78 Responses to Open Thread

  1. Alex says:
    August 6, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    Hi David, what’s been up with the site mate? Has it been attacked? Haven’t been able to get in at all.

       7 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:
      August 6, 2012 at 6:32 pm

      No idea. Best I can tell is that something causes a fail and keeps the site from loading while someone is creating or editing a post. Something is conflicting somewhere, but I don’t know where. No useful support answers found yet.

         3 likes

      • Steve says:
        August 9, 2012 at 2:38 pm

        I think I might have posted this before, but…

        I had similar problems with Dreamhost. The problems were eventually solved by deselecting their “extra security” options.

        P.S. The site is currently not displaying correctly in either Firefox or Chrome. I’m getting about a dozen lines of wp code showing above the header.

           3 likes

  2. David Preiser (USA) says:
    August 6, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Alternatively, it could be that the server is having a memory overload. I have no access to that side of things.

       2 likes

  3. Scott says:
    August 6, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Looks like a badly configured opcode cache. It’s possible that either your host, or whoever looks after your site code, has upgraded one component that PHP and/or WordPress depends on that has caused APC’s defaults to either change or its memory limits to be exceeded.

       7 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:
      August 6, 2012 at 6:45 pm

      I’m seeing that same error message now, too. Memory exceeded. But I can’t tell what was recently upgraded. I can’t access the cache settings, either.

      Or just too many people viewing this obscure blog which nobody ever reads because the opinions are so far out of the mainstream and it’s only a handful of us in the echo chamber. 😉

         14 likes

      • Clare says:
        August 8, 2012 at 3:04 pm

        I’m still getting a load of computer-y type text above the actual site pages, and “unable to allocate memory” text within the home page. I’m using Safari on a Mac – would this be a problem?

           1 likes

      • feargal the cat says:
        August 10, 2012 at 6:37 pm

        DP (USA) I was thinking along the lines of your 2nd para when I tweeted DV to find out what the problem was with the site. Sarcasm isn’t big or clever, but can be funny!

           0 likes

  4. johnnythefish says:
    August 6, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    Apologies if this link has been posted before.

    I’m a big fan of Rod Liddle. I know he’s a self-confessed socialist but there’s something reassuringly old-fashioned and honest about his articles which is light years away from the rigid dogma preached by today’s Labour politicians. Consequently I sometimes find myself agreeing with stuff he says which I wouldn’t normally do, especially if I heard it from the likes of Harman or Cooper (to name but two). In other words, he seems to have in spades what the BBC and their political arm lack, which is balance and an ability to make a reasoned argument. What makes the following article of his even more interesting is the fact he was once editor of the ‘Today’ programme.
    I reckon he should be re-installed, asap.

    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/rod-liddle/2012/07/my-advice-to-the-bbcs-new-dg/

    P.S. Look out for the acronym at the end – priceless.

       3 likes

  5. George R says:
    August 6, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    For ‘ black culture’ propagandists at BBC-NUJ:

    “The 2011 English summer riots revisited.
    “A year after the riots in England, our political class has shamefully shied away from tackling the problems of race and a destructive
    black street culture.”

    by David Starkie.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9453633/The-2011-English-summer-riots-revisited.html

       3 likes

  6. Pounce says:
    August 6, 2012 at 6:55 pm

    How the bbC edits and words historical facts in which to promote its leftwing bent.
    Japan marks Hiroshima bombing amid anti-nuclear calls
    Japan is marking the 67th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in an annual ceremony.
    Tens of thousands of people attended the event, amid growing anti-nuclear sentiment and protests in the country. A bell marked the start of a one-minute silence at 08:15 local time (23:15 GMT) when the US bomber Enola Gay dropped the bomb that killed 140,000 people.
    Mayor Kazumi Matsui called for a nuclear-free world at the event at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.”I call on the Japanese government to establish without any delay an energy policy that guards the safety and security of the people,” he said.Mr Matsui also called for more support for ageing survivors of the WW II attack who are battling health issues caused by radiation from the bomb.,/i>

    Now read how the UN reported this very same story:
    6 August 2012

       1 likes

  7. George R says:
    August 6, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    INBBC, in its deceit and censorship on TUNISIA’s Islamic Winter,
    omits the following:-

    1.)

    “Tunisia: Muslim leader hospitalized after being attacked at ‘Tolerance In Islam’ conference”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/08/tunisia-muslim-leader-hospitalized-after-being-attacked-at-tolerance-in-islam-conferences.html

    2.)

    “Sharia in action in ‘Arab Spring’ Tunisia: Secular activist arrested for drinking alcohol during Ramadan”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/08/sharia-in-action-in-arab-spring-tunisia-secular-activist-arrested-for-drinking-alcohol-during-ramada.html

       2 likes

  8. George R says:
    August 6, 2012 at 8:49 pm

    For INBBC, Fort Hood murderer is not Islamic jihadist,
    but murderer of Sikhs is white supremacist!

