OPEN THREAD…

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New image, new Open Thread. Hope this one runs as long as the BBC Chilean coverage…so, what have you to say?

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194 Responses to OPEN THREAD…

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  1. Dan Clucas says:
    October 14, 2010 at 11:29 am

    Guido is reporting that twat Dennis McShane has been caught claiming a garage is his office and claiming £125k for it.
    Has it been mentioned on the Beeb yet? 
    Their story on the webpage is light on information to say the least.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11543589

       0 likes

  2. Mailman says:
    October 14, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    Actually, the lads over at Ace of Spades made a very good point about the differences between the Chilean President and Barry…when the going got tough, the tough got going in Chilly.

    Unlike Barry during the gulf thing, who fought against local administrators, closed work down and was generally conspicuous by his absence, the Chilean geezer got on site, worked with the locals and didnt restrict mining. The guy was there BECAUSE he was the leader. Where was Barry during the gulf incident…yes thats right, playing golf.

    Mailman

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  3. Deborah says:
    October 14, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    No bias – just evidence of how the BBC are incompetent.

    Last night on Newsnight John McCarthy was wheeled out to compare how he felt being locked up (much of the time on his own not with 32 others) in an enclosed space (an awful lot smaller that the 1km run that the chilean miners had), held by terrorists (I don’t think the collapse in the mine was set off by our Muslim friends) – it was just comparison of apples and pears – how much more inept can the BBC get? I couldn’t bear it – or even Paxman’s embarassement.  I switched off.

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  4. Roland Deschain says:
    October 14, 2010 at 2:38 pm

    Nothing to do with BBC bias, but I thought it might amuse some here.

    Gordon Brown’s forthcoming book has been given some interesting tags on Amazon’s website.

    H/T commenter at Guidos.

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  5. George R says:
    October 14, 2010 at 2:39 pm

    Yentob.

    “Alan Yentob to bow out of the BBC (with a £350,000 goodbye)”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320305/Alan-Yentob-bow-BBC-350-000-goodbye.html#ixzz12LOLWbiZ

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  6. Mailman says:
    October 14, 2010 at 3:52 pm

    I see Pachy has managed to keep his job, then again it wasnt like he was ever going to be fired by a far too compliant UN was it?

    http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFSGE69D0I820101014

    Also notice how Reuters refers to pachy as an Indian Scientists. Of course I have sent an email to Reuters outlining their error (the guy is an indian Railway Engineer, not a scientist). So watch out for the correction which should be applied quite quickly I imagine! 🙂

    Regards

    Mailman

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  7. Stuart says:
    October 14, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    Has anyone seen this:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8064106/BBC-News-short-of-cash-after-100000-spend-on-Chilean-miners-rescue.html

    100K on coverage for the miners rescue and now not enough money to cover the G20 properly.

    Words fail me…

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  8. Guest Who says:
    October 14, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    I apologise for sharing a BBC complaint response, but I have just had this one from a shared resource complementing my interest, and as it is not just the usual cookie cutter, topical (post 10:10 and in the midst of the latest senior Editorial foot shooting) fare, it seems pretty revealing:

    <!–StartFragment–>

    Thank you for your email concerning the story on the 10:10 video.

     

    As we understand it, your complaint is that our use of the word “split” in reference to the comments on the Guardian webpage carried the implicit meaning of a fair share of comments, for or against. You also suggest that the comments are divided 50:1 though it’s not clear to me whether this is in favour or, in opposition to the film. Nevertheless, your suggestion is that there was no even split.

    We think the intention in the story was to indicate that there were, in essence, two main reactions to the film in the comments; for or against. To say that the comments were split between x and y, doesn’t, we believe, imply an even split, merely, as the OED defines the word, a division “into parts or portions”.  We didn’t write, for example, that the comments were “evenly split”.

    In fact, a quick check of the first 120 or so of the comments (there are nearly 900 in all) reveals that there are approximately 50 expressing a negative view. A smaller number were positive and others were on a sideline debate around statistics. 

    I think the line that the comments were split between the two views is a fair report of the situation at the time the piece was written, which was before the comments had reached into the hundreds.

