OPEN THREAD…

A new week, a new opportunity to share what YOU think of the BBC…!
  

TheEye Update: Bumped, as it’s a mere day old yet rapidly disappearing down-page.

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191 Responses to OPEN THREAD…

  1. Name Here says:

    In today’s Look North (Yorkshire) e-mail newsletter was a shocking piece of bias. Their lead story is going to be about 7/7 and unsurprisingly for Al Beeb, the entire angle seems to be how hard done by Muslims are now. Now I didn’t believe we should blame all Muslims for 7/7, nor deny that some will have unfairly suffered for the actions of their fellow men, but the tone of this story is simply shocking.

    “Good evening and welcome to Look North. A day we will never forget but in truth one we all wish we could. It is exactly five years since since four men from West Yorkshire killed 52 people in London. Some people say that Muslims in the city face more problems now than they did when the attacks took place. We’ll investigate what impact the bombings had in Beeston and in particular how 7/7 affected one local resident, Mahboob Nazir, who became dedicated to Islam after this event.”

    I won’t be watching the programme if that’s anything to go by …

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  2. Martin says:

    The BBC seem to be painting the British army’s decision to get out of the slaughterhouse of Sangin as some sort of defeat.

    Well perhaps it is, it’s a defeat for Brown and Liebour who refused to provide the troops, funding and equipment to work in that area.

    For some reason the BBC seem to think that because soldiers have died there it’s a good reason why even more should die there.

    The yanks have the manpower and the kit and a no nonsense attitude to work in Sangin, the British don’t.

    Cameron is looking to get our lot out of there before the next election and that worries the BBC, it might make Cameron look good getting our army out of yet another hell hole they were totally unprepared for.

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    • John Anderson says:

      Humphrys simply said – without any qualification – that the British Army had been “overwhelmed”.  Yes they have had extreme difficulties – but overwhelmed they have not been.   How many hundreds of Taliban killed – or is it thousands ?

      He’s just a bloody pacifist,  like many at the BBC. 

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      • Martin says:

        The British army as usual were forced to fight with insufficient numbers, crap equipment and a crappy Government with a cowardly one eyed mong in charge.

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  3. David Preiser (USA) says:

    What a surprise.  Here’s Mark Mardell once again hiding facts and spinning the news to defend the US President against criticism.  This time he’s trying desperately to interpret the “controversy” over Arizona’s new bill about enforcing the law.  Mardell realizes that there is “a perception” among a few of us that the President and His Administration have utterly failed to secure the border with Mexico – four states in all, not just Arizona, although Mardell would have you forget that for now.

    Once again Mardell misrepresents the entire US issue of illegal immigration:  he presents it as being against immigration, full stop, which it most certainly isn’t.  But that’s how all supporters of illegal immigration spin this.

    But there is a much more basic problem. The United States, nation of immigrants, has long see-sawed between welcoming new blood and pulling up the drawbridge.

    See?  A completely dishonest statement, given from the perspective of activists supporting illegal immigration.

    Then Mardell makes sure – as usual – to present the White House’s message:

    President Barack Obama suggests much is being done to keep illegal immigrants out, insisting last week:

    (“suggests”?  It’s not a claim which must face scrutiny, Mark?)

    “Today, we have more boots on the ground near the south-west border than at any time in our history. Let me repeat that: We have more boots on the ground on the south-west border than at any time in our history. We doubled the personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces. We tripled the number of intelligence analysts along the border… The southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years.”

    Will Mardell point out that this is an utter lie?  Will Mardell tell you that the troops his beloved Obamessiah claims to have sent won’t actually be patrolling the border looking for illegals at all?  No, of course not.  Back to the spin:

    But there’s a perception that whilst this may be the federal government’s job, it is not doing it. While Mr Obama has signalled it is a priority to introduce new rules about immigration, nothing has happened. His strong speech has not been matched by any move in Congress. Anyhow, if there was a new bill the president has made it clear it would centre on turning illegal immigrants into citizens, rather than finding new ways of making their life more difficult and throwing them out.

    It is the apparent failure of the federal government, seemingly frozen by the difficulty of the problem, that has goaded Arizona into action.

    Mardell has clumsily contradicted himself here, and doesn’t seem to realize it.  First he says that it’s only a “perception” that the President hasn’t done anything.  Then he admits that, in fact, the President hasn’t actually done anything.  But Mardell finishes by spinning back to an “apparent failure of the federal government”.  As always, any time a BBC employee admits to the tiniest amount of failure by their Obamessiah, His name vanishes and is replaced by the Government in the abstract.  His “strong speech” wasn’t met with a strong action by Congress.  It’s not His fault.

