MONDAY OPEN THREAD

OK folks, here is a new fracking approved Open Thread. Anyone spotted Barbara Plett crying about Ariel Sharon? Nope? What a shocker. The floors is yours….

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283 Responses to MONDAY OPEN THREAD

  1. bannerman says:

    R5Live “debate” on Fracking. Conclusion….we are doomed. Can someone please explain how some old Doris called “Tina”…you guessed it “Anti Fracking” is allowed to witter away for most of the hour, interrupting every call, shout in the background. Who the hell was she? A BBC plant…….

       59 likes

    • dayday says:

      Click on Bishop Hill to find out more about “Tina”

         35 likes

    • Maturecheese says:

      Yes I heard mrs shouty, that modus operandi appears to be standard lefty behaviour. I felt compelled to waste my time e mailing panto to point it out and to ask if she would like to pay my energy bills for me.

         51 likes

      • Stewart says:

        From Bishop Hill
        “Travelling Tina

        DateJan 13, 2014 CategoryBBC CategoryEnergy: gas

        Readers may remember my interest in Tina Rothery, the anti-fracking activist who suggested to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that she was a local resident protesting against the Lancashire shale developments. This was surprise since she had also spent the summer in Balcombe protesting developments there as well as having been involved in the Occupy movement in London.

        Today, she turned up again on the Radio 5 phone-in, described as an anti-fracking activist from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. The show also featured James Verdon of the Frack Doctor blog, and a very balanced contribution from Roger Harrabin.”

           55 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          ‘she turned up again on the Radio 5 phone-in, described as an anti-fracking activist from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.’
          Given the factual background identified by the Bishop on a 2s/6d budget, I’d be keen to know how this information seems to have passed by a £4Bpa news behemoth.
          Unless they knew full well, and opted to featured a propagandist as part of their half-information and part-education remit?

             61 likes

          • Roland Deschain says:

            It’s this sort of thing that will, I hope, be their undoing. Bias is virtually impossible to prove, but deliberately misrepresenting who it is they invite on can be more easily pursued.

               41 likes

        • #88 says:

          I was really interested to here what the scientist, not the eco nutter, had to say. Campbell could easily have shut the woman’s microphone but didn’t and even though he had more to explain to the audience, the scientist was taken off air with questions that he was capable of answering unresolved. What was Campbell frightened of?

          ‘Your Call’ has little or no integrity. Campbell and his producers seemingly manipulate the programme for their own purposes – witness Campbell’s interruption of the scientist when he picked up on ‘Tina’s’ claim about the funding of the science. When we learned the scientist was independently funded from the taxpayer…Campbell’s immediate retort was ‘that’s the Government’, the inference being clear.

          And the contrived little bit of theatre at the end…’now we have a Government adviser who will convince Tina…’. Someone who it turned out was on ‘Tina’s’ side of the argument and who went on to bemoan the lack regulation. Theatre indeed. Campbell, as he introduced the caller, will have known exactly what he was going to say. And of course the allegations made in that call almost at the end of the show (for impact) are made without a response from the Government.

          Corrupt…the BBC and Campbell are nothing other than manipulative and corrupt.

             72 likes

          • Trefor Jones says:

            Campbell’s programme “The Big Questions” yesterday was supposed to be a live debate – unfortunately David Lammy was in the audience and he was with Andrew Marr five minutes earlier. I realise that it was an emotive topic but at least be honest and say that it was recorded probably a day or two earlier.

               13 likes

            • johnnythefish says:

              ‘Inform, educate and entertain’.

              So that would be FAIL, FAIL and ‘ARE YOU AVIN’ A LARF?’

                 16 likes

    • Milverton says:

      I couldn’t believe that old bitch. Even when she wasn’t involved in the discussion she was jabbering away in the background.

         28 likes

    • Maturecheese says:

      Did anyone else hear some guy going on about how absolutely spiffing renewables like solar panels and windmills are doing in Germany, apparently providing 25% of their energy? I’m sure I read a while back on Richard Norths EU referendum site that all was not well in Germany and they are building coal fired power stations.

         30 likes

    • ember2013 says:

      Could you imagine how ballistic these eco-warriors would have gone if they’d been around when industrial-level coal mining began in Britain?

         14 likes

  2. Phil Ford says:

    Very interesting to note that, predictably, on this news story the comments section is open for business, leading off with this question to readers:

    “…Is your community likely to experience fracking? What is your reaction to this news? Please provide your comments using the form below.

    So, any guess as to what kind of ‘opinions’ the BBC are trawling for? Pro-fracking or anti-…?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25705550

    Hmmm.

       41 likes

    • Mark B says:

      I like the, ‘Editors picks’ – NOT !

      Not much in the way of a balanced argument there.

         14 likes

    • Germanicus says:

      I’ve noticed recently the extra coverage given to the Women’s version of men’s sports, even the day after a full premiership fixture weekend the sports presenter on Radio 2 in the morning will inform us that Arsenal ladies won the women’s FA cup or something else that no one in the world except for the women in the two teams give a flying fuck about. One only assumes that it’s an editorial decision based on sex discrimination guidelines. The lefties at the BBC really are a turning into a parody of themselves.

         24 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        Women’s ‘Ashes’ cricket took the headlines on this morning’s 7.25 sports bulletin, the not-so-subliminal message being they are so much better than the men (which may be true, but so would a team of chimpanzees).

           17 likes

  3. Geoff says:

    Reposted from the dying embers of the last thread…

    Another anti-men story on Breakfast News presented by the sports announcer that looks like a bloke.

    Sports news leads with her smugly announcing to the 5 interested viewers, that “our women’s cricketers achieve what our men cant” …. bugger yesterday’s Premiership matches or the fact that the Australian Open starts today or the numerous more notable happening in sport yesterday …

       43 likes

    • DICK R says:

      The womens cricket team would be bowled out inside two overs against any ashes fast bowling attack.

         21 likes

      • chrisH says:

        Piers Morgan for captain, Garry Richardson as deputy!
        Maybe a mini-series where they build up to the Test over a few hours..”Strikkly Crikkit”
        Garry seems to know all the answers…and Piers has that kind of name that ought to worry the Aussies

           11 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      Women’s cricket was the single most important thing on the Today sports headlines at 8:30. I’m sure all sports fans were agog to hear about it.

         25 likes

      • Milverton says:

        I saw a few moments of the Wimmins’ Ashes on the telly on Saturday. They were careful not to show the teeming throngs in the stands, and it looked like it was filmed on a mobile phone.

           18 likes

        • bannerman says:

          I begs the question…why bother? What’s the point of a sport being played if nobody watches it? Its obviously got zero interest even to the sports mad Aussie public. So why is it “bigged up” by the BBC? Actually you could probably put County Cricket as a waste of effort as well. Do minority sports, watched it seems by one man and his dog, warrant such huge amounts of licence money spent covering it?

             15 likes

          • nofanofpoliticians says:

            Who funds wimmin’s cricket? Anyone know?

            I would imagine that the cost of transporting a decent sized squad plus support staff and hotelling them round Australia doesn’t come cheap?

            Not BBC bias I know, and no particular angle to the question, just interested to know.

               10 likes

            • johnnythefish says:

              Might be a question for the BBC to ask.

              On second thoughts…….

                 4 likes

              • chrisH says:

                Without watching the damn stuff-am I right in thinking that they`d be protecting themselves up top with boxes about their boobs/
                As opposed to blokes.
                Only asking, seeing as there are Madonna conical bras still for hire after Christmas…and might add to the gaiety of the game.
                Mere musings.

                   5 likes

                • chrisH says:

                  Re Ashes…would wimmins version be simply bad cooking?
                  Oo er…off to report myself to the Hate Police….AND to do my own cooking, now that I`ve had my reprimand!
                  Far easier in Sid James day was it not?

                     10 likes

          • Rueful Red says:

            They got over 6,000 a day for three days at Scarborough for Yorkshire v Durham last year. Some waste of effort.

               3 likes

        • chrisH says:

          Without watching the damn stuff-am I right in thinking that they`d be protecting themselves up top with boxes about their boobs/
          As opposed to blokes.
          Only asking, seeing as there are Madonna conical bras still for hire after Christmas…and might add to the gaiety of the game.
          Mere musings.

             2 likes

  4. Pounce says:

    So here I am reading the News after a weekend away and I see the bBC is still pushing the image that the followers of a truely peaceful path can only be victims:
    1) Death of Sharon:
    Palestinians saw him as a war criminal, because of the 1982 massacre by Christian Phalangist militia at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. An Israeli inquiry found Mr Sharon responsible for failing to prevent the killings.