    A comment on ‘The Blaze’ blog (6 Aug, at 2:41 pm))-

    “Fort Hood Shooter-
    Killed 13 people.
    Wounded 29.
    Shooter is an Islamic extremist.
    After thorough investigation, branded a WORKPLACE VIOLENCE.

    “Sikh Temple shooter-
    Killed 6 people.
    Wounded 4.
    Shooter had white supremacist ties.
    With no investigation, branded a TERRORIST ATTACK.

    “Justice is no longer blind.

    “I have an issues I have with how our government doles out justice in this country. Both these men are evil. Only one is a terrorist. Who is our country in bed with?”

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/presser-reveals-new-details-about-victims-timeline-of-sikh-shooting/

       3 likes

  9. Deborah says:
    August 6, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    So pleased you are back bbbc

       7 likes

    • noggin says:
      August 10, 2012 at 9:40 am

      Can their protectionism and agenda get any lower?
      on BBC news last night following the terrible shooting in the Sikh temple … according the BBC narrative, this temple was obviously mistaken for a mosque! yup! with muslims the intended victims,

      blood boiling over brother! … substantiated by no evidence whatsoever, and a gaulling distasteful display of exploitation of the dead
      but AS USUAL Al BBC makes sure we must not forget who the real victims are? eh!.. and even more disgustingly push that narrative to grieving Sikhs, in the report ….
      just sickening … beneath contempt

         3 likes

  10. Pounce_uk says:
    August 6, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    Can anybody explain why the bBC hasn’t reported that the idiots who attacked the Egyptians last night came from…Gaza. That the attack transpired during a motor attack from..Gaza and that currently the Egyptian army has Rafah surrounded and under siege. I quote:
    In the first direct indication that the attackers may have had the help of Palestinian militants, the statement said “elements from the Gaza Strip” aided the attackers by shelling the Egyptian-Israeli border crossing of Karam Abu Salem with mortars as the attack was taking place.
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/egyptian-army-promises-to-avenge-sinai-attack-that-killed-16-border-guards/article4464557/?

    and how the the Egyptians report the same story:
    Gaza’s deputy prime minister, Mohamed Awad of the ruling Hamas movement, said militants from the territory were “not involved in this awful crime.” But a leading Hamas member, Mohamed Zahar, undercut that denial, telling Al Jazeera TV that he asked Egypt to provide the names of possible suspects from Gaza so that “we will immediately bring them to justice.”,/b>
    http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-prepares-sinai-sweep-after-deadly-attack

       2 likes

  11. George R says:
    August 8, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    INBBC goes easy on Standard Chartered Bank and IRAN:

    “Standard Chartered shares rebound in wake of scandal”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19175763

    In contrast, ‘Daily Mail’ has:

    “Greedy banks, dodgy transactions and a lack of accountability: why London must halt this charter to cheat.”

    By MICHAEL BURLEIGH

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2184878/Greedy-banks-dodgy-transactions-lack-accountability-London-like-Ali-Babas-cave.html#ixzz22wrI9iok

       1 likes

    • London Calling says:
      August 8, 2012 at 5:55 pm

      The Excellent City AM notes that two of Obama’s appointed regulators have declared war on British banks to distract from activities of US banks, and to try and topple London as the Worlds financial centre in favour of New York.

      Still its a story against bankers so DM jumps in with both feet without looking first

         2 likes

  12. Lunchtime Loather says:
    August 8, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    Having had just had yet another Freedom Of Information request rejected because “The information you have requested is excluded from the Act because it is held for the purposes of

       0 likes

  13. Lunchtime Loather says:
    August 8, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    Shall we try that again? Having had just had yet another Freedom Of Information request rejected because “The information you have requested is excluded from the Act because it is held for the purposes of

       0 likes

  14. Lunchtime Loather says:
    August 8, 2012 at 12:27 pm

    So that’ll not be working then!

       2 likes

  15. George R says:
    August 8, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    BBC-NUJ follows its racist agenda, routinely describing man accused of murders in Wisconsin of being ‘white supremacist’, while BBC-NUJ refuses to describe Islamic jihad murderers as ‘Islamic supremacists’, or to describe black murderers of whites in South Africa as ‘black supremacists’.

       6 likes

  16. George R says:
    August 8, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    SYRIA:

    Islam Not BBC (INBBC) impartially supporting Sunni Muslims.

    “Syria crisis: Turkey training rebels, says FSA fighter”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19124810

       2 likes

  17. George R says:
    August 8, 2012 at 5:12 pm

    NIGERIA:
    INBBC’s phoney headline:-

    “Nigeria Okene city gunmen target soldiers” -should read –

    ‘Islamic jihadists murder two soldiers.’