    To counter the lies of the White House and the BBC, let me remind everyone about the President’s utter failure to secure the border.  It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that He has abandoned large swaths of the border entirely and essentially handed them over to the drug and human smuggling gangs.  Instead of looking after the security of the citizens, He has instead put up “No Trespassing” and warning signs – facing North!

    Don’t trust the BBC on US issues.

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  4. John Anderson says:

    Steve McIntyre was the leading critic of the CRU and the whole Hockey Stick lie – and he was the main target of Jones, Briffa and the rest of the Hockey Team who were sending poisonous emails that displayed de facto scientific conspiracy around the IPCC’s propaganda campaign.

    McIntyre has been deliberately frozen out by the PRIVATE enquiries that have been whitewashing the CRU and others.  It is worth checking back over his recent posts – the classic is his post of 1 July about the Oxburgh report which was ostensibly set up on advice from the Royal Society to specifically examine THE SCIENCE – ignoring the emails etc,  was the science valid.  Lord Oxburgh now says that his 5-page report was never intended to look at the science.  Simply amazing !!!

    http://climateaudit.org/

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    • John Anderson says:

      This is the almost-unbelievable McIntyre post that covers the Oxburgh enquiry – Lord Oxburgh denying he ever had the remit that was announced at the start. Maybe that is why his “enquiry” lasted just a few man-days,  was in private – and ended with a 5 page report.  Wow, 5 pages on one of the most momentous policy issues of our time,  big enough for us to have Cabinet ministers for climate change, big enough for HM The Queen to have it as one of her main points at the UN yesterday.

      http://climateaudit.org/2010/07/01/oxburgh-and-the-jones-admission/

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      • Guest Who says:

        Amazing spread of ‘reporting’ across BBC on this, especially when it comes to ‘interpreting’ these events.

        The mods on some high profile blogs, such as Newsnight, seem to be almost at Blackesque levels of ‘watertight oversight’.

        I am frankly astounded at the sheer spread of what is being reported on this, or not, across the MSM, and the mental leaps being made as a consequence.

        I am now reading a slew of blogs, and tweets, a) to try and get full facts, and b) a decent spread of what this all might mean.

        Not going to happen any time soon via our objective national broadcaster, currently running hot trying to censor anything it doesn’t fancy either via propaganda broadcast or blog moderation.

        About the only halfway decent effort so, far, IMHO, has been Fred Pearce in the Graun, for which he is being hounded.

        Ironically, the Graun only recently published a one-sided moan about abuse leveled at climate scientists. 

        It’s a zoo… and a mess. And ‘the establishment’ is now even more tainted than it was before. If that is possible.

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        • David Preiser (USA) says:

          The Warmist fascism within the scientific world continues:

          Writing for PJM Helped Make Me Enemy of the State #38


          The National Academy of Sciences, in its official journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has just published a list  of scientists whom it claims should not be believed on the subject of global warming. I am number 38 on the list. The list of 496 is in descending order of scientific credentials.

          Professor Freeman Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Royal Society, is number 3 on the list. Dyson is a friend of mine and is one of the creators of relativistic quantum field theory; most physicists think he should have shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman. MIT professor Richard Lindzen, a meteorologist who is also a member of the National Academy, is number 4. Princeton physics professor William Happer, once again a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is number 6.

          I’m in good company.

          It’s all worth reading, and there’s a link to the full list.

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  5. David Preiser (USA) says:

    There was one word conspicously absent from the BBC report commemorating the London bombings of 7/7.  The Beeboid reporter did call the acts “atrocities”, but there was another adjective which did not pass his lips.  They’ve repated the segment several times now, and I’m sure it’s not there.

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  6. John Anderson says:

    Fred Pearce at the Guardian,  while still a Warmist, points out that the CRU is NOT fully exonerated by the Muir Russell enquiry.  But at the BBC Black and Harrabin will try to keep up the total-whitewash approach.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/jul/07/climategate-scientists

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  7. Marky says:

    “BBC faked housing estate documentary with scenes of prowling hoodies from an area … three miles away”

    “The BBC was embroiled in a faking scandal today after it emerged that footage of hoodies for a documentary on a troubled housing estate was actually filmed in a different neighbourhood.”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1292737/BBC-faked-housing-estate-documentary-scenes-hoodies-area-3-miles-away.html#ixzz0t1MX0GZh

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Good find.  I see the BBC is already using the “innocent mistake” defense.  The producers had no idea that they had driven three miles away from the estate to shoot some footage. 

