108 Responses to OPEN THREAD

  1. Anonymous says:

    Brace yourselves, folks !

    IIIIIIIITTTTTTTSSSSSS (Drum roll, maestro, please)……….

    …….School Question Time Week !

    Ugh. Yugh. Gak.

    Why can't we have Pensioners Question Time for once, just to balance things up a little ?

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  2. Democrazy says:

    I suppose radio 4 is no better than the rest of the shallow and sensationalist media — all that time this morning given over to the death of Jackson, the dysfunctional man-woman entertainer; by comparison hardly any time at all to the memorial being set up to honour the 52 people murdered by terrorists four years ago. (Sorry, used the T word.)

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  3. qoooze says:

    This bullshit was repeated ad nausea this morning on Breakfast:

    [Social]Housing 'not favouring migrants'

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8137408.stm

    "EHRC chairman Trevor Phillips blamed a "failure of social housing supply" for concerns that migrants jumped queues."

    “The report – based on figures from the 2007 Labour Force Survey – was carried out by the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research think tank.”

    Centre-left??? They don't say this on the TV. Anyway, I’d say radical left.

    Explain this BBC : Binyam Mohammed, housing association property in KENSINGTON. FFS!
    The report is bollocks.

    You've got more than the dead, so zip up your mouth.

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  4. Abandon Ship! says:

    McNamara has died:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3740700.stm

    and Montaquin on the Today programme can't wait to tell us "how wrong, how TERRIBLY wrong" McNamara felt he had been about Vietnam. Ah! A repentant sinner!

    My point is the assumption by the BBC that Vietnam was bad, and USA involvement particularly bad. Well it may have been, but then again it might not, but I don't pay the BBC my licence fee to make lazy assumptions about what I should think about important matters.

    In the same way, whatever (even if it becomes a vibrant and secure democracy) happens in Iraq, one can imagine in 20 years or so the same words being used in a BBC Colin Powell obituary.

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  5. Abandon Ship! says:

    The long view:

    Unemployment

    Jonathan Freedland introduces this morning's offering shortly, with guests including John Denham. So we can see where this one will be going. Hardly a balanced offering.

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  6. John Reith spins in his grave says:

    Anybody see the great EU news from the German Constitutional Court on the Lisbon Treaty……

    Lisbon passes German court test

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8125742.stm

    Champers all round (on you of course) at the Beeb!

    Curiously, Der Speigel didn't quite see it that way…….

    Brussels Put Firmly in the Back Seat
    By SPIEGEL Staff

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,634506,00.html

    I wouldn't who best has their finger on the pulse of popular German sentiment ???

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  7. Abandon Ship! says:

    Heard quite a bit about social housing and immigrants on the Today programme this morning. Actually it has been a bit of a propaganda fest to convince the poor white trash as well as conservative leaning slightly richer and better educated white trash of the country that immigrants from Somalia don't get decent accommodation ahead of the Smith family who have lived in North London or Leicester or Bristol for the last 4 generations.

    Apparently there is no truth in the idea that this sort of queue jumping happens and "It's all about perception". Funny how the liberal elite and the BBC wheel out this phrase to deal with certain issues (e.g. the EU and Brussels) that have little support in the British populace but the BBC are just convinced we need to understand. Maybe my feeling that the BBC is stuffed full of Guardian-reading types who think a white person who supports conservative values and believes in God is equivalent to something you find on the bottom of your shoe is just a perception as well?

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  8. frankos says:

    Ref scrappage scheme:

    The government has aided private car dealers and mostly foreign car manufacturers with this scheme.
    Very few British car workers have benefitted from this and this was obvious right from the start..
    A better solution might have been to temporarily reduce corporation tax on british companies, but as usual this is a headline grabbing stunt by New Labour.
    The BBC predictably slavishly report how wonderfully their masters are dealing with the American inspired crisis.

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  9. GCooper says:

    The key to the immigration and housing story is less the report itself than the fact that the BBC chose to give it headline status from yesterday evening through to this morning and then elected to roll around in it on Today.