    What I love pointing out about the above is that it transpired in 1982 and that between 700 to 3200 people were killed by a mob in respone to the murder of Bachir Gemayel , but just 4 months earlier a few miles away in Hama, the Syrian army had wiped out between 10-40000 people. Yet for some strange reason nobody bothers mentioning that much higher death toll.

    2) I eat Man flesh
    so the bBC talks to a man who ate parts of a man he killed. Well guess what he is a christian and the victim was…….. It later transpires that all his family had been murdered by so called peaceful people and he justw anted his pound of flesh. Yet the does anybody remember the bbC doing likewise with that Terrorist inside syria who ate a mans heart?

    3) Child suicide bomber
    An Afghan girl has told the BBC that her family forced her to attack a police checkpoint in Helmand province.The girl, known as Spozhmai, said her brother and father had beaten her, ordering her to put on a suicide vest.
    All well and good and how does the bbC close that article down:
    The president has condemned the Taliban over the incident, but the group has denied any involvement in the alleged plot.

       41 likes

    • Lynette says:

      The tone of the BBC commentary was so sympathetic and appalled at the poor Afghan girl forced to attack a checkpoint but in PA controlled territory where thousands have been groomed for suicide bombing the subject has been totally ignored by the BBC.

         30 likes

    • Invicta 1066 says:

      Regarding item 2. I listened to the BBC reporter who claimed to have tracked down the man responsible for the cannibalism. His explanation that his pregnant wife and her sister had been butchered by the Muslims was almost brushed over. How about the same BBC man tracking down the Muslims responsible (if the man’s sad storey is accurate) and asking them why they did it, or any other atrocity?
      As with Israel, BBC types are free to criticise and make claims against Israel in safety and exercising critically free speech when actually in Israel, but when standing in Gaza or terrorist held Syria or anywhere else they are never so bold as to make similar accusations against their ”hosts’ I wonder why?

         26 likes

      • RHG says:

        Presumably if he tried to tag along with the Seleka militia his chances of ever being seen again would be nil.

        The Janjaweed and Chadians are involved..the situation is very nasty.

        ‘Christian’ militia is a catch all…animists are also on the loose..and the body parts fetish is indigenous.

           7 likes

  5. Guest Who says:

    Personal, professional or jolly? Wonder who funded ’em?
    http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/finger-picking.html
    Still, one is sure they’ll be shoring up West Country cliffs on their return to offset it all.

       8 likes

  6. DICK R says:

    Why does the BBC give these ecolunatics so much airtime? for the best part of an hour this morning they were being wheeled out one after another, they should be challenged to be the first to volunteer to have their gas and electricity disconnected and spend the rest of their lives living on muesli in freezing huts and let the rest of us live in the real world !

       40 likes

  7. David Brims says:

    There was a programme on BBC 2 last night about tea, presented by Simon Reeve, he went to Uganda and Kenya !! I thought tea came from India and China.

    If the BBC was doing a documentary about polar bears, I suspect they would make a detour to Africa, they seem to be obsessed with that benighted continent, taking of which, President Zuma of South Africa practices witchcraft against white people. Isn’t that, err, um, slightly racist ? over to you Scott.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536513/South-African-president-Zuma-reveals-used-practice-witchcraft-against-white-people.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

       29 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      Tea was originally cultivated in China. It was introduced to India, Ceylon (alright, Sri Lanka if you must) and Africa countries by us Brits. Despite this, I seem to recall some dim-witted Conservative MP once saying on the BBC that the fact we drink tea from India is evidence of our diverse, multicultural society blah blah.

         21 likes

      • Maturecheese says:

        I happen to prefer Kenyan tea as it is more coppery and has a stronger taste.

           4 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      There are lots of teas grown in Africa. Check out this list of products and see if you can find a common thread which might draw your typical Beeboid’s attention more than it would common folk.

         8 likes

      • noggin says:

        Beebot …
        “can t you see massive overriding percentage of “blak” Kenya tea, really (shakes head) its the only thing I noticed … (thank GOD for Mandela) … what s wrong with you, are you a waycist”

           5 likes

        • nofanofpoliticians says:

          I have visited Kericho in Kenya, where most Kenya tea is produced. It really is the most incredible place, with tea plantations visible in every direction for as far as the eye can see.

          Very political sector to be involved in though and from memory, in the top 4 of foreign exchange earners for the country as I recall (tourism, coffee and Kenyans abroad being the other 3 although I cannot recall the correct order).

             11 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      Surely a much more effective way of dealing with white people who are causing you some problems is to give their name to the BBC.

         10 likes

  8. chrisH says:

    I see Justin Webb is back then!
    Who else but a BBC licker of the spittle screen there in London would cite Ken Clarke as the very Gold Standard of EU/Tory sense ans sensibilities?
    William Hague was barely able to get an answer in before Justin was comparing his flares to those of the great Ken( he`ll surely be checking in at Davos now won`t he?)…and , of course the Tories were found wanting in comparison to this tubby titan of BBC fantasies.
    Next-does Camerons crimper even come CLOSE to the gold standard of barnet that we saw when Sir Michael Heseltine planted trees in Toxteth(so snipers could get a better view and jump onto victims with less trouble)…and when he urged hari-kiri to all things European, and especially that pretty currency of theirs.
    Funny that Ken, Tony, Mandy and Tony sum up the whole “balanced debate from both sides” re EU Membership.
    As far as the BBC are concerned.
    F888 em!…my license fee should now be heading for Lausanne and Eurovision, not the BBC…why are paying London for this shite, when Strasbourg spends on propaganda and fake debates so much better, and more honestly too!

       24 likes

    • noggin says:

      “we re going to where our tea really comes from?
      yep …. Africa”??? (thank GOD for Nelson Mandela?)
      actually less than one third of the tea in the UK comes from there so ……
      “1000s of impoverished workers” … yeah but
      “raggedy shanty towns” …. but but
      “ahhh the tale of the tea trail” … but Justin
      “the raggedy impoverished train slowly trundles
      along its neglected journey on the imperial, colonial
      line where 1000s of raggedy impoverished workers died”
      but Justin …….
      JUSTIN!!!! … less than a third of our tea comes from there so your fundamentally wrong.
      ahhh the colonial, emperialist, brutal, strict harsh Brits, and the anonymous raggedy impoverished shanty town picker packer planters struggle with insurmountable odds in slums picking through rubbish to eat … just to get the tea to horrendously white blighty
      ya da ya da ya da

         27 likes

      • noggin says:

        ps … it started veering away from anything to do with tea altogether … I just turned off

           13 likes

        • jpt says:

          Then you missed the interview with the Masai tribeswoman on the plains dressed in robes etc speaking in her own language that was translated into English on screen for us and she actually used the phrase ‘climate change’ at least two or three times!
          But I doubt she did.

             28 likes

          • RHG says:

            They are prompted to attribute all weather events to climate change by NGO workers driving 4×4 SUVs….and thereby informed who they should think is ‘at fault’…compensation beckons in some amorphous way.

               14 likes

          • Mat says:

            Lol would this be the sort of ‘Masai’ who live in the local town and dress up for the tourists? funny those who I met in Kenya are ridiculously intelligent men and women who knew how to bleed moronic eco/libtard/BBC foreigners for cash and for that I have a total respect !!

               12 likes

      • Doublethinker says:

        Lets ban tea, and then they can find other work to do and climb of their British imposed poverty.

           14 likes

  9. Umbongo says:

    Lyse Doucet (a graduate of the Barbara Plett School of Journalism) ended her report on Sharon on Today with the valedictory “he was as much reviled as revered”. The same could be said of almost any politician, statesman or soldier. It could even be said of the blessed Madiba or Barbara Plett’s hero Arafat although in their cases, the BBC – in my hearing anyway – neither commented thus nor reported such sentiments during their obsequies (or, in Madiba’s case – I confidently predict – ever will).

       47 likes

    • ember2013 says:

      So haven’t we had expressions of grief at Sharon’s funeral, from BBC journalists?

         21 likes

    • Old Timer says:

      You are absolutely correct Umbongo. It’s the adjectives that define the BBC. Who it reveres and who it reviles are easy to see. By using the correct adjectives in its position as unassailable leader of the media the BBC educates the not only this country but a large proportion of the world, who still believe the BBC is the impartial font of all honest news.

      Words such as; controversial, divisive, brutal butcher, provocative leader, hated war criminal, massacres at refugee camps, and responsible for killings, have been used by the BBC to describe Arial Sharon the past Prime Minister of the sovereign country of Israel. The BBC does not quote who said these words, but just mention certain groups, i.e. Palestinians, Egyptians or Arabs, one must assume that those words are therefore the opinion of the BBC reporters/producers. Who’s opinions are facts of course.

