Monthly Archives: September 2010

Noisy Neighbours

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Depicting Gaza and the West Bank as if they were English suburbs blighted by ‘neighbours from hell’ typifies a huge flaw in the BBC’s biased coverage of the I/P conflict.
Jon Donnison is one of the worst offenders. After reading yesterday’s report on Gaza (blogged yesterday by David) one could take away the impression that the blockade was merely a hardship that Israel imposed at random upon innocent people just because it could. For some inexplicable reason a terrible misfortune seems to have befallen the Palestinians. Neither they themselves nor the BBC appear to be aware of why they are suffering this unfair siege. Bad karma? Behaving badly in previous incarnations? Or just the pure evil of the Zionists.

When he mentions that Israel has eased the blockade, he can’t resist qualifying it, and reminding us, “exports are still banned and most people are not allowed to leave the territory.” just in case we started to stop hating Israel.

Stranded in the middle of a list of hardships is a reference to “near-daily rocket and mortar attacks last week,” which omits to explain where or by whom; then there is this throwaway remark: “Israel and neighbouring Egypt shut down Gaza’s border crossings when an Israeli soldier was captured in June 2006. “
An Israeli soldier “was captured?” Oh, what a silly accident that seems to have been! How careless, to get yourself captured! But who captured him? Jon Donnison doesn’t say. What has happened to him since? Jon Donnison doesn’t think we’d be interested. Instead he wants us to know some UN-sponsored statistics about the damage and destruction caused by the blockade, and for good measure throws in some extra bits about Operation Cast Lead.
An explanation of sorts comes at the end. By way of providing what the BBC is so famous for – ‘balance,’ here is Israel’s side:

”Israel says the restrictions are necessary to pressure militants to stop firing rockets from the territory.”

Puhlease don’t exaggerate Jon.

It’s not good enough to present Palestinian society as though it were downtown Slough in an economic downturn. Palestinian standards need to be understood before anyone can begin to comprehend what Israel is dealing with. If we’re to get the full picture we must be told more. Apart from describing the antics of the Islamist extremists that run Gaza, what about the PA reaffirming the death penalty for Palestinians who sell land to Israelis. Will there ever be the death penalty for people in the UK who sell property to neighbours from hell?

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Impartiality Gene?

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BBC editors were clearly concerned that their coverage of Christine O’Donnell’s youthful activities wasn’t getting the traffic they hoped, and so for much of yesterday and this morning this was the main news story on the BBC.co.uk front page (h/t Cassandra):


The carefully chosen “cackling” photo is a nice touch, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, yesterday evening this story appeared on the BBC’s website:

Eight people, including the mayor and ex-city manager, have been arrested after a probe into excessive local government pay in Bell, California.

There was outrage earlier this summer after it was revealed that the city manager was being paid almost $800,000 (£500,000).

The others arrested were former and current council members.

The investigation has looked into allegations of voter fraud, corruption, and misuse of public funds.

Nowhere in the article does it mention any party affiliation of the elected officials involved. No prizes for guessing why. (Read More…)

In July the Orange County Register apologised to its readers when it too had failed to identify the party ties of those in the scandal:

In the wake of the Bell salary scandal, our readers noticed one part of the story has been left out by virtually all media sources, including our related editorials and columns: the political party affiliations of the five city council members who not only failed to protect city coffers, but participated in what amounts to shameless, if apparently legal, self-dealing.

All five council members are members of the Democratic Party.

In its defence the Register claimed that Bell voters are represented only by Democrats “in every level of government” but conceded that wasn’t a good enough excuse for ignoring the fact. A local paper thinks it’s wrong not to mention that these were Democrats, but for some reason the BBC – with its worldwide audience unaware of the local political scene – thinks differently.

Would the Beeb have neglected to point out Republican Party membership in similar circumstances? Of course not – it would have been the main thrust of the story. But with Democrats involved we have to adopt Pravda-reading strategies to figure out the full picture.

And I haven’t seen anything about this on the BBC yet either:

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. directed a major political fund-raiser to offer former Gov. Rod Blagojevich millions of dollars in campaign cash in return for an appointment to the U.S. Senate, sources said the fund-raiser has told federal authorities.

Nothing to see here, move along, might deal with it after the midterms.

I think the BBC needs a bigger gene pool. Better yet, a disinfectant.

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MIDWIVES IN THE CLASS ROOM?

