The last Open Thread filled up faster than the showboating politicians’ seats at Mandela’s memorial service…so here’s a new one….
Open Thread Midweek
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The things I could have achieved if only I had been black.
You could have achieved even more if you were a Muslim!
The Islamic Jihad on Christian nuns
SEE SHOCKING UPDATE BELOW THE PIECE AS WESTERN FEMINISTS COMPARE OUR CONCERN FOR RAPED CHRISTIANS TO HOWLING DOGS (LITERALLY!): The Western mainstream claims to care about women’s rights, and to abhor crimes such as rape. So why the silence when the victims are Christian nuns and the perpetrators male, Muslim extremists?
One might imagine that the way the BBC goes on and on about Mandela, that they would be inspired by the values they attribute to him, and adopt these for themselves.
But the point of this Mandela adoration is simply to show the world that they sound like they’re of one spirit, and hope that nobody will look for any actions that might support it. Talk’s cheap.
The article above from Raymond Ibrahim at the Commentator tells of a disturbing account of a recent kidnapping and likely raping of 12 Nuns in Syria by jihadist rebels. For so many reasons the BBC should be announcing this from the rooftops, if they really followed Mandela’s supposed spirit.
What we get instead are 3 articles, and I’ll copy what the BBC tell us about this story:
2 December 2013
UN implicates Bashar al-Assad in Syria war crimes
Meanwhile, it is unclear whether opposition fighters have abducted or evacuated 12 nuns from the ancient Christian town of Maaloula.
Syrian rebels captured large parts of Maaloula, about 60 km (40 miles) north-east of the capital, on Monday after three days of fighting.
“They forced the sisters to evacuate and to follow them… At this moment we cannot say if this is a kidnapping or an evacuation,” the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria, Mario Zenari, told Reuters news agency by telephone from Damascus.
3 December 2013
Syria crisis: Deadly bomb blast in central Damascus
The SOHR also reported on Monday that Islamist rebels had seized control of the town of Maaloula, which houses a historic Christian community.
Earlier the state-run Sana news agency had claimed that fighters from Islamist brigades had stormed Maaloula’s St Tekla monastery and had detained some of the nuns that live there.
However, information is difficulty to verify as access for foreign journalists is restricted.
After fighting in the town in September, a nun at the monastery told the BBC she did not think the towns Christians had been deliberately targeted by rebels.
Notice the final sentence. Do you think fear might have had something to do with her statement? But the BBC will not draw that allusion, despite the myriad examples that exist that point to it.
Middle East / 4 December 2013
Syria conflict: Aleppo rocket attack ‘kills at least 18’
Also on Wednesday, Pope Francis led prayers for 12 nuns from the St Tekla convent in the historic town of Maaloula.
“Two days ago they were taken away by force by armed men. We pray for these nuns,… and for all people who have been detained because of the conflict,” he said.
Reports indicate that the nuns came under the custody of rebel fighters when they seized the town on Monday, although what exactly has happened to them or whether they have been removed from Maaloula is unclear.
So much safer to avoid demonizing the rebels, regardless of what they do. Assad is a much better target for the BBC.
To get an idea of the mindset that really wants this kind of coverage about Mandela, I was listening to Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning and he was talking about the coverage that the BBC had given to his life and death.
He made the point that despite 2 British people dying in the worst storms the country had seen in 25 years, with further flooding likely in the east of the country, the BBC ignored this and devoted the whole of their news to eulogising Mandela’s death.
Several women came on air who were so filled with their own sense of righteousness they saw nothing wrong with this. Basically calling anybody who had a problem with it akin to racists or apartheid lovers. So filled with their own self view that they were the only good people in the country they didn’t see that anybody relying on BBC news to tell them about the prospects of floods in their area mattered at all.
Let’s remember that if the mindset of the civilised world wasn’t against apartheid before Mandela came to fame, it wouldn’t have ended and he wouldn’t have been freed. There is also some question as to certain terrorist activities he was involved in that suggest he was far from being a saint.
World figures from our recent past that I would laud first would be Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Churchill, and Ben Gurion.
If there is a good side to this BBC excessive fawning over the death of this man, it is that we missed the focus on their usual climate change agenda that would have been otherwise linking it to the storms that the country suffered last week.
Clearly sending at least a 120 person crew to South Africa to cover the funeral, compared to 9 by ITV, they must feel that their carbon footprint is of little consequence to those in the future when they want to honour somebody from the past – somebody who fits their agenda.
Quote:
BBC took 120 crew to cover Mandela memorial despite receiving 1,000 complaints about giving it too much coverage
ITV has sent just nine staff to cover iconic leader’s death in South Africa
BBC has received 1,350 complaints that it has been sidelining local news
Some viewers said emphasis reduced coverage of severe weather in UK
They hardly use the term carbon footprint anymore. I’m not taking credit for stopping them or anything, but about 18 months ago I sent a tongue-in-cheek complaint to the BBC that the phrase was definitely discriminatory and possibly even offensive to the wheelchair-bound and lower limp amputees. I receieved a reply a couple of weeks later saying that my concern over the term carbon footprint was actually being discussed at senior editorial levels. I was only pulling their plonkers but it seems like they couldn’t even see that.
It is said that the best satire fools those who are the target of the satire, and that the origin of satire was as a way of criticising the powerful without them realising, to avoid punishment.
So congratulations on a great piece of performance satire.
This could be a regular features? See how many ridiculous satirical complaints we can make to show how ass backward retarded they are. I recently submitted one regarding their claiming CAR’s problems stem from not having a homogenous nation, I’m claiming they are being racist for insinuating black people cannot deal with multiculturalism.
Not being a telly-owner anymore, I must’ve missed the rebroacast of Brian Waldon’s masterful notes-free lecture on Mandela from his ‘Heroes’ series. Because surely it has been rebroadcast by now, hasn’t it?
Unless Al-Beeb are waiting for the day of the funeral to give this great eulogy its much-deserved airing.
I guess the students were too busy “enriching” us with their “enriching diversity” to go to college classes – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25320376
I think someone has already pointed this out, but the BBC has eight articles on its web page, and dozens of videos regarding Mandela. In the top ten most read articles, only the “selfie” one registers, and I doubt that is due to Mandella.
This sums up the BBC perfectly.
P.s. I wonder how the left wing press will react? attack Cameron and you attack Obama as well! and that would be waaaacccisssstttt
No, to the BritishBroadcastingCowards it would’ve conveniently been the horrible honky half (the 50% half of him THEY racistly hate to ever mention) of the Obamessiah coming through when he partook in that selfie taken by former Labour leader Neil Kinnock’s leftie Danish PM daughter-in-law.
And was also nice to see Mandela lover supreme Gordon ‘British Jobs For British Workers’ (LMFAO!) Brownshite’s gob flapping away through the four hour celebratory memorial.
May I resuscitate this from the end of the previous Open Thread? Even the Guardian thinks the bBBC has gone over the top with its Mandelathon. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/10/mandela-coverage-banality-of-goodness
Enough is enough. The publicity for the death and funeral of Nelson Mandela has become absurd. Mandela was an African political leader with qualities that were apt at a crucial juncture in his nation’s affairs. That was all and that was enough. Yet his reputation has fallen among thieves and cynics. Hijacked by politicians and celebrities from Barack Obama to Naomi Campbell and Sepp Blatter, he has had to be deified so as to dust others with his glory. In the process he has become dehumanised. We hear much of the banality of evil. Sometimes we should note the banality of goodness.
Part of this is due to the media’s crude mechanics. Millions of dollars have been lavished on preparing for Mandela’s death. Staff have been deployed, hotels booked, huts rented in Transkei villages. Hospitals could have been built for what must have been spent. All media have gone mad. Last week I caught a BBC presenter, groaning with tedium, asking a guest to compare Mandela with Jesus. The corporation has reportedly received more than a thousand complaints about excessive coverage. Is it now preparing for a resurrection?
…
The rise of majority rule in South Africa was one of the noblest moments in African history. The resulting Nobel peace prize was rightly shared between Mandela and De Klerk, a sharing that has been ignored by almost all the past week’s obituaries. There were two good men in Cape Town in 1990.
