Bumped (right back down again)...
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| 'Gimme an open thread please!', says a generic cute kitten |
Sorry. As things are likely to be a bit quiet (dead?) hereabouts for the next couple of weeks or so, here's an Open Thread for you to share any bits of bad/biased behaviour from the Beeb that you come across and feel kind enough/aggravated enough to share with us.
Goodnight, thank you for your continuing support (much appreciated) and may your God go with you (as Lily's dad Dave used to say).
I'm a week behind on Have I Got News For You (HIGNFY), so am currently watching last week's installment. Ruth Davidson made a brilliant smack down of the Stop the War idiots. She pointed out something I've probably said a million times, that the Stop the War crowd only want to stop some wars. They're perfectly happy when Putin does what he likes (e.g. bombs Syria), but freak out when any Western government rattles a sabre (my paraphrase, obviously, but the point is made). I was surprised she went that non-Left, but pleasantly so.
ReplyDeleteWhen Ian Hislop said they wanted to stop the war, she interjected, "Just some wars." Exactly so. I like to call that type the "anti-this war" crowd.
Good for her. Too bad there aren't more Tory MPs with a solid grasp of things like this.
PS: Still, watching, and a "Hairy Eybeball" is a very good, interesting, weird, roasty brown, alcoholy sweet ale from Lagunitas. Your mileage may vary, obviously, as do the batches they release.
ReplyDeletePS: The HIGNFY producers thought they were going to bust Davidson for not supporting or trusting Boris Johnson, but the clips they showed of her in the attempt ended up making her look principled and consistent. Oops, lazy stab at ginning up 'Tory Splits!' fail.
What's funny is that the Beeboids (sorry, third-party independent producers who are often supervised by the BBC but still totally impartial) think Boris is actually serious about achieving a real Brexit. Which, sadly, he isn't.
*Underpants on Head, apparently*:
ReplyDeleteHIGNFY host S. Mangan read out an anti-Breixt gag, obviously written by the totally impartial, third-party, "Nothing to do with us, guv, except when it does" production company. How many pro-Brexit gags have they done in the new series, or in the last, or the one before when Brexit was at least an existential thing?
None.
PPS: Henning Wenn made an awesome joke in response to one of those "fill in the blank" bits. The quote to be filled in was:
__________ should be admired for putting up with all the abuse humanity throws at them
His response: "White, heterosexual men".
It doesn't matter if he thought he was being brave or thought he was sticking it to the (white, heterosexual) man, because the amusingly tentative, nervous, unsteady and awkward as a newborn elephant reaction from the audience was worth its weight in gold. (Just over 42 min. in.)
A brilliant snapshot of what rational, decent people are facing these days.
It's been interesting to note how the BBC have been reporting the collapse of the EU-Canada deal this morning.
ReplyDeleteOn planet sensible this news supports the Brexit position totally. The EU is a cumbersome dinosaur, and free from it the UK will be able to negotiate with countries like Canada much more easily. On leaving the EU we can simply suggest that we continue to trade "as we are", and the members of the EU will be unable to agree anything different.
On planet BBC however the story is being pushed as a negative for Brexit. "Just look how difficult it is to do deals with the EU, how are we possibly going to manage to do it?"
Before the referendum, the BBC was presenting the Canada deal as proof that Leavers were lying and that Britain could never hope to work out deals quickly enough to save the economy. After all, look how long the deal was taking, etc.
DeleteIt's rather telling that the EU can't establish trade agreements with the USA and Canada, the USA especially.
ReplyDeleteThe actual system is broken, the USA is a collection of states and yet one small town wouldn't be able to veto a national trade agreement.
It's also amusing how the EU has reacted to Brexit it's all threats and bluster rather than actually trying to do something that would be good for citizens. It's beyound me why people are pro EU with its mass unemployment and appointed leaders.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought that a good deal the reaction from within the EU about Brexit is informed by and buoyed up by BBC one-sided output and briefing? I see Laura Kuenssberg with her cynical smirk in the corridors of power at the EU summit, gleefully telling us about the hard time Theresa May was having. Selected BBC soundbites indicate scoffing from the EU establishment towards the UK position, a reaction which Laura appeared to applaud - in anticipation of somehow being able to derail the Brexit procedure. How smug does Laura feel, (speaking from within the secure fortress walls of the BBC) as she reports upon 'lack of clarity' about what Brexit means?
DeleteThat's not a bad idea re "trade as you are" we'd just need to get a couple of members on side with very favourable trade deals so that they'd veto anything that the others tried to push through. I'm thinking Ireland and Portugal.
ReplyDeleteWork the whole sorry mess of a system against them.
That's not a bad idea ...
DeleteNot only is it not a bad idea, but it's exactly what Peter Lilley, Daniel Hannan, and numerous Brexiteers have been advocating. But to very deaf ears as far as the BBC is concerned.
The offer of "trade as we are" is a no lose scenario for us. If the EU really want to cut off their noses to spite our independent face, they will spend an infinite period arguing about it anyway, during which time we would just "trade as we are". Even if the "worst" did happen and we had to refer to WTO rules, then this would still be better than the existing position for us, just a lot worse for German and French exporters.
On Question Time, Conrad Black got the most lengthy and detailed introduction I've ever seen. Delivered with dripping venom by Dimbleby. I infer, obviously.
ReplyDeleteThe historian and previous proprietor of the Daily Telegraph, who did server two years in prison in the US for fraud while protesting his innocence and railing against the American legal system as 'fraudulent, fascistic, and corrupt.'
I have no time for Baron Black of the Sumter, Florida, Federal Correctional Institution, but this is a bit OTT, no?
Having said that, he just made the most eloquent defense of electing Trump for President I've ever heard. And of course Labour idiot Angela Rayner responded by saying how frightened she was of a straw man she created out of thin air, not a single true word passing her lips.
Universal Ken Clarke is past his sell-by date already. He's selling a book, isn't he? And the BBC is always eager to use license fee money to promote the commercial activities of their pets. Clarke is favored now because he's the career, 'respected' elder statesman on the 'correct' side of Brexit.
My man Varoufakis is his usual brilliant self. As always, he demonstrates his amazing talent for being both 100% correct and 100% wrong at the same time, often in the same sentence.
He laid out the case for Hillary Clinton being corrupt, dishonest, and horrible, but then went on to say that you should vote for her because Trