OPEN THREAD

By | |

This is where you can discuss any BBC-related issue that concerns you. Please use it sensibly, no abuse and no trolls!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Bookmark the permalink.

80 Responses to OPEN THREAD

←Older Comments
  1. George R says:
    May 21, 2009 at 10:47 am

    Anonymous 11:28 am

    Re-Attack plan by 4 Muslims on New York synagogues:

    ‘Fox News’ report includes:

    “Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said if there can be any good news out of this case it’s that ‘the group was relatively unsophisticated, penetrated early and not connected to any outside group.”

    “‘The shocking plan to blow up a Jewish house of prayer with what the jihadist terrorists thought were C-4 explosives is dramatic proof that the dangers from such fanaticism have not passed and that American Jews must maintain their vigilance,’ said a statement released by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group.”

    BBC news report:
    excludes all that.

       0 likes

  2. Grant says:
    May 21, 2009 at 10:56 am

    mailman 11:47
    Yes, but the Tories are calling for a freeze at the current level.
    I think there will be a debate in Parliament.
    I hope this is a shot across the bows by the Tories to test the water , so to speak and that, if they win the next election, they will abolish the licence fee altogether. Probably a vain hope.

       0 likes

  3. Hettie says:
    May 21, 2009 at 11:12 am

    Just a quick link

    Mark Thompson: 'Don't cut us because others are weaker' http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43671&c=1 from Press Gazette's twitter feed.

       0 likes

  4. George R says:
    May 21, 2009 at 11:17 am

    Memo to BBC news staff from editor:
    -forget New York Muslim attack plan on synagogues; keep up the political pressure for the most important political group in the world – the welfare of the Guantanamo ‘inmates’ (-BBC’s word, that last one):

    BBC headline –

    “Guantanamo inmates get US trial”

    (-long article, of course.)

       0 likes

  5. George R says:
    May 21, 2009 at 11:45 am

    More evidence of: BBC-Al Jazeera-Obama-Islam nexus:

    Rageh Omaar, ex-BBC, now Al Jazeera English (apparently the comfortable ideological home for many ex-Beeboids) has this:

    ‘Evening Standard’ (now Russian-owned) –

    “How Britain blew its chance with the Muslim world”
    (by R. Omaar)

    [Extract]:

    “In March, just before President Obama’s visit to London, the US embassy called my office at the Al Jazeera English bureau in London.

    “Given the nature of our relationship with the Bush administration, I was half expecting a complaint. What followed was a huge and pleasant surprise: an invitation for Al Jazeera English to screen a documentary I presented on Islam In America at the embassy.”

       0 likes

  6. Grant says:
    May 21, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    Funny moment on BBC Scotland news just now.
    Sally Magnussen speaking to David Porter (BBC politics correspond).
    “Is there any sign of this subject of MPs’ expenses abating ?”
    “Not really, the Telegraph has looked at 180 MPs so far and there are 640 in total”

    Now why the look of disappointment on Sally’s face , I wonder ?

       0 likes

  7. Grant says:
    May 21, 2009 at 12:46 pm

    The first words of the BBC’s report , if they were unbiased, should have read ” Four suspected terrorists, all muslims, have been arrested…..
    After all the two main points are that they are muslims and suspected terrorists.
    We shoudn’t have to read halfway down the page to find out they are muslims.

       0 likes

  8. Anonymous says:
    May 21, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    Question Time is on Prime Time this week! 9PM!

       0 likes

  9. George R says:
    May 21, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    BBC’s routine pro-Islamic bias:

    The BBC, on its ‘Middle East’ web newspage (right-hand side), has been publicising the following ‘Have Your Say’ Islamic propaganda from Saudi Arabia for a week now:

    “HAVE YOUR SAY
    ‘The policy and actions of western governments do not help Muslim countries’
    Mohammed Mussa, Riyadh”.

    No wonder BBC licencepayers are increasingly alienated by the political propaganda and waste of money which is the BBC.

       0 likes

  10. DB says:
    May 21, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    From Matt Frei’s latest:

    Although some of the most brazen abuses have allegedly been committed by Tory MPs, it is the government that seems to be getting the brunt of the blame.
    Gordon Brown looks ashen-faced. He seems to be wilting inside.
    And it was only six weeks ago that he gathered the world’s leaders at the G20 in London, the saviour host, helping to fix the global economy. That week now feels like ancient history    .

    Blame the Tories, not poor Gordon – he helped save the world!

    Barack Obama, the former community organiser who once got Catholics and Southern Baptists to work together in the fractious South Side of Chicago managed to get car manufacturers and environmental reformers round the same bushes in the Rose Garden and agree on emissions cuts and higher fuel mileage standards.
    It is as if the lions and the lambs were agreeing on the use of pasture    .

