116 Responses to OPEN THREAD…

  1. Chuffer says:

    Tucked away in tonight’s programme about the upcoming Census, during a piece about the changes in village life, was this astonishing claim.

    It’s a myth that rural life is safer because “in fact, in Britain, the highest rate of gun crime is in rural areas. And it’s hardly surprising, because, in rural areas, that’s where the vast majority of the guns still are. If you have guns, you’re going to have gun crime. It’s where you’re most likely to be shot – not in the inner cities, but in a place like this.”

    Well, I’ve lived all my life – just under 50 yeras – on a farm, living among keen and frequent gun users, and I have never come across a single gun crime. Still, if the BBC say Moss-side is safer, it must be true.

    Wouldn’t be a link to the shock-horror story about youngsters and gun licences that saturated the airwaves a couple of days ago, would there?

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    • NotaSheep says:

      The BBC have many agendas and the news is often bent to advance these agendas. since Labour lost power the BBC have reverted to chief opposition to the Conservatives and have upped their game on Israel again.

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    • Span Ows says:

      Chuffer, too true. However I suspect the writer of that tosh thinks Whitey Midsomer Murders is usual village life and/or is including “not locking the gun in a safe” etc is a “crime” comparable to armed assault.

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  2. Chuffer says:

    No, I caught that too. It was a ten minute plug for the ‘march’, with some less-than-convincing Gloucester ladies all saying how they would jolly well be marching. At least they’ll be safer from gun crime up in central london.

    As for Fiona Bruce – it’s that infuriatnig slow, mid-sentence head shake she does to show her disapproval.

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    • Daphne Anson says:

      Aha! So I’m not the only one who finds Ms Bruce infuriating!
      She should win an Oscar for her Hamming-It-Up.

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  3. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ’s MARK EASTON, who apparently wants the ‘Midsomer’ villages of Britain to be targets of mass immigration, acts as recruiting sargeant  with rural protesters against cuts at TUC Tahrir Square, London, Saturday.

    1.) Easton on ‘Midsomer’:

    “Midsomer race row”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2011/03/midsomer_race_row.html

    2.) Easton propagandising for TUC demo:

    Not the usual suspects

    3.) Charles Moore on ‘Tahrir Square’:

    “Despite what today’s marchers will claim, Trafalgar is no Tahrir”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/8407701/Despite-what-todays-marchers-will-claim-Trafalgar-is-no-Tahrir.html#

    And, not that BBC-NUJ-TUC-Labour care, but Tahrir Square (all-male demos) are leading to to the political tke-over of Egypt by the Sharia-enabling Muslim Brotherhood.

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    • John Horne Tooke says:

      Anyone seen Taggart? It is full of “ethnic” Scots? What about Pobl y Cwm not a single “Asian” in sight. Where are the “race rows” here.  
       
      I really hate the BBCs hypocrisy. Why can’t they just come out and say it – “Any programmes made in England which only contain white people are racist” because that is what they mean.

      Emmerdale farm started out as a soap about farmers ( all white) and it was believable. This small village in the West Riding now resembles the United Nations – does this really reflect the make up of a small Yorkshire village? Is the BBC saying that realism should never get in the way of their idiotic obsession with race?

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      • Daphne Anson says:

        Did I detect a note of relish in £600,000-a-year-man Marr’s voice on Friday’s programme about the census, when he informed us that demographers predict that on present trends the “white British” will be a “minority ethnic group” in the UK within 50 years?

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      • NotaSheep says:

        The Archers, a tale of ordinary country folk, pretended that if a black south African married the daughter of the local rich farmer absolutely nobody would comment that he was not born within 10 miles of Ambridge, not born in Bosettshire, let alone be foreign. It was utterly ridiculous but very BBC PC

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    • NotaSheep says:

      That Egypt would be taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood in the near future was obvious to all but the blinkered left. The majority in Egypt are not the young educated western leaning democrts that started the revolution but the porr (urban and rural) who are followers of islam and will vote as directed by the Muslim Brotherhood or Iman. Already Egypt Air is pretending that it doesn’t fly to Israel and so (in effect) wiping Israel off the map. Soon the border to Gaza will be open, albeit one way, so arms can flow to Hamas but not Palestinians leave Gaza for Egypt; for the Muslim Brotherhood have little time for Palestinians except as propaganda tools.

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    • Span Ows says:

      I’m quite encouraged by the comments on Easton’s blogpost, of the 1st 14 or 15 only 3 agree with him.

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  4. D B says:

    BBC Newsnight article on Bradley Manning – 1300 words and not one of them “Obama”.

    File under “What if it was Bush in charge?”

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    • Mohammed Lovespigs says:

      I thought he was dead?
      Didn’t he fall off of a roof last year when trying to flee Albert Square along with Stacey?  

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  5. George R says:

     INBBC’s JIM MUIR, when reporting in Egypt censors about the political power of the Sharia-enabling Muslim Brotherhood, while ignoring the Islamic persecution of the Christian Copts there.

    Now on Syria, Muir fails to even mention the Islamic Republic of Iran’s huge political influence there:

    “Syria crisis: Can reforms appease protesters?”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12856553

    Non-INBBC analysis:

    “Assad’s looming downfall?”

    http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=213760

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  6. D B says:

    Jeremy Hardy is a guest on R5L tomorrow morning. It’s almost as if there are certain BBC types keen to promote the protests.

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    • NotaSheep says:

      Absolutely wrong, there are not certain BBC types, it is virtually all BBC types 😉

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  7. Mohammed Lovespigs says:

    I had the misfortune of catching the end of the dreadful ‘Now Show’ last week. They were once again trying to pass off a hate-filled leftist as a ‘comedian’.

    This one was called Lloyd Langford. He hated England, he hated the English, he admired the Islamist Poppy-burners and he thought that Midsomer Murders was racist.
    He’ll go a long way at the BBC . . . .

