The Coalition is far from perfect and I am no fan of either Party but credit where credit is due! However Labour needs us to believe that if there is economic growth, it is the wrong sort of growth. They need us to swallow the “cost of living crisis” now that they cannot sell us PLAN B. But when the Coalition then produces figures that at least indicate that INCOMES have risen ahead of inflation over the last year, the BBC leads with Labour denying this. Labour, of course, has little interest in INCOMES, for them it is all about WELFARE. Naturally, as Government seeks to reduce WELFARE then there will indeed be a “cost of welfare” crisis for the idle. But Labour spins this as if it applied to all working people and the BBC is VERY quick to run with this propaganda line. Shame on them. They have an obligation to be neutral, instead they shill for Miliband.

Good economic news! Quick, raise doubts and pour water on it so that “cost of living crisis” meme is unaffected! Over to you gang! A new Mark Carney approved Open Thread!

This from Bishop Hill…..where is the outrage at the intimidation and violence of the greens, including firing flares at police helicopters?  Why is ‘green’ thuggery and violence any different to any carried out for instance by the EDL during their protests?

More violence and intimidation from greens

The Mail is reporting that environmentalists are flocking to the iGas site at Barton Moss, where they are intimidating the locals, spitting at policemen and generally behaving badly.

[Chief Inspector] Roberts said the force had recorded offences of assault, damage, harassment of residents and workers, a flare fired at the police helicopter and threats to kill.

‘I attended a residents’ meeting last week and people there were close to tears and have had enough of this daily disruption to their lives,’ he continued.

‘Locals, who initially supported the protesters, out walking their dogs and driving down Barton Moss Road have been approached by protesters in balaclavas and have been questioned by them, which has been extremely intimidating.

This is perhaps a good moment to ask ourselves whether the BBC has ever made a programme critical of environmentalism or environmentalists.

Hope the BBC still have hooman rights lawyer, Phil Shiner, on speed dial…he is needed right now….

Blasphemy case: Briton in Pakistan sentenced to death

A court in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi has sentenced a 65-year-old British man to death after convicting him of blasphemy.

Mohammad Asghar was arrested in 2010 after writing letters to various people claiming to be a prophet, reports say.

His lawyers argued for leniency saying he has a history of mental illness, but this was rejected by a medical panel.

Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam.

 Mr Asghar is believed to have been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and had treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Edinburgh, but the court did not accept his medical reports from the UK, reports say.

Sentenced to death for claiming to be a prophet eh?

Obviously a crime that makes planning to terrorise ‘The West’ pale into insignificance…..I just hope Shiner doesn’t get distracted from his humanitarian mission to free Guantanamo inmates and Taliban ‘insurgents’ by this petty, trivial little example of Islamophobia.

Curiously the first I heard of this case was, well 2 minutes ago….not heard anything on the radio at all.

Perhaps being white I didn’t ‘hear’ the BBC reporting it because I just didn’t recognise the suffering and persecution that other ethnicities go through and blank it from my mind in a fit of subconscious racism.

Or maybe the BBC bulletins never bothered to report it.

Yep…it’s the second, just checked the iPlayer…not in Today’s running order and certainly wasn’t in the news bulletins.

Strange really…such an obviously unjust case, and one with an extreme sentence…..and he has been held since 2010.

Where has been the BBC’s coverage…similar to that it gives to the residents of Guantanamo Bay…who often aren’t even British but merely resident here?

You do wonder at the culture that prevailed at the BBC. When did it change, I wonder?

An alleged victim of Dave Lee Travis said when she worked at the BBC in the mid-1970s ‘it was common practice to have tongues down your throat, tongues in your ear, bums being squeezed’.

The woman, who claims the veteran DJ pinned her up against a wall and groped her while presenting his Radio 1 show, said she learned to deal with the ‘unwanted attention’ the longer she worked there. She also told jurors at Southwark Crown Court that when she tried to complain about Travis’ alleged behaviour, the corporation ignored her and ‘slammed the door’ in her face.

 

Biased BBC contributor Daniel Pycock writes…

“I’ve written before on this blog about the BBC’s relentless promotion of comprehensive schooling – the worst education system the UK has hitherto had: http://biasedbbc.tv/blog/2013/12/23/the-bbc-on-education-ignore-the-evidence-believe-ofsted/

Now they’re promoting Anthony Seldon’s unworkable reform whereby parents would have to pay £15,000-£20,000 per annum per child to educate their children at “good state schools”. The article at least addresses the fact that selection is by money, rather than ability nowadays. But the lack of criticism is astounding: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25798659

In what sense it it fair to charge a family already paying in the region of £32,000 (income tax), and more including National Insurance and indirect taxation, £15,000 per-annum for schooling at an arbitrary £80,000 cut-off point? A family that earns £79,999 pays nothing and then you get hit with a de facto tax at £80,000 household income? This is clearly not thought through properly.

That doesn’t stop the BBC however, which is so anti-grammar school and free-school that it literally prints any article in favour of unworkable reforms to save its pet-obsession: comprehensive schools.

P. S. The BBC will not let me comment on the article thus far – wonder why that is…?”

I knew this woman had said the BBC had ignored her complaint about Dave Lee Travis….I assumed it was a complaint made at the original time of the alleged offence….however, incredibly that’s not so….even as Savile’s actions were being publicised the BBC still buried its head in the sand….

From the Telegraph:

Very, very funny today on Today…Justin Webb stunned before a prolonged squealing of indignation whined its way out of him.

They’re talking about racism in the acting business and why Black actors apparently have to go to the US to get work.