    Praise him! Praise him! Just don’t mention the fact that the car manufacturers have to do whatever the hell Obama says if they want the next cheque.

    Mat Frei – never knowingly impartial.

       0 likes

  11. George R says:
    May 21, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    We BBC licencepayers are subsidising more BBC political propaganda against COAL, on the BBC News blog, ‘Ethical Man’:

    “Is Coal the number one enemy?”

    Nowhere in that piece is there reference to conflicting views on COAL, such as this, by Christopher Booker:

    ‘Telegraph’ (1 March,2009) –

    “Carbon capture is not here yet”

    [Extract]:

    “Alone among senior politicians, Mr Hutton has woken up to the gravity of this threat to our economic survival and ‘our sovereignty as a nation’. Aware that we can no longer look to natural gas to save us, he emphasised that our only hope is to get on with building new nuclear and coal-fired power stations as fast as possible – ‘no coal plus no nuclear equals no lights, no power, no future’, as he put it.

    “Hence, two days later, his announcement that British Energy is to be sold to France’s EDF, as our best hope of building new nuclear reactors.

    “But even EDF cannot promise that the first of its four planned reactors will be supplying power before 2020, some five years after we are due to lose 40 per cent of the generating capacity we need to meet current peak demand.

    “Hence Mr Hutton’s repeated insistence that we urgently need a new generation of coal-fired power stations. But, as we saw from the recent court victory of the Greenpeace protesters at Kingsnorth, these are hated by the immensely powerful ‘green’ lobby as much as nuclear power.” (Christopher Booker.)

       0 likes

  12. backwoodsman says:
    May 21, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    Another classic beeboid hobby horse on the farming commedy slot. Beeboid to Tory shadow farming spokesman ‘ culling badgers is going to cost you votes’ (Not in the countryside it isn’t, where voters understand that controlling TB in cattle is a serious issue).
    The rest of the programme was an unknown academic from York University expostulating a theory from one study, which showed theoretically, culling might not work. No mention of the current Irish experience , which shows culling does work. No mention of the pre- badger fully protected status days, when TB in cattle was at a tenth of its current levels. And of course, beeboids don’t talk to people with actual experience of culling pests do they, heaven forbid !

       0 likes

  13. David Preiser says:
    May 21, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    I had to check out the Today segment (@7:50) about President Obamessiah’s current difficulty dealing with his rash promise to close Guantanamo.

    Naughtie had on Peter Wehner from the Bush Administration, who dutifully waved the flag but wasn’t much use otherwise, and high-profile anti-Guantanamo lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. Of course, it’s all other people’s fault. Naughtie says that He’s facing opposition for His “plans” to close Guantanamo. The fact is, He’s facing opposition because He doesn’t have a plan, other than to sign a piece of paper saying it’s closed. But that wouldn’t ever occur to a Today presenter.

    Smith tells two lies and Naughtie lets them pass unchallenged. First, Smith says that there are some 60 prisoners who are cleared for release, but face “persecution” in their home countries. Naughtie lets it slide, because obviously they were asylum seekers just like the kind you get all the time, only they went to Tora Bora instead of Calais.

    This is such crap because the Uighurs were there to train to commit terrorist acts against China. Whether or not one condemns what China has been doing to them, that’s no excuse for lying. Smith and his kind want these people set free on the streets. They’re not going to give up the fight against the Chinese, so it’s basically setting them free to be terrorists. They might get executed by their home governments because they are fully trained terrorists, sure. But that’s obviously a definition of “persecution” I wasn’t previously aware of.

    Smith says there are plenty of places to send these inmates. For example, Qatar would take some prisoners, if only the US “asked nicely”. I guess Al Jazeera needs some new cameramen.

    The Uighurs’ situation is a dilemma, I admit. But Smith is being grossly dishonest in the way he’s presenting them. The US guy apparently didn’t feel like debating, or didn’t know he was allowed to. But Naughtie should have stepped in to provide the honest context for the Uighurs.

    Then he states that the US is holding innocents in Guantanmo because they’re not enemy combatants. This is false, because some of the people picked up in Afghanistan or Pakistan – the Uighers again – were captured running from Al Qaeda training camps under attack from US forces. These guys aren’t innocent at all. The fact that they were captured trying to escape a battle rather than during a battle doesn’t change anything. He starts using Nuremberg’s conviction rate as a comparison, but it’s a totally invalid argument. If he compared it to all the later trials of ex-guards and the like, his point would fall flat.

    But that’s a major part of the political platform for Smith and his kind at the BBC. If they weren’t caught in the middle of a battle or attempting to blow themselves up, they’re innocent! And the BBC is only too happy to support him.