    What on earth did anyone expect the (un)Equal Opportunities Commission to say? The truth?

    Had the opposite conclusion been reached by, say, Migrationwatch, you can be absolutely certain the BBC would not have been clearing the front page to make room for it!

    And so the bias rolls on.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    David Vance: your favourite BBC journo is being honoured by your hometown.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/jul/07/bbc

    You must be very proud

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Yet another example of piss-poor BBC journalism. Today’s obituary to former U.S Secretary of Defence, Robert S McNamara claims…

    President “Johnson put ground troops into Vietnam following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in which, it was claimed, Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked US warships. McNamara confirmed that these attacks never actually took place.”

    This statement is wrong on a number of levels…

    1. All sides to the conflict – including the North Vietnamese themselves, accept that the U.S.S Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on August 2nd 1964. The first Gulf of Tonkin incident is therefore not subject to any historical debate. It was the second attack on August 4th 1964 that is disputed.
    2. While it is true that Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin Congressional Resolution to legitimise his war in Vietnam, there is no direct link (as the BBC imply) between the Gulf of Tonkin incident(s) themselves and Johnson’s decision to escalate in 1965.

    The air war [Operation Rolling Thunder] for instance, was sanctioned on February 13th 1965 – a full seven months after Tonkin. In public, the White House cited the Viet Cong attack on Pleiku airbase (7.2.65) as the trigger. Likewise, American combat troops first waded ashore near Da Nang on March 8th 1965 (again several months after Tonkin) they were tasked with defending the town’s airfield. Large-scale U.S deployments did not start until July 1965; nearly a whole year after Tonkin.

    The BBC’s assessment of McNamara’s role inside the Johnson cabinet is also off-beam. They note how LBJ chided McNamara for advising Kennedy to pull American military advisers out of Vietnam. But NSAM 263 authored in October 1963, was based on false intelligence. The United States military believed that the insurgency was being defeated; McNamara was simply laying out a time-scale for a victorious American withdrawal. Prior to 1968, he never suggested letting South Vietnam fall to the Communists. In fact, until this date, he was the ultimate hawk, pushing for a faster and harder escalation. None of this is open to dispute, but somehow the BBC get these basic historical facts wrong… The BBC less trustworthy than Wikipedia!

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  12. Abandon Ship! says:

    If you thought this was bad:

    http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2009/07/devotion-to-education.html

    Then listen to this.

    Being interested in history, I occasionally visit the BBC's History magazine website to see what it has to offer. I know from previous experience that the free mp3 downloads and articles from the magazine can be a bit right-on, having regular pieces about slavery, human rights, colonialism, women's issues etc. However, I have to say there is also plenty of interesting stuff.

    However, I wasn't prepared for what I found on the History Lessons page:

    http://www.bbchistorymagazine.com/lessons.asp

    The available articles include:

    "Stop and search – How the police can learn lessons from the past"

    "Making immigration work for Britain"

    "Youth Culture and Crime"

    Astonishing, even for the BBC. These articles could easily be from CiF (or in actual fact a sort of dumbed down CiF).

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  13. Ian says:

    Further to the immigration issues mentioned above did anyone listen to the program that followed today.

    A group of worthies (I missed their "qualifications") were on to discuss the employment situation and immigration.

    The basic consensus summed up by some woman (again missed her name) was that Poles, eastern Europeans and immigrants in general are more diligent, entrepreneurial and self motivated so they are bagging the best jobs available.

    Not one mention of the imapact on wages, the government sponsored destruction of the IT industry and employers willingness to opt for the cheaper option – points that may even be inextricably linked??

    No just implicit racism towards the host nation who by implication are portrayed subliminally as workshy, scumbag, layabout, chavs.
    Distgusting!!

    I work in IT and have done for nearly 25 years. An industry that in the 80's was a flourishing one of excellence. NULab f**K ups in IT projects such the NHS, MOD, plus IR35 etc are responsible for the state of the IT industry today amongst other things.

    I have lost jobs to eastern europeans and other nations even though I am vastly more experienced but with this cheaper option down goes the competency and standards (I dont blame the immigrants btw way – they are doing what I would do).