    For INBBC, Islamic jihadists are still merely ‘gunmen’ in the murderous war of Islamic imperialism still being spread from the north by jihadists.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19176516

    INBBC seems to be ignoring this:

    “Nigeria: Muslims murder Christian evangelist in his own home”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/08/nigeria-muslims-murder-christian-evangelist-in-his-own-home.html

       2 likes

  18. Pounce says:
    August 8, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    Town on Israeli border bombed from the air, 20 people killed many injured and the bBC remains…quiet.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19174773

    Where are the many reports from eye-witnesses claiming that civilians were killed, that a children was killed why there isn’t even a report from AI.
    Think I’m kidding here is how the bBC reports when Israel does the air strikes.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18562213

       2 likes

  19. London Calling says:
    August 8, 2012 at 5:49 pm

    Got on for the first time intwo days – and “liking ” a post generates this load of burble

    Good to see Scott in helpful mode.

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       1 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:
      August 9, 2012 at 2:27 pm

      I can’t even log in to update the WP theme or deactivate plugins. That might help if I could access the dashboard. I don’t have server side access, only WordPress access.

         0 likes

    • johnnythefish says:
      August 9, 2012 at 3:52 pm

      I’m amazed occasional contributor Scott just happened to be there in that short window the website became available. Must be an avid reader of B-BBC, which is good to see – he needs to get a proper education from somewhere.

         5 likes

  20. Jeff Waters says:
    August 8, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    If the figures are correct, this would be by some measure the worst four-year period for the UK, outside wartime, in at least 100 years – worse than what happened in the 1920s and 1930s, and worse than anything in the 1970s and 1980s ”

    Piffle! If Ms Flanders thinks that we are worse off now than in the 1930s, she needs her head examining!

    Jeff

       5 likes

  21. wallygreeninker says:
    August 8, 2012 at 8:57 pm

    The second of Portillo’s two Radio 4 half-hour offerings “Stepping stones to Islamic Spain: Spain’s complex relationship with Islam explored through its buildings” went out last Sunday and you still have four days to catch the second one.
    Typically he waxes almost embarrassingly rhapsodic about the former great mosque in Cordova: apparently there are places that you can stand and take in those wonderful serried ranks of columns and arches without seeing that intrusive cathedral those Christians stuck right in the middle of them all. He doesn’t mention -perhaps it wasn’t in the tour brochure – that the great mosque had been built on the site of a Christian cathedral (razed in two separate stages) and that for much of its history it was lit by lanterns made from the bells of Christian cathedrals, including those of St James of Compostella, looted from up north. His account of an incident in Spring 2010 when a party of Muslim ‘tourists’ began a group prayer in the place – which resulted in two security guards being hurt- is recounted from a strictly intolerant Christians versus peaceful, innocent Muslims point of view. Naively, he hinks sharing he building with Muslims would be the right thing to do.
    In part one he wondered why people in Barcelona are suspicious and barely tolerant of Muslims: I suspect that its entire population being massacred (except for the ones sold off into slavery) by a Muslim warlord in 985 still rankles a little, even after all his time.
    I blame a Spanish archaeologist he uses as his main informant for these oversights: the man believes that to speak of a Muslim conquest of Spain is a misnomer and it was more of a process of economic and trade expansion. Even Portillo found this a bit much: bleating that surely there was a big battle and a king was killed (he can rattle off Abdur Rahman III and Medinat al Zahra but it seems Roderic and the Battle of Guadalete weren’t in the brochure either) but his mentor says disaffected natives sided with the invaders ( as if traitors wrongly thinking they can use Muslim invaders to achieve their own ends was unique to C8th Spain).
    All I can say is that this was, predictably, one long exercise in pro-Islam propaganda with what appears to be an unspoken anti-Catholic subtext. I’d avoid the books the BBC recommends as well and stick to anything written before 1975 (but also bearing in mind that Chateaubriand and Washington Irving were spinning romantic fantasies about a Spanish golden age at the same time people talked of merrie England and chivalrous knights). I’m not sure that telling the Spanish that they would be rubbish if it hadn’t been for the Muslims and it was only under them that their country could be said to have reached some sort of apogee of human civilisation, actually helps anybody – except Muslim supremacists – how many Muslims that tag could be attached to, I’ll leave you to judge..

    (2nd half, for 4 more days)

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lh96x

       9 likes

  22. Teddy Bear says:
    August 8, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    I’m trying to imagine what might have been the exchange between the BBC journalist in Stockholm, Sweden, and the BBC editor in London over the weekend regarding the following story.

    Sweden: ‘Hello, there was a rally today in Stockholm by a group of about 100 anti-Islamists protesting the Islamization of Europe’.

    London: ‘Was there any violence’?

    Sweden: ‘Yes there was’.

    London: ‘Oh Good, what happened’?

    Sweden: ‘Police were attacked’!

    London: ‘Terrific, we can really use this story’.

    Sweden: ‘Yes, but they weren’t attacked by the anti-Islamists, but by a group of 400 leftists who had come to heckle the anti-Islamists’.

