Unemployment is down…but Stephanie Flanders is on the case…..she says it should be good news……but to her mind it is a sign of a sickness at the heart of the British economy…and it’s probably all George Osborne’s fault.

‘To get rid of that longer term mystery, the ONS would have to decide that everything it had said about GDP in the past two years was wildly wrong…..implausible, even to those – like the Bank of England – who believe the ONS does tend to understate growth.

Of course, there is the other possible explanation, that the jobs figures are actually worse than they look.’

Unemployment going down plays against Balls’ assertion that the government is borrowing because unemployment is pushing up welfare costs….that can’t be if unemployment is going down…funny Flanders not raise that little issue.

If only  we had a Plan B.

It’s been a recurring theme all day on the BBC (and over recent months)….questioning the validity of the unemployment figures…when they’re going in a downward direction  that is.

Either they are wrong or the jobs are the wrong sort of job…apparently.  I don’t remember any such qualms about employment figures under Labour…or crime figures…if Labour said crime was going down Mark Easton would be on the case defending the validity of those figures everytime a Tory minister suggested that they may be wrong.

Flanders admits in the end that she can find no real answer (er…perhaps jobs are being created to do work that is being created?…simple)……but she isn’t going to let you carry on thinking that there is any good news to be had under a Tory Chancellor.

Keep sowing those seeds of doubt and perhaps Ed and Ed will get elected…and she can get some great scoops with her close personal contacts.

Surely any half awake, half decent journalist would go to a company that is employing more workers and just ask them ‘Why are you employing more people?’

Is it really a mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes?  Shame we have Clouseau on the case.

Mark Thompson has got a new job…as Chief Executive Officer, and President, of the New York Times…the US version of the ‘Guardian’…and equally loss making.

How much might the man who presided over the anti-capitalist BBC be paid?

Well look at what his predecessor got paid and her ‘retirement’ fund:

Robinson’s compensation in 2010 totalled $4.48 million, an 8 percent drop from $4.86 million in the prior year, based on The Associated Press’ analysis of data filed with regulators on Friday

Janet Robinson, the New York Times Co. chief executive officer who was pushed out in December, received an exit package, including stock options and retirement benefits, of $23.7 million.

Robinson gets pension and supplemental retirement income valued at $11.4 million, performance awards of $5.39 million, restricted stock units worth $1.07 million and stock options worth $694,164, according to the company’s proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. She will also earn $4.5 million in consulting fees for this year.

Robinson’s exit, which costs Times Co. more than the company earned in the past four years, marks an end to a period during which the publisher’s sales and earnings slumped amid intensifying online competition. Times Co. (NYT) stock plunged more than 80 percent during Robinson’s tenure as CEO, which began in December 2004.

Wonder just how much investigation and angst there will be amongst the good people at the BBC when they realise how much Robinson was paid for failure…and about how much the new boy must be getting as he has jumped ship from the poor relation that is the BBC.

Let’s hope all those bankers don’t do the same and scarper abroad when their pay is docked because of pressure from the moralising BBC!

THE NEIL REPORT

STATEMENT BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

For the BBC impartiality is a legal requirement.
BBC journalists will report the facts first, understand and explain their context, provide professional judgements where appropriate, but never promote their own personal opinions.
We will make our journalistic judgments for sound editorial reasons, not as the result of improper political or commercial pressure, or personal prejudice.

“At the moment every newspaper is desperately seeking an Islam expert, who then becomes the mouthpiece for the entire set of issues and is always asked to proclaim the ‘official’ opinions from the lectern.”  Hilal Sezgin.

The BBC itself seeks out those Muslims it thinks will be best suited to provide an image of Islam that non-Muslims will charmed by and gulled into a complacent acceptance of an ever increasing Muslim influence upon their lives….and see it as beneficial or at least not harmful to them.

I have already mentioned the first episode of the BBC’s ‘One to One’ programme in which the BBC gives us an entirely one sided view of Islam…presented by a Muslim and only talking to Muslims.

It is outright propaganda designed to assuage your doubts and fears about Islam….to persuade you that it is essentially harmless. However a close look at the programmes and the Muslims who are interviewed and their beliefs should raise more questions about Islam and its increasing influence than it answers. The presenter, Razia Iqbal, as seen before, doesn’t seem too friendly towards Western culture.

