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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123 Responses to General BBC-related comment thread.

  1. George R says:

    Richard Lancaster

    You apparently trust/approve the BBC’s intentions in Bangladesh, including use of UK taxpayers’ money. I don’t.

       0 likes

  2. Richard Lancaster says:

    George R | 13.01.09 – 11:41 am | #

    In the sense that I don’t believe it’s part of some conspiratorial UK immigration grand plan, yes I trust them. I’ve not mentioned whether I deem it a worthy use of taxpayers’ money.

       0 likes

  3. Biodegradable says:

    I’ve seen that Bryan, except HYS is not really a “disussion” is it?

    And a blog should be, well, a blog, where comments that go slightly off-topic should be allowed.

    It’s the first time I’ve registered to post on the BBC site and I’m disgusted. I shan’t bother again.

    Thank heavens for this guy and a few others:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/profile?userid=13771350

    I notice a beeboid has deigned to repond to one of the few comments of mine that remain:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/01/reporting_from_gaza.html#comment611

       0 likes

  4. Biodegradable says:

    Bryan,

    So “TrueToo” is you? 😉

       0 likes

  5. George R says:

    Richard Lancaster

    You raised the issue of whether the BBC project in Bangladesh was conspiratorial, I didn’t. I said it thought that 1.)the project would assist Bangladeshi immigration into the UK, 2.) it was a misuse of UK taxpayers’ money. I rest my case.

       0 likes

  6. Richard Lancaster says:

    George R | 13.01.09 – 12:03 pm | #

    No, I stated your assertion was conspiratorial in nature and lacking any clear evidence linking the two, as I still believe it is.

    You are are the one that stated I apparently “approve”. I never voiced my opinion of whether it was a worthy use of funds.

       0 likes

  7. Biodegradable says:

    My latest comment on the BBC Edotors “blog”, pending moderation:

    611. At 11:09am on 13 Jan 2009, _marko wrote:

    I thank yuou for responding to some of my comments to you.

    You would find my reply to most of yours in other of my comments made since. However, those comments have been removed as being “off-topic”.

    In fact so many of my comments have been removed as a result of complaints designed to censor (having already passed pre-moderation) that I am no longer inclined to comment further here.

    I feel that by removing comments that people have taken much time and trouble to compose the BBC is showing a total lack of respect to its contributors, who in large part are those who pay taxes to support it, and pay your wages.

    I, and others like me, and others unlike me, can be found here discussing BBC bias.

    All are welcome.

       0 likes

  8. George R says:

    Richard Lancaster

    I get your message: you don’t commit yourself on whether the BBC is misusing UK taxpayers’ funds on Bangladesh project, but you do commit yourself in accusing me of ‘consiprary’ in saying what I say about it. A profound point.

       0 likes

  9. John Reith spins in his grave says:

    Robert S. McNamara:
    This ‘climate emergency’ that that sixth former in a suit on Newsnight just now was harping on about sounds serious. What ever shall we do? There must be another abundant organic gas that we can label evil and hilariously, futilely try to ban, surely?

    I think we should go for Nitrogen – it’s not organic but there’s far too much of it about and it sounds a bit dangerous to me. Nitric acid burns you,TNT blows you up, Nitrous oxide gives you the giggles before putting you to sleep and in the 17th century scientists proved that animals given Nitrogen to breath actually died ……clearly this dangerous pollutant has been ignored for far too long…….. join my No! No! No! to Nitrogen march in Trafalgar Square next weekend.

    Furthermore, if anyone cares to send me a tenner, I’ll send them a John’ll Fix It!certificate to prove I’ve planted a row of Nitrogen fixing beans in my garden.

    Next step – Nitrogen Trading Credits.

    That should do the trick…..

       0 likes

  10. RR says:

    It’s that Xenon that gets up my nose.

       0 likes

  11. adam says:

    um reading this daily mail article regarding this free-for-all, even when shes admitting it she has got it all wrong.

    Government cracked down on asylum seekers and turned a blind eye to all other migrants. Those were the direct orders to immigration staff.
    Once could speculate why, presumably because the numbers on asylum were lower and more manageable and they wanted decent figures for tv.
    Having read in the mail Asylum numbers alone are 100k a year, its not surprising she has virtually given up and is admitting there is a free for all. It shows that even Labour will admit defeat at some point.

    of course the caring sharing left doesn’t care about this, Asylum seekers are the most vulnerable and most likely to do paperwork and respect the legal system, if we are taking in migrants they should be favored, not cracked down on ruthlessly.

