On time and for you to complete! Read or seen any bias? This is where you detail it!

Had to laugh at an interview that took place on Today with the CEO of building compant Costain this morning around 7.20am, The interviewer was desperate to get him to say that the Coalition had made a fatal mistake by cutting back on capital infrastructure projects “too fast” (aka Labour ideology) and he said the opposite. Hilarious stuff, How it must sicken the BBC when they don’t get the answers they want!

Chavez is gone. And the BBC are gutted that one of their lions of socialism has gone to join the choir invisible. Did you catch their coverage of the tyrants “career”? Shocking.

‘If you are a big utility or a big energy company that has made a lot of money in a very high oil price environment, then you will have money to spend…..
Whatever their motivation is, it provides a much-needed avenue for investment and growth.’   One of Al Gore’s investment principles.

You may be aware that the Climate Change cabal have opened up a new front in their war against the Sceptics…..not content to have the BBC, amongst many other media organisations, batting for their side they are encouraging the closure of ‘comments’ or the radical censorship of comments on pro AGW blogs or web reports should they be of an inconveniently sceptical nature.

Taking a look at many of their thoughts on this matter, the BBC itself as we know has already limited what you can say, if anything at all, I came across Al Gore’s ‘Reality Drop’ green propaganda site (RealityProp?) which I’m certain someone has mentioned in the comments here before….illustrating how useful the comments section is as always.

I may look more closely at the Green’s desire to blackout any sceptical views in another post but Al Gore interests me.

The BBC are never happier than when pillorying a Banker, or a ‘Bankster’ as John Pienaar delights in calling them…or successful businessmen  or posh politicians.  The BBC aren’t so keen to mention the multiple millions earned by the filmstars that grace their screens or Graham Norton’s couch…or indeed Graham Norton’s own hefty wage, or the actress who earns £10,000 for a 1 minute voice over…nor the financial affairs of Labour’s Margaret Hodge…nor the affairs of the sainted Al Gore.

Which is funny really because Gore must certainly qualify to be in the ranks of the filthy rich businessmen that the BBC like to portray as plundering the world’s resources and reducing everyone else to penury as thy do so.

Just for starters look at his new venture….not one designed to make money, at least on the face of it…but set up to attack Sceptics and swamp websites with the ‘approved’ Al Gore Climate Script.

Look at who set up the website for him….was it Greenpeace or WWF?…no…it was a worldwide advertising conglomerate, Arnold Worldwide,  that has just taken on Volvo cars as a client……

‘With Volvo repositioning itself as a luxury brand, suddenly they’re not such a “safe” choice any more. Our work is designed to get consumers to take a second look and see for themselves just how far the formerly boxy and boring brand has come.’

Not only Volvo, luxury Volvo at that, as a client, but McDonalds as well.

Guess Al Gore must have been holding his nose whilst dealing with them…just as he must do when he looks himself in the mirror….and not just because he sold out his media company to oil rich Qatar and walked away with $100 million of money made from dirty old oil.

Wind farms are wonderful things, but they don’t work too well and need to have gas or coal fired power stations on line to back them up…which must be 90% of the time.

Just like wind farms Al Gore’s famous ethical investment company also needs backing up by ‘dirty’ industry.

The Companies Gore invests in publically.

Al Gore talks a lot about ‘sustainability’ but he is using a sleight of hand, so to speak, to mislead us…. ‘sustainable’ for most of his investments doesn’t mean ‘green’ just reliable, long term investment rather than making a ‘quick buck’ selling for instant profit…..it really means a company run efficiently in all areas….and if the future looks like governments will impose green legislation then companies that take account of that in their planning get another tick in the box…but not because they are ‘green’,  merely that they look ahead to plan for  future likely problems.

Gore set up Generation Investment Management along with Goldman Sach’s banker David Blood (and apparently Mark Ferguson, Alex Ferguson’s son)…alongside GIM they have set up ‘Climate Solutions Funds’ which aims for specifically climate related industry.