      On the other hand to see something positive said about Mr Sharon the BBC will quote the actual people that said the positive words and by quoting people who are “controversial” in the BBC’s eyes, for instance Tony Blair (the Liar), or Joe Biden (the American) or even worse Benjamin Netanyahu (the PM of Israel) the BBC will therefore taint or undermine the positive comments.

      It all very clever and subtle and not at all transparent to the passing viewer, listener or readers of their web pages. However, the BBC’s opinions are not pleasant to consume to those with a discerning pallet for the truth. They should keep to the blunt and actual facts. I do not wish to hear the opinions of back room left wing idiots that still have to have their nappies changed by mummy, the sort that troll on here in fact. Nor do I wish to be forced to pay their bloated salaries. It is very sad that as we plough into the 21st century we the people are still considered slaves to be plundered for our cash by the great unwashed socialist elite with anti-sematic opinions.

         29 likes

    • George R says:

      Of course, Lyse Doucet is infamous for claiming ‘the humanity of the Taliban’. So we know her moral standards.

         15 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      Is it me or are 90% of the BBC’s Middle East reporters ‘hideously Irish’?

      Just coincidence, or are they deemed somehow more acceptable to the locals than the colonialist Brits who, as we know, are responsible for all the region’s current problems?

         16 likes

      • DownBoy says:

        Not sure I would inflict Orla Guerin on any group of foreigners, no matter how crazy/brutal they are. 🙂

           9 likes

  10. AsISeeIt says:

    Winter Special

    PublicSectorPhile’s winter special is a celebration of Britain’s benefit landscape in this, the harshest of seasons. This winter has been a particularly tough one for lowlife when their only options are to sleep three to a duvet (to beat the bedroom tax), feed (care of Food Banks) or flee (the DSS inspectors). Ellie Harrison is in Salford where winter is often felt most keenly. As well as exploring the mountains of BBC wastage she also takes a canoe safari around a sewer, looking for the hardy lowlife which has to survive whatever the weather. Julia Bradbury joins weatherman John Hammond in Tower Hamlets where, ignoring a giant elephant in the room, they learn why the UK gets the unique weather scaremongering it does but not a word of warning about immigration. It’s been especially apparent this year that London is often hardest hit by gang crime but whilst it might wreak havoc for us, it brings a special kind of treasure for civil rights lawyers. Adam Henson is on the north Tottenham High Road to find out more. Matt Baker is in denial about how the TV Licence keeps food on his table whatever the winter weather. He’s with carrot producers as they bring in their harvest, and with the help of the London Vegetable Orchestra (no, really), he plays a mean tune on a carrot. Britain’s foremost landscape artist Andy Goldsworthy visits his favourite publicly funded commission spot in Dumfries and Galloway to create a new work of art especially for the programme and explains why the public sector in winter has so much to offer him as an artist.

       26 likes

    • Geoff says:

      Countryfile had a item about land development within the green belt and how its now affecting small villages.

      Over the 12 minutes or so of the item, the attitude was that it was ‘necessary’ ie we ‘need’ more homes (an expert telling us they are for our kids and grandchildren???) yet at no point was the elephant in the room mentioned. Of course the fact that covering these lush fields with houses akin to rabbit hutches is also causing the flooding we’re experiencing right now, but to mention this of course wouldn’t fit into the AGW agenda that the BBC is so keen to peddle…

         33 likes

      • DICK R says:

        No mention of the fact that these houses will not be built for the indigenous population, but the sole beneficiaries will be the descendants of mass immigration ,we will merely have the dubious pleasure of paying for them and seeing our countryside despoiled.

           26 likes

        • Doublethinker says:

          Spot on. Any serious audit of the benefits and costs of mass immigration comes to the conclusion that it has been a disaster for Britain.
          I note that Boris is wading into E Miliband because the latter won’t support a referendum on membership of the EU. But no mention by ANY current politician of the lack of any democratic process in the decision to allow millions of aliens into our country. The EU debate is small beer in comparison to allowing millions of non EU citizens into our country . This lack of a democratic process will come back to bite those who inflicted their madcap scheme on us and , please note BBC , on those who aided and abetted this treacherous act.

             23 likes

        • Aerfen says:

          As well as our few remaining ethnic British communities altered forever. How about a village Mosque in the Chilterns?

             7 likes

      • Dave s says:

        In fact the homes are needed to house the white refugees from the cities which have been effectively turned into places where most ethnic English no longer wish to live. Always excluding the North London liberal set of course.

           21 likes

        • Aerfen says:

          “Always excluding the North London liberal set of course.”

          But only those that can afford private education, the remainder head for the grammar schools of Kent or Bucks as their sprogs approach secondary school age.

             6 likes

      • pah says:

        The problems with building new estates attached to villages are legion but the biggest one is actually getting people to buy them. This is because Prescott’s mania for social housing means that around 40% of new builds have to be ‘social housing.’

        Now there is no work in most villages, no new employers planning on starting up so the people in the new social housing will be unemployed. The private housing built besides these will go to commuters – who don’t want to move out of the towns and cities to be slap bang next to social housing full of unemployed people (often dumped by town councils)- so those houses don’t sell too well.

        In our local town it has taken nearly 10 years to fill a block of flats as most of the properties were BTL and there is a shortage of tenants never mind owner occupiers.

        So when ever some muppet politician around here starts banging on about housing shortages they tend not to get too far – doesn’t stop them giving planning permission for estates though.

           12 likes

    • LurkerDroneNumber141 says:

      I once spent some days on the piss with John Hammond in the luxurious confines of the Upland Goose. He was on ITV then, though, so I don’t feel unclean.

         6 likes

  11. Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

    Has anyone yet had an answer to complaints about the bBBC Mandelathon?
    I complained on the day (5 December), got their standard brush-off which ignored the points I had made, so I complained again on 11 December (details below). On 28 December I got another of their standard e-mails: Thanks for recently contacting the BBC. We aim to reply to complaints within 10 working days (around 2 weeks) and do so for most of them but cannot for all. The time taken depends on the nature of your complaint, how many others we are dealing with and can also be affected by practical issues such as whether a production team is available or away on location. This is to let you know that we have referred your complaint to the relevant staff but that it may take longer than 10 working days to reply. We therefore ask you not to contact us further in the meantime. …
    How long does it take them to think of a sensible reply?
    ——————————————————————————
    Complaint Summary: Cancellation of news – excessive Mandelathon

    Full 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.

       54 likes

    • lojolondon says:

      A great email –

      As a veteran on the BBC Complaints website, I have to warn you that what you have received is an accurate reflection of the responses still to come. The BBC will sit on it for 6-10 weeks (sometimes requiring a prompt before answering.) Then you will get a response which reads : “Thanks for contacting us with your opinion. We always strive to give balanced news, and to deliver the news that matters to most people. Regards etc.”

      A massive waste of time complaining, unfortunately, but you can get some satisfaction if you live in the area of a sensible MP, copy your complaint and their response to him and let him chase for more….

         27 likes

    • LurkerDroneNumber141 says:

      Brilliantly put, Sir Arthur.

         15 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      We know from Evan Davis’s reaction to DB’s tweet that this sort of thing only makes them hold you in more contempt than ever.

         18 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘got their standard brush-off which ignored the points I had made’
      Rather answering this:
      ‘How long does it take them to think of a sensible reply?’
      They can’t so they don’t even try.
      If it wasn’t #foiexempted, the stats on this procedure would be fascinating.
      From first contact through default, didn’t read it brush-off to irritated dismissal based on belief… onward and upward into the labyrinth.
      And of course, if it doesn’t reach Mount Olympus, or it does for a pretend review and their belief matches their colleagues… none of it counts. But you get a black mark in case you make them have to lie like a damp rug again.
      Your response is great; I look forward to how they sulk that one away based on an ECU Director’s comfort in BBC inability to err.
      I don’t see that as a waste of time at all.
      Because somewhere it’s logged, and one day those files will be in public view.
      As to sensible MPs…. hen’s teeth. One with any hint grasping what the BBC imposes on policy and democratic process though its editorial propaganda and internal, in secret censorship system in complement, maybe a half dozen.

         12 likes

      • Lynette says:

        But my local MP knew that it was part of his job to deal with me and he endorsed my complaints if they were delayed or “lost” by contacting the BBC or The Minister of Media , Culture and Sports. I received a similar letter from him many times as a result but it was worthwhile.

           10 likes

  12. ember2013 says:

    Regarding the conflict of interest between certain Peers of the realm in the Lords (with their EU pensions) and the discussion about the in/out EU referendum.

    Oh yeh – the BBC is quiet about it.

       29 likes

  13. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Here’s a BBC News Online Magazine feature about the looming ban on horse-drawn carriages in NYC’s Central Park, written entirely from the animal rights anti-carriage perspective.

