OPEN THREAD

New Day of Rage.
Rise up! Protest! Demand impartiality from the despotic BBC!
Express your outrage here.

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175 Responses to OPEN THREAD

  1. sue says:

    I see Johnny Ball has been made a pariah because of his climate change scepticism.

       0 likes

  2. Chuffer says:

    Can I just say that I’m a very happy man at the moment.
    A couple of days ago, I was rung up by Charlotte Smith of the legendary anti-farming programme called Farming Today. She had seen a piece I had written about the Rural Payment Agency and how it is struggling to make payments, and how some of us are struggling as a result. She demanded to know, in true arrogant Beeboid style, how much I was owed, how much I had recieved and when…I gently pointed out that that was between me and my bank manager.  I’m cross that when asked the inevitable “Some people would say that you shouldn’t have subsidies…” question, I failed to reply with “Tell me where you get your wages, Beeboid!”  I did then help her with a few answers to her questions – all the time pointing out that I didn’t want my answers used by her for the programme. Then she said that she was actively seeking someone to go air – “Oh no”, I said, “I couldn’t do that. You see, like most of my profession I loathe Farming Today with a passion that scares me sometimes. The reason that the agricultural world gets up so early and in such a foul mood is your programme!”
    She got right shirty at this, and claimed that she was very offended, and knew lots of farmers who love Farming Today,and with that, pretty well hung up on me.
    I’m waiting to hear my comments being used on air, heavily edited of course!

       1 likes

    • Grant says:

      But I bet she wouldn’t have given you the names of the “farmers” who love the programme.  They probably all live in Kensington !

         1 likes

      • Span Ows says:

        No Grant, they live in the countryside which IS part of the problem. They have one goat and an organic lamb (no pigs as teh Muslims don’t like them) and complain about the smell of the neighbour’s (real) farm and the cock’s crowing.

           1 likes

        • DJ says:

          Actually, judging by most of their shows, I’m pretty sure most Beeboids don’t mind a bit of cock.

             1 likes

        • Grant says:

          Span,
          Of course, the John Humphrey’s type of farming. Although I understand he gave up some years ago as he couldn’t combine it with his job at the BBC.
          10 years since the foot and mouth fiasco and I caught snippets of BBC reporting today.
          The usual crap from the Beeboids, politicians and civil service time-servers.  “Lessons will be learned”.  Like hell they will.
          Do these wretched people have any idea how many lives were ruined by their stupidity ?  Not just the beasts , but humans too.

          Grant
          Not a farmer , but from good Scottish farming stock.

             1 likes

          • Span Ows says:

            Grant, I hear you. The FMD was indeed a fiasco and I know exactly what you mean re lives ruined; at the time I was right in the middle of it too, not geographically, in the South West. Another MASSIVE new Labour failure. Then, Tim Yeo was the shadow Ag minister and he was WAY ahead of the govrnment who did what he was saying but about 2 weeks delay…criminal. It was to my mind a hundred times worse than the mad cow fiasco but New Labour hardly suffered whereas Major’s Conservatives were hounded (Labour MPs at the time were guilty of rampant scaremongering but with absolutely no ‘comeback’ whereas Conservatives were slaughtered (oops!) for sayings things that were nothing like as bad as NL in the mid 90’s.

               1 likes

            • Grant says:

              Span,
              The worst thing was the predictable ignorance of the Government of science and farming matters and the lying by some Government “scientists” .
              But, it was the hatred of the Labour Government of “country people”  because they are self-reliant and independent of mind.
              Before that we had the crap of BSE and predictions that hundreds of thousands would die of CJD.
              I despair, I really do .
              I know sheep farmers in the Highlands here. I know the work, the weather , the risks, the poor monetary reward they endure.
              It is a long way from some pampered politician having an expensive meal on our money in London.

                 1 likes

      • Asuka Langley Soryu says:

        These ‘farmers’ she knows are probably Guardian-reading assholes with allotments where they grow kale using their self-righteous piss as fertiliser, and trade pictures of the goats they bought for some starving Africans last Christmas. 

           1 likes

    • Gerald says:

      For some reason I am often awake and half listening when Farming Today is on. I think that I can understand Chuffer’s opinion!

         1 likes

  3. chelsmee says:

    stop buying the licence and educate others on how to legally watch tv using the internet. devices like sony blu ray players have internet channels to catch up on many programmes. that will make the piggies squeal

       1 likes

  4. George R says:

    For INBBC, Mr J. BOWEN and co, and their ‘benign’ Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi included, in Egypt TODAY:

    “Yusuf Al-Qaradawi Inherits The Wind In Tahrir Square”

    http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_display.cfm/blog_id/32717

    This Qaradawi, whom INBBC has no objection to:

    Spencer on Qaradawi: Egypt’s New Hitler

       1 likes

  5. Alfred Burke says:

    All I have to say is:

    Chris Patten.

    Chairman, BBC.

    Dear God!

       1 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      He’s perfect for then: liberal, wet, leftie but they can claim he’s a Conservative so any cries of bias are unfounded and rebutted (not really but in their eyes yes)

      Of course I would be perfectly happy to have him as a father-in-law O:-)

         1 likes

    • sue says:

      Chris Patten?
      I may as well pack my bags. Impartiality? Never in a million years.

         1 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Perfect.  Patten was present for the handover of Hong Kong to China, and now maybe can preside over the selling off of some part of the BBC’s empire.

           1 likes

    • The Cattle Prod of Destiny says:

      Good ‘Ole Fatty Pang.  Is he still alive then or are the Beeb using a stuffed version?

         0 likes

      • Grant says:

        I was working briefly in HK ( island of my birth ! )  when Fat Pang was Governor.
        The  HK Chinese there thought he was useless. He had two silly little dogs called “Whisky” and “Soda”.  The Chinese joke was ” Do we eat them or drink them ? “.
        I think Patten got the UK quarantine laws changed so he could bring the mutts back to the UK.

           0 likes

  6. George R says:

    INBBC: still censoring on Qaradawi and Muslim Brotherhood.

    INBBC’s Mr. FRASER has a long report on today’s demonstration in Tahrir Square, Cairo (where else?) but he can find only one inadequate word to describe QARADAWI: “influential”. The is no reference to Qaradawi as a long-time leader of the Muslim Brotherhood; it seems that INBBC and Mr Fraser are playing the same political game as the Muslim Brotherhood – keep things low-key for a bit longer.

    Fraser’s profundity on Qaradawi:

    “Influential Egyptian Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi said..”.

