320 Responses to WEEKEND OPEN THREAD….

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  1. Phil Ford says:
    March 21, 2014 at 8:08 am

    So, Question Time last night. Coming, as it did, from ‘oop North (Warrington), the audience was packed to the rafters with the usual blinkered on-message Labour drones – in this case all more than willing to applaud comrade Andy Burnham’s every ludicrous utterance and to boo anything said by any panellist that didn’t fit their narrow leftist mindset. So the usual liberal fascist QT mob, then.

    So it was that we were subjected to the surreal experience of witnessing Andy Burnham, in all seriousness (shamelessly playing to the gallery, yet again) deny that the last Labour government was in any way responsible for the complete wreckage of this country’s economy. In this fiction, he was ably abetted (fittingly enough) by crime writer Val McDermid who wanted to assure us all that blaming the last Labour government for the country’s economic meltdown was somehow entirely inaccurate and infantile.

    So that was all right, then. Craftily (but utterly predictably), Dimbledore saved the most potentially difficult question for last (thus ensuring no time to debate it properly) which asked whether, in the light of the upcoming Charter renewal, it might be time to consider abolishing the TV license?

    Burnham, again abetted by McDermid and this time also by a shifty-looking Danny Alexander (Lib), wasted no time in brown-nosing the BBC’s ‘excellence’ – further assuring Dimbledore that the BBC ‘would be safe with us’.

    Of course, such mutual political loyalties are hardly news to the regulars of these hallowed boards, but our worst fears were at least confirmed on national television: New Labour assuring its common purpose friends in the Corporation, on air, that the BBC ‘was safe’ with them must have been music to the ears of the Politburo’s upper echelon superannuated officer-class…now all the BBC has to do is to mobilise the rank and file in a much more concerted way to guarantee that next Labour general election victory…so much is riding on a ‘successful’ result for the wretched Corporation, after all.

    Nobody on the panel cared to mention that the BBC is currently the country’s biggest annual instigator of criminal prosecutions, clogging up the courts and costing the taxpayer £millions. Somehow that trifling detail didn’t seem worthy of mention. How odd.

       110 likes

    • Dave s says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:41 am

      Thank you for watching it for those of us who just could not face it. There should be an award for the QT Watcher of the Week. Deserves some recognition.

         93 likes

      • chrisH says:
        March 21, 2014 at 10:53 am

        It`s like dear old Craig on “Is the BBC biased”.
        He faithfully listens to the Allah-awful “Sunday” show early doors Radio 4 each week.
        So the rest of us don`t need to.
        Thank You Phil Ford…a local hero for this site!

           43 likes

    • Deborah says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:02 am

      This description of ‘excellence’ used to describe BBC and it’s component parts is an interesting example of brainwashing. I have been in BBC meetings where young women who have never left their northern town (except perhaps for a couple of weeks a year in Spain) have described BBC drama as ‘the best in the world’. When asked what they were comparing it with they just suffered a dropped jaw and a lot of gasping for air. I am afraid the BBC has allowed the mantra to be deeply ingrained people’s psyche and it is why those of us who question find this site.

         71 likes

    • #88 says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:20 am

      Dimbleby did indeed save the day – not for the first time. I took great exception to him closing down the discussion about the economy and in particular origins of the mess that the country was left.

      Remember, it was Burnham who started that fight by telling the audience of the coalitions failure and the size of the continuing debt / borrowing. In doing so he became a legitimate target for a response.

      Dimbleby and the left clearly don’t want to talk about Labour’s record but they must at some point. The devastation of our economy sets the context for the decisions that are being made now (not least because of the liabilities left by Labour). Economists at the time of the crash told us that the implosion was so serious, the impact on the British economy would stay with us for a generation.

      That Burham and the left shake their heads and remain in complete denial, tells us that lessons have not been learned. Voters should be able to see this and not allow Dimbleby and the BBC to close down the debate. The BBC riding shotgun for Labour again.

      BTW- I have nothing but contempt for Burnham – who according to some is on Maneuvers waiting to pounce when the hopeless Miliband falls flat on his face. If he had any integrity, after Stafford and the other NHS disasters he presided over, he would have exited the public stage.

         70 likes

      • Ken says:
        March 21, 2014 at 12:34 pm

        Indeed. The facts are damning.

        Every year labour has looked at the red book, with all the details of the budget, and confidently predicted that the coalition’s economic policies would create doom and gloom and disaster. specifically they predicted and rejoiced in a “double dip”, they fearmongered about a “triple dip”, they predicted much higher unemployment and cast doubt on any ability to cut the deficit.

        On every economic prediction, labour was not just a bit wrong, but absolutely and completely wrong. The outcome has been the complete opposite of what they predicted.

        But even worse than labour being wrong, they do not even know, or have the first clue as to WHY they were wrong. The cannot tell us how the economy has grown, what has caused it, why unemployment fell so fast, why or how the private sector created 4 times more jobs than have been cut in the public sector. They simply do not know.

        They did not forsee the banking crisis, although several economists had been warning since 2003 about the growing unsustainability of the rapid increases in debt. They did not forsee the economic collapse which followed the banking crash. They did not forsee, (or get much stick from the BBC) over the MILLION + private sector jobs which were lost from 2008 – 2010.

        They then wrongly predicted massive unemployment and long recessions and economic failure from the coalition’s plans.

        Now given the fact that they do not know how or why the economy did the opposite of what they thought would happen, one can only reasonably conclude, as logic dictates, that they simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE ECONOMY … AT ALL! How else can we explain how they have been so completely and totally wrong about the economy?

        In any area of work, you would only ever consider employing people to do something IF you are confident that they understand what they are doing and know how to do it. You would not employ an engineering firm to build a bridge, if they never knew why previous bridges fell down and knew nothing of bridge building. You would not employ marketing consultants, who have consistently failed in every advertising campaign they have ever run and seen sales collapse. You would not employ doctors who know nothing of how to cure diseases…

        Yet labour have consistently proven themselves to be utterly and completely WRONG on the economy, and they still want to be trusted to run it again.

        Worse still, they admit that they do not even trust us with OUR OWN MONEY!

        Neither do the BBC, which is why they have never put the above points to any Labour MP.

        How can we even begin to contemplate the merest impulse of a thought of ever letting labour run the economy again when they have proven, repeatedly and beyond any shred of doubt, that labour does NOT understand how an economy works and are completely clueless.

        This is not right vs left wing opinion anymore.

        This is statistically significant, scientifically objective, quantifiable fact. Logic dictates that we can only draw one conclusion from how often labour predictions on the economy have been correct, that they genuinely are utterly incapable of running our economy. That is a fact! there is no debate anymore. It is much more clear cut and black and white than the climate change debate even.

        Labour does not get it.

           58 likes

        • johnnythefish says:
          March 21, 2014 at 5:34 pm

          Maybe they do get it, Ken, but will tell any lies, no matter big they are or how much they might damage the country, to get back into power.

          When they were in power I seem to remember they told lies almost daily in their attempts to hang on to government. And it almost worked.

          Andy ‘Div 2 Football Manager Soundalike’ as PM. Kind of apt for what this country has become.

             16 likes

    • Jack says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:53 am

      Yes re McDermotts comment, she appears to be under the impression that the truth has a sell by date attached to it. The truth is that Labour DID crash our economy but after a short time you are not allowed to say that.

         53 likes

      • Ken says:
        March 21, 2014 at 12:51 pm

        I have never understood the left wing logic which posits the following position.

        From 1997 – 2007 we had the best, most intelligent, OCD-like obsessive, fine detail understanding Chancellor of the exchequer in modern history. He was brilliant and completely re-engineered our economy and fine-tuned it to miraculously end “boom and bust”. He was an economic genius who had apparently succeeded in doing the impossible of defying economic cycles and creating on-going, sustainable growth, without increasing national productivity at all!

        Then, suddenly, unexpectently, a hole opened up in the fabric of space-time and the entire previous 10 years of economic managment did not happen at all, and the economy somehow, mysteriously collapsed, without Brown being responsible, at all, for any of it, and he had to start all over again, to save the world’s economy.

        I mean really? It is a total and utter fantasy of gargantuan proportions. It is a complete fairy tale akin to Santa Clause or the tooth fairy, to believe the leftist version of our economic recent history.

        Of course Labour are responsible for what happened 10 whole years into their watch.

        And the fact that they have utterly failed to predict what has actually happened in the economy since 2010, and have a consistent 100% record of predicting the opposite of what has happened only proves beyond doubt, that they simply do not understand anything about how the economy actually works in reality and should never ever be allowed into a position of responsibility for it ever again.

           68 likes

        • Deborah says:
          March 21, 2014 at 3:08 pm

          Ken, I originally skipped your first line and read ‘from 97-2007…….’ and thought what on earth. Thank you for both this post and the one above. You have put into two short posts what both Labour and just as dangerously the BBC have refused to acknowledge.

             26 likes

          • #88 says:
            March 21, 2014 at 3:17 pm

            Agreed. An absolutely brilliant commentary that should somehow have a wider audience.

               20 likes

        • johnnythefish says:
          March 21, 2014 at 5:44 pm

          Had it been the Tories who crashed the economy and patented the end of boom and bust, by now we would have been on Part 593 of a BBC Panorama Special on ‘The Great Tory Economic Illusion’.

          Instead, at first tumbleweed then, as we saw last night, look the other way whilst Labour spout their shameless denial.

             21 likes

    • Tomfiglio says:
      March 21, 2014 at 2:34 pm

      In the North of England we don’t say “oop”, we say “up”. We may not say it in the same prissy way as you do, but this is not some deviation from an imagined standard.
      By the way, why do you put an inverted comma before it? No letter is missing.

         8 likes

  2. Geoff says:
    March 21, 2014 at 8:19 am

    Should have saved yourself the pain, I saw the panel, heard McDermids first utterings turned off.

       34 likes

  3. Dave666 says:
    March 21, 2014 at 8:20 am

    Another day dawns and it’s situation normal on BBc Breakfast. A group of charity’s call for a ban on fast foods before 21:00. Think of the children. Meanwhile still bitching about the Ukrainian situation. Looks like to me the BBc spectacularly Mis-read the situation. I assume they thought Ukrainian would join the EU. Just like they expected “democracy” to follow in the “Arab spring”. Do they ever report on the Arab sprung countries these days? Is the war in Syria still going on? Has the flooding gone in Somerset? I note there has as far as I have seen any reports of discrepancies in the Crimean vote compared to say for instance elections in this country.

