Reader Tom has a look at the coverage of Saddam’s “Poor me!” outburst.* *From comments, but posted in the interest of archiving (well, at least as long as google is happy to host all of this stuff) as haloscan deletes comments after a while. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

The old Dr Who: “Colin Baker’s Doctor is a vain and self-absorbed bully, although he does manage to wrest some charm from the character. His assistant Peri is written as a squawking American, forced by an apparently xenophobic wardrobe department into a range of candy-coloured, cleavage-enhancing T-shirts, vast bermuda shorts and high heels, but she too grows on you.” The new Dr Who discussed here. Click through to read and … Continue reading →

Given the resources of the BBC, why do we hear nothing of the upsurge of persecution against Christians in Iran? Could it be that the Beeb has its gaze fixed on things that go pop or pop music? Shall we assume that some brutality is simply not that newsworthy in this jolly season? Or worse? Here is an unedited email received from a close friend who knows a great deal … Continue reading →

(an addition to Toby’s post) Picture used by the BBC to illustrate the British Empire : Picture used by the BBC to illustrate the Ottoman Empire : The ‘S-word’ is conspicuously absent from the Ottoman portrait, despite the importance of the institution to that empire. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

This is the front page for BBC Online’s country profiles. Look at the photos: JFK, Gorbachev and Mandela An AK47-wielding kaffiyeh-wrapped terrorist/”militant” A faceless (hence inscrutable) Asian woman in a coolie hat on a bicycle The Eiffel Tower What would Edward Said say? Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Some days ago, there was a lively discussion thread on Afrocentrism at the BBC. A BBC Online article is supposedly about teaching history of the Empire in schools: ‘School history lessons should focus more on the British Empire to explain modern UK life, a think tank says. MPs and historians were among those who contributed to the Fabian Society’s review on “Britishness”.’ Bear with me here – what photo would … Continue reading →

…used to be a feminist issue. Now the BBC has found another reason for it – slavery. Wouldn’t ya know it – when those darned Yanks are not bombing innocent kite flying Ba’athist secret police, their slaving past is apparently making people fat: “Back in the 1850s more than 100 slaves worked the cotton fields on the 1,250-acre Rosswood farm, one of many such plantations along the Mississippi Delta. Then … Continue reading →

Apparently, acording to the headline, the UK economy is “remarkable”. Rub your eyes and read on: “Macroeconomic stability in the UK remains remarkable,” its report said. But, it did warn that the Chancellor needs to rein in spending to stop budget deficits widening further… It added that Mr Brown’s success in sticking to his golden rule – of borrowing only to invest during the economic cycle – depended on “a … Continue reading →

So the BBC, itching to say some really nasty things about George Bush’s Iraq ‘adventure’ and Saddam’s trial, daren’t say it themselves but instead outsource the job to one of our admirable academic fraternity. Imagine though: would the BBC even consider the same approach to calling Saddam an evil and criminal dictator, in the circumstances? I think not; they would never allow it to be said, let alone themselves say … Continue reading →

Well, if Gordon Brown says so and you have a BBC show to plug: “I hate the idea of creating a committee or a quango for this purpose, but a focussed group with a clear objective to create a new blueprint for entrepreneurial flair in Britain wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Let’s bring together the relevant government bodies, private companies, leaders in education and gurus from all walks of … Continue reading →