446 Responses to Midweek 15 March 2023

  1. WildWomanOfThe Woods says:

    Ooh, beat the lot of you!

       15 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Wild – congratulations – if there was a tangible award you’d get it ….

         8 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      You just leave those BDSM thoughts to yourself ! There’s plenty of the BBC types who’d love to do that to us anyway!

         17 likes

  2. Up2snuff says:

    Time to give up your TV Licences and economise for the sake of .. er …. your personal economy as it is Budget Day tomorrow. I really only miss TV for sports and just don’t have time to be stuck in front of a screen, channel hopping and looking for something worthwhile to watch.

    After all, I can be stuck in front of a different screen looking at all the wise and insightful posts about BBC bias on ‘Biased BBC’ and chatting with m’learned friends.

       30 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Nurses to cancel BBC TV Tax to manage the cost of living? Gary Linker to back this campaign or else he is a Nazi.

         14 likes

    • Scroblene says:

      Absolutely, Uppers!

      I was delighted to find that ‘When the boat comes in’ is free on Youtube, and Senora O’Blene and I watched the very first episode last evening!

      Wow – what a marvellous change from all the dross the beeboid wokerettes churn out nawadays! Superb acting and genuine feelings for citizens having a rough time back just after WW1!

      We hadn’t watched any of them since the series first came out in the seventies, and the story is as poignant today as it was back then, especially as those late seventies were my first real years in proper business, and times were indeed challenging but rewarding…

         14 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Scrobie, cannot remember whether I watched ‘Wtbci’. Think me mum used to sing the song when we were little ‘uns. Probably tried the first episode or two in the 1970s but maybe didn’t watch it all. If I can get a round tuit I may dip in thanks to you and YouTube.

           3 likes

        • Scroblene says:

          It’s pretty dour, Uppers, but so inspiring to see positives coming from a rather bleak outlook which citizens faced back then…

          The song is a real Geordie song, full of the accents of the day, and quite evocative!

          ps – I’ve just noticed that a film – ‘Blue Ice’ with my fave actor Michael Caine, and the other fave actor, Bob Hoskins, is also free on Youtube, so my Spring is now ready and waiting, (once I’ve finished reading ‘The Far Country’ by Nevil Shute tonight – wow, what fabulous story-teller that man was)…

             2 likes

  3. tomo says:

    Apparently touts have targeted Liverpool Eurovision according to some breathless BBC reporting…

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-64893863

    Bogey men invoked…

    I didn’t realise that tickets are sold for the shindig – it being a massive freeloader binge n’all…

    Smells like BS

       15 likes

    • Flotsam says:

      Eurovision, you can be sure that backhanders, complimentary tickets and snouts in the trough will get what they want. I’ve never understood why people and the media get so worked up by ticket touting. It seems that only ‘selected’ people are entitled to make money

         12 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        tomo, tickets for Eurovision SC are not cheap. Cost of Living crisis? What Cost of Living crisis?

           2 likes

  4. StewGreen says:

    Is Melanie Dawes @dawes_melanie Chief Executive @ofcom
    WOKE ? WOKE ? WOKE ?

    FrNfYs6XgAAAjoz?format=jpg&name=small

       25 likes

  5. StewGreen says:

    55 year old Gary says his 30 yo son was upset by this tweet
    .. FFS such tweets are usually sent by 11 year old girls who are doing trolling
    Why not just ignore them ?

       17 likes

    • JohnC says:

      Let’s just rejoice that now everyone is getting to see what an arrogant tw@t Lineker is.

      It would not surprise me whatsoever if a Lefty sent that just so jug-ears could use his current exposure to attack Musk. They did exactly the same thing when Musk took over : they flooded it with vile comments. Because to the Left the ends always justify any means.

         29 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      End the pension crisis – bring back Indian Suttee as per Rishi’s culture.

      …………….. ……………………

      “Be it so. This burning of widows (India/suttee)raping children is your Muslim custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive rape children we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs.”

      – Charles James Napier on the subject of suttee {wiki}

      https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2018/05/29/midweek-open-thread-30th-may-2018/comment-page-3/#comment-919660

         6 likes

  6. StewGreen says:

    Monday at 6:50pm BBC local TV newsPR had an extensive item about Puffin CLIMATE DOOM
    #1 Bempton is in our area ..#2 the local enviro reporter is a Climate Crank

    he relayed that “Puffins could reduce by 90%” claim
    “Puffins are a canary in the coal mine for Climate change”
    etc.

    https://cliscep.com/2023/03/14/the-fall-and-rise-of-regional-puffins/

       9 likes

  7. JohnC says:

    US drone crashes after incident with Russian fighter jet
    https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-64958547

    Here’s a story chock full to the brim with lies.

    Bottom line here is that the USA are using these drones to provide intelligence for Ukraine. Russia know this and are signalling that they won’t tolerate it any longer.

    Everything else is lies and obfuscation. When the BBC article does not even mention ANY of that in an event which is another step towards WW3, it makes me very worried. We are back to WW2 levels of propaganda.

       24 likes

    • andyjsnape says:

      Hello JohnC

      I saw this a few mins ago on the bBC webshte and thought it was a load of tosh, typical bBC spin and unfortunately the sheep wont see through its “reporting”

         10 likes

      • JohnC says:

        Yes Andy : they are falling over themselves to call Russia reckless and be the bad guys.

