and his colleagues, and not to anything to back up the figures he quotes. I assume he thinks that the reader will go to the link and think, “Well Easton’s quoting an expert – he must be right, without realizing that Prof. Hare is an academic with a vested interest in diagnosing people as sociopaths and asbos.)
So where do those figures come from, Mark? Is it just something Hare said to you in conversation, and you took him at his word? We’ll never know. We’re just supposed to blindly accept what appears to be a reporter quoting and expert.
Of course, 3-4% is a pretty staggering number of sociopaths walking around. But hey, isn’t Easton always trying to say that crime is going down, people are less smashy and stabby? I guess that means that most of these sociopaths are off the streets. Possibly working at the BBC instead?
Easton then piles it on about just how awful sociopaths are. This is an attempt to drastically reduce – if not eliminate entirely – any responsibility health services people might have had for either of these tragedies. He expects that the reader’s anger at social services will be projected onto the criminals. The problem with this is that Easton seems to think that it’s an either/or thing in the reader’s mind. He either doesn’t understand that everyone is angry at both, or is deliberately attempting to shift the blame.
Such people are, however, very difficult to spot.
And even if you did blame the social workers, you shouldn’t, really.
This is followed by another quote from another expert on sociopaths, to reinforce the idea that sociopaths are practically undetectable. So all those injuries and pregnancies are not red flags at all. What does Easton think social workers and health professionals learn in their training?
Apparently very little:
“Since everyone simply assumes that conscience is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that you are conscience-free is nearly effortless. You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so completely outside of their personal experience that they seldom even guess at your condition.”
The problem with this is that Easton tries to deny that even the medical staff could have had any idea that something was untoward about the Sheffield girls, Baby P, or even Victoria Climbie.
The individuals that society puts in the front line to try and spot the threat from sociopaths could hardly be more different. Social workers, doctors and teachers are, usually, natural carers – people who empathise easily with others. They are wired to see the best in people, to develop trust.
He even quotes the report about Victoria Climbie’s death in Haringey (obviously an area with it’s fair share of sociopaths, eh, Mark?):
Lord Laming wrote of the need for “respectful uncertainty” when dealing with a child’s family and of “critical evaluation” of what professionals are told. He has spoken of the “over optimism” he encountered, the way in which social workers tend to “travel with hope”.
Again, don’t be angry at the social workers, doctors, or anyone else who failed all these victims. They’re always taught to see the best in everyone. After all, it’s only natural, don’t you know…..
I guess I’m a sociopath, because I certainly don’t naturally look for the best qualities in Beeboids. As a sociopath, then, I must be wrong to think that Easton is saying nobody is capable of doing their jobs properly, so don’t be mad at them. But even though 3 or 4 out of every 100 people is capable of these acts, it’s still so incredible that nobody ever expects it to happen, or even suspects it when bleeding victims are trundled in and out?
Yeah, right.
It even looks like Easton might be correct about there being so very many sociopaths out there, because practically every one of his commenters knows one. And sadly, judging from those comments, Easton’s plan to shift blame entirely from social services by stoking everyone’s anger against sociopaths in general seems to work very well indeed. Nothing to see here, move along.
In my view, though, Easton seems to have made the case instead that there are an awful lot of sociopaths out there, and social workers and health professionals aren’t equipped to deal with it. But that’s probably just me.
11:13 pm above:
There have been so many Islamic jihad mass murders in recent years; to the above list of infamy: the Islamic jihad murders at the Marriott Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan , in September of this year, should be added.
Of course, the BBC, like much of the MSM, does not join up the dots to get the full pattern of Islam jihad killings globally; for that, the BBC only need turn to:
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
OK I’m just reading the article about the female soldier who received £190K for the loss of her career.
The bBC photo has underneath;
”Ms Fletcher’s career was wrecked by the sergeant and other colleagues”
She was a Lance Jack at the 10 year point. I’m sorry but at the 10 year point I had my third on my arm. So how the hell can she claim her career was ruined when from the look of things it wasn’t going anywhere. But it gets better. I know of many soldiers who are happy to stay in the Jnr ranks mess because it means less responsibility.
Those who wish to advance, do the groundwork, coursework and in some cases brown nose work.
The so called average soldier gets promoted every 3 years. After 10 she only had 1 tape on her arm.
Do as you are told, be smart, on time and you’ll get promoted.
£190K for being called a dyke. Sorry I’ve mates who have lost a lot more than their feelings and they didn’t get a 10th of what this girl got.
But it doesn’t stop the bBC from making out she was getting a hard deal.
Grimer: Ok point taken.
Another highlight of the programme is when the reporter stood in the midde of the Ministry of Health car park in Uganda. There were 1800 4x4s (like Kill the Beeb said above) but only four ambulances. Even our NHS looks efficient compared to that lot.