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    • Millie Tant says:

      I was just about to post this story.

      The BBC denies any fakery. Hah!

      I look forward to the published report when it has completed its investigation into this. I am sure it will make fascinating reading.

      How are those honesty training sessions going, Beeb?

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  8. John Anderson says:

    Some good news on ClimateGate – there will nopw be an enquiry about the enquiries/whitewashes.  Led by the author of the BishopHill blog and the excellent book “Hockey Stick Illusion”,  results published in August – to keep the pot boiling.

    http://www.thegwpf.org/climategate/1204-investigation-into-climategate-inquiries-announced.html

    If his blog and the book are anything to go by,  Andrew Montford now has the ammo. for a forensic demolition of the entire pack of whitewashes.

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  9. Martin says:

    Marxist Paul Mason decides to do a piece on Newsnight on some batty boy Marxist I’ve never heard of. Mason of course loves the idea of Communism and the non ending crap from the BBC about the evils of Capitalism.

    F**k off Mason, go get a real job if you think anyone would want to employ a knob like you.

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  10. John Horne Tooke says:

    Ever wondered how the BBC (did not) consult on its last charter review.? Old news I know, but worth repeating.

    “There are an estimated 24 million licence fee payers. However, the so-called “public consultation” that led to production of this Green Paper heard from far fewer than one-fifth of 1 per cent of those people. No widespread government advertising of the public’s right to express their views appeared on television, radio, or national newspapers. Most important of all, the government and BBC did not require the TV Licensing Authority to inform those 24 million households (through its direct mailing address database) of universal rights to express their views on BBC Charter Review.”

    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldbbc/50/50we12.htm

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    • My Site (click to edit) says:

      Maybe Muir Russell may be prevailed upon to mount an inquiry?

      That should explain it away.

      Those classics degrees can really kick in when needed.

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  11. John Anderson says:

    Senior CNN journalist sacked for supporting Hizbollah.  The key point is that this nasty person has been affecting news coverage of the Middle East for many years.

    Just like the snakes at the BBC.   Especially reminiscent of Barbara Plett’s remarks on Arafat.

    http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2010/07/05/cnn-senior-editor-mideast-affairs-mourns-loss-hezbollah-giant

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  12. Grant says:

    Thankfully Andrew Neil was on the Daily Politics to prevent gorgeous, pouting Jo Coburn drifting too far to the left.

    One of the guests was Tory Grant  (no relation)  Shapps doing his amazing impersonation of Tony Blair.

    But, speaking of relations ,  I nearly fell off my chair when a subtitle appeared saying :

    ” Grant Shapps’  cousin, Mick Jones was a member of the punk rock group, the Clash “.

    No-one can accuse the BBC of dumbing down !

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  13. NotaSheep says:

    I see the BBC are up to their usual tricks re Lord Ashcroft. The headline screams ‘Tory donor Lord Ashcroft gives up non-dom tax status’but you have to read to the very end of the article to learn that’Labour donor Lord Paul has, like Lord Ashcroft, said he will give up his non-dom status to keep his seat.’

    So why is Lord Ashcroft’s decision headline news and Lord Paul’s identical decision an afterthought? Is there any reason other than anti-Conservative bias on the part of the BBC?

    More here – http://notasheepmaybeagoat.blogspot.com/2010/07/bbc-news-priorities-lord-ashcroft-vs.html

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  14. Grant says:

    Some snippets from BBC TV lunchtime news.

    They lead with the Moat story.  Am I alone in having a sneaking admiration for him in evading PC Plod for so long ?  But, at least the BBC didn’t push the “prison doesn’t work” theme.

    Danny Shaw  , a new Beeboid for me but they breed like rabbits,  is “Home Affairs Correspondent ”  and thinks that the watering down of “stop and search” laws will be “welcomed by most people “. That is OK then.

    Then Kate Silverton launches in to Michael Gove.  ” Will an apology be enough ? ”  No, Kate he should be deported to Iran and stoned to death.  The BBC hate Gove because he is one of the few Tories who stand up to them.  But, no calls for resignation yet.

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  15. Grant says:

    To continue.