In the second programme  she talks to Hilal Sezgin, whom Iqbal calls ‘Turkish’ rather than German in the interview……

Razia Iqbal talks to Hilal Sezgin

Razia Iqbal explores what it means to be a Muslim in modern Europe. Here she talks to the German writer and journalist, Hilal Sezgin, at her small farm just outside Hamburg.

It’s a fascinating interview….enlightening but paradoxically sabotages the BBC narrative about Islam…because, despite Sezgin calling herself a Muslim, and Iqbal obviously going along with that, Sezgin is not Muslim.

That’s a bit of a bombshell (a surprise to her too no doubt) of which more later.

First let’s hear what she has to say about Islamophobia….

Firstly she claims integration is not a one way street, the majority culture has to compromise as well….really? Isn’t it more often that Muslims come here and demand we change our lives to suit them…but refuse to compromise theirs at all?

She claims that no one cares about non-Muslims being homophobic or people not being  feminists or being creationists, but are solely critical of  Muslims who are homophobic, or anti-feminist or who believe in Creationism.

So the Church of England isn’t under enormous pressure about gay marriage, or everyone loves Germaine Greer , or Richard Dawkins doesn’t constantly assault belief in creationism from all walks of life?

She claims the ‘infamous’ Thilo Sarrazin and the majority in Europe who support his views are Islamophobic and therefore prejudiced and racist….Islamophobia is everywhere, spreading throughout Europe as shown in every day violence, racism and now in politics.

Though in the village she lives in she has never faced any prejudice.

Ironically perhaps, it turns out that ‘Muslim’ Sezgin is the only ‘islamophobe’ in the village.

But still she insists that anyone who criticises Islam is prejudiced and racist.

OK, say we go along with that premise…what does that make Hilal Sezgin?

As I stated earlier, Sezgin cannot be considered a Muslim, why? Listen to what she said…but first know that the Koran is the inviolate word of God, unchangeable and final. The Koran cannot be changed or ‘re-interpreted’…therefore Islam cannot be reformed….there is only one Islam….no polytheistic worship and no sects.

In the interview Sezgin tells us that she has her ‘own version of Islam’….Liberal, unorthodox and progressive.

So she has invented her own ‘Islam’ then…..so breaking two cardinal rules of Islam…do not change the Koran and do not form a sect…she’s a ‘Splitter’.

Who am I to judge though….what do her fellow ‘orthodox’ Muslims think? Not much apparently….‘Suddenly‘ she tells us, ‘she didn’t want to be part of the German Muslim community because they rejected her and pushed her out for her views on Islam.’

The very fact that she has felt the need to produce her own version of Islam tells you immediately that she believes that something is wrong with Islam….she has become a critic of Islam…so is she herself now one of the Islamophobes, a prejudiced racist?

Just how critical is she? Quite it seems…not only has she got her own version of Islam but she has rewritten the Koran, that Unchangeable Word of God……

‘Together with the Egyptian reform theologian Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, she recently presented in the book “Mohammed und die Zeichen Gottes” (“Mohammed and the Signs of God”) a modern interpretation of the Koran.’

That is not all…she is a member of ‘The Liberal Islamic Federation’ …The movements include among other things a new interpretation of the Koran and the exegesis of the Qur’an, criticism of traditional beliefs and partly a rejection of Hadith .

The ‘Hadith’? What might that be? Only the Prophet Muhammad’s own interpretation of the Koran….and therefore taken as the one true interpretation…as he would know if anyone did, wouldn’t he? As he made it all up.

So she rejects Muhammad’s Islam. But she’s not Islamophobic?

Ironically she supports, entirely unintentionally, the ‘Islamophobes’ arguments….that Islam needs to be changed…..it can’t be of course…which creates a problem…one which the BBC absolutely refuses to discuss or allow onto the air.

Even Sezgin agrees that a deeper knowledge of Islam is needed……

‘Sezgin laments the lack of alternate viewpoints in this media discourse, which sometimes fails to demonstrate the most basic background knowledge or any inkling of farsightedness.