‘This is not a touchy-feely, new age approach.  The idea is that the long term prospects for companies are affected by a host of intangible factors.  Some of these include social issues such as the environment.  But they also feature subjects such as corporate governance, brand management, personnel relations and geopolitics.
Its approach is not the same as an ethical fund because it will focus on finding companies that can benefit from intangible factors rather than eliminating whole categories of companies…so could still invest in tobacco, alcohol, arms or oil.’

GIM is a big investment fund which essentially has few green credentials, it invests in big business regardless, if it makes money:

‘That, after all, is why they created Generation. Unlike earlier “green” and “ethical” investment funds, which screened out “bad” companies, effectively sacrificing financial return for purity, Generation set out to outperform the market by finding firms that it expected to do better than average over the long term.’

‘According to Richard Campbell, speaking for GIM, the form “is from Generation’s Global Equities Fund, which is not a greentech fund, hence the lack of greentech stocks in it — it is a fund that invests in a broad range of global equities.” Campbell added, “Generation does have a greentech fund — its Climate Solutions Fund — but this invests in mostly private companies, hence there are no 13F filings.”‘

‘Sustainability’ is just a ploy, a tool, to make as much money as possible.

GIM doesn’t invest in project development it just parasitically leeches off those who do taking none of the major risks of investing in a new project:

‘Project development and the financing of renewable energy projects is out, purely for the capital-intensive nation and risk associated with such a project. Le Duc says, ‘We do not invest in project development, we invest in the picks and shovels, support services and the people who are benefiting from these new developments, but which are less capital-intensive. That would also point us towards the carbon space, owning companies like the exchanges, or businesses that focused on analytics. We like intellectually heavy, capital-light, IT-based models.’

Al Gore’s GIM isn’t too fussy about where the money goes as long as it makes money….

‘If you are a big utility or a big energy company that has made a lot of money in a very high oil price environment, then you will have money to spend. You may also have a strategic mandate to build the renewables portfolio, or to decarbonise your energy mix a bit. We are certainly seeing big energy and utilities buying up a lot of companies – not just the typical energy companies but also other industrial companies like Siemens, Danaher and GE.
‘Whatever their motivation is, it provides a much-needed avenue for investment and growth.‘

All that sustainable investment must be paying off, in 2010 the pay cheques were quite impressive:

‘David Blood, president, chief executive and co-founder of socially responsible asset manager Generation Investment Management with former US vice-president Al Gore, was awarded a 39% pay rise last year after a strong 12 months for sustainable investing. He took home £10.7m. Profits at the asset manager in the year to the end of last December rose 55.8% to £49.1m, and it currently has approximately $7bn under management, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
Generation’s 20 partners were paid a combined £49.4m, up from £31.6m in 2009.’

Gore certainly does invest in green tech but he has a much bigger portfolio of non-green industry backing him up and providing the real profits.

The BBC’s Harrabin and Co are always ready to investigate the sources of climate sceptic website’s funding….somehow implying the source of funding negates their arguments….but it seems all too unwilling to look at Gore’s finances when it can be seen that they come mainly from big industry fuelled by oil, coal and gas….the very antithesis of what he preaches.

Gore is a ‘big business’ businessman…as trustworthy as any other big business businessman…..shame we can’t trust the BBC to report equally on both.

Ironic this last link from the BBC:

‘Former US Vice President Al Gore has said US politicians serve the interests of wealthy industries, rather than the interests of the public.

Speaking to Sian Williams on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, he added that television coverage of current affairs “selectively represents information that is paid for”.’

Update:

WUWT climate website did a story on ‘RealityDrop’ last year…it wasn’t successful then…and seems to be no more successful now:

Al Gore’s ‘Reality Drop’ is a bomb – so let’s give him a ‘hockey stick’

The video has all time:

• 7,746 Plays
• 6 Likes

Wow.

Hope he didn’t pay Arnold Worldwide too much money for that!

Obama Picks El-Erian to Lead Global Development Council

Wonder why Katty Kay picks a column by Obama man El-Erian to talk about the effects of Sequestration on US  foreign policy….