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    • London Calling says:

      You would have loved today’s Now Show, in which a randomly selected stand up comedian, named Youseff Imran or something similarly “muslim ethnic”, headed off quickly into familiar territory. Edgy jokes about a Muslim girl from Bolton entering a beauty contest run by gasp Donald Trump.  Race obsessed. You don’t get a white comedian doing a non-stop run of gags about being white.   

      BBC is totally race obsessed. Which of Robin’s Merry Men should we cast as black? Ethnic audience don’t like all-white casts. Race obsessed. Race isn’t supposed to matter. But to the BBC its matters more than anything else. Always on the agenda, item 1.

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  8. pounce_uk says:

    So here I am settling down for the night and i flick over to bBC News 24 and they are reporting on the current unrest in Syria. They bring out the bBCs Middle-Eastern editor (Jeremy Bowen) in which to give his take on the subject and even by the standards of biased bBC reporting I was stunned.  

    He came out with that actually President Assad is actually a nice guy, that the people of Syria love him for how he has dealt with Israel and their gripe is really with the people around him.  

    In fact as President Assad has only been in power for 10 years, he cannot be placed in the same category as say the president of Yemen and that because of his age he is in tune with the young people of the region. In fact under Young Assad Syria isn’t really that bad a place to live as he has bestowed upon the peoples more freedoms than ever.  

    After that quick synopsis from the bBCs Middle Eastern editor, I really do feel that Abu Bowen should be shown the door. 

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    • ltwf1964 says:

      Bowen,to borrow another bBC bias poster’s expression

      BOILS MY PISS

      he should be wearing the door for a hat,not allowed to go out through it

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      • Paddy says:

        🙂

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      • Paddy says:

        Bowen makes Galloway look balanced and thoughtful. Only aunty (short for anti Israel) would think it appropriate to put this anti Semite in charge of it’s middle east reporting. Next they are going to put Gary Glitter in charge of newsround.

        According to Al-Bowen paying terrorists to blow up Israelis means he’s in touch with the kids…great.

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    • Daphne Anson says:

      Yes, what Jezza said was that Assad’s been popular for several reasons – first item on Jezza’s list was “He stands up to Israel” (thus implanting, or perhaps I should say reinforcing,  in the viewer’s mind the BBC-given impression that Israel is the Bully Boy of the region).
      And how second-rate, smug and superficial Bowen is.

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    • Craig says:

      The BBC (Bowen and Lina Sinjab) keep saying Assad is young. He’s 46. He’s surely middle-aged. How in tune with da youngstas is someone who’s 46? (I’m almost 42 & not very in tune at all).

      Jeremy Bowen is 51, just a bit older than young Assad, and doubtless thinks of himself as young and trendy. That might account for it.

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      • Daphne Anson says:

        None of us can help our looks, but Jezza has not aged well. That careworn air adds to the impression of an old dude, but I reckon he sees himself as an elder statesman 🙁

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    • hippiepooter says:

      Everyone’s being far too nice about Bowen.  He’s a genocide enabler.

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      • hippiepooter says:

        Here’s Bowen showing what utter vermin he is talking as friend and confidant to President Bashar al-Assad jointly rattling sabres against Israel in the wake of the hateilla.  Not one interruption.  How remarkable.  If BBC journalists could treat democratic politicians the way they treat dictators and dictators the way they treat democractic politicians our political life would improve enormously.

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        • Craig says:

          There’s now a video report from Bowen on the BBC website.

          His chosen expert on the whippersnapper Assad is Patrick Seale. Seale, a former Observer correspondent, married to anti-Israeli writer Rana Kabbani (on whose Letter to the Arab World Sue commented a few days ago), is just the sort of expert you’d expect Jeremy Bowen to use. The man is anti-Israel to the core.

          Here’s a sample of his journalism:

          Israel’s war in Gaza is an act of political insanity. It is the product of a deeply disturbed society, able neither to curb its military arrogance nor calm its profound paranoia.
          http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29508

          Others have noticed: Meet England’s Helen Thomas: Patrick Seale
          http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/phillips/110218

          Just the man then for Jeremy Bowen.

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  9. pounce_uk says:

    The other day the bBC came out with this excuse of an article in which to try and explain the reason why the democratically elected government of Gaza (Hamas) has decided to defend itself against the children scaring jews who live next door.

     

    Here is another look at the same story as written in this week’s Economist: I quote a small snippet:

    In Gaza and the West Bank protesters champ for an interim government of the young, aligned to no party, to be followed by elections in both bits of Palestine. Under the watchful eye of his Western patrons, Mr Abbas’s security forces have generally stopped beating up protesters and have let them erect tents in the West Bank’s main towns. Hamas has shown less tolerance, fearful lest a turnout of thousands, including many women and a few rappers, posed a secular challenge. “Hamas is worse than Mubarak, because it governs in the name of God, not the people,” says Ayman Shaheen, a professor at Azhar University, Gaza’s last remaining college outside the movement’s control. At first, Hamas relied on its own considerable popular base. On March 15th it swamped a non-party rally with green flags, its chosen colour. But this show of unity was short-lived. Facing a barrage of stones, the protesters fled to a neighbouring square, only to be mauled by a mob wielding knives, clubs and chairs. Their tents were burned down and the square cleared within minutes. Female students claim they were groped by bearded bully-boys rummaging for mobile phones with video footage of the beatings…. Even so, Hamas was frustrated in its efforts to quell the protests, which were generated more by an informal network of like-minded people than by a movement with a leader. The violence kept people off the streets. Businessmen shied away from helping the protesters. Wedding organisers refused to lend them loudspeakers. But a few hundred protesters continued to wait outside the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN, and the home of Gaza’s prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, at the risk of being thumped with batons.The protests may have prompted Hamas to unleash its mortar barrage at Israel, to deflect attention from its own woes. “It doesn’t normally respond with dozens of projectiles when Israel kills two men,” says Mkhaimar Abu Sada, a professor at Azhar University and friend of Mr Shaheen, referring to an Israeli raid on a training camp in Gaza the day before.