    Thank you for contacting the BBC and kind regards.
    BBC News Website 
    <!–EndFragment–>



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    • Guest Who says:
      October 14, 2010 at 5:01 pm

      [more formatting bs, sorry]

      Pretty snarky from the off, eh? ‘As we understand it…’. Good, the writer got under their skin.

       

      The individual responding then digs ever deeper holes with each sentence. Fascinating slipping into use of ‘I’ or ‘me’. Is this some silly spat between individual combatants? No, it’s a complaint to the BBC, about corporate reporting standards, by one of their customers. Clearly being box-tick blown off by a munchkin.

       

      And one serenely still unaware of the irony that they have only quoted the Gruan as their source of ‘viewer’ feedback.

       

      Next, the smug indulgence in silly semantics. ‘Not clear..?’ indeed. The point made is quite accurate, but as any fule no, that’s how their spinning goes, especially when matters of tonality get ladled on.

       

      That this person persists in the deceit, or perhaps hive delusion, that there were as many in favour of this effort as there were not, belies belief.

       

      And then they have the brass neck to try and juggle the numbers to fit the narrative… at the time. What’s the betting a famous BBC stealth edit didn’t happen subsequently to ‘update’ the factual reality when this time it didn’t suit here. Let’s see…

       

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11458726

       

      Well one nevers…

       

       

      Comments left on the Guardian website where the film was posted before being taken down on the 10:10 site, were split between those congratulating the team and others who thought it was in bad taste.
      Still there, then.
      And so… yet another Beeboid ‘thinks they got it about right’.
      Seems more and more might beg to differ. 
      And are creating a pretty good archive using nothing more potent than their own words to damn them.
      It doesn’t seem to have sunk in that few who get in touch to complain are expecting them to actually listen. But when stuff like this comes back, beyond the daft log, it can be golden.
      Uniquely so.

         0 likes

      • Grant says:
        October 15, 2010 at 8:20 am

        Guest,
        Well done even to get a response and , you are right, the reply is totally revealing of the Beeboid mindset.

           0 likes

  9. Martin says:
    October 14, 2010 at 5:29 pm

    I didn’t see all of the 6PM news but did they mention Dennis Mcshane? If so it must have been brief.

    Then on Radio 5 they mention a report from Migration Watch saying that 500,000 extra school places will be required because of immigration. So does Radio 5 interview someone from Migration watch? Nope, it interviews some wet liberal teacher who prattles on about diversity and cultural enrichment (I assume he means sending 14 year old girls off to Pakistan to be raped) then at the end he’s allowed to slag off Migration watch.

    Balance in action at the BBC.

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    • Craig says:
      October 14, 2010 at 6:12 pm

      No, there was no mention of MacShane.

      The story is mentioned on the home page of BBC News though, as it is on Sky News’s homepage. 

      On Sky the headline reads:
         Labour MP Suspended Over Expenses Inquiry

      On the BBC home page the headline reads:
         MP complaint referred to police

      Yes, the BBC are still up to their old tricks, downplaying the word ‘Labour’ whenever a Labour politician gets into trouble over expenses.

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      • Martin says:
        October 14, 2010 at 6:33 pm

        Yes and on Radio 5 they give out McShane’s denial of “I’ve done nothing wrong” first. Funny that with Coulson and Ashcroft (and Sir Philip Green) they either don’t mention that they deny any ‘wrong doing’ or they put it at the very end.

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      • Grant says:
        October 15, 2010 at 8:22 am

        Denis McS**t is a revolting little creep. I hope he gets stuffed once and for all.

           0 likes

    • Guest Who says:
      October 15, 2010 at 8:36 am

      ‘Balance in action at the BBC.’

      Actually, I believe it to be another example of ‘watertight oversight’ (ps: Mr. Black’s latest blog is a hoot, with folk accusing each other of being double and triple agents to soil the purity of the only true inheritors of the thread to post unchallenged) in action, if again somewhat uniquely applied. 

