Reading about the demonstrations in Egypt reminded me of BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen’s attempts to sell the Muslim Brotherhood as a moderate organisation prior to the overthrow of Mubarak. Here was his original take in January 2011: This was the first update: And what you’ll see now: Journalism is sometimes called the first rough draft of history. More like the first attempt at spin, with later updates where … Continue reading
This couple of interviews illustrates the problem with the BBC and the Left’s worldview…that the solution to poverty is not creating a sound economy, a good education, hard work, innovation, entrepreneurship, adapting, improvising and overcoming …the Left’s answer is an ever increasing government spending spree….it is sitting in your state sponsored home waiting for government handouts that keep the recipients in a thought free comfort zone where they … Continue reading
Some comments from the BBC that perfectly illustrate the BBC world view: “This is called progress….” Justin Webb tells us that blackouts are threatened (0810)because we ‘carelessly’ decommissioned power stations with nothing much to replace them. ‘Carelessly’? Really? Wasn’t it a deliberate plan set in place by Labour, in fact by the present Labour leader, to cripple the UK with CO2 reduction plans that no … Continue reading
Better late than never, a new open thread.
After the fanfare given to the start of the George Zimmerman trial the BBC has gone a bit quiet on the topic. And I don’t just mean a lack of updated reports, I mean no tweets from its journalists or anything. The testimony of the prosecution’s surprise “star witness” Rachel Jeantel has been very poor to say the least. She told the court Trayvon Martin had referred to Zimmerman as … Continue reading
The final image of Dr Jacob Bronowski, in his “Ascent of Man”, standing in the mud at Auschwitz is implanted in my brain. He wept and said that Auschwitz and, by implication, all the other hell-holes constructed by Man, is the unavoidable destination reached by the denial and silencing of truth. ‘It’s said that science will dehumanize people and turn them into numbers. That’s false, tragically false. Look for … Continue reading
‘ To open a discussion in the world about something which deeply concerns everyone, and of which it was previously ignorant, to prove to it that it is mistaken on some vital point of temporal or spiritual interest, is as important a service as a human being can render to his fellow-creatures. That the messengers of these ideas should be martyred, that their reward should be to be dealt with … Continue reading
In the Monday open thread, I called attention to the BBC’s misrepresentation of the US Supreme Court’s vote to overrule an Appeals Court ruling upholding racial preferences in university admissions. The BBC claimed that the Supreme Court has gotten more conservative since 2003, when the Court originally voted to uphold racial preferences, and on which the present case was based. This was a BBC suggestion as to the cause of … Continue reading
Victoria Derbyshire can’t stop and won’t stop talking. She was rabbiting on about Ian Brady much to the annoyance of listeners who texted in to say ‘no more….it’s just giving him the publicity he craves.’ She read out some of the texts and said ‘Their point is that we shouldn’t be reporting on this ….’ To which she added….‘…which is another debate.’ Made me laugh anyway. Another open thread….carry … Continue reading
Over the past 24 hours the BBC has, quite rightly, made a big deal about the intimidation of its journalists in Turkey. Bear that in mind. Also in the past 24 hours – an unassuming little animated film promoting opposition to the TV license (the source of the BBC’s wealth) was posted on YouTube. It mocked the current TV Licensing “Excuses” campaign [See original TV Licensing ad here – comments … Continue reading