    That story alone substantiates to me, why I have subscribed to the economist for over 20 years.

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  10. Cassandra King says:

    Does anyone remember the BBC coverage of the Irish election? Can anyone remember the BBC remember them reporting the fact that the green(red)party got wiped out completely?

    Now the BBC is reporting on a regional German election and giving wide coverage of it with interviews of voters who used to vote for Merkal but have now swapped their support to the green(red)party.
    Now I may be wrong but there are other parties with much more electoral support who were not mentioned at all, only the greens(reds) got positive primetime airtime with no negative information allowed through by the BBC.

    All positive news, the greens(reds) are marching to victory with the nuclear issue first and foremost in the minds of the regional German voters. The election will change nothing and in the national sense will mean nothing, the report was a barely concealed puff piece for the green(red party). Do we really need to know about a tiny political party that might do well enough to align with their bigger socialist allies?

    I find myself wondering if the BBC will be as quick and keen to report the results of this uniportant regional election if the greens(reds) are wiped out or fare badly, if the Irish election is anything to go by any defeat will be quickly covered by the BBC.

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    • NotaSheep says:

      The BBC narrative is always of support increasing for the left and greens, all news is slanted to prove that narrative.

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      • RGH says:

        The BBC does not tell you the reality of a slow but steady rise in the Left Wing vote in Baden-Wurttemberg (and Bavaria) has been noted and commented upon in Germany for 10 years.

        The reason why the Left’s star is rising is firmly explained by internal migration from the former DDR to the West’s most affluent areas.

        “The spatial distribution of the rate of internal migration inflow demonstrates
        that in 1991 the rate’s values were higher in the following areas: (1) most urban
        counties in southern Länder, (2) some northern counties in Schleswig-Holstein,
        (3) the belt of counties from the county of Ammerland in north-west to the
        Hannover Region and Hameln-Pyrmont in the north-western part of Lower
        Saxony (Niedersachsen), (4) counties surrounding the city of Munich (München),
        and (5) counties in west Baden-Württemberg”

        Apparently the new voters concentrate in the unskilled or lower public service jobs and hark back to the familiar (Leftist) reflexes of the East.

        The affluence and success of the settled ‘working class’ (call them the Merc. engineers and assemblers) is a target for redistributionist sloganising.

        Sure the nuke issues is live, but other social factors are at work.

        Like the Gloucestershire ladies, the street interviewees may very well, from their accents, be from deepest Chemitz (formerly Karl Marx Stadt).

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        • RGH says:

          Gloucestershire ladies being the unionised campaigners supporting the cuts march this afternoon and therefore not typical of Gloucestershire voters.

          Not that they came from Karl Marx Stadt.

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    • Paddy says:

      Can’t imagine sat1 covering our council election can you. Auntie is having to reach to the othe side of the continent to find straws to clutch so desperate are they for pro green news. Next it will be across to Papua new guinea to talk to a hippy standing for a parish council election.

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  11. ltwf1964 says:

    expect some hard propagandising for “earth hour”(ROFLMAO) tonight

    in our household,every light in the house gets swirched on jst to let them know that their brainwashing crap doesn’t work with us

    mark the hour

    SWITCH THEM ALL ON!!!!!

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    • Mohammed Lovespigs says:

      Be sure to leave all vehicles running too!

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    • Cassandra King says:

      Yeah! ALL my lights are going on plus the roof lights 😀 and the communal hall lights and all blinds will be up to show the world(pasers by) my thoughts on the issue.

      If you really care for the planet then please please tell all yer mates to turn them lights on!

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      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        I’ll be joining in as well.  Maybe play a nice violent video game at full blast.

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    • Paddy says:

      I’m going out side to switch my car engine in just to spite the tofu terrorists.

      Paddy…..warming the world one litre at a time.

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  12. fred bloggs says:

    Why is Brendon Barber let off the hook all the time?  He is allowed to peddle his twaddle everytime that it was NOT overspending by Lab that was a major cause of the problems.  The £30B a year over spend  every year from 2001, is NEVER brought up by the bBC.  Not difficult to find they are from the ONS.  Suppose the ONS must be in league with the Tories to discredit Labour!!!!!

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    • Andrew says:

      Exactly it’s amazing how many seem to have succumbed to amnesia over the last 13 years of economic management. 

      In fact how does he get on at all.  He can’t seem to grasp the idea that the public sector is funded by taxes.  He cannot seem to grasp that they do not create wealth, all they do is dilute the profit that was once in the coffers of private industry. 

      Well actually he can grasp it but if they ever publically acknowledged then it would stuff the narrative.

      They only have him on because compared to Len McCluskey he looks poistively urbane when fed the right questions regardless of the fact his answers don’t stack up.

      With today’s protests I want to see how they cover Tall Ed if it goes pear shaped.  Quote of the day in the DM from a Tory who said:

      ‘Ed Miliband can’t attend a “march for an alternative” rally when he’s done nothing to set out an alternative

      They’ll all stick with the too deep too fast mantra without ever reconciling the problem of the interest on the borrowing that any alternate would cause and what that would likely do to our credit rating, which in turn would make any of the required future borrowing even more expensive and so on and so on.

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    • NotaSheep says:

      Bris Johnson was on Any Questions last and kept not blaming last Labour government for the economic mess and just wanting to look forward. Wrong, wrong, wrong; Labour must be blamed every day in every interview

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  13. Craig says:

    As of 8 o’clock this morning, it’s the second most important story in the world – according to the BBC News website:
       Anti-cuts protestors set to march
    At the bottom of the article is the usual BBC stuff:
    “Are you planning to take part in the march against spending cuts? What do you think the rally will achieve?”