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  10. David Preiser (USA) says:
    October 14, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    Yet another “Special Correspondent” report from a Beeboid sent to Chile to do feel-good storytelling on the News Channel just now.  How many does that make – five of them?  And for what?

    Meanwhile, here’s some information about the rescue effort the BBC can’t be bothered to tell you:

    The special drill bit that made Plan B successful was brought down by the US company which invented it.

    Samsung of Korea donated a cellphone with its own projector.

    The cable they used on the rig for the rescue capsule came from a German company.

    Japan supplied the fiber-optice cable which linked the miners to the surface world.

    A company from West Viriginia supplied to the trapped miners special socks made of copper fiber which consumed foot bacteria, preventing infection.

    Meanwhile, Matt Frei is digging through his thesaurus for more synonyms for “hope”.

       0 likes

    • Martin says:
      October 14, 2010 at 6:32 pm

      NASA (when not promoting Muslim outreach these days) also had a lot of involvement in the escape capsule and the health monitoring of the miners.

         0 likes

      • Mailman says:
        October 14, 2010 at 9:09 pm

        Actually, your note about NASA just reminded me. Last night I was watching something on Sky about NASA’s greatest missions and they were going on about the moon landings. There was a part where Neal Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin or the other guy (kinda like the 4th Ghost Buster, no one remembers his name<img style=”padding: 0px; margin: 0px;” src=”http://cdn.js-kit.com/extra/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif” title=”Smile” border=”0″ alt=”Smile”/> read out the “let there be light” bit from the Bible that was broadcast to the entire world.  
         
        Some how, I doubt very much NASA would do that today!  

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        • RGH says:
          October 14, 2010 at 9:38 pm

          Michael Collins was the third man who stayed up in the CM Columbia while the other two in the LEM Eagle carried out the landing.

          I still remember the feeling of excitement as a boy…b/w and grainy images ,but unforgettable.

          Still got the posters and the literature sent to me by NASA in Virginia in response to my congrats. letter.

          Schoolboys do that kind of thing.

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          • Buggy says:
            October 14, 2010 at 10:49 pm

            “Schoolboys do that kind of thing.”

            Oh dear, I wasn’t quite so high-minded as you at that age.  :-[

            I didn’t write to NASA. I wrote to one of the hostesses on “The Price Is Right”…….

            (Still, I did get a photo and a nice letter from her. And she was rather better looking than Buzz Aldrin).

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  11. Martin says:
    October 14, 2010 at 5:48 pm

    So Radio 5 just does a piece on defence cuts with some hack from the Guardian (naturally) who states that Gates and Clinton are NOT happy with the UK defence cuts.

    Hmm, the USA lecturing the UK on defence cuts and Peter Allen makes it clear he’s with America on this. I just wonder what the attitude of the BBC would have been if the evil George W Bush or Sarah Palin had commented on our defence expenditure? Me thinks the BBC would have been less that supportive.

    But why didn’t the BBC also bring up the hypocrisy from Obama’s administration? When he took over he made it very clear he didn’t like the UK much and that there was no special relationship and that the UK should just shut up and expect to be treated like any other Country.

    Perhaps Barry is finding out the truth that when the USA looks around the world the only real solid allies it has are the ones he keeps stabbing in the back (the UK and Israel)

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  12. David Preiser (USA) says:
    October 14, 2010 at 6:07 pm

    If I hear the phrase “captured the imagination” one more time, I’m going to vomit.  Guess who says it most.

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  13. Gerald says:
    October 14, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    Apologies to anyone on here who its affected but some of the detail in the proposed revision to pension contribution limits prima facie looks like it will hit those on good salaries in final salary schemes – like that at the BBC. Something about calculating a notional fund value that produces the level of pension and giving the recipient a tax whacking if it exceeds a figure.

    I may have got it wrong but expect there is a pensions person on here somewhere who can enlighten us .

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:
      October 14, 2010 at 8:56 pm

      The last report I heard made it sound like there was going to be a limit placed on the amount of money one could put into a pension – capped at £50K.  I presume this is an attempt to keep that money from escaping the tax man.