    NYC carriage ban: Is New York’s love affair with horses over?

    It’s by Kate Dailey, who has from reporting from the Left perspective. See here, here, and here.

       19 likes

    • George R says:

      More slavery?

         6 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Whatever it is, you can bet the BBC won’t be interested in telling you when Comrade Mayor sells the stables to one of his biggest campaign donors. All the “impartial” Kate Dailey could manage to include for the other side of the issue was a quote about how horses were important 100 years ago, which is irrelevant, and is why she thought it an appropriate representation of the other point of view.

           15 likes

  14. johnnythefish says:

    Started to watch the BBC ten o’ clock news last night. The headline item was the ‘fault lines’ appearing in the Tory party over Europe ‘again’.

    Quickly switched to ITV news just in time to catch the beginning. Watched it through to the end. Not a mention of the Tory party and Europe.

    Funny that.

    Bias? What bias?

       40 likes

    • chrisH says:

      Boris Johnson wrote a good piece in todays Telegraph.
      Why does`n Labour trust us to decide on an EU Referendum?
      After all, we`ve had them for Mickey Mouse crap like Geordieland Assemblies.
      But Labour does`nt, won`t and never will trust us-not as long as the likes of Blair, Kinnocks and Mandelsons get pensions and chances to stop the traffic with their cavalcades-and all due to the EU, for all are losers, traitors and war criminals, bankrupt unelectable bullshitters.
      Boris answers his own question well…but funnily enough Evan, Justin and the like don`t think this appalling denial of the Peoples Party to give the People a vote on the only issue in town these days, worthy of any comment whatsoever.
      Labour get the free pass that they always do with the BBC Lotus eaters….hope they choke!

         31 likes

    • #88 says:

      Saw that JtF…and there wasn’t a single word in their report that justified the headline

         4 likes

  15. Thoughtful says:

    Rasha Khory is a Palestinian woman on her way to Jerusalem to run some errands for her mother, but she also has her own secret mission, visceral to her sense of identity. All too swiftly Rasha finds herself thwarted, injured and discovering some unwelcome home truths about her beloved father. What choices will she make? A compelling portrait of Palestinian life by Selma Dabbagh.

    Directed by Sarah Bradshaw

    Notes
    Selma Dabbagh is a British Palestinian writer based in London. Her first novel, ‘Out of It’, was published by Bloomsbury to widespread critical acclaim from The Sunday Telegraph to The Morning Star. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies published by Granta, International PEN and the British Council. This is Selma’s first play for radio. She is currently working on a second novel

    Balen report anyone ?

       17 likes

    • deegee says:

      No links to listen. Odd.

         0 likes

    • Lynette says:

      Propaganda in fictional radio drama and film is very powerful. See for example http://netanyalynette.blogspot.co.il/2012/08/propaganda-in-film.html

         17 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Anyone who suggests Lynette is wrong here will need to explain why the BBC included the heads of comedy and drama in the 28-Gate seminar.

        As always, defenders of the indefensible will remain silent.

           19 likes

    • Judy says:

      The real eye opener is that this is enthusiastically promoted on the iPlayer
      web site by a woman who is:

      Sarah Bradshaw …the Commissioner for International News Training at the
      BBC College of Journalism.

      She commissions international news training for BBC journalists. And this is
      the sort of stuff she writes:

      “Planning, Preparation and Palestine

      Have you ever had one of those days that make you want to scream out of
      sheer frustration? Have you ever asked someone
      Œif-you-wouldn¹t-mind­possibly-just-helping-me-do-this-teeny-little-thing¹
      only to make matters worse? If any of that sounds familiar, then Selma
      Dabbagh¹s first radio play The Brick could strike a chord.

      This piece is part of The Innovation Strand, an initiative that invites BBC
      staff from other broadcast disciplines into radio drama to broaden their
      experience and perhaps offer something slightly different to the Afternoon
      Drama slot. Previous Innovation Strand plays have included docudrama,
      conceptual art and high comedy.

      Having worked in the Middle East and enjoyed Selma¹s first novel, we met up
      and got down to planning and preparing a few different plot lines. With
      guidance and advice from the managerial team, we submitted an idea that
      passed. When I mentioned to a colleague at the Arabic Service what I was
      doing, we started planning for a film crew to interview contributors and
      film the recording for their flagship Arts TV programme, ŒAfaq¹ or Horizon.

      The story is set in occupied Palestine where Rasha Khory (played by the
      brilliant Sirine Saba) is a young woman with 3 seemingly simple tasks to
      complete for her mother (Nina Wadia). She must light a candle in church,
      deliver a bag of lemons and buy a plastic sheet. However, Rasha has
      another, more visceral, secret mission: to retrieve one of her beloved
      father¹s handmade bricks from the back garden of her former family home,
      inside the city wall of Jerusalem with the help of an unsuspecting tourist
      (Anton Lesser). Now this all might seems pretty simple, but if you¹re
      Palestinian what should be a short taxi ride can sometimes take many hours.
      Rasha finds herself negotiating permits, road blocks, children and
      checkpoints ­ and along the way she learns some shocking home truths about
      the late father she idolises.”

      So Sara Bradshaw has used this propaganda set to train broadcasters from
      other BBC disciplines and to promote this particular blameless victim of
      evil Israeli oppression narrative. Reading between the lines, they obviously made other pitches before the one the BBC management team finally agreed.
      No chance of getting hold of that info because of the BBC’s refusals re journalistic presentation and the famous suppressed Balen report on its biases re the Middle East/
      And just as extras, some additional propaganda pages linked to The Guardian there
      on the BBC iPlayer site for the play.

      Note also the reference to “occupied Palestine”. On the BBC website, by its
      Commissioner of training for journalists.

      Commissar for Palestinian propaganda, more like

         1 likes

  16. David Preiser (USA) says:

    BBC editorial priorities on display today. The current top story on the US & Canada page is about some evil Texan got a permit to hunt an endangered black rhino in Namibia. It’s been there since yesterday. Completely absent from BBC reporting so far is the beginning of the Supreme Court hearing a challenge to the President’s controversial recess appointments. Many consider these to be a violation of Constitutional law, and it must be a bit more than the kind of thing the BBC usually dismisses as mere partisan attacks by His enemies wanting to destroy Him as it’s made it all the way up to the Supreme Court, and they’re giving it an extra 30 minutes for oral arguments.

    This is a big deal. It’s one of many extra-legal power-grabbing acts by this President, and the result will have an affect on His credibility and on His relationship with Congress. That’s in addition to the more important affect this may or may not have on Presidential power. No wonder the BBC doesn’t want to know. I’ll watch to see how they report the result, but it’s really something worth at least a news brief instead of all the lightweight, human interest, character-driven “bespoke” video magazine pieces.

    The Court will also be hearing a case of a group of nuns suing the Administration for an exemption from ObamaCare’s requirement for them to pay for birth control for employees, a combination of three pet BBC issues. No mention of that either. The BBC is spending more money and resources than ever before on the US market, and it’s pretty weak stuff. They’re getting more eyeballs than ever, so I suppose it’s working and isn’t meant for me. This is how they spread influence, and I have to ask if it has anything to do with the BBC’s remit.

       23 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      “…and the result will have an affect on His credibility…

      Not at the BBC it won’t.

         18 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      That is a big deal really (had to read the “plain English” link to really follow it) and should at least get a mention; did you know Chris Christie sued over New Jersey bridge scandal? And Chris Christie sued over New Jersey bridge scandal? Oh, and not forgetting that Chris Christie will be sued over New Jersey bridge scandal?

         15 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        The same Beeboids who are convinced that the President didn’t know about Benghazi or give any orders, didn’t know about the IRS deliberately targeting His political enemies or give any orders to do it even though He publicly joked about doing it (before it started), didn’t know about the NSA, didn’t know about shutting down road access to national monuments or punishing school children by suspending White House tours or give any orders to do any of that, didn’t know about the problems of the ObamaCare website, and didn’t know about the problems of the law itself (but He’s still totally in charge and is brilliant and is involved in everything good) are equally convinced that Christie ordered this and knew everything and is lying now.

        The same Beeboids who are convinced that investigations into Benghazi and the IRS are nothing more than pathetic partisan attacks on Him with zero substance are equally convinced that the DoJ must bring Christie to justice immediately and that there’s no partisan influence there at all.

           26 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        BTW, Span Ows, the President has ordered His minions to investigate Christie for misuse of Hurricane Sandy funds He gave New Jersey in exchange for all those photo ops Christie and He did in the run-up to His re-election.