        Meanwhile Russia have downed the best drone system the USA have got by disabling the propeller so it would ditch with the minimum of damage. A very clever thing to do.

        I expect they are recovering it asd I type and soon it will be shipped into Russia for examination.

        And because of that, you can be sure the USA will be much more careful about where they send them from now on. And if they send stealth fighters to protect them, Russia might get one of those too.

        All in all a brilliant tactical move by Russia. You would never realise that from the BBC report.

        The down side to all of this though is that Russia have been evolving all the tactics they need to fight some of our best weapons. Lessons our own Army is going to have to learn the hard way as well because they never fought anyone with the technology Russia has.

           15 likes

  8. StewGreen says:

    @DPJHodges points out an actual Labour advert about UK growth is a lie
    cos it uses someone projection, instead of what reality is

       10 likes

  9. StewGreen says:

       9 likes

    • JohnC says:

      What a shame our good friends at The Guardian were not so bothered about the BBC THEMSELVES deciding not to use the word ‘terrorist’ in articles about Muslim terrorist attacks.

      Particularly for groups designated ‘terrorists’ by our own government.

      And even more particularly when the reason was to not offend other Muslims who consider these terrorists to be ‘freedom fighters’.

      And even even more particularly when the one behind it was a BBC Muslim.

      Also note how that article is written in a very similar style to how the BBC write their articles. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if someone at the BBC wrote it for The Guardian to publish.

         22 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      “It’s now universally accepted that the press is parti pris (a preconceived view; a bias).” {youtube} – Christopher Hitchens circa1993

         10 likes

  10. JohnC says:

    Budget: Jeremy Hunt to expand free childcare to one and two-year-olds
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64959611

    Lovely : more free childcare for young girls and young black boys from the racist+sexist BBC:

    _128987128_gettyimages-184337750.jpg.webp

       23 likes

  11. JohnC says:

    Eleanor Williams jailed over false rape claims
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-64950862

    Quite astounding. One crackpot woman claiming false rape gets a lengthy front page BBC article and Muslim men are portrayed as innocent victims.

    Meanwhile thousands of young white girls who DID get raped by hundreds of similar men was suppressed by the same BBC.

    This will be the reason why : ‘Videos of an appearance in the town by English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson were shown in court.’

    I’m quite sure there is a lot more behind this story and why she went for those men. But you can be sure we will never be told by the BBC. So much in it doesn’t make any sense.

       52 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      I normally don’t watch the news on the hour on GBnews or TalkTV
      cos they slavishly follow the same news agenda as the BBC and ITV
      and if some Pravda directs them all.

      And sure enough the story led each one
      coincidentally where the Muslim men were the victims
      as Tommy put out on his early video when he went to investigate
      and found Elli was no convincing but the Muslim shopkeeper certainly was.

         26 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      If she didn’t exist they’d have to make her up.

         17 likes

    • digg says:

      I find this whole episode highly suspicious. It smacks of a propaganda exercise to suppress any mention of Muslim sex attacks.

      It is entirely possible that our balanced but generally lefty justice system decided that a good way to silence criticism of Muslim rapists would be to find a false victim.

      The very fact they decided to show totally unrelated TR videos in court says much to me about the integrity and sympathies of the officials. Much like the Lineker squeals about Nazis.

      So this could in fact be a total Lynch party.

      If so, the worrying thing is that it would show that there are high up officials in the legal profession who are prepared to crush a teenage girls life to achieve their own ends. A very left wing deed.

      So if it looks left, sounds left, walks left, and talks left it probably is!

         10 likes

  12. StewGreen says:

    The #Guardian front page today Tuesday
    When it hit the shops the previous 30 hours had been rain hours
    Then dry at daylight
    but we had short snow showers at 2pm and 4pm
    I’m in East England almost every field I passed had standing water

    FrN7LyXXoAIH7Au?format=jpg&name=small

    The online version changed the title
    “UK river levels already at record lows forecast to be ‘devastated’ by dry spring”

    *devastated* … Yeh right
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/13/uk-river-levels-record-lows-forecast-dry-spring-water-companies

    It already has a correction
    The muppets used a low tide photo to show the river level was low
    “This article was amended on 13 March 2023. An earlier version included an image of the River Ribble at Preston, which is tidal at that “point.

       24 likes

  13. StewGreen says:

    The same Guardian reporter earlier wrote this story
    Even though BBC press releases from the previous year
    said there were only 5 episodes

       8 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      The Guardian subsequently put in a correction
      FrC7twuXoAE4ePc?format=jpg&name=small

      Climate reporters are in no way scheming like Matt Hancock was on Covid

         9 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Maybe that pr addicted collection of basketballs in a bin liner that used to do Rachel Riley’s job asked Matt about it at the races?

           3 likes

  14. tomo says:

    Credibility Zero

       18 likes

  15. JohnC says:

    Not BBC but I see the successful ‘Quantum Leap’ joins the list of popular old TV programs being given a reboot because the current woke writers tend to be bereft of new ideas.

    So fearing the worst I checked it out. Sure enough, Sam is now Chinese and his hologram assistant is a woman.