    Not only did labor fail to address immigration depite lying and claiming they were, they also failed to help the most at risk and most vulnerable, failing again.
    Plus the hate Gurkahs

    Complete and utter, utter, self serving failure, in every respect.

       0 likes

  12. Ricky Martin says:

    I see BBC Islam is pumping out it’s endless series on Islam & Science in a vain hope we will all be converted to the RoP. In reality, this is really just a five minute programme based around Islam actually importing ideas of other civilisation in the ancient world.

    Their contribution of late? Nada apart from suicide belts and roadside bombs. And four Nobel Prizes.

    If the BBC were ever to acknowledge the contribution of other faiths/cultures to our civilisation, I think I’ll faint with surprise.

    And if they were to realise that there are other faiths/cultures out there to be celebrated, then I think they might surprise us all. The drip drip promotion of Islam is now almost laughable.

    Then, I suppose if they were to produce a series on Judaism & Science (+ medicine, literature, arts, movies etc etc) then the series would last several years……despite Jews only representing 0.2% of the world’s population or 15 million people.

       0 likes

  13. Grimer says:

    Hi Bryan,

    Are you still living in Israel? If so, what is the ‘word on the street’ regarding the current Israeli action? Do people take any notice of the useless BBC reporting? Do they think it is indicative of British views?

    Thanks,

       0 likes

  14. George R says:

    Melanie Phillips responds on her blog to this item from BBC’s ‘Today’ programme interview:

    “Sir Jeremy Greenstock says Hamas is only about ‘resistance'”

    [Extract]:
    “The claims he made were so patently ludicrous it is hard to believe that any western person, let alone a former senior diplomat, could make them.
    “First he introduced the much touted analogy between the Arab/Israel conflict and Northern Ireland:”

    (continued)
    http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3229771/sir-jeremy-greenstock-says-hamas-is-only-about-resistance.thtml

       0 likes

  15. Hugh Oxford says:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7826370.stm

    The gulf between the BBC and the British people is illustrated in this article, which celebrates the continuing attachment of second or third generation immigrants to the homelands of their forefathers, rather than lamenting it.

    It’s almost as though there’s mileage for the BBC in reinforcing social divisions, rather than encouraging national unity.

       0 likes

  16. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Ricky Martin | 13.01.09 – 2:53 pm

    The BBC rationalizes this by saying that there is a larger Muslim population in the UK. Jews are not considered a rising, significant immigrant group, and are not deserving of such programs.

       0 likes

  17. Martin says:

    Caught the last 20 minutes of Simon Mayo on 5 lite. They were talking about the son of god abou to become President.

    Of course climate change came up time and time again and how those evil bastard yanks had not signed up to Kyoto and how the US car makers wanted government legislation now on the environment (well of course that has nothing to do with the millions being given to them in loans to keep them alive does it?) as well.

    No one mentioned that the USA had done MORE to reduce pollution since Kyoto than any of the useless EU scum (including us) have managed.

       0 likes

  18. Millie Tant says:

    Bio’s post at 11 19 a.m. really shows starkly the bias at work.

    Here the bias blunts and clouds the mind so much that the fool cannot see any distinction between someone who matter-of-factly relates a policy of killing all and someone who questions whether he was right not to fire and kill.

    However, the same dullard is so effectively programmed at the Oid Farm that he makes a point of not writing “a terrorist”, (as said by the Israeli), but making a fine distinction and writing “what he defined as a terrorist”.

    How very scrupulous of him.

       0 likes

  19. Robin Horbury says:

    The BBC torrent of AGW nonsense is reaching truly terrifying proportions. Today’s example on the laughingly called “science and environment” part of the website, is a pile of guff that the Maldives will be submerged (“according to climate models”) and its population forced to relocate elsewhere. Set aside that the empirical evidence shows that sea levels in the Indian Ocean are actually falling, set aside that all the geological evidence supports that coral reefs have withstood much higher levels of atmospheric CO2 in the past – what counts to the BBC is only to keep churning out this pernicious propaganda.

       0 likes

  20. James says:

    can anyone confirm on here that Justin Webb is being appointed to the Today programme? Or is this old news?

       0 likes

  21. Mailman says:

    Its old news.

       0 likes

  22. TPO says:

    The BBC are never reticent in giving maximum coverage to any agitprop interest group that passes their door.
    Likewise with any utterance from the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers.
    Strangely the BBC don’t seem to want to cover this report from her department.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4224403/Prisoners-convert-to-Islam-for-gang-protection.html

    Is this another example of their ‘not newsworthy’ canard.
    Bias by omission yet again.