       49 likes

    • Ken says:
      March 21, 2014 at 12:59 pm

      I had to look to alternative news sources to see what happened in the Ukranian referendum. I have seen videos of their polling stations. the voters went alone (without a gun to their heads) into curtain sided voting booths, to cast a vote in secret. Then they emerged with the polling paper folded in their hands and deposited them into clear sided, transparent, locked ballot boxes, where we could clearly see that those boxes had not been pre-stuffed with ballots.

      It certainly looked every bit as transparent and democratic as any election in this country.

      But our establishment appear to believe that the neighbouring bloody revolution and violent coup in Kiev, by a group linked by history to actual, real, (not hypebolic) genuine NAZIs, is some how more democratic and legitimate than what happened in Ukraine.

      And they report it all with a straight face as if we are stupid.

         33 likes

      • Lobster says:
        March 21, 2014 at 2:36 pm

        Yes Ken, and barely a postal vote in sight.

           24 likes

      • will says:
        March 21, 2014 at 4:02 pm

        A World Service report made a point of telling us that the curtains on the polling booth were “flimsy” & some voters were failing to fold their ballot papers to hide their choice. The BBC seemed to want to imply that the process had “banana republic” tendencies (nothing like Birmingham then)

           30 likes

        • DownBoy says:
          March 21, 2014 at 9:00 pm

          Herman Van Rumpouy and Baroness Cathy ‘CND’ Ashton have decreed that the Crimea result is undemocratic. Kettle. Pot. Oh the unbelievable irony, not picked up by the bbc, naturally.

             19 likes

          • Oldbob says:
            March 21, 2014 at 9:26 pm

            And the beauty of it is they have absolutely no concept of how much additional contempt it generates towards them.

               17 likes

      • Aerfen says:
        March 22, 2014 at 12:31 am

        I have never seen a clear sided ballot box used in any British election.

           11 likes

    • Guest Who says:
      March 21, 2014 at 8:52 am

      Karma can indeed be funny.
      http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/retailing/article4040372.ece
      Somewhere a perfect satirical storm is brewing.
      Inspired indeed.

         10 likes

    • George R says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:12 am

      Yes, is ‘W1A’ satire or truth?

      -from that ‘Daily Mail’ piece-

      “New carpets at BBC’s £1bn HQ… just 18 months after it opened: Corporation bosses demand revamp as current decor is ‘not inspiring enough.’
      “Tens of thousands to be spent on EastEnders-style design on two floors.
      “Will feature ‘Albert Square’ hot-desking area, Queen Vic meeting room.
      “‘Street scape art’ with the soap’s landmarks to cover the walls.”

      Also,
      from blog- ‘TV LICENCE RESISTANCE:
      ‘Fighting To Abolish The TV Licence’-

      “BBC’s ‘£500,000′ revamp of £1billion HQ that’s only six months old”

      http://www.tvlicenceresistance.info/bbcs-500000-revamp-of-1billion-hq-thats-only-six-months-old/

         30 likes

      • Guest Who says:
        March 21, 2014 at 9:26 am

        There is a plus side to this.
        Apparently male line managers and editors can now ask subordinates if they fancy a shag without any need to worry about Dinah Rose.

           18 likes

    • Dave s says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:45 am

      The BBC gene pool is clearly shrinking. One idiotic blunder after another. How do they think this looks to us?
      Can anything a beeboid says or does be any longer considered rational?

         30 likes

      • Jack says:
        March 21, 2014 at 10:58 am

        The truth is they don’t care how it looks. They’ll get paid whatever happens. What little people like us think is irrelevant.
        If Labour gets in the licence fee is safe.
        If the Liberals get in in another coalition the licence fee is safe.
        Even if the Tories get a majority (unlikely) there is very little chance of their doing anything radical about the BBC.

        Any way you look at it the BBC’s future is golden.

           21 likes

        • uncle bup says:
          March 21, 2014 at 3:29 pm

          Best hope is Call Me Tony believing his own bullshit that the BBC is so world class it can stand on its own two feet.

          The again he’ll take a look at that guaranteed 3.5 billlion a year and say, ‘nah, we’ll just keep it as is’.

             17 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:
      March 21, 2014 at 7:14 pm

      The BBC lacks creativity, what should be done about it?
      Turns out it’s the 18 month old carpets on the 6th and 7th floors that’s the problem. They’re simply not inspiring enough.
      So what type of carpets will inspire the creativity they lack?
      Something from Eastenders c0313.gif

      Can you imagine if the real goings on at the BBC was really a TV farce? It would be a flop because it would be too exaggerated and far fetched – nobody would believe it. I know they are planning a comedy based on themselves, but I doubt it will go into all the elements that really show how appalling they truly are.
      Truth is stranger than fiction.

         15 likes

  5. will says:
    March 21, 2014 at 8:51 am

    Turkey’s PM Erdogan attempts to block Twitter. Evan Davis, a Twitter obsessive (a BBC journalist essential) is shocked, shocked. So shocked that he gasps (on R4 “Today”), “and they were being considered for membership of the European Union”. For Evan, blocking Twitter puts them beyond the pale. For many in his audience there have always existed 77 million reasons to keep Turkey out of the EU.

       59 likes

    • George R says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:17 am

      Yes, the E.U’s political class, including Britain’s three main political parties, Tories, Labour and Lib Dems, together with TUC (and affiliated BBC-NUJ) – ALL campaign to get entry into E.U for Islamising Turkey’s 80 million Muslims.

         37 likes

  6. Pounce says:
    March 21, 2014 at 8:57 am

    People don’t forget its bBC Sports Relief tonight:
    £5 can help save a life in South Africa by allowing a disabled individual to be taught the difference between an intruder and his girlfriend.

       57 likes

    • Rob says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:28 am

      I can’t believe we now have another wasted evening to pander to the likes of sports personalities who can’t get on TV any other way. It’s not just one evening though its non-stop. We had Davina McCalls sponsored cry last night that dog thingy what is that about? And to top it all we will have Comic Relief also at some stage. Does it ever end?

         45 likes

      • chrisH says:
        March 21, 2014 at 11:10 am

        Jo Whiley has been on a hamster wheel all night so says Radio 4 in its flagship news round at 8am Today.
        What a metaphor for a BBC jocks career!
        Bet no-one thought to plug her intro the grid for energy efficient purposes did they?…might have at least fired the pop-up toaster of not the electric chair(boom boom).
        Endless repetitive, pointless show jumping for the posh boys up on Radio 4…well done Jo, sure your kids didn`t need you to read them the UN Rights of the Child before bed last night did they?
        Still- Todays 8am news tells me that SARAH LUCAS…yes folks THAT Sarah Lucas!…will be Britains entry for the Eurovision Arts Camp thing in Venice(but where else) next year…the Biennalle(didn`t he used to play for Southampton?…arf!).
        Well I for one can sleep well, knowing that the Britart Rebellion is due again next year…and if Evans not already booked his acid rain colouring books and free tickets to do a Dirk out there in Venezia…well I`m not Donald Sutherland.
        8am Toady News at 8am…bet the Russians are terrified…poor sods only have Tolstoy, Chekhov and Solzhenitsyn etal to compare with Sarah Lucas( daughter of Mr Lucas from Grace Brothers, I`d guess).
        One big Pussy Riot there at the BBC isn`t it?

           18 likes

        • Phil Ford says:
          March 21, 2014 at 11:39 am

          “…Bet no-one thought to plug her into the grid for energy efficient purposes did they?”

          LOL. Genius.

             12 likes

      • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:
        March 21, 2014 at 12:23 pm

        So long as enough idiots continue sending their hard earned cash for them to dole out then these events will continue.
        Sad but true.

           21 likes

    • chrisH says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:59 am

      Maybe though he was “partially sighted”.
      Maybe a pirate role play that went tragically wrong, despite his not having a leg to stand on.
      Has he met Heather McCartney-Mills yet?
      Anybody want to win an Oscar?,,,free gun included?
      £5 would do as an eye patch, and maybe we could allow him to get out there and shoot a few Mandika worshippers still straggling along at the Cape Town Regency Hyatt.
      I`d pay to watch such a safari….has one ever been attempted in such palatial surroundings?
      All quips above will of course be featured on the Now Show/News Quiz later on for Cherie…sorry Cheridee…

         10 likes

    • The Highland Rebel says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:47 am

      Maybe the donations will help build an extension to Zuma’s £13 million palace.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26669080

         24 likes

    • uncle bup says:
      March 21, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Comic/ Sport relief raised £52 million from the public in 2012 and had £16 million of admin costs doing so. By some miracle of finance known only to the BBC and the Labour Party, every penny you donate goes to the charity projects.

      The salary bill waded in at a whopping £10 million and the Chief Exec is on the (bog standard) third way £140k basic.

      And for some reason you don’t exactly fall over these numbers on the website – lots of pictures of smiling natives though.

         20 likes

    • uncle bup says:
      March 22, 2014 at 4:23 pm

      Would be interesting to see exactly where the Comic/ Sport Relief funds end up – no doubt well beyond the reach of FoI, such is the BBC’s spirit of candour.

      Must be great being a libbie-wibbie leftie-weftie and given tens of million of other peoples’ money to firehose at all your favourite ‘projects’ (aka piss it down a rat-hole).

         11 likes

      • Albaman says:
        March 22, 2014 at 4:36 pm

        Why resort to FOI when the information is publicly available:

        http://www.comicrelief.com/about-us/how-we-operate/accounts

           4 likes

        • richard D says:
          March 22, 2014 at 5:14 pm

          Yeah, but that information isn’t very specific, now, Albaman, is it. It’s a set of accounts without too much detail – and just picking one example, for instance, in 2011 there were grants to ‘ devolved grant-makers in Africa’ (well, that sounds like being well-controlled)…. totaling £8 Million – around a sixth of income that year ????? And again in 2012, around half a million in grants surrounding ‘Climate change’ – hmm – Sports relieving what ? Not that a set of accounts is at all likely to answer Uncle Bup’s question.

             13 likes

      • uncle bup says:
        March 23, 2014 at 2:15 pm

        @(westalbaniaman

        keep trying, mate.