    And the IMDB reviews are the usual low scores saying how bad it is and many 10/10 reviews so ridiculously over the top, they are clearly fake. Plus the usual 10/10 telling you the low scores are the fake ones and to ignore them.

    Imagine the outcry from these woke hypocrites if Shaft was remade but witha white male playing the lead.

    Just more rank double standards from the racist and sexist Left. Nothing to see here.

       33 likes

  16. StewGreen says:

    They’re all like Matt Hancock

    Fq9sbeoWAAMnVEZ?format=png&name=small

       22 likes

  17. JohnC says:

    Horror moment knifeman stabs student in bid to have himself deported from UK
    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/horror-moment-knifeman-stabs-student-29412262

    What is so newsworthy about this is that it was a random stabbing of an innocent person. Something everybody in the country should be scared of. It’s not drug gangs killing each other.

    Considering how much illegal immigrants are in the news at the moment, what excuse can the BBC possibly have for not covering this story ?. You can be absolutely certain the fact they didn’t is deliberate.

    What farce all of this nonsense about the BBC pretending to be impartial actually is. It’s just ridiculous.

       43 likes

  18. Zephir says:

    wimmin, wimmin, wimmin,

    Anyone else noticed local authorities and their sexist complete and utter lack of diversity ?

    I was looking at a position and offered an interview a while back. local authority, three wimmin on the interview panel

    I looked them up on linkedin, the chief wimmin had a like for another wimmin ” I would like to thank all the wimmin who have helped me in my career”

    I turned down the interview as I was certain as a man I had no chance, I briefly considered being black or gay but too much work changing the wardrobe, not too many african or leather shops around here.

       27 likes

    • Zephir says:

      Strangely, those they direct to fix the roads at 2 AM in the morning, or wondering about fixing roofs, have a completely different gender mix, erm no, no mix, no wimmin, absolutey no wimmin.

         28 likes

    • JohnC says:

      Diversity is just another name for what would be called racism if the objective was to over-represent white people.

      But look on the bright side : you can now choose whether you want to be a man, a woman or both !. I expect being able to choose if you are black or white will be next.

         21 likes

  19. Zephir says:

    @ StewGreen

    No one it seems, has considered the feedback loop. If one buys into the fossil fuel cause it is highly likely to be far too late to alter.

    So why go forward with deliberately crashing the economy in a vein attempt to redress which is bound to fail ?

    “Ecologists Find Unexpected Feedback Loops Could Complicate Fighting Climate Change

    They could make it impossible to reverse. ”

    https://www.inverse.com/science/ecologists-find-unexpected-feedback-loops-that-could-complicate-fighting-climate-change

       11 likes

  20. Zephir says:

    For those on here urging all to give up the license, whilst I very rarely use the racist sexist bbc I do indulge other channels.

    I have commented before on the new Congo TV adverts and white wives unable to find men of their culture, it must be so hard in rural Norfolk, and the 30 or 40 other counties that watch Africa in action daily.

    But, it is worth watching our racist TV, as it did raise a chuckle in Zephir Towers recently.

    Mrs Zephir noted ONLY the Lifeboat adverts were completely composed of white people.

    Mr Zephir noted that they used real volunteers.

    Make of that what you will.

       27 likes

    • JohnC says:

      Just as an aside, I saw something the other day about how they never use volunteers or ‘the public’ for advertisements – even when they say they did.

      Apparently it’s just too difficult with them not being members of an actors union and that they don’t know what to do on-set.

      Remember, virtually EVERYTHING we see on the TV is fake. The kind of people who make programs are the biggest liars of any other industry I can think of.

         19 likes

  21. Zephir says:

    Lets have a vote

    If there was one single black man or woman on a lifeboat

    What is the chance they would appear on a lifeboat advert ?

    Once ?

    or every f’cking time ?

       34 likes

    • Zephir says:

      I can just imagine the old ladies in Cromer watching the TV and phoning their sons saying

      “the TVs gone wrong it looks like I’ve got Zimbabwe or Afghanstan or something”

      “No, mother its the bbc”

      “well why do they have a muzzie in charge of religion?”

      “Its the bbc”

         32 likes

    • JohnC says:

      That might be a theoretical example – but if there was one Christian in a dinghy and things were looking grim, the Christian would be thrown overboard so the good Muslims have a better chance.

      It actually happens – but of course the BBC would never report such a thing because they are racist hypocrites.

         15 likes

  22. Zephir says:

    “The recent appointment of Daisy Scalchi as head of religion and ethics for television working alongside Tim Pemberton as head of religion and ethics for radio and Aleem Maqbool, the religion editor for news, is further evidence of the organisation’s recognition of the importance of the genre.

       18 likes

  23. Zephir says:

    What a CV and grasp of English

    Daisy Scalchi

    “I am a highly-experienced programme-maker, excelling across Features and Specialist Factual. I also have numerous credits in Factual Entertainment, Current Affairs, Obsdoc and Documentaries and have delivered content for all major UK terrestrial channels, as well as several European and US channels, including Netflix.

    I have won commissions for BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, Discovery, History Channel, Yesterday and NatGeo and have also worked on several first series for Channel 4, BBC, Channel 5, Sky1, UKTV, NatGeo and ITV. I speak fluent French, Italian and Spanish and have worked extensively in the UK, Europe and South America. I am also a journalist and write for several national newspapers and magazines.