      I can’t be sure, but it seems like it’s just as bad as what Gordon Brown did to private pensions.  I wonder if the BBC will treat it so softly.

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      • Samantha Vickers says:
        October 14, 2010 at 9:54 pm

        This new scheme does hit on private pensions and can particularly affect those who are in final salary schemes. Essentially there are three components.
        One is length of service the longer this is the more likely you are to be caught.
        The other is salary and increases on it.
        Also we get that the notional annual increase will be multiplied by sixteen in future rather than ten.

        So to add it up salary increases for those on mid to high salaries could take them through the limit and for many at the top of the BBC on high salaries this will be a real problem.

        Oh as an aside doing some research I learnt this on notayesmanseconomics blog.

        “Those in real positions of power sadly will find ways around this. For example several years before I started this blog I wrote many times to my Member of Parliament about the improvements in the pension scheme for MPs. By my maths for an extra annual payment of around 3% they got an increase in benefits of more like 30%! Who wouldn’t sign up for that? After a lot of waffle from my MP Martin Linton and the Leader of the House of Commons who was Harriet Harman at that time which went on for several years, I noticed that this supposedly self-financing scheme had received a bailout from the taxpayer.”

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        • Guest Who says:
          October 15, 2010 at 8:42 am

          Samantha,

          Do you have a URL for this (cute name, if perhaps not for Ms. Flanders)

          I tried a few variations, and ended up with http://notayesmanseconomics.blogspot.com/ but it doesn’t seem as topical as the one you quote.

          Ta for answer tho.

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          • Samantha Vickers says:
            October 15, 2010 at 12:06 pm

            Hi Guest Who

            Yes I do but was nervous of put a link as I am a new poster as this sort of thin can be misconstrued etc…

            The site addy is http://notayesmanseconomics.wordpress.com and is full of ideas and thoughts so rather unlike Ms. Flanders. I came across it looking for analysis of inflation and implications for pension funds and got hooked to a degree…

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            • Guest Who says:
              October 15, 2010 at 1:04 pm

              Ta very much:) Waaaay over my head.

              Stick to facts and polite opinion, and there’s no need for nerves.

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  14. Mailman says:
    October 14, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    News just in, William Connally banned by wikipedia!

    Well, at least one moron was dumped from making any more changes to Mann Made Global Warming articles. Now to get rid of the other moron (pachy).

    Mailman

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  15. Will says:
    October 14, 2010 at 9:36 pm

    Look North at 10:30 has time to tell us about minor damage to a fire engine but the “major” stories from the region do not include any mention of the slimy McShane

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  16. George R says:
    October 14, 2010 at 11:51 pm

    An antidote to INBBC:

    “Video: Beck and O’Reilly React to ‘The View’ Walkout”

    (two short ‘FOX NEWS’ video clips from today )

    http://www.foxnewsinsider.com/2010/10/14/video-beck-and-oreilly-react-to-the-view-walkout

       0 likes

  17. Guest Who says:
    October 15, 2010 at 5:51 am

    I still have some respect for Charlie Stayt, but the fragrant Susanna Reid really is showing this morning why she is getting a reputation for not being as broad ranging in her intellectual scope as one might hope. I have often wondered if she was hired more as a balance for the pervading fragile, peroxide-addled moppets that usually grace the Breakfast sofa.

    I really suspect these young ladies do only get their world view from the distillation of ‘ne… views’ that greets the nation from our state broadcaster each morning.

    Certainly seeing 50% cut potential in some aspects of the BBC presenter budget right away, to make up for no actual coverage of BBC pension strikes being possible because they blew their wad on building up Chiliean miners into celebs and, doubtless, to then drag them down for more ratings.

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  18. Guest Who says:
    October 15, 2010 at 6:05 am

    For some reason I had a felling of deja vu…

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100059055/lutfur-rahmans-tv-propaganda-channel/

    ‘You will notice the complete absence of any supporters of anyone other than Lutfur in the film, or any attempt to explain why he was sacked as Labour candidate (just the false claim that there is “no proof” against him), or the presence of the Tory, Lib Dem or Green candidates.’

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