Monthly Archives: November 2009

DEMENTIA HYSTERIA

By | |
7 Comments

I note that the BBC has been running with the government initiated suggestion by King’s College London expert Professor Sube Banerjee that the inappropriate use of Dementia drugs is killing some 1800 people. Now this is one side of the story but there is another side, namely that these drugs can and do provide a useful function but the BBC seems determined to ignore that side of things. I caught coverage on Radio 4, Radio 5 and the TV news and there was quite a sensationalist edge to it. My mother suffers from Dementia and has been treated with the medications that are being attacked today and labelled inappropriate and my only view is that without such drugs life would be even more unbearable for those who suffer from this awful disease and the family members around them.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

DIMBLEBY TALKS BULLOCKS

By | |
3 Comments

Hi – been away and just back so time for a few posts. But first…

I see that David Dimbleby is to miss chairing BBC One’s Question Time for the first time in more than 15 years after being injured in a “minor farming accident”.

The 71-year-old was loading a bullock onto a trailer at his farm in Sussex when it reared, resulting in the presenter being briefly knocked out. He also received a cut to the head that required stitches at a local hospital. John Humphrys will replace Dimbleby in the chair on Thursday, while he remains in hospital for observation.

Let’s see how Humphrys handles things!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Re Motives

By | | , ,
5 Comments

Further to Natalie’s post, and with a tip of the hat to Deegee in the comments there, I think it’s worth having a couple of screen grabs to compare the subtle difference in the headlines, and the way concerns over political correctness suddenly vanish where a Jewish American immigrant is concerned (click pic to view) :

(Update – they’ve removed the quotes from the headline. Comparing the two I see the first draft was “US media report… not confirmed.” Fair enough in that case – my fault for not understanding the BBC’s often confusing conventions where quotes are concerned.)

Matt Frei has offered his take on the execution of John Allen Muhammad:

Despite the older man’s conversion to Islam, no-one really thought that the motive was religious, let alone that it was linked to the grievances of Islamic extremists…

When John Allen Muhammad died at 2111 on Tuesday evening, so did any chance of finding out what had really motivated him.

Frei doesn’t mention the decision by Muhammad’s family to suppress the release of his final letter:

In a statement read by the attorney representing the family of Muhammad, Charlene Paterson said, ‘this morning, the family would like to express remorse.”
She confirmed that the family is in possession of a letter, presumably from Muhammad, but said the contents of that letter would not be released.
“We have a letter. Right now we’re not prepared to disclose anything in that letter because it would be extremely inappropriate at this time.”
Paterson continued that, “the family is not comfortable disclosing any of the details in the letter at this time.”

There are of course a number of reasons why this letter could be “extremely inappropriate at this time”, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Muhammad shared certain, ahem, ideological views similar to those of the Fort Hood killer.

Frei’s observations could turn out to be a tad Mardellesque in their presumption. Indeed, as Laban pointed out, there’s more than a little evidence to suggest Frei could be wrong already.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Here’s one terrorist whose motives are not a mystery to the BBC

By | | ,
5 Comments

Following on from Laban’s post below concerning the BBC’s claim that the motives of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo are a mystery, it is only fair to point out that for some religiously-motivated terrorists the BBC does feel able to pass on the statements of the perpetrators as to their own motives:

Murder charges for Jewish settler

A Jewish settler has been charged in Israel with murdering two Palestinians and attacking left-wing Israeli, gay and messianic Jewish targets.

Yaakov Teitel, an American immigrant who lives in the West Bank, faces 14 charges, including two counts of murder and three of attempted murder.

“God is proud of what I have done,” Mr Teitel said in court.

Police called him a “Jewish terrorist” when he was arrested in October. His lawyer says he is mentally disturbed.

(For bonus points, the BBC even managed to mention that Mr Teitel was an immigrant and told us where he emigrated from! Compare this.)

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Once More …

By | |
38 Comments

.. as John Allen Muhammed is executed, the BBC are puzzled by the motives of the perpetrator(s) of a shooting spree.

Sniper’s motive remains a mystery


They weren’t always so baffled. I distinctly remember the ‘angry white male’ theory being aired on the Today programme.

I know it’s difficult to distinguish between a racist murderer (of their ten murder victims, eight were white, one black and one Asian) who happens to be a Muslim (admittedly a member of a Muslim sect that could be considered racist) :

John Allen Muhammad, 45, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 21, brought America’s capital to a standstill in 2002 as they picked off white targets at petrol stations and shops in the city’s prosperous suburbs. Malvo testified that Muhammad, driven by hatred of America because of its “slavery, hypocrisy and foreign policy” and his belief that “the white man is the devil”, planned to kill six whites a day for 30 days.

Or an Islamist-inspired murderer :

(drawing by Lee Boyd Malvo presented in evidence – exhibit 65-057)

but you’d think the BBC might be able to give us the evidence and let us decide for ourselves.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

More Mardell

By | | , ,
9 Comments

Mark Mardell:

There has been a lot of debate, here and elsewhere, about whether politicians and the media have played down possible religious motives of the killer. The president did not: “No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favour. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice – in this world, and the next.”

I think there’s a “(me included)” missing after the word “media”. As for Obama’s words, George Stephanopoulos thinks they signify the President’s acceptance that this was indeed an Islamic terrorist act, while Andy McCarthy takes issue with the statement that “no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts”.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

That Sinking Feeling

By | | ,
37 Comments

If exposure on the telly or the radio wasn’t the most valuable publicity available to mankind there would be no advertising – and authors and publishers wouldn’t spend so much time and effort doing the rounds on the circuit plugging their book.
I’m sure some agents and publicists have to pull all sorts of strings to get a slot on the One Show or Start the Week, but Shlomo Sand wouldn’t have met much resistance.
The BBC doubtless bit his hand off when, as one of their favourite types of people, the Israel hating Israeli, he offered to come and advertise his new book.
I’m not in a position to examine the dodgy science behind it, but others are, and surely for an impartial broadcaster it would have been only fair to mention that his theory was highly contentious, instead of treating the author with the fawning admiration that was bestowed upon him from assorted guests and presenter Andrew Marr, none of whom were in any position to examine or query the content of this book.

A phrase I frequently use myself is cropping up more and more these days.
It’s ‘that sinking feeling.’ That’s the feeling everyone gets when the topic of Israel, the Jews, or Islam comes up in relation to the BBC.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.