…
But as David Beresford’s admirable Guardian obituary relates, he was a worse than ordinary president. He did little to resist the drift to cronyism and corruption, was a poor executive, and never deployed his talents to tame Mugabe or ease the horrors afflicting the rest of Africa. He preferred to see out his office meeting celebrities and raising dubious money.
…
The world may crave a “Mandela-like icon”, but to what end? For serious media outlets to discuss him alongside Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Jesus of Nazareth is barking mad. He was Nelson Mandela. After seeing their former president doused in virtue and squeezed dry of glory by an assembly of world celebrities, South Africans should repatriate his reputation. Mandela gave them signal service for a brief few years in the 1990s, and if it suits them to revere him as a symbol of unity, goodness and peace, so be it. That is their business.
But the South African quality I recall Mandela possessing to the full was not saintliness, it was a hardened sense of irony. I doubt if he is wearing the BBC’s tin halo right now. I would bet he is laughing his head off.
The BBC is too left-wing even for The Guardian.
Racist.
“Panorama investigates alleged infiltration of Guardian newspaper by Daily Mail staff”.
A good read, but Mother Teresa and Jesus of Nazareth are poor choices. Both were wicked, fundamentalists.
“Allah says OK to widen your anus to carry explosives”. This sort of stuff is hardly believable – but it passes for ordinary in the Arab Muslim world..
Does the BBC ever tell us how crazy these people are ? How utterly twisted and evil ? – or does the BBC present them as “soldiers for Allah”
It has been awful for the family of Lee Rigby to be forced through the trial because of the not-guilty pleas. But at least the wider population is getting a better view of the evil and distorted mindset behind the act. And it may become harder for idiots like Cameron, Clegg and most other politicians to deny the clear link to Islam and the evil Koran.
sorry – here is the link :
John Anderson,
“This sort of stuff is hardly believable – but it passes for ordinary in the Arab Muslim world..”
It’s a hoax. Of course it is you dumb, stupid moron.
http://electronicintifada.net/node/11497
It just proves that idiot bigots such as yourself will believe any old shit as long as it fits into your perverse fantasy narrative.
“Does the BBC ever tell us how crazy these people are ? How utterly twisted and evil ?”
Here’s a hint John: perhaps you should just refer to Arab Muslims as untermenschen in future just to save time.
Hello Dez
The joke is on you because the radical muslim world is not funny for anyone. Like I always say to you , stop and really take a look around.
The tone and ‘over protest’ suggests dez has been waiting for this. The “dehoaxing” is barely 4 days old (3 days as posted yesterday) which is lightning fast when you consider some float around for years being believed. Oh dez, a simple “it’s a hoax’ would have sufficed and you’ve blown it, surely better to wait until dozens of us vile bigots had replied.
Now I’m not trying to imply anything here but is John Anderson a regular poster? The reason I ask is after reading the comment from Span Ows saying this video was only “dehoaxed” about four days ago, then soon after the “dehoaxing” Mr Anderson decides to post it here and then along comes Dez to show how biased against Muslims this site is.
As I say, I’m just wondering. I saw this video a long time ago and just shook my head and moved on, yet apparently as soon as news of it being a hoax is revealed, someone decides to post it here.
Suspicious mind …
I think you have a point there Mr Wood. Too much faux outrage from Dezi, although the level of personal abuse is typical of him.
John Anderson is a longstanding poster. He made a mistake here and Dez swooped – that’s it.
Beeboidal
I don’t accept that I made any mistake. Because I would trust the Electronic Intifada website that Dez quotes about as far as I could throw an elephant. It appears to be a virulently anti-Israel website. Which is how Dez knows about it, I suppose
Fair enough, John. I put this one down as a hoax because the name Sheikh Abu al-Dimaa al-Qasab, the source for the ‘sodomy fatwa’, doesn’t appear to exist outside of this issue. It is claimed that it is a false name to preserve the cleric’s true identity. That doesn’t help much in determining the truth of this.
Henry
I first saw reference to the video clip at HotAir yesterday. As far as I can now see – from the link from Dez – the video has been claimed to be a hoax by the extreme pro-Palestinian website Electronic Intifada – but I have seen no other claim that it is a hoax.
We all know who does the false reporting in the Middle East – it is the pro-Palestinian crowd. Including the BBC itself, which has been shown to have been fed false “news” time and time again.
That may have been a hoax, but this cleric’s explanation of the cause of earthquakes surpasses even the BBC’s ventures into science and Islam
http://jezebel.com/iranian-cleric-blames-impending-earthquake-on-women-s-c-493080221
“Bigots”? From a Labour/Gordon Brownshite loon? lol
I’d wear it like a badge of honour!
Yes, Dez, it is a hoax (or so we are told by whom?) But then are we not told that everything the BBC broadcasts is true and valid? Just who is the bigot here?
OldBloke
But is it really a hoax ? Only Electronic Intifada says so. That website is known to be a pro-Palestinian propaganda site.
The BBC is indeed crazy to support Jihadi charities as seen on Newsnight .See below Unbelievable!!!!.
“BBC’s leading current affairs program, Newsnight recently broadcast an eight-minute film in which a BBC reporter accompanied a British “aid convoy” headed to the most dangerous parts of Syria. […]
During the broadcast, the BBC did not, however, reveal the names of the charities involved with the convoy. The Aid for Syria Convoy is, in fact, managed by charities that many might justifiably regard as “extremist”: One Nation, Al Fatiha Global and Aid4Syria.”
See the full complaint on http://bbcwatch.org/2013/12/05/bbc-coverage-of-uk-aid-convoy-fails-to-meet-editorial-guidelines-on-impartiality/
Dez says “its a hoax” – but backs this by reference only to a website called “Electronic Intifada”. Are we supposed to believe anything such a website says by way of denial? It attacks David Horowitz and Raymond Ibrahim in extreme terms – which makes it extremely suspect.
I saw the video clip just a day ago on the US website HotAir. Here is the link.to the HotAir entry which was dated yesterday – 10 December. I have followed all the links – and the links the links give – and I cannot see any refutation of the broadcast – apparently tracked by Memri back in 2012 (they give the transcript) – EXCEPT the heated denial by Electronic Intifada.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/12/10/hot-topic-in-jihadi-circles-is-sodomy-okay-if-its-designed-to-make-space-for-a-bomb/
http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/3496.htm
So, unless I see other evidence to the contrary, I do not accept that it is a hoax. Dez may be happy to accept some spiel from the Electronic Intifada website – but then he would, wouldn’t he ?,
Hey Dez, any thoughts on the gentleman standing trial over the murder of Lee Rigby stating a connection between his religious beliefs and killing the man? He shares your views about foreign policy, by the way. Does that make it go away?
Strange Dez because if anyone had talked about exploding underwear then we would have all considered it a spoof and a joke, but the reality as we know thanks to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is that it is a deadly serious attempt at blowing up aircraft.
And who would have thought of exploding shoes? Richard Reid showed us that was not a spoof either.
We have had attempts to get bombs onto planes disguised as soft drinks.
Now we have Al Qaeeda in Yemen developing new weapons which can be disguised as clothing.
So you might at least cut the goods some slack for believing that something like this is indeed more than possible, it’s actually probable.
Why is it you leap to the defence of those who for countless decades have attempted to slaughter innocent people, and continue to do so today?
What kind of sick mind seeks to protect and defend a religion which openly exhorts its followers to war and terrorism again those who do not believe?
Why don’t you try going to one of these Muslim countries you love so much and tell the people there you’re Jewish, or Gay, and you’ll see just how tolerant and accepting of diversity your favourite brown eyed boys actually are !
Dez,
from your link
“However, the person in the video is Abdallah al-Khallaf, host of “The morals of the Prophets, Peace Be Upon Them,” a show broadcast on UK-based satellite channel Fadak TV whose target audience is Shia Muslims.
In the video, al-Khallaf tells the audience that he is going to read an item from a website called “Muntadayat Usud al-Sunna” (Lions of the Sunnah forums).
