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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I see yet another Liebour Minister is in the shit over expenses. So I hear that BBC Newsnight is doing a special on……. Cancer.
no doubt we will hear lots about how brilliant Gordon Brown is with funding the bloated NHS hoping the Proles will forget about Liebour sleaze.
more scare tactics from TV Licencing – aka BBC revenue and a nice free advert via the pages of the Mail – I’m scared! -not
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168003/Blow-TV-licence-dodgers-detector-vans-undercover.html
Can I alert you all to this Wed’s Nightwaves on R3 (9.15pm)?
————————
Christians in the Arab World
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jq0pf
Rana Mitter and his guests explore the contemporary state of Arabic-speaking Christians. How are they faring in a world of East-West tensions and resurgent radical Islamism? Rana examines the differing theologies and experiences of these communities against the historical and contemporary backdrop of the Middle East.
————————
I wonder if they’ll even touch on the rampant anti-Christian discrimination all over the Moslem world… well, regular readers know the background to that story only too well, and readers of this site can make reasonably informed guesses as to how serious / hard-hitting the R3 discussion will be.
“Populus have a new poll in the Times tomorrow, the second since the G20. The topline figures are CON 43%(+1), LAB 30%(nc) LDEM 18%(-1). The poll was conducted between Friday and Sunday.”
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2074
Can there really be 30% of the poipulation who support this facist government – or is 30% of the population employed in the public sector?
And have the LibDems dropped a point because St Vince has not been seen everyday on the BBC lately?
more moronic dumbness from “the one”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090406/ap_on_go_pr_wh/eu_obama;_ylt=Ag3m3pDXeQJWQMT3BAQiS42s0NUE;_ylu=X3o
“We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better, including my own country”
Can anyone suggest a single thing that Islam has contributed to the foundation and development of the American Republic?
The man is either clearly dumb or living in a dreamworld , or both.
Jon: I think it’s probably not far off 30% now
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1292
Who is that dopey cow on Newsnight? Is that Dawn Primarolo or whatever her name is?
As I suspected we have a Tory free zone with her allowed to spout utter shite (and lots of beeboid head nod shots of her)
I hope they bring up climate change. I will be very upset if they don’t blame Cancer on climate change.
It’s considerably more than 30 per cent in some areas, Jon and if you factor in tribal voting and the sector of the population so doped on BBC propaganda that they’d vote for Kang and Kodos if told to, I think it’s not a bad guess.
That said, the polls are so often wrong.
Martin | 06.04.09 – 10:56 pm |
I’m suprised no one at the BBC has linked the Italian earthquake to “Global Warming”.
obama in turkey
“we do not consider ourselves a christian nation…”
oh boy. how days into his presidency is it?
its like watching Jimmy Carter, but sped up..
a pre emptive strike by b-bbc now.
radio 4 news are running the thinning artic sea ice baloney story.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/06/arctic-sea-ice-warning
probably will be on the beeb website later once they have got round to cutting and pasting the grauniad story.
the NSIDC satellite that is providing this bogus data is no good.
NSIDC gets sea ice information by applying algorithms to data from a series of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) sensors on Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites. These satellites are operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. Their primary mission is support of U.S. military operations; the data they produce weren’t originally intended for general science use.
that data is then being interpreted by the the University of Colorado for their own twisted purposes. they then apply “computer modelling” to produce the story that artic sea ice is melting at a phenomenal rate and the only hope for mankind is to spend more money on funding the University of Colorado snow and ice research dept.
the best satellite tracking artic sea ice is recognised to be the AMRS-E satellite launched in 2002.
their data can be seen here –
http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm
as you can see from the graph there has been effectively no change in artic sea ice since 2002.
artic ice is not going to disappear in 5 years, 50 years, 500 years or 5 billion years.
All that BBC spin aobut how Brown has saved the world is of now avail. Populus have just released their latest poll. It shows Tory’s up 1%, Lib-dems down 1, and labour unchanged. As I say elsewhere, http://anon126.blogspot.com/2009/04/bad-news-for-brown.html this is disastrous for Brown after all the G20 spin, but it is horrific for the lib-dems
Jon: There were people claiming that the Tsunami of a few years back was caused by global warming AND the BBC have often used film of that event in climate change reports.
What right has “The One” to back Turkey in joining the EU?
What really annoys me is that all these politicians go on about restoring democracy in other countries but not their own.
archduke:
obama in turkey
“we do not consider ourselves a christian nation…”
Maybe he will be a one term president, lets hope so – if the US does not stand up for judeo-christian civilization no one else will.