    I was interviewed by the Sun for a role (oh the irony) a little while ago, by a Kiwi and a Dutch guy and even though I had more qualifications, skills and experience I was unsuccessful.

    Oh well – c'est le vie…

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  14. George R says:

    'Jihadwatch':

    "UK deports more terror threats!"

    [Extract]:

    "All right. So they deported some Methodist eighth graders, but surely this time the British authorities are going after Anjem Chaudary, or Abu Qatada, or Abu Izzadeen, or any of the 4,000 other jihadists in Britain?

    "Nope. This time they're deporting a Coptic Christian family that faces persecution once back in Egypt. Please sign the petition.

    "Another Absurd Britannia Alert: 'Appeal to save the Mansour family from deportation,' from GoPetition, July 4 (thanks to Ibrahim):

    "On The 1st July 2009 @ 6.30am the Mansour family were taken from their home in Moss Side and moved to a holding centre in Sussex after their legal team failed to help them.
    ""Their legal advisers, who were paid a considerable amount by the Mansours, did not adequately represent them due to staff sickness. This has left the Mansour family in a critical situation.

    "The family came to England 4 years ago from Egypt because they feared for their lives. They have suffered persecution and worse from religious fundamentalist groups and the police department because of their Christian beliefs. They believe that their lives and those of their 5 young children are at risk if they return to Egypt."

    The BBC ignores all that, and on its pro-Islam website goes with this on Egypt:

    "Egypt mourns headscarf martyr"

    ('Middle East' page.)

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  15. will2001 says:

    Humphrys seems to be supporting Brown rather than being sympathetic towards the low paid losers from the 10p tax fiasco, when interviewing the champion of the poor, Frank Field

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8137263.stm

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  16. DB says:

    Here's an angle even Justin Webb hasn't yet suggested:

    CALLER: He is truly the soundtrack of my life. I also have a theory about Sarah Palin as well and I'm going to put it out there on radio, hopefully someone can investigate. But, I think maybe she did something to Michael Jackson. Maybe there's a scandal there. Maybe she's stepping down because something's about to come out. I don't know, but I'm gonna just put it out there on your show so we'll see.
    AL SHARPTON: All right, thank you for your call, Ashley. That's interesting. I'll put it out, we'll see. I don't know
    .

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  17. Anonymous says:

    I had to laugh because even in the midst of this sweet little article about the Downing Street Garden Girls, there is a swipe at Thatcher.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8136495.stm

    They just cannot help themselves, can they?

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  18. adam says:

    Newsnight's 'balanced' panel has four lefties and no righties

    Is Newsnight having a laugh?

    It has established a Dragons Den-style 'politics pen' to assess candidates for public spending savings.

    A reader is appalled at the choice of four pen members…

    There's Greg Dyke (former Labour donor)…

    Deborah Mattinson (Brown's pollster)…

    Digby Jones (former Labour minister)…

    and Matthew Taylor (former adviser to Tony Blair).

    It would seem that the BBC isn't even trying to demonstrate ideological balance anymore.

    Posted by Tim Montgomerie at 23:45

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  19. AndrewSouthLondon says:

    So "migrants don't jump the housing queue". Well well well, what spin doctor thought up the answer to a question that everyone thought but no one dared ask in case it was declared "wrong thought" ?

    The Camberwell tower block fire, victims? In social housing of London's Southwark Council: two brazilians, two africans and a dress designer from it would seem wealthy South-West England parents.

    Don't worry. You pay for it but the "Equality Commission" (memo, increase by 200 metres the amount of piano wire required for quango abolition) say there's nothing to see, move on. Except when tragedy lifts the lid for all to see.

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  20. George R says:

    'Telegraph' leader, which includes picture of Yentob in a toga:

    "Decline and Fall of the BBC Empire"

    [Extract]:

    "Who can begrudge the groaning pension pot of the BBC's Alan Yentob? Not many serious cultural figures, scions of the arts establishment, would be willing to dress up in a toga for a bit of publicity. Surely that's worth a million or two straight off?

