is posting away merrily. Like it says on the can, this blog is by an American expatriate, and he is particularly strong on American affairs. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back is not the pamphlet of that name written by Lenin but a careful critique of an amended piece by the BBC’s Paul Reynolds on the Wilson / Plame / Libby affair. Scott Callahan argues that the amendments were not … Continue reading →

, so little time- to chronicle it that is. Take this article about Sharon. Well, no, it’s not about Sharon actually as it’s about his first name, ‘Ariel’, and how it’s been discouraged as a child’s name by a group of online Rabbis. Excuse me- is that news? It’s anti-Sharon (though mainly from the Beeb’s pov, not necessarily the Rabbis), for sure, but it seems so ridiculous to try to … Continue reading →

. Before I start, I’ve changed the text at the sidebar dealing with telling this blog about examples of bias from “aagh, don’t email me, I can’t cope” which is basically what it’s said for the last few months to the slightly more optimistic: You can send it to the Letters Editor at nataliesolent AT aol DOT COM, and it is at least possible that I will not lose it … Continue reading →

My parents gave me a watch for my twenty-first birthday and it’s still in use all these years later. Now and then it gains a few minutes so when I got up this morning I thought that I’d do a time check with the BBC’s teletext service before changing the watch and all of our clocks to wintertime. Imagine my shock when I eventually worked out that the Beeb was … Continue reading →

Wednesday, 14:25BST: The Guardian (or is it ‘theguardian’ these days?): Tories offer qualified terror bill support BBC Views Online: Tories delaying terror laws fight The Views Online article did at least start by explaining: The Tories say they will back proposed new anti-terrorism laws as MPs debate them for the first time, but will oppose some aspects at later stages. The party is particularly against plans to allow terrorism suspects … Continue reading →

Last November, “The Tories” (as the BBC almost always calls Conservatives – one ‘T’ word that’s not a problem for the Beeboids) complained officially, along with many viewers, about a particularly dodgy item on Newsnight. Peter Barron, Editor of Newsnight, wrote a rebuttal article on NewsWatch, headlined: Howard special ‘not staged’ Moving forward to August 2005, having investigated itself (no conflict of interest there then), the BBC decided that it … Continue reading →

how about a spot of BBC ignorance, of the ‘why are we forced to pay for this tosh?‘ variety? In Genette police file for charges our sharp-minded, ever astute BBC journos report: Prosecutors are to consider whether to charge a man with the abduction and murder of a Devon schoolgirl in 1978. Genette Tate, 13, vanished while cycling on her newspaper round in Aylesbeare, where she lived. Devon and Cornwall … Continue reading →

Well, the thought crossed my mind when I read John Simpson’s apologia for Saddam, in which he maintained that the British in Iraq during the 1920’s and the reign of Saddam were comparable. To quote Simpson: ‘Saddam Hussein’s notion of governing a restless, difficult country like Iraq was that it could only be done with ferocity. In that he was no different from the presidents and kings before him; no … Continue reading →

This Times story covers the Birmingham riots which killed one man on Saturday. A second man was shot dead in the same area on Sunday, but it is not clear whether that was related to the riot. The starting point for the riots was an alleged rape of a 14 year old Jamaican girl by a man or men of Pakistani origin. I say “alleged” not merely to cover myself … Continue reading →

news stories about the outraging of Muslim sensibilities, such as “US Guantanamo guard kicked Koran“, or the latest insult in Afghanistan. Stories of outrages against Christians fare somewhat worse. The continiung demonstrations by thousands of Muslims outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, the stabbing of a nun and the reported (by this Coptic weblogger) deployment of army units against the demonstrators are nowhere reported on the BBC News website. Although … Continue reading →