        #clueless #asusual

           4 likes

  7. Pounce says:
    March 21, 2014 at 9:04 am

    FFS,
    Racist abuse is ‘on the rise’ in Bristol, according to police

    The bbC headline states that racist abuse is on the rise, yet the police in the film say it isn’t so, and neither does the manager of the shop. the only people who say so are those who make a living from screaming…”Racism” on that note despite the hundreds of racist incidents the bBC has reported, has anybody seen one where the victim is…white.Exactly

       59 likes

    • Guest Who says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:17 am

      If crimes of violence were not so serious, I’d have that ‘report’ pegged as another W1A spoof, from that reporter’s tone through the shadow vox-pops (living in such fear she cannot now go to work, of course) to the vacuous platitudes of every single spokesweasel and tired cliches of yet another grief industry salarywoman.
      Not to excuse physical assault, but I’d have been keen on a bit more context beyond the wearing of different clothes being the trigger, as at the beginning I did hear mention of cutting queues, which is rather different, and f-all to do with race or faith.
      However all in authority concerned seem to have played right into the hands of those seeking to make it this way.
      How that serves cohesion I am unsure. But for some… Job done.

         16 likes

      • Geoff says:
        March 21, 2014 at 9:33 am

        Yes the tone is ‘poor immigrant’ yet no account is given to the cause of the attack, how do we know it wasn’t provoked?

        As usual bBC plays judge and jury and of course, true to form comes down on the side of the poor poor immigrant, who no doubt is already on to Cherie Blair to ensure that Poundstrecher cough up with damages and loss of earings….

           34 likes

      • Guest Who says:
        March 21, 2014 at 11:30 am

        If I make make so bold…. of course, for hate to properly be inspired and driven on, it really helps if the flames of injustice are fanned in a unidirectional way.
        This so far allsounds like a bit of queue rage that may have involved some slapping, with probably no clear idea who started, said or did what.
        With luck there will be CCTV footage.
        And if it turns out a gang of white ladies weighed in, it would be interesting then if their defence is something like it’s all the fault of the police because they were not at that time drunk in a gutter and hence were not used to being sober, so as followers of WKD the judge lets ’em off as it really wasn’t their fault.
        If so, it could be enough to make our ninja victims want to tear their hair out.

           11 likes

    • Dave666 says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:17 am

      I’m sure I’ve seen that headline 3 or 4 years ago. Our local authority did a big piece in the local paper 3 or 4 years ago about racism on the rise. When I did a FOI turned oout there were 2 cases. One of which wasn’t white as the court case had been well documented in the local press.

         30 likes

    • Danny Howard says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:55 am

      “yet the police in the film say it isn’t so.”

      No they didn’t. The statement from Avon and Somerset Police said hate crimes were up 15% year on year thanks to better working relationships with local groups. The Inspector said that race crimes were not a common offence. He also said they were under-reported.

      It is perfectly possible that race crimes are not on the rise, simply the reporting of them more accurately reflects the situation (there being always the discrepancy between reported crime and actual crime). Hence the use of quotes in the headline.

         9 likes

      • Pounce says:
        March 21, 2014 at 11:20 am

        Danny what part of the Police inspector saying not once but twice “This is not a common offence” which puts the bBC heading into dispute:
        Racist abuse is ‘on the rise’ in Bristol, according to police

        You Danny are nothing but a troll, paid for by the bBC in which to slander this blog, with nothing more than hyperbole

        Come back when you have some real facts,

           47 likes

        • Pounce says:
          March 21, 2014 at 11:27 am

          Hey Danny I just found this racist incident in Bristol:
          Are Somalis being isolated from the black community?
          Abdul Omar Rahman, a 22-year-old public service worker, from Walthamstow, east London, says he and his Somali friends faced verbal abuse from black kids, in particular, when he was growing up. “When we were at school it was weird because people would be asking you if Somalis are black and stuff. Some of the other kids from Jamaica and Nigeria would always cuss us about how we look different,” he said. “They would say our dads were refugee warriors and pirates. In hindsight, it was really bad stuff, but it was just the way it went.”

          So Danny, can blacks be racist to….Blacks.

             46 likes

        • Danny Howard says:
          March 21, 2014 at 2:45 pm

          Pounce.
          I am sorry that you were asked not only to watch, but also to try to understand, 120 seconds of moving pictures. That was too much, so let me help you.

          Using your mouse scroll to the 2:04 (that is two minutes and four seconds) and watch the pictures. Get someone to help you with that if you don’t understand what that means.

          Maybe the gentlemen speaks too fast for you, but if you listen really carefully you will hear the nice man say:

          “Avon and Somerset Police say that in the 12 months from April 2013 hate crime has gone up by 15%”

          We will cover how percentages are calculated in another lesson but for now all you need to know is that if something goes up by 15% that means it has increased.

          They even helped you by putting the number “15” on the screen. Did you spot it?

          When the nice gentleman from the police says something is not a common offence, that is a statement about often something happens, not a statement about change.

          So for example it is very uncommon that anyone on this site says anything that is even vaguely intelligent, but let’s pretend that once in the last 10 years someone did. I can’t be the only one!

          It’s silly I know, but let’s pretend someone very clever came along (you can pretend to be that person if you want to) and said two vaguely intelligent things in 10 years (we are just pretending here). Well that would still not be common (like the nice gentleman from the police was saying) but also “on the rise” like the other gentleman said. See how these two things can work together? Have you got it now or would you like me to go over it again?

          Now you may have spotted something else, which I covered in my second paragraph. Get a grown up to help you if there are any of the words or ideas you don’t understand.

          I understand your grasp of English is in need of development so let me help you some more.

          “Slander” is oral defamation. Defamation is a big word that means lowering someone’s estimation in the eyes of the public. The word you are reaching for is “libel” which relates to things that are written down – like when someone uses a crayon.

          And well done for trying so hard to use a very big word. It was a good effort and you did spell it correctly, so that was very good.

          And thank you for bringing up my favourite Biased BBC paranoid delusional fantasy. It was very kind of you as you know how much it makes me laugh. It was very sweet of you.

          Now run along and play with your keyboard. You have done a really good job mastering the use of bold text. See if you can make something into italics next (that is the font where all the letters – like “kicking ‘k'” and his friend “curly ‘c'” – appear to lean over). Like this.

             8 likes

          • Hampstead Bulk Lubricants Ltd says:
            March 21, 2014 at 5:17 pm

            Take your racism elsewhere, Howard.

               18 likes

            • Danny Howard says:
              March 21, 2014 at 5:44 pm

              Even by the truly bizarre and convoluted process that passes for logic on this board how on earth do you manage to read racism into that? You are really reaching.

                 9 likes

              • stewart says:
                March 21, 2014 at 7:00 pm

                “I understand your grasp of English is in need of development ”
                Pounce is of Pakistani descent
                In fairness I don’t for a moment think it was casual racism, just your usual involuntary snobbery.

                   13 likes

          • richard D says:
            March 21, 2014 at 5:38 pm

            Jeez, what a condescending dickhead.

            (See, Mr Howard – you don’t need to write a page-full of supercilious crap to accurately describe someone. )

               15 likes

            • Danny Howard says:
              March 21, 2014 at 5:46 pm

              No but it’s fun.

              If this Pounce person is going to claim something at least get to the end of the video. He may have anger-management issues, but is it too much to expect someone to invest 124 seconds and actually watch to the end?

                 8 likes

              • richard D says:
                March 21, 2014 at 6:16 pm

                Happy you are able to accept the analysis of yourself, Mr Howard. Message accomplished in just a few short seconds – no condescending crap either. You may have super-bumptious tendencies, but is it too much to ask that you don’t bother displaying them here ? (Or at least, not at such boring length – the secret to real comedy is timing….).

                And as for your proposiition that you might be the only person capable of posting anything sensible on this website….. well, there’s risible, and then there’s …… your claim

                   14 likes

          • johnnythefish says:
            March 21, 2014 at 6:04 pm

            Dear Danny

            ‘So for example it is very uncommon that anyone on this site says anything that is even vaguely intelligent, but let’s pretend that once in the last 10 years someone did. I can’t be the only one! ‘

            I could begin to understand your humungous self-regard if you attempted to tackle some of the more difficult topics on here – see discussion on Question Time above which is largely about the economy (you know, what you lefties know as ‘that money tree stuff’?) and the BBC’s basic lack of holding Labour to account for trashing it.

            But you don’t, because for 99% of the time you are absent.

            So if you’re going to slag off the people on this website you should first:

            a) Engage more to prove you’re not just an occasional one-trick pony – there are some intelligent people on here making some very good and factual points about BBC bias

            b) Explain why this website means so much to you

            c) Tell us more about 28gate – you do have access to the inside story, don’t you?

               18 likes

          • Pounce says:
            March 21, 2014 at 6:28 pm

            Danny,
            Thank you ever so much for taking such much time and effort in which to try and take me to task and in the process make yourself look such a prat.

            Remember at the end of the day, it’s a message board and for me to get such a response from the officlail bBC dickhead makes me smile.

               21 likes

            • Danny Howard says:
              March 21, 2014 at 6:56 pm

              That’s my role: spreading joy and light in this site of misanthropy and darkness.

              At least we can now agree that the story was correct.

              See we got there in the end. It would make life a lot simpler for you all if you just accept that when I chose to bestow my presence upon you I am right.

              How are the italics coming along? (Clue: use an “i”.)

                 7 likes

              • Dave s says:
                March 21, 2014 at 8:43 pm

                I am glad to see that you seem to appreciate that we are in a culture war for the future of England.Let us have no time for fairness. Personally I have no time for liberalism , the BBC and the legacy of the 1960s. No time for compromise or pedantry.
                This site is at least open in it’s general loathing of the liberal status quo. This view is rarely heard on the liberal dominated media.
                I also recommend Sultan Knish( Daniel Greenfield) and anything by Takuan Seiyo. Neither British but absolutely uncompromisingly on the right. Keep on posting .

                   11 likes

            • johnnythefish says:
              March 21, 2014 at 10:39 pm

              Let’s all celebrate Danny’s blissful lack of self-awareness – it’s such an asset to this site.

                 10 likes

          • Andy S. says:
            March 22, 2014 at 1:54 am

            ” hate crime has gone up by 15%..”

            15% of what,may I ask? Weare not told. That 15% could account for ONE extra complaint, but then we don’t know becausewearen’t given the numbers. Also, how many of those complaints were of the “Is it ‘cos I is black/Pakistani?” variation? Let’s be honest, not every complaint is genuine. Many ethnics know it’s a game nowadays and the “hate crime” ploy trumps a lot genuine complaints that may be made against the accusers.

            Danny Howard should get out a bit more among the various “communities” if he thinks I’m just making this up.