@KattyKayBBC via Twitter

El Erian on the sequester’s negative impact on American foreign policy, among other things http://t.co/NWXgzieBn1 via @FortuneMagazine

She could have chosen this revealing report on Obama’s foreign policy effectiveness…

Barack Obama a ‘dithering, controlling, risk-averse’ US president

Barack Obama is a “dithering” president whose controlling tendencies and extreme risk-averse attitude to foreign policy has damaged US interests in the Middle East, according to a new book by a senior former State Department adviser.

But she didn’t….which is why we get to read a piece praising Obama…‘The answers lie more in the political than economic domain……urgently anchored by a medium-term growth and job vision, such as the one the President has proposed to Congress.’ and condemning the Republicans blaming them for the political impasse.

Mardell also seems to have given the story about Obama a miss.  Can’t imagine him being so slow off the mark with a similar tale about Bush.

After 800 years Ludlow Castle is collapsing in parts….why? (Today 08:37)

Climate change is the answer…especially in the last two years…last year, we are told, was the second wettest on record.

Only it wasn’t……1872 is the wettest followed by 1768.  The wettest decade was 1871-1880.

Never mind that though.
John Humphrys raised a half hearted objection  to that claim stating that ‘We’ve had lots of different weather through all those centuries so why now?

The expert went (Rather too keenly) straight into the climate change explanation…..

‘Colin Richards, head of conservation and archaeology for Shropshire, said: “It’s amazing that they have stood for 800 years and the climate change that has affected them over the last couple of years has wreaked so much damage.”
Mr Richards told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There is evidence of repair over the centuries right from the thirteenth century right through, but last year was the second wettest year on record.’

Humphrys quietly accepted that as the answer.

That is the problem with the BBC’s attitude towards climate change….its ready acceptance that it is happening and that it is man made….and is therefore primed to accept any old story that comes along with climate change as the ‘bad guy’.

Does it matter if someone claims it is climate change that is collapsing walls in Ludlow?  It does…because it falsely adds to the mythology of climate change and extreme events caused by it….and adds to the impression that the world itself is collapsing around us due to climate change….as Humphrys refers to…even houses are built on clay and the home owner notices when it dries out…taking the story from some distant castle to your living room…making it personal……all adding to the ‘urgency’ with which we must therefore tackle the causes of climate change…man’s emission of CO2!

If Humphrys had wanted to he could have checked back and seen that ‘climate change’ may not be the one and only cause…or even a cause at all:

Historic walls are hit by tremor: Parts of a Shropshire town’s historic town walls were damaged during last month’s tremor. (2008)

In February part of the Castle Square Car Park closest to the wall was fenced off to reduce the risk of traffic loading affecting the wall’s stability. (2010)

Climate change and natural deterioration have been blamed for recent collapses of the walls. (2005)

John Williams from Shropshire Council said the repairs could take up to four months.
He said not a lot was known about the history of the wall and what is causing it to lean.
(2010)

Part of Shropshire Council’s Historic Environment team, Mr Richards said much of the damage dated back to Ludlow’s expansion in the 18th Century, when soil was piled up against the ancient walls. (2012)

Several major phases of work at Ludlow Castle have been carried out in recent years; the most dramatic of which was the rebuilding of part of the outer curtain wall following its collapse in the winter of 1991.

So it could be climate change…or it could just be ‘weather’ and natural erosion …or traffic …or earth tremors…or interference from other building projects in the past…or just the natural deterioration of an 800 year old building…or even …they just don’t know the cause!

All too easy to accept the explanantion that conveniently supports your own beliefs…..You have to wonder if the researcher for such a story asks any contributor if there is a climate change angle…and if so can he emphasise it…..Harrabin and Co must surely have a memo out briefing all programme makers to highlight climate.

Is the BBC trying to make any talk about gay issues socially unacceptable….as it has with immigration?

Talk about immigration and you are labelled a racist.  That silenced debate for decades….and allowed Labour unopposed to swamp Britain with immigrants.

Talk critically of homosexuality and you’re probably gay yourself….and you don’t want people thinking that do you?   So you won’t discuss it.

Or that might seem to be the latest ‘trick’ in the progressive BBC’s book….bang on about the place of gays in society and you’re merely hiding your own latent homosexuality.

