Our persistent Spanish comment spammer, El Pajero (a.k.a. Hal, hippiepooter, Irishcustard, englishpatriotuk@hotmail.com etc.), comments (here and here in full): “If you’re so absolutely confident that your fellow Contributors have absolute confidence in you, why not put this to the test to shut the likes of me up once and for all, and step down from B-BBC – relinquishing all your sabotage powers et al – and see if a few … Continue reading →

An agency set up to seize criminals’ assets has cost taxpayers around £60m despite only recovering just over £8m from law breakers since 2003. The Asset Recovery Agency was set up to tackle organised crime. It was meant to raise enough cash to cover its budget. Tory Grant Shapps obtained figures from the Home Office showing in the ARA cost four times what it recovered in 2005. Presumably they mean … Continue reading →

Hat tip to Bob for this one: France jails 25 for attack plot A French court has jailed 25 alleged Islamist militants for planning attacks in France in support of Chechen rebels. Alleged? They have been convicted by a French court of law. That it was no kangaroo court was indicated by the fact that two of the defendants were acquitted. I thought it was us Amerikkka-luvvin neocon warmongers who … Continue reading →

[ADDED 21.00 BST: This post has been updated. The BBC story has now been stealth edited to be less misleading and the identity of the singer, who is a US marine, has emerged.] Commenter Barker John alerted me to this post from LGF. The BBC story concerned is by Adam Brookes and is called ‘Kill Iraqis marine song’ probe and misplaced quote marks are the least of its problems. It … 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 →

Palestinians may have caused Gaza beach deaths, Olmert says: Both Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz indicated Sunday that Friday’s blast on a Gaza Strip beach that killed seven civilians may have been caused by the Palestinians, and not by the IDF. Peretz told the weekly cabinet meeting that he had established an investigative committee headed by a major-general, which is to present its findings on Tuesday. … Continue reading →

by Christopher Hart of Rageh Omaar’s second book for Penguin, ONLY HALF OF ME: Being a Muslim in Britain. The review is well worth reading, highlighting various contradictions and errors in the former BBC star reporter’s account. A sample: Never have books explaining Islam been more needed. And you might have expected much from a Somali-born, Oxford-educated Muslim and leading BBC journalist, especially when his book is the second in … Continue reading →

, by Graeme Wilson, the House of Lords BBC Charter Review committee has criticised Tessa Jowell for refusing to give Parliament more say over the BBC’s tellytax and the “democratic deficit” surrounding decisions on the tellytax and the long-term direction of the corporation. Jowell has rejected recommendations from two separate reports over the last eight months: Lord Fowler, the committee’s chairman, said: “Parliament should have a much greater role in … Continue reading →

a fisking and a digging following the return of Jonathan Charles on the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent – a taster: I emailed Dr Solis to ask if Jonathan Charles had represented his views accurately. Here’s his response in full: I do not recall saying anything like, “all they’re thinking about is getting home alive,” although I did say that which precedes that phrase. I don’t believe I would have … Continue reading →

– Thais complain as BBC ‘reopens tsunami wounds’ by Jan McGirk: The BBC says its forthcoming mini-series, Aftermath, is a “thought-provoking drama of loss, survival and hope”. But for many Thais who lost their families in the 2004 tsunami, the film-makers are reopening wounds. Further outrage has greeted the decision to hire Thais to play corpses at a cut-rate pay of £6 a day for the series, to be broadcast … Continue reading →