    I was a delegate on the 2017-18 Creative Skillset Series Producer course.”

    I was also a judge for the 2018 BAFTA Craft Awards and the Grierson Documentary Awards.

    Aside from work, I am personally interested in neuroscience, psychology, fitness and religion. I have run a monthly pub group called Agnostics Anonymous on and off over the last 12 years, designed as a forum for people of all faiths and none to come and explore some of life’s bigger questions. I have also completed courses in child development and am interested in how adult patterns of behaviour are formed in the early years. As well as this, I am fascinated by the psychology behind extreme sports and athletics. Read Less

       11 likes

  24. Zephir says:

    I have run a monthly pub group called Agnostics Anonymous on and off over the last 12 years

    Promoted to bbc head of religion

       22 likes

  25. Fedup2 says:

    Today

    Quiet news day apart from the prospect of war between the USSR and the US , doctors on strike again , teachers on strike again , tube drivers on strike again , the SNP self destructing …so the best the likes of comrade Robinson can do is to ‘pre – criticise ‘ the leaked budget announcements …..

    The ‘biggie’ is giving taxpayers ‘ money to parents to then give that money to child banks so that they can go to work to pay tax so they can get money for ‘child care ‘ ‘ baby banks ……

    … btw – the snp think Scotland could be independent in 5 years time . Maybe the HS2 money should be used to build the wall between England and Scotland ….. mind you there is mention that only 85 000 braveheart fans actually vote for the SNP leader ….. that’s democracy ….

       16 likes

  26. Fedup2 says:

    Oh I forgot a strike – staff at 39 bbc local radio station are going on strike . ‘Cuts’ by the BBC have been criticised by the comrades from the NUJ so it must be good then …..

       16 likes

  27. andyjsnape says:

    OpenAI announces ChatGPT successor GPT-4
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64959346

    bBC seems to like it, a reason to avoid

    Guess it will help keep the sheep in toe, with approved “chatbot”

       9 likes

  28. Fedup2 says:

    I’m grateful to comrade Robinson on Today drawing my attention to this piece – comrade Robinson smeared the author and the ‘commercial motivation’ of the Telegraph during his paper ‘review ‘…..

    STARTS
    What’s the BBC for anymore? This great institution, part of the warp and weft of the nation, looks like a beached whale gasping for breath in the era of Netflix and Amazon. The Gary Lineker fiasco, seen by those on the Left as sticking one over on the Tories and the hated Right-wing press, has only hastened the corporation’s inevitable demise. The football presenter has inflicted more damage on the BBC in a week than its commercial rivals, such as Sky, managed in 30 years.

    Why should we be forced, on pain of a fine and criminal record, to pay for its existence? It is extraordinary, given the communications revolution we have been living through, that a funding model set down five years after the end of the First World War still underpins the output of the BBC.

    So, too, does a paternalism that has hardly changed since the days of John Reith, the broadcaster’s first director-general, who spoke about “giving the public something slightly better than it thinks it wants”. The questions that arise, therefore, are what does the 21st-century public want, is the BBC providing it and, if not, why should we fund it from what is tantamount to a tax?

    Tim Davie, the BBC’s boss – in name at least, even if his writ apparently does not run throughout the corporation – understands this existential threat as another charter renewal approaches, which is why he was so keen on reinforcing the BBC’s reputation for impartiality. All those efforts have been undone. His capitulation has rekindled the very debate he had wanted to put to bed: what is the point of the BBC?

    I am of a generation for which the BBC was at the heart of national life when growing up, and yet it is no different now to the channels to which I subscribe – Amazon, Netflix, Britbox, Disney and Now TV. The choice is so varied and the quality of the alternatives so high that I wonder why I should pay another £159 a year for the BBC.

    The radio remains a lifeline, but I never listen to Radio 1 or 2. Radio 3 too often has discussion programmes when I want to hear some music, and there are brilliant internet classical radio stations, mostly based overseas. That leaves Radio 4 as a regular mainstay, though even its output is becoming less attractive.

    How is it any longer possible to justify a licence fee from all who own a TV, whether or not they watch or listen to the BBC, with payment enforced by law? Its function cannot be to act as a lucrative post-career for ex-footballers or an executive job creation scheme for former (Labour) Cabinet ministers.

    The first question to ask is: do we want a public service broadcaster at all? If the answer is yes then matters of scale and funding arise. Even though the communications upheaval has been under way for years, the BBC has addressed the implications only at the margins.

    To be fair, the corporation is entitled to know what it is that the public and Parliament want it to do, at which point we can decide how big it should be and how to fund it. The issue has been ducked for too long by politicians, who know something has to give but are in thrall to the pivotal position the BBC has long played in national life.

    To make a case for a public intervention worth close to £4 billion a year, the BBC needs to show that what it is doing is not replicated elsewhere. Mark Thompson, the former director-general, once said that the only economic justification for the BBC – or any state funding for broadcasting – was “market failure”. If “purely commercial media” could adequately deliver the value that the public wanted, then there was no need for a BBC or Channel 4.

