The Midweek Thread 15 April 2020

Surveys of public opinion concerning the performance of the Main Stream Media – including the Biased BBC – are showing great levels of dissatisfaction with the way it is reporting the Chinese Virus . Let’s hope there is a reckoning afterward .

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584 Responses to The Midweek Thread 15 April 2020

  1. Guest Who says:

    Ex-BBC no surprise, but is he impartial or just rabid like the rest?

    https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2020/kevin-bakhurst-appointed-to-ofcom-board?

       11 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Guest – thank you – I note the line in the bio which says “Kevin had a long career at the BBC…” should fit in very well with the rest then …..

         19 likes

      • G says:

        Fed,
        Amazing where the BBC minions/emissaries appear. It as if in accordance with some sort of plan. Naturally, I appreciate that is impossible in practice……………

           7 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      17th April
      “Ofcom has appointed Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom’s Content and Media Policy Group Director, to its Board.
      Kevin joined Ofcom in 2016 and has overseen its important work on content standards and policy,
      including taking on regulation of the BBC and preparations to become the regulator for video sharing platforms in the UK. “

      How does it work when you have a pension with a firm you now are regulating ?

         31 likes

      • The WestWyvern says:

        Its unbelievable, worse than a banana republic.

        Far worse in fact, because the leaders of banana republics don’t hide the corruption.

        The OFCOM toady’s that justify the appointment will deny any collusion or conflict of interest and use the weasel words like:

        Impartial
        Transparency
        Accountability

        Without actual bothering to understand the meaning of the words.

        Bloody disgrace and another westy email to the local MP…

           20 likes

      • JimS says:

        I wouldn’t want to do Maxi out of a job but I wish you would read what you intend to post before you post it.

        “Kevin joined Ofcom in 2016 and has overseen its important work on content standards and policy, including taking on regulation of the BBC

        He took on the setting the policy for regulating the BBC whilst working for Ofcom, not the BBC.

        Kevin Bakhurst worked for RTE before he joined Ofcom in 2016. He did, however, work for the BBC until 2012. He might just be a poacher turned gamekeeper or he could, as you imply, be a poacher in a gang of poachers.

        What is certainly true is that none of the ‘Offices of Regulation’ serve the public, they are all agencies to distance ministers of the Crown from activities that they used to be responsible for.

           2 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          Jim – I didn’t get the bit wrong about Kev ‘had a long career at the BBC’ though did I . In my book that disqualified him from oversight whether he has a fiscal interest ( pension ) in the BBC or not . There s more than enough quango vermin trolling around without direct connection to the BBC – as I wrote that I realised that they are all in the same swamp so will be ‘networked ‘ ……
          Maybe if Dom ever gets his act together he can put OFCOM on the ‘target ‘ list …..

          Unfortunately the Chinese virus will cost the new government its ‘first year …. and maybe even more ….it just better get us clean from the EU as promised ….

             15 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          JimS no one said he was working for Ofcom and BBC at the same time.
          .. He’s been at Ofcom since 2016
          and has recently been promoted to the board.

             0 likes

  2. StewGreen says:

    Dom’s back, I hadn’t heard
    SkyNewsBreak Apr 14
    A No 10 spokesman says special adviser Dominic Cummings has returned to work in Downing Street after self-isolating with symptoms of COVID-19

       13 likes

    • The WestWyvern says:

      Lets hope he’s dipped in and out of this site during his recovery and gets the points about AntiBBC and the wider Chinese corona virus situation.

         15 likes

  3. gb123 says:

    I’m glad to see Americans haven’t lost their sense of humour after Joe Biden’s campaign team asked for catchy memes. Even Trump’s team sent one with the tag “thank you for not deporting us” over a picture of MS13 gang members.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/the-biden-campaign-invited-people-to-make-their-own-team-joe-memes-it-did-not-go-as-planned

    “Twitter users uploaded fake “endorsements” featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping, the devil, several members of the media including CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, “Corn Pop,” and a “lying dog-faced pony soldier.””

    I wonder if Katy Kay will be running a commentary on this as she covered (for?) Joe in a beeb article
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52299468

       9 likes

  4. The WestWyvern says:

    AntiBBC Radio 2 Steve Shite in the Afternoon, just did a recap of the weeks guests.