    "Yet somehow, the news that the BBC's arts supremo has a pension pot worth £6.3 million if bought as an annuity on the open market to cushion his retirement, after a life spent working for the corporation, has caused an outcry. Admittedly, the fact that this comes after another dispute over his expenses in 2004 (he was cleared), the revelations that the BBC paid for a large party at his country home (business contacts were present), and that he had not exactly been present at interviews for a documentary (look, he's a busy man, OK?) does not help his case. But that doesn't matter, because that case has been made for him by the corporation's director-general, Mark Thompson."

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  21. will2001 says:

    BBC1 News tells us how beastly it is that more & more sport is on subscription channels. Vox pop segments reinforce the message that the BBC means sport for free.

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  22. melusina says:

    Law in Action this afternoon was so one-sided as to be unreal. It was concerned with abuse in children's homes in Ireland run by Roman Catholic organisations. Note the lack of the adjective "alleged" before "abuse". I don't think this word was used once. The whole ethos of the programme was that anyone claiming to have been abused, and hence eligible for a nice handout, was telling the truth. Criticism was made of lawyers for the Roman Catholic organisations who had the audacity to even question an abusee's allegations. No one represented the other side. Although a few of the people in children's homes were orphans, many were there because their slut of a mother couldn't be bothered to look after them. Absolutely no criticism of them of course.

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  23. George R says:

    BBC: 'move along there, nothing to see here':

    Non-BBC report –

    "Geert Wilders Now Biggest Party in All Polls"

    (Netherlands Info Services 06 July. )

    "THE HAGUE. For the first time, the Party for Freedom (PVV) is the top-scoring party in both leading opinion polls. Geert Wilders' party reached this position in Maurice de Hond's poll three months ago, and has now come top in the Synovate poll as well.

    "According to the Synovate Political Barometer, the PVV would win 32 of the 150 Lower House seats if elections were held now. This makes it the largest party, although the Christian Democrats (CDA) also score 32 seats. The PVV currently holds 9 Lower House seats and the CDA 41.

    "Without apparent reason, the PVV has jumped from 23 to 32 seats in the Political Barometer, drawn up on behalf of TV programme Nova, over the past month. In the polls held by Maurice de Hond, the PVV has been stable at or around 32 seats for months."
    ('Europenews.dk')

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  24. George R says:

    CHINA.

    A BBC 'the natives are restive' report:

    "Restive Chinese city under curfew"

    Last sentence of the BBC report:

    "Campaigners accuse China of exaggerating the threat to justify tough security clampdowns in the region."

    -Who are these "campaigners", BBC?

    -And what is "the threat" which you don't specify?

    -Could it be this:

    "East Turkestan Islamic Movement"

    (From 'Wikipedia'):

    "The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM, Turkish: Doğu Türkistan İslâm Hareketi) is an Uyghur, purportedly militant organization that advocates the creation of an independent, Islamic state of East Turkestan, formally part of Afghanistan, in what is currently the Xinjiang region of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

    "The United States listed the ETIM as a terrorist organizations on August 27 2002, following a visit to China of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

    "The founder and leader of the organization was allegedly Hasan Mahsum, who was shot and killed by the Pakistani Army on October 2, 2003.

    "ETIM is described as a terrorist organization by the governments of the PRC, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and the United States, as well as the United Nations.

    "The Chinese government blamed ETIM members for several car bomb attacks in Xinjiang in the 1990s, as well as the death of a Chinese diplomat in Kyrgyzstan in 2002, but the group has neither admitted nor denied such accusations.

    "ETIM is alleged to have had links with Al-Qaeda. In its 2005 report on terrorism, the US State Department said that the group was 'linked to al-Qaida and the international jihadist movement' and that Al-Qaeda provided the group with 'training and financial assistance'.

    "In January 2002, the Chinese government released a report in which it attempted to prove that Hasan Mahsum met with Osama bin Laden in 1999 and received promises of money, and that bin Laden sent 'scores of terrorists' into China. However, alleged ETIM leader Hasan Mahsum denied such organizational ties and alleged China exaggerates such claims as a means of enlisting support from the United States."