    London: ‘Shit!….ok, just forget it happened’.

    From AP we get this story, which they may also have preferred to have played differently, but at least they report it.

    Violence erupts at anti-Islam protest in Sweden

       8 likes

  23. Roland Deschain says:
    August 9, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    What a shame this site is currently banjoed, bar the post-lunch splutter into semi-life. We are denied the delights of discussing Ian Davidson MP (Lab) accusing the BBC of bias , and the BBC host reacting as if he’d farted in the mosque.

    Incidentally, are additional funds required? This site is too valuable to be out of action for so long.

       7 likes

    • johnnythefish says:
      August 9, 2012 at 4:25 pm

      It would be good to get an update on what’s happening from David or Alan…..

         0 likes

  24. +james says:
    August 9, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    Remember back in the 1990s the BBC ran a big ban boxing campaign because it causes brain injuries (though this was probably more to do with Sky controlling the televised boxing market).

    But now since woman are allowed to box in the Olympics and damage their brains it is great and liberating. What a change of tune.

    Anyway well done Nicola Adams with another gold for Yorkshire.

       6 likes

    • uncle bup says:
      August 9, 2012 at 8:24 pm

      nowt to do with bias, but yeah, well done, Nicola. A sweet kid.

         1 likes

    • As I See It says:
      August 10, 2012 at 9:28 am

      I noticed this apparent volte-face from the BBC on boxing. I distinctly recall the Beeb giving lots of air time to the BMA anti-boxing campaign.

      Here is current message from the Beeb

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/boxing.shtml

      ‘Many doctors see boxing as an unacceptably dangerous sport.’

      Still if there is a feminist agenda to be puffed I guess Auntie is happy to throw in the towel on the medical worries.

      The Beeb also became rather anti-Grand National just as they lost the TV right.s to Channel 4. Suddenly there were lots of 5 Live phone ins about horse welfare.

         1 likes

      • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:
        August 10, 2012 at 3:16 pm

        ” Still if there is a feminist agenda to be puffed I guess Auntie is happy to throw in the towel on the medical worries.”
        Where do those same feminists go when they discuss Islam’s treatment of women?
        Still, looking forward to seeing the saudi ladies boxing team at Rio.

           1 likes

  25. George R says:
    August 9, 2012 at 6:12 pm

    BIRMINGHAM TAXI MURDER.

    Compare and contrast these reports:

    1.) ‘Daily Mail’

    “Pictured: Dramatic moment police arrest boyfriend charged with murdering his girlfriend in the back of a taxi as relatives say she ‘planned to end relationship with him'”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184859/Birmingham-taxi-stabbing-Pictured-Dramatic-moment-police-arrest-boyfriend-charged-murdering-girlfriend-taxi-relatives-say-planned-end-relationship-him.html#ixzz234LjXogb

    2.) BBC-NUJ, which conceals name of arrested suspect-

    report a.)-

    “Birmingham taxi murder: Victim named as Natasha Trevis”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-19181720

    And, BBC-NUJ, THE NAME OF THE SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR HER MURDER IS….?

    BBC-NUJ

    report b.) –

    “Man arrested after Birmingham taxi stabbing”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-19166288

    And, BBC-NUJ, THE NAME OF THE SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR HER MURDER IS…?

       2 likes

  26. George R says:
    August 9, 2012 at 6:19 pm

    Censored, but admired by BBC-NUJ:

    ‘Asylum seekers’ and rioters:

    “Extraordinary moment chef at Michelin-starred restaurant tries in vain to defend diners from mob of rampaging rioters with a ROLLING PIN”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2185444/Moment-chef-The-Ledbury-Notting-Hill-tries-vain-defend-diners-rioters-ROLLING-PIN.html#ixzz234QHWbPQ

       2 likes

  27. George R says:
    August 9, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    For BBC-NUJ: there is only white racism, not black racism; there is only ‘white supremacism’, not ‘Islamic supremacism’.

    In reporting South Africa, BBC repeats its political mantra daily, e.g:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19194346

    I have no knowledge of the authenticity of the following blog, but it puts a case which illiberal media censors and politically opposes:
    “Black racism and race hatred of non blacks”

    http://blackracismandracehatred.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/70000-racist-murders-of-whites-in-south.html

    Also, BBC-NUJ censors this case:

    “Caucasophobia

       2 likes

  28. George R says:
    August 9, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    BBC-NUJ supports Hollande dismantling Gypsy camps.

    Now if Cameron did that…

    “New French government moves against Roma camps”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19194639

       5 likes

  29. Craig says:
    August 9, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    A judge recently threw out the case against Poundland brought by a couple of unemployed people (Cait Reilly and Jamieson Wilson) who claimed the government-backed unpaid work experience scheme was akin to slavery and a breach of their human rights.