        Oh, I’m sorry, I misspoke. The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development has magically and coincidentally decided to investigate Gov. Christie for misuse of federal funds, possibly using some of it for campaign ads for his own re-election. Jay Carney just dodged a question about it in today’s White House press briefing.

        Nothing partisan about this at all, I’m sure.

           12 likes

  17. Jb says:

    PostWatch this BBC interview with British Armed Forces Muslim chaplain Imam Asim Hafiz, who says there is no conflict in being a Muslim and fighting for Britain.

    Mr Hafiz, who was appointed by the MoD in 2005 and is one of two Muslim chaplains, says of the Afghanistan conflict: “There is no doubt a misunderstanding among the Muslim community that this is somehow a war against Islam.

    “The military is out there trying to support Afghanistan and the Afghan people. They are not fighting a religion or a culture.”
    Posted by the British Army on Face Book,with quote-” Jihad is not about fighting, it’s not about prolonging conflict. Jihad is about seeking peace and that’s one of the things we were trying to promote” from Asim Hafiz-Imam Chaplain in the Army…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25680656

       10 likes

    • deegee says:

      Bebefit of the doubt. Would we prefer a fire-breathing Islamist in the job?

      Surely positive feelings about the British Armed Forces and serving in it is the message we want the BBC to broadcast?

         8 likes

      • Thoughtful says:

        “Jihad is not about fighting, it’s not about prolonging conflict. Jihad is about seeking peace ”

        I don’t think I’ve ever heard such blatant lies. Everyone knows Jihad is all about fighting, and if he doesn’t know that or isn’t prepared to say it’ I doubt that Muslims will take him seriously, or he’ll end up dead !

           19 likes

        • pah says:

          A quote involving ”fucking for virginity’ comes to mind …

             6 likes

        • George R says:

          Islam: “A Picture of Dualism”

          By Bill Warner.

          http://www.politicalislam.com/blog/a-picture-of-duality/

             7 likes

          • chrisH says:

            Aargh!
            Facts!…graphs, incontravertible truths , statistics, Koranic literalities….facts, more facts!
            Aarrgh!
            Yes folks, only “scientists” with no brains, a Guardian chip and a stiff`kit from the UEA should be discussing Islam…and it ought to be done just s the BBC “debate” climate changey stuff.
            Thank Buddha that no serious science has been taught to anybody since 1992…or else we`d be in schtuck.
            Bill Warner is the last of the breed…make the most of him, before Allahs little helpers go a crawling around Tennessee.

               11 likes

        • noggin says:

          Islam the (so called) religion part
          is simply the means to an end … the get out of jail free card.
          It IS a dangerous totalitarian ideology
          with a genocidal vent, and a penchant for lying and violence to achieve world domination.
          Muslims themselves know this, even if they try to ignore it, or not act in accordance with it … this Imam if he denies this clear fact, is delusional.

             14 likes

          • chrisH says:

            You do wonder what Islam was supposed to bring to the table, near-on 600 years after the perfect, the only solution to Gods problem with mankind in the shape of His Son Jesus Christ(PBUH or what?).
            As far as I can tell, it`s a mere ragbag and regurgitation of half-arsed bits of paganism, Satanism, animism(local brands), along with some half-heard bits of gossip and scripture/attendant myths from the Judeo-Christian canon.
            Gleaned no doubt from the caravan trains that they robbed and butchered, once they`d heard the bits of Jesus, Abraham etc.
            All this to satisfy and bolster the nasty tribal desert blood lusts of rival clans and tribes over wadi rights and the chance for underage sex with a rival group…hence the brand of Arab Fascism that coats this “accursed so-called” religion.
            It has no intellectual basis, no consolation and no mercy…and no point seeing as the Jews and Christians have the complete package.
            Yet Islam persists-fine in the desert arid hell holes of Yemen…but there is no excuse for it being given parity or houseroom in any civilised society.
            But it bombs its way to the drawing rooms of Rushdie…and we`re expected to regard it as a “Religion of Peace”.
            It`s an f888in Shatanis mockery of Judeo-Christianity, it begs for scraps then cuts the throats of those who give them.
            Hence the BlowSnowJobs on it by the likes of the BBCs “Religious Affairs” wallah…Rageh and the like.
            Time to roll it up like a Persian reefer and send it through the chute where the US Navy sent Bin Ladens lanky scabrous corpse.
            Imagine…

               13 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      It’s about time the BBC made this effort. I know most people here will never accept that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not specifically war against Islam, and that the only solution is to violently expel them all like you expelled the Jews in 1290, but imagine the difference in your society if the BBC had spent the last few years trying to convince British Mohammedans that they were wrong to believe that instead of trying to convince you that British Mohammedans wanting to kill you was somehow justified by those wars.

         14 likes

  18. George R says:

    Well done India on polio vaccine campaign:-

    “India hails polio-free ‘milestone'”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25708715

    -But INBBC doesn’t compare that with the appalling situation in the neighbouring Islamic Republic of Pakistan:-

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/br0nc0s/managed-mt/mt-srch.cgi?search=islam+polio+pakistan&IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20

       18 likes

  19. Thoughtful says:

    Why was Tony BLiar at the funeral of Ariel Sharon, why was he given a chance to speak, and why was his speech the only one the BBC has chosen to broadcast?

    I guess that they’re still in love with him, even if the Labour party aren’t !

       23 likes

    • flexdream says:

      I think that al Beeba is trying to kill two birds with one stone and tar each with the other’s reputation, as they see it. Al Beeba support Labour, not Blair.

         5 likes

    • Lynette says:

      I don’t think so. As I have said on this site before the BBC did not let the speeches that Blair made in the USA be heard by the public even though they were well received in the States eg Speech in Washington DC 2004 had an 8 minute standing ovation but not a minute on the BBC and Blair’s speech in Las Angeles 2006 was noted on News at 10 by the phrase “this is what the PM MEANT to say”

         3 likes

    • pah says:

      Is he not a ‘Middle Eastern Envoy’ of some sort still?

         2 likes

  20. George R says:

    ‘Telegraph’ (£):-

    “The BBC: still as pro-EU as ever after all these years.”

    By Norman Tebbit.

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/normantebbit/100254284/the-bbc-still-as-pro-eu-as-ever-after-all-these-years/?

       17 likes

  21. David Preiser (USA) says:

    One has to feel sorry for Canada. Practically the only time the BBC ever features a story about my northern neighbor is when there’s some ugly scandal. The latest is about some idiotic court decision to convict a teenage girl of distributing child pornography for SMSing nude pics of her boyfriend’s ex.

    If the BBC is suddenly concerned about idiotic judicial stuff in Canada, perhaps they ought to take a look at what happened to Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn. Nah, never mind. They hold unapproved thoughts.

    Last time the BBC noticed Canada it was to report on the drugged out drunken mayor of Toronto. I guess there just aren’t enough Canadian eyeballs to give the BBC the page views and ad revenue they seek, so the entire country is largely ignored even though it gets equal billing with the US on the website section header.

    The BBC should drop the Canada part already and be honest about what they’re really doing with the website: seeking a bigger US audience and the accompanying ad revenue.

       23 likes

    • George R says:

      Yes, and in addition to Beeboid commercial reckoning on Canada, Beeboids don’t like the predominantly ‘white’ ethnicity of the population there, nor Canadian political empathy with Britain and France. Now if we were to talk about Beeboid predilection for Cuba…

         14 likes

  22. Teddy Bear says:

    For the last few days there’s been an absolutely asinine worded headline at the Spectator Matthew Parris: It’s gay men who contribute most to society
    Quite a few comments (including my own) pointing out just how ridiculous this statement from the headline was, though mine were subsequently deleted by whoever has that power, and self interest there. I also note now that the author has done a stealth edit to the article since, which is now headlined Hedonistic? No, today’s gay men are civic-minded – and conservative

    Relevant here is that while this article with the original headline was being run, a website called ‘Muck Rack’ put reference to it, and various UK journalists glowingly aligned themselves with it, even commenting on the ‘bile of comments below’.
    It’s worth noting for future context just who these journalists are:
    2cxagx4.png

       9 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      Teddy, yesterday Fraser added a comment and said that it was the print headline, which Parris didn’t write…and certainly didn’t edit.

      Slightly off topic I always wonder what would happen if a man in a coma for decades awoke and was so happy to be alive asked to have gay intercourse with his child.

         8 likes

      • Teddy Bear says:

        Thanks Span, I just found his comment.
        I find it incredible that an author of an article has no control over the headline, especially one as patently stupid as that one.
        Since it was changed, some explanation should have been left by whoever responsible instead of just a stealth edit.

        You got me wondering what brought that image to mind?