    Oddly in that article, the TUC says they are expecting some 100,000 people, so where the Beeb’s quarter of a million guess (hope) comes from, who knows?

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  14. DCP says:

    5 Live getting really excited about the union demo against THE CUTS today.  I’m beginning to wonder whether there’ll be more BBC staff on the march than reporting on it…

    Oh, and we got a Marxist joke as well. (The herbal tea one…)

    Strange thing is that i can’t remember the BBC getting all bolshy on behalf of those people in the private sector who’ve had their working hours cut, pay frozen (perhaps for a number of years) or lost their jobs as a result of Labours ineptness in power.

    To listen to them today you’d think that this is the start of the glorious workers revolution.

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    • NotaSheep says:

      many friends and family working for relatively large companies in private sector have lost their final salary pension. None of them was consulted, they were told and will be many thousands a year poorer after retirement even if they double their pension contributions. They did not scream and shout that their employment contracts had been torn up and threaten to strike like the fireman I heard on Radio London the other day, they just went back to work – they had no choice and were certainly not going to get supported by the public sector BBC.

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  15. George R says:

    “‘You’ll struggle to spend your budget’: What BBC boss was told before he gave Jonathan Ross an £18m contract ”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370078/Youll-struggle-spend-budget-What-BBC-boss-told-gave-Jonathan-Ross-18m-contract.html#ixzz1HhAUrk26

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    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      I still can’t grasp the concept that BBC1 costs £1.4 billion to run.  For what?  How?

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  16. Chuffer says:

    And if this bit of news doesn’t have you going “oh, for f’s sake..”, nothing will:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12846074

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    • NotaSheep says:

      Eloquent young lady, a recent tweet was – I am the new film critic for Radio 1. OMG!!!

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  17. geewiz says:

    The beeboids are getting more and more excited by the prospect of today’s March of the Parasites. I think Louise Minchin just got her jollies while ”interviewing” a TUC droid.
    Letts raises an interesting point in today’s Mail. Will Chris Patten declare his strings-attached, no-criticising Europe, forfeitable pension? I somehow doubt it too.

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  18. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ chum, the unelected SHAMI CHAKRABARTI (of LSE Council and SAIF GADDAFI  infamy) is to oversee the Met police today in her campaign for ‘human rights’ and ‘liberty’ in anti-cuts demo!

    What are Chakrabarti’s human rights standards now? Those of the Gaddafi regime in Libya?

    Notice that BBC-NUJ doesn’t mention her by name here:

    “The Met will for the first time allow observers from human rights group Liberty into its control room for the event.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12864353

    Alternative view to BBC-NUJ:

    “The TUC is about to unleash a tsunami of violence and destruction in London ”

    (Toby Young)

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100081416/the-tuc-is-about-to-unleash-a-tsunami-of-violence-and-destruction-in-london/#


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  19. Umbongo says:

    As other commenters have noted, the BBC is in full “support the anti-non-cuts” Parade of the Parasites mode.  OTOH, in an exercise in impartiality, the Today presenters refrained from informing us exactly where the stewards would like us to line up at the start of the parade.

    On the journalistic front, Len McCluskey gave two hostages to fortune by opining that spending could continue if (1) £24 billion in “tax avoidance” could be stamped on by the coalition and (2) a further unspecified amount could be raised from the banks through a foreign exchange transaction tax.  Evan Davis – an economist – could have destroyed McClusky there and then.

    Evan could have asked McCluskey (1) if he had an ISA (or, more to the point, how much tax he paid on his pension contributions).  In respect of (2) the “Robin Hood” bank tax, Davis only had to enquire whether McCluskey realised that the banks might sign the cheque but those who use the banks’ services (importers, exporters, travellers etc) would actually suffer/pay the tax.  He could have observed that such a tax would inevitably mean that banks would shift their currency activities abroad (together with the jobs and “normal” tax on profits made thereby).  He might also have mentioned the headline in this morning’s Times concerning how the raid on North Sea oil companies – to “pay” for the minuscule cut in petrol prices – has backfired.  Davis knows that McCluskey is spouting economic and financial nonsense yet he gave McCluskey a free pass.

    Michael Gove didn’t do badly later but his and (to be fair) McCluskey’s contributions were in the post 8:30 Today “dead zone” (although whether this exists on on Saturday as it does during the working week, I declare my ignorance).

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    • Shay says:

      & on McCluskey’s first whizzo wheeze, why are the lefties never pressed about their silence about all this tax avoidance during the  13 years of Brown’s massive extension of tax coverage? Why are they are now allowed to suggest that the avoidance has miraculously appeared, created by the enemies of hardworkingfamilies in the public school educated “Conservative-led government”?

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  20. NotaSheep says:

    Your research is always impressive but how do we hold the BBC to account for these deliberately misleading claims?

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    • ltwf1964 says:

      stop paying the tv tax should be a basic start for all of us…….

      cut them off where it hurts the scumbags worst

      in the pocket

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  21. NotaSheep says:

    Have you formally complained about this deliberate misdirection, if not I will?

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  22. dave s says:

    This could be very interesting this London demo. London is not Britain and maybe the Government is well aware that scenes of riot and violence will play badly in the shires. As for the left’s lunatic comparison to the ME demonstrations what can you say except it reveals a complete lack of reality.
    Now if I was of a suspicious mind I would think that the coalition has a deal to gain from scenes of riot and anarchy. The BBC will no doubt play it’s part if this happens.
    We will have to see just who are the useful idiots today.

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  23. Scoobywho says:

    BBC bias is not only apparent ON question time but to get their money’s worth, question time is also used as a source of bias the following day – bias cold cuts.  
     
    A carefully selected ‘highlight’ from the programme, posted on the bBC website with the headline, “Labour should apologise for the UK’s economic mess”, disguised as an attempt to balance out any favourable leftwing exposure with a bit of favourable right/coalition exposure is nothing more than yet another attempt to reinforce the BBC line that the current financial mess in the UK has absolutely nothing to do with Labour and everything to do with the banks. After all, according to Red Ken “WE HAD THE LOWEST DEBT OF ANY MAJOR WESTERN ECONOMY [40% of GDP he says]”.  
     