    Fraser’s report, with his key political omissions:

    “Huge Cairo rally marks one week since Mubarak overthrow”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12502189

    ‘Jihadwatch’:

    Qaradawi addresses huge crowd in Cairo, bans Leftist uprising leader Ghonim from stage

    Of course, INBBC will avoid referring to this daily mine of information on the global Muslim Brotherhood:

    http://globalmbreport.org/




       0 likes

    • George R says:

      For INBBC, Bowen, Fraser, et al:

      -more on Qaradawi and Muslim Brotherhood:

      (from last link, above) –

      “Qaradawi, a virulent anti-Semite is often referred to here as the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, an acknowledgement of his role as the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to lead the Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide. Based in Qatar, Sheikh Qaradawi has reportedly amassed substantial wealth through his role as Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were instrumental in the development of the phenomenon. A recent post has discussed a video compilation of Qaradawi’s extremist statements. Qaradawi recently reiterated his support for suicide bombing in Israel and expressed his desire to die as a martyr ‘at the hands of a non-Muslim.
      “The GMBDR has been covering Qaradawi extensively in these pages for some time. Our coverage on him can be found here.”

         0 likes

    • Andrew says:

      I was tracking this story yesterday morning to compare the Beeb version and the other sources:

      http://calvinballgame.blogspot.com/2011/02/egypts-khomeini-returns-to-action-today.html

      My original observation was that the BBC was short of detail on Al-Qaradawi.  Having revisited it this morning, we have a significant revision to the story that was there and it appears to have become even more vague about the man.  How strange that the more we learn, the less we are told.  Might it have something to do with this aspect of his speech not reported by the BBC:

      12:56 Al-Qaradawi calls on the “brave Egyptian army” to open the Rafah crossing so that Gazans can receive the supplies they need. Turning his attention to arab leaders, he says: “Don’t fight history, you can’t delay the day when it starts. The Arab world has changed.”

      That’s quite a profound statement.  not one you could simply dismiss surely.  I mean, technically this fits right into the BBC narrative of the oppressed Palestinian people doesn’t it.  So why weren’t they falling over themselves to put a story together.  I mean, they could have had another opportunity to stick some of those Operation Cast Lead death tolls in for ‘context’ because they haven’t had an opportunity to give us one of those for a while.

      Or maybe we didn’t hear about it, because this would change the narrative about the MB.  This might make it look a little odd that with all the problems Egypt has and needs to solve, one of their influential characters feels they need to start antagonising the Israelis and to destabilising things in this already destablising positions.

         0 likes

  7. Hazel says:

    I thought Patten would win rather than Richard Lambert unfortunately,  Patten’s nasty totally unbalanced diatribe against Israel last year will agree totally with the Beeb’s views.  They make me sick.

    Also see today’s comment by Bowen in ‘Nervous Rulers” how he thought ………………..

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-125033

    “I don’t mind admitting that the next day when I went over to Cairo I assumed that President Mubarak’s state would be too strong for them. ”

    Well who’s a  silly biased head in the sand ignoramus then?

    I am so sick of them all, particularly that pompous obese bighead Simpson.  Al Jazeera is much better, at least they interview Arabs, instead of each other as the Beeb does.

       0 likes

    • Grant says:

      Hazel,
      I would have voted for Lord Tebbit for the job.
      Someone on this site coined the phrase “incest interview” for a Beeboid interviewing another Beeboid or fellow traveller.

         0 likes

  8. The Cattle Prod of Destiny says:

    What does the BBC have against Facebook?  Over the last year there has been nothing but negative stories about the site.  Today’s gem was on the Simon Salad Cream Show on R2 with the report of ‘research’ that claims everyone hates Facebook (slight exageration).

    Really?

    Do the owners give money to the wrong side by any chance?

       0 likes

  9. Roger C says:

    Still no Martin, I am beggining to despair!

       0 likes

    • Grant says:

      Roger C,
      Love him or hate him, this site is not the same without Martin. 
      Over the few years I have been here , I remember David Vance on a few occasions trying to get Martin to tone down his language a bit.
      I think one time it lasted for about a day.
      Can’t believe he has been frightened off  !

         0 likes

  10. joseph sanderson says:

    I note that the BBC has yet to report on the scandal of the UK’s inflation figures during the Labour years 1997 – 2009, if you are unaware the goverments statistical bureau incorrectly calculated the real rise in living costs.

    According to the OCS inflation rose by 4% more than the offical figures reported, this is a very important story as it shows how Labours economic policies which were responsible for much of the economic downturn experienced by the UK could have been even worse affected if the correct rate was calculated for inflation linked pensions, investments and of course benefits.

    I would also suggest that this could have resulted in a clear Conservative majority if the deficit in the amount of money required to pay for the welfare state, and pensions was higher than the planned spending plans of the government, and that this information was available before the election.

       0 likes

    • Samantha Vickers says:

      I had spotted this and the excellent notayesmanseconomics wrote about this when it was announced on Tuesday with the inflation figures.

      Yet Another Statistical Manipulation
      This happened to the clothing and footwear section.
      The main downward pressure was due, though, to the weight for clothing and footwear being higher in 2011 compared to 2010. This means that the fall in prices between December and January this year had a larger downward effect on the CPI compared to a year ago.
      Perhaps nice for the figures for now but if cotton prices remain where they are this will misfire fairly soon! For those who have not be following their rise cotton prices have doubled since mid-2010.” http://notayesmanseconomics.wordpress.com

      As you can see he thinks it will contribute to rising inflation in 2011. Of course according to Stephanie Flanders at the BBC “there are no signs of inflation”

         0 likes

  11. ltwf1964 says:

    cue beeboid delirium in may  
     
    Hussein “Mr rumbold**” O’Barmy coming for a state visit  
     
    presumably there will be foam specked lefty anti war protests against the visit *ahem*  
     
     
     
     
    tumbleweed time  
     
    **for those of us too young to remember-a rather large eared character from “Are you being served”

       1 likes

  12. My Site (click to edit) says:

    The minute scale of the minority views that the BBC peddle and which the majority are forced to fund:

    http://autonomousmind.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/the-disproportionate-influence-of-the-guardian-at-the-bbc/

       1 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      That was a good post by AM. I linked and wrote my own blogpost too. The two bum cheek photo is great.

         1 likes

  13. Span Ows says:

    Could have been posted already but a real thumping complaint to the BBC re their Geert programme:

    See Reza’s letter reposted on GoV:

    http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/02/bbc-breaches-its-charter.html

    One of the comments there says the programme will be repeated by the BBC this weekend, is that right?

       1 likes

    • My Site (click to edit) says:

      That piece of filth, Martin Smith, from UAF was on the Wilders programme I see!
      I don’t suppose the BBC mentioned that he was recently found guilty, and given several hundred hours of community service, for viciously assaulting a police officer outside of Broadcasting House whilst on one of his campaigns against freedom of speech.
      Anyone who is unfamiliar with this cretin may find this video of interest. Smith thinks that the Union Flag is ‘appalling’ and ‘disgusting’:

         1 likes

      • George R says:

        Yes, and there are some negative comments about Comrade Smith at (left of centre) ‘Harry’s Place’.