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  25. John Stephens says:

    Interesting that the BBC almost entirely ignores the sentencing of the Islamic book firebombers, 4 years to the day after the London bombings by Muslim terrorists.

    Could it be that these followers of Allah don't quite fit the BBC narrative??

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198111/If-choose-live-country-live-rules-says-judge-jails-Muslim-extremists-arson-attack-publishers-home.html

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  26. John Horne Tooke says:

    George R 11:01 PM

    But there is another twist to this.

    "Half of Dutch Muslims wants to leave because of Wilders "
    http://www.geertwilders.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1590&Itemid=1

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  27. George R says:

    With reference to BBC and Israel:

    "A British military expert tells truth to prejudice"
    (Melanie Phillips blog, 'Spectator'.)

    [Extract]:

    "During Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza at the turn of the year, when it was being demonised daily for its ‘disproportionate’ response to Gaza’s rocket attacks and accused (falsely) of recklessly or wilfully killing huge numbers of Palestinian civilians, particularly children, the BBC conducted an interview which shone out like a diamond on a dunghill in those dark and bigoted days. It was with Colonel Richard Kemp, formerly both commander of British forces in Afghanistan and the intelligence co-ordinator for the British government. In that interview, Col Kemp disconcerted the BBC’s boilerplate group-thinking presenter by stating that

    "'I don’t think there’s ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing today in Gaza.'"

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  28. surveyor says:

    Anyone missed the nudging between Harperson and Dimblebore on QT last week, Guido has youtube link.


    The news is clearly spreading with lots of other offerings.I particularly liked "The BBC"

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  29. George R says:

    As predicted: to whom does the BBC give its priority, on July 7, and beyond ?:

    "BBC attracts complaints over coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral." ('Telegraph')-

    [Extract]:

    "The BBC has been criticised over the extent of its coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral and memorial service in Los Angeles.

    "Viewers contacted the broadcaster to express unhappiness at the way the BBC dedicated two channels to the ceremony in Los Angeles.

    "The corporation was accused of pandering 'to the cult of personality'.

    "One online complaint said: 'The coverage of Jackson's death has been far too extensive. The BBC has developed a cult of personality in line with the rest of the new media and have great pleasure in over reporting celebrities. Once it was the channel to watch for news, now it is not. The argument for the licence fee is founded on its impartiality and capability. Both can seriously be questioned.'

    "The BBC News channel and the international BBC World News outlet screened the memorial with coverage fronted by Rajesh Mirchandani in Los Angeles.

    "However, BBC Two also cleared its early evening schedule to broadcast live from the memorial from the Staples Centre.

    "Trevor Nelson, the Radio 1 DJ introduced the coverage from London, while the BBC's HD channel also broadcasted the proceedings.

    "One complainant said: 'It actually doesn't matter what that single issue is: but even 9/11 and 7/7 weren't reported to the almost total exclusion of other news. It is pandering to the cult of personality.'"

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  30. George R says:

    BBC's robotic, anti-China, pro-Islam reporting:

    1.) Troops flood into China riot city"

    by BBC's Quentin Somerville.

    Last sentence:

    "Campaigners accuse China of exaggerating the threat to justify tough security clampdowns in the region."

    (See comment above at 11:37 pm.)

    2.)"Assessing the role of Uighur exiles."

    By BBC's Firdevs Robinson (- a very politically preferential view of Islam.)

    Last sentence:

    "The Chinese government frequently points to the threat caused by the radical extremists, but human rights observers say China is exaggerating the threat as an excuse to cover up its abuse of power in Xinjiang." (BBC report.)

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  31. JohnA says:

    GeorgeR

    To be fair to Quentin Somerville, the BBC's man-on-the-spot, my impression is that his reports have been trying to tell it like it is. He told one BBC presenter point blank that it was a Muslim mob that started things, going around killing and wounding Han Chinese. This was before all the police etc got involved.

    The BBC presenter moved on quickly from this.