           4 likes

    • Buggy says:

      What a shock to find Chivers right at the top since his frequent habit at the DT is to post two or three pieces a day emphasising the ever-evolving self-righteous glory of his beauteous self, and usually with a pre-emptive dig at the responses he’s going to get. Haven’t seen him on the Beeb yet, so maybe he’s too much even for Auntie and her wee minions.

      I hadn’t realised the bugger was an ‘Assistant Comment Editor’, though: sudden enlightenment dawns as to why the Telegraph leader page sometime seems to have been written by a sixth former who’s just, like, discovered Jack Kerouac – clearly that’s a ‘Tom Week’.

         7 likes

  23. Guest Who says:

    End of the day, nothing quite cheers as much as the sound of the BBC digging another hole, and their social media avenues seem littered. This just in from FaceBook…

    BBC World News
    Spending a day with the ruler of ‪#‎Dubai‬.

    Take a look as Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, takes @BBCJonSopel for a drive around Dubai.

    Find out how many mobile phones he owns and just how fast he likes to drive.

    Subscribe to our dedicated YouTube Channel here.
    http://www.youtube.com/bbcnews

    The only thing better is the number and tone of most comments in response.
    They may be seeking subscribers elsewhere with this vapid suck up tripe, but may be losing more than a few of the compelled variety back home with every outing.

       8 likes

  24. Alex says:

    The BBC just had to get in a pro-Palestinian dig against the Israelis whilst reporting the deceased Ariel Sharon on tonight’s Six “News”. The BBC give the Taliban more respect.

       16 likes

  25. noggin says:

    the BBC on 5live this morning, was running a sad tale of a young woman raped in a psychiatric home by an orderly ….
    repeated the story, again and again and again, interviews
    discussions, on the news pages etc, this morning running on loop for over 2hrs.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25680659

    another awful rape, mum beaten and raped in front of her son …told by an attacking boyfriend: ‘I’m Muslim and you must obey me
    http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-mum-raped-son-told-attacking-boyfriend-m/story-20433200-detail/story.html

    erm BBC? England … no, North … no, Humberside … no,
    hmmm so that will be a no then?
    …….. hello? anyone home?
    “sound of wind blowing down an empty hallway”

       23 likes

  26. George R says:

    “ITV Criticizes BBC’s ‘Aggressive’ Ratings Focus”

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/itv-criticizes-bbcs-aggressive-ratings-670454?

       9 likes

  27. harryurz says:

    Not seen this featured anywhere on the main BBC News? Comrade Scargill being sued by the NUM:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-25681118

       17 likes

  28. David Preiser (USA) says:

    In the interests of balance and impartiality, the BBC has provided the Taliban’s defense against the accusation that one of their own tried to get his baby sister to be a suicide bomber at a checkpoint.

    It’s at the bottom, after the relating of the girl’s own story.

    “Dozens of teenage boys who wanted to carry out suicide attacks have been arrested over the past few years, but Spozhmai is the first ‘would-be female child suicide bomber’ in the country held in protective custody,” says Dawood Azami of the BBC World Service.

    “Initially, it emerged she was arrested at night when the police heard her crying on the other side of the river where she says she was forced to wear the vest. Then it was said she was arrested at home. But now, she says she spent the night outside on her own and was found by the police in the morning.

    “It was first reported that she was wearing a suicide vest at the time of her arrest. But later it emerged that she was not wearing it and her handlers fled with the vest. Her age is also a question of debate. The first official version said she was eight. Other officials later said she was 10. But now she says she is nine.

    “The Taliban have rejected all the allegations, calling them ‘part of the usual propaganda campaign to defame them’. And they regard the appointment of children, especially girls, in their ranks as wrong.”

    Oh, dear. Naughty Western media trying to smear them and fortunately the BBC is there to help remind us of the humanity of the Taliban. Dozens of teenage boys, eh, BBC?

    Here’s a CNN report which includes a bit more honesty. Notice that it also mentions a couple of holes in the girl’s story, but isn’t so forthright about it.

    Afghan and foreign forces have arrested many would-be suicide bomber children.

    Last year, Afghan police intercepted 41 children whom insurgents were planning to use as suicide bombers. They were between 6 and 11 years old.

    That’s a bit more than “teenagers”, wouldn’t you say? So either CNN is lying, or the BBC is lying. Curiously, there is no additional background offered by the BBC on the topic of using children in this way. The links go to unrelated stories, lazily using this as an opportunity to promote other BBC Online Magazine articles, while CNN does provide a link to an article specifically about this issue.

       14 likes

  29. Pounce says:

    Just got in from Work and this has been bugging me all day:
    Israel holds burial service for Ariel Sharon
    Israel is holding the burial service of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his family ranch in the Negev desert.….Mr Sharon’s active role in four wars, from Israel’s independence in 1948 until 1973, and later in government as the man who ordered the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, meant he was widely hated across the Arab world.

    Ok, the total figure of Arabs killed by Jews since 1860 around 90K While 90K too much for me, the fact remains each and every country in the region has much more Islamic blood on its hands. Yet all we hear is Jewish inspired genocide. If you don’t trust the link I post, have a look yourself and see just how little Islamic blood the Jews have spilled. Yet to the likes of the bBC they idolise thugs like Saddam, Bashir, The MB ,Hamas,Hezballah and their masters in Tehran. Inside Israel woman are treated as equal, gays are treated as equals and funny enough so are minorities, now ask the same questions in any Islamic country,
    The bBC excuse such behaviour by trying to claim that Islam is a religion of peace, it is anything but and just like Muslims the world over they blame the Jew in which to hide the ugliness that is Islam.

       27 likes

  30. stuart says:

    did you listen to the press review on stephen nolans show sat/sun on morning on radio 5 live,sarah brett was filling in for nolan and boy did she show her left wing leanings and bias,edwina currie was up against a guy called patrick strudwick who is as far left communist as you can get,anyway,the first 40 minutes was strudwick ranting on as usual showing his contempt and hatred for this country.the last 20 minutes was vicious and almost violent in its nature, sarah brett showing her bias joined in with what i could only call was pychotic shouting and screaming with insults towards edwina currie from patrick strudwick,this guy showed the vicious hate filled nature of the left and by the way he is a member of the labour party,what was edwinas crime that set off strudwick into a hissy fit,she said that she had no sympathy for mark duggans family and she agreed with benefits being cut to migrants proposed by the goverment,i never used to like edwina currie,but you have to admire this woman for the way she stuck to here guns and gave this lunatic strudwick as good as he gave,well done edwina currie and shame on you sarah brett for siding with that loser patrick strudwick.

       24 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      Hey, Stewie, they’ve invented the paragraph now. 😉

      I heard about two minutes of this moron some weeks back – the Strudwick moron not the Nolan moron. Edwina kept calling him a nicely patronising ‘dearie’ which I’m sure he just loved.

      He was in full howl about poverty and food banks when Edwina pointed out that when she was young they didn’t have food banks but people still coped.

      The moron came back with the fact that his grandfather had told him how poverty-stricken his grandfather was…

      ‘Are you calling my dead grandfather a liar?’

      Sweet Jesus, sonny, is that all you got.

      Sky actually manage now and again to have two right wingers on the same programme. But the Droids, not being grown-up, whenever they have a right-winger have to ‘balance’ it with a (pretrendy) leftie. Reminiscent of the mooted South African touring rugby squad that was going to be a third black, third mixed race, and a third white.

      Net result the droids give us dead air like Strudwick

      ‘That’s not what my grandfather told me. Are you calling

         17 likes

  31. noggin says:

    another Malala, … on the horizon?

    at the Al BBC?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25711953

       3 likes

  32. Stuart says:

    Now the BBC is quoting The Morning Star against Channel 4. You couldn’t make it up!

    RT @BBCNews: Tuesday’s Morning Star: “TV hate merchants face mass protest” http://t.co/idPtO50wdK – via @suttonnick #TomorrowsPapersToday #BBCPapers

       10 likes

    • Buggy says:

      Stellar work by El Beeb to actually ferret out a daily rag with a smaller circulation than the Graun in the first place. Double points for then using said non-popular to push one of their current agendas.

      Wonder how much of the tiny print run of the Red Irrelevance is purchased by Aunties spawn ?

         13 likes

  33. Teddy Bear says:

    Some may recall in July last year, that 22 journalists from Al-Jazeera resigned because there was what they a pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias within that organisation.
    So fair to assume that any journalists that remained working for them didn’t mind, or were part of that mentality.
    You won’t be surprised to hear that the BBC didn’t bother to cover that story.

    Neither did they bother to report on those female journalists who were sexually assaulted by Morsi supporters. Preferring instead to focus at the time on the ‘carnival atmosphere’ in Egypt and the Arab Spring.

