Monthly Archives: October 2009

Tactical change of climate

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The above video shows what could be called the power of nightmares- a form of Governmental abuse. The BBC yesterday published an article questioning the reality of global warming. One of the sickening things about the BBC is its ability both to change the climate of opinion, and use its journalistic license and political antennae to change course and retain its reputation. When will we get the apology for the rush to declare the debate on warming over? When will they admit they played a part in creating the hysteria which politicians like eager and brainless vampires feed on? Is it ever right to “abandon the pretence of impartiality” as Paxman claimed the BBC had? Now will they be returning to a semblance of impartiality? Why was this only a “pretence” in the first place? Will they not now still hanker after being proved right and keep pushing the MMGW hypothesis as “news”? The BBC’s coverage of climate, and its consequences in the political discourse of this country, represent one of the most powerful arguments against the BBC’s existence.

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Obama Beat These To The Prize….

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From Ace – who else was up for the Nobel Peace Prize?

Chinese Human Rights Activist Hu Jia – imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC, not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China’s communist system. — not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama. (Not to mention the symbolic value of awarding a Chinese dissident on the 20th Anniversary of the Tianenmen Square Massacre.)

Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years – not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims, also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar. She currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur and is apparently also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

What do all of the above have in common? Courage, dedication and scars on their back…

What do none of them have? A hot line to George Soros and a crease in their pants sharp enough to excite David Brooks…

And, of course, little or no mention at this time from the BBC – too embarrassing?

Actually, to be fair, Kirsty Wark was not overly gushing when she interviewed the Obama mouthpiece on Newsnight – and John Bolton was the perfect antidote to Charles “OBN Obama” Powell….

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HE’S THE ONE…

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So, Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Price. The BBC coverage here is interesting insofar as even the BBC is forced to fess up that of the thousands of those who have contacted the BBC, 75% have expressed “surprise”. (Though “world leaders” welcome it) I’ll say. My small point is that the BBC makes reference to this award being surprising after his “less than a year in power” period. Erm, bit more than that. The final date for nominations for the Nobel Prize was a mere TWO WEEKS after Obama ascended to high office which means it took just 14 days to carry out “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. Hope the BBC make that point clearly since it is pertinent to the quality of the decision. I also enjoy the way the BBC reports the Taliban perspective so ensuring that those of us who think him not worthy are cast into the same rhetorical camp as Islamist killers.

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They’re only Republicans…

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This comment was left on the blog of Radio 4’s PM programme (click image for larger version):

I responded in kind:

As I expected my message was removed very quickly (within ten minutes):

The comment from “alanparker” hoping for the death of “racist Republicans” Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin is still there.

Update. Somebody at the Beeb must be reading this blog – the “alanparker” comment has now been removed. Funny how it didn’t occur to the moderators to remove it at the same time as they took mine down.

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HARRYING HARRIET..

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Did you catch this item on Today this morning? Christine Odone vs Harriet Harman on the issue of whether a minority of women in government are steering women’s policy towards “macho” values. Naughtie seemed keen to ensure that La Harman got as much time as possible not that there’s any bias here….heaven forbid. Perhaps letting Harman talk on and on is not a bad idea since whether she knows it or not, the more she talks the more she digs herself into a hole.

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A GENERAL QUESTION..

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The reason I ask is the BBC driven faux outrage over the fact that a senior soldier should seek to serve his country amongst the ranks of the Conservative Party. Today has been making mischief on this one all week and Sarah Montague had another go this morning. It strikes me that the BBC was determined to make this week as uncomfortable as possible for Cameron and so getting an experienced military leader advising the Conservatives is presented in the worst possible light. Had he joined up with Gordon’s gang, do you think the BBC would have treated the matter in this way?

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YOU CAN’T TRUST ‘EM

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Anyone catch the BBC 10 O Clock News just now? They ran coverage of the Cameron speech at the Conservative conference. Then, they cut to a small vox pop in Bolton and would you believe it but the people they found couldn’t quite bring themselves to support the Conservatives. Peter Mandelson will be pleased! Good old Auntie.

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NICE MAN JACK

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When he died, the BBC paid fulsome tribute to him. Why even living saint Tony Benn declared him “one of the finest men I have ever met.” I refer to Trades Union baron Jack Jones. Then, a week ago, the BBC informed us that “he was briefly considered by the Soviet KGB as one of their agents, according to an official history of MI5.” Panic not, dear reader, because ” he only passed on Labour party documents, not secrets, and was last paid by the Russians in 1984.“

So, Jack may have “briefly” been on the KGB payroll but heck, he was only passing on Labour documents, harmless stuff surely?

‘Fraid not. It appears that nice man Jack sold British secrets to the Soviets for 45 YEARS. Not sure how that can be passed off as “briefly”, can you? Also as f0r those innocuous sounding “Labour documents” they included plans for nuclear disarmament, military secrets, the private opinions of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, and – crucially – the names of those in politics and the unions whom Comrade Jack believed might help the Communist cause. Notably, the files are said to contain slurs about people in every position of British public life – including key figures in the Armed Forces, MI5 and MI6.

Let us hope the BBC now moves to provide a somewhat more rounded portrait of this much loved…er… traitor. In the interests of balance, of course.

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Good Beeb/Bad Beeb

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I was delighted to hear two items on radio 4 this morning in which neither Israel nor Jews were shown in a bad light.

1. Israel has the moral high ground in this unusual report by Christian Fraser, and on Today R4 0.42.23 (too early for Listen Again.)

The antisemitism of Egyptian intellectuals who are virulently opposed to any normalisation of cultural relations with Israel has prevented little if any Hebrew literature from being translated – lest it infect Egyptain readers with the Jewish virus. The few translations they will allow are to be prefaced with a “warning.”
In 1994, out of curiosity, playwright Ali Salem spent 23 days in Israel, but was “completely alienated” on his return.

2. “In our Time” Radio 4. Melvyn and three Oxbridge academics discussed the Dreyfus affair. A fascinating case. Startling parallels could be drawn. One odd moment – “Socialism and antisemitism went together in a kind of powerful populism that we might find difficult to understand” ……………….Not really.

3. I thought the BBC hadn’t made such a meal out of the Goldstone report as it normally does with negative news about Israel, but I’m sure there’s a lot more in store. “UN Body to Debate Gaza Crimes”
If you have been following the story on other websites as I have, and you live in the UK or are an expat, you might like to sign this petition.

4. Must-read critique of Guardian Editorial Bias. Letter to the managing editor of the Guardian, but could equally be addressed to the BBC – arguably less overt than the Guardian, but with a broader reach.

5. “One in Four is Muslim, Study Says” I find this alarming. Having said that I wait for the usual cries of Islamophobia from those that know nothing about the subject.

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QUESTION TIME LIVE!

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Well, Question Time is back this evening and there is an interesting panel of pundits in the form of Yvette Cooper, George Osborne, Sarah Teather, Sir Stuart Rose and Ian Hislop for us to discuss. I imagine the boot will be put into Osborne so I trust he is well prepared. Hope you can join the liveblog at 10.35pm!

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