    So, if a Muslim mob causes scores of deaths, hundreds of inhuries and lots of damages to property – is it any wonder that many Muslims are then arrested, and that the authorities clamp down hard ?

    ……………

    Several BBC bods have tried to draw a parallel with Tibet. This is false IMHO – the area has never been independent in the way that Tibet was for a long time.

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  32. Grant says:

    Today's Daily Mail exposes Ken Livingstone's abuse of expenses when he was London Mayor. I wonder how the BBC will deal with this one !

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  33. Roland Deschain says:

    Ian Dale has pointed out this response to criticism of bias in Newsnight's Dragon's den item. It's another "move along now, nothing to see here" justification.

    Commenters are not impressed!

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  34. Anonymous says:

    Grant said…
    I wonder how the BBC will deal with this one !
    11:30 AM, July 08, 2009

    On past/present evidence, like this:

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  35. Mailman says:

    http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/06/gordons-10-worst-financial-gaffs.html

    well golly, when you put it that way! 🙂

    Mailman

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  36. JohnA says:

    Oh Lord – yet another Radio 4 afternoon play today about a nice Muslim. Full of PC fluff, totally unbelievable "drama".

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  37. sue says:

    JohnA
    I heard another one of those a few days ago as well.
    I lied, I didn't hear it – I switched it on in the middle and switched it off again pronto.

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  38. Ed says:

    PRO-GYPSY

    Anyone notice the long al-Beeb article about the Roma or gypsies? Totally biased as usual. All about the plight of the gypsies in Europe and of course not a hint that their inferior living conditions or life extectancy could be even partly to do with their own choices and way of life. No ballance from those who have to live near the Roma who might have reasons not to get along with them.

    The beeboids even manage to slip in a pro-immigration reference:

    "Historians agree that the Roma's origins lie in north-west India and that their journey towards Europe started between the 3rd and 7th Centuries AD – a massive migration prompted by timeless reasons: conflicts, instability and the seeking of a better life in big cities such as Tehran, Baghdad and, later on, Constantinople."

    But then, the Roma are the perfect 'victims' for the left: dark-skinned, impoverished, regarded as workshy, known for consuming inordinate amounts of benefits, cause problems for other members of society. The only thing missing is they aren't muslims, but hey, you can't have it all.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8136812.stm

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  39. Craig says:

    For the first seven days of July 2007, the BBC airwaves have continued to be dominated by the Labour government:

    Labour, 40 interviewees, 63.7% of airtime

    Conservatives, 15 interviewees, 24% of airtime

    Lib Dems, 6 interviewees, 5.9% of airtime

    SNP, 2 interviewees, 3% of airtime

    Green, 3 interviewees, 2.7% of airtime

    Plaid Cymru, 1 interviewee, 0.9% of airtime

    UKIP, 0 interviewees, 0.0% of airtime

    BNP, 0 interviewees, 0.0% of airtime

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  40. George R says:

    BBC 2 TV -TONIGHT, 9 pm: 'Taking the Flak'.

    'Evening Standard'

    (Londoner's Diary):

    " BBC bigfoot could be your man"

    WILL John Simpson take the joke? Tonight BBC2 is to air a new satirical drama called 'Taking the Flak'.

    "Set in Africa, it stars Martin Jarvis as David Bradburn, a senior BBC foreign correspondent who is portrayed as a pompous, self-centred, libidinous figure and is seen 'bigfooting' a lowly local stringer in the first episode.

    "In later scenes he has to undergo various ordeals — including miming to Barbie Girl in a video when he gets taken hostage by child soldiers.

    "The fact that one of the three writers of the show happens to be Tira Shubart has led many to conclude Bradburn is based on real-life BBC correspondent and bigfooting crisis-chaser John Simpson, Shubart’s ex-boyfriend.

    "Shubart denies there is any resemblance: 'There are various theories about characters based on real people,' she says. But I can tell you, they ain’t true.'”

    {BBC 2 TV – TONIGHT, 9 pm.]