    Arguably we are now at the point where “market failure” no longer applies because others do things just as well or better. Watching Sir David Attenborough’s new series, Wild Isles, (on iPlayer and not live) was to be reminded of how marvellous these programmes can be, yet this quality is no longer a BBC monopoly. Sir David presented a series on the Galápagos a few years ago on Amazon. The National Geographic channel has dozens of wildlife programmes for the devotee.

    Ironically, the things that the BBC does that others probably wouldn’t are the bits that are now being cut, like the BBC Singers and the orchestras which are losing one in five players. Let’s face it, one programme the BBC does not need to host is Match of the Day, given the amount of football available on other channels.

    The argument that the licence fee is great value for money only holds water if the people paying it are using the product. Once upon a time almost everyone did. But the all-encompassing nature of the BBC no longer applies and it will diminish further in the coming years. The generational gap between younger and older people is widening, with significant differences in opinion, attitudes and viewing habits. The so-called “connected generation” is watching less live television, and that is not likely to change.

    Few people see a long-term future for the licence fee and yet no one can agree on what should replace it. More fundamentally, do we believe that we need to retain some sort of public service broadcasting to ensure a wide range of high-quality, diverse and informative programming that may not be considered commercially attractive? While there may be a rationale for public service broadcasting, does that extend to a behemoth like the BBC?

    For its part, the corporation says public service broadcasting helps promote national cohesion, together with social and cultural goals. But what happens when they are promoting goals that many do not share and no longer want to pay for?

    When the BBC was a monopoly, and even after ITV came onto the scene, the case for a public service broadcaster was easy to make and, indeed, many countries have one. The United States has PBS, in Germany a broadcast levy is imposed on every household and, although the French abolished their licence fee last year, money for public service broadcasting is now raised through a charge on VAT.

    But with so many sources of news and entertainment now available through subscription, why should the BBC fund itself – uniquely – through what amounts to a tax? It is a question that won’t go away and Gary Lineker has unwittingly given it a new lease of life.ENDS

       19 likes

  29. Guest Who says:

    Recall Toenails ran that pose back in the day.

    Din’t go well then either.

    But must be nice for Amol to see the old rag still in support.

       12 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Gary Lineker burns a Koran to show he supports free speech!

         17 likes

    • JohnC says:

      That Orwell quote does not apply to the BBC whatsoever.

      Far more appropriate would be:
      ‘it means having to tell people things you don’t want them to know’

         9 likes

  30. AsISeeIt says:

    How we were taken for a ride on the hobbyhorse edition

    Irony can be an over-used term but it does keep happening.

    The Daily Telegraph’s frontpage feature photo snaps your friend and mine: Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, and his parter Gina Coladangelo in the parade ring at Cheltenham yesterday.

    Ironically enough, Cheltenham 2020 was the last gasp of our former PM Boris Johnson’s government’s rather sensible Lockdown-resistant policy.

    But, oh my, the left didn’t like that.

    One speculates what was the more promising prospect for the public sector blob – blowing the BoJo Brexit government off course or a few months fully-paid leave?

    Cheltenham faces criticism after racegoers suffer Covid-19 symptoms… The Festival opened on 10 March with at least 60,000 racegoers in attendance each afternoon… four days before Boris Johnson announced extensive UK-wide lockdown measures… Andrew Parker Bowles, the former husband of the Duchess of Cornwall, became the latest high-profile attendee to report subsequent symptoms consistent with infection by Covid-19… As well as Parker Bowles, the comedian Lee Mack and footballer Charlie Austin are among racegoers to have subsequently reported symptoms of Covid-19 infection (Guardian 2nd April 2020 – report penned on All Fool’s Day, we suspect) – case presumably proved to the satisfaction of Guardianistas and clearly itching for a Lockdown

    ‘If you wanted to design a virus dispersion hub, you could do worse’: the Cheltenham Festival, one year on… It was one of the last major sporting events before Britain went into lockdown in March 2020. Racegoers recall a tense week and its aftermath (Guardian February 2021) – this report includes a lot of anecdotal speculation which – suffice to say – blames Cheltenham and lack of Lockdown rather than Chinese lab leaks for the Covid.

    That same morning [Friday 13 March], England’s chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, told the BBC that he was opposed to further restrictions and that “our aim is to… build up some kind of herd immunity”. That advice was to change dramatically in the days that followed… Matt Hancock, usually a regular at Cheltenham, did not attend last year. He was in London, helping plan the government’s Covid-19 strategy. By day three of the festival, confirmed cases in the UK had doubled in two days. At an emergency Cobra meeting that morning, the risk was raised from moderate to high. There was still no suggestion that mass gatherings should be halted. (Guardian February 2021)

    But the rest is history, as they say.

    The Lockdown supporting Gruan is unrepentant to this day. This very morning at last finding some alternative leaked messages it likes: BBC pressured by No10 over pandemic reports… BBC editors asked their journalists to avoid using the word “lockdown” in reporting at the start of the pandemic and be more critical of Labour… leaked emails and WhatsApp messages show. (Guardian) – BBC news staffers happily taking their cue from the Gruan (as they tend to do) back in early 2020 and being reminded by their bosses not to too obviously side with the opposition policy and help drive us into a Lockdown seems to have been a perfectly reasonable editorial warning to this observer.