Martin | 07.04.09 – 12:07 am |
The thing is – if you want to find extreme weather – you can, in fact you always could. There has always been extreme events in some part of the world at some time, nothing has changed.
Just listened to radio 4 news report. Why are Innocent Smooties worthy of a report on the headline news? Because they have “sold out” to Coca Cola – an evil American corporation. It is very obvious what the BBC think about this. Especially when the editorialising starts “this is against everything Innocent stands for”
No it isn’t you BBC socialist half wit – Innocent is a for profit company. They want to make money, if needs by by selling the company to a corporation, not save the world from sugary drinks
Archie, were muslims not a driving force behind the founding of the US Marine Corps – “…. to the shores of Tripoli” etc? It is interesting to check why the USMC had to go to the shores of Tripoli.
Credit where due.
I usually call her ‘The Frock’, as her forthcoming wedding seems to form a major part of the BBC Breakfast ‘News’ output, but Kate Silverton just tore a clearly delusional Jaquie Smith a series of new ones… over.. and over.
However, I had to write in:
Jacquie Smith, Home Secretary, referring to her mistakes and expense claims: ‘… for some reason, some folk keep focusing on the details..‘
Heaven forfend the legal system she is a major part of should ever focus on the details!
Listening to the World Service in the US tonight/this morning. It was very noticable the spin they were putting on a story out of South Africa.
Here is the gist of it, sorry I’ve forgotten the names: SA has dropped corruption charges against the ANC leader who will probably be the next president *and* the man investigating the case has in turn charged that the charges were politically motivated and that the man who instigated the case (and who has since moved on to the World Bank) misused his office to bring them.
Now, my first thought on hearing this story was that probably the fix was in — presumably the ANC/SA gov pressured someone to get the charges dropped.
The BBC seemed to take the (very convienient) SA government colclusion totally at face value, and had on some guy who said what they wanted said: That the world bank guy was now tainted since his original prosecution had been judged political and that he should resign his World Bank job.
Peter @ 07.04.09 – 8:26 am
Yes I just watched it and it made a refreshing change.
But it was soon spoiled –
Jacqui spouted something about a scheme to increase police resources to target burglaries. She added that of course the Tories would slash it.
Not a word from Kate querying that wild statement. No doubt a huge sigh of relief could be heard in the control room upstairs.
I see the Tories have shot themselves in the foot once again. Some Tory MP has been spouting on about the Fox Hunting ban being repealed. Now I don’t give a toss one way or the other, but it’s given the Cocaine users at the BBC the chance to once again divert attention away from the one eyed twat and his failed economy and 5 bellies Smiff and her expenses.
Cameron needs to get tough on this. any Tory that spouts off like this should be booted out of the party. Tories should be hammering Liebour on the economy and sleaze and nothing else.
Radio 5 have the phone in on fox hunting as if that is the biggest issue facing us. An excuse for the BBC to do their masters bidding once again.
Llew: 5 bellies got a soft ride from Nicky Campbell on Radio 5.
I don’t think Silverton gave her a hard time.
I’d have said to 5 bellies why should I have to protect my home, that’s YOUR job. Should a woman be told not to wear a short skirt on account she might get raped? 5 bellies wouldn’t be able to argue that so why is it my job to turn my home into a fortress?
Silverton could have pinned 5 bellies down on the forged violent crime statistic that Mark (Sheena) Easton keeps spouting that came from downing Street, the increase in knife crime under her administration and so on.
Why gets me is how badly prepared the likes of Silverton and Campbell are. No tough questions, just a whitewash.
Wait till you see George Osborne on the BBC. Then you will see a tough interview.
Even the Telegraph is running the sea ice story under the headline “Artic will be ice free in a decade”.
However the first line of the article states: “figures showed an increase in winter sea ice this year to 5.85 million square miles, 282,000 square miles above the record low of 2006”.
Still, I suppose a headline of “5% increase in Arctic sea ice area” wouldn’t make a good news story, would it?
Martin @ 07.04.09 – 8:58 am
Badly prepared? I think their level of preparedness is intentionally set and laid out in advance, under instruction from their masters of course.
Agree with all you say though. In a Tory interview no point made will go unchallenged.
“Even the Telegraph…..”. Where have you been for the past couple of years. The Daily Telegraph is the cheer-leader of global-warming disaster-mongers and is an embarrassment to its former-self. That’s why I no longer buy it.