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/9435858.stm  
     
    If you were to Zip forward a few minutes in the program (to 42 min 14s http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0100lyx/), past the platitudes and factually incorrect statements of Biannca Jagger, to the response from Niall Ferguson and viewers would be reminded that (please correct me if I am wrong – even the mighty Ken seems confused here) it is the short fall in our ability to pay it back that is far more important. [quote Niall] “there was only one country in the world in a worse fiscal position than [the basketcase economies of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain], and that was the United Kingdom” [quote] “THE 11% GDP DEFICIT WAS BY FAR THE LARGEST OF OF ANY MAJOR ECONOMY” and rather than a debt of 40% as claimed by confused Ken, it was 72% (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=277).

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    • Guest Who says:

      This was noted, along with the observation that some factually challenged regulars seem so secure that there will be no counter from the market rate corner when they pump out any old tosh they can still get caught out by a ringer who has slipped through the vetting system… but may still be reassured that even if nailed live, it will subsequently all be sorted in post.

      http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100081317/ken-livingstone-lies-on-question-time/

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      • Scoobywho says:

        Lying or confused ? Most of what Nial was saying seemed to go right over his head. Poor old Ken.

        Presumably labour appologists are all briefed with the same information when programed to attack the coalition.

        I noticed Jagger was visably shocked when it was pointed out her programming was incorrect.

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  24. Span Ows says:

    From Cranmer:


    “It’s curious how today’s march against Government cuts is being streamed by the BBC and has made the front pages of just about all the newspapers…

    There was a march yesterday, too. The cause was ‘Sharia Law for Libya’ (and everywhere else)…

    But, curiously, not a whisper from the BBC. And no mention by other sections of the MSM.

    http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2011/03/sharia-law-for-libya-protest-closes.html

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  25. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Oh, dear, now even the Washington Post is criticizing The Obamessiah’s foreign policy wisdom.  There’s an editorial piece calling Him out on worthless behavior in Latin America, and for doing nothing to support freedom and democracy in the region.  If even the paper which had to admit that it abandoned journalistic principles in order to support His election is now turning against Him, and whose publisher tried to host a series of pro-Obama salons in her own home until she was busted for it, Mark Mardell will be needing to get out the holy relic again and wander the countryside looking for someone to restore his faith.


    Unfortunately, while Mr. Obama took the time to travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, his effort to advance this agenda ranged from weak to nonexistent.

    Sounds almost like something I would say.

    Most curious was Mr. Obama’s decision to simply ignore the fact that in large parts of Latin America, the “shared values” that he said bind the hemisphere are being trampled. In a speech directed to the region that he delivered in Santiago, the president declared that “today, Latin America is democratic” — even though rulers in a number of countries are shutting down media, eliminating judicial independence and rigging elections. He said “Latin America is contributing to global prosperity and security,” even though many of those same rulers are forging ties with Iran and have been defending the regime of Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi.

    It’s getting more and more clear every day that He is not what we were sold in 2008.  At some point, some prominent people on the Left are going to start noticing that He has very little interest in human rights or freedom (there’s much more than mere incompetence and inexperience going on here) or anything other than His domestic political agenda to shift the country away from the free market.  And what will the BBC say then?

       0 likes

    • Umbongo says:

      ” . . . some prominent people on the Left are going to start noticing that He has very little interest in human rights or freedom”

      I think they already know and don’t care all that much.  The enthusiasm on the left for “human rights and freedom” tends to be restricted to Western-style democracies.  There’s not much interest in “human rights and freedom” in the paradise regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, China, Gaza etc etc.

         0 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      I blogged on this earlier. I’m sure you read it. 😉

         0 likes

  26. pounce_uk says:

    So has anybody ehard the bBC report that those peaceful Hamas fellows have continued lobbing rockets across the border into Israel?

    Here is a snippet from the Palestinian News agency which informs you much more on the reason wbehind the increase in attacks than the bBC ever had:

    Addressing the PLO central council on March 16, President Mahmoud Abbas stunned his audience by offering to go to the Gaza Strip within days. His offer focused on the idea of gaining the involvement and approval of Hamas with regard to a government made up of independent figures. The president wants this new government to work for six months in preparation for legislative and presidential elections. Abbas is on the record saying he is not running in the upcoming elections.


    The surprise initiative was immediately welcomed by the Hamas leadership in Gaza who said that they welcome Abbas to Gaza to continue the talks, but failed to address the content of his initiative. Later it became clear that Hamas, and especially the leadership abroad, is totally opposed to the idea which they said was an attempt by Ramallah to circumvent their own initiative and that without true reconciliation no elections will take place.


    This negativity is much more in sync with what is happening on the ground. Since March 15, security forces in Gaza have repeatedly attacked young demonstrators calling for an end to internal division. Journalists and photographers have also been harassed, beaten and had cameras and tapes confiscated in an attempt by the power in Gaza to prevent images of the security forces’ repression of non-violent demonstrators from coming out.



    When the Hamas counter-demonstrators action proved ineffective, apparently a decision was taken to divert attention by launching rockets toward Israel. Unlike previous attacks, which the Hamas leadership has denounced and even threatened some radical groups for violating, Hamas publicly took credit for the latest rockets which fell in the Negev and didn’t cause any damage or injury.

       0 likes

    • deegee says:

      The PA will be attempting to have the United Nations recognise an independent Palestinian state in September. There is an excellent chance of success but even they recognise the elephant(s) in the room. A big chunk of ‘Palestine’ is under Hamas control not the PA and there is no current legitimate government since Abbas’s term ran out and he had already sacked the Hamas government that was elected.