               9 likes

    • Aerfen says:
      March 22, 2014 at 11:49 pm

      And I note that Alex Ardalan-Raikes from this organisation SARI herself married to film producer half Persian Royal Justin Ardalan-Raikes herslef lives in twee Meridian Place in the posh residential area of Clifton well away from Somalis , Africans and all colonisers other than university students.

      http://www.companydirectorcheck.com/justin-ardalan-raikes

      http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/alex-ardalan-raikes-mbe/28/95/206?trk=pub-pbmap
      Common Purpose too I note.

         6 likes

  8. Old Goat says:
    March 21, 2014 at 9:04 am

    It seems that salt has now been added to the growing list of no-nos currently being prepared by “scientists” and “experts”, who, ideally, would have us eat or drink nothing at all, and enjoy no pleasures, whatsoever. Where will it end, one wonders?

       21 likes

    • Guest Who says:
      March 21, 2014 at 9:23 am

      “Where will it end, one wonders?”
      —
      Well it certainly seems to stop at the Bolly-strewn corridors of a certain unique media hypocrite, where they cut and paste Labour stories about the public being unfit to manage their finances, as another £100m folly is doubtless being written off upstairs in Pod Central.

         29 likes

  9. noggin says:
    March 21, 2014 at 9:31 am

    “oh lord! … please don t let me be … misunderstood, alert”
    http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mohammad-naseem-gay-comments-misinterpreted-6857134

    hmm … “mis-underestimated” his propensity for intentional nose growing whoppery, more like
    another muslim rep caught red handed lyin … oops I mean being quoted “out of context” TM
    … never heard that one before

    re BBC 3s censorship of its programme about … censorship
    Free Speech, the BBC3 debate show, deliberately dropped the question
    “When will it be right to be Muslim and gay?” March 12 episode which was filmed at the mosque

    with his bare chested, “Miami vice” designer stubble
    style of wearing a suit …
    is that a hint of lip gloss I see? hmmm

    subsidiary …
    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/03/uk-mosque-leader-who-compared-gays-to-murderers-now-claims-he-was-misinterpreted

    remember this absurd episode, where no one on the panel about “waycism”, all bleating “waycism” … can explain
    exactly why? they are bleating … “waycism”
    … the sooner BBC3 hits the can the better …
    (note – the latest, ejector seat “go to guy” for the BBC
    on Islam turns up again).

       14 likes

  10. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 9:54 am

    For Casciani and ‘Newsnight’, apologists for ‘British’ Islamic jihadists:-

    “British jihadis in Syria urge other Muslims in UK to join them”

    By Robert Spencer.

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/03/british-jihadis-in-syria-urge-other-muslims-in-uk-to-join-them

       15 likes

  11. Pounce says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:04 am

    So has anybody read this damning report onto the NHS in London from the bBC:
    London NHS services ‘unravelling’, new report says
    “A report into the service provided by the NHS in London has described it as “cash strapped, fragmented health care and unravelling”. The People’s Inquiry, commissioned by the Unite union, found the public have “no real voice” in health care because of a lack of an overarching strategy.

    So I did a little digging and not only found the report but who were on the panel. The person at the top is listed as such:
    “POLLY TOYNBEE, political and social commentator for The Guardian and author, previously the BBC’s Social Affairs editor

    If you have the time, do read their findings, well actually demands as there are no findings (Well they do say they listened to people for 30 hours in which to reach their conclusion, which by the way is simply…We need more money

    Now here’s my solution to the problems of the NHS in London. ensure people who are not entitled to NHS care pay at the start, everybody else in the world do so, so why should we in the UK be the only ones who are different.

    Tell you what when the worlds ill start having to put their hands into their pockets for medical treatment paid for by the people they hate, the NHS will start to have enough money to do the things they say they currently can’t such as these two areas of concern:
    “there is also three times the English average of HIV, and more than three times the English incidence of TB, far bigger
    than other cities.”

    Mind you I couldn’t understand why this was in the report:
    London has the second highest rate of incapacity benefit recipients in the English regions. Tower Hamlets (thanks to Canary Wharf) is East London’s largest local economy with a gross value added per capita 68% higher
    than the London average – but also has the second worst level of unemployment in England and Wales (45%), with over a third claiming incapacity benefit.

    Wouldn’t it be NICE (pun intended) if the bBC gave you all the facts before allowing Polly (I have a villa in Italy) Toynbee to dictate to the Masses how bad the plebs have it.

       39 likes

    • johnnythefish says:
      March 21, 2014 at 6:09 pm

      ‘Polly Toynbee……..NHS……Guardian…….BBC…….need more money’.

      Help, Danny, it’s a conspiracy theory!

         8 likes

    • Banquosghost says:
      March 21, 2014 at 7:04 pm

      ‘The peoples inquiry’ Anything containing the phrase ‘The peoples….’ is usually utter horseshit!

      The peoples Princess, the peoples Republic of wherever, the peoples club etc.

      If the BBC ever does get under threat you can guarantee that some morally dubious wankstain will call it ‘the peoples BBC’

         9 likes

    • London Calling says:
      March 22, 2014 at 9:01 pm

      ” commissioned by the Unite union”… what else do you need to know?
      Useless Tory MPs are too busy trousering windfarm subsidies to worry about what’s happening in the real world.

      Labours NHS capitation funding formula ensures massive redirection of NHS budgets in favour of “poverty-stricken” immigration hotspot Labour constituencies.

      Still the Labour shills jump up and bleat its all a Tory conspiracy, how unfair.

         9 likes

  12. David Brims says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:08 am

    WIA, the ”hilarious ” goings on at BBC television centre, cue riotous laughter. There’s nothing more the Luvvies in the media like than programmes about themselves, that’s how narcissistic they are. 30 minutes of smugness. Of course I never watched it, just saw the trailer, that was enough.

       31 likes

    • mikef says:
      March 22, 2014 at 11:36 am

      I thought it was very funny, although I needed to watch it more than once to get all the jokes. Like Twenty Twelve. There is actually some subtle and quite damning criticism of the BBC contained in it – the lack of originality (proposed programmes: Britain’s Tastiest Village or Britain’s Biggest Dog), relying on the same old people for proposed programmes, the fawning round Tony Hall and Chris Patten. Definitely worth watching, in my opinion, and unlike 98% of the BBC’s output – cf Turks and Caicos, a few minutes of Hare’s childish thinking was more than enough.

         5 likes

  13. Pounce says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:23 am

    Typical leftwing crap from the bBC:
    Freedom 2014: Does being a girl restrict your freedom?
    “There is no country in the world where men and women are equal, according to all the recent studies on gender equality. This is despite the fact that many countries have laws and education systems that, to a great extent, are set up to give girls and boys and women and men the same opportunities.
    So what is standing in the way of equality becoming a reality?
    As part of the Freedom season, BBC News asked four teenage girls in the UK, Lesotho, Iceland and Jordan what they thought about being a girl in 2014.

    You know what, I’ll be the first to admit that women don’t have 100% equality around the world, but their lot is a lot better in the West and it is getting better as the shackles to religion are broken in those western countries.
    However the bBC doesn’t mention those countries elsewhere where religion take precedence where equality for women is something found in science fiction book, where schools for girls are burnt down and little girls are shot in the head. (Funny enough for reporting for the bBC) where little girls are wed off to dirty old men, where rape is common over any excuse and where women have to cover up so as not to inflame the passions of unrelated men. (Hence the lucrative trade in goats in Islamic countries). But what makes this even worse is that in the West we not only import this barbaric backward practice of misogynistic behaviour, the left, defend it as a human right. Only the other day it was revealed that despite getting banned in the UK in 1986, over 4000 women were treated for FGM over the past 5 years in London alone. In Mosques women not only enter through separate doors they either pray at the back of men or in different rooms and the bBC in an article about female equality worldwide don’t mention any of this.

    That people is why the bBC are traitors not only to the British people who pay their way, but to all the women around the world

       45 likes

    • Pounce says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:45 am

      Further to my last, at last somebody gets charged for FGM in the Uk only taken the UK government 28 years to get to this stage, no doubt the bBC will bring out Islamic experts stating that this is Islamophobia, racist and against Mohammed’s human rights:
      Two people face female genital mutilation charges
      These two men need to be made an example of, hefty jail sentences, the removal of all their assets and have them given to the woman they cut up and then when they have done their time deport them. Follow this up with even more court cases, lets stamp out this evil ‘allah’ inspired practice in the UK.

         39 likes

      • IsItMe? says:
        March 21, 2014 at 11:06 am

        is “removal of all their assets” a euphemism? That would seem like poetic justice.

           28 likes

      • johnnythefish says:
        March 21, 2014 at 10:49 pm

        It got the briefest of mentions on the BBC’s lunchtime news (TV) but given the BBC have never covered it on the news before (to my knowledge) and given there was no explanation as to what FGM is and who practises it and why, 90% of viewers must have been wondering wtf the news reader was on about.

        And the the exotic names of the two men charged – the BBC mentioned one was a doctor but the profession of his accomplice remained a mystery. Maybe he was a man of ‘the cloth’ – just guessing.

           16 likes

    • Ember2014 says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:35 am

      Does being a girl restrict your freedom?

      It may have improved. But in the old days, if you were female, walking down a corridor at the BBC could mean being sexually harrassed by a Radio DJ.

         26 likes

  14. David Brims says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:34 am

    Malcolm Rifkind has said that ”Putin is like Hitler !! and what he did with Crimea was like Adolf taking over the Sudetenland !!” Strange that, because that’s exactly what Hilary Clinton said !! Do you think they’ve been comparing scripts ? Meanwhile Joe Biden said ” It’s a land grab !! ” For a moment I thought he was talking about Iraq or Libya or Kosovo .

    If the West does it, then it’s legal, but if Russia does it, then it’s illegal. I think that’s how it works !!

       23 likes

    • David Brims says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:40 am

      I’m amazed the Western media hasn’t come out and screamed Vladimir Putin is a waaycist !!

         17 likes

      • Pounce says:
        March 21, 2014 at 10:55 am

        Never fails to amaze me how the left have treated Russia:
        1) Invaded Poland 2 weeks after Hitler did.
        2) Then annexed the Baltic states and went to war with Finland becasue they wouldn’t roll over.
        3) Stopped outside Poland during the Warsaw uprising and only went in after the Nazis killed off the Jews.
        4) Help start the Koran war
        5) Cut off Berlin
        6) Stamped down on freedom movements in Czechoslovakia and Hungary
        7)Invaded Afghanistan
        8) Funded Islamic terrorism during the 70s.
        9) Funded wars in Africa. (Read up on how they got Somalia to invade Ethiopia, then got into bed with Ethiopia halfway through)
        10) Oppressed Eastern Europe for over 40 years
        11) Annexed huge tracks of other countries after WW2 in Mother Russia.
        12) Invaded Chetnaya and knocked it into the Stoneage.
        13)Cuts off gas to eastern Europe when it wants to raise a little more cash
        14) Ukraine

        and the left, not only did they remain silent on Russia , they come out with “Russia defeated the Nazis” idiots it was becasue Russia had Hitlers back, that he was able to attack the West. Meanwhile they have no problem slating the US every chance they get.