    Laura Bloody Kuunstberg was on earlier in the week discussing with our Steve the prospect of MPs getting back to a virtual parliament next week.

    Glad I missed that piece of ‘entertainment’ earlier this week.
    May have led to another wireless being smashed.

       13 likes

  5. The WestWyvern says:

    Steve ‘love the show’ wright has just had a weather person on, telling us the forecast for the weekend phrased with the comment ‘I know we are all stuck in doors this weekend’…

    Clearly another one who has not got the message that English lockdown came to an end Thursday at 18.00 BST.

       6 likes

  6. StewGreen says:

    “UK heading for worst death rates in Europe, expert has said to parliament”
    ..has been the lead story on my local BBC news all day

    This BBC narrative construction operation “Worst in Europe” has been under construction for a while
    Marr was doing it last weekend

    Professor Anthony Costello, of University College London’s Institute for Global Health, told a committee of MPs that the “harsh reality” is that “we were too slow with a number of things”.

    The actual headline should be
    “UK heading for worst death rates in Europe, expert has said to parliament, but that is BS just look at the graph

       16 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      What kind of person would be pushing to get the Prof on the BBC ?

         12 likes

      • Dave S says:

        Dangerous talk from the BBC lot as usual and this man. The rate per million is what matters. They know this but refuse to admit it.
        That said this has not been handled well as I was in favour of action in January as I have a contact in Taiwan who was very insistent that this virus was deadly and that China was not being truthful . If I knew the government must have known.
        The main danger with the virus is that it is incredibly infectious . This puts care homes etc at risk. The NHS and the government must have known this too. I have not been impressed by any of the way this has been handled.
        That said this country is not responsible for the virus. We need to keep this at the forefront of our minds. The blame lies elsewhere. Listening to and reading foreign commentators things are not looking good for the peace of the world. After such a world wide disaster there will be a need to blame and it is looking as if there is only one candidate . What is the only question that in the end will be asked. Was it accidental or deliberate? On this the future of our world hinges.

           16 likes

        • Foscari says:

          Dave S-You write a lot of sense. I am a football odds compiler
          and have been quoting odds on football matches in Taiwan,which is
          one of a very few leagues playing in the world. My contacts
          in Taipei tell me that the Chinese on the mainland
          were capable of exposing the rest of the world to the virus,
          for their own ends. And used the WHO to do their bidding.
          It is known through history what a totalitarian state does when
          it under internal pressure. This is one of the most of all
          dangerous times for Taiwan and with it the world.
          It is often written in a conspiratorial way that the BBC is really an
          enemy of the state. Is this pandemic proving it ? The more the
          death figures grow . The more that an expert says we will
          have the highest deaths in Europe . The more some at the BBC
          show this schadenfreud.The WHO is being controlled by China.
          Who is controlling the BBC?

             14 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            Fos – 3 of my favourite words ‘football odds compiler ‘! My online gambling addiction has debased me so much that I’ve put a bet on opra Winfrey to run as Vice President . …200/1 looked too good …..

            As for the theory about deliberate exposure by the Chinese…. at the moment I’m in the ‘cock up ‘ school where some idiot playing in the state bio station carried the new virus out and went shopping in the ‘wet’ market ……

            But my view might change …. the problem being that it will get like the JFK story with so much smoke around that no one will see through it …..
            Any tips for the Belorussian second division ….?

               7 likes

          • Dave S says:

            The CCP is only concerned with staying in power. The rest of the world is nothing to it. There are camps full of Muslims and others in the country. Who knows how many. Hong Kong is a tinder box. Going all out for Taiwan might be their only option now after the virus fiasco . That would rally the people behind the CCP. As a gambler I make that 3 to one against. At the moment.
            The USA which has had to see mass burials in NYC will react and quickly . The flyover people of the USA are not going to forgive what has happened to their country . Even money if Taiwan is invaded the USA will escalate at maximum force. That means nuclear very quickly.

               3 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          Dave – as a newly promoted 4 star armchair general I go with ‘ accidental ‘ release ….. but the ingredients are there for some form of clash of parties somewhere on the planet which could escalate far quicker in current circumstances than sane people might have the time to stop it.

