Author Archives: David Vance

LITHUANIAN DREAMING…

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I also found this aspect of Olympic coverage yesterday a bit perplexing and a B-BBC reader picks up on it..

“The BBC are ridiculously excited about the fifteen year old ethnic Lithuanian immigrant who won   a gold. Not only did they go on  about her for about three hours yesterday, but Derbyshire has been banging on about her today as well, and claimed people consider her ‘one of ours’. Really? Or do you mean just beeboids? Even though she has lived here for several years using British facilities to train, has a British coach and her dad has been given a job here, she competes for Lithuania because she is “extremely” proud to be Lithuanian! Shame beeboids aren’t equally proud to be British.”

DO WE NEED GROWTH?

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Don’t know if you have been listening to the series Stephanomics on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Stephanie “Two Eds” Flanders, this mornings gem focused on whether or not we really need economic growth. On the programme was the the biographer of John Maynard Keynes, Lord Skidelsky; the environmental economist, Cameron Hepburn; and the leading advocate of free-markets, Patrick Minford.  Skidelsky sees long term growth as undesirable.(If you follow Keynesian ideology, you needn’t worry about growth!)  Hepburn sees it as necessary but ONLY if it deals with global warming climate change. So Minford found himself in a minority when he argued for free markets and economic growth. For the debate to be structured in this way struck me as very odd and yet very BBC. The mainstream view – that economic growth is both desirable AND essential – is marginalised and instead the listener is presented with crank left wing views which are presented as if they are the mainstream. I am also fed up with the way the BBC misrepresents free markets. The sort of crony capitalism that has caused so much woe is NOT the free market but rather the opposite of it but in its desire to bury capitalism, the BBC chooses to blindfully blur the difference. Perhaps the fact that the BBC operates in glorious seclusion from the free market which makes it so unbalanced?

THE ASIAN PROBLEM…

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I am sure you may have come across this story. It concerns a G4S employee who allegedly called a soldier a ‘baby killer’ as they worked at a Games venue. The Asian civilian guard, who faces the sack, is said to have spat at the serviceman and made the abusive remark at the archery contest at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Well, when I say you “may” have come across it, that would be if you read The Mail here. Or the Telegraph here. But the BBC don’t seem to have decided this particular G4S story is not  a story, or, if they have, I can’t readily find it. Bit of a surprise given their hitherto intense interest in all things G4S.

Also…as regards this “Asian” – hands up all who think it is Chinese guy? No. How about a Thai? No? How about a Muslim….?

OPEN THREAD

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Morning folks. Just spent 45 minutes on BBC Nolan Show re my criticism of the Olympic Opening ceremony. I brought up the fact that Labour MP Paul Flynn had already tweeted it was a paean to Socialism. Nolan did not want to discuss this. Instead the plan was to paint me as the world’s biggest begrudger which was rather confounded when the first caller fully agreed with me. I feel Aidan Burley’s pain! Anyhoo –  a new open thread for you all whilst I go into a dark room and meditate.

DJ TREVOR and DA DUMBED DOWN CREW

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It seems that the BBC has decided that the dumbed down Jubilee coverage was a template, not an aberration!

The BBC faced a fresh barrage of criticism yesterday following Trevor Nelson’s “terrible” commentary during the Olympics’ opening ceremony. The backlash comes a month after DJ Fearne Cotton received thousands of complaints for her coverage at the Diamond Jubilee. The Corporation had at least 50 complaints about DJ Nelson. As sports presenter Hazel Irvine and newsreader Huw Edwards provided much of the factual information during the athletes’ parade, Nelson, 48, was criticised for his “useless” input.

I spotted well know Sports expert Will Young providing insight yesterday. Think I better leave right now…

NHS WORSHIP ON THE LICENSE FEE

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Well, the Olympic London 2012 Opening Ceremony is now behind us and what a piece of Statist agit prop nonsense it was. Little wonder the BBC have been going on about how “wonderful” Danny Boyle’s production has been. The only wonder is how Her Majesty tolerated it. Hope you all spotted our pal Universal Shami’s big moment.  The NHS section was particularly odious and yet that seems to be one of the bits the BBC liked best. A paean to a BLOATED grossly expensive inefficient cold Statist monstrosity – mmmm….think I know WHY the BBC liked it so much! On a separate note, Biased BBC has just clocked up more than ONE MILLION page views since 28th March. Not bad, eh?

THE JOKE ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE?

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A B-BBC reader writes to me;

“This is about the Greek triple jumper who was expelled from the Olympics for making a joke about Africans (mosquitoes from Africa have been coming to Africa; she tweeted that ‘at least the West Nile mosquitoes will have some homemade food.’) The BBC writes the following about the tweet and Greece generally:

“Golden Dawn party has soared in popularity, entering parliament for the first time in its history. So calls are growing louder here for Greece to show its other face: open, welcoming and tolerant… Voula Papachristou’s expulsion will be seen as an example of that.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18987678

An athlete is expelled from the Olympic games, probably the pinnacle of her career, for making a joke. And this is praised as an example of tolerance. Talk about Orwellian doublespeak!

Banning someone for making a joke you don’t like – the BBC’s definition of tolerance…”

THAT FREE SYRIAN ARMY…

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When it came to removing Saddam, the BBC were to the fore in the Stop the War movement. When  it came to removing the Taliban, the BBC were to the fore in urging restraint. But when it comes to Syria, and Assad, they are to the fore in demanding his head. BBC support for the so called “Free Syria Army” is blatant and Today had yet another report from those BBC embedded with Al Queda the Free Syrian Army. It strikes me that the Assad thugocracy and those who oppose him are equally repulsive and I am unsure why the BBC thinks that we have a dog in this fight. The entire Arab Spring meme seems to be the driving force here with the BBC knee jerking into presuming that Islam is benevolent once it gains power despite all the evidence to the contrary.