           27 likes

        • chrisH says:
          March 21, 2014 at 11:16 am

          All correct pounce.
          So when it looks like Putin is our last hope of a fightback against the Liberal Fascists and Islamic Caliphate being hatched….you know just how bad things have become after 50 years of the likes of Kennedy to Obama via Wilson and Blair etc.
          The Martin Sixsmith series on the BBC 1.45 each day is as good as the BBC gets when it comes to Russia…and all those useful idiots like Benn, Jack Jones, Ashton, Barosso are now the “opposition” to Russia….
          which is where you came in….

             16 likes

          • Dave s says:
            March 21, 2014 at 11:59 am

            This has been coming since Gorbechev started the process of ending the USSR. That conservatives should see Russia as our last line of defence against rampant liberalism and islamification is ironic. I wonder what Gorbechev thinks of it. Europe is going to pay a high price for Russian hegemony which is what will come. The alternative could be worse. Liberal states have no will to defend themselves or their civilisation. If this country had had any sense it would have left the EU in the 1990s and courted Russia with the aim of an alliance based on mutual interests.

               13 likes

            • David Brims says:
              March 21, 2014 at 12:42 pm

              Gorbachev is a globalist, he wrote the UN’s Earth Charter. Communism and National Socialism didn’t disappear, it’s under a different guise, globalism.

              http://www.canadafreepress.com/2002/un120902.htm

                 10 likes

              • Dave s says:
                March 21, 2014 at 5:36 pm

                True but he was also KGB. As is Putin. Sometimes I wonder what the KGB is really up to.

                   4 likes

                • stewart says:
                  March 21, 2014 at 7:17 pm

                  Suspect KGB employed more than just spy’s and assassins ,who had very varied views ,all be it kept close to the chest (wonder if its the same inside the BBC?) Putin is quite clearly an old school Nationalist ,thats why he’s popular with ordinary russians and why the BBC hate him.

                     7 likes

        • Joshaw says:
          March 21, 2014 at 11:17 am

          4) Help start the Koran war

          Don’t think they need any help.

             7 likes

          • Pounce says:
            March 21, 2014 at 11:38 am

            Joshaw wrote:
            Don’t think they need any help.

            Sorry wasn’t clear enough, I was referring to 1950

               4 likes

        • David Brims says:
          March 21, 2014 at 12:32 pm

          There’s a difference between Russians and communists, Putin is a strong leader standing up for his own nation, while Cameron and Obimbo stands up for er, um, islam, mass immigration and multiculturalism !!

          Incidentally, you missed out the bit where the Western Allies handed over Eastern Europe to Stalin at Yalta.

          And Operation Keelhaul, the forced repatriation by the Allies of millions of Russian prisoners of war back to the Soviet Union and their certain deaths.

          en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Keelhaul

             15 likes

          • Pounce says:
            March 21, 2014 at 1:30 pm

            Not all David, I was contrasting how according to the left ‘Russia’ could/can do no wrong.

               6 likes

  15. amoorhouse says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:49 am

    I found last nights QT had slight positives. Jill Kirby was applauded several times when telling some truths regarding North-South and Ukraine/Syria. Also a few people in the audience had a go at Andy Burnham over HS2 and other things. Of course most of the programme was business as usual.

    Interesting that Labour now have a cast iron defence against accusations of ruining the economy while they were in power by saying everyone is fed up of the accusations and its ancient history. Also interesting that it was brought up 2 minutes after someone in the audience blamed the northern economy on Baroness Thatcher.

    I happened to watch the Politics show afterwards and saw the DT’s Russia expert school the whole panel with some truths about Russia (including Andrew Neill).

    I loved it when Diane Abbott was asked her opinion about Ukraine and gave a good impression of someone who knows absolutely nothing about it, doesn’t comprehend international diplomacy, doesn’t understand the issues and doesn’t know what to do about them. She was only able to say we should have token sanctions (pointless) only but not why. To think some people voted for her in the Labour leadership contest. A total ignoramus.

    She then had the gall to sarcastically feign shock when the DT guy told Neill he was wrong on Russia. At least he had an opinion which is more than one of the pundits who are there to provide opinions had, eh Diane?

       42 likes

    • Phil Ford says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:48 am

      Diane Abbot = The Clown Princess of hypocritical ‘Nu-Labour’ career politicians. Next to Portillo each week on the This Week sofa she never fails to come across as ill-formed at best, plain ignorant at worst.

         34 likes

    • Oldbob says:
      March 21, 2014 at 12:36 pm

      I also saw the politics show and thought the DT guy gave an excellent appraisal of the reality of the Russian status and where they are and why, given all that they and their allies have gone through since 1939. It was in complete contrast to the arrogant, left wing, progressive holier than thou shite we get from the BBC on it and makes one further realise how badly infected with “stupid” the buffoons and idiots that mislead and govern us in the west really are. Putin is running rings round them and as every day passes makes them look more arrogant and foolish. I hope he turns the gas off soon, that would turn the spotlight quite nicely on the anti-fracking, pro AGW/windmill morons !

         34 likes

      • will says:
        March 21, 2014 at 4:15 pm

        Portillo has tries my patience in recent times but his addition to the debate last night was welcome. He pointed out that in his day Ukraine was off limits for NATO/EU expansion because of the understanding of the likely Russian reaction. He wondered why the policy had changed. In the same way that I wonder why the West keeps making the same mistakes – Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Syria. Georgia, Ukraine etc etc

           20 likes

        • johnnythefish says:
          March 21, 2014 at 10:54 pm

          I think because the EU has got above itself. It will get a bloody nose at some point, or hopefully worse.

             10 likes

      • onlyne says:
        March 22, 2014 at 4:53 pm

        Reuters will give you some realy good, detailed, background information to the situation in the Ukraine. You will look in vain for anything half as informative and unbiased on the BBC.

           5 likes

  16. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Is this a cue for ‘Newsnight’ to do a politically sympathetic piece on Islamic jihadists of the Sahel?:-

    “UK ‘must do more’ to tackle Sahel-Sahara terror threat” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26668665

       15 likes

    • Pounce says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:22 am

      Not really, if you look at what the bBC promotes:
      the “young, angry and jobless” in western Sahel-Sahara are “disproportionately at risk of being lured into criminality or religious extremism”

      the region’s population is growing “more rapidly than anywhere else in the world”

      there is growing evidence of young people in the region going to “desperate lengths” to leave, with Europe the most popular destination. The committee said the EU lacked a “clear policy” on how to deal with this.

      You can see they are looking at not only spending more British taxpayers money on these people, but also bringing as many over here so they can impart their bigoted Islamic ways onto us all.

         21 likes

    • noggin says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:52 am

      Now come, come, George … the BBC haven t finished dressing the poor disenfranchised oppressed persecuted Tartars in Ukraine yet! don t jump the gun!

      Sulaymanov Mukhamed Ali
      Tatars have connections all over the world, including Muslim nations where extremists and radicals have fought insurgencies during the recent decades, and radicals will flood into the Crimea if fighting starts, he said. He compared Crimea with a keg of gun powder “and someone is standing beside it playing with a lighter.

      Jihadi Crimean Tatars Threaten Terrorism if Russian Takeover
      http://www.businessinsider.com/crimean-tatars-threaten-terrorism-2014-3#ixzz2wb5DcgKr

      Jemilev Warns of Tatar Jihadi Reprisals against Russia in Crimea?
      another example of ROP?

         12 likes

  17. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:18 am

    More on the human and financial costs of mass immigration into U.K:-

    “EXCLUSIVE: first British charges for FGM announced by prosecutors”

    http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/exclusive-first-british-charges-for-fgm-announced-by-prosecutors-9207417.html

    “FGM: UK’s first female genital mutilation prosecutions announced”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26681364

       11 likes

    • Rob says:
      March 21, 2014 at 12:36 pm

      I thought Tell Lies I mean Mama had been closed down ? I see from the comments even some Muslims can see through the sheer hypocrisy.

         11 likes

    • Phil Ford says:
      March 21, 2014 at 3:20 pm

      Thatchell, happy to play the quisling; a useful idiot for the Islamic Cause. Call me naive, but I had rather hoped Thatchell might have instead employed his particular brand of defiant outspokenness to, say, call out hard-line Muslim sharia states on their continued predilection for murdering their own gay teenagers.

      Alas. It seems Thatchell has instead been assimilated into the ‘religion of peace’ collective to fight on their behalf. Who will stand up for defenceless children in Saudi Arabia now?

      From the Left: *tumbleweed.jpg*

         20 likes

      • johnnythefish says:
        March 21, 2014 at 11:00 pm

        So Tatchell had the balls to confront Mugabe but next thing you know he’s in bed with Islam.

        Surely he’s got no credibility now as the gay rights champion?

        Please, somebody explain.

           11 likes

    • noggin says:
      March 21, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Tell Lies – is against all forms of intolerance and discrimination, INCLUDING anti-Muslim prejudice, homophobia, and anti-Semitism …
      hello! … Measuring Anti MUSLIM Attacks … a clue 😀
      “He is an outstanding excellent addition to the Tell Mama fold and we are proud to be associated with him.”
      … and I do justhappen to have an appalling credibility issue, after being caught fabricating evidence of attacks
      old Fiyaz eh!

      “While the tiny minority of Islamist extremists – and fanatics from all faiths and none – must be challenged, we also need to challenge the unjustified demonisation of the general Muslim population.”
      Tatchell

      I take it he has read the hadith/quran? … that is NOT
      “tiny minority” that is muslim custom and practice?
      I take it he realises women in mosques and the sharia are effectively segregated, are second class citizens?
      Doesn t he watch BBC3 free speech? … to see censoring
      because of Islam, not a tiny minority of anyone?
      Why align yourself to a highly dubious individual, and
      an even more dubious organisation, like Tell Lies?

      will all end in tears … useful idiot

         14 likes

      • noggin says:
        March 21, 2014 at 4:35 pm

        Just one example to show the absurdity
        of P Tatchell s position.