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Given BBC sympathies, one can hardly be surprised at the easy treatment afforded to Dr Gillian Leng from N.I.C.E. and her suggestion that it might be a good idea in some places to have midwives in schools. Oh, and of course we need more contraception to help bring those unwanted pregnancies.Maybe we should fit out a class-room or two with birthing equipment? I enjoyed the passing reference to the “lack” of antenatal facilities for what was called “non-English” speakers  without ANY exploration, naturally, of what lies beneath this seemingly innocuous comment.  You won’t have the BBC or quangos like N.I.C.E. allowing any debate on why the UK taxpayer should be funding antenatal facilities for immigrants?

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JAILHOUSE ROCK….

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Here’s a great example of the BBC advancing its own narrative by choosing to have a faux “debate” with both participants holding the same liberal view as the BBC. Ken Clarke is another BBC hero and it continually finds opportunities to “prove” how his liberal approach to criminal justice works!

Two criminal justice experts from each side of the Atlantic – filmmaker Roger Graef and the Harvard professor of Criminology Christopher Stone, discuss why showing “respect” to convicts along with reducing prison sentences and making prisons nicer places..

Just pathetic. Listen to the guy praise community organiser Charles Bronson. A true gent. No time, of course, for those who believe prisoner should offer punishment.

PS My thanks to Beeboidal and Natsman for correcting my typo on the convict name!

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THE ANTI BUSINESS "BUSINESS" SECRETARY

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Well, Vince is their hero again. After a few months of begrudging, the BBC has returned to sing fulsome praise to Saint Vince Cable. There’s nothing like a bit of bashing business, nothing like an attack on the free market, to get BBC types all excited. Naturally, Saint Vince was on Today this morning and was given a soft ride on his planned socialist rhetoric at the Lib-Dem conference today. The BBC is hammering the theme that recession has been caused by “unbridled” capitalism and the “murky” decisions made in those dark boardrooms (Naturally, Government had nothing to do with it, oh no) and so Cable’s  wittering is convenient and so his hero status is restored. At a time when EVEN BBC poster boy Castro is having to embrace the free market, the BBC and it’s empty headed mouth-pieces such as Cable seek to demolish these freedoms.

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CAPITALISM KILLS COMPETITION

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BBC has gone all weak at the knees at the news that Saint Vince Cable (blessings be upon him) will state tomorrow that “Capitalism kills competition”. Had to laugh at the almost religious fervour with which BBC poodles repeat “Capitalism kills…”.  I am sure we will hear MUCH more tomorrow. Chris Huhne, Vince Cable – enemies of freedom and liberty and worshipped by the BBC.

P.S. Does a bloated all powerful monopoly like the BBC “Kill competition”. Just asking……because the BBC won’t!

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BLACK CARBON SCAM

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One of the relentless goals of the greenies is to hit the poor. They are driving up the cost of energy and green taxes in the lunatic belief that CO2 causes global warming; the consequence is millions are being forced into fuel poverty. They have banned DDT and because of it, millions have died of malaria. Now they have another target – the cooking stoves of 3bn people worlwide, which according to the jackboot administrators of the UN, produce something called “black” carbon, the latest greenie villain of the peace. Note how BBC alarmist-in-chief Roger Harrabin says the effect has not been quantified but nevertheless, the fumes must be scrubbed and capped and contained because nameless, faceless scientists and bureaucrats say so. The next thing that will happen is that schemes will be drawn up – costing billions – to provide useless new stoves, and yet another aid/manufacturing/subsidy scam will be in full scale production.

I’m all for making homes safer, particularly as thousands in the developing world do die in avoidable fires, but the way forward is to provide cheap, reliable electricity – and the greenies are doing everything in their powers to prevent that because they hate fossil fuels.

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SAVAGE CUTS AND POOR MEMORIES

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You would think that all good Guardianistas would have better memories. On “Today” this morning, Justin Webb got stuck into Nick Clegg with the repeated attack line that he had changed his mind on what was needed to fix the economy. As a Biased BBC reader reports… 

Britain needs ‘savage’ cuts, says Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

Patrick Wintour and Allegra Stratton The Guardian, Saturday 19 September 2009

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WITCHES COVEN….

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It was, of course, entirely predictable that the BBC would join in the left-wing attack on Christine O’Donnell. In an item entitled “A new broomstick”, the BBC indulges in the mockery of the new GOP Senatorial candidate. She is “a murky figure” apparently. Even worse she says evolution is “a theory”, oh and then again she believes masturbation to be unBiblical. That must REALLY gut the BBC. Can’t remember the BBC being quite as excited when Hillary Clinton revealed she talked to Eleanor Roosevelt. though they did get engaged when Nancy Reagan talked astrology! I have to say that I like O’Donnell, I admire the Tea Party  but she is getting the same treatment afforded to Sarah Palin. How vert DARE the electorate support these people?

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