      My feeling is that Abbas is not going to Gaza for unity talks but to negotiate with Hamas not to screw up the UN plan. All Abbas needs is an ambiguous declaration that neither side believes in nor will implement, to provide a cover. 

         0 likes

  27. 1327 says:

    Nice one Craig ! I would be fascinated to know how the Beeb found this story. Were they sent a press release and decided keep certain facts from us or did one of the Beebiods know Mrs Caudron ? Enquiring minds would like to know.

       0 likes

  28. Guest Who says:

    Never trust a beeboid. ‘

    Well, that’s given.

    But this relly seems to have moved the deal to a lower level.

    I don’t accept using ‘guests’ who are clearly tribal propagandists in interviews without any context, but this seems even lower.

    It’s a staged misrepresentation to spin a narrative. 

    And by doing so, a clear acceptance that in fair argument they have no chance, and hence have decided to move to pure propaganda in lieu of any ‘reporting’.

    Yet for some reason I am required to cofund this.

    Cameron. NaughtieMarr…. why?

       0 likes

  29. George R says:

    Wot: no demo for EU cuts?

    Where are the UK protests against that undemocratic huge drain on our resources, the still best friend of Coalition govt., Labour and BBC-NUJ:- the European Union?


    “Bill Cash MP: Why does Robert Peston think that the British contribution to the potential Portuguese bailout will be ‘close to zero’?”

    http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2011/03/-why-does-robert-peston-think-that-the-british-contribution-to-the-potential-portuguese-bailout-will.html

    Also:

    Fury at Portugal bailout grows as Tories blame Darling’s EU deal for £6bn bill

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370134/Fury-Portugal-bailout-grows-Tories-blame-Darlings-EU-deal-6bn-bill.html#ixzz1HjdSeLlR


       0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      It’s the same line Stephanie Flanders took about Ireland:  because interest rates are so low you can borrow the money to bail them out on the cheap, and – supposedly – it will all get paid back quickly, it will cost the UK next to nothing out of pocket to do it.  It’s utterly irresponsible nonsense (robbing Peter to pay Paul who already owes Peter a fortune), but that’s their position.

         0 likes

  30. deegee says:

    Take a look at the attached picture before enlarging it and imagine what caption you would put. I will write the caption the BBC put in the comment following this.

       0 likes

  31. deegee says:

    BBC Week in Pictures Image 4 of 12

    The caption the BBC chose is Britain’s Chancellor George Osborne cancelled next month’s planned 4p rise in fuel duty in what he has billed his “Budget for growth”. The chancellor was forced to downgrade his growth forecasts – prompting mockery from Labour leader Ed Milliband.

    Talk about adding all possible biases to the caption of what is a clever but completely neutral shot.

       0 likes

  32. George R says:

    “The BBC won’t rest until we’re all talking filth”

    (Peter Hitchens)

    Scroll down article.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1370267/PETER-HITCHENS-Another-wrong-war—-PM-treats-Parliament-like-neutered-chihuahua.html

       0 likes

  33. George R says:

    “Why so coy, Lord Patten?”

    “Another ex-European Commissioner is Lord (Chris) Patten, new chairman of the BBC.
    I tried yesterday to ascertain if he has a forfeitable Brussels pension. I did not hear him declare one when he appeared recently before MPs for a confirmation hearing.
    A BBC spokesman says that only ‘positions of employment and remunerated directorships’ have to be declared.
    Hmmm. Let it be stressed again. Former Commissioners’ pensions are forfeitable.
    That means there could be financial leverage over the recipient — potential squeezing of the windpipe.
    We’re talking about the chairman of the BBC here — head of a corporation already suspected of pro-European bias.
    Lord Patten may be such a saint that he would never yield to such pressure. But he should have declared this potential interest.”

    (by Quentin Letts.)

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1370044/Euro-hyenas-laughing-matter.html#ixzz1HmcA0koR

       0 likes

  34. Shay says:

    R5 Sports News reports that the Welsh crowd at yesterday’s football international booed the ENGLISH national anthem. Hmmm, that’s the status that the BBC gives to “God save the Queen”!!

       0 likes

  35. George R says:

    BBC-NUJ-TUC-Labour: censoring Labour’s colossal waste on NHS hospital contracts.

    ‘Daily Telegraph’:

    “Labour left taxpayer £60billion bill for new hospitals”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8408774/Labour-left-taxpayer-60billion-bill-for-new-hospitals.html#

    Instead, BBC-NUJ-TUC-Labour has:

    “Downing Street rejects £1bn NHS Budget cut claim”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12853775

       0 likes

  36. Marky says:

    Lonely Planet’s self-hatred. Much of Britain suffers from malaise and self-hatred leading to lethargy and depression which the BBC has helped along with its assault on anything British and its support of anything foreign, the more foreign the better. So now thoroughly subdued, lazy and forlorn Lonely Planet puts the boot in. Until the British people can collectively find some pride in themselves Britain’s decline will surely continue – the BBC will not be part of the solution.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370389/Lonely-Planet-travel-guide-dubs-England-addicted-junk-food-celebrities.html

       0 likes

    • jarwill101 says:

      Good point, Marky. We can all see this with our own eyes, but it hasn’t happened by accident. I’m continually surprised that the connection between Nu Labour & the theories of the communist Frankfurt School isn’t continually highlighted (or perhaps I’m not). In the late 1920s, this ‘school’ published a blueprint for the destruction of the nation state. Mass immigration to create an identity crisis in the host population. Constant change & bureaucratic complexity to sow insecurity. A full-on attack on all the institutions, preferably by subversion. Tolerance towards criminality. The promotion of drunkeness. Sex education for very young children. The denigration of the family, & so on. The overall intention was ‘to make the West stink’.
      Nu Labour followed these guidelines to the letter. Not so surprising when you remember how many ex?-communists there are in that foul party. And there seems little in the way of a concerted effort by the coalition to stem the tide, despite there being a lot of us who know the score. Meanwhile, our decline continues, until we are fit to join one bland, mediocre consumerist world, devoid of any national characteristics, in which only the present has any meaning & we are dictated to by an army of faceless bureaucrats. You couldn’t write it. Could you?