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  41. Craig says:

    Craig,@4.23

    Didn't you mean 2009?
    Do you even know what day it is?

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  42. George R says:

    'Daily Mail, sport':

    "Ashes 2009: The BBC sends 400 to Glastonbury but ignores the battle for the urn." (By M. Henderson.)

    [Extract]:

    "Some may not even know that a Test is taking place. The BBC, who serve tennis and
    golf so well, have not screened live coverage of Test cricket since 1998 and are unlikely ever to do so again. Shame on them."

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  43. George R says:

    BBC-2 'Taking the Flak'

    -excellent comedy (see comment above today- 4:47 pm.)

    This is perhaps how the BBC should end its era: making parodies of itself.

    From now on, 'Biased-BBC' commenters need only use shorthand words of 'Taking the Flak', or 'Bradbury' to refer to a typically surreal BBC foreign report.

    Six more episodes: Wednesdays.

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  44. George R says:

    Re-10:10 pm above

    I should know his famous name by now: 'BRADBURN'.

    For UK viewers, there are some interesting insights provided by 'real' BBC staff on 'Bradburn', available on 'red button' on BBC-2 digital.

    I suppose it was inevitable that as the BBC world empire is so large that it would end up making only programmes about…the BBC. It's the way to go. Beeboids are now being honest and saying it: 'I'd rather play being an actor, than play being a journalist'.

    Bradbury: 'I don't see the difference.'

    Will 'Bradburn' ever retire? Maybe after the deserved recognition he receives after the next six episodes?

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  45. dave s says:

    It is how the BBC covers stories that is so wierd until you realise they really do think of themselves as quite apart from us the proles.
    Newsnight tonight. Ritual condemnation of the bonus culture of the bankers but no mention by Maitlis of the huge salaries and bonuses of the BBC executives. And then a piece on pensions which managed to avoid mentioning the real problem. Public sector pensions and the funding thereof which will fall
    entirely upon the private sector.
    They are actually now incapable of seeing how absurd they have become in their blinkered belief in their entitlement to the fruits of our labour throughout their lives.
    They no longer possess even the remotest connection with reality.

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  46. George R says:

    'Telegraph':

    "G8 summit: China and India reject G8 calls for climate targets"

    "China and India have rejected calls from G8 leaders for them to make deep cuts in their carbon emissions.

    "The refusal of developing nations to sign up to a climate change deal overshadowed an agreement between rich nations to limit the rise in global average temperatures."

    BUT, Brown, BBC, EU – don't let this stop you from strengthening your demands that British and European people to be taxed EVEN MORE because of this, to fulfil your totally mistaken man-made global warming apocalyptic fascism.

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  47. JohnA says:

    George R

    I mentioned on another thread that I have not heard the BBC reporting that China and India are telling Obama and Brown to get stuffed on climate change.

    BBC missing out on a major climate change story ? How odd !

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  48. Anonymous says:

    dave s said…
    they really do think of themselves as quite apart from us the proles.
    Newsnight tonight.
    11:57 PM, July 08, 2009

    The attempt by Newsnight Editor Peter Rippon to 'justify' (not going too well it seems) it's Poison Pen 'idea' would tend to support this.

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  49. Anonymous says:

    A town called Bundanoon has 'banned' water bottles.

    Seems all bar one resident voted for it.

    'What was he/she thinking? exclaim the Breakfast bouffant and brunette.

    Indeed. Not a bottle of water to be found in any BBC facility, I am sure.

    And no hint that the only way you get coverage of such things is only by being first with the latest 'Planet Ban-it' that is 'for the good of the environment'.

    I wonder if they would be as keen on covering a town that has decided on not paying the licence fee as it's good in just about any way you can imagine.

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  50. George R says:

    BBC's thick-skinned John Simpson reviews last night's 'Taking the Flak':

    'Telegraph' ('TV and radio' section.)

    "TV review: John Simpson on Taking the Flak
    "War reporter John Simpson reviews Taking the Flak, BBC Two's new comedy drama about a team of news reporters in war-torn Africa, whose lead character is not entirely unlike Simpson himself. "

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