       0 likes

  14. Ed says:
    May 21, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    Has anyone noticed the BBC’s coverage of Chechnya at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8060624.stm ?

    Despite the country being rebuilt in relative peace since the Jihadists were defeated, the BBC continues with its narrative that terrorism can never be solved by military action and takes delight in finding discontent there.

    Now I don’t think the Russian forces are angels by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re surely infinitely better than the jihadist terrorists. But the entire story is absolutely biased against the Russians and Chechen government and makes not one criticism of the terrorists.

       0 likes

  15. DB says:
    May 21, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    Some more refreshingly objective analysis of accepted climate change wisdom by Richard Cable on his hidden-from-links, hope-nobody-finds-out, BBC blog.

       0 likes

  16. Grant says:
    May 21, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    David Preiser 4:17
    Don’t expect the vile Stafford Smith to tell the truth. If he did , he would be out of work.
    I wonder if he would be willing to publish his income, the sources of his income and his expenses and agree to an independent audit ?

       0 likes

  17. Grant says:
    May 21, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    Ed 4:35
    It is always a dilemma for the BBC to decide between Mother Russia and muslims.
    During the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, they sided with the Russians.
    What we can be sure of is that whichever side the BBC takes, will be the losers !

       0 likes

  18. Anonymous says:
    May 21, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    I watched Nick Robinson’s BBC News report on yesterday’s P.M questions in Parliament. The televised recording clearly showed Brown’s “chaos” gaffe and Cameron’s witty retort.

    Robinson then quite gratuitously added that “Of course, what the Prime Minister meant to say was that people want him to be getting on with the job…”

    Save Gordon !

       0 likes

  19. David Preiser says:
    May 21, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    Those “Tea Party” protests that the BBC ignored, then eventually grossly misrepresented and insulted are still going. Contrary to what Kevin Connolly and Peter Marshall told you, these were going for weeks and weeks (actually even before Rick Santelli’s rant) before the nationwide gatherings on April 15.

    Their focus is local more than national, and have already begun to have an affect.

    They’re still going on, and there was one Salt Lake City, Utah yesterday. Look at the sign in the lower left corner of the first photo, and substitute “BBC” for “Janeane Garofalo”.

    Contrary to the dishonesty of Connolly and Marshall and Matt Frei, these aren’t really about hating the President or clinging to our guns and embryos. Yes, there will always be single-issue activists trying to ride the bandwagon, but nothing the like the prevalence of, say, “Free Palestine” screamers at protests against the IMF or a third runway at Heathrow. In short, it’s seriously dishonest to categorize these protests and those involved the way Connolly and Marshall have. And, like typical BBC bigots, they look at the crowds, and see only their race.

    In fact, somebody had a sign at yesterday’s protest in Salt Lake City, Utah which they ought to see. Look at the sign in the lower left corner of the first picture, and substitute “BBC” for “Janeane Garofalo”.

    A battle from the right is brewing for Bennett

    Bennett was a prime target of tax protesters at “Tea Party” rallies last month, who booed the junior senator for supporting a bank bailout last year; conservative state legislators are breaking with Bennett and lining up with his challengers; and Shurtleff’s internal polling shows Bennett might have cause for concern.

    Bennett’s a Republican. No matter how much Marshall or Frei Boy try to paint these as racist gatherings, these protests are about issues, not people or skin color or even political party any more.

    I wonder if the UK is in the mood for something similar? (Not this kind of tea party, although notice a handful of anti-war hippies always get the BBC’s attention.) Quite a few safe seats will be up for grabs at the next election.

       0 likes

  20. nrg says:
    May 21, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    We have been missing the obvious:

    “the BBC continues with its narrative that terrorism can never be solved by military action”

    Yes, the Beeboids believe in responding to terrorism by appeasement – so maybe we should go and get 1972 on their arses.

       0 likes

  21. Anonymous says:
    May 21, 2009 at 5:45 pm

    Report on the NY arrests on today at 6:11 had in its first sentence “…, believed to be Muslim converts, …”. So no attempt to obscure their motivation.

    DP – Webb used the term “dithering” to describe Obama’s attempts to resolve Gitmo yesterday. Tonight’s piece focused on Cheney’s criticism of the speech Obama made today and (if memory serves) played a clip of the ex-VP.

       0 likes

  22. G.O.T. says:
    May 21, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    I can’t believe nobody is discussing this.

    Does that mean you are all happy to contribute towards the NuLiebore Spin Channel?

       0 likes

  23. Millie Tant says:
    May 21, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    Just looked at the TV listings for tonight only to discover what’s on the BBC’s prog about the Chelsea Flower Show.

    “Exclusive look at the private garden of politician and passionate gardener Ken Livingston as he visits the show”.