         0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      As an outsider, I can only suggest that it might be difficult for Britain to feel proud of itself again while a major ethnic group – the English – are not allowed to feel proud about their own heritage in the face of everyone else getting to place theirs above a British identity.

         0 likes

    • Barry says:

      IMO, the BBC should be allowed to produce a limited number of books where they relate directly to its programmes, and nothing else.

         0 likes

  37. pounce_uk says:

    The bBC, it’s biased reporting from Gaza and the other half of the story:  
    Israeli air strike kills two militants in northern Gaza  
    An Israeli air strike has killed two militants in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian officials say.The Israeli military said its strike targeted militants attempting to fire rockets into Israel.  
    Palestinians said that both victims were members of the Islamic Jihad group. Another militant was injured. The air strike comes a day after militant groups in Hamas-run Gaza said they would halt rocket attacks on Israel if the Israelis reciprocated…..Gaza say they would agree to a ceasefire if Israel stopped attacks on the Palestinian territory.  
    The move was announced by Hamas, following its talks with other militant groups.In a statement released after the meeting, Hamas said the insurgents were “committed to calm as long as the occupation (Israel) commits to it”. It was not immediately clear whether if Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza would now renege on their pledge. But Sunday’s air strike is a blow to those calling for calm after the recent escalation in violence, the BBC’s Jon Donnison in Gaza reports.  
     
    So according to the bBC, Hamas is calling for peace and the Jews don’t want it.  Here is what the bBC doesn’t tell you about that so called cease fire:  
     
    Militants in Gaza fired a projectile into southern Israel on Saturday afternoon, causing no damage or injuries, the Israeli army said.  
     A military spokeswoman added that two projectiles were fired overnight on Friday, one of which caused damage to a home.  

    and the same story from the ScotsmanMiddle-East on line andArabiya which unlike the bbC all mention that the Hamas rocket came beofre the IDF air strike.  
    Funny how the bbC doesn’t mention that?

       0 likes

    • deegee says:

      It is in line with the BBC policy to lead with casualties where Israel is concerned. Has there been one BBC story British kill x people in Libya?

         0 likes

    • hippiepooter says:

      Donnison is garbage on legs.  To him the territory of Israel is just a zone pencilled in for death camp construction.

         0 likes

      • hippiepooter says:

        Donnison also reports thus:-

        “In the past week at least 10 Palestinians, including several civilians and children, have been killed by Israeli attacks.

        In the same period, militants in Gaza have fired more than 80 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel.”

        Right, so the “militants” were only responding to Israel’s gratuitous killing of Palestinian civilians?  Not responding to indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas?

        Like I said, garbage on legs.

           0 likes

  38. Span Ows says:

    Not sure if this was posted after the budget:

    “Downing Street rejects 1 Billion NHS budget cut claim”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12853775

    It is a Labour claim and as per usual nicely fitted into the headline. Despite being completely wrong the silly thing is that even if it were true it only represents about 0.8% of the NHS budget.

       0 likes

  39. james1070 says:

    The BBC is now blaming the Police for smashing up the shop on Piccadilly. Apparently the Police did not do enough to stop a mob of labourites smashing up the West End. What did the BBC want the Police to do, shoot the protesters dead?

    Meanwhile no criticism of Ed Miliband doing a bad Malcom X impersonation and stiring up the mob.

       0 likes

  40. Bupendra Bhakta says:

    There’s a little uncut diamond of a programme Sunday Mornings on Radio Snour, BH.  It stands for Barely Humorous and is presented by Paddy O’ Barely Humorous himself.  It takes (it says here) a sideways look at the week’s events.

    Paddy was wandering around Piccadilly sunday morning with a microphone.  He approached a local worker and asked him what he thought of the demonstration.

    Worker – Ver demo was peaceful enuff wiv fermlies an’ that but it’s a shoime it orl kicked orf lay’uh.

    Paddy – (with ill-concealed glee) Are you giving me a clue as to your view on the cuts?’,

    Worker – Yeah, there should be cuts.

    Paddy – Silence.

    Unfortunately, Paddy broke the Golden Rule of albeeb interviewing – Never, Ever, Ever Ask A Question Unless You Know You Are Going To Get The Correct Answer.

    Paddy eventually broke the silence and moved on to something called ‘Derry Diary’.  News just in Paddy, it’s actually called Londonderry, though I suppose we should be grateful that he didn’t call it Free Derry Diary.

    Still one hopes the lesson – never work with children, animals, or London newspaper sellers got through to him

       0 likes

    • Bupendra Bhakta says:

      Sorry did I say ‘little uncut diamond of a programme’?

      Sorry, I meant to say ‘loose stone-chipping’.  It was quite dark, I couldn’t really see clearly, and had only just woken up.

      My bad.

         0 likes

      • Craig says:

        That was so funny. I’m surprised they kept it in.

        After the guy said “I think the coalition are doing the right thing”, Paddy’s “All right. Well thankyou for talking to me”, as he moved on, was said in such a disappointed tone of voice! (It’s at 0.08.50 here).

           0 likes

  41. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Buried deep within this Newsnight piece about the possibly cruel and unusual punishment of accused leaker monkey, Pvt. Manning, is this bit of information which was never mentioned by the BBC back when the story first broke:


    Adrian Lamo, a convicted computer hacker, turned informant, is at the heart of the prosecution case against Pte Manning. It was to him that Pte Manning allegedly confessed in conversations via text-based instant messaging that he had been gathering and leaking classified information whilst working at Forward Operating Base Hammer in Iraq.

    Mr Lamo reported to the FBI that Pte Manning had told him during online chats in May 2010 that he had downloaded material and passed it to WikiLeaks.

