Walter writes from Melbourne

, quoting a BBC article about Sheikh Yassin that says: “Militant groups like Hamas did initially declare a temporary truce, but that unravelled in July 2003 after Israeli forces killed two Hamas members in retaliation for the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus that left 21 people dead.” Walter comments: Note how the BBC has got this deliberately and completely a**-about. The suicide bomb that killed 21 people was not … Continue reading

Driven to Despair.

On the one year anniversary of the Iraq war, we are reliably informed by the BBC that “many Arab newspapers are deeply unhappy over the continued presence of foreign military forces.” This is not surprising given the sense of shame many Arabs feel over the downfall of the once proud and powerful regime led by Saddam Hussein. He seemed to be the only Arab leader willing to stand up to … Continue reading

Idealism.

Tonight at nine o’clock BBC2 will show a “If… things don’t get any better, a docu-drama set a decade from now in which Andrew Kirk, Britain’s first black Prime Minister (played by Colin McFarlane) confronts rising inequality and crime. As it happens I have a small but definite reason for wishing the show well. Colin McFarlane’s brother is Kevin McFarlane, who like me is a member of the Libertarian Alliance … Continue reading

On the same subject

of “professional journalists” you might be interested to visit the website of one Greg Palast, producer of documentaries for the BBC. Don’t fail to notice the fair, evenhanded approach Mr Palast takes. No axes to grind here, I’m sure. Tomorrow the BBC will broadcast the latest version of its ‘Bush lied’ mantra on Newsnight, a production Greg Palast unabashedly flogs on his site. Feel free to visit PowerLine too, to … Continue reading

Did you hear the good news out of Iraq?

Norm Geras doesn’t want you to miss the results of this poll commissioned by several news orgs including the Beeb and America’s ABC News. Let’s hope the Beeb editors can resist the urge to bury this one. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Nigeria polio vaccine scare: update

. In what looks like a hopeful development, the BBC reports that Kano State is now going to vaccinate, but using Asian-made vaccines – the idea being that Asian vaccines are safe from CIA and Mossad contaminants. This sounds like a face-saver to me, but sheesh, whatever works. Since it is now the case as the story says that “half of the world’s new polio cases originate in northern Nigeria” … Continue reading

Shoulder to Shoulder.

There is an interesting article in American Thinker magazine. The writer, Michael Morris, contrasts the British media response to the September 11 attacks in the US with the British media response to the March 11 attacks in Spain, concentrating on the left wing outlets. Morris matter-of-factly places the BBC in this category. (Thanks to