    A lovely piece about Lord Prescott of Hull, a BBC favourite.  Contrast ITV news  ” hypocrite or nobleman”  with an interview with Quentin Letts taking the mickey out of Prescott.

    Then a classic from Paul Wood  about Israelis marching to demand a prisoner exchange for Shalit.  The Israelis have offered 1000 Palestinians in exchange, but they are not the same as the 1000 on Hamas’ list.  Boo to Joos.

    Finally , a solar- powered plane reported by Roger Harrabin.  Well , I agree, excellent technology, but what is the point of it. Will the solar-powered plane of the future be able to fly Beeboids round the world ?

    Absent still from the BBC is the big news story of the Iran adultery stoning, featured on ITV news this lunchtime, including even Amnesty International condenming it.  Not news for the BBC as it is not Israel.

    I totally despair.  All that keeps me sane is this website !

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    • Grant says:

      David P,

      And the Beeboids fail to make the point that the Israelis think one Israeli is worth 1000   Palis.   Surely this is racist. But the other side of the coin is that the Palis think that 1 Israeli is worth 1000 Palis.
      What a laugh !

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      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Sadly, Grant, I think that to the BBC this means that all those 1000 Palestinians are innocent, so it’s the very least that Israel can do in exchange for one of their genocidal maniacs.

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  16. Grant says:

    PS.  I still don’t understand the difference between a “correspondent ”  and an “editor “.  Is it to do with pay grades ?  I think the BBC should tell us.

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    • Guest Who says:

      Or hire an “analyst” to explain… er.. interpret.

      Though that might, on reflection, further complicate matters.

      What’s for sure that none of them mean ‘objective, professional journalist or reporter’ any more.

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      • Grant says:

        Guest,

        But we need Beeboids to “interpret” world events for we thickos.

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  17. David Preiser (USA) says:

    BBC News Channel having a bit of field day – complete with extra dramatic pouting from Emily Maitlis (justifying her enormous salary, I suppose) – about Gove apologizing to schools for stopping unfunded building projects.

    It’s a disaster, will Gove’s apology be enough, everyone is disappointed in the Dept. of Education.

    Can’t remember the BBC pursuing a Labour error so strongly.  Naturally there have been several people on air condemning Gove, mainly from the affected schools and districts.  I don’t blame them for being upset, as they’re just looking after their own and don’t actually know why this has happened.

    At no point today has the BBC mentioned that part of the reason for the cancellations is that many of these projects were screwed up and massively delayed by Labour.  Some of them should have been done already, and – as usual for Labour – there was also gross overspending which can no longer be afforded.  I’m sure some of the £55 billion is unfunded anyway, with non-existent money thrown at it by Labour during the last days of their ‘scorched Treasury’ policy.

    Of course, aside from having Gove on in the morning, they’ve been repeating only clips of his speech and apology, and not any of his earlier appearance.  And the BBC has not presented anyone else on to explain the Government’s side, contrasted by several voices against.

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  18. David Preiser (USA) says:

    News Sniffer is back in action.

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  19. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Why is Emily Maitlis giggling and smiling at this crazy spy-swap between Russia and the US?  Pathetic performance for a supposedly serious newsreader.  She’s one of the worst for being overly self-concious and aware that she’s performing on a stage, more concerned about her own dramatic presentation than whatever story she happens to be reading on the teleprompter or on notes handed to her.

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    • Grant says:

      But, it is 10 Russian spies for one CIA spy.  Different ratio from Israelis and Palis.

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  20. George R says:

    I wonder if any of this BBC ‘trio’ were possibly Muslims who were inspired by Islam?

    “Trio guilty of suicide bomb plot”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10555652.stm

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  21. George R says:

    I wonder if the BBC’s Abu Hamza is a possibly a Muslim, inspired by Islam?

    “Abu Hamza US extradition halted”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10551784.stm

    Ed West ‘Telegraph’ has:

    “Why don’t we send Abu Hamza back to Egypt”

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100046598/why-dont-we-send-abu-hamza-back-to-egypt/

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  22. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Oh, look:  Mark Mardell is slinking off for a vacation, and of course his parting shot must be a staunch defense of the US President – again!


    American pessimism

    Just look at what Mardell is saying.  The problem with the US economy and jobs situation and the debt is our fault, not His.  It’s because we’re too pessimistic and dont’ have enough faith. We fool United Statesians don’t have enough faith in His economic vision, in His Plan For Us.