The mafiosi crooks who run our government, the quangos, local government, the ministries, the judiciary, the highest levels of office always revert to the BBC as their first choice for a form of mock rehabilitation. That’s because they are among friends.
So our Home Secretary visits her chums for a fake savaging and then goes back to her job, cleansed and absolved.
I’m really interested in the Lefty Loudmouths, beloved of the BBC who have gone all demure on us of late.
Investigative journalists, up to the plate please and reveal the expenses of:
Diane Abbot MP
George Galloway MP
Denis Skinner MP
Piers Corbyn MP
Vince Cable MP
Clare Short MP
etc etc
And of course, there are our BBC scammers. If you are looking for passengers of the gravy train scam, why not take a close look at the staff of Isvestia – the BBC NuLab cronies – who have been milking public money for a decade.
What expenses have the supine BBC Trust members claimed? Or the senior players? Or the influential in-house pro Islamic lefties? How much went on cocaine, rent boys or saving the planet, for instance…..??
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2364006.ece
MPs on the Media select committee criticising the BBC for using licence fee payers money to aggressively buy out rivals.
BBC Radio 5 is very enthusistically reporting that the Conservatives, if re-elected, will have a free vote on legalising fox hunting. What an oportunity for Tory bashing. Then the 9am phone in is on this subject . Wow even more negstive Tory bashing. Of course when the Conservatives announce immigration controls or any other Conservative vote-winner, the BBC report this as little as possible.
Ricky Martin | 07.04.09 – 9:29 am
In the Sunday Telegraph an article entitled “Are Britain’s MPs worth it?” by Ben Leach and Ben Leapman, subtitled “audit of MPs discovers who represents the best and worst value for their constituents –
George Galloway came out worst with expenses (07/08 ) of £136,390 but an attendance rate of only 5%,
next, Clare Short (£139,210, – 19%)
and third, Derek Conway (£130.947 – 21%)
Source: Hansard, theyworkforyou.com,publicwhip.org.uk
Can there really be 30% of the poipulation who support this facist government – or is 30% of the population employed in the public sector?
Why on earth do you think we’ve had mass second and third world immigration? New Labour have been importing voters, because they know no-one else votes for them.
Just about the only people I know who still support Labour are out of touch geriatrics who only get their news from the BBC and who do so out of habit.
That’s still a substantial demographic. That lot plus the foreign vote (because that’s what it is) easily amounts to 30%.
Oh, and yes, the public sector. And the welfare dependants.
Actually, when you add up the people who depend on Labour administered, taxpayer funded largesse, that’s quite a big chunk of people.
Turkeys, Christmas etc.
BBC Radio 5 is very enthusistically reporting that the Conservatives, if re-elected, will have a free vote on legalising fox hunting.
good God a democratic idea like that just cannot be counternanced!!
Surely only the BBC/Labour Party can stop these darstadly democratic ideas??/
Hugh, the demographic is worse in the US and is the sole reason why Obama has a good chance of being re-elected regardless of how he wrecks the US (his purpose). Immigrants there are DOA – Democrat on arrival – and the minorities are becoming the majority thus condemning the US to 3rd world government. It must not be allowed to happen here but, given that NuLab is 3rd-world government, we must reverse this trend and save our country.
Hugh Oxford | 07.04.09 – 10:21 am | #
Of course, the Crooks have also been fiddling the postal votes. This scam was exposed in East London and in Birmingham.
Now the Crooks have set up a private “agency” in Belfast to throughput all postal votes – well away from the watchful eyes of local staff. It’ll give them the edge on postal votes surely.
We have seen how partisan “private” companies are that win government contracts, haven’t we? Exam Boards that make questions easy to keep up their numbers and their contracts, ID card schemes etc….surely the Crooks third world mates will do the business?
Room for a BBC investigation? I jest, of course…..
Sue | 07.04.09 – 10:13 am | #
Thank you Sue. That’s invaluable information.
Perhaps the scribes who work for the Daily Mail/Express/Times who contribute to B-BBC can re-highlight it in their next column or story?
To be fair to Humphrys (I know I know) in the first bit of the interview (which was the only bit I heard) he tore into 5-chins on Today this morning. Asked whether submitting incorrect expenses claim was a resigning matter, Smith cited in evidence (that resigning was unnecessary) a conveniently anonymous senior businessman who recently informed her to the effect that if he’d had to sack everybody who had fiddled their expenses he’d have nobody left to employ. Smith achieves a double-whammy: 1. she is only doing what everybody else does and 2. the private sector is riddled with corruption. Funny how all these people whisper into Smith’s ear at such a convenient time: doesn’t she assert with no evidence at all that endless people come up to her and demand the immediate introduction of ID cards?