        Severe criticism of the anti-Wilders political bias of INBBC production continue to flow at their thread (see link below), with some reference to threads on ‘B-BBC’:

        BBC Wilders Documentary Promotes Extremists and Members of Extremist Groups

           1 likes

        • My Site (click to edit) says:

          Very good article. UAF don’t bother to even try and hide their anti-Semitism any more. Remember Weyman Bennett’s rant at a ‘Free Gaza’ rally a couple of years back when he stated that “Israeli Jews should go back to where they came from, New York or wherever”

          They still like to use the Holocaust for propaganda purposes, but Jews that aren’t dead are of no use to them whatsoever.  

             1 likes

  14. George R says:

    Descriptions of Egypt in the 1950s by:


    1.) Son of Egyptian Coptic Christians

         (Raymond Ibrahim)

    Egypt’s Identity Crisis

    http://www.raymondibrahim.com/8780/egypt-identity-crisis

    2.)’Newsnight’s NUJ Father of the Chapel,

        (Comrade Mason)

    A Suez-type moment?

       1 likes

  15. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC whitewashes Islamic intolerance for British consumption
    Tunisia: Police disperse Islamist rally against brothel
    Tunisian police have dispersed dozens of Islamists demanding the closure of a brothel in the capital Tunis. The police reportedly fired in the air to break up the crowd. Separately, a Polish Catholic priest was found dead with his throat slit outside the capital.

    Notice how the bBC hides the much more serious news story inside a lesser one, a lesser one I should add of their own making . You see while the bBC reports that the police dispersed an Islamist rally they omit that actually the so called Islamists were intent on burning down a whole street of brothels but were stopped first by the people who live there, then by the police and then by the army with helicopter back up.
    Here is how Al jazerra reports the above two stories:
    Polish priest killed in Tunisia
    A Polish priest was found dead with his throat slit in a private school outside of Tunis, the interior ministry said Friday, blaming the murder on a “group of fascist extremists”.Marek Rybinski, 34, whose body had also multiple stab wounds, was found dead on Friday in the garage of the religious school in Manouba region, where he was responsible for the accounting, a source close to the ministry told AFP news agency… A police official told the AFP news agency that some demonstrators tried to set light to a street of brothels in the capital, but were dispersed by police and the military, using helicopters.

    Now a geography lesson: Where in the world can Tunisia be found?  Well according to the bBC its not in Africa as the above story cannot be found on the bBCs Africa pages instead it can be found on its Middle Eastern news site. Funny that.

       1 likes

    • Grant says:

      Pounce,
      Funny that the BBC has never done a documentary, to my knowledge , on brothels in muslim countries. Why are there so many , compared with non-muslim countries ?  It seems, well, un-Islamic.

         1 likes

  16. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC writes up a story of Islamic revenge as delayed justice.
    Three guilty of attacking war criminal Radislav Krstic

    Three Muslim prisoners have been found guilty of a revenge attack on a Bosnian war criminal in Wakefield jail.Indrit Krasniqi, Iliyas Khalid and Quam Ogumbiyi were found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.Radislav Krstic, 62, was serving a 35-year sentence in the jail for his part in the killing of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995 when attacked.

    With an almost jubilent tone, the bBC reports on the attack on a prisioner, Yes a war criminal but according to the rule book as used by the bBC a prisoner first. 

     

     

     

     

     


       1 likes

    • pounce_uk says:

      Here is how the bBC reported the story of how a jailed terrorist was attacked by another inmate inside prison:

      Man on bomb-plotter attack charge

      A prisoner has been charged with an attack on a jailed al-Qaeda plotter who planned to commit mass murder in a series of “dirty bombings”.

      Notice the difference? Then there’s the question of why those men were all serving life, well the first two murdered young girls the latetr murdered a man. For some reason the bBC doesn’t want you know anything about their past, yet is more than willing to inform you about why Radislav Krstic was banged up. Here is how the Independent writes up the same story:

      Krasniqi, an Albanian national, is serving a life sentence of at least 23 years for the 2005 kidnap and murder of 16-year-old Mary-Ann Leneghan in Reading, Berkshire, and the attempted murder of her friend.

       

      Miss Leneghan and her friend were abducted, bundled into a car and driven to a hotel room where they were drugged, raped and tortured with cigarettes, knives, a metal bar and boiling water.They were then driven to a park to be executed.

       

      Khalid was jailed for life in 2008 and told he must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison for the murder of 23-year-old Stacey Westbury.He was jailed under his previous name – Christopher Braithwaite – for sexually assaulting and killing Miss Westbury whose body was found at her home in Fulham, west London, in August 2007.The Old Bailey heard how she was alone with her 10-month-old son in his cot when Braithwaite attacked her.The court was told how the attack happened eight days after he was released on bail over separate rape allegations.

       

      Ogumbiyi is serving a life sentence for stabbing a man to death with a knife on the doorstep of a flat in Haringey, north London, in 2003


         1 likes

  17. pounce_uk says:

    The bBC, its continuing demonization of the present government and something of an own goal.  
     Barclays UK corporation tax bill for 2009 was £113m  
    Barclays has revealed it paid £113m in corporation tax to the UK in 2009, 2.4% of its £4.85bn annual profit.Labour MP Chuka Umunna, of the Treasury Select Committee, who requested the detail, described it as “shocking”… Mr Umunna said it showed that the bank was not paying its fair share towards a deficit they had helped create, despite having benefited from the government’s rescue of the financial system…Mr Umunna said the relatively low share of tax paid in the UK reflects the government’s failure to take the robust action needed to make sure that the banks which caused the crash pay their fair share.  

    So the bBC allows a Labour MP to berate the government over how much tax Barcleys paid in 2009.  
    Just for the record, which party was in power during 2009??

       1 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Must add a comment on top of a ‘like’.

      ‘Something of an own goal’… indeed. For Labour’s latest rentagob and the so-called impartial medium will carry anything the party issues without thought or comment because it simply fits the narrative.

      This needs greater coverage.

         1 likes

      • Grant says:

        Exactly. Which party was in government for 13 years and did nothing about tax avoidance ?

           1 likes

    • Andrew says:

      Makes for an interesting reac doesn’t it.  Not sure if it’s undergone any revisions, but the version I saw of it made it clear that this came out following a request from our Chukka.  My read of it is that he’s fed them the story which seems to follow as he is the one who gets to be the talking head interviewed for it.