       13 likes

  31. Zephir says:

    A stupid little 24 year old:

    Marianna Spring
    @mariannaspring
    BBC’s Disinformation & Social Media Correspondent | Investigations @BBCPanorama
    | Radio 4’s Disaster Trolls & War on Truth pods | Host of #Americast

       8 likes

  32. Zephir says:

    A stupid little 24 year old:

    That does not like hate:

    ” Why Do These Young Muslims Hate Us?

    In America and Europe, the children of immigrants are turning into radicalized killers.”

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/12/muslim-children-isis-america-and-europe-213420/

       6 likes

  33. Zephir says:

    Look up muslim hate and you will be bombarded with islamophobia and hard, very hard to find the truth:

    10 Catholic Churches Attacked in France in One Week

    https://anglicanmainstream.org/10-catholic-churches-attacked-in-france-in-one-week/

    Egypt: Mass Attacks on Churches

    Christians Say Pleas for Protection Fell Largely on Deaf Ears

    https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/21/egypt-mass-attacks-churches

    Two Nigeria Churches Attacked; Worshippers Killed, Abducted

    https://www.voanews.com/a/two-nigeria-churches-attacked-worshippers-killed-abducted/6624061.html

    Clergyman killed in Spain church attack, terrorist link suspected

    The suspect, who also injured at least four people, was arrested shortly after the attack

    https://www.politico.eu/article/church-terrorist-attack-algeciras-spain-clergyman-killed/

    More than 30 Christians killed in ongoing church attacks in Nigeria

    More Christians in Nigeria have been attacked, many of them as they worshipped in church. Please continue to pray for God’s protection and healing for our brothers and sisters.

    https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/nigeria-attack-maranatha-moses/

    A Look At Recent Attacks Against Christians In India

    https://www.outlookindia.com/national/a-look-at-recent-attacks-against-christians-in-india-news-269813

    The 50 Countries Where It’s Most Dangerous to Follow Jesus in 2021

    https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/christian-persecution-2021-countries-open-doors-watch-list.html

    Church Attacks Continue

    https://www.drjamesdobson.org/articles/church-attacks-continue

    Church worker killed and priest injured in two separate machete ‘terror’ attacks

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/church-worker-killed-priest-injured-29052291

    Catholic church attacked in India’s Chhattisgarh state

    https://www.ucanews.com/news/catholic-church-attacked-in-indias-chhattisgarh-state/99905

    Migrant suspected of deadly machete church attack was served deportation order. The 25-year-old Moroccon man was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/26/machete-church-attack-southern-spain-migrant-deportation-order/

    Suicide Attacks on Pakistan Churches Kill 15

    https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/world/asia/suicide-attacks-on-churches-in-pakistan.html

    Churches Attacked Amid Furor in Malaysia

    https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/world/asia/11malaysia.html

    How churches were attacked in Ilorin on New Year day – CAN

    https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/north-central/254386-churches-attacked-ilorin-new-year-day-can.html?tztc=1

    Alleged blasphemy: Sokoto protesters attack two churches as officials move to contain violence

    https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/529824-alleged-blasphemy-sokoto-protesters-attack-two-churches-as-officials-move-to-contain-violence.html

    Malaysia: Four Christian churches attacked over controversy on the use of “Allah”

    https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Malaysia:-Four-Christian-churches-attacked-over-controversy-on-the-use-of-Allah–17291.html

       2 likes

  34. Guest Who says:

    With the BBC in tow…

       21 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Guest Who

      The selection of comrade grey to conduct an ‘independent ‘ inquiry into cakegate – to me – just reflects on the quality of blue labour . Now we find she is a lefty with a lefty family and a lefty job .
      They bring their destruction on themselves …. And deserve their oblivion – leaving we victims with an even worse red regime ….
      Rejoin single market
      Positive discrimination
      Bigger overseas give aways
      Even higher taxes
      Even weaker pound
      Illegals amnesty
      A happy BBC
      More fixed elections

         12 likes

  35. Guest Who says:

    BBC Panorama ‘investigates’ by quoting kindly old tribal elders.

    Mike Wendling targets BBC foes by quoting selectively and using TNI partner actions as support.

    One degree of separation is fine, or not fine, depending….

       8 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Gary ‘£1.75m’ Lineker uses his BBC token to promote the end of Brexit ….

      “We’re not actually, really, seriously, possibly contemplating a no deal Brexit, are we? Democracy is democracy and all that but there are limits to how much we want to self-harm, surely. #PeoplesVote”
      – Gary Lineker twitter 20jul2018

      Response … “The self-harm is all in your fevered imagination. No deal means no more huge sums to the EU, trading under WTO rules, freedom to make trade treaties with rest of world, recovery of fishing waters, etc. Why do you want a 2nd Referendum if you won’t respect the results of the 1st?”

      https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2018/07/18/midweek-and-t-robinson-thread-18th-july-2018/comment-page-5/#comment-931267

         12 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      On the subject of techniques the BBC use or decry, here are the Tel using #sourceswhosay to despicable/awesome effect..

         7 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      @Anna_Soubry replied to Lineker to support him

      “@GaryLineker And arguably defamatory ?”

         2 likes

  36. MarkyMark says:

    UK SOFT POWER …. 312c3b69e89946bedd74cafcb35e4c6b9e0e46f08cf059f3429998489fd35ff3.jpg

       2 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Prince Charles suitcase of cash for the British PM ?

