For the archives: Laban Tall on the vanishing WPC. “Ritter” on headline fun: ‘Rapid US economic growth persists “The Department of Commerce said that gross domestic product (GDP) increased by an annual rate of 4.1% in the three months to the end of September.” Roy notes – ‘Funny choice of word … “persist”, descriptive of something unpleasant like war or athletes foot? To be obstinately repetitious, insistent, or tenacious.’ Fast … Continue reading →

Even when Americans engage in humanitarian aid, they are bad: “The BBC’s Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says Mr Rumsfeld’s visit is aimed at ensuring continued US support in the relief and rehabilitation work in areas devastated by the recent earthquake. Mr Rumsfeld said the US was pleased to be working side-by-side with President Musharraf and the Pakistani military to do whatever could be done to reduce the suffering of many … Continue reading →

Here we go again on “militants” – this time in Afghanistan: ‘A high-ranking Afghan government official, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that any reduction in the number of US troops would affect morale in the country. “This will help the Taleban and will have a negative impact on security,” the official said.’ Notwithstanding the official’s description, the BBC staff writer (who wrote this, presumably after … Continue reading →

If it is not Americans, it’s Israelis. (None of this somewhat lighthearted posting is meant to detract/distract from Kerry’s very serious point about the persecution of Christians in Iran. Be sure to read it if you haven’t already. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

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 →