Whether due to ignorance, blanket judgments or the wrong choice of imagery – a one-sided picture of Islam has dominated the media ever since 9/11. And journalist Hilal Sezgin thinks that competent colleagues and commentators are in short supply in this field.

“The 11th of September inevitably prompted people to ask themselves: for god’s sake, what kind of religion is this that I belong to? Is there something about Islam I’ve totally misunderstood?”, Sezgin wondered after the horrific terrorist attack.’

Of course she thinks she is saying Islam has been misreported and it is lack of education that makes people ‘Islamophobic’……I would suggest the opposite…it is the lack of insight into the true nature of Islam that allows the Great and the Good of the Establishment to continue to bury their heads in the sand about the dangers of Islam to Western, secular, democracies and chatter on about it being the ‘religion of peace’.

Remember how often the BBC regales us with tales of the glories of the Islamic Golden Age of Science…what does Sezgin and crew think?:

‘Liberal Muslims tend to skepticism about the possibilities of the Islamisation of modern knowledge (for example, with regard to Islamic finance , Islamic philosophy and Islamic science in general).

Liberal Muslims consider attempts to establish Islamic forms of science as a political move often conservative Muslims.’

So the BBC’s position is essentially a political one to raise the profile of Islam.

Sezgin is by any definition not a Muslim…it is disingenuous of the BBC to present her as a stereotypical Muslim, one whom we should all look to as an example of the true character of the Muslim community growing around us.

That’s not to knock her views…in fact they are exactly what is required…however as said….her views mean she is not a Muslim….and so cannot be at all representative of Islam or Muslims.

You may also want to look at Hanif Qadir from the first programme in more detail…here is a previous post on him.

Now you can believe or not what he has to say about his decision not to fight in Afghanistan…however…2002, when he was there…the fighting was basically over, the Taliban were on the retreat to Pakistan…relatively few Americans were in Afghanistan….mostly Special Forces…the fighting was done by Northern Alliance Afghans….also note how Qadir continually attacks the West and America…claiming the US was just bombing Afghanistan back to the stone age….and seeing US troops standing over the bodies of women and children in an arrogant manner.

He suggests that it is right that Muslims feel anger, frustration and marginalization….but wrong that they become radicalised…..he admits Muslims say one thing to the media… ‘Islam is the religion of peace’…but say completely different things at home.

Personally I never trust these ‘reformed’ jihadists…..they may have decided not to use an AK47 or RPG but still ‘evangelise’ for the religion and seek to increase its influence and growth.

As an FBI agent said in “Muslim Mafia” …. ‘CAIR and the other Muslim Brotherhood front groups differ from al-Qaida in that, while all share the same goals, they use different methods to achieve them.

“The only difference between the guys in the suits and the guys with the AK-47s is timing and tactics,” the official explained.’

Gerry Adams gave up the bullet for the ballot….but note that he said The Struggle will continue…he remained committed to the same cause that he spent years terrorizing NI for but now seeks to accomplish it by democratic means.

In many ways that is the more dangerous and successful method…because most people do not see the danger creeping up on them until it is too late.

Hitler of course was also elected…and supported by the Great and the Good.

Out of 40 tweets from Mardell 28 are about Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney.

For ‘two boring white men’ Mardell certainly finds a lot to talk about on them….not so much on Obama…..how’s his campaign going then?

Just as well we have a Guardian hit on Obama to even things up in one fell swoop (The BBC haven’t let it bother them):

‘This swiftboating of Mitt Romney disgraces Barack Obama

When John Kerry was defamed in 2004, Democrats cried foul. Now, they’re soiled by their own lies over Obama’s Super Pac ad

For the past 10 days, the president’s Super Pac – Priorities USA Action – has been running a Swiftboat attack on Republican Mitt Romney so grotesque, so dishonest, so debased, as to force you to wonder who this Obama guy is, and whether he has been that guy all along. The ad features a former steel worker named Joe Soptic, recounting the death of his wife from cancer, after Soptic lost his health insurance when Romney’s Bain Capital shut down the steel mill in 2001.

“I don’t think Mitt Romney understands what he’s done to peoples’ lives,” Soptic says.