       0 likes

  23. pounce says:

    The bBC letting sleeping dogs lie and one hell of a scoop.

    Charles faces ‘Sooty’ name claim
    The Prince of Wales has been calling an Asian friend “Sooty” for years, it has emerged after the row over his son Prince Harry’s use of a racist term
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7826701.stm

    Tomorrow the bBC will air a story about how Harry Corbett is to be reclassed as a nonce by the bBC for sticking his hand up a puppets arse.

    The bBC letting sleeping dogs lie and one hell of a scoop.

       0 likes

  24. R White says:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7825684.stm

    “Israel is preventing international journalists from entering Gaza, making it impossible independently to confirm casualty figures.”

    You (bBC) made every effort to get whats his face into Zimbabwe to report. I’m sure if you tried…

       0 likes

  25. The Bias Must End says:

    Note the use of quotes in this headline:
    ‘Anti-English’ punch hurts woman
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/7826264.stm

    The police describe it as racist (no quotes), but not the BBC headline. Contrast this to the way that the BBC handled Prince Harry and Charles.

       0 likes

  26. lemar says:

    BBC world news 648 spoke of human rights issues the Thais are commiting in Southern Thailand, and the Israelis in Gaza both against Muslims. It is okay for Muslims to attack everywhere but it is only human rights abuse when other countries retaliate. Why do I never hear any human rights problems with Muslim countries, Darfur is forgotten by BBC. One day the cookies will come home to roost for the BBC once and for all.

       0 likes

  27. Dorian Smith says:

    On BBC News Huw Edwards just interviewed “Lord Soley” CAmpaign Director of the pressure group “Forward Heathrow”, in the several minutes it was never once mentioned that Baron Soley Of Hammersmith is also Clive Soley, former Labour MP…..oh and Chairman of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2001.

    It’s about time when pressure groups are given airtime, contributors backgrounds are mentioned to give a fuller picture.

       0 likes

  28. David Preiser (USA) says:

    R White | 13.01.09 – 5:06 pm |

    You (bBC) made every effort to get whats his face into Zimbabwe to report. I’m sure if you tried…

    Good point. The BBC was banned from the country, yet John Simpson easily found his way in stayed for a while.

       0 likes

  29. Biodegradable says:

    “what he defined as a terrorist”.

    How very scrupulous of him.
    Millie Tant | 13.01.09 – 4:47 pm

    I really don’t know how else one defines a person who says, ‘Israeli men, women and children would one day end up fighters. “So let’s kill them first,”‘ and then acts on it.

    One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter?

    One man’s terrorist sympathiser is another man’s BBC reporter!

       0 likes

  30. Martin says:

    St Vince Cable was on Radio5 this evening. Don’t know if anyone else heard his mad ramblings? (I think he has Alzheimer’s or something) but the man is clearly missing a screw.

    Talking about the Government loan guarantee for small business (a stolen Tory idea) Cable just waffled on (with beeboids sitting at his feet cross legged staring into the eyes of a man who MUST be related to Obama?) and clearly had no idea what he was talking about.

    Cable was spouting on about putting Government ministers on the boards of the banks (nationalisation to you and me) and of course those with Northern Rock have seen how successful that’s been.

    The thing that pisses me off about Cable is no one at the BBC EVER pulls him up on any of the crap he comes out with.

    Yet the last time I heard George Osborne on the BBC he got 5 world out before some think beeboid cut across him.

       0 likes

  31. Dorian Smith says:

    Anyone know why this story isn’t getting much airtime on the BBC?*

    http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Norwich-Council-Housing-Chief-Kristine-Reeves-Sacked-For-Evicting-Elderly-Residents-And-Moving-In/Article/200901215200861?f=rss

    Well done sky for saying clearly who is responsible.

    * Yes I do know why!

       0 likes

  32. Anonymous says:

    Dorian Smith:
    Anyone know why this story isn’t getting much airtime on the BBC?*

    http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home…215200861? f=rss

    Well done sky for saying clearly who is responsible.