Al-Khallaf reads the item from the website as if it is real. He also characterizes the alleged protagonists as “Wahhabis.” It appears his intention is to incite his audience’s disgust at the supposed thinking and behavior of Wahhabi Sunni Muslims who, he suggests, will justify anything in pursuit of their goals.”
Doesn’t that mean if this was a hoax, its origin is in one Muslim sect disparaging another? Hardly to be surprised if it get’s picked up by non-Muslims is it?
Turned on Nicky ‘the ego has landed’ Campbell this morning and it was ” Madiba this and Madiba that, Madiba, Madiba, Madiba,” etc etc.
Will the bongo madness never end ?
Rachael is tweeting her holiday snaps – unbelievable
Who is this Madiba chappie? Has he died too?
He’s the black Jesus.
Thought we already had one of them ?
It’s a special offer – worship one, worship another free.
Oh so that’s what ‘free Nelson Mandela’ means
Is that something to do with Black Sabbath then?
No, they were white and therefore racist.
I can’t take it anymore.
When will the torture end.
If we all sign a letter denying we ever heard Mandela was a commie who said that South Africa would be “a land of milk and honey” under communism.
If we forget that he “approved” of Winnie’s call to necklace their way to liberation.
Will they stop then?
No way. I guess we’ll just have to annoy them back.
There’s a great post that shows the real man good and bad called, “Contemporary Christ” at:
http://john-moloney.blogspot.com/2013/12/contemporary-christ_9.html
Ramzpaul necklace a baby doll in tribute to Mandela.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ4wVgqXL1E&list=UUIibK0GTXCaQCAamJAepm1g
In Birmingham exception would be taken to your use of the word ‘commie’. And I am sure BBC presenters have been advised never to use this word again.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/banned-commie-birmingham-city-councils-6383212
Given the completely over the top coverage of NM on the BBC, perhaps more people will realise how out of touch with their ordinary British lives the state funded broadcaster is. Hopefully they will then resent being compelled to fund this bunch of liberal left zealots and join the fight to free the country from endless propaganda of the BBC.
I think that’s true. I linked yesterday to this article where the BBC let us have our say and the criticism is quite remarkable. I’m surprised they left it open so long.
This one catches my eye:
570.Robin
10th December 2013 – 20:10
Do not overdo the coverage. Save something in case he resurrects.
The over coverage was also getting a panning on Digital Spy, normally a site where any criticism of the BBC is swooped on.
I recall some BBC bigwig once remarking that if the internet had been around in its current form when Diana died, they’d have realised that they’d overdone it. In fact it’s evident they wouldn’t have. They’d have considered they’d got it about right because she was the most important woman in 100 years. Then stuck their fingers in their ears.
On the other hand, if you want to know what the weather’s like in South Africa today your licence fee has been well spent:
Why don’t you show a tweet from someone in the bBC who is not in SA. It will be much shorter list.
A great collection.
However of them all, one suspects Imelda represents the greatest candidate to be handed Richard Black’s crown with that one.
Persistent heavy rain in November, ‘people’ say… an English summer perhaps?
http://www.worldweatheronline.com/Johannesburg-weather-averages/Gauteng/ZA.aspx
I’m not great with averages, but the month with the highest seems to be this one. Maybe it’s the persistence, what with it coming on, and going off, and coming back… if also not unprecedented looking at various ‘non people-saying’ sources.
Nice to see Stuart Hughes managed to pedal there in time. Funny if he found an Addison Lee cab waiting at the terminal upon his return.
And what of the weather in the NE of England ? Could anyone at the BBC (who is not in S.Africa) tell us that ?
Oh, I forgot. There isn’t anyone left !
All that money spent on their new homes, and the buggers can’t even be arsed to use them.
Unusual weather for the time of year? More magical thinking on evidence in BBC groupthink. If it’s not Man-Made Climate Change causing weird extreme weather, it’s the angels in heaven welcoming a new saint. No sneering at local religious beliefs, I see.
Imelda Flattery, BBC News, Senior Europe Producer as stated on her Twitter page. What the f*** is she doing in South Africa??
Freeloading and wallowing in liberal group sanctimony?
There may be light at the end of the tunnel.
I have had my first BBC Breaking Flying Figs News email in a few days…
Damien Hirst art works stolen
Two signed Damien Hirst art works worth £33,000 stolen from London gallery, Scotland Yard says
At least they have retained their sense of proportion.
‘I’m surprised they left it open so long’
It’s still ‘open’ Roland, but perhaps not as some may know it.
We’re having some problems posting your comment at the moment. Sorry. We’re doing our best to fix it.
Of that, one has no doubt.
Interesting to note the differences in modding with the shift changes up to, one guesses, 8pm last night.
There was a period of slash and burn all, and then, as you point out, some real zingers still allowed in and left up despite what one can be sure was some ‘pressure’.
They’ve certainly made many new friends.
538. Soothseeker
10TH DECEMBER 2013 – 19:54
There is something faintly sinister about the way the entire News Department of the BBC has been mobilised to propagate an uncritical avalanche of airbrushed, sanitised, accounts of Mandela’s life.
Be funny if any going through the ‘Future of the BBC’ submissions were reading these.
Less funny if before they can, the current ‘tech issues’ were in advance of the whole thread going watertight oversight into the memory hole. I’m guessing when it appears it may have closed while it was unavailable anyway.
The Beware of the Leopard file gains another victim.
A small reflection on the wall to wall coverage of Mandela on the BBC and the publics reaction.
Occasionally, during the afternoon, I visit a local bar with some friends. Much to my chagrin the televisions usually have BBC News on (sound mercifully turned down). On the day after Mandela died when the out pouring of BBC grief was at its height for some reason the bar put all three screens of Sky Sports News – which was 95% Mandela Free.
They have never done that before in my memory.
they just can t get over it :-D, can they
Still look on the bright side, the Specials are re releasing
their hit Free-ze Nelson Mandela 😀
which could help
sorry … I ll get me … “Vuvuzela”
ha ha ha
Have a laugh at this – some bloke presented himself as a deaf-interpereter and was allowed onto the stage with Obama – totally faked it!
http://www.theage.com.au/world/all-signs-suggest-obamas-interpreter-for-the-deaf-was-fake-20131211-2z60s.html
Bunch of racists!
This man was signing in Soweto Street Signing Language and I take great offence to anyone who mocks this language (supported by Grant 0174933 – Lesbian Arts Council).
I could plainly see him signing, “‘Sup bros and sistas! Dis dee big white dude from America.”
Reminds me of the chancer who took the pitch to be photographed as part of the Man Utd team. It’s disrespectful of course but you can’t help admire the nerve of the man.
PS – If Mandela was alive I am sure he would have taken the opportunity to rip into Obama and Cameron for killing his good friend Ghadaffi, who, along with Castro, supported him during apartheid.
I think I now know what it must be like living in North Korea when one of their leaders pops off….will someone please let me know when it’s all over & safe to come out….
Ditto.
There was a feature on Radio 4 this morning about all the immigrants and refugees flooding into Lebanon. Radio 4 painted this as a crisis where cultures, etc. have clashed and resources are stretched. However, when it happens here the BBC report is as enriching the nation. Surely all these Syrian immigrants are enriching Lebanon? No?
Submit a complaint. Claim they are being racist, Syriaphobic, Islamamhobic and xenophobic towards Syrians who are in actuality “enriching” Lebanon with their “vibrant diversity”. I did a similar one, I posted it towards the end of the weekend thread.
Blatantly biased reporting on free schools exposed here:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100250088/the-bbcs-anti-free-schools-bias-is-becoming-laughable/
Interesting to note that the three other BBC articles on free schools cited in the sidebar are all negative.
Also, more generally, the BBC when quoting from reports rarely, if ever, give links to sources. Perhaps they are worried that their ideological left-wing slanting would be exposed if people actually went to the sources and read what the reports actually say.