      So for me, here we see the BBC serving as a conduit for Labour’s comms dept as well as trying to do a long term annointing job of the man, so many people seem keen to dress up as our own Obama (although not sure if he would want that comparison given the emerging comparison of Obama with Jimmy Carter).

      It is amusing watching them park this at the door of the Tories again, when the profits referred to were made, once again, smack bang in the middle of the Labour govt. Yes folks this Tory scandal is in fact the result of perfectly legal corporate practices that Brown, Balls, Milliband we’re a funaamental part of.  They either created the laws that permitted this or they simply didn’t act on them.  They’re going to have a hard time pretending otherwise as that other Labour Luvvie went on to spell out in his book Who Runs Britain showed very clearly how comfortable New Labour were with people making profit within the financial sector.

      So once again we have a terrible bout of collective amnesia around the 13 years leading up to May 2010

         1 likes

  18. George R says:

    INBBC unable to name enemy of British people.

    A typical INBBC report on ‘extremism’ threat at British universities doesn’t even mention ‘Islamic jihad’.

    Here’s INBBC’s Ms HARRISON and her utterly vague and useless report:

    “Universities ‘must be vigilant’ on campus extremism”

    By Angela Harrison Education correspondent, BBC News

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12504954


    In contrast, there is useful information here on the real Islamic jihad nature of the threat:

    1.) ‘Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections’


    http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/uploads/1278089320islamist_terrorism_preview.pdf

    2.)





    ‘Radical Islam on UK Campuses’

    http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/files/1292336866_1.pdf

    3.)’Hizb ut-Tahrir’

    http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/files/1257159197_1.pdf

       1 likes

  19. George R says:

    “Payslip slip-up that revealed BBC’s Andrew Marr is on £600,000 a year”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358509/Andrew-Marr-600-000-year-payslip-slip-revealed.html#ixzz1EOPqlwVa

       1 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Be fair, he has to run that spiffy car to work instead of taking public transport like mere mortals, plus has a complex private life to fund by all accounts.

      He’s BBC, he’s ‘unique’, he’s market rate, and that’s because he’s worth it.

         1 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Guessing this won’t come up round the sofa tomorrow, even if other folks’ salaries and taxes might (if a Graun ‘guest’ journo is on, there may be a few ‘exceptions’ made… as professional courtesy).

         1 likes

  20. Grant says:

    BBC website reports that  ” Libya protest deaths  “rise to 84” “.
    Now , it is hard to believe that nice Mr. Gaddhafi would even harm a fly , but how many Beeboids are in Libya reporting this  ?   How many visas have the BBC applied for ?  Have any been refused ?
    Where are Beeboids when you really need them ?

       1 likes

  21. Votefor says:

    What is going on at the University of East Anglia? More exaggerated claims of a political nature , this time put down by  the excellent Sir Andrew Green.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00yjvs6/Today_18_02_2011/

    Go 1hr 21min in for item.

       0 likes

  22. kitty shaw says:

    Inherit the wind in Tahrir Square?

    “Inherit the wind” consists of fictive people either ‘based’ on real people or just entirely made up. The events, ‘inspired’ by a true story, are either grossly distorted, made up entirely, or actually the complete reverse of what actually happened. The whole thing is propaganda with an agenda, which relies on repeating lies in the hope they will be believed.

    Come to think of it, its right up the bBC’s street.

       0 likes

    • Buggy says:

      Surprisingly Rich Hall was able to make this point (in ‘The Dirty South’) on one of the BBC’s own digital channels.

         0 likes

  23. kitty shaw says:

    Barbara ‘crying’ Plett is the bBC UN correspondent. Which of course means the Israel correspondent with a bit of anti US vitriol thrown in.

    No change there.

    Just like this outrageous “analysis” by her here.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12512732

    Just what does someone from the bBC have to do to get their career sent backwards rather than forwards.

       0 likes

    • Beeboidal says:

      Nothing regarding Israel can send a BBC career backwards, but I can think of three things outside that arena.

      1. Indulge in climate change heresy.

      2. Complain about the impartial nature of the BBC.

      3. Make obscene phone calls concerning his granddaughter to a
      well-loved actor.

      Number 3 only comes into play if there are numerous complaints.
      Otherewise it’s just ‘edgy’ comedy and your career goes forward.

         0 likes

      • Demon1001 says:

        Nothing regarding Israel can send a BBC career backwards, but I can think of three things outside that arena.  

        I disagree with this statement, your BBC career can go backwards if you tell the whole truth about Israel.

           0 likes

        • Beeboidal says:

          You’re right. I must be so used to BBC bias on the subject
          that the concept of the BBC plus truth about Israel simply didn’t occur to me.

             0 likes

      • Buggy says:

        4. Think you’re safe in the green room with Jo Brand.

           0 likes

    • George R says:

      Barbara Plett explains it all to you


      The BBC’s Barbara Plett– who famously shed tears over Yasser Arafat’s final departure from Ramallah in 2004– reports from the UN that the Obama administration’s veto of a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank “risks angering Arab peoples at a time of mass street protests in the Middle East.”

      ‘Jihadwatch’:
      U.S. unexpectedly vetoes anti-Israel resolution at United Nations

         0 likes

  24. The Beebinator says:

    beeboids, they’re like hemorrhoids but a bigger pain in the ass

       0 likes

  25. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ:

    ‘Hey, it’s not the nasty anti-Islamic jihadists, the English Defence League, it’s the nice ‘UK Uncut’ people holding up a bank; we’ll give them a propaganda hand, as we did on ‘Newsnight’ recently.’

    “UK Uncut activists target Barclays bank in London”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12514687

       0 likes

    • Buggy says:

      This little episode is very reminiscent of what ACORN (OBambi’s BFF’s) got up to in the early 2000’s: sit-ins with the intention of forcing justifiably reluctant banks to lend to sub-prime applicants (specifically Afro-American sub-prime applicants) resulting in the smashing financial morass we’re all now landed with.

      Bet there’s no trace of that in the BBC’s admiring news archives, lest we forget the approved mantra (“Evil bankers !”) of this recession

         0 likes

      • NotaSheep says:

        Don’t ever mention the Community Reinvestment Act, the BBC have no knowledge of it or wish to know of it.

           0 likes

  26. D B says:

    Is it just me, or does anybody else hear the name of the Bahrain captial (Manama) and find themselves automatically humming this?

       0 likes

  27. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC makes it seem that the problem with lots of coloured children in care is solely a white problem.
    Black man describes struggles parents had to adopt him.
    As the government policy is to be changed to make it easier for white couples to adopt black and ethnic minority children, Ben Douglas, a black man from London, describes the difficulties his white parents faced when adopting him.