    If Manning was merely downloading things to which he had legitimiate, open access, and was simply releasing (leaking) the information, why would he have been bragging about it on a hacker forum?  He was stealing the data illegally by hacking.  WikiHacks, not WikiLeaks.  Yet the BBC always uses the term “leaks” for this story, while they always defined the CRU emails as “stolen”.

    Double standards, biased editorial policy.

       0 likes

  42. Derooftrouser says:

    The BBC deserves better challengers than this collection of single-issue reactionaries. 

       0 likes

  43. St Bruno says:

    I know it’s one from the dark side, the place not to be spoken of or referenced to but I’ve not seen anything about this topic anywere else so here goes:

    http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/taxpayers-forced-bail-out-%E2%80%9Csuffering%E2%80%9D-bbc

    Could be it’s general knowledge and I’ve missed it.

       0 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      Good image on that article as well, a variation on the one seen here. I bet that news is nowhere to be seen on the Beeb, or if it is it will buried veeeeery deep.

         0 likes

  44. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The deal with Libya just gets sillier:


    How Long Will U.S. Forces be Involved in Libya? White House Says Nobody Knows

    I await the BBC North America editor – or anyone at the BBC, frankly – to start asking what’s happened to all those anti-war activists in the US they used to feature regularly.  The silence is deafening.

       0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      This does of course stray into ‘two wrongs make a genetic impartiality’ territory, but the current level of critiques being deployed, or not, by the the BBC when it suits or doesn’t, is hard to rationalise with any professional or ethical commitment to balance.

         0 likes

  45. hippiepooter says:

    This morning Nicky Campbell’s call-in focuses on a part of Mr Miliband’s speech to the TUC rally, comparing the march to ‘the suffragettes, civil rights in the US, and anti-Apartheid.  From the barely concealed sarcasm it seemed Nicky was inviting people to call in to share his view of what an utter plonker Mr Miliband is.  Only my perception mind.

       0 likes

  46. Guest Who says:

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100081490/britain’s-in-trouble-if-the-lonely-planet-is-any-guide/

    So who is behind this relentless Anglophobia? Is the guide produced by the French tourist board or secret Gaddafi loyalists? No, Lonely Planet belongs to the BBC’s sprawling commercial universe. No wonder it describes the economy as “dicey” – and the government as “devious”.

    That unique funding does provide the country with an unusual ROI at times.

       0 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      As a kid I used to wonder why the BBC was known as “Auntie”.  I thought perhaps it was a term of affection.

      I realise now that I misunderstood.  It is in fact short for the Anti-British Broadcasting Corporation.

         0 likes

  47. Bupendra Bhakta says:

    New one for the OEDmainlypeacefulmarch  – noun
    TUC/BBCC/NUJ/Guardian/Martin Luther King/ softy-leftie/ hopey changey – friendly parade through central London complaining about 3% coots in which as per usual and with Shami Chakrabarti running the Metropolitan Police response it all kicks off 

    n:
    1825–35, Today Programme-ism ;  < Latin – Marchus

    see also overwhelminglypeacefulmarch, 99%peacefulmarch, mainlypeacefulmarch, hugelypeacefulmarch, massivepeacefulmarchinni (radio 1), and bitofariotmarch.

       0 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      “TUC/BBCC/NUJ/Guardian/Martin Luther King/ softy-leftie/ hopey changey”

      I often add touchy-feely, happy-clappy and lily-livered… 😎

      What do you exect on such a lovely family day out (well, that was how one TUC plank described it)

         0 likes

      • As I See It says:

        BBC News 24 this morning and logged into the teleprompter is the phrase ‘Massive March”  – just incase we didn’t the message eh?.

        Remind me BBC, didn’t Labour get beaten in that “Super-Massive General Election”?

           0 likes

  48. As I See It says:

    Small thing but…BBC News 24 this morning at about 7.30am aired a report on the British space programme…our reporter is talking about some feat of technical engineering going on in the lab and says, “…a couple of meters behind me…” Now I can very well understand the use of the metric system for use in scientific matters – but this was a quick chatty piece to camera. A normal person would have used the phrase “…a few feet behind me…” The way the BBC deals with this feels awkward, forced and scripted. The annoyance was soon compounded by a reference to the cost in Euros of some new space investment. Now let me find today’s exchange rate and fetch my calculator and then I’ll be right with you BBC!

       0 likes

  49. Cassandra King says:

    The BBC are claiming that the German greenshirts won the regional election.

    The green shirts didnt win, it was Merkals CDU that actually got the most votes and the greenshirts will only taste power if they join the SPD.
    The BBC has become the greenshirts most eager supporter it seems.

       0 likes

  50. deegee says:

    BBC Anti-Americanism?
    Amnesty International: Global death penalty trend falls
    Except that it hasn’t. The only way that can be stated is if it ignores the country whose lowest estimated executions is almost 4X the estimated executions of every other country. The article admits this in the fourth paragraph but few read that far. But that figure does not include China, whose executions are thought to be more than all other countries put togetherBTW I doubt any survey that ignores most of Africa can be accurate on executions.

    So here are the figures.

    China: At least 2,000 but could be as many as 8,000
    Iran: At least 252
    North Korea: At least 60
    Yemen: At least 53
    USA: Undisputed 46

    So what picture did the subeditors choose to illustrate this story? A photograph of a table (presumably for lethal injection) The US carried out 46 executions in 2010, the report says

    It is a standard principle of newspaper journalism that most readers take in the headline, the first paragraph and the photograph and don’t read further. It is essential that those areas give the gist of the story correctly so as not to misinform. FAIL!

       0 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      The image doesn’t load for me but the comment of the picture does. So reading the ehadline and first few sentences what jumps out is DOWN to at least 527…USA 46…thinks “BLIMEY nearly 10% of total”

      I am SURE they didn’t mean that reader’s reaction to occur.

         0 likes