      (Saudi cleared $150 billion oil profits last year )

         3 likes

  37. MarkyMark says:

    UK Budget …

    Dear Darren Henry, (UK MP)

    Do you think it is right that MPs can use expenses to buy air pods (headphones) at £158.99 when UK MPs are given a handsome wage which increases each year (2010 £65,738 to 2021 £81,932) ?

    14/01/2020 Office Costs Airpods with wireless charging case Equipment – purchase (Other office equipment) £158.99

    https://www.mpsexpenses.info/?#!/mp/421 https://www.theipsa.org.uk/mp-costs/interactive-map/ https://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=24773

    Yours sincerely, Mr Mark

       6 likes

  38. Guest Who says:

    Rob is free to speak.

    Now.

    Was he part of the McAlpine lot?

       4 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      The Conservatives are driving the country over a cliff anyway.

      So if they take sanctimonious media types with them…

      A very bbc technique still.

         3 likes

  39. Guest Who says:

    Or…. BBC editorial guidelines.

    Impressive who the flounce from strongest is.

       4 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Our shire council did the same. Its composition ensured BBC and local democracy media were keen to ‘explain’.

      Context is all. How dead still are some people at your hands Al?

         10 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      I’m sure Alastair Campbell spends his weekends in Iraq searching for that pesky WMD. It must be there somewhere, he wrote a whole dodgy dossier about it.

      Still, having a war on his conscience doesn’t seem to have bothered him too much, does it?

         9 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        A lot goes back to the rocky development of ‘democracy’, which has never been perfect and is sliding backwards now. Especially here in the UK, where the ‘new form’ is gaining traction, pushed by some various dubious champions, including the BBC.

        At its most basic it is ‘the will of the people’, measured on occasion, somehow.

        That measure is of course as easy to mess with as the minds of folk. Polls, selected representatives, funny machines… pundits.

        Only a few hundred years ago it was even easier across the board. Votes were in the town square, by show of hands. Thing is, there were those not above ensuring victory by employing various methods at the ballot that did often involve threat of physical dominion over those voting and their families.

        Hence the secret ballot… one ma.. person; one vote.

        Of course that has been addressed since by various means, ranging from bizarrely suggested, embraced and/or defended practices not requiring one person to show who they are at ballot time, much less show up. Or simply mess with the counting by person or machine.

        But what about messing with the minds prior?

        Voting intention by the individual is based on a raft of things… facts, emotions, self interest, concerns… and hence processing information.

        And that depends on what information is provided and how.

        Via dead tree or fried CRT media it was never perfect either, but muddled along.

        Then things got social media wise, and very anti-social every other way.

        Debate, such as it is now, could carry on, but thanks to the likes of Gary, or his supporters such as Stuart Hughes or a Vile, a mob can be instantly created to shut one side down and promote another. Or scare an elected pol into silence or stuttering apology.

        All without the general public being much involved at all, or if they are, years later at the booth when it is all too late. Or history has been rewritten by the venal and cowardly.

        Look at Labour on social media now. Look at most media supposedly holding them to account. The current government is dire, but the alternatives are simply worse, and in ‘victory’, with a trumpeted ‘mandate’ of 20% of 20%, will be backed by enthusiastic supporters of more propaganda and censorship in its support as the empty champagne bottles of secured institutions of propaganda roll again down corridors.

        The BBC ‘Disinformation Unit’ was and is headed by folk who not only misinform, but are allowed to block out any calling them to account. Actively targeting ideological threats: look at Wendy on Trump, Musk or Adams. Egged on by not very many, but cited by these and a few more as the voice of the nation.

        Whilst they invite on, all the time, and politely listen to, Campbell.

           9 likes

  40. Guest Who says:

    BBC, or ex BBC? You decide.

       6 likes

  41. Fedup2 says:

    Teen arrested at high Wycombe on suspicion of having bomb making kit …. Will we hear any more? He’s 19 ….

       11 likes

  42. Guest Who says:

    Most journalists are political ideologues now. Most politicians want their support and approval. So most policy is driven by minority power and instantaneous mob threat volume rather than majority democracy via secret ballot at long spacing.

    Selectively, of course.

       12 likes

  43. Guest Who says:

    What aspect of striking changes ‘live’?

       4 likes

  44. Guest Who says:

    Soaf solves it all.

    Another bbc EdGuds technique is the posing of a question.

       8 likes

  45. Zephir says:

    There is a proliferation of incompetent idiots now

    customer service ? nope, in name only, an example from today

    “Many thanks for getting in touch with us recently.
    We’re just letting you know we’re continuing to investigate your query: and we’ll get back in touch with you as soon as we have an answer for you.”

    A meaningless email one week after a complaint about a rude moron in a post office who refused to accept a parcel because it “did not scan” who could quite easily have input the number below, the barcode.

    The item is now also lost so I have had to refund the buyer on ebay, last time this happened was a £40 item again lost and after extensive complaints I was awarded five first class stamps.