    Now as a coloured person who was taken into care and adopted by a white family. The above article makes my blood boil. Why? Because the way it is written and presented makes it look like that only white people are to blame. When in fact, the main reason why the government has changed adoption policy is because the adoption rate by non-white families of children in care is very low. Of course that adoption rate wasn’t helped when in 1972 the National Association of Black Social Workers came out favouring same-race adoption, calling the adoption of black children by white parents a ‘particular form of genocide. As we all know, where the US walks the Uk follows. Which probably explains why my white social worker was replaced by a dark-skinned Islamic one. (and this was the mid 70s) and on our weekly meeting all she did was try to brainwash me into returning back to my physically abusive father because he missed me. All she accomplished was the complete polarization of me against her and where I refused to be even be in the same room as her, never mind speak to her.  
    If coloured people adopted children like their white counterparts then this bloody argument wouldn’t be taking place. The leftwing bent of refusing to allow transracial adoption only exacerbates the problem.
    Funny enough the bBC aired a 2 hour radio program on the subject of why Black people don’t like to adopt. The points raised contrast sharply with the latest bBC iteration where only ‘honky’ and honkey society is to blame.

       0 likes

  28. pounce_uk says:

    How the bBC is whitewasheing Islamic intolerence towards gay people.

    Tomorrow, 21:00 on BBC Radio 5 live
    Synopsis

    Adrian Goldberg presents cutting edge investigative journalism.

    British gay Muslims are joining the global fight for equality and seeking gay marriage. 5 live Investigates speaks to pioneering gay couples about their ‘nikah’ – a Muslim matrimonial contract – and asks how they balance their sexuality with the Islamic faith, which vehemently rejects homosexuality.

    Many gay couples who marry in this way say they have actively rejected secular civil partnerships, as they say it is vital to have their union recognised by Allah, and not just by the state. The ceremonies are based on heterosexual Muslim marriage ceremonies, and are often conducted in private, without the knowledge of the couple’s family, for fear of damaging so-called ‘honour’.

    However, there is also a view that the British Muslim community may not be as conservative as it appears – it is claimed a ‘liberal closet’ exists whereby some families are becoming more accepting of their gay children, albeit behind closed doors. Adrian speaks to one American imam, who has conducted a number of gay marriages in Britain – some of which have been grand events.

    So help me here, gay muslims demanding to marry their own sex but under Islamic sharia law. Which the bBC refers to as :
    joining the global fight for equality and seeking gay marriage.”
    yet they have to do so in secret (and without their families knowing) 
    onducted in private, without the knowledge of the couple’s family,’for fear of damaging so-called ‘honour’  (Wow I never knew you could use ‘damage in place of murder.) But then the bBC claims that Islam isn’t as bad as it makes out and it actually quite liberal because some people feel that secretly some families don’t murder their gay offspring. Maybe the reason for that bBC is becasue in the UK honor crimes are illigal and like families did in the 30s/40s/50s they feel that if abu is married off to a woman then he will be feel a real man. When actually all Abu wants to do is feel a real man.

    Its seems that the gay twat at the bBC who is shagging a muslim feels the need to spread the message that Gays can be found in the Islamic community as well. Maybe that explains why that gay saudi prince who murdered his servent, spent a lot of money telling the media that he wasn’t a shirtlifter. which is something the bBC swallowed in this write up of that ugly affair. (Spot the missing words)

       0 likes

  29. fred bloggs says:

    Considering how little Brown has done since May 2010.  Making a deliberate attempt at being almost invisible, then why did he deserve this.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12513627

    Surely not the beginning of a comeback?  He would have to be potty to think…………….

       0 likes

  30. D B says:

    Public Service Announcement – this is the twitter account of the editor of the BBC News website. If BBC News website stuff pisses you off, politely tweet him with questions and such.

       0 likes

  31. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The Obamessiah has vetoed a UN resolution which declares Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal and the obstacle to peace.

    The Beeboids are NOT happy.

    It was the first veto exercised by the Obama administration which had promised better relations with the Muslim world.

    He’s going to get His first actual kicking from the faithful.  Oh, dear, what’s a Beeboid to do?

    Washington was under pressure from Israel and Congress, which has a strong pro-Israel lobby, to use its veto.

    The Obama administration’s decision risks angering Arab peoples at a time of mass street protests in the Middle East, the BBC’s Barbara Plett reports from the UN.

    In the “Analysis” inset, Plett sheds a tear:

    No matter what reasons America gave for the veto (it insisted bringing the matter to the Security Council complicated chances for peace talks) or how fulsomely it criticised settlement building (as a folly and threat to peace) it appeared out of sync with the international consensus, and as Israel’s only defender.

    Given the ferment in the Arab world at the moment, that is not a good position for Washington to be in.

    The “international consensus” is always right, I guess.

       0 likes

    • deegee says:

      I’m waiting for the analysis of what the talking heads think would happen if the resolution had been passed? My feeling is that the inevitable next step would be Arab demands for sanctions and force to punish Israel under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Which brings up a point the Brtitish Broadcasting Corporation seems to have missed.

      The United Kingdom, as a permanent member of the Security Council voted for the resolution. Would Britain send troops to punish Israel if and when Israel refuses to abide by the resolution? What about real sanctions?

      According to UK Trade and Investment Israel is a remarkable success story for British exporters. Although the country is about the size of Wales, UK exports to this market have grown steadily. Bilateral trade has consistently been in excess of £2 billion over the last 10 years and should reach £3 billion by 2015

       

      Companies who dismiss Israel as too small without exploring its potential are overlooking a serious market of solid and regular opportunity. Israel can be seen as the land of opportunity especially in all high tech sectors. Sounds a bit more serious than terrorising a shopgirl at the cosmetics counter.

       

      Personally I think the US did the right thing for all the wrong reasons and prevented an inevitable war ‘with the sanction of the UN behind it’. Insecurity Council

         0 likes

      • NotaSheep says:

        The United Kingdom, as a permanent member of the Security Council voted for the resolution. Would Britain send troops to punish Israel if and when Israel refuses to abide by the resolution? What about real sanctions?  ‘
        The BBC would right in support of sanctions against Israel.

           0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Job cuts… for being incompetent, nepotistic hypocrites, not so much.

         0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Again they distract the masses with a few more easy targets.  The waste at the BBC isn’t in presenter salaries:  it’s in middle management and redundant channels.

         0 likes

  32. Guest Who says:

    Just watched the SKY review (do all the fellas take the weekend off?) 

    Two topics caught my attention, especially as to how Aunty will address the press releases sitting on her desk… ignore, interpret, or good enough just to trot out as written. First, a no-brainer…

    Seems that if you eat more than the meat equivalent of 3 bacon rashers a day, your bottom will fall off. Hence anything after the morning sarny that isn’t a veggie quiche or nut cutlet is putting the NHS under strain. 

    Uh-huh.