    Comparing the accounts in the ‘Telegraph’ and ‘Guardian’ with that by the BBC is revealing of just how left-wing the BBC can be:

    Judge rejects ‘slave labour’ claim over Poundland work experience scheme
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9456036/Judge-rejects-slave-labour-claim-over-Poundland-work-experience-scheme.html

    Unpaid work schemes ruled lawful as high court rejects Poundland case
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/aug/06/unpaid-work-scheme-ruled-lawful-poundland?newsfeed=true

    Back-to-work scheme ruled lawful by High Court
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19146347

    The account in the ‘Telegraph’ is tilted against Miss Reilly and Mr Wilson. The account in the ‘Guardian’ is only slightly tilted towards them. The BBC’s account is strongly tilted towards them.

    A breakdown of the paragraph structure of the three articles might show the bias:

    ‘Telegraph’:
    P1: Judge criticises Miss Reilly
    P2: Judge criticises Miss Reilly
    P3: Case dismissed by judge
    P4: Iain Duncan Smith welcomes the judgment and criticises Miss Reilly
    P5: Campaign of boycotts of Well-known High Street firms – “exploitation”
    P6: Outcry caused some pull-outs from scheme
    P7: Miss Reilly’s argument against the scheme
    P8: Miss Reilly’s argument against the scheme
    P9: What Miss Reilly’s lawyers said
    P10: The judge agrees with them that standard letter was not clear enough
    P11: The judge agrees that Mr Wilson had been given inadequate notice
    P12: Judge dismisses the slavery claim
    P13: Judge rubbishes the slavery claim
    P14: Judge rubbishes the slavery claim
    P15: Judge rubbishes the slavery claim
    P16: Iain Duncan Smith delighted
    P17: Iain Duncan Smith quoted criticising Miss Reilly
    P18: Iain Duncan Smith quoted criticising Miss Reilly
    P19: Iain Duncan Smith quoted criticising Miss Reilly
    P20: Lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson calling for compensation for people stripped of their benefits
    P21: DWP saying it will appeal that part of judgment

    Here the focus is mainly on the failure of Miss Reilly and Mr Wilson’s case, the judge’s rejection of their ‘slavery’ argument and IDS’s reaction.

    ‘Guardian’:
    P1: Government scheme ruled lawful
    P2: Judge rejects Cait Reilly’s claim about slavery
    P3: Judge criticising Miss Reilly
    P4: The claims of Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson
    P5: The judge says they were breeches of regulations in their cases
    P6: The judge says mistakes had been made
    P7: But the judge dismisses their slavery claim
    P8: The ruling will be a relief to the goverment
    P9: The judge criticises DWP
    P10: The DWP’s response
    P11: The judge’s comments on the problems in the cases
    P12: The judge’s comments on the problems in the cases
    P13: Judge rejects slave labour allegations
    P14: Judge rubbishes slave labour allegations
    P15: DWP’s delight & criticism of Miss Reilly
    P16: DWP’s criticism of Miss Reilly
    P17: DWP’s criticism of Miss Reilly
    P18: DWP’s criticism of Miss Reilly
    P19: DWP spokesman on appeal over warning letters
    P20: The lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson call for compensation
    P21: The lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson call for compensation
    P22: The lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson call for compensation
    P23: The lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson attack government

    Quite a decent balance here between the reactions of the various parties and the parts of the case which the judge agreed with and those he disagreed with.

    BBC:
    P1: Miss Reilly has lost her case. She argued the scheme forces people to work without pay.
    P2: Miss Reilly says her human rights were breeched by Poundland
    P3: The scheme was ruled lawful but mistakes were made by DWP
    P4: The government will contest that finding
    P5: Mr Wilson’s story and what his lawyers claim
    P6: What their lawyers were seeking from the case
    P7: The judge (briefly) criticises slavery claims
    P8: DWP’s criticism of Miss Reilly
    P9: DWP’s criticism of Miss Reilly
    P10: DWP’s criticism of Miss Reilly
    P11: Judge rejects case
    P12: Miss Reilly had been misinformed
    P13: Mr Wilson had not been given proper notice
    P14: The lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson call for compensation
    P15: The lawyers for Miss Reilly & Mr Wilson call for compensation
    P16: The government doesn’t expect to have to pay compensation
    P17: The judge says DWP failed to make it clear in that letter
    P18: The DWP “maintained” they had been clear and concise.

    Here a peculiar focus is placed on the arguments being made by Miss Reilly and Mr Wilson rather than on their rejection by the judge, with a much stronger emphasis being placed on the parts of the judge’s ruling that back their arguments and the failings of the DWP. The judge’s rejection of the ‘slavery’ claim is skirted over. (In terms of direct quotes from the judge, the ‘Telegraph’ uses 111 words, the ‘Guardian’ 130 and the BBC just 6).