And the only hospital in Sierra Leone was the one built in 1962 by the colonialist power. Emergency casualties don’t get seen to until their family come in with the payment.
To be fair, the BEEB and the Left in general have NOTICED that the earthly paradise of post-apartheid South Africa had its faults.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7688268.stm
Well done BBC.
I’m looking forward to the documentary series, the ubiquitous foreign aid workers’ interviews on Today, and all shades of Left-wing and enlightened opinion demanding that this evil man be brought to justice, as Pinochet was.
Still waiting
To link the Africa threads and the military threads, when will we see a proper documentary about Rhodesia? It could include a description of the time Ian Smith went aboard a British warship to negotiate with Harold Wilson. He went in the room where all the military were all the whole room stood up and gave him a standing ovation. I do not think Harold Wilson would have been very pleased. Ian Smith had been a fighter pilot in the war which is how he got his eye injury.
And a suggestion to the crowd that hung about outside the South African Embassy for years objecting to the white rule there – why not start objecting to the government in Nigeria who do nothing to stop the torture of children accused of witchcraft? The Channel 4 Dispatches documentary recently showed 150 children who had escaped from this money racket. One parent paid £180 to have the demons removed, another demon remover had a young girl who ‘needed curing’ sleeping in his room with him. Many had injuries like Baby P. had. One girl had been sat on the fire and they showed us the huge scar. But the worst had to be the girl that had the 3 inch nail hammered into her head. And these were just the ones that survived. Worth seeing if it is repeated.
http://www.channel4.com/news/dispatches/
Am I alone in wondering if the BBC’s “pay-as-you-throw” Bin survey yesterday (BBC1, six o’clock news) was a stitch-up? It certainly seems almost incomprehensible that 3/4 of the public support a pay-as-you-throw rubbish collection scheme. There was no mention of whether a new payment system would be matched by a comensurate reduction in council tax. This is surely the measure that would be required to get such a wide level of public support…
Rejoice, it seems that from next year the Channel4 group, which includes the wall to wall lefty channel More4, will also be taxpayer funded
Channel 4’s plea to have £14 million of state aid approved by the European Commisson was abandoned on Wednesday after months of delay arising from a series of Commission objections.
Ministers are instead expected to submit a larger bailout proposal next year, to help to meet a growing financial deficit in the Big Brother broadcaster, which is estimated to hit £100 million in 2012.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article5240887.ece
David USA – Mark Easton is well up there in the competition for most biased and pro-government BBC correspondent. And there is a lot of competition.
I can only assume the comments about his article on sociopaths have been heavily edited, either that or there are lots of extremely gullible people out there. He excuses the authorities from any mistakes in recent child abuse scandals by stating that sociopaths are very hard to spot. He totally ignores the point that their actions are sometimes very easy to spot — and that is what so much of the scandal has been about, i.e. evidence totally ignored by social workers etc.
Another recent article of his was spinning they latest violent crime statistics, in a way that even a Labour minister would be embarrassed about. He repeatedly stated in various news bulletins that serious violent crime had gone down, even though Jacqui Smith under hard questioning from an ITN correspondent, had admitted that despite changes in recording methods there had been a real increase. Nevertheless Easton persisted in his claim that it had gone down. He even said that the “real tragedy” was that people would have their lives blighted by a needless fear of violent crime, and that the real culprits were those who dared to question government statistics. I got the impression he would genuinely like to see people punished for such “insolence”.
Just came across this and I thought it was a keeper for DV:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7749793.stm
Note the sheer incomprehension of the Beeboid as the bloke from Dublin explains that he’s got no difficulty in being a soldier in that dreadful tool of colonialist oppression, the British Army. Someone could have pointed out to him the simple fact that even at the height of the Troubles the British Army was outrecruiting the IRA in Ireland by a factor of at least 10 and probably more. Beeb didn’t seem to know about that.
Have you seen this ‘article’ on the BBC?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/7752029.stm
It claims to be a story entitled “Bleak Midwinter named best carol” but in actual fact it’s nothing more than a thinly disguised advertisement for BBC Music Magazine. If they’re going to advertise their own commercial material I don’t see why they shouldn’t be obliged to take other companies’ advertisements too.
Paul
Good point. Have you also noticed that BBC TV programmes (except for news) almost invariably start 2-3 minutes late due to 2-3 minutes of trails for BBC product inserted between every programme. This is advertising: no more no less. The BBC Trust ain’t interested – it’s “information” you see.
Well I made a complaint on their website and included the URL. It’s only the second complaint I’ve made, the last one being about how they distorted the data regarding our contribution to the EU back when Blair surrendered our rebate. I got a patronising reply explaining why they were right to lie then so I’m not expecting much different this time.
Today is thanksgiving day in America
YouTube Video: Ronald Reagan talks to Amercia on Thanksgiving Day 1985
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KO2HaGOui4U
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