    Then, a leaked memo from ‘Two Eds still can’t make up one brain’ (is there one more to really confirm they are these guys: http://faiina.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/eds.jpg  ) :

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358752/Fill-form-speak-Eds-tell-Shadow-Cabinet.html

    Can just see Marrshmallow later tackle the inevitable Labour sofa guest on the point of them being there if they have to read from an approved script.

    Mind you, under threat of being highlighted on his massive pay packet, he’ll probably just mumble ‘Um, yes’ as they read it out. Like usual.

       0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      By way of ‘balance’, not sure the SKY ‘girls’ morning out’ is working out too well.

      Once the progesterone level on the sofa was pushed over a limit, the two blondes and another person decided it was OK to mock Ann Widdicombe for not being young, gifted or sleeping with the producer.

      And just heard the teleprompter reader-outer refer to a tank being driven away, when what i saw looked like, well, a van.

      Any BBC defence experts made the jump?

         0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Can just see Marrshmallow later tackle the inevitable Labour sofa guest on the point’

      Larks. Just watched. Who was on, and which papers quoted? Craig, the floor is yours…

         0 likes

      • Craig says:

        How can I refuse that invitation Guest Who!

        Reviewing the papers were Mary Ann Sieghart, arch-Blairite from the Independent, and Ken Livingstone, the inevitable Labour sofa guest.

        Papers quoted from by Marr (in his initial run-through) were the Sunday Times, the Independent and the Observer on Libya and the Express on council car fees. Unsurprisingly, that story in the Mail about the BBC deceiving the public in a ‘reality’ show was ignored!!

           0 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          I knew you could do it proper justice:)

             0 likes

        • Craig says:

          So Labour’s Ken Livingstone, Mary Ann Sieghart of the Labour-leaning Social Market Foundation, actor David Morrissey, a self-declared ‘socialist’ and Labour Party member, and Carwen Jones, Labour first minister of Wales, Plus Ken Clarke of the Conservative Party. Typical Marr Show balance.

          David Morrissey said that Gordon Brown’s leaving office was “extraordinary”, with his sons coming out to stand beside him, and that he was unlucky with his “timing”. That’s where the interview ended.

          Andrew Marr continued “It’s all timing. Gordon Brown, who is 60 today by the way. Happy birthday to him!”

          And so say few of us!

             0 likes

          • Craig says:

            Marr was very gentle with his political interviewees this morning, giving the Welsh Labour leader plenty of time to criticise the UK government and, with rare exceptions, not interrupting or asking challenging questions.  
             
            Marr, however, was no more tough with the Conservative – but as Ken Clarke spent much of the interview defending the European Court of Human Rights and attacking “the right-wing newspapers”, it’s probably not surprising that Marr gave him such an easy ride.

               0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Thanks for the link, GW.  That form is priceless.  I am so saving that to remake for a BBC gag.

         0 likes

  33. Guest Who says:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358681/BBC-deceived-viewers-TV-conman-Actors-say-hired-impersonate-members-public.html

    BBC ‘deceived viewers of TV conman show’

    Blimey, wait until they check out the ‘news’. Rigged guests, vetted vox-pops, selected questions….

    This seems almost honest in comparison.

    ‘Is it real, or is it BBC?’

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=memorex

       0 likes

    • Craig says:

      None of the three run-downs of the newspaper front pages on this morning’s Breakfast mentioned this story – which is the lead story of the Mail on Sunday. Nor did it come up during either of the paper reviews with Olly Mann. Like the Andrew Marr Show, Breakfast chose to completely ignore it.

         0 likes

      • Craig says:

        The story did make it into Broadcasting House‘s paper review, but only because one of the guests felt strongly about it and brought it up. That was hypnotist Paul McKenna, who said “I believe that the BBC has to be held to a very high standard. A broadcaster that’s supported by the state, where if you don’t pay your licence fee you go to gaol, is really obliged to tell the truth.” Indeed!!!

        Paddy O’Connell leapt in to say, “So in which case let me say that they say about it” and read out the BBC’s defence before moving on.

           0 likes

        • Craig says:

          And talking of the licence fee…

          Broadcasting House blew another few hundred pounds of it (hopefully no more) sending Paddy O’Connell to Rome for a few days last week to talk to female opponents of Berlusconi and interview the lady who organises ol’ Silvio’s ‘banga banga’ parties, a “good friend” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) of the Italian prime minister.

          The BBC already has a Rome correspondent, a long-term Berlusconi-hater called Duncan Kennedy. Why did it need to send Paddy on yet another of his all-expenses-paid jollies?

          And not only taxpayers’ money was wasted on this. Over 15 minutes of a 1-hour programme were spent on Berlusconi and his difficulties with the ladies. The programme has an ongoing Berlusconi obsession. If Berlusconi weren’t right-wing, would the BBC obsess about him so much?

             0 likes

  34. Guest Who says:

    As the week has not progressed well for Labour, the Graun, the BBC and their supporters, especially around issues of multiple standards and ineptitude, it is no surprise that the major political blogs for the weekend (Robinson, Neil, etc) are, surprise, closed until things blow over.

       0 likes

  35. Guest Who says:

    Paul Hudson may dabble in his niche (not really weather, mind), but one wonders if the 3 Whores of the Apocalypse will see merit in following up on this:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/plastic-fantastic-carrier-bags-not-ecovillains-after-all-2220129.html

    ‘….It was buried because it didn’t give the right answers. It doesn’t support the political thrust at the moment… 

    …questioned some aspects of the original draft, although much was about emphasis and balance”

    Hmn, seems to happen alllll the time.

       0 likes

    • The Cattle Prod of Destiny says:

      Yebbut ..

      They are talking mainly about CO2 so does it make a difference if you don’t believe in AGW?

      Although there is mention of materials and transport costs I always thought that the argument against plastic bags was the damage they did when disposed of in their millions as opposed to the damage done by cotton ones.  I suppose it must be a simiilar argument to the Toyota Pious.  Uses less petrol but uses more damaging materials during construction.

      Doesn’t suprise me that the ‘science’ used was cods though.

         0 likes

  36. George R says:

    LIBYA and LABOUR.

    Will BBC-Labour now remind us of the subservient Labour poliicies of Blair, Brown and Straw re-Libya, Gaddafi and Megrahi?

    “Libya unrest: Scores killed in Benghazi ‘massacre'”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12517327

       0 likes

  37. deegee says:

    The teaser asks, Moderate path? Where is Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood heading? It’s illustrated by a suitably hijabbed young lady in white (nurse/mother?) and a humidicrib.