    The bias is reinforced by the captions under the photos used in each articles:

    ‘Telegraph’: “Miss Reilly had been claiming job seekers’ benefits since 2011 after she failed to find work after graduating in 2010”

    ‘Guardian’: “A high court judge has dismissed Cait Reilly’s case, ruling that unpaid work schemes are not a breach of human rights”

    BBC: “Miss Reilly said she was told she had to work for free at a Poundland store stacking shelves.”
    (again pushing her line of argument rather that its rejection by the judge).

    The first words of each article also show the difference between the three reports:

    ‘Telegraph’: “A graduate who likened being asked to stack shelves in Poundland through a Government employment scheme to slave labour is not living in the modern world, a senior judge ruled.”

    ‘Guardian’: “Judge rejects graduate’s claim that being forced to work unpaid at Poundland was ‘slave labour’ and breached human rights”.

    BBC: “A graduate has lost her legal challenge to a government scheme which she says forces people to work without pay.”
    (again pushing her line of argument)

    The BBC’s sub-headline also shifts the focus onto the crumbs of comfort the judge gave the pair: “Mistakes made” (by the DWP).

    What really signals outright bias by the BBC is its accompanying ‘Analysis’ by John Moylan which simply shrugs off the judgment, stresses the positives for critics of the scheme from the case, lists some companies that withdrew from the scheme, says the government bowed to pressure and ends by dwelling on the criminal investigation into one of the companies involved. Not one crumb of comfort for the government or supporters of the scheme. It reads as if he is sympathetic to the cause of Miss Reilly and Mr Wilson.

       7 likes

  30. George R says:
    August 9, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    Censored by INBBC:

    “Russian Muslim Sect Found Living Underground.
    “Dozens of children are rescued from a Russian Islamist sect’s expansive warren, where they lived without daylight for a decade.”

    http://news.sky.com/story/970424/russian-muslim-sect-found-living-underground

       1 likes

    • +james says:
      August 9, 2012 at 11:41 pm

      I saw this on Russia Today, the Telegraph and Mail have covered it.

      Though I wouldn’t claim it was the sect was Islamist, as the leader claimed to be a new prophet of Islam. And Muslims believe that Mo was the seal of the prophets.

         2 likes

  31. Fred Bloggs says:
    August 10, 2012 at 12:00 am

    This http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/aug/09/young-bright-and-on-the-right#start-of-comments article about Cambridge and Tory’s come out at 22.00pm. However the programme did not finish until 22.00pm, any chance the bBC gave the Guardian a little sneeky peek because it is part of the triumvirate. Labour, Guardian and bBC

       1 likes

  32. +james says:
    August 10, 2012 at 3:10 am

    I have noticed that the BBC is promoting the Pussy Riot Trial.

    However, the BBC do not care about the 3000 people per week that they bring to court, because free people do not want to pay a poll tax to the BBC.

    So we have 3 deluded punks in court against 3000 people. Yet the BBC remains silent!

       5 likes

  33. Craig says:
    August 10, 2012 at 6:25 am

    The fourth-most important story on the home page of the BBC News website yesterday morning was a report about the failings of “a private company” called ALS (a translation service):

    “Interpreters from a private company have been working in courts in England and Wales without the required criminal record checks, the BBC has been told.”
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19186942

    Yes, it is the BBC going after another private company but if ALS are failing as badly as the report says they are failing in so vital an area then, obviously, the BBC should report the story in full.

    However, there are several problems with the report, suggesting that the BBC’s familiar pro-public sector, anti-private sector bias is showing through:

    (a) The article reads like a sustained attack on the company. 25 paragraphs are devoted to criticism of it (in various ways), 3 are given over to the Ministry of Justice’s response and – worryingly – just 3 short paragraphs are given to ALS’s response. Nothing else is said in defence/praise of ALS.

    (b) The sub-headlines reinforce the attack:
    ‘Very worrying’
    Translation errors

    (c) There is a link at the bottom of the article to the website of an organisation called the Professional Interpreters’ Alliance. They aren’t mentioned in the article itself.

    The PIA describes its aims as to “promote and safeguard the interests of professional public service interpreters” and to “fight against exploitation of the profession by commercial intermediaries and outsourcing of interpreting services within the public sector.” It was set up “in response to the threat… to outsource interpreting provision to a commercial agency.”

    In other words, it’s a public sector organisation that wants a closed shop. The “commercial agency” it was set up to fight is ALS (about who they are very bitter).

    So, the BBC links to ALS’s public sector enemies and the whole article advances their cause.

    It is very likely that the BBC reporter consulted the PIA or that the PIA approached him before the writing of this article. It helps their campaign to discredit ALS. The BBC reporter gives every impression of taking their side here.

    (d) Amazingly, and especially worryingly, the article DOESN’T link at the bottom of the article to ALS themselves. This is surely indefensible on the BBC’s part. ALS has its own website: http://www.appliedlanguage.com. In the interests of balance, fair play, honest reporting (etc), the article SHOULD have linked to them – especially as it linked to their bitter public-sector rivals. It’s very hard to see any valid justification for failing to link to them.