Umbongo
The Home Sec was billed as appearing on Today to talk about burglaries as well as her expenses. To be fair to Humprys she got the last few seconds to yammer on about burglaries – virtually the whole interview was spent shredding what is left of her reputation and honesty.
As an example of the unbiased reporting of the BBC, how about this furore over Jackboots Smith?
BBC H/L: Smith defends use of allowances
Telegraph: Jacqui Smith admits ‘serious mistake’ over expenses
Damn the Beeb. Can’t they see that it’s over for Labour?
Yesterday this stasi government started surveillance monitoring of our emails and internet sites we visit. The BBC don’t seem to be mentioning it. Apparently all this surveillance is to control terrorism (a trigger word) and to catch criminals.
A few weeks ago I mentioned on here that BBC had made no mention of the huge invasion of privacy that is the stasi e-borders starting Easter to demand our travel details including itinerary 24 hours before travel under threat of not being allowed to travel and/or fine. Sky had it on one of their video screens for an entire day.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/technology/eborders/timetable/
To monitor UK citizens going out of the UK apparently to catch terrorists, criminals and tax evaders. I bet they also start charging us a ‘carbon tax’ according to how many journeys we take. I expect MPs will exempt themselves.
The following article by Libby Purvis in The Times recently sums it up :
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article5913445.ece
Ado | 07.04.09 – 9:08 am
Still, I suppose a headline of “5% increase in Arctic sea ice area” wouldn’t make a good news story, would it?
It is possible for the area of ice to increase whilst the amount of ice decreases isn’t it? If the ice gets thinner and spreads out, melting where it’s thinnest?
The major problem with AGW is that there is no-one one can trust to give detailed, informative and correct stats on the subject.
For instance, are South Sea Islands being submerged by rising sea levels or because the continental plate they are on is sinking? Are they being sumerged at all? Look on the inter-web and you can find loads of stats that ‘prove’ any point you care to look at.
I know which side I’m on, but only because I don’t trust the Greens, not because I ‘know’ what’s really going on.
It’s a perfect situation for politicians, no-one knows WTF is happening, plenty of people say contrary stuff and theres a high tax take to be made.
The BBC will be uncomfortable with the row over expenses, it would not take mutch to expose the corruption and expense fiddling at the BBC.
Programme trailer for the return of R4’s Heresy, heard on this morning’s Today:
Announcer: It’s the series that takes received opinion, turns it on its head and tickles it under the arms until it falls in an undignified heap. It’s hosted by Victoria Coren and challenges such popular views as “Obama has given the world hope.”
Clip – Victoria Coren: Of course, the bar is set low for the new president. He followed George W. Bush. Americans had no expectations after that. They’d suffered for years under an idiot, an inarticulate blundering buffoon. There would have been gratitude and relief for any change at all.
So a series which claims to challenge received opinion is advertised with a clip of the host making George W. Bush is stupid jokes. And the latte and Innocent smoothie-quaffing audience chortled along in the smug group-thinking way that R4 comedy audiences do. Priceless, and R4 couldn’t resist using the clip because • well • Bush is stupid and it’s funny, innit? Everyone knows that. Goes without saying.
(It’ll be interesting to hear the contortions made by the panelists as they try to make negative comments without actually saying anything bad about the teleprompter Messiah.)
see Guido is reporting about MPs are renting out their property to their staff, as I say elsewhere ( http://anon126.blogspot.com/2009/04/mps-renting-out-property-to-thier-own.html) it stinks.
strange the Beeb is not making a big deal of the labour scams, odd that…..or not
DB | 07.04.09 – 10:54 am | #
DB – saw an American blog recently when – having commented on the Wind Bag from the Windy City – the post read:
” You can keep him over there please. In six months time, you Europeans will be longing for the return of the straight talking Texan.”
Shocked to read this and the murder and mayhem is only for one month, why is this not BBC headline news?
Monthly Jihad Report
March 2009 Jihad Attacks: 169
Countries:19
Religions:5
Dead Bodies:686
Critically Injured:953
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168104/Jacqui-Smith-unveils-secret-weapon-war-burglary–15-discount-voucher-B-amp-Q.html
Why?