What Soptic doesn’t say, and what the ad leaves out, is that: a) Romney had left Bain Capital for the Salt Lake City Olympics when the plant was shut down; b) Soptic lost his health insurance, but his wife remained covered at her own job; c) she was not diagnosed with cancer till five years later; d) during which interim she held subsequent jobs and other insurance coverage.

Yet, the message is unmistakable: Mitt Romney has blood on his hands.

Such tactics are beyond obscene. They are depraved.

And so is obliterating inconvenient facts to accuse the presumptive Republican nominee of homicidal neglect.

Meanwhile, the patron saint of hope and change has said not a word. It would have been so easy:

“I am Barack Obama and I emphatically disapprove this message.”

But, nope, mum’s the word. And the silence speaks volumes.‘

That’s one Guardian piece they won’t be reading out when they review ‘what the papers say’.

The BBC finally admit ‘someone’ jumped an Olympic torch bearer and shouted Allah Akbar whilst doing it:

‘A boy who tried to grab the Olympic torch as it was carried through Kent has been ordered to pay compensation to the torchbearer and a police officer.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, attempted to grab the flame in Rochester Road, Gravesend, on 20 July

The court heard as he went for the torch the 17-year-old shouted Allahu Akbar – Arabic for God is great.

He did not know what it meant but had seen people shouting it on TV, the court heard.’

 That’s alright then….he had no political motive behind the action….just did it for the hell of it?  This report says he did it to impress his friends…..but also says :  ‘Defending the youth, Wayne Crowhurst said: “He doesn’t get out of the house very often – he spends most time at home on his computer.’

Just what websites does he visit…and which friends did he want to impress?

Wonder if Nicky Campbell will now do a show asking if TV is radicalising our youth?

No sign of this story from the world’s biggest news provider, which is unusual, as they are normally pretty keen to dig the dirt on Tories falling out…..

The BBC continues its demonisation of the EDL with a ‘report’ that is merely an excuse to try to malign and abuse EDL supporters and label them all as racist…no such thing as a ‘moderate’ EDL member apparently.

According to this report they are all drunken, racist hooligans….really?

Note the positively scary Big Brother attitude of Leeds City Council which sacked an EDL member for being in the EDL….apparently his private personal views do not meet the approval of the thought police. However I’m sure that there are many Muslims employed by LCC whose racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views do seem to meet their approval…obviously, as they’ve still got jobs.

And read the attached piece from Harry’s Place….will the BBC be doing such a hatchet job on this mob as well?

From the BBC:

“Tony Smith”, the Bradford organiser of the EDL’s political arm – the obscure British Freedom Party – eventually admitted his surname was Sutcliffe and that they were forced to protect their identities.

“I believe that’s because people are scared to be labelled racist; to lose their jobs; to have their neighbours associate them with something that they’re not.

“So in some instances the alcohol and the frustration take over. They can be labelled a demon, a Nazi, a racist – that’s not the case.”

Clearly, many take a different view.

On the same day as the Keighley rally it emerged that Leeds City Council had sacked one of its staff who had been exposed by a national newspaper as an EDL supporter and prominent contributor to far-right web pages.

Chris Knowles, who worked in the school governor support team in the children’s services department, told the BBC that he not broken any laws and his dismissal breached his civil liberties.

In a statement Leeds City Council said that after an investigation it was found that his views were incompatible with the multicultural policies which every member of staff has to follow.’

Homophobic hate preachers set to gather in York

Cross-Post, August 14th 2012, 1:00 pm

In just under a fortnight, over the August Bank holiday weekend, Thorpe Underwood Estate in York will play host to the Islamia Village, a weekend retreat organised by the Islamic Network Project. According to its advertising literature the Islamia Village is a four day retreat which “combine incredible lectures with amazing recreational activities you get a truly breathtaking Islamic experience. Learn, relax, and be inspired in peaceful Islamic surroundings. Islamia Village is a dream come true, a hidden gem in the heart of the countryside.”

The range of activities in such a setting does seem truly impressive, that is until you look a bit more closely into some of the speakers set to address the event. Among them are several who preach extreme hatred against homosexuals, including calls for them to be killed.