And Beeboid ‘education reporter’, Ms Hannah Richardson, is one such leftist, as seen in her politically empathetic ‘report’ on student occupation of London University.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25233418
“BBC Bombshell Coming”
http://order-order.com/2013/12/11/bbc-bombshell-coming/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+guidofawkes+%28Guy+Fawkes%27+blog+of+parliamentary+plots%2C+rumours+and+conspiracy%29
It seems to have arrived…
http://order-order.com/2013/12/11/the-tape-lord-patten-does-not-want-you-to-hear/
Fat Pang may be in a spot of bother.
Pass the popcorn please!
http://order-order.com/2013/12/11/the-tape-lord-patten-does-not-want-you-to-hear/
What’s new? Just the actual audio tape I suppose: The story has been doing the rounds for ages:
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/12/james-hardings-right-the-bbc-must-do-some-accountability-journalism-but-on-the-savile-scandal-report/
Fat Pang has been threatening all sorts of legal nasties to anyone who has the temerity to publish the tapes.
What a pity that Guido’s servers are in the US and are outside of UK libel laws.
If Guido gets arrested, held without charge, and threatened with expedition to the US over this, I wonder if the BBC will make a fuss over the treaty like they do in certain other cases?
I still don’t see this admission as a game-changer. Pollard already knew Boaden’s side of the story, and a letter from her lawyer reiterating that doesn’t add anything. Why would that change whether or not Pollard believed her over Thompson? If she didn’t make that clear earlier and only the letter states that she really did inform Thompson, it sure as hell doesn’t make it more credible.
Nothing will happen. At most there will be another round of BBC wagon-circling, allowing one or two high-profile on-air talents to moan about how bad this looks (with possibly yet another memo sent to all staff about keeping shtum on Twitter, of course), but nothing will happen other than the BBC congratulating themselves yet again over being so transparent and open that they can talk about it like this, you’d never see any other media organization being publicly self-critical, etc. Line drawn under, nothing to see here, move along.
‘Nothing will happen’
Possibly.
But the process of ensuring it doesn’t offers insights and exposures that some may wish stayed less public.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/11/bbc-lord-patten-jimmy-savile-inquiry-evidence
Had to enjoy this, as ever from an un-named BBC front:
‘”There was no legal threat – the letter merely suggested Mr Wilson might want to satisfy himself the recording was not defamatory, should he decide to release it.”
Nothing vaguely ‘shame if your kids caught fire’ there, eh? Just a suggestion, as yer do. Hope no one on the side of the angels has any equine investments, as Lord ‘Or Else’ may arrange a nasty wake-up call.
Still, he’s doing what the BBC does best, and heading straight for Planet Denial.
http://order-order.com/2013/12/11/patten-laments-loss-of-trust-in-bbc-with-a-straight-face/
Still, that ‘most trusted’ claim keeps getting polished by some.
http://order-order.com/2013/12/11/another-bbc-whitewash-from-patten-nick-pollard-sorry-for-genuine-conversation/
Mr. Pollard has of course apologised to those who signed his cheque, if not ultimately paid for him, but sounds like he’ll be keeping the money anyway.
Which is nice.
For him.
And as the subject of CECUTT has come up here, to all those pursuing complaints I wish you fair winds and god speed.
Trouble is, your case may well end up being judged by a very unique entity indeed, in the form of the BBC Trust Star Chamber:
‘Four trustees, whose identity we did not know, have met in secret and concluded that though ‘a mistake’ has been made, it’s best to just ignore it’
The telegraph have published the tape in full.
Something makes me suspect that Newspapers in general do not like the BBC now – wonder why not.
When the mice are away, the boss will be forced to resign?
In truth I’m afraid our marvelous Lying-In-State Broadcaster will once again weather the storm some way or another.
BBC: If I miss this gig my friends will think I’ve gone mainstream.
Xmas is here, almost the silly season… this will get buried over the next few days, and by the New Year sadly any fuss may have died down.
I do hope I am wrong though.
Thing is, there are aspects that are not that silly.
It’s one thing to go beyond astounding uncuriosity and Dory-grade Alzhiemers to flat out lie to Parliament, another to tell ’em to take hikes when they seek clarification.
But possibly a new order of uniqueness to get away unscathed when the evidence is in the public domain and all efforts have been dedicated to suppression.
Though Hugs ’28Gate’ Boaden may have a few tips… if she feels minded to help.
And here’s the BBC’s report on it.
Bit of a funny…courtesy of a BBC junior researcher. Find out about Mandela around the world..you know places etc etc..
A world named after Mandela..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23128464
Look at Switzerland…only entry…
Mandela Finance Holding SA
http://www.moneyhouse.ch/u/mandela_finance_holding_sa_CH-550.1.025.130-0.htm
It is a letter box company…which has been removed by Swiss Authorities…capital of 100,000 Swiss Francs..
It may or may not have to do with one of the Mandela clan..it had a manager…and was active 2001 to 2012..
It may just be a coincidence ofc…but it isn’t a street or a public commemoration…
Let’s see how long it stays up….
I have just e-mailed them to point out that they have omitted Nelson Mandela House, Peckham, London SE15; occupied by Mr D and Mr R Trotter, Trotters Independent Traders.
I’m not sure what to make of “Mandela Solutions” in Australia. Do they give a discount if you supply the tyre and petrol yourself ?
They have taken six days to get their weak reply out. For £4,000,000,000 of our money they should have been able to do better than this:
Thank you for contacting us regarding BBC News.
We understand you felt there has been too much coverage of the death of Nelson Mandela.
We have received a wide range of feedback about our coverage of this story. Bearing in mind the pressure on resources, the response below strives to address the majority of concerns raised but we apologise in advance if not all of the specific points you have mentioned have been answered in the manner you prefer.
Please be assured we raised your concerns with senior editorial staff at BBC News. They explained that as Nelson Mandela was one of the most important world leaders of the 20th century the judgement was made that his death was sufficiently significant both to break into our scheduled coverage and extend our news programmes. His long and complex life story represents a moment of historical change for people in South Africa and around the world; his political and cultural influence was global and as both a UK and international broadcaster we believed it important to reflect that and the range of reactions to his death to all our audiences.
With specific regard to news coverage of the storm affecting parts of the UK on the 5 December, Director of News James Harding said the following during the 6 December edition of Newswatch:
“I’m sorry if there are people who felt as though we didn’t inform them fully of what was happening in the weather, particularly in the North East.”
He added:
“What’s happening in people’s communities, what’s happening closest to where they live matters enormously and we had been rolling weather coverage from early in the day, particularly when the storms were at their strongest. Had we seen real breaking news on the weather that meant we needed to inform people immediately, we would have done so.”
With that in mind, we would like to say that BBC One viewers received updates on the storm in their area during regional bulletins broadcast at 2250 and in a weather forecast at 0030, on the BBC News website and on BBC local radio stations throughout the night.
We hope this goes some way in addressing your concerns.
Kind Regards
BBC Complaints
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
My main complaints were that much of their ‘news’ item was not news, merely one bBBC staff member asking another how they felt about Mandela, trying to outdo each other in their grief; and that the lead item on the 2250 NorthWest ‘news’ was two bBBC reporters reading out tweets about Mandela from people who happened to live in the northwest.
The BBC is just another untrustworthy outfit .Nothing it says would surprise me. It is one with the banks,building societies,government spokesmen, corporate business. etc etc. Meaningless words that disguise the contempt and arrrogance.
The contra
ct that has always been unspoken between the citizen and these outfits ( an appropriate word I think) is no longer valid. Many of us have stopped listening to the lies and evasions.
What this means for the future I dread to think but this is the way a civilisation starts to implode.
His long and complex life story
It’s not as if they spent much of their coverage actually telling us about it. We just got the brief sanitised version.
Unless they’re referring to “six things we didn’t know”, such as the time he forgot his glasses. Very complex.
I was thinking the same thing, Roland. I can think of some amusing uses of that phrase.
I got exactly the same ‘reply’. I didn’t mention the weather at all, I simply asked them if they had any plans to broadcast the news ever again.
Of course, what they would really like to say is:
‘We are sorry you bothered to waste your time complaining but you seem to have overlooked the fact that we are the BBC and, consequently, we know best and do whatever we damn well please. We really don’t care about your sad little opinions so in future just shut the f*ck up and pay your license fee.’