    Yes, folks, of all the millions of private gardens and millions of passionate gardeners in the UK, the BBC has to bring us the ex-Mayor, Labourite (ex-)politician, tireless haunter of BBC TV studios.

    Wonder why that would be, eh?

       0 likes

  24. David Preiser says:
    May 21, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    Those Jewish places in Riverdale where those Mohammedan converts planted what they thought were bombs is about a mile and a half away from where I live. A friend’s parents attend the synagogue on various holidays.

    I also happen to know the mayor of the town they’re from. QT viewers here would appreciate his wife. He cleared the mafia out of his town, and now it looks like he has some other cleaning to do.

       0 likes

  25. George R says:
    May 21, 2009 at 11:16 pm

    ‘Guardian’ (Media) 21 May:

    “BBC board members’ expenses to be made public”

    [Extract]:

    “The BBC is to publish the details of expenses of executive board members, including the director general, Mark Thompson, as part of moves to make the corporation more open and accountable.

    “From October the BBC will make public the expenses of Thompson and the other eight members of the BBC executive board, as well as the corporation’s non-executive directors, every six months.”

    So we’ll get more information like this?:

    ‘News of the World’ (19 April):

    “Limobscene
    BBC boss’s £58k chauffeur”

    (By Guy Basnett):

    [Extract]-

    “BEEB BEEP! Make way for the latest BBC cash scandal!

    “We can reveal a Corporation boss has a £58,000-A-YEAR chauffeur-driven limo to take him just SIX MILES to work every day.

    “Deputy director general Mark Byford, who earned £513,000 last year-can’t be bothered to catch the Tube like millions of hard-up BBC licence-payers.

    “So he orders his chauffeur to pick him up at London’s Waterloo Station for a return journey that works out at £240 A DAY.

    “‘There is no clearer sign that BBC fatcats have lost touch with TV licence payers,’ said a Corporation insider.”

       0 likes

  26. JohnA says:
    May 22, 2009 at 12:01 am

    Can someone please tell me how to make a Freedom of Information Act demand for info from the BBC ?

    Just links to relevant websites would be fine.

    I worked the other side of the fence, in Whitehall, helping several Ministries over the years DEFLECT questions.

    But a persistent MP was always able to focus down his next questions, to tease out the answer.

       0 likes

  27. Roger C says:
    May 22, 2009 at 6:34 am

    BBC news at 7.10am this morning ran an item about Labour MP Margaret Moran and the disgust in her Luton constituancy about her fiddeling expenses for her Southampton home. The whole thing was a masterpiece of bias in they managed to avoid the word Labour MP once!

       0 likes

  28. North Northwester says:
    May 22, 2009 at 7:04 am

    Have you heard Nadine Dorries whining about MPs worried for each others' sanity/suicide plans? The only time you'll get a Tory MP on the BBC is when they're one of the bottom-draw loons making some especially fatuous point during Labour doldrums such as now when all the parties' MPs have had their hand in the till for years and Labour's Speaker and Prime Minister have let it all happen.

    Search their website for John redwood – articulate, honest, and Right-wing, and you get crumbs :

    http://search.bbc.co.uk/search?uri=%2F&scope=all&go=toolbar&q=John+Redwood

    Nadine Dorries, though; she's all over the place.

    http://search.bbc.co.uk/search?uri=%2F1%2Fhi%2Fuk_politics%2F7951205.stm&scope=all&go=toolbar&q=NAdine+Dorries

    It's like the BNP choosing Lee Jasper as Britain's representative to UNESCO.

       0 likes

  29. George R says:
    May 22, 2009 at 9:05 am

    The role of the BBC’s international coverage of politics seems to be to supplement that of Al Jazeera.

    For example, on the BBC’s ‘Middle East’ webpage, the ‘Have Your Say’ feature, on the righthand side is usually some Islamic, anti-Western propaganda item from e.g. Saudi Arabia (running for the past week), and currently, some anti-American piece from an Islamic blogger in Tehran.

    This Islamic provision is what BBC dictate to British licencepayers. We are supposed to endure this: the BBC providing a global political platform for Muslims to criticise Britain and the West!

    No, BBC, no – that is not what you should use our money on. Please stop now. Or public opinion will really turn on you, and stop you.

    While the BBC still exists, the purpose of the BBC is to serve the British licencepayers’ interests, NOT, as the BBC currently does: serve the interests of Islam globally.

       0 likes

  30. Grant says:
    May 22, 2009 at 9:37 am

    GeorgeR 12:16
    I notice the BBC are not publishing their expenses until October. Does that mean from October, which gives them plenty of time to make “alternative arrangements” or will it be retrospective ,say, the last 4 years ?

       0 likes

←Older Comments