          I agree on the danger of the times and I don’t know how states/ people would react to another incident such as a nuclear explosion somewhere in the world … maybe they’d be panic buying toilet rolls again …..

             3 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          Just a reminder, lockdown is NOT about directly reducing deaths
          … they will keep happening until a vaccine or herd immunity.
          It’s about avoiding the catastrophe of having the NHS overwhelmed.

          We are 10 mins into a 90 min game.
          Right now Sweden has not spent any cash on lockdown.

          The UK has a number of top politicians who now have some immunity.
          Other countries don’t.

             5 likes

      • LastChanceSaloon says:

        Costello! where is Abbott?
        Wiki on Costello
        Nepal
        India
        Bangladesh
        Malawi
        WHO
        HECC (Health effects of Climate Change)
        UNICEF
        UNPF
        Ethiopia
        Nigeria
        Ivory Coast
        Uganda
        Tanzania
        Ghana
        HECC (again)
        UNICEF (again)
        WHO (again)

        2018 Book published
        The Social Edge: The Power of Sympathy Groups for our Health, Wealth and Sustainable Future

        “The book explains why a new science of cooperation is needed and suggests twenty two social experiments which use sympathy groups for resolving 21st century problems.”

        [22 Non scientific experiments].

        Amazon UK has the book for sale.
        Four reviews, not by purchasers, not normal for Amazon in my experience.
        Who are they?

        #1 Melissa Benn, author, journalist and campaigner.
        Daughter of Tony Benn, tick tick tick.

        #2Chris van Tulleken, doctor, scientist and TV presenter
        “Board Member of the medical aid and healthcare charity Doctors of the World UK,[27] which is a member of the international Médecins du Monde network.” tick tick tick.

        #3Marina Cantacuzino, founder, ‘The Forgiveness Project’
        Guardian Contributor, tick tick tick.

        #4 Richard Horton, editor, The Lancet
        Incompetent, tick tick tick.

           6 likes

    • Cooper_Man says:

      “UK heading for worst death rates in Europe, except for San Marino, Andorra, Belgium, Spain, Italy and France,” doesn’t really have the same apocalyptic tone to it somehow.

         20 likes

      • Mustapha Sheikup al-Beebi says:

        It all depends how the b@sturd BBC wants to spin it. For example, “in the Varsity Boat Race of 196x, Oxford finished a close second whereas Cambridge were second to last.”

           16 likes

      • The Mouse says:

        Cooper Man,

        I think the ‘virus’ impact on death rates will depend on what time frame we intend to use. Obviously if we decide to call time now then Germany, S. Korea have low total number of deaths per head of population whereas Sweden, UK, France, others have high.

        If population immunity through levels of infection is the only way out in the medium term (1-2 years) then there is some way to go for all countries. Particularly those countries who have minimised the infection rate across all of the population. Continuous breaking out of virus infection will not only be damaging to any country in terms of economics but also in terms of number of deaths. The jury is out unless you are a BBC reporter and then the Government is always to blame. I believe (and hope) that the UK government ‘plan ?’ is to use the break/accelerator approach to not overload the NHS but try for some herd immunity – note 15,000 people entering the UK by air each day with zero checks. Let’s hope that someone gets a vaccine sooner than later but let’s also be prepared if they don’t.

           7 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        The BBC and spin? No… ‘expertise’. Apparently.

        https://order-order.com/2020/04/17/bbc-news-gp-standing-labour-candidate/

        Him, Toots Sarf, and the rest… all by sheer coincidence medics second.

        Weird how they seem to find them or get found by them, and them alone.

           4 likes

  7. fakenewswatcher says:

    One gets the feeling that some people will say anything, in order to appear on TV.
    One gets the feeling the beeb will always oblige.
    (No, the last word is ‘oblige’, not ‘bilge’. But I understand why you might have thought that.)