    * Yes I do know why!
    Dorian Smith | 13.01.09 – 6:47 pm | #

    Dorian,

    Maybe we should tip them off 😉

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/3051310.stm

       0 likes

  33. Biodegradable says:

    Re: http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/1732847323556119402/#441944 above:

    Video shows IAF pilots wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of precision munitions to avoid harming civilians:
    http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID=3276848&ak=null

       0 likes

  34. Chuffer says:

    Here’s another good un. Story about unhinged American kid who shoots his parents. Link on the side (despite not featuring in the story at all) to the eeeeeeevil National Rifle Association.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7826663.stm

       0 likes

  35. Biodegradable says:

    If you’ve been wondering about those strange weapons the IDF Givati are carrying in Gaza:
    Tavor TAR-21

       0 likes

  36. Reimer says:

    Small but telling –

    During R2’s 2-5pm show helmed by Richard Allinson depping for Steve Wright today, the question was posed apropos of seemingly nothing much at all –

    “350 000 is the answer – what’s the question that that number is the answer to?”

    Several minutes and flurries of whimsical suggestions from listeners later we learned that this opaque number was…the number of people who had applied for posts in the first administration of the soon-to-be-inaugurated Second Coming.

    “It’s almost as though there’s mileage for the BBC in reinforcing social divisions, rather than encouraging national unity.
    Hugh Oxford | 13.01.09 – 4:04 pm ”

    The more fragmented the society the more scope for the beeb and its allies in making a good living from reconstituting in a ‘corrected’ form with one hand the social cohesion they’ve been helping to erode with the other.

       0 likes

  37. Martin says:

    Reimer: 350,000? I though that was the number of left wing twats employed by the BBC.

       0 likes

  38. Bryan says:

    So “TrueToo” is you?
    Biodegradable | 13.01.09 – 11:54 am

    Yes, ’tis I, I cannot tell a lie.

    They are usually fairly lax in enforcing the rules on the BBC blogs. Meanwhile the Robin Lustig blog is attracting quite a bit of attention:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2009/01/gaza_points_of_view.html#comments

    Grimer | 13.01.09 – 3:18 pm

    Yes, I’m still in Israel. That’s a great question and I’ll have to ponder it a bit to give a comprehensive answer, but my first reaction is that a number of people I have spoken to are well aware of BBC bias against Israel and sometimes connect it to more general and historical bias – e.g. the Mandate period and the implacable opposition of the British authorities on the ground to the establishment of Israel.

       0 likes

  39. Biodegradable says:

    Your secret’s safe with me Bryan 😉

    They are usually fairly lax in enforcing the rules on the BBC blogs. Meanwhile the Robin Lustig blog is attracting quite a bit of attention:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ world…w.html#comments

    Interesting, I’ve just started to read through the comments. Thanks for pointing it out!

       0 likes

  40. Biodegradable says:

    Ha!

    I’ve just read the BBC guide on moderation.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newguide/popup_checking_messages.html
    The BBC Editors blog is Pre-moderated:
    Pre-moderation – every single message is checked before it appears on the board. All of the BBC’s children’s message boards are supervised in this way.

    LOL, so The BBC Editors blog is a “children’s mesage board! 😆

    Robin Lustig’s is “reactively moderated” yet one of TrueToo’s posts is being held up:

    Reactive moderation – messages are only checked if a complaint is made about them. This approach is only used on boards for adults.

    I can guess who’s making all these complaints!

       0 likes

  41. Zevilyn says:

    Well, we can see the American approach to the banking crisis has failed utterly.

    No benefits for the ordinary American at all.

    No lending, foreclosures increasing, banks spending the TARP on giving themselves bonuses and buying other banks, incompetent CEOs still at the helm of many. US treasury refusing to tell the American public where the money has gone. I prefer Cable’s idea to the fascist policies of evil scum like Paulson and Bernanke.

    If the taxpayer is going to bail you out, he should own you.
    Those banks who need to be bailed out should become our slaves.

    The Tories need to remember Corporate Welfare (which the Tory plan stinks of) does not solve economic problems.

       0 likes

  42. Cassandra says:

    All those billions of pounds and the BBC cannot even report the facts behind the Russia/EU gas kerfuffle!

    Has it occured to the beeboid comrades that Russia doesnt have enough gas to fulfill its contractual obligations AND supply its own people?
    Its not rocket science is it?
    Russia is having to buy gas in and supplies are so short because of the record cold.
    Russia is pulling a fast one to avoid eyewatering penalties and financial compensation, its what Russia does, the BBC is so stupid and ignorant that it cannot even tot up total domestic consumption and export totals to see that Russia/Gazprom is playing for time, playing games to supply its own markets first and avoid paying compensation to its customers.

    What are the billions of pounds being spent on? cos it aint journolism skilss, thats for sure!