    The whole BBC article gives the air of being one of those BBC reports that is too close to a campaign group’s agenda. The campaign group may be right about ALS, but ALS’s counter-case should have been given far more space than it was in the report, background should have been provided on the mysterious link to the PIA and a link to ALS’s website should have been thought a must.

       4 likes

    • capriole, peter says:
      August 10, 2012 at 7:03 am

      Did anybody see the blatant political propaganda films on the BBC prior to the 200 metres final last night? The “Black Power Fist” salute at the 1968 Olympics is now to be seen as heroic.Cue double-think. This plus the Darwinian film about the superiority of the black man in 100 metres, John Inverdale addressing the subject why the fastest men are all black and there are no whites below 10 seconds? I must admit I was shocked that the BBC could be so punch drunk in its presentation of sport.

      Did any BBC reporter make claims about why there are no blacks in swimming? Why the fastest swimmers in the Olympics are all white? I’m sorry I missed this, did we get a Darwinian explanation and a film to accompany this?

      Never have I seen the BBC so blatant in its political propaganda. The BBC has shown astonishing political bias to do such a thing during the olympics. John Inverdale with a smile commented about the inappropriateness of the biology/ genetics film for children watching, that it would have seemed like school again. Politics and Sport do not mix. The BBC supported the equestrian athletes who boycotted the Moscow olympics because the Russians

         8 likes

        • Peter Capriole says:
          August 10, 2012 at 5:02 pm

          I said the fastest swimmers! What’s with this really, and such lazy reading? Besides if you had watched BBC you would have known that Christophe Lemaitre, who represented France last night in the 200 metres is in fact white. I think he came 7th.

             2 likes

      • noggin says:
        August 10, 2012 at 10:26 am

        no such propaganda from Al BBC, to accompany the “white power” salute from the 1930 s though eh!
        AND
        Can their protectionism and agenda get any lower?
        on BBC news last night following the terrible shooting in the Sikh temple … according the BBC narrative, this temple was obviously mistaken for a mosque! yup! with muslims the intended victims,

        blood boiling over brother! … substantiated by no evidence whatsoever, and a gaulling distasteful display of exploitation of the dead
        but AS USUAL Al BBC makes sure we must not forget who the real victims are? eh!.. and even more disgustingly push that narrative to grieving Sikhs, in the report ….
        just sickening … beneath contempt

        AND
        the absurdly political (correct?) taekwondo assoc, decision not to include excellent world champion/ UK no1/multi title winner aaron cook in the team? … after stating his dismay/disbelief and sorrow at the decision, our al beeb 5live presenter blurts out that the chosen lutalo muhammed had apparently received a death threat? … i was actually waiting for a resume but … it didn t come

           7 likes

        • noggin says:
          August 10, 2012 at 12:33 pm

          “Some community members could not believe what happened. Others said they had feared such attacks since 9/11” states BBC, … and yet …

          “temple members have said they knew of no previous threats to the place of worship, and that Page had never been seen there before”

          Al BBC … wouldn t know honest reporting if it bit them on the nose

             3 likes

    • Umbongo says:
      August 10, 2012 at 10:09 am

      It’s BBC churnalism at its usual egregious standard. Of course, it’s also at one with the BBC’s enduring habit of choosing who it will treat as the good guys and demonising the opposition.
      This morning on Today for instance, the end of the mock-consultation re plain cigarette packets was marked by a “discussion” between Sarah Woolnough, director of policy and information at Cancer Research UK, and Patrick Basham, of the think tank the Democracy Institute.
      Sarah lied her little heart out concerning the spurious “evidence” supporting her assertion that reduction in smoking will flow from introducing plain packs. Naughtie listened to her stream of dribble in respectful silence. OTOH Basham was hardly allowed 3 words uninterrupted by an indignant Naughtie bleating “it’s for the cheeeldren”.

         3 likes

      • Roland Deschain says:
        August 10, 2012 at 10:19 am

        It’s sobering to consider that donations to Cancer Research go towards employing the likes of Ms Woolnough, who used the tried and tested tactic of accusing Mr Basham of being funded by tobacco companies. I have no idea whether he is, but I doubt the evidence she referred to was gathered for free out of the goodness of their heart by organisations with no agenda to push.

        It came as no surprise to me that Naughtie soft-balled the authoritarian side of the argument and aggressively challenged the other. And I speak here as something of a rabid anti-smoker.

           3 likes

  34. Craig says:
    August 10, 2012 at 7:12 am

    BBC London’s Tim Donovan has a bit of a reputation for being biased. The accusations of anti-Boris, pro-Ken bias in the run-up to the mayoral election this year got so bad the BBC Editor’s blog felt forced to post an all-out defence of Donovan.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2012/05/bbc_london_and_the_mayors.html

    (Its defence went down so badly in the comments that they were closed within a day).