Black actor Gary Beadle says that we are in denial….’There is’, he said…Webb interrupts to suggest ‘racism’…Beadle says…’No…more ‘institutional attitudes’ [racism then]…and it’s ‘rampant in the Arts’.’

Which is on one level funny/ironic…because of course it’s the ‘Arts’ mob that is always taking the high  ground on moral issues…when we know they are as bad, if not worse than everyone else….Russell Brand springs to mind for instance.

Then Simon Albury,  diversity co-ordinator for the Arts (to promote, celebrate and share good practice around the diversity agenda) spoke up….he laid into the BBC…

Having walked through the BBC’s news room  ( with the posters of George Bush as Hitler?) , in the middle of London, when London is 40% black and minority ethnic, he saw one Asian who was there merely to bring guests in, otherwise the news room was fully white, behind him was a control booth, in it were 6 white men and 1 white woman….it’s clear, he said, that the broadcasting,  film and creative industries cannot be trusted to deliver (diversity).

Webb lost it then, his beloved BBC under attack and he in turn attacked Albury….hardly able to get the words out he said:  ‘You’re head of the diversity organisation and you’re white…’

The meaning of that was perfectly clear…if you’re white you cannot possibly make a judgement about racial discrimination…because of course being white you must in fact be a racist.

Well…that’s a bit racist in itself….and it begs the question what colour does Justin Webb think he is himself?  Does he have no mirrors in his house?  And yet he quite happily sets up his little kangaroo court day in day out ‘judging’ various things about which he has little real experience.

Albury counters…‘It is ironic you’ve invited me here instead of Trevor Phillips or Lenny Henry’.

Webb…‘Well you needn’t have accepted’.

So there…

Well…perhaps someone has to stand up and make some noise because if you’re Black and complain you may not work in this here BBC town again…..

Patrick Robinson, who has appeared in television series such as Casualty, claimed that he was ostracised by one of the BBC’s executives for almost a decade after he spoke out about the lack of opportunities for black actors.

For the BBC, the consideration of equality and diversity is vital. Strong reach and share, high quality programming and high audience appreciation across all our output are essential to the continued success of the BBC and we recognise diversity as a creative opportunity that enhances the originality and distinctiveness of our output and drives innovation. One of the BBC’s core values is ‘working together’ and to us that’s just as important beyond as well as within the BBC. Working in collaboration with other broadcasters and media sector bodies has helped the CDN establish a clear common vision of what good looks like – in terms of increased diversity on and off screen. The job now is to find practical and creative ways to make that happen and to build on work already undertaken. It will only be by our continuing to work together that we will make the most sustained impact.

Diversity website at the BBC

Oona King was more impressed  by Albury….

Oona King, now Baroness King of Bow, paid tribute to Albury’s championing of diversity in broadcasting, and said that his legacy included being “at the forefront” of the establishment of the industry’s Cultural Diversity Network. “He was persistently coming up with ideas to unlock the unyielding grip white men had on the broadcasting industry,” King recalled. “I love white men, I think they are so great I married one … I think they are wonderful, But I felt they shouldn’t be the only group in charge of TV.”

But is it all to do with ‘race’?

Black actors complain of being stereotyped in the UK…however similar complaints are made by white actors who go to the US:

Oscar-winning actress Dame Helen Mirren has complained about British actors being typecast as villains.

‘‘I think it’s rather unfortunate that the villain in every movie is always British, we’re such an easy target that they can comfortably make the Brits the villains.

Speak to some producers working in US television and they will admit cost is an issue.

Cheap labour

“More value-for-money, that’s really what it is. If they wanted someone experienced and I was American, they’d pay a lot of money – and I’d be better known, I suppose. We’re cheaper.”

English actor James Purefoy, who played Mark Antony in Rome, believes the network of British actors is perceived by American colleagues as cheap labour.

“We are often referred to in Los Angeles as white Mexicans,” he told an audience of British hopefuls at a seminar on how to make it in America.

Then there’s the fact of life as an actor…you’re mostly just ‘resting’…..

As we mentioned in a previous article, it’s a fact that at any one time around 90% of actors are out of work, and only 5% of the remaining ten percent make a living from doing just acting alone.

There’s clearly only a small pool of successful actors and decent jobs out there….only 0.5% of actors can make ‘a living’ purely from acting.

So there’s a massive amount of competition out there treading the boards…so just how far should the special pleading and positive discrimination go?

Though this is a fair question…

As some one new to acting , being an ethnic minority, has been an interesting position.
I look at some of the roles advertised as white, Caucasian( another name used to describe non ethnic minorities) and think does that role need to be for a white Caucasian person?
For instance, a fitness instructor, the advert says must be white, why?

This issue has been making headlines for a while now……..here’s a Guardian article from Feb. 2012:

Why black British actors are heading for the US

This from The Stage in 2011:

‘Talent drain’ warning as black actors head to the US

TV and theatre is suffering from a talent drain of black British actors, with many looking to the US for work because of the lack of opportunities in the UK, leading figures have warned.

Webb’s reaction to criticism of the BBC was classic BBC…an unwillingness to accept it, usually it is either laughed off as ‘ridiculous nonsense’ or, as here, they get very tetchy.

Of course all the more enjoyable to see the self proclaimed ‘great and the good’, BBC included,  pilloried for what the BBC considers the most heinous crime…racism.

Many countries chose to adopt the Euro…many countries are living to regret that as even the EU has now admitted….however the BBC doesn’t seem to want to report such a major admission of fault  the Telegraph reported it at 5:00 pm:

From the Telegraph:

Euro ‘increasing unemployment and social hardship’, says EC

Deepening economic divisions between North and South, rich and poor eurozone countries threaten to undermine the European Union itself, report states