“I simply asked them if they had any plans to broadcast the news ever again”
Brilliant.
I would like to point out that Richard Littlejohn cleverly noted that in order for the BBBC to show balance in their reporting as they did when Margaret Thatcher died they should interview people who agree with Apartheid and white rule and hated Mandela etc. Some hope.
‘The Times’ (£):-
“Fracking gets the green light!”
[A snippet only available online]-
“Britain should press ahead with fracking, the chairman of the Government’s climate change advisory body said yesterday.
“Lord Deben dismissed claims by green groups that fracking would cause significant damage to the environment, adding that Britain needed to drill shale wells to reduce reliance on foreign imports of fossil fuel.”
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article3945591.ece
Will Beeboid Hampstead Harrabin be up in arms (literally)?
Of course, for ludicrous, destructive consistency, the high-cost ‘greenies’ should be occupying Grangemouth refinery in Scotland which will be saved from closure by importing fracked shale gas from the United States.
‘Telegraph’ (£):-
“How US shale gas could re-energise Grangemouth”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10504101/How-US-shale-gas-could-re-energise-Grangemouth.html
Watched the first 5 mins of BBC News 24 @ 9.00pm last evening… just to satisfy my own curiosity about the continued BBC wank-fest from Johannesburg.
The most noticeable aspect of the ‘highlights’ package was the clever use of ‘zoom’ lens camera-work showing only the immediate ‘foreground’ during interviews outside the stadium and carefully selected crowd shots inside.
No sense of perspective (pun intended) whatsoever. This gave the viewer the intended impression that the whole event was loudly crammed to capacity – it just made for uncomfortable viewing.
Reminded me of the useless camera-work on display during old episodes of TOTP (1977/78)… They had a habit back then of focusing only of the lead singer’s face or fingers strumming a guitar. Missing out on opportunities to show the rest of the ‘band’ and the audience with their
appalling 70s hair cuts and fashions – the best bit of course.
I only watched it for 30 seconds just to check that BBC News HD channel had tuned in.
Now I can avoid the Marxist leftie love fest in HD!
They got the HD in just in time ,was flicking to Sky at 9 am ,they led with various other stories , & went to SA at about 9.16 , when I flicked to News 24 , & the Mandela love in was still going on to 9.17, when the presenter in SA finally handed back to London for “Some other news “. Notice the bbc`s pic of Mandela is eclipsing a rising or setting sun , they obviously think he is a “Jesus “& fall to the ground at the mere possibility of him being “Resurrected “as the “Messiah “
Don’t forget how in the 1970s TOTP they managed not to focus on the presenters sexually molesting under-age audience members.
I wonder how many thousands of copies of this complacent bullshit went out…
Dear Mr Wright
Thank you for contacting us regarding BBC News.
We understand you felt there has been too much coverage of the death of Nelson Mandela.
[No, I complained specifically about Mandela crowding out Look North’s storm coverage]
We have received a wide range of feedback about our coverage of this story. Bearing in mind the pressure on resources, the response below strives to address the majority of concerns raised but we apologise in advance if not all of the specific points you have mentioned have been answered in the manner you prefer.
Please be assured we raised your concerns with senior editorial staff at BBC News. They explained that as Nelson Mandela was one of the most important world leaders of the 20th century […]
[They revised this from the original claim by the BBC News Director that Mr Mandela was ‘the most significant statesman of the last 100 years’. What about Churchill or Gandhi?]
[…] the judgement was made that his death was sufficiently significant both to break into our scheduled coverage and extend our news programmes. His long and complex life story represents a moment of historical change for people in South Africa and around the world; his political and cultural influence was global and as both a UK and international broadcaster we believed it important to reflect that and the range of reactions to his death to all our audiences.
With specific regard to news coverage of the storm affecting parts of the UK on the 5 December, Director of News James Harding said the following during the 6 December edition of Newswatch:
“I’m sorry if there are people who felt as though we didn’t inform them fully of what was happening in the weather, particularly in the North East.”
He added:
“What’s happening in people’s communities, what’s happening closest to where they live matters enormously and we had been rolling weather coverage from early in the day, particularly when the storms were at their strongest. Had we seen real breaking news on the weather that meant we needed to inform people immediately, we would have done so.”
With that in mind, we would like to say that BBC One viewers received updates on the storm in their area during regional bulletins broadcast at 2250 and in a weather forecast at 0030, on the BBC News website and on BBC local radio stations throughout the night.
We hope this goes some way in addressing your concerns.
Kind Regards
BBC Complaints
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.
[Bill]
Bill You can do what I do and complain that their reply did not answer your specific points of complaint. Then sit back and wait for a further none reply.
It’s the only avenue open.
However, bear in mind that them not being able to reply such that you need to persist and insist counts with the system they control as a further strike against you.
Another unique to the BBC CECUTT system.
Strikes against you. Jeez I must be popular at the Beeb over my past complaints, Still as I’m still not watching BBc I have nothing to complain about. I made the mistake of turning the radio 4 news on at 20:00 hours as Real Xs were playing something dull. It got to story 3 when Mundane ella was mentioned and I hit the off button. I should have known better.
This is important . More work for them and although the BBC employees have to give official replies they are also given info they can discuss with their collegues. This will eventually undermine confidence in the BBC.
I sent another complaint.
You sent me your standard reply which did not address my main complaints.
1. Much of the BBC1 News at Ten was not news, merely one BBC staff member asking another how they felt about Mandela, trying to outdo each other in their grief. Of course his death merited the lead position, but the nauseating spectacle of your staff competing with each other with crocodile tears should have been the subject of special programmes for a later date – which no doubt you already have lined up – rather than hijacking the News at Ten.
2. Further, after 50 minutes of non-stop Mandela the lead item on the 2250 NorthWest ‘news’ was two BBC reporters reading out tweets about Mandela from people who happened to live in the northwest. Mr Harding’s response says that the regional programmes provided the non-Mandela news but this was not ‘news’ and it is not northwest. Clearly the loss of perspective extends beyond your main news editors into your regional staff as well. You need to get out of your echo-chamber.
Your BBC News website should tell you everything: despite sending excessive numbers of staff to South Africa, at our expense, and swamping us with your endless ‘news’ about ‘Madiba’ (as the BBC sycophants now call him), seldom has any of the stories figured in the top ten ‘most read’ items.
You are fond of saying that you ‘got it about right’. In this case you got it wrong. The judgment of your news editors is seriously flawed.
‘You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.’
Welcome to The Attrition Games.
It’s especially fun if they don’t provide such a number.
They can’t be liking so many folk are sharing the exact same blow off that doesn’t answer their concerns.
It makes it look like they really don’t want your views at all.
The BBC complaints system is purposely designed to choke off complaints.
Overkill? Surely not! I just caught – on BBC News 24 – a special “breaking news” item showing Madiba’s coffin being moved (complete with pictures of one of the honour guards reverently chewing gum) from its lying in state (“daylight hours only”) back to its overnight resting place at the nearby military hospital. This was only a 3 or 4 minute segment but we were comforted by the newsreader informing us that we’d be back to Pretoria after the 16:00 news. I can hardly wait.
Why weren’t they saying “Madiba” last week or in previous months every time St. Nelson went into the hospital and the BBC held its collective breath? Did a new edition of the BBC Style Guide just come out, coincidentally?
This just makes them all look like bandwagon-jumping sycophants. Is there a single Beeboid embarrassed by this?
Calling him Madiba elevates you above the hoi polloi, shows that he meant that much more to you personally, and that you REALLY understand his importance.
Sounds like a direct quote from the BBC Style Guide…..
I know you will all probably think that I am an ignoramus, but can somebody tell me what the score is with all this “Madiba” bollocks? What’s it all about?
Isn`t it the whelp you`d use in the Mexican hat dance?
Burning tyres an optional extra…but do get a disposal licence and plany a Monbiot tree by way of a hat-tip top to Muvva Naycha woncha?
I have no idea about this either. But then I couldn’t really couldn’t give a toss.