       0 likes

  43. dave t says:

    Yet another pathetic hit piece as the Bush administration ends….

    Waffle about the neocons who are blamed for everything and the author writes: “Many neocons are Jews, but it is wrong to suggest that neoconservatism is an exclusively Jewish phenomenon. ” So why write that? The whole piece keeps claiming one thing then undermining its complaints by admitting that the neocons were right to have a plan after 9/11 when the doves didn’t!

    Typical BBC – tomorrow – why Obama’s dog will improve things in the White House after Bush’s dog Barney! The BBC are really being pathetic…

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7825039.stm

       0 likes

  44. Bryan says:

    Biodegradable,

    Your secret’s safe with me Bryan

    That reminds me of a popular talk radio show in South Africa, of which a nice Jewish boy, John Berks, was one of the main hosts.

    A woman phoned in, started to talk and then faltered, saying, “I’m so nervous.”

    “No need to be nervous,” Berks said, “you’re only talking to three hundred thousand people.”

    Robin Lustig is one of the more reasonable BBC people. But he picked up quite a bit of flack with a recent blog title: Will Obama get tough with Israel?

    A few of the pro-Israel lobby let him have it. (Those are the guys who are energetically working for a greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates, as you know.)

    Before they flushed all those comments down the loo on The Editors, I meant to take the liberty of copying your comprehensive list of quotes proving that the Arabs left Israel in ’48 mostly at the urging of their leaders. If if it ain’t too much trouble, could you repost it here?

       0 likes

  45. adam says:

    these awful people are bullying norman tebbit on daily politics over immigration.
    its disgusting to watch that wet blanket liberal wimp Chris huhne start bullying Lord Tebbit, using political correctness.
    and that loony Phil Woolas who keeps making noises like a frog or something, who knows nothing about nothing, joining in

    i hate watching wimps and wet blankets turn into verbal bullies instead of facing up to reality, especially if they are ganging up on an old man

       0 likes

  46. George R says:

    The BBC, which is pro-Islamic jihad Hamas, and anti- Guantanamo, has this as its front- page web headline:

    “Guantanamo agents ‘used torture'”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7828126.stm

    -But in its intensive political propaganda work, the BBC has to omit this inconvenient information:

    “Pentagon: 61 ex-Gitmo inmates have returned to jihad”

    ‘Jihadwatch’ comment:

    “This shouldn’t surprise anyone, since nothing is done at Guantanamo to disabuse inmates of their beliefs about the responsibility of Muslims to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers. The prevailing PC ‘Islam Is A Religion of Peace’ line prevents that — and makes for this recidivism.”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024387.php

       0 likes

  47. Hettie says:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7827738.stm

    No mention how Britain is just not on the installation 🙂

    see explanation here
    http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/culture/european-stereotypes-part-ii/

    I think I love the Czechs a lot 🙂

       0 likes

  48. Biodegradable says:

    Bryan;

    “No need to be nervous,” Berks said, “you’re only talking to three hundred thousand people.”

    Nice one! 🙂

    Before they flushed all those comments down the loo on The Editors, I meant to take the liberty of copying your comprehensive list of quotes proving that the Arabs left Israel in ’48 mostly at the urging of their leaders. If if it ain’t too much trouble, could you repost it here?
    Bryan | 14.01.09 – 10:28 am

    It’s rather long so here’s the URL instead. It’s the appendix at the foot of the page. I copy+pasted from the printable version. Be careful with those dots, dashes and curly quotes becoming question marks, as noted on the Lustig blog.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=F7A3494C-0F97-4940-9852-ABD9F5B44A13

       0 likes

  49. George R says:

    The BBC continues to spend Britsh people’s licencepayer money to pay for political polls of Iranians in Iran, so that the BBC can come up with a headline like this:

    “Iranians ‘worried about economy'”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7827198.stm

    Of course, this BBC political activity in Iran distracts, as no doubt it is designed to do, from this crucial aspect of the Iranian regime:

    ‘Jihadwatch’:

    “Iranian Supremo boasts: We can hit 32 U.S. bases — on our way to “the definitive victory of Islam”

    [Extract]:
    “‘The most important thing is that the Gaza people’s culture of resistance and faith ensures the definitive victory of Islam.’

    “Once again, a leader of the jihad against the West speaks in the language of Islam when defining the conflict — and yet that is the element of the motives and goals of the jihadists that Western analysts are most likely to discount.”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024388.php

       0 likes