        Muslims try to follow the Sharia in their daily lives, (that is NOT tiny minority) the beliefs are ingrained as Allah s law.
        You need only look to the rulings under Shari’ah to see the accepted mainstream interpretation of Islam and its commandments to its followers. Homosexuality under this law, is not only a sin, but a punishable crime against God.

        In the case of homosexuality, how it is dealt with differs between the four mainline schools of Sunni jurisprudence today, but what they all agree upon is that homosexuality is worthy of a severe penalty.

        In the Hanafi school of thought, the homosexual is first punished through harsh beating, and if he/she repeats the act, the death penalty is to be applied.

        As for the Shafi`i school of thought, the homosexual receives the same punishment as adultery (if he/she is married) or fornication (if not married). This means, that if the homosexual is married, he/she is stoned to death, while if single, he/she is whipped 100 times. Hence, the Shafi`i compares the punishment applied in the case of homosexuality with that of adultery and fornication.

        The Hanafi differentiates between the two acts because in homosexuality, anal sex [something that is prohibited, regardless of orientation] may also be involved, while in adultery [and fornication], the penis/vagina (which are reproductive parts) are involved.

           10 likes

  19. chrisH says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:36 am

    Anybody remember Cait Reilly then from last autumn?
    A clue -Poundland?..stacking shelves?
    Well, the BBC and the weekend rebels in cahoots with them rather loved her…freedom fighter, champion of rights etc.
    The Good and Correct/approved and licensed Rebellion was blessed by them all-trashing a decent supermarket trying hard to provide value and cheapness(yes, with the accompanying faults…but Reilly was NOT their fault but ours).
    The BBC loves the Correct, the Good Rebellion-cheap gestures, wristbands and reflex postures from the safety of a high tower with Costa to go.
    You could not get through this story without the charities, lawyers, unions.Labour/Liberal greens etc holding forth…
    Six months later
    Anybody heard of Aaron Parfitt?
    HE was the lad who got excluded for walking out of school in Blackpool because of staff turnover, shit lessons as a response to life in a “challenging” school.
    He`d told the head, the head of year, the head of maths, OFSTED, Labours Council, Childrens Services Directorate…EVERYBODY!
    But no-one gave a fig…so he and 40-100 kids left the classes and went on strike.
    And yet
    NO unions, asked, NO OFSTED comment, NO interview with the local Council or its Childrens Services Creature, NO national politicians from 2005-1014 asked from Education( Balls, Blunkett…Teather or Gove?)…and NO Shami, Cherie, Phil or Gareth…and definitely NO Maggie or Al , Camilla Madbatjelli from Kids Co or the Childrens Commissioners Office.
    Come today then-OFSTEDs Wilshaw, ASCL Unions bloke both there before Sarah Montague in the heads Office of the BBC?
    Guess what she wants to know?…being a Montessori mummy with enough Norland nannies to do for her?
    Yes-but of course-whether Gove was right to want Sally Morgan gone…and to see just how pally Wilshaw is with the alleged Education Secretary!
    Thank You BBC-luckily they think the rebellion starts next year in Venice at the Biennale…we here know it has started here in Blackpool ,and well before.
    Just not pretty or fashionable and no red coats to be sad about…unless its bloodied parkas at Victoria Station.
    The Revolution will not be televise-and now sure as hell won`t be broadcast at all on the f***in BBC!
    From the goons that gave you Baby P and Sharon Shoesmith, Jimmy Savile and Lord MacAlpine, Russell Brand and George Entwhistle…here come the Beeb and its similarly terminal case that is OFSTED.
    Institutionally empathetic.
    After these twin towers.have gone..back to mid-Staffs and the NHS.

       20 likes

  20. richard D says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP, appeared on the Today programme earlier this morning and, ably assisted by the ever-fragrant BBC presenter, Evan Davis, was highly critical of the NHS for its handling of the care of her dying husband in 2012, comparing the situation in the hospital in which he died to the multiple deaths in the mid-Stafford debacle.

    Amazingly (or perhaps not) it was never mentioned – not even once – that the mid-Staffs fiasco has been squarely laid at the feet of her Labour compadre, and Minister in the Labour government at the time this was going on – Mr Alan Milburn.

    Also, not once was it made clear that her husband’s death was in a Welsh Hospital, for which responsibility has been devolved to the Welsh Government – and therefore completely under the control of her beloved Labour Party.

    In essence, in the absence of these salient facts, it might have been assumed that the current UK government was somehow to blame for all of this. Deception by clearly deliberate omission of key information…. wholeheartedly aided and abetted by the BBC.

    It’s in the blood and culture.

       46 likes

    • Guest Who says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:59 am

      ‘Also, not once was it made clear that her husband’s death was in a Welsh Hospital, for which responsibility has been devolved to the Welsh Government – and therefore completely under the control of her beloved Labour Party’
      That sounds rather familiar.
      http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/trust-upholds-complaint-against-bbc-news-over-inaccurate-tweet
      ‘The Committee agreed with the BBC that considerable skill was needed to ensure edits reflect the requirements of the BBC narrative rather than truth or accuracy’*
      (*Editted to reflect the fact that the BBC learns only what it wants to, especially that not being held to proper account is an open invitation to repeat clear abuse of professional integrity as often as desired).
      Deception by clearly deliberate omission of key information…. wholeheartedly aided and abetted by the BBC.
      It’s in the DNA, eh, Hugs?
      Maybe there’s a lovingly-crafted teasing episode of W1A in the can to cover this too?

         24 likes

  21. Pounce says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:49 am

    Got to love the bBC:
    Fred Phelps: How Westboro pastor spread ‘God hates fags’
    Oh how the Christian church is evil for speaking out against gays, yet when the Islamic faith not only does likewise and demands the bBC to not touch the subject the bBC can’t bend over fast enough.
    The bBC, the homophobic hypocrites within our midsts

       38 likes

    • therealguyfaux says:
      March 21, 2014 at 1:28 pm

      When the writer of the article reporting on the death of the “Reverend” Phelps feels the need to cite the Southern Poverty Law Center, you know you are dealing with a person who hasn’t any sense of irony.

      In its own way, the SPLC is as paradoxically doctrinaire in its focus against those it hates (the “haters,” all of whom seem curiously to come from the “Right” side of the political spectrum as it is commonly defined) and cynical in its self-serving political theatre in its dissemination of its message.

      The SPLC is as promiscuous in its definition of “dangerous extremist” as Phelps ever was with his “fag-enabler” tag. It raises funds based on the emotional appeal to “fight the Nazis” every bit as much as Phelps ever did with “God hates fags.”

      Yet, because the SPLC has a large office building in Montgomery, Alabama (a location not randomly chosen, seeing as it is a former Confederate capital and the site of Martin Luther King’s earliest activism following the Rosa Parks incident), whereas Phelps had a tiny church in Kansas, a staff of hundreds versus a few dozen mindless followers at best, and a budget which would spend in a few days more than Phelps could raise in a year, SPLC is more “mainstream” and “respectable.”

      SPLC is one of those advocacy groups which are usually cited as if their “facts” were unassailable despite their stated position in the matter. This is because they confirm the intuitions of many newsgathering organisations and act as a confirmation bias for them. Scepticism towards SPLC? Why I never! (*clutches pearls*) Dearie me, how could they lie, when they are on the side of the angels?

      One could do a lot worse than to inquire of the SPLC as to what they actually do and accomplish, in terms of what is stated on the tin, i.e., work to alleviate poverty in the American South. To all appearances to someone not blinded, SPLC looks like one large racket.

      But then, so does the BBC.

         15 likes

      • Danny Howard says:
        March 21, 2014 at 3:40 pm

        Time Magazine summed Phelps up pretty well in its obituary.

        Good Riddance, Fred Phelps

        “Fred Phelps, a colossal jerk, died Thursday … He was the kind of person no one wanted to be around: a lawyer disbarred by his colleagues, a preacher disowned by every denomination he ever espoused, a father rejected by his children…”

        http://time.com/32564/fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-obituary/

           10 likes

        • Guest Who says:
          March 21, 2014 at 5:27 pm

          In life, his contributions seemed hard to fathom, much less appreciate, indeed.
          Dead of course, as now seems the norm (unless it is a favoured son’s relative), the hounds can really be let loose.
          Interesting precedent there by Time Magazine, clearly going for the cheap seats and the heck with professional class. Dancing on graves may appeal to some mindsets, but more subtle epitaphs can carry greater resonance and lessons worth learning if delivered with skill.
          Of course I should apologise for continuing to run with the kind of OT that often has my wrist slapped by the duty Flokker Hall Monitor of the day, but then a few things in that piece caught my eye that could indeed return the spotlight to the BBC and its professional abilities…
          “understood that the engine of news is conflict, and the sharper the conflict, the better”
          Please feel free to argue how the BBC does not wade in just such a gutter. How else to explain the weary predictability of BBC sofa guests or panellists from the Jezza Vine Show to QT?
          Those market rates need ratings, and ratings are hard to come by without embracing the dark side of The Farce.
          ‘he gave the impression of numbers’
          Many’s the BBC photo editor who can match this with a neatly cropped photo of a protest of six that somehow gets propelled to the home page of the cause is just (on narrative).
          ‘..he tapped into poisonous millennia of religious conflict to turbocharge his egomania.’
          Somewhere a BBC booker is dialing Mehdi’s number. Again.
          ‘…as one journalist after another took [the] bait, then tried to spit out the hook once the dishonesty and shabbiness… grew clear.’
          Sounds like the BBC ME desk with any story from a staff stringer, with the possible exception of spitting out the hook. Or wanting to.
          ‘…new and naïve reporters were being minted all the time’
          Those cubicle gardens are fertile if hardly sources of much that could be viewed of value.
          “Too many spotlights were cast in [this] direction, but at least they illuminate [an imminent] fall.”
          Not so unique then, after all.

             5 likes

        • johnnythefish says:
          March 21, 2014 at 6:13 pm

          Danny – did you comment on the coverage on here of the BBC’s capitulation to Islamo-fascist threats?

          Can’t remember…

             13 likes

        • chrisH says:
          March 21, 2014 at 8:30 pm

          Don`t know anything about the bloke-but if the liberals hated him then he was probably doing things right in my Book.
          Typical liberal trashing of the dead-he is now square with the house, and may God judge him.
          I suppose a few minutes silence and a eulogy from East Coast hippies on Last Word is out of the question.
          “Time loathed him”…wouldn`t mind THAT on my tombstone anyhow!