    Tim Donovan has kept it up since the election, if his small number of articles on the BBC News website are anything to go by.

    There’s “Bob, Boris and City Hall’s relationship with Barclays” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18686415) in which Donovan tries to tar Boris with guilt by association:

    “Bob Diamond is Boris Johnson’s favourite banker.”
    “Many people may have been surprised – at the height of the banking crisis – by Mr Johnson’s choice of a bank to sponsor his flagship bike hire scheme.”
    “But it’s also misleading.”
    …and the killer closing sentence…
    “But with the controversy unlikely to subside soon, some are arguing the mayor should be judged on the company – or rather companies – he keeps.”

    …and if you want a loaded TV report from Tim Donovan into the same story, please try “Does Barclays scandal tarnish mayor’s bike scheme?” (the answer from Donovan is “yes”).
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18696972

    And if you want another loaded report, this time trying to smear Boris over his links to Rupert Murdoch, then try “London Mayor defends Murdoch Games hospitality” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19118423) – and listen out for the sting-in-the-tail insinuation from Donovan at the very end.

    And if you think Boris has had a good Games, then think again. Tim Donovan is on hand today to tell you otherwise:

    “Delays, underspends and unrealistic targets have blighted London Mayor Boris Johnson’s attempts to secure an Olympic jobs legacy for the unemployed, the BBC has learned.

    “In contrast to his success as a public cheerleader for London during the 2012 Games, his key employment projects have stalled and struggled.”
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19184807

    Boris Johnson may have beaten Ken Livingstone in the election but Tim Donovan can’t be defeated at the ballot box. He’s a BBC reporter after all.

       2 likes

  35. George R says:
    August 10, 2012 at 8:20 am

    ISRAEL.

    -Not the sort of article to be found at INBBC: ‘Telegraph’ uses ‘Daily Beast’:-

    “Analyis: Israel fears new generation of jihadists on its borders”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/the-daily-beast/9465946/Analyis-Israel-fears-new-generation-of-jihadists-on-its-borders.html

       2 likes

  36. noggin says:
    August 10, 2012 at 11:37 am

    Al BBC trumpets
    UK to give Syria rebels extra £5m
    Foreign Secretary William Vague says the UK’s commitment
    “of an extra £5m in non-lethal equipment to the Free Syrian Army is “the right thing to do”.
    to call him a clueless useful idiot! … is an insult to clueless useful idiots everywhere … safe in the news that they ve promised not to use it for weapons? …. phew! thats a load off 😀

    The delusional anything but Assad bandwagon rolls on, it appears that the militant/rebel/islamist ahem! good guys
    are getting lots of help from those paragons of moderacy in Turkey and Egypt …. ahhh! what could go wrong ?

       5 likes

    • wallygreeninker says:
      August 10, 2012 at 11:58 am

      It’s that Arminka Helic I blame:
      “…..Mr Hague’s formidable £70,000-a-year special adviser and long-standing chief of staff, Arminka Helic.

      Described as Hague’s ‘blue-eyed Bosnian Muslim émigré’, she joined Tory HQ after fleeing Yugoslavia’s bloody ethnic conflicts in the Nineties.” (Mail)
      According to wiki:
      ” It is said that “her influence has not gone unnoticed by the Israelites”.

      In the aftermath of Israel’s 2006 attack on Lebanon, there were rumours that Hague’s apparent criticism of Israel – in his remark that “elements of the Israeli response are disproportionate” – reflected the influence of Helic, given his previously staunch support for Israel”
      Mind you, apart from his natural dimness, Hague strikes me as another one of those guys who experiences a certain frisson when he sees all those male posteriors in the air at prayer time.

      That should make him one Tory who is, in part at least, persona grata with many Beeboids.

         4 likes

  37. noggin says:
    August 10, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    “The attack is the third this week on coalition soldiers by Afghans they are training”
    AP
    “troops lured to death”
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-10/troops-lured-to-deaths-with-dinner-invitation/4191284

    short Al BBC report, short on any info, ends with “In a separate incident a road side bomb has killed at least six civilians – including women and children – in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province, provincial police chief Farid Ahmad Farhang told the BBC”

       4 likes

    • George R says:
      August 10, 2012 at 1:57 pm

      Explanation not from INBBC, but from ‘Jihadwatch’:

      “Jihadist in Afghan army uniform murders three U.S. troops”

      [Excerpt]:

      “‘The attack is the third this week on coalition soldiers by Afghans they are training.’ The third one this week. Our troops must regard the Afghan troops they are there to train and help as ticking time bombs, potential killers whom they are not allowed to treat as such and defend themselves accordingly. This madness must eventually stop — maybe after the last jihadist in an Afghan army uniform murders the last American soldier on Afghan soil, right after the NATO brass and Obama assure us that everything in Afghanistan is getting rosier by the day.”

      http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/08/jihadist-in-afghan-army-uniform-murders-three-us-troops.html

         2 likes