to anyone other than the rapist prompted paragraph headings such as “disturbing attitudes” when the BBC reported on the Amnesty survey of attitudes towards rape. (My personal view on the subject of responsibility for rape can be read here.) Hat tip to Grimer, who has pointed out an example of the BBC being less clear about ascribing responsibility for rape to the rapists. Grimer writes: Stop Press! EU and USA … Continue reading →

Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts. Click through to read and … Continue reading →

I have had several emails saying that people are getting the message that they have been banned from comments. Count yourselves lucky! Right now I myself can’t see any comments at all. Obviously there is some hiccup with the system. I’m seeking technical advice. If you get the banned message, please email me with your IP address so we can investigate the problem. You can get your IP address here … Continue reading →

says the BBC. Troublemaker. Stirrer. He’s going to go to a meeting and say exactly what everyone expects a Catholic cardinal to say. Can you believe that? Just when every decent person had finally come to an agreement about what the law on abortion should be. Hat tip: Archduke. UPDATE: It now says, “Cardinal urges abortion rethink.” Hat tip: me, and King Herod. Mirabile dictu, the timestamp has been changed … Continue reading →

Adloyada says Human Rights Watch now says it “cannot contradict” (huh?) the findings of the Israeli Defence Force that the fatal explosion at a Gaza beach was not caused by Israeli artillery fire. As of now (8.38 am BST) the front page of the BBC’s multi-million pound news website says that… Palestinian workers receive wages. Given the wall-to-wall coverage by the BBC of this story when the explosion happened, and … Continue reading →

says an article the BBC Sports section, referring to John Pantsil, a member of the Ghanaian team that unexpectedly defeated the Czech Republic in the World Cup match on Saturday. It is an odd choice of headline. Those who get no further than the headline might be forgiven for thinking that the unspecified gesture was obscene. Actually it was much more shocking than that. He waved an Israeli flag. Mr … Continue reading →

Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts. Click through to read and … Continue reading →

are to pick up interesting stories from the Sunday Papers, I’m surprised to see that they missed this fascinating story by Philip Sherwell in the Sunday Telegraph, Ayatollah’s grandson calls for US overthrow of Iran. A couple of excerpts: The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the inspiration of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, has broken a three-year silence to back the United States military to overthrow the country’s clerical regime. Hossein Khomeini’s … Continue reading →

In yet another of those strange BBC coincidences, Dr. Who’s latest foe, a greedy, grasping, people-absorbing monster, the Abzorbaloff, is… a Daily Telegraph reader! Strange how things always seem to happen that way at the BBC!

examine the following introductory excerpts from two news reports about the same ongoing Old Bailey trial:   ‘Suicide plan to crash BA flight’ was heard by MI5 TWO Islamist extremists discussed crashing a British Airways flight with 30 suicide bombers on board, the Old Bailey was told yesterday. In a conversation bugged by MI5 officers, one of them describes an aircraft suicide attack as a “good idea”. Omar Khyam, 24, … Continue reading →