    Now 3 journalists have been arrested in Egypt accused of helping the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and surprise surprise, the BBC feel enough motivation to report it.
    Journalists demand Egypt free al-Jazeera colleagues
    Suddenly Jeremy Bowen and (Humanity of the Taliban) Lyse Doucet get all concerned about the fate of these 3, who are probably guilty, but in any event are a lot better of than the women who were assaulted by the MB scum.

    I hope that Bowen, Doucet, and the rest of those douche bags
    feel closer to God with their heads up the Islamists backsides.

       15 likes

  34. Dave666 says:

    They are not advertising 12 years a slave on the BBc news again. It’s a true story…but it’s not.

       11 likes

    • #88 says:

      The BBC have elevated these great unwashed greenie creeps, rabble, mobs and anarchists, to the position of ‘experts’ whose opposition to fracking represents the will of the people.

      Their mix of scaremongering, faux science and conspiracy theories is presented as legitimate argument by the BBC, who disgracefully invite these people onto all of their platforms as a counterweight to serious scientists, real experts and the genuine information people crave.

      As the idiot Campbell, this morning, told Occupy veteran, of no fixed abode, ‘Tina’, ‘I can see that you’ve researched this’.

      The Anti-British Broadcasting Corporation strikes again.

         25 likes

  35. Dave666 says:

    North west 2 Sh**e Fracking again. They never seem to mention the poll they did where the majority were in favour. Blah blah

       18 likes

  36. richard D says:

    Now let’s see, the leader of a European nation is found to be involved in a significant sex scandal, at least one of his former mistresses is really lording it up at the expense of his country’s coffers, he is an absolute joke when it comes to parties he has with his mistress of the day – namely the use of his chauffeur-driven scooter -and using his bodyguard as a crumpet-supplier (croissants a speciality, it would appear), but instead of lampooning and berating the leader (as it did with the former leader of Italy), the BBC seems to be taking a much more understanding view of this clown, his mistresses’ maladies and situations, his incredibly poor policies, and his privacy, than it did of the other leader.

    Now it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the political views of the respective leaders, could it ?

    But, of course, Mr Berlusconi’s views never coincided with those of the BBC, whereas, along with Mr Milliband, the BBC fell in love with the socialist leader of France, M. Hollande immediately he stepped into the frame for the French leadership.

    Impartiality – yeah, right.

       29 likes

  37. Kenneth says:

    Hey, have a look at how rude and shrill the BBC’s propaganda is becoming, calling MPs thick. This is blatant political interference from the BBC and as a voter and democrat I find this this quite scary.

    Link: http://tinyurl.com/pa2h6ea

    Political Statement from the BBC, 13th January 2014

    Why are 95 Conservative MPs backing calls for EU veto

    1. The malicious – those Conservative MPs who are just bent on giving David Cameron grief, come what may.

    2. The withdrawalists – those MPs who privately want to take Britain out of the EU and are adopting a position like this because they know it is ultimately incompatible with EU membership.

    3. The worriers – those Tory MPs who know this policy is unworkable but feel they have to sign letters like this to try to keep UKIP at bay in their constituencies ahead of the European elections in May.

    4. The pushers – those Tory MPs who know that when pushed, Mr Cameron changes his mind on Europe and want to push him again. They accept they won’t get a national parliamentary veto but they might pressurise No 10 into doing more, say, on benefit curbs for immigrants.

    5. The thick – those Tory MPs too stupid to understand the implications of a unilateral parliamentary veto, thinking it might be just a tougher version of the “red card” system being considered by the government whereby a group of national parliaments could block European commission proposals.

       19 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Landale is quoting Labour MPs and probably Cameron’s pro-EU Tories. Or at least, that’s going to be the BBC’s excuse. So he can claim to be “accurate” as well as impartial. He won’t have to name anyone, because journalism.

      Has the BBC done a similar list of what opponents call the different factions of Labour and LibDem MPs who want to completely cede national sovereignty to the unelected mandarins of Brussels?

         20 likes

      • Kenneth says:

        What irks me is that the BBC can wade into politics in this way against all the rules.

        This was an opinionated political statement and not reportage. I mean we wouldn’t expect Marks and Spencer or British Airways (to take 2 random examples) to make regular political statements in this way

           11 likes

  38. Andy S. says:

    I see our “National Broadcaster” are now making TV series specifically for the U.S. under the BBC America banner. I know of one, a western series called “Copper” and now they are proudly declaring the making of another, a series with a paranormal theme starring British actor John Simm. Why should we, as licence payers, have to fund television series shown only stateside?

    Has this making of TV programmes primarily for the consumption of overseas viewers been questioned? Is it breaking the so called “contract” between our public broadcaster and the licence fee payer? Is it worth writing to my M.P.? (that last question is rhetorical).

       24 likes

    • Chuckabrick says:

      This is part of Lord Hall’s policy to conquer the world using the BBC’s ‘soft power’, and convert everyone to it’s political agenda, a socialist paradise. Should we now call them soviet style neo-imperialists?

      The BBC’s domination of the airwaves must be ended.

         5 likes

  39. Alex says:

    The BBC just love Campbell and the socialist Fabian Society:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25716871

       13 likes

  40. Deborah says:

    Radio 4 Today around 7.15, Peston talking about Hollande’s New Year address to the French people. He somehow managed to miss out that the reason that France is in a bad economic state is because Hollande, a Socialist (didn’t hear that word either) had implemented a policy of France spending its way out of recession and it hasn’t worked.

       28 likes

    • DownBoy says:

      Yes, and we haven’t heard any mention of Miliband’s sucking up to Hollande when they were both demanding ‘Plan B’ – that now totally discredited tax n spend wheeze as red as Ed Balls’ face when it all went pear shaped.

         6 likes

  41. Pounce says:

    bBC headlines:
    Labour leader Ed Miliband: Middle class facing crisis

    The Guardian Headlines:
    Labour support shrinks as voters back UK recovery

    Says all you need to know about the bBC

       16 likes

  42. AsISeeIt says:

    Suppose our national broadcaster were really the reliable unbiased paragon of truth and liberal democracy the BBC would wish us Licence Payers to imagine it to be….

    Then surely that super battalion of journalistic talent might sometimes cast a critical eye over the press releases of those campaign groups and organisations who are seeking our support, begging for public funding – or simply wanting to scare the bejesus out of us?

    These days if you want to get attention from credulous cut and paste journalists it is best not simply to say ‘hey look a bad thing is happening!’ No, give them a statistic and the BBC (and others) will be in rapture. You’ll be on safe ground because I’m betting BBC College of Journalism may well be exposed to plenty of diversity thinking but don’t do a maths subsidiary course.

    Claim some bad thing has gone up a lot lately and – given the BBC’s reluctance, indeed aversion, to ever consider the strong whiff of pachyderms in the inside space – then Bob will be your mother’s brother. Cut and paste no questions asked.

    Small example:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25713750

    ‘….around 50,000 more people are finding out they have cancer every year than a decade ago.’

    Aaaahhhh scary!

    Coupled with a claim about what the public are believed to desire (a desire caused by the very fear which just happens to be stoked by the statistic) and you have your template BBC story….

    A call for more funding and a strong implied criticism of the current priorities….

    “This desire far exceeds what is actually being offered by the NHS, and we hope the findings can help policymakers and doctors in shaping guidelines and practice.”

    ‘Meanwhile, a study on 3,649 people, published in the Lancet Oncology, suggested patients wanted any symptoms linked to cancer to be checked as quickly as possible for peace of mind.’

    But go back to the scary statistic : ‘50,000 more people are finding out they have cancer every year than a decade ago’

    Actually someone has rounded up….

    ‘In 2001, 283,000 people were told they had cancer. This increased to 331,000 in 2011.’

    I make that 48,000 – still a scary increase of just under 17%

    Why we wonder? Only one possible cause is considered…

    ‘….life expectancies have increased in the UK, so too has the number of people being diagnosed with cancer’

    There seems to be an increasingly common meme of “ageing population” on the BBC – However, I don’t have a statistic to back up that claim – so I will say no more.

    Happily for my limited statistical resources we are given the years 2001 and 2011 – Census years.

    UK population increased 7.5% between those dates.

    So there is 44% of your increase in cancer diagnoses right there.

    So why does no one say so?

       11 likes

  43. Pounce says:

    Just read on the bBC article on how an afghan atheist has been granted assylum in the UK because his life may be at risk if he remains in his Home Country. But hang on, that can’t be right as according to the bBC, the place is full of wonderful peace loving people. I say this man is lying.