       14 likes

  46. Zephir says:

    What the above really means is the idiot can say they have responded to all complaints within a week so they meet their metric (KPI)

    I have watched this with morbid fascination in local authorities where the complainant is then left with no further response, or, if they have some conscience, a non committal reply a month later when one has given up

    (persistence is the true sign of genius, don’t give up, they hate that because they then have to do the job they were employed to do)

    Barnet, local authority, I am tempted to pitch a new game show to the bbc,

    A) find the white male within 8 floors

    B) find anyone at work and not eating breakfast at their desk at 9 AM ignoring the phone

    C) Which one will set off the fire alarm today leaving garlic bread in the toaster whilst they chat about last nights TV with customers on the phones ringing around the floor

    D) who can carry the most tupperware curries into the lift and still press a button

       14 likes

    • Zephir says:

      And, which laptop will connect to the internet today, with Capita, who were paid substantial sums to provide computer services to Barnet.

      What does one do ?

      A) join the daily queue (you will be advised to get in early before 9 AM or no chance

      B) connect to the Barclays Bank internet or Costa Coffee 8 floors below across the road

      c) discuss with the bloody hundreds of managers to talk about it. or rather talk about the contract)

         7 likes

      • G says:

        The World is closing in rapidly. From ‘updates’ on the PC which increasingly take control to now, my mobile. I’ve just sent this to my mobile provider:

        “I only exist to sit before a screen and attend to the increasingly numerous needs to (like this) contact service suppliers for one reason or another. Does everybody need to allocate a couple of hours a day devoted to sorting problems with one service provider or other? Does anyone work for pay anymore? Indeed, do they have time to work alongside sorting problems?”

        Silence………….

           7 likes

        • Zephir says:

          Zen in a nutshell

          “Does the bear shit in the woods when a tree is falling”

          (My spiritual master in Tibet had a couple of Special Brews so some of it may have got lost in the translation, )

          But I feel a lot calmer now, although was surprised to see domestic violence is not confined to the secular

             4 likes

          • G says:

            1st, get a mobile for calls and text’s only…………….

               3 likes

            • Zephir says:

              The problem is, mine connects to this new fangled interweb thing and, every day I learn new things

              We are all racists and sexists and every other thing

              But the most violent and aggressive people are those using these words

              I am lucky enough to have grown up in a tolerant, kind society

              Apparently not, according to the interweb, 50 years of experience is WRONG according to 24 year old bbc people

                 7 likes

  47. G says:

    Question Fed:

    I mentioned this before. ‘Signing in’ here usually resulted in the process being swift and it was anything up to 10 days before needing to refresh the sign in password etc. But now, the site is working its way down, presumably, to using details to sign on every visit. Is this the case?

       2 likes

    • Zephir says:

      Maybe Capita could help ?

      First, a nice fat contract, then ten managers with company Audi cars, ,and after that, join the queue

         4 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      G
      You assume I have even the slightest clue . I still have no idea who runs or owns this site . I’ve always assumed it’s the BBC or the secret squirrel types monitoring potential threats to their State …

      If the owner of the site contact me from time to time that would be nice . Money would be even better ..

      Dear G – Embrace the chore of logging on – or being cut off in a brilliant comment lost ever …. Secret of life is

         6 likes

  48. Guest Who says:

    Almost all ‘reporting’ or comment on the L’Affaire L’ineker has, to be kind, been ‘polarised’.

    I have collected them, mostly single line tripe on social media by ‘Wigan Live’, but have read some in more detail.

    https://conservativehome.com/2023/03/15/linekers-own-goal-by-scoring-against-the-team-he-plays-for-the-bbc-hes-made-its-defeat-more-likely/?

    ”On subjects as varied as climate change, abortion, the Republican Party in the United States, immigration and traditional religion, the Corporation tends not so much to be biased, at least for the most part, as uncomprehending of views held outside the liberal university graduates which provide the mass of the BBC’s governing class.”

    Then watched this, courtesy of SoDoesEngland on ITBB.

    It’s the Speccie, and quite long, but does count IMHO as a serious discussion if not debate, as the calm pundits are not in total agreement but share a view.

    I found it a very worthwhile exchange. Certainly more than some pea-brained banwagon MP of either party or woke/ideological/media celeb screeching to the glorious approval or rabid savaging of constant BBC green room dweller, Mad Al.

    Because yes, there are many ways to skin a cat, and when it comes to being totally partial whilst claiming not to be, the BBC and its favoured sons and daughters know, and use them all.

    From topic to angle to guests to edit to “quote” to a raft of carefully cherished literary and linguistic techniques, the narrative can get pushed, one way, and one way only, exclusively. And then, with skill, pushed over and over again by ‘reporting’ on the reaction to it. Hands, and accountability, even more free.

    And once the dust settles, if things have been nudged a wee bit too far, there is the ECU to stretch weeks into months, and OFCOM to make it all go away anyway.

    Life is never black, or white, other than in media world.

    Well, it is now effectively in policy terms, where only gob opinion on what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ counts, not based on traditional criteria or definitions, but on assigned traits from cherished ideals. Facts go out the window. Along with realities. Pragmatism. Feels are in. Mob hugs are boosted to prevail or torches lit to destroy at whim. On serious, complex issues.

    Yet still the key question is, by most, never posed let alone answered of the blessed noisemakers; ok, what are you proposing then that will solve this?

    And it is all done most by the least trustworthy, untransparent, partial media corporation on the planet and those it has absorbed into its hive.

       8 likes