Unlike when I looked up why brontosaurs aren’t called brontosaurs any More.
And why aren’t they?
http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/faq/s-class/bronto/
Your right that is more interesting
No
u·biq·ui·tous (y-bkw-ts)
adj.
Being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent: “plodded through the shadows fruitlessly like an ubiquitous spook” (Joseph Heller).
u·biqui·tous·ly adv.
u·biqui·tous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
ubiquitous [juːˈbɪkwɪtəs]
adj
having or seeming to have the ability to be everywhere at once; omnipresent
[from Latin ubīque everywhere, from ubī where]
ubiquitously adv
ubiquity , ubiquitousness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
has no one told you that `madiba` is Afrikaans for `shite floats`?
I’m on Freeview and I can only get the BBC. Can you imagine anything more horrible? But it’s no good, they’ll never break me.
Ve vill not just break you, ve vill krush you! For you Tommy, the free tv is over
Just watching Bacon on ITV – “Show me the telly”.
Hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha.
What a pile of utter tripe. Sincerely hope it’s honestly reviewed on his five live love in.
Hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha
You’ve never seen his late night “Beer And Sausages Club” or whatever it’s called then. That’d make any challenger to its “Crown Of Crap’ run away whimpering quick smart.
Well at least they haven’t televised his fav spot at the ‘coke and rent boy club ‘ ! well not yet !
Has the BBC mentioned that Desmond Tutu’s house was burgled while he was delivering a prayer at Mandela’s memorial service? (This is not a joke.)
Must have been one of the many who stayed away from the half empty stadium.
Were the thieves white, or just “men”?
Here’s one for you, curiously absent at the moment from the BBC website or Twitter (that I’ve checked so far):
Ed Miliband accused of contempt for voters after his polling guru said their anti-immigration views made him ‘depressed’
Morris and Miliband are in good company, then, as the BBC also holds their audience in contempt, and for much the same reason. At the moment, though, the BBC holds their audience in contempt for the negative reactions to their Mandelapalooza.
You can bet that all those complaining about too much coverage and too much elevating him to sainthood only reinforces BBC opinion of their viewers and will just make them work even harder in their efforts to change public opinion.
Public opinion is of no concern to the liberal elite. They have the truth.
This week I attended a nativity play in a junior school somewhere in the shires. it would really have depressed millebeaned .100% ethnic British and probably English.
It would have given a beeboid the horrors.
I should think 100% of the audience thanked their lucky stars to live in that village.
Liberals do not do reality.
For God’s sake don’t reveal the name of that village. Labour starved Corby of public sector jobs for being too white.
http://britain-today.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ukip-corby-and-race-join-dots.html
VOTE UKIP.
No danger of that. I would never tell where the real England is. Happily there is a lot more of it than a beeboid thinks. I hope the thought gives the bastards nightmares.
A real community that dates back centuries not the created communities of the liberal dream that are notable only for their sense of entitlement and greviance.
David, Mr Morris et al and the BBC staff would have more cause to be worried if they had been as affected by the mass of immigrants taking their jobs as well as the general populations. And did you see one G.Brown, ex PM, ex parliamentarian/politician [ or so he intimates ] giving his pennyworth on Mandela. When the hell is someone going to tackle him about his lack of attendance at parliament and his acceptance of his salary despite lecturing the world and all who are stupid enough to pay to listen to his drivel?
Still not watching Bbc . Strangely I’m picking up almost Zero on Mandella. Just shows how important he was in my reality. The only thing I have seen is the bogus deaf signer.
What do you think of this? From the CEP website.
‘A flagship BBC television programme pulled out of plans to feature awards celebrating local efforts to save England’s historic buildings because they did not represent the whole of Britain.
Producers from The One Show, which is broadcast on BBC1 on weekday evenings and often draws more than five million viewers, were said to have been “very keen” to make a film about last year’s English Heritage Angel Awards.
However, the item was later dropped on the grounds that the awards only related to England and so did not fit in with the programme’s UK-wide remit.
An English Heritage spokesman said: “The One Show was very keen and did consider it very seriously, but they felt that because their particular remit is to cover the whole nation, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them.” ‘
A BBC source said the decision to drop the item from The One Show was a “routine” editorial judgment.
‘A BBC source said the decision to drop the item from The One Show was a “routine” editorial judgment.’
As the BBC Editorial Translation Guide is a weighty tome, given the entire English language appears to take on new meanings whenever the Humpties there wish it to, I must for now guess at what ‘routine’ really means.
#foiexempted of course.
Sadly, it is a “routine” BBC editorial judgment. Nothing unusual or surprising about it.
Time to disband the English National Opera, and the English Chamber Orchestra should be banned from the Proms, then. Hopefully the BBC will never allow the New English Orchestra to appear on air, either.
The One Show have just made themselves hostages to fortune. If I could be bothered watching the damned programme (which I can’t), I would henceforth be monitoring it for content which doesn’t ‘cover the whole nation’.
But then, whenever have the BBC let a little hypocrisy get in the way of their unswerving self-righteousness.
Is it my imagination, or are the people of South Africa rather disinterested in this Mandela fella. According to the BBC, the grief was so intense that I was expecting something like this……
http://youtu.be/9SwHKql3dKc
But all we got was this….
Mandela’s body will be lying in a state for the next 3 days !!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25314399
Better that he lie in State than lie as a “statesman”.
Prison worked in his case..Gervais was right!
He committed no further offences after being released in 1990 after all.
Blimey, with all that happy dancing about and finger pointing you’d think he was one of their enemies.
Thought they might have gone for a horse drawn hearse but obviously one of the members of the government had a mate with a van.
Everywhere I have looked so far has described the sign language bloke at ‘Madibas’ memorial service was a fake. Once again the Beeb trys to gloss over this disaster of a ceremony and says he was just ‘inept’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25330672
That “spontaneous” handshake between the US President and the dictator of Cuba was no mere coincidence. The US and Cuba have been meeting secretly for some time about how to open up the relationship. Nobody technically planned the handshake, and of course the Cuban Communist was going to be there to pay tribute to his late ally, and their joint presence wasn’t planned in any way. But the President didn’t have to go out of His way to reach out. He just doesn’t care how it looks.
The Left-wing Daily Beast claims it’s not a thaw, that the US is still standing firm on human rights issues. It’s utter BS, because, aside from paying lip service to democracy, if that’s the only thing keeping us from ending the embargo and opening up free trade and happy days with Cuba, it shows just how extreme the President and His Administration is.
The BBC tells us about the highest-profile prisoner, an American Jew (Audienec: Boo!), but doesn’t bother mentioning all the domestic political prisoners or jailed journalists. The official US position, apparently, is only about freeing our own citizen, and the BBC gives the impression that all the rest of it isn’t an obstacle to the “thaw”. Sure, they provide space to an anti-Castro US Rep., but she’s from Florida, a descendent of the evil rich who fled after the Communist takeover, so she would say that, wouldn’t she. The BBC doesn’t point that out, but they do provide another health warning: she’s a Republican. So, to judge from the big picture of BBC reporting, in the long term, over a period of years, she must be ideologically opposed to anything the President does, right? Having created that context long ago, she’s hardly a voice anyone at the BBC or most of their readers are going to take seriously. Which is why the BBC pointed it out. I can think of a couple of Democrats who are also critical of the President’s positioning on Cuba, but the BBC wouldn’t be likely to find them for comment.
If they free a couple prisoners we’re going to call it quits and start helping Cuba? This is just the President and His minions looking for an excuse to start propping up the failed Communist regime, and trumpet another foreign policy “success”, oh how different things are from the Bush years, yeah. The BBC sees it as good progress.
Awlddivil on the comments at the DT came out with this:
Bolsheviks, Buggers & Child molesters is what BBC stands for!!!
From the latest BBC report on Obamcare:
Er, just a minute. As this Politico article pointed out in November, Obama and the Democrats were very happy to use the phrase “Obamcare” themselves (before the whole thing went tits up as the critics correctly predicted):
The BBC is part of the Obama Palace Guard so such things don’t get mentioned.