       27 likes

    • chrisH says:

      Heard this on the 9a.m news bulletin on Radio 4.
      Listen carefully to see the join as it were. The dinar drops with the newsreader, but only steamed tumbleweed ensues.
      Irony -free zone, no comedy…at bast half a pencilled eyebrow raised.
      Mark Steel?…Mitch Benn? Sandi? Jeremy?
      Not so-Now Show is it?…not now Arthur, might upset Inglat or Anbjem, should a helpful Guardian hack ask them to comment!
      How wide is that yellow streak across the BBCs back?…and how best do we paint an Islamic Green target on it , so Islam removes them for us…and no pay-outs either!
      Does the Guardian come in Islamic Green? A UN/EU defined colour by now(grass green would have been preferred by the Reefer men at the BBC, but there you go!)

         8 likes

  44. Thoughtful says:

    In our time Thursday Morning 16th Jan

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Tours. In 732 a large Arab army invaded Gaul from northern Spain, and travelled as far north as Poitiers. There they were defeated by Charles Martel, whose Frankish and Burgundian forces repelled the invaders. The result confirmed the regional supremacy of Charles, who went on to establish a strong Frankish dynasty. The Battle of Tours was the last major incursion of Muslim armies into northern Europe; some historians, including Edward Gibbon, have seen it as the decisive moment that determined that the continent would remain Christian.

    Now I’m not sure that this is true. I think that there have been later incursions, and I wouldn’t describe Austria as Southern Europe, nor Poland and Ukraine ! The Polish war took place in 1672–76 !

    I expect plenty of bias to be shown in this with arch leftie Mervin Barg & his crew.

       11 likes

    • chrisH says:

      I will listen though, it can be a surprise at times.
      Do`nt listen to the 9.30 one though, unless you`ve no choice-the unedited one can reveal a few things…especially if they all end up off piste and are forced to use words like slave-soldiers, Burton going to Mecca in disguise etc.
      Bragg can be good at times. Thanks for telling me of it.

         5 likes

  45. Geoff says:

    Biased news and current events aside, the £145pm is a joke. Every morning the OH & I scan the TV pages for some entertainment on these cold dark evenings and really there is zilch. Tonight’s BBC ‘highlights’ being a new series of Death In Paradise (a jolly for the program makers) or a new comedy from Reeves and Mortimer which looks even less funny than The Royal Bodyguard. Mix in Wild This or Wild That which of course will shoehorn in the AGW agenda no matter what the subject or location and that leaves just news and weather (and we know where we stand with them!)

    BBC3 is a waste of airtime just lefty propaganda for the kids, (1xtra in vision) and BBC4 which you could guarantee at least couple of decent documentaries a week is becoming over repetitive.

    The BBC really are shite and ITV, CH4 and 5’s offerings are no better, but I can live with that as I’m not forced to pay for them. The rest of the Freeview spectrum is Shite +1 from what I can make out…..

    Time to ditch the box …

       20 likes

    • Alan Larocka says:

      ‘The BBC really are shite’
      says it all.

         7 likes

    • Leha says:

      Play Skyrim instead.

         1 likes

    • 1327 says:

      I have had satellite TV for quite a few years now. What is odd is that say 10 years ago the satellite only channels (many of which are now on Freeview) used to specialise in showing some quite old TV shows. So for example you would see the old “It ain’t half hot Mums” , “Are you being served” and some of the more obscure 60s TV shows like “Strange Report”. Some of it was fairly dire but many of the shows hadn’t seen the light of day for 20/25 years. Now these channels seem to only show Beeb stuff that is a season or two old.
      The only channel that doesn’t do this is ITV4 with its repeats of “the Saint” and “the Professionals” but even that channels seems to be showing less and less of that sort of thing.
      Can anyone explain what is happening ? Surely with a huge number of channels there should be more choice than this.

         3 likes

  46. Milverton says:

    A slightly strange, perhaps innocent moment on VD just now (Yes, she’s working today).

    Anyway, text requests for “What makes you middle class?” In pretty obvious support of a Miliband initiative announced this yesterday, with the first ones read out just after the 10am news. “My daughter is eight and she is on the school council.” said one, and the very next text read out immediately following that was “Ah ha, I can beat that. My daughter is on the school ECO-council.”

    Errr… How did two independent text correspondents manage to have a chat like that? It reminded me of Viz’s Letterbocks, where a letter at the top of the page is referred to later in the column.

    Just how many of these do Five Live make up, or is the Labour spin machine providing them?

       21 likes

    • pah says:

      It reminded me of Viz’s Letterbocks

      I’ve often suspected that VD was made of chicken giblets and cornflake packets. If only Roger Mellie was on hand …

         2 likes

  47. George R says:

    INBBC, taken in by Islamic Republic of IRAN, misses this:-

    “Capitulation: White House admits that new agreement permits Iran to continue advanced nuclear research.”

    [Opening excerpt]:-
    “The Iranians are gleeful — understandably. They chant ‘Death to America’ and Obama gives them whatever they want.”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/01/capitulation-white-house-admits-that-new-agreement-permits-iran-to-continue-advanced-nuclear-researc.html

       8 likes

  48. Guest Who says:

    Michael White of the Guardian is about as nasty a piece of work as it is possible to imagine, all wrapped up in a cuddly facade of eminence gris. He’s also top of the BBC iPhone contact list. Can’t think why…
    http://order-order.com/2014/01/14/michael-white-on-guardian-how-petty-we-can-be/
    111. Anon. says:
    January 14, 2014 at 10:49 am
    Now he thinks it’s ok for the BBC to spend money in the same way.

    #OutOfTouchElitist

    Peter Ford @pfsalop
    @MichaelWhite Why is it petty? Would you be as relaxed if you found out that, say, BBC staff were commisioning portraits of each other?
    MichaelWhite @MichaelWhite
    @pfsalop Well, BBC do commission portraits of each other. All such bodies do – and they all use other people’s money. Sometimes justified
    Well, that’s OK then, Mike. Interesting precedent for when you next get wheeled on by Auntie to hold to account dubious spending practices by those whose sewer you don’t share.

       8 likes

  49. Guest Who says:

    http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-13/justin-webb-why-do-people-mistake-me-for-evan-davis
    Must. Resist. Getting. Banned. By. Offering. Likely. Reasons…

       9 likes

  50. Bill Wright says:

    YOUR COMPLAINT:
    Complaint Summary: Too much Mandela not enough local news
    Full Complaint: My original complaint was that on a day when the region had major problems with storms and flooding most of Look North was given over to Mandela coverage. The response did not address this issue at all and was nothing but a brush off. Basically it was just a nice little lecture about Mandela, all of which we’ve heard before. The response went on to say that there was coverage of the storms at 2250 (etc). That’s not the point. It should have been the big story on Look North.
    ———-
    Thank you again for contacting us.
    BBC Complaints

       9 likes

    • Old Timer says:

      Have you ever thought you are just pissing into the wind Bill? Personally I try not to do things where the result will either be a waste of time or hurt and, to me at least, complaining to the BBC qualifies on both counts. I do admire you though but then I admire people who undertake all types of dangerous but pointless sports.

      The fact is I’m afraid the BBC will never listen and will not change its ways. The gravy train is too intense a pleasure to forego. Those at the bottom of the heap within such organisations do not stop to think, is this right? No, they just want to get to the top of the heap and enjoy the delicious fruits of their success. The power, the fame, the money, the influence it is a very heady mixture. It’s an addiction. And those already balancing on the top of the pile believe they are there by right because of their massive intellect, or beauty or charisma. Whatever.

      There can never therefore be an admission that they ever, ever get things wrong. They are the new gods of the world and gods can do no wrong. They have after all done their best to destroy all other gods, (with one exception of course but then no one want to commit suicide do they?) and their acolytes can only dream of one day filling the shoes (and their boots of course) of the gods presently sitting on the thrones of power.

      They believe they are omnipotent, invincible, almighty, untouchable. Well you know what I mean.

      The BBC will never be beaten from within, let alone by complaining to them and I do not see a politician with the courage to close them or switch them to subscription or advertising either. The only thing that will beat the BBC is civil disobedience. When the people stand up and say no more. But it won’t be us old silver surfers that do it. It will be the young, the students, who will resent having to pay money to the BBC for a licence to get on the internet, because that is what the BBC want now. It is losing money slowly as those with nouse and nerve stop paying for live TV and watch only via the net. Do you remember the poll tax riots and that was only £10 per month (£120 per year). The BBC licence is currently £145, and IT WILL GO UP in 2015 when they demand more, especially if Milliwhatsit gets in, which he will if the BBC can brainwash us once again into believing in tinkerballs, fairies and all.

      Anyway, that is the day I will cheer on those youngsters marching in the streets against this overbearing anachronism from the last century. If they have to break a few windows in the Salford Palace of false gods to get the job done, so be it.

         18 likes