    It would be just as accurate to ask Violent path? Where is Egypts Muslim Brotherhood heading? illustrated by a Cairo Rage Boy. Perhaps the next analysis? O:-)

    The answer: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood promotes moderate path by the BBC’s Tarik Kafala.
    The Brotherhood runs hospitals, schools, banks, community centres, and facilities for the disabled in cities and towns all over the country.

    ‘Double standards’ (subheading)
    “The worry about us in the West is the result of bias and double standards,” Dr Arian says.

    Apparently the Christian community is calling on the Brotherhood to form a political party! Towards the end of the article which few will read anyway these same Christians are a little scared.

    There’s an academic who believes the Brotherhood should become something akin to the Christian Democrats in Europe!

    The good doctor neatly sidesteps any suggestion that the new regime may go to war. The main demand of our revolution was for democracy, and this cannot be put this on hold across the region because of the fears of six million Israelis. Or apparently the fears of anyone else.

       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Nothing difficult to understand here. The destruction of Israel and possibly mass murder and/or mass exile of Jews is considered by the BBC to be a moderate position.  The “international consensus” says that Israel is the villain, the root cause of all problems in the region.  QED.

         0 likes

    • RGH says:

      Remember the Google Manager…the westernised face of the Twitter generation who set the BBC agenda. Wael Ghonim.

      “Google executive Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a leading voice in Egypt’s uprising, was barred from the stage in Tahrir Square on Friday by security guards, an AFP photographer said. Ghonim tried to take the stage in Tahrir, the epicentre of anti-regime protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, but men who appeared to be guarding influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi barred him from doing so.
      Ghonim, who was angered by the episode, then left the square with his face hidden by an Egyptian flag.” AFP

      Quel surprise!

         0 likes

    • NotaSheep says:

      The same Tarik Kafala who has not answered my complaint about anti-Israel bias in August last year. I am beginning to see why Tarik Kafala might not have considered the web article to contain anti-Israel bias.

         0 likes

  38. George R says:

    INBBC’s partiality for Muslim Brotherhood continues.

    Of course, the main  propaganda thrust of this piece by INBBC’s TARIK KAFALA, taken from MB supporters, is that the MB is a benign social organisation; any doubts about this (and what is coincidentally the INBBC view), only come in the final third of the piece.

    INBBC’s Mr. Kafala makes no reference to the views of the leading spokesman for the MB:- QARADAWI.

    Here’s a reminder:

    -from ‘FOX NEWS’, Glenn Beck:

    Glenn Beck on Qaradawi – (video clip 4 min: 45 secs)



    This INBBC Kafala apologetic piece for MB continues INBBC Bowen’s propaganda, without evidence too.

    INBBC likes to believe: “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood promotes moderate path”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12504820

    Although the following excellent report, ‘Global Muslim Brotherhood report’ is revised daily, INBBC gives no indication of ever having referred to it! E.g.

    Details Emerge On New Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Leader

    http://globalmbreport.org/?p=1879

       0 likes

  39. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Here’s one for you:


    Muslim Cleric Plans White House Protest in Attempt to Spread Sharia Law in America

    You guys will never in a million years guess who it is, I’m sure.

    Does anyone else here remember a certain defender of the indefensible who went by the name “Hillhunt” constantly laughing at us and saying that nobody really wanted to spread Shariah into Britain?  I guess he was right after all……

    So was Geert Wilders.  And the BBC has been lying about this all along.

       0 likes

    • George R says:

       And, of course, Anjem Choudary is also an advocate of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the same ‘benign’ MB which INBBC likes.

      Here’s a critique of his Islamic views by Brigitte Gabriel on ‘Fox News’

      “Brigitte Gabriel Talks Anjem Choudary and Muslim Brotherhood with Hannity”


      (about 8 min video clip)



         0 likes

  40. Samantha Vickers says:

    In the Guardian today the BBC’s economics editor Stephanie Flanders is seen claiming this.

    “Evan Davis and I both say that we felt like we’d done a lot of pieces making clear that the housing market was overvalued and the bubble would inevitably burst. But against our couple of minutes on the Ten O’Clock News you had hours and hours of house porn”

    Odd this beccause whilst people can find examples where Evan did do this nobody can find any examples of Stephanie “Floundering” Flanders doing it.

    But then she has a track record of rewriting history favourably.Others might call it an outright falsehood.

       0 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      She probably learnt that talent direct from a certain Mr Balls.

         0 likes

    • RGH says:

      “Introduced by Keith Exford, chief executive of the Affinity Sutton Group, his pretty grim summation of the state of the economy, as faced by the housing sector, proved to be Flander’s invitation to try and be more upbeat about the road ahead. Wisely avoiding focusing predominantly on housing – acknowledging that her audience was far more knowledgeable of such matters – she nevertheless steered away from even further gloom in her presentation. Not that this means she tried to paint a rosy picture of the way ahead, for the economy, for housing, but nor did she provide – too much – grist for the doom-monger’s mill.”

      http://www.housingexcellence.co.uk/features/nhf-conference-economists-have-landed

         0 likes

    • NotaSheep says:

      Maybe we could ask her to show us the video that proves this?

         0 likes

  41. John Horne Tooke says:

    Just some more “proof” that the BBC activists do not follow their own guidlines    
       
    The BBC’s technology correspondent. This is my personal profile – if you don’t like the dog etc go to @BBCRoryCJ”    
    http://twitter.com/ruskin147    
       
    “Presenter’s profiles shouldn’t contain a [sic] URL or BBC branding if it is for personal purposes”    
    http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/02/review-of-the-bbcs-new-social-networking-guidelines/    
       
    Note also if you look at the background you would have no difficulty spotting which Politcal Party he supports

       0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      The disconnect between what BBc employees ‘should’ be doing, and indeed are pleaded with to do by their bosses, and what actually happens… is marked.

      If I see one more ‘this is my personal view, but did I mention I work for the BBC?’ ‘disclaimer’ at the top, I’d say they were ‘avin a larf.

      Maybe one could adopt a similar cavalier obligation, on the basis of contracted service terms, to the obligation to pay the licence fee?

         0 likes

  42. George R says:

    Peter Hitchens, ‘Mail on Sunday’:

    “BBC must free Paxman the Leftie”

    “The fatuous fantasy of BBC ‘impartiality’ was on display again last week. The Corporation pretended to be cross with Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman for writing an opinionated article for (you’ve guessed it) the Guardian. I believe they confiscated his Gameboy for two whole weeks.
    Mr Paxman expressed the bog-standard view of the London Left about the Iraq War (and for once they were right) that the country had been taken to war thanks to lies told by Mr Blair. And he made some rude remarks about the tightness of Mr Blair’s trousers.
    There is nothing remotely surprising about this. Who can doubt that Mr Paxman has opinions? Who would be surprised to know that they are quite like those of the Guardian?
    But we are supposed to pretend that he miraculously forgets these views while working for the BBC, that they never influence his tone, his priorities, his line of questioning or his attitude to his interviewees.
    What tripe. I say Free Jeremy Paxman. Let Paxman be Paxman, and let all the other BBC presenters also openly admit that they have views, and tell us what they are.
    Because when that happens, we will find that almost every single one of them is on the Left, and the BBC will be compelled to hire some presenters who are not.”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1358687/David-Camerons-stage-rage-needs-Court-Human-Wrongs.html#ixzz1EXTeLKTF

       0 likes

  43. George R says:

    INBBC is inclined to commission Muslims like Rageh Omaar (ex-INBBC, now ‘Al Jazeera’) to do TV series with titles like “An Islamic History of Europe”.