Notice the BBC pushes the White House lie about “enrolled” and leaves it at that. We don’t know who actually paid for their insurance yet. The White House is counting people who signed up on an exchange and have a policy in their shopping cart.
Also, they don’t dare explain the fact that since more than twice as many people ended up on Medicaid – which is 100% subsidized by the government – the entire thing is mathematically unsustainable as even if the 300 thousand people do end up paying for insurance can’t possibly cover the cost of the subsidies. Which was supposed to be the way the scheme covered all those people with pre-existing conditions, and covers the mandatory birth control and maternity care for men and post-menopausal women. Speaking of subsidies, the BBC doesn’t tell you how many of those 300 thousand people signed up at full whack versus how many are getting partially subsidized coverage. That’s because nobody knows, and to claim this is a sign that all will be well is another complete lie. Medicaid existed before ObamaCare, by the way. It just got expanded.
Oh, and I laughed out loud at the BBC’s daring mention that there might be some inaccuracies in the Medicaid signups. Only Medicaid, BBC? The latest from the real world is that something like 1 in 4 of actual insurance enrollments are bugged. Judging from complaints from insurance companies, this is just the tip of this particular ObamaCare iceberg.
Why did the BBC dutifully report this White House press release? Because Sebelius is appearing in front of a Congressional committee again. So the defense released this and she also announced that Sir Humphrey will be doing an internal investigation into what went wrong with the website rollout. Funny how the BBC left that out.
Have they reported about how a majority of the millennials – you know, the young healthy people who were supposed so sign up and pay the higher premiums to subsidize the rest of it – are not eager to sign up and expect ObamaCare will be repealed at some point? No, the BBC doesn’t want you to know that, either, because that would be even more evidence that their beloved ObamaCare is mathematically unsustainable.
The thing is, even if the website is fixed soon, the whole thing cannot work. The BBC doesn’t dare admit that or even give voice the speculation. Of course, some say it was never meant to work in the first place and they had a different goal in mind.
This is what’s known to opponents, derisively, as “BBC journalism”. The BBC is a foreign bureau of the White House press office, period, because they’re ideologically wedded to the agenda.
You can tell that the journalists of the BBC Washington bureau are desperate to see Obamacare – sorry, the Affordable Care Act – succeed.
Yes it is typical of the BBC to push the new figures about “enrollment” in ObamaCare as if they represent some miraculous turnaround.
The press release is being torn to shreds by people who actually try to analyse the “figures”.
Here, for example, is a suggestion that 5 million people have already had their existing health policies cancelled – and a maximum of 150,000 MIGHT actually get new policies through the “enrollment” process on best-case assumptions about actual follow-through and real sign-up with insurance companies by the end of December. The target was for 3 million or so by that date.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/12/11/obamacare-5-million-cancellations-364-thousand-sign-ups
And actuarally the requirement is for loads and loads of young people, currently uninsured, to sign up. If they don’t, the whole enterprise fails because their insurance premiums are meant to be subsidising all the rest. The whole scheme pivots on this.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/11/obamacare-signs-ups-are-old-and-withholding-payments-say-consultants/
The administration is stonewalling, trying to skate by with spurious “enrollment” figures and refusing to give the real deatil that is needed. As a Congressman said today when questioning Health Secretary Sibelius, it is like trying to get reliable information from the North Koreans. But the BBC swallows the propaganda, fails to do any real research or analysis.
Sources in the insurance industry are suggesting that a very small minority of people who have struggled their way through the useless ObamaCare website have actually paid their first premium. And Health Secretary Sibelius has finally been forced to admit that if you don’t pay the first premium – you aren’t covered.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/12/11/uh-oh-only-5-15-of-enrollees-have-paid-their-first-month-of-premiums-in-some-obamacare-plans/
The BBC tries to pretend that all the fuss is a big wheeze by those nasty Republicans. Oh yeah ? Then how come a lot of leading Democrats are clearly running scared about the ongoing fiasco ?
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/192711-dems-fixes-not-enough-on-o-care
The clearest sign yet of panic in the Democratic Party over ObamaCare – Senator Mary Landrieu’s first campaign commercial for her re-election bid for 2014 :
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/12/11/sen-landrieus-first-ad-what-i-said-to-the-president-is-you-told-them-you-could-keep-it/
Looks like rats leaving a sinking ship ?
John, of course the BBC is simply reporting the official figures from the Government. Surely it’s not their fault that it’s bogus. The BBC is an innocent bystander, a victim of misspoken information. In any case, as with Mardell’s defense of his dismissal of the Benghazi scandal, if the Right wasn’t spewing out such falsehoods, the BBC would have an easier time figuring out the facts.
At this point, I’m just waiting for Mardell or someone to wheel out the ObamaCare version of the old crypto-racist chestnut: critics of it actually don’t want affordable health care for “people not like them”. It’s about all they’ve got left.
I’ve just been watching with great amusement, the *fake* sign language/deaf signer at the Mandela gathering. I’m not too sure what all the fuss is about as there was nothing much wrong with the sign language other than it was quite obvious, to me at least, that the person doing it was dyslectic.
This is one of my favourite stories of the year. I’ve just seen him again on the news. He looks fantastic. What chutzpah. I have nothing but admiration for him.
According to the BBC:
I’m guessing this is the same type of schizophrenia which makes people believe they are a gas engineer one day, a signer the next, then a heart surgeon after that…
Student protest today – cops off campus. Not to be confused with the sparsely attended protests against the university cave in to Islamic demands for gender segregation. That would be rascist. Instead these protests are against Tory privatisation of education, as reported by the BBC, but note that Huff student posts that they were also outside the inquest court chanting that the police had murdered St Duggan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25338074
http://huff.to/1gZT7Gz
Wonder if racists murdered St Mandela too…?
Don’t laugh, they did it with Gay Arafat who died of Aids and blamed the jew, why not with nissan main dealer. Expect a bBC revelation of a program in the future;
Was Saint Mandela murdered by the Jew?
I’ve just heard that the BBC are nominating Nelson Mandela as a contender for Sports Personality of the Year award 2013.
Coffin Cool Runnings at Sochi on the slalom?
I`d watch that one…
Noted some Toady Nudging in the direction of Clacton kids not getting the best that multiculti Islington receives by way of the OFSTED “buffay”
Sir Mike fingers Suffolk(oo er Mrs Savile)…and the usual parents and kids/old boys thereabouts give us their take on the lavender palaver du jour.
Way too sensible down there, over East to fall for Beebshriek..but I did note that Evan did NOT close with the usual “we did of course give Suffolk CC the right to reply…but they “…yada, yada.
Not at all-instead Evan put on his butchest Dickie Dimbly spats(the old telephone voice)…and instead read out Suffolks “commitment to passionate diversity” and “funtime Frankie , stuff.”..as if we were now at war with Germany!
Riddle me this?…Suffolk would not be Labour would they?…or are there various Glyndebourne trysts that may be “verboten” should the Beeb cup up rough with the Suffolk yeomen?
Not a sneer about the white flag from Suffolk…why so BBC?
Could someone provide a translation of chrisH’s comment for those of us who speak English. Thank you.
Yesterday, Evan Davis put Suffolk in the frame for failing to teach to OFSTED standards.(Toda,y 7.50am 11/12/13).
Now normally-Evan would have told us that “Having asked Suffolk to put us up with a spokesman to defend themselves, they declined”..or some such accusation of running scared.
Standard BBC smearing of the yellow running dogs of Conservatism in effect…OK so far?
But Suffolk were not implicated as shifty or weasly, as others might have been.
No-Evan read out their statement as if it were the Gettysburg address…and so I merely wondered if Davis had decided not to smear Suffolk…maybe because it`s Labour ,or he`ll need a holiday there next year.
Just a bit of fun…hope you can give me an answer seeing as I`ve gone back on myself to be a bit clearer for you!
sorry I thought he was up for strictly come dancing award.Or was it The great bake off.?
No. It is for the Sports Personality of the Year award under the category of the sport of doing: *who can walk on water the longest?*
This made me laugh
Not seen this one on the BBC?