    President Obama is sticking to his guns, unwavering in his big picture policy prescription.

    He wants to refocus America, to once again become one of the world’s great manufacturers and exporters – rather than just being one of the globe’s biggest consumers.

    This vision is how Mr Obama sees jobs coming back.

    Could it be that He is over-taxing us, killing small businesses with Obamacare rules, killing manufacturing by giving even more power to unions, and trying to spend even more money that we don’t have?  No, of course not.

    While this may be excellent analysis of the problem, the difficulty is the policy prescriptions – such as more free trade and a rebalancing of the Chinese currency – hardly go to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter being that America doesn’t make enough of the goods the world wants to buy.

    In a thought provoking article in Times, Anatole Kaletsky argues forcefully that Obama’s prescription is right.

    But he sees one big threat – pessimism itself.

    (Mardell seems not to have noticed the the Times has gone behind Uncle Rupert’s paywall.  Or maybe all BBC employees have a paid online subscription and he just didn’t realize.)


    So, who is to blame for the Carter-esque malaise in the US?

    He contends this is largely caused by intense political polarisation, adding that he hasn’t seen such intense mutual hatred since Scargill and Thatcher faced each other in 1980s Britain.

    Is it time to abandon bipolar bipartisanship and for Americans to pick themselves up and dust themselves down?

    That’s right:  It’s those damn Republicans and all of His opponents who are stopping progress.  If only we all worked together and supported Him, everything would work out okay.

    Mardell just can’t admit that his beloved Obamessiah has been a totally partisan politician since the minute He took office.  It’s always the fault of His opponents, of the divisive heretics among us.

    It’s like a Cult of Personality, or even religious faith.  It really is.  Like any preacher seeing a restless flock, he scolds us for not believing enough.

    As for Mardell’s hand-wringing over what happened to that American “can-do” spirit, does anyone imagine that he might see it in the Tea Party movement?  You know, the grass roots movement of US citizens who are optimistic enough that they can take back their country in the next two elections?  No, we’re the nasty partisans who are the obstacle to His success.

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  23. mike_s says:

    3 days ago CNN top story; 
    Activist: Iranian mother of two to be stoned to death 
     
    http://us.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/05/iran.stoning/index.html

    And the bbc finds story after the rest of the UK media has reported it.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/10545062.stm

    And they have a phone in;
    On Air: Isn’t it up to Iran to decide how it punishes its own people?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2010/07/should_a_country_be_left_to_de.html

    Where they argue it is the same as not allowing same sex marriages.

    I realy have no words for this.

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  24. George R says:

    BBC report:

    “CNN sacks editor over Muslim cleric Twitter remark”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10549106.stm

    [Concluding extract]:

    “The US and Israel view Hezbollah as a terrorist group.”

    Whereas the BBC views Hezbollah with much more political affinity.

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      News Sniffer seems to show that the BBC added the part about how great Fadlallah was because he distanced himself from Al Qaeda and issues a fatwah against honor killings only after the CNN woman issued the following tweet:


      Regret tweet about Fadlallah death bc I didn’t explain specific respect for standing up for Muslim women.

      The timings of the updates show that none of the stuff explaining that Fadlallah was a “complex figure” was there until after the tweet appeared.  Then it seems that the BBC News Online sub-editor went to her blog to copy some passages over for the defense.

      One other note for the BBC’s Jim Muir (“At The Scene” inset on this page):  Lebanon is not occupied by Israel.  They withdrew 10 years ago, FFS. There’s nothing for the “resistance” to resist.  Get a clue.

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  25. George R says:

    The Islamic Republic of Iran and Ahmadinejad: whose side is the BBC on?

    BBC report:

    “Iran bolsters friendships abroad”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10560628.stm

    BBC conclusion:

    …”Mr Ahmadinejad’s warm reception among the D8 is evidence that many still have a very different view of Iran” [to the US and Europe] “and its nuclear struggles.”

    Do the “many” include the BBC?

    Equivalent reporting to this for BBC circa 1939 would have been:

    ‘Mr Hitler’s warm reception among the Axis is evidence that many still have a very different view of Germany [to the Western Allies] and its military struggles.’

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  26. George R says:

    “Lefties hang on at the BBC”

    (Frederick Forsyth)

    http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/185834/Lefties-hang-on-at-the-BBC/

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  27. John Anderson says:

    Any chance of a new Open thread ?

       0 likes