An irony that isn’t it?…the BBC using the apparent ‘stigma’ of gayness to stop people talking about the issues around the subject.  The BBC recognising that being gay isn’t looked upon as ‘normal’ in much of society and using the embarrassment of being labelled gay to silence anyone who talks of the issues…..presumably God and his followers are all gay then if we believe the various religions which tell us homosexuality is a sin?

The Today programme brought on Stonewall’s Ben Summerskill (08:47) to talk about this:

‘Cardinal O’Brien has been accused by many of hypocrisy in his stance against gay marriage. Dr Mike Davidson, from the Core Issues Trust and Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of Stonewall discuss whether there is evidence of a connection between homophobia and suppressed same-sex desire.’

His opponent, Dr Mike Davidson…was announced as someone who thought gayness could be ‘cured’…so immediately he was placed in the realm of ‘loony’….and therefore not worth listening to or taking seriously….why not have someone less controversial to speak against Summerskill?

The whole premise of the programme was wrong anyway…..O’Brien was articulating the Church’s views, not necessarily his own on homosexuality, therefore it was not his own ‘homophobia’ that he was expressing…so he could be gay, should he want to be, without being called a hypocrit.

Sanctimonious, hypocritical, ridiculously unwilling to admit his own organisation’s failings, the holier than thou Humphrys launched an assault on the Catholic Church this morning on the Today programme.

He claimed the Church was the ‘moral arbiter of the World‘…I thought the BBC had long ago usurped that position and appointed itself the judge and executioner of world affairs.

Humphrys states that the Church’s Message cannot be delivered if the Church is not seen to have absolute moral authority…..and where is the BBC’s ‘moral authority’  to deliver its own message whilst it demonises UKIP, or the Tories or climate change sceptics or any other ‘non-believer’ in the BBC world view?

Humphrys suggested that ‘in a decent organisation the sinners would be exposed and thrown out’ by that organisation….The Church probably did so but Newsnight decided not to report it.

Humphrys said that God wasn’t to blame here..it was the Church hierarchy, the structure itself, they are ‘The Guilty Men’…..Isn’t it somewhat distasteful for Humphrys to hijack that deeply meaningful phrase when it was coined precisely to implicate the same type of people who now inhabit the BBC?

Humphrys said something fundamental must change in the Church…again the same can be said for the BBC….the promotion of its own political and social attitudes must be stopped…the only way to do that is a radical restructuring of the BBC.

If not then perhaps this might be the solution:

Humphrys made one very powerful suggestion….that any other organisation, if it were a lay organisation, would be shut down if it operated in  such a cavalier fashion as to its responsibilities.

Not so far.

Another week comes along and so does the first new OPEN thread for you to detail the bias!

The Sunday Times (paywalled) reports that:

‘The BBC has used license fee money to buy the silence of about 20 former staff who left claiming to have been the victims of bullying or sexual harassment.’

‘The 20 people forced to sign the gags, called compromise agreements, are barred even from revealing they have signed such a deal.’

‘On the morning of Valentine’s Day, John Humphrys, the presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme, spoke in tones of anger and disbelief about the scandal of NHS Trusts that gagged their own managers to prevent them speaking out about their concerns for patient safety.

Two female former BBC journalists listened with mounting fury.

One said: “I was shouting at the radio.  Why don’t they investigate what the BBC is doing?”

“These women feel the BBC is supposed to be a transparent organisation which demanded accountability when it reports on other people’s activities and should apply the same standard to itself.”‘

Indeed…only recently we heard a journalist on Today complaining that Lloyds Bank didn’t want to be interviewed…..the journalist piously commenting that it was 39% publicly owned…and therefore should turn up to answer questions.

The BBC is 100% owned by the Public…..and yet again and again refuses to account for its actions or reveal information that would put it in  bad light…going so far as to spend, as we know, £300,000 hiding the Balen Report which investigated claims that some of the BBC’s journalism could be seen as promoting or fomenting anti-Semitism in society.

What is the BBC hiding? The cupboard must be jam packed with skeletons by now.