Looks like he’s been tracked down.
http://youtu.be/6fzRSE_p1Ys
That video speaks volumes to anyone that doesn’t have his head stuck firmly up their own liberal lefty arses.
Isn’t the signer bloke the same one standing next to Zuma in the clip below, singing ( and signing) shoot the boer?
Yes it is!… and yesterday the press were saying nobody knew who he was. Case f not wanting to know or not bothered.
Itv this morning quoting the signer as saying he was ” having a schizophrenic moment”
Yeah?
the BBC informs us this morning that apparently this chaps a “schizophrenic”
and was hearing voices telling him things that were not true, that’s why he was making it up 😀
…………………. what s the BBC s excuse?
a “schitzophrenic moment” ?
If we are uddering, a happy foray
sitty comfy bold on the jolly botty
cushion … I ll begin … 😀
he can t speak clearer than that, surely
whats the bbc s excuse
told you he s a “plant” he s a “ringer”
it s the SAME BLOKE 😀
When he signs “they are going to run ” at 20 secs and 28 secs he does a running thing with his fingers. By the time he signs the same line at 1 min 14 he’s changed it to a running motion with his arms. No mistaking his “machine gun” though. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this idiot is related to Zuma in some way.
As Slippy Micky from OFSTEDs cabbage patch of loveliness spouted on about all those “lucky kids” who got to nice schools because they were “lucky enough” to live in nice areas…I thought on all those “lucky parents” who worked “luckily” and for long “randomly allocated longer hours”…just so their kids would NOT be shanked or jugged in Victoria Station concourses to “celebrate Micky and Evans “passionate commitment “to having the white working classes “rendered a al Rigby” for all tomorrows parties.
But I digress-Davis asked Wilshaw as his Columbo(“oh, and just one more thing”) canard about what Boris said about “IQ and the lower orders”.
Funny how and when such a thoroughly-discredited and utterly useless means of “assessing intelligence” gets a new lease of life in trotting around the BBCs gaily painted circus ring isn“t it?
Less Merrilegs,,,more Mr Dead the Horse!
How the hell does the BBC get away with Bojos omnibus spiel as in any way, being worth the views of OFSTED chief grass?…it does when there`s yet ANOTHER open-top soft charabanc to be put on the Generation Game belt for us all to
sneer at a Tory…any screed will do!
Eysenck I saw a puddy tat…but smells of the usual rata2E as required of the Lavender (over the hill) mob!
The Costa Backlash starts here!
How dare they stiff a Cliff?
Yes , I know much of his “Oevres is Dirge”,,,but he`s forever to be thanked in causing George Michael to rage at his “Millennium Prayer” Number 1 hit in 1999/2000.
And maybe now the Big Spliff thanks Cliff for those words that may have helped him in Pentonville 11 years later.
My point-his records reek….but they are NOT as bad as these.
I surveyed a few folks about work, and think I`ve got my vote from the Wessex Wise Wo/Men.con.
Top 10 Crap Xmas logs
1. Live Aid 84
2. Live Aid 89
3. Live Aid 04
4. Wonderful Christmas Time-Heather Mills other leg
5. Last Christmas-Barry Manilow nixmix
6. Driving Home for Christmas…Chris Rio
7. Fairytale of New York( faggotless version for the edgy-rad BBC to give us)
8. Satan Claws a` comin` to Town…B.O.S/S…
9. Pipes of Piss…St Macca of Fumzup
10.Yokos crap on “Happy Xmas(Jesus loves you)
So there you have it folks…and hate to say this by Gary Glitters Rock and Toll Christmas is still a favourite tom put alongside Eltons classic
Wasn’t (No5) Last Christmas by Barry Manifold?
George Michael said no for a while…but the judge disagreed…a right rip off!
Zip me up before you go-go!
My God that’s a depressing list.
I’m just grateful Oasis never teamed up with Billy Bragg to do a Christmas song.
As the increasingly hilariously self-titled, mis-named ‘Trust’ and its coy grandees shuffle uncomfortably in the spotlight, some more snippets…
http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/gaviscon.html
As the sack of ferrets internal relations still seem at optimal levels, it is hard to see how any outside influence will get too far (short of pulling the plug) when the whole sorry bunch can’t stand or trust each other to start with.
And the Trust is getting it in the neck for aiding and abetting the Pollard / Savile cover up.
Time to sack the lot of them. Those who are supposed to be looking after the interests of the public’s £4bn annual investment in the BBC (or should I say, money demanded by them, with menaces)
And the Trust is getting it in the neck for aiding and abetting the Pollard / Savile cover up.
Time to sack the lot of them. Those who are supposed to be looking after the interests of the public’s £4bn annual investment in the BBC (or should I say, money demanded by them, with menaces)
[With the link this time]
http://order-order.com/2013/12/11/tory-mp-rob-wilson-slams-patten-statementa-cynically-timed-attempt-to-cover-lord-pattens-back/#comments
Remember that thread that opened up that Roland D felt was ‘brave’, all things considered.
Remember how it kind of started badly for the BBC and then plummeted?
Remember how, yesterday, as things were really going pear-shaped, they suddenly experienced ‘technical difficulties’?
Well, guess what….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25311513
Sorted.
No (more) problem.
Look at all the highest rated…
Speaking for the nation indeed.
However it is also worth honouring the unknown fallen.
My browser defaults to the last half dozen posted (any Editors wisely steering well clear of a picking).
Best I can see, all but one got modded.
Joining many earlier.
Having kept tabs I can testify most if not all were simply expressions of valid opinion.
Worth keeping in mind next time a Flokker here starts screaming about their right to drive-by in any way they want whilst accusing site owners of censorship.
The BBC has long since perfected it.
Yay! I had one of the Top Ten!
Congrats.
Sadly I did not.
It was going well, then a funny thing happened on the way to the forum…
And appeals pass into Catch-22 territory once they’ve left a referral long enough it goes past closing time.
If you’re Guttersnipe I shall be MOST put out. 🙂
No, I didn’t trump Roland D.
Mine was newsaholic_professor:
Hundreds of BBC staff take a nice holiday in South Africa, at our expense of course, and spend much of their time interviewing each other about how they feel, trying to outdo each other on the grief-o-meter.
All for a story that doesn’t even feature in the top 10 ‘most read’ on this website.
Final proof that the BBC ‘news’ staff live in their own echo-chamber with no sense of perspective .
I am rather surprised that it didn’t suffer the fate of most comments: This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules.
In salute to the Forlorn Hope who fell in such numbers to overwhelm the defences:
Dear BBC Visitor,
Thank you for contributing to the BBC web site. Unfortunately we’ve had to remove the content below because it contravened one of our House Rules.
Your comment was considered to have broken the following House Rule:
“We reserve the right to fail comments which…
Are considered to be off-topic for the discussion.”
And don’t forget, pop-pickers….
‘Please note that anyone who seriously or repeatedly breaks the House Rules may have action taken against their account without further warning.’
Imagine how some might react to such an imposition, say, here?
Nice work and congrats to Roland D. and Sir Arthur. Now if only we could get a defender of the indefensible to explain how the fact that the opinion expressed here got such support from the BBC readers squares with their claim that this is an obscure, Right-wing echo-chamber website which nobody reads and exists way out on the fringe of society, while their (defenders of the indefensible’s) and the BBC’s viewpoint represents the mainstream of public opinion.
It can’t all be votes from racists.
DV – was that you on the Moral Maze? A good balanced programme I thought. I’ve not heard the Moral Maze for a while and it seemed bettter, more thoughtful and less strident than I remember. And isn’t that the BBC giving Melanie Phillips a platform after she’s ceased to be a regular in the Mail? Nice to hear her. Even Portillo sounded genuine and relaxed, not faux liberal. Well done the BBC.
In the 8am slot my local Points West reports on a service for a Nelson Mainheadline in Gloucester today, using the opportunity to wedge in some film from the service earlier in the week and reminding us of his funeral on Sunday….
…And all in 90 seconds including the weather, obviously nothing else happening in the West Country today…