       12 likes

  8. StewGreen says:

    Germany a success ?
    Their deaths were 299 today
    that is a rise from 248 yesterday
    pattern 151, 172, 301, 309, 248, 299

    Basically the German chart is not an N curve ..it’s an up/down wave

    There is also something weird in the NORMAL German stats that their over 65+ death rate is normally 2000/day
    and UK’s is 1221.. scale that up by 25% to make the UK same size as Germany and we’d still only have 1,526 deaths/day in that category

    Germany is the #3 in country median ages
    UK is 6 years younger so ranks #50

       12 likes

    • Foscari says:

      The German deaths are counted as the poor souls who died
      JUST with XI JINPING virus and not with underlying causes.

         9 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Stew, that’s what I have noticed – the wave pattern in infections. Unfortunately, the BBC’s ‘checker’ is 1. not working properly, and 2. not yet been updated for today.

         2 likes

    • fakenewswatcher says:

      Stew- Can’t see much in Germany being a success with Merkel in charge, and borders still open. But she is doing well at implementing red/green policies, while posing as a ‘Christian Democrat’.
      Easily the most successful hijack of the country since Hitler, proving again that it is actually easy to fool most of the people most of the time, if you have the media on your side..

         8 likes

  9. Fedup2 says:

    Lord god – am i in a nightmare -some tory no one called sharma ? Has announced at the government briefing that they are setting up a ‘ vaccine task force ‘ !!

    Are they trying to look dumb and not in control ? Wasn’t a ‘ task force set up 2 months ago ? Where have they been ( rant over )

       9 likes

  10. Fedup2 says:

    Good People – thank you for your contributions -it’s time for a new thread – the site is getting even busier .

       5 likes

  11. tomo says:

    Ahhh….

    The usual bias by omission evasive scum-bucketry we’ve come to expect from the faceless, nameless two finger typists at the BBC web site albeit with a shot of BBC “authoritativeness” lent by name checking one of their own, Paul Rincon.

    Nine hundred words about some friction between Macron and Beijing…. they even mention the “biolab” – but singularly fail to mention that the Wuhan lab is a clone of the INSERM run Level 4 facility in Lyon constructed initially by the French in a Sino-French JV but taken over by Beijing under strained circumstances – i.e. once the ChiComs believed they had the blueprints and required IP. It isn’t even clear if Beijing settled its bill….

    .

       7 likes

  12. Celtic_Mist says:

    The BBC is pushing their luck with this 40,000 deaths Anthony Costello guy

    First and foremost he’s’ a pediatrician
    Other relevant information –

    He’s left-wing
    Writes in the Guardian
    A remainer
    Hates Trump

    A survey of his tweets reaveals that on 13 Mar he tweeted –

    “Doesn’t this herd immunity strategy conflict with WHO Policy? After the announcement of this being a pandemic, Dr Tedros, Director General WHO, said “The idea that countries should shift from containment to mitigation is wrong and dangerous.”

    He also suggested that the UK should do conatinment the same as China – what planet is he on?

    Containment means test, test test, and quarantine

    Mitigation is when the virus is out of control and we have to do everything to limit the loss of life

    I would be as critical as many are of the government but the fact is that the virus was unstoppable after it got into the country and that could have been as far back as November 2019!

       1 likes

  13. Celtic_Mist says:

    I bought the book – Kindle edition

    The Fake News Factory: Tales from BBC-land

    What is happening to the BBC? As of 2020, fewer people than ever trust the ‘British’ Broadcasting Corporation to tell the truth. Accusations of bias and fake news reverberate inside and outside of social media tarnishing the name of this once respected brand.Every minute of every day the BBC production line is hard at work. A finely-tuned machine, Britain’s publicly-funded state broadcaster pumps out an enormous amount of content much of which attempts to mislead, unnerve and inflame the audience. Encompassing its coverage of Trump, Brexit, climate change, Syria and everything in between, there is nothing spontaneous about BBC propaganda. It is constructed to achieve specific goals. The Fake News Factory promises to blow the lid off what has become a radical, political agenda.Unable to modify its playbook by a single degree however, the corporation faces an existential crisis. More hated than loved, the BBC unravels in front of our eyes. Audiences deserting in record numbers just how does the BBC manage to retain its pre-eminent position within the UK media landscape? Using myriad examples of unethical practice in this sequel to his acclaimed BBC: Brainwashing Britain? David Sedgwick takes the reader on a disturbing journey into the very heart of dishonesty.

    Follow him on Twitter – @Iconoclast1982

       2 likes