             7 likes

    • George R says:
      March 21, 2014 at 4:15 pm

      “Media ignores Jihadi persecution of Christians. Why?”

      By Raymond Ibrahim.

      http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4830/media_ignores_jihadi_persecution_of_christians_why

         20 likes

      • johnnythefish says:
        March 21, 2014 at 11:10 pm

        Excellent article.

        I’m sure Danny will be along any minute, though, to put the record straight. He knows everything, you know.

        Over to you Danny Boy….

           9 likes

  22. Pounce says:
    March 21, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    So here I am reading the bBC article about two Muslims (yes muslims) who have been charged with FGM in the UK, when I spot this link underneath:
    The unopened ‘Pleasure Hospital’ of Bobo
    Why its about a cult which tried to build a hospital which would have treated women afflicted by FGM and why did the Burkina Faso government refuse this hospital to be built:
    “Banemanie Traore is convinced that the Ministry has stepped in to stop the project for religious reasons. She says powerful Catholics in the country have put pressure on the government. “They don’t want women to have pleasure,” she says.

    Powerful Catholics, you say bBC? A quick search reveals that the Catholic population of the country stands at 19%, Islam stands at 60.5% and protestants at 4% the rest are all African cultures.

       31 likes

    • George R says:
      March 21, 2014 at 4:23 pm

      A reprise of Comment on Mid-week ‘Open Thread’:-

      INBBC ‘Newsnight’: Female Genital Mutilation? Blame the Catholic Church, not Islam.

      In Ms Lloyd-Roberts’ long, rambling piece on FGM in the lesser African state of Bukino Faso (why not concentrate on FGM in Britain?), she ends up blaming the Catholic Church, not Islam!
      “The unopened ‘Pleasure Hospital’ of Bobo”
      By Sue Lloyd-Roberts
      INBBC ‘Newsnight’.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26577358

      Apparently, the majority of that country’s population are Muslims (60%); and Ms Lloyd-Roberts must know the link between FGM and Islam:-

      ‘Jihadwatch’:-

      http://www.jihadwatch.org/search_gcse?q=fgm%20and%20islam

         11 likes

    • George R says:
      March 21, 2014 at 4:29 pm

      On FGM, Beeboids seem to have a political agenda of diverting attention away from the activities of thousands of Muslims in Britain, and instead on to activities of the Catholic Church in Bukino Faso!

         22 likes

  23. JimS says:
    March 21, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    The worm turns. Jeremy Vine pushes the EU line that we have to put sanctions on Russian oligarchs, the question is just how many, how much?

    Unfortunately his callers seem to be wondering how we allowed the EU to push us into war with Russia!

       27 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:
      March 21, 2014 at 1:32 pm

      The BBC would often have us believe three incredible things before breakfast – the latest item appears to be that the Crimea is not Russian.

         26 likes

    • Richard Pinder says:
      March 21, 2014 at 2:43 pm

      The EU does seem to prefer war to referendums.

      But then History shows that its those who try to unite Europe, who cause the wars.

         20 likes

      • Phil Ford says:
        March 21, 2014 at 3:25 pm

        A socialist, agrarian vision of a federated Europe was once the vision of some jumped-up vicious little ex-corporal in the German army… His name escapes me.

           25 likes

        • Mark says:
          March 21, 2014 at 10:03 pm

          .. or a jumped-up little corporal from Corsica who also tried to unite Europe, invade Russia, and fail.

             8 likes

          • Mark says:
            March 21, 2014 at 10:44 pm

            At least his defeat by Russia gave us a bloody good overture replete with fireworks ! 😀

               9 likes

  24. hanbergeharry says:
    March 21, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    It’s inbred isn’t it – around 9. this morning their guests were an actress from the TV series “Silk” and the writer. Programme about barristers and the courts of course. When they turned to the writer out came the standard lefty comment on this government cutting legal aid! You couldn’t make it up folks.

       30 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:
      March 21, 2014 at 1:55 pm

      Seems social and political ‘activists’ are now at the controls up on the flightdeck of BBC drama – but don’t worry, sit back, pay your Licence and enjoy the ride – Tony Hall and the BBC Trust are constantly monitoring our position on their radar

         19 likes

    • johnnythefish says:
      March 21, 2014 at 11:12 pm

      She’s as lefty as they come. You should hear her spout her crap on how Thatcher destroyed t’ pits.

         12 likes

  25. Guest Who says:
    March 21, 2014 at 1:49 pm

    OK, OT, but it does go to what some ‘believe’ should be and what often is.
    http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/nbcs-today-finds-it-surprising-obama-not-list-greatest-leaders
    Maybe Stuart Hughes could start a campaign?
    Still at least he makes Ed Miliband look… less dire, which for the BBC has to be step in a better direction than any else they have to hand.

       10 likes

  26. uncle bup says:
    March 21, 2014 at 2:10 pm

    Dear Droids ah dunno what planet yees are on sure ah doan.

    I caught 30 seconds of Hoy Are Ye Noy last night (it was enough). Some clown was phoning in saying that he would happily see the BBC ‘entertainments’ bit being made subscription-based but would want me to continue subsidising his enjoyment of the news.

    Out popped Fatty with,

    ‘I dunno how much the BBC sells Strictly for around the world, but it’s probably tens of millions. Would ye not want to see that continuing to come back to the license payer’.

    They love this ‘coming back to the licence payer’ trope.

    Has anyone ever seen this Strictly dividendnomeneither.

    You know what, droids, make the whole shooting-match subscription-only and I’ll just take my chance on missing out on all these ‘worldwide sales’ dividends.

       23 likes

    • richard D says:
      March 21, 2014 at 5:12 pm

      ” ‘I dunno how much the BBC sells Strictly for around the world, but it’s probably tens of millions. Would ye not want to see that continuing to come back to the license payer’. ”

      Hold on a cotton-pickin’ minute there. The license payer get’s no dividend or interest back on their license fee from any sales of programmes overseas. That’s part of the problem. The more money the BBC can get in from any source, the more money it can just spend, as it wishes, absolutely no feedback from the license payer to have any external income as a rebate, and force the BBC to fend for itself. Name me one other organisation which can do that in any competitive market..

         26 likes

  27. Richard Pinder says:
    March 21, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    The evidence is that people with more hostile personalities, prefer the colour red. People who prefer the colour red are more likely to react aggressively to criticism, which would explain the culture of Censorship at the BBC. It is thought that it is linked to evolution, as violent personalities saw red, when that violence produced a scene of “red blood” everywhere.

       12 likes

  28. stuart says:
    March 21, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    you know the score,whenever a priest or a christian leader makes any comment about homosexuailty the bbc and radio 5 live pro gay propanganda machine swings in to gear with no end of phones in from nicky campbell to the stephen nolan show with guests from stonewall to keith portishead from the secalar society to peter thatchell laying into the christian faith in the most vicious way,something strange has happened this week from the bbc and radio 5 live and it is called silence,there has been complete silence over the so called moderate dr mohammed naseem the chairman of the birmingham central mosque in birmingham that banned free speech last week on bbc 3 from his mosque about can muslims be gay in islam,dr mohammed naseem the moderate chairman of the birmingham central mosque wrote yesterday in the huffingdon post describing homosexuality as akin to peadophilia,incest and ever gay men as murderers.now ,where is the outrage from the bbc,radio 5 live and the gay lobby,where is the outrage from the uaf and hope not hate,i am outraged at the complete silence and media blackout over dr mohammed naseems disgusting comments that in my view deserves a visit from the police on grounds of stirring up hatred and homophobia towards the gay community.thats that.

       35 likes

    • Lobster says:
      March 21, 2014 at 6:59 pm

      If nothing else he should be done for crimes against hairdressing. Have you seen that syrup?

         8 likes

    • chrisH says:
      March 21, 2014 at 8:16 pm

      Actually we owe him a debt of thanks.
      The BBC is now a Free Speech Potemkin Village that soon folds its tents when the dyed beards of Islam come a calling.
      Not too much to argue with either-same principle at source as he says.
      And if it stuffs the elite-what of it? For he`ll always get the Top Trump card.
      Poor sod needs a decent wig-I grant you that-but he also needs a shirt(or maybe some Gok Wan figure to take him shopping)
      I`d not let MY grandad out without his shirt on…maybe the Islamists could get those details right before they want to remove our need for a cap or a tie…

         13 likes

  30. Guest Who says:
    March 21, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    BBC World News
    ” Let your bird chirp”. This is the message some people are spray-painting on walls in ‪#‎Turkey‬. http://bbc.in/1oEfTaR

    They are including DNS (Domain Name Servers) details to help people circumvent a ‪#‎Twitter‬ ban.

    The ban on Twitter come after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “wipe out” the micro-blogging service.

    Mr Erdogan is angry that people used Twitter to spread allegations of corruption in his inner circle.

    A BBC Complaints spokesperson has said that they don’t see what the problem is, as it seems a heck of an idea to deal with pesky critics, and they’ve been doing the same for years (well, two each expediting).”
    It is possible there was room for more accuracy in this events interpreted version.

       7 likes

  31. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Beeboids of W1A create new post for its Gavin. And why not?

    “BBC News and Current Affairs announces appointment of Gavin Hewitt to Chief Correspondent role”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/gavin-hewitt-chief-correspondent.html?

       10 likes

  32. will says:
    March 21, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    Gavin Esler fronting the Scottish Referendum coverage visited his humble origins, a council estate in Glasgow. But from Wiki I see “Born in Glasgow, Esler was educated at the independent George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh. Scholarship, pools win or porkies?

       25 likes

    • Dave s says:
      March 21, 2014 at 5:45 pm

      Bit like that charlatan Blair saying he watched Jackie Milburn play football . Fantasy people with fantasy lives and inflicting fantasy worlds on the rest of us.

         17 likes

    • Mike Oxenfire says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:33 pm

      Esler definitely attended the private George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh. In the words of the Welsh entertainer Max Boyce “I know coz I was there”.

         13 likes

  33. will says:
    March 21, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    My vote for comment of the day:-
    Guido gives the runners & riders for the vacancy of Economics reporter for Channel4 News. A commenter suggests Andrew Verity.

       8 likes

  34. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    “THE WANKERATI SPEAK:
    ‘WHY CAN’T BRITAIN’S PRESS BE MORE LIKE IRAN’S?'”

    By James Delingpole.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/03/21/Campaign-For-UK-Press-Regulation-Suffers-Devastating-Blow

       13 likes

  35. DB says:
    March 21, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    LA Weekly headline: “Left-Wing Darling Pacifica Radio Is Sliding Into the Abyss“.