6.50ish on Today this morning – Roger Harrabin discussing a report by leftie think tank IPPR which says green taxes should only be used to achieve environmental objectives and not just to plug holes in government finances. Here’s part of what he had to say on the matter:
If you’re an opposition party it’s very easy to knock these taxes called “green taxes”, “stealth taxes” or what have you. I was speaking to a government source last night and the language he was using was really quite remarkable. He said, “We have been torched by this green tax issue.” They think media cynicism [*] is partly to blame but the government’s critics say the government is partly its own worst enemy too because it has not been clear what the taxes are for and how they will be used. And IPPR for instance are saying please let’s not call them green taxes any more, they’re interpreted as stealth taxes, let’s call them brown taxes. I’m not sure that will go down awfully well in Downing Street. Perhaps we should have a Today programme competition.
Perfect • the lefty global warming alarmists at the Today programme asking for a new name for green taxes to sell the idea to the knuckle-dragging masses. How about we name them after one of the BBC’s fearless eco-warriors? Richard Black, perhaps? Hmm, I can see issues with the race relations industry there. Watts Taxes? Might be a bit confusing. Shukman Taxes? The name could work but the taxes would rarely be correct. A levy on household waste collection could be known as the Harra-Bin Tax. Other suggestions welcome.
[*] Not a charge that can be levelled at the BBC.
Toady programme getting in as many pre-emptive strikes on the Tories as they can. Yesterday they featured Norman Lamont with some replays of BBC golden oldies (Lamont putting up VAT to 17.5%) and today their non news headline was promoting an R4 doc about children in a care home (usefully run by the CoE) being constrained in the ‘1970s and 1980s’ with drug cocktails which may (or may not) have caused birth defects. They even had a shadow spokesman in as if he had a charge to answer. Not very subliminal message was that the evil Tories will soon be unleashing their inhuman, child abuse on society. Meanwhile the past 12 years of tax rises and child abuse taking place under the nose of a Labour administration has been virtually blanked out. As the polls worsen for Brown expect the Tory demonisation propaganda to go into overdrive.
Matt Frei hearts Michelle Obama (apologies if it’s already been mentioned)
Matt Frei: Is Michelle Obama the new Princess Di?
Bucket!
Matt Frei: The obvious comparison is with Jackie Kennedy and her visit to Paris in the early 60s. I mean obviously there was a very glamorous women from a famous family, but the difference here is that Michelle Obama is a First Lady, dare I say it, the cliché, for the twenty-first century.
I said bucket!
Matt Frei: She did the royal family a massive favour by putting her arm around the Queen.
Too late.
Matt Frei: She’s a professional women, a good wife, a good mum. She’s a worker and not a whiner.
What about all that chip on the shoulder, first time I’ve been proud of my country stuff from the election campaign?
Matt Frei: It helps I guess to have a glamorous wife and be a popular president yourself if you’re going to pick up the phone to the Germans and the French and say “Please send more troops” or “Please send more money.”
If you say so, Matt.
Matt Frei: I guess it says something about us that we are so keen to embrace this woman that we also need to be cheered up.
Us? We? Guess again, Matt, and then fuck off.
And some more Matt Frei from his appearance on CNN’s Situation Room on Sunday:
By putting her arm around the queen, as Michelle Obama did, she did the royal family the biggest favor that anyone can possibly do them. She bestowed some of that modern, gritty glamour the Obamas embody onto a family that is known for being a little bit aloof… What makes the Obamas special? Their connectivity, their kind of combination of glamour and grit, cool and clever, and all that kind of stuff. She’s the custodian of that mojo while her husband goes out and does the hard talking.
Bonus John Pienaar Hearts Michelle Obama quote, replying to a comment that she wasn’t very modest: “She has a lot not to be modest about.”
Just a small point but indicative of the mind set I believe. The continuity announcer introducing the re-run of “”What a carve up!” running this week on Radio 4 in lieu of Today in Westminster at 11.30 p.m. kindly informed us that the story was set in the get rich quick, greedy, ambitious 1980s. Not once, but twice were the adjectives trotted out. I wonder who was in power in the 1980s.
apologies for becoming an enviro bore
“watts up with that ” are debating sea level rises.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/04/06/sea-level-graphs-from-uc-and-some-perspectives/#more-6827
“It seems sea level has been rising for awhile (since 1870) , and that the observation line….will also end up somewhere between 20 and 30 cm by the year 2100.”
They are talking of a possible rise of 3 mm per annum.
20 – 30 cm is not going to kill /bankrupt anyone.
a massive increase in taxes to pay for “sea level defence” and “planet saving technology” will suit some people very well.