    At least Channel 4 has Prof Niall Ferguson to present a TV series, ‘Civilization’ (from 6 March):

    A typical ‘Observer’ political tone piece:

    “Niall Ferguson: ‘Westerners don’t understand how vulnerable freedom is'”

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/20/niall-ferguson-interview-civilization

       0 likes

  44. pounce_uk says:

    The Disinformation service provided by the bBC
    Chevron: Indigenous Ecuadoreans seek higher damages
    Ecuadorean judges have made a landmark multi-billion-dollar ruling against oil giant Chevron. But members of Ecuador’s Amazonian communities have now announced they are not satisfied with the damages and will appeal…. For its part, Chevron says it will also reject the damages award – but on the grounds that it amounts to “extortion”. The company also claims it has already spent millions of dollars on the clean-up and has a signed agreement with Ecuador absolving it of further responsibility

    I first read about this issue in 2009, when the Economist ran an article on it (As they did this week) So here is a little from 2009 on the subject:
    At issue is waste dumped by Texaco (bought by Chevron in 2001) as long ago as the 1960s in the region around Lago Agrio in the Ecuadorean jungle. From 1977 onwards, Ecuador’s state-owned oil company (now called Petroecuador) took a 62.5% stake in the field, though Texaco continued to operate it. In 1992 Petroecuador took over the whole operation and Texaco withdrew from Ecuador.
    In a suit first filed in a New York court in 1993, lawyers representing 30,000 people in the Lago Agrio area argued that billons of gallons of waste dumped by Texaco in several hundred pits such as Shushufindi 61 caused damage to human health as well as to the jungle. They also argued that the oil company should compensate Indian people for their forced displacement. American judges ruled three times that they had no jurisdiction over the matter.
    But as a result of the publicity generated by the cases, Texaco agreed with the Ecuadorean government that it would clean up 161 pits, or its share of the total, at a cost of $40m. The work was done by 1998 and the government signed an agreement releasing Texaco from any further liability. Petroecuador was supposed to clean up the rest of the pits, but didn’t do so, partly because it continues to use some of them.
    a Chevron manager points out that Texaco’s total profits from its operations in Ecuador were only $497m, while over the 20 years to 1992 Ecuadorean governments received $25.3 billion in profits, taxes and royalties from the field.
    The article can be found here.

       0 likes

  45. pounce_uk says:

    The Disinformation service provided by the bBC
    Nato accused of killing dozens of Afghan civilians
    Nato has said it will investigate reports that it has killed dozens of civilians in recent days in ground and air strikes in eastern Afghanistan…. A spokesman for the Nato forces in Afghanistan told the BBC that they had no evidence of any civilian casualties, but that they were looking into the reports.
    And here is what the Spokesman for ISAF actually had to say to the media:
    The NATO account said the assault began around 7 p.m. Thursday and lasted for five hours. The target was Taliban fighters who were gathering on a hillside, said Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, the strategic communications chief. After reviewing footage of the assault and intelligence, he said that he saw no sign that civilians or civilian houses were attacked, but that it was not possible to rule it out entirely. “What you see on the footage is that this is a very remote area, an area along steep inclines and away from any built up village or structures,” he said. “I saw no evidence to suggest there were any children there,” he said. “A group of individuals, Taliban, had gotten together for a meeting and as the assault was under way they dispersed down the hillside and into the nooks and crannies in the valley. “What you see on the helicopter footage is teams: four individuals with weapons taken out; another group of 10 to 12, as if they are getting up together for a meeting; then a series of ones and twos and threes. They disperse and then regroup.” He said that in the course of the assault, eavesdropping equipment captured the fighters’ conversations and they discussed calling local authorities and telling them there were civilian casualties, so that they would prevail on the coalition to stop shooting. “That’s where the civilian casualty thing came from,” Admiral Smith said.

       0 likes

  46. pounce_uk says:

    Here’s an intresting observation, the other day the bBCs fav Islamic NGO MPACUK aired this article:
    Should British Muslims Join Our Armed Forces?

     

    And yesterday the bBC aired this:
    UK’s Muslim soldiers ‘fighting extremists not Muslims’

    So that has me asking the question, What is the bBC playing at?

       0 likes

  47. Shay says:

    Dame Nikki gave wee Dougie Alexander a rough ride over Blair’s rapprochement with Gaddaffi, but of course the attack came from the left of Labour. The Dame was in a state of high dudgeon over the Labour government doing the bidding of ENGLISH oil company BP.

       0 likes

  48. Guest Who says:

    OT to the extent he was on SKY, but as Mehdi Hassan is a near daily talking head on the BBC (The New Statesman’s representation of the reading public needing an electronic microscope to locate) as well, I am getting fed up with this slick suit being wheeled out to air his ‘views’, especially when the calibre of interviewer means anything he says, no matter how pants, will spew out unchallenged.


    First up he’s allowed the oddly (only if one doesn’t know his background) vague word ‘government’ when referring to odd historical Libyan deals or banking abuses. If Maguire was there they’d simply use “Tory’ safe in the knowledge they’d get a pass.
    But then he claims the UK is ‘the world’s second largest arms exporter’. A quick google suggests not…
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry
    http://msrb.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/worlds-top-5-arms-exporters/
    Now any country’s arms dealing with scum is a dirty little aspect that needs more exposure.
    However this creep is dedicated to Brit bashing and selects ‘facts’ to suit that aim.
    Why is he always on our screens? 
    I think SKY is obviously spiraling downhill as much as all the rest, and it may be time to forgo breakfast ‘news’ from any source as they are all as bad as each other.
    Sadly, only one will not suffer financially from my opting out, and hence has no incentive not to give such compromised talking heads airplay.

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  49. George R says:

    INBBC, Labour and Libya.

    Any INBBC ‘analysis’ of Libya needs to (but doesn’t) incorporate this:

    “What price will we pay for Blair’s sordid Faustian pact?”

    by Michael Burleigh

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358992/What-price-pay-Blairs-sordid-Faustian-pact.html#ixzz1Ea3lZ827



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