    The BBC runs half an hour of Pacifica every week on R5L’s Up All Night. It doesn’t run half an hour of right-wing talk radio. Funny that.

    Read the whole thing to get an idea why the BBC is terrified of losing the licence fee – given the choice people aren’t prepared to subscribe to lefty propaganda.

       26 likes

  36. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    At the real W1A –

    “Tony Hall gives BBC’s dressed-to-thrill communications boss stylish send off”

    http://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2014/mar/21/bbc-tony-hall-yentob-davie-payne-leaving-drinks

       6 likes

  37. Guest Who says:
    March 21, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    And finally (pubs to frequent, lives to lead, family to embrace), in other news…

    http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/studio-change.html
    ‘ No sign, as yet, of salary adjustments.’
    Doubtless FoI exempted to check, but a bit like those equally unique BBC pension investments, it seems adjustments of this nature can go up, or really up, by simply taking what’s required from programming to cover shortfalls.
    There’s probably a W1A spin-off on how such things are actually decided by arm-wrestling Lucy Adams, so it’s best for senior market rates to practice.

       1 likes

  38. johnnythefish says:
    March 21, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    BBC North West News had the appointment of the new Catholic Archbish of Scouseland as it’s headline news!

    Wondered why Christianity and not Nice Islam or fracking or nastytorycutz was getting the headline, but quickly found out.

    Apparently he wants to involve himself in the ‘reality’ of people’s everyday lives, especially (and solely, it seems) those suffering from cuts, er the government cuts which are leaving some people without food and unable to buy their children the things they deserve.

    It’s all becoming clear….

    Interviewer: ‘Some people call you an old Lefty’ (heh heh, takes one to know one)

    Reply: ‘No, I’m apolitical. I did join marches against apartheid but if a right-wing government does something I approve of I give them credit for it.’ (Gun. Aim. Bang. Foot. Ouch.)

    Beam me up, Scotty (no, not you).

       19 likes

  39. Teddy Bear says:
    March 21, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    Is the laugh on us with the BBC’s new satire?

    Most here will have seen articles this week related to the comedy mock documentary based on life at the Beeb.
    Knowing the BBC will have considered very carefully the impact this programme is likely to have, their motive must be what’s in it for them, besides attracting audiences.

    Seeing all of the various scandals that have come to light, especially over the last year, the BBC are aware the public will have a dim view of them, and there’s no point trying to hide the fact. So I guess they think by making the public laugh about it then their failures might become acceptable.

    It’s certainly as close to creativity as the BBC has come in a long time, even if it’s a parody of themselves, but I doubt very much if they will show anywhere near the worst and the most ridiculous that really is their world.

    Like the news today that they are replacing 18 month old carpets on their 6th and 7th floors because the existing ones aren’t inspiring enough.
    However did people throughout history discover how to be creative?

    However funny this programme might be, the fact that is stranger than fiction, which is the real BBC, needs to be cast off from any licence fee. Then we can be really entertained watching their inflated egos sink.

    Philip Johnston at the Telegraph linked above also has an interesting perspective on it.

       11 likes

    • chrisH says:
      March 21, 2014 at 8:02 pm

      The Inspiral Carpets?
      Good name for a band that few of us heard…but they let Noel Gallagher carry their amps for them….

         6 likes

  40. Country bumpkin says:
    March 21, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    Can’t find any post with my own observation so just in case….. Am I the only one who heard an extended puff on the Jeremy Vine show after Tony ‘poisonous irrelevance’ Benn died? JV played all the corny sentimental bits of his own last interview with Tony Benn which faded out to the strains of The Walker Brothers song ‘The sun ain’t gonna shine any more’!!

       19 likes

  41. OldBloke says:
    March 21, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    Not sure how the BBC will report on this, but following the annexation and all the huffing and puffing of the E.U., Mr Putin has suggested he will turn the gas taps off. As a result, the home nations of the E.U. have suddenly become aware of the need for home spun energy. Fracking was always going to be a sticking point with the loony left and their Eco warriors, so, Mr Putin has done us a big favour and we should applaud his actions as it will get us fracking as soon as possible. 😎

       22 likes

  42. Teddy Bear says:
    March 21, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    With the exception of David Frost, the only chat shows I’ve ever enjoyed were those in America, with Jay Leno being the funniest.
    Something about UK personalities that doesn’t create the right chemistry. Either they are too dour, like Michael Parkinson, or else they think they are better than those they are interviewing, like Jonathan Ross.
    We have too many that are like Ross, not that talented, and not that intelligent to make it interesting.
    I hope the latest failure described below worries the BBC even more about what will happen if they’re privatised and have to earn their crust.

    Is this proof the TV chat show is dead? As Michael McIntyre’s new show loses 400,000 viewers in a week, CHRISTOPHER STEVENS laments the butchering of a telly tradition

       9 likes

    • uncle bup says:
      March 21, 2014 at 10:03 pm

      Ross another example of BBC and its ‘vanity salary’ approach to remuneration.

      Ross’ £18 million three year package was not about how talented Ross was but how important the BBC thinks the BBC is.

      A waste of £18 million quid.

      No-one resigned.

         22 likes

  43. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    Another discussion piece on BBC and ‘W1A’ –

    “The BBC might be laughing at itself in ‘W1A’, but that doesn’t get it off the hook.
    “The group-think that infects the Corporation has serious implications.”

    By Terence Blacker.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-bbc-might-be-laughing-at-itself-in-w1a-but-that-doesnt-get-it-off-the-hook-9208381.html

       10 likes

  44. George R says:
    March 21, 2014 at 9:39 pm

    “BBC Mosque leader compares being gay to murder and pedophilia”

    By Pamela Geller.

    [Opening excerpt]

    “Who is the BBC taking their marching orders from? Mosque leader Dr. Mohammad Naseem, who calls homosexuality murder and child rape. The BBC deferred to Dr. Naseem and censored a free speech show that addressed being gay and Muslim. But the BBC calls me a ‘hater’ and a ‘bigot.’ BBCretins preen about, puffing themselves up as the gold standard of journalism, standard bearers of proper cultural mores, but crumble when challenged by thugs and barbarians.”
    – See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/03/bbc-mosque-leader-compares-gay-murder-pedophilia.html/#sthash.tJZPsWm1.dpuf

       15 likes

  46. chrisH says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    Finn Mackay-some lefty harpie from the University of Studies in Bristol-told us the other day(Moral Maze 19/3/14 8pm, Radio 4) that men were automatically guilty of commodifying and objectifying women.
    So no matter the offence,its the one with the penis that gets the blame-always.
    Got that?
    Yet on Womans Hour today-Jenni Murray said that she`d be asking men at an S&M place on their roles as sexual beings or whatever.
    Was Finn asked her views while up a pole at Spearmint Rhino then?…or is objectifying, commodifying and prejudice against men all right if its fat academics or Marx-swallowing gynocrats on tenure are doing the “interviewing”
    Typical BBC….Vicky Pryce due her own series soon eh?
    Don`t BBC types ever think on their mixed messages and anti-men bias? Mind you if Michael Buerk can`t even spell his own name properly, maybe we can forgive him this once

       10 likes

  47. thoughtful says:
    March 21, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    How strange the BBC usage of Islamic & Muslim seems to be.
    Today has seen a guilty verdict on a woman who wore the niqab to disguise her appearance when she threw acid over her ‘friend’ who had called her ugly.

    The BBC radio 4 said she was wearing a ‘Muslim Veil’ well I might be being pedantic but I wasn’t aware that fabric followed any particular religion, and the correct description might have been better as ‘Islamic veil’ but even that isn’t correct as this dress forms no part of Islam and actually runs contrary to what Mohammed said.

    In later reports it isn’t mentioned at all only as ‘dressed in a veil’.

    Here are my thoughts (FWTW).
    Firstly the BBC in all it’s bias thinks it can cast Muslims as victims again, by suggesting that someone not a Muslim has used an extremist dress code which is under considerable scrutiny in the UK & banned in France, to commit a horrible crime. It then realises that this is a perfect reason to ban the niqab in the UK precisely because people are using it to commit crime, and so pulls the reference.

    It would fit the pattern of the BBC using every excuse and trick in the book to protect the ‘RoP’ in every program transmitted.

       21 likes

    • chrisH says:
      March 23, 2014 at 3:38 pm

      “She disguised herself as a Muslim”?
      Is she-was she actually a Muslim then, or not?
      Her name…is it Mary or Maryam?
      I genuinely don`t know-I`ve not checked, but I`m always a bit alert when the BBC use language like they did in this case.

         1 likes

  48. johnnythefish says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:23 pm

    Doing catch up on Ickle Evan’s 2-parter on the dominance of London in the British economy.

    In one scene he was in Birmingham at what used to be the Birds Custard factory, where he sampled the delights of their egg-free custard powder. He told us it’s actually not bad, and could remember his mum serving it up for him when he were t’ lad.

    His total lack of self-awareness of what he was doing and saying was a joy.

    Don’t worry, Evan, we all know you left instant custard behind a long time ago you elitist, leftist, out of touch little shit.

       20 likes

  49. Charlatans says:
    March 21, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    Not seen David Preiser (USA friend) on here for a while. I like to get his slant about BBC US cover. Is he on holiday?

       13 likes

    • Andy S. says:
      March 22, 2014 at 2:21 am

      I was about to ask the same question myself. I’m missing Dave Preiser’s take on BBC America and Obama’s freefalling poll ratings.

         17 likes

  50. George R says:
    March 22, 2014 at 12:18 am

    Where does Islam Not BBC (INBBC) really stand politically re-Al Qaeda, and the broader Islamic jihad threat to the West?

    To INBBC, are Al Qaeda and Islamic jihadists mere ‘rebels,’ ‘militants,’ ‘fighters,’ ‘Islamists’?

    Does INBBC see itself as some sort of uninvolved observer of the Islamic jihad war against the West?

    Does INBBC see it as part of its political role to give credence to Islamic jihadists and their supporters in Britain and globally? Is this how British licence-payers’ money should be used?

    INBBC should be committed against the Islamic jihad war being waged against us of the West; as INBBC should be aware, it is a war being fought on all fronts, not least in the media-

    “Al-Qa’ida, the second act: The hate preachers fuelling sectarianism.
    “In the final part of his series, Patrick Cockburn explains how Sunni fundamentalist groups are successfully winning recruits through well-funded internet propaganda.”

    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/alqaida-the-second-act-the-hate-preachers-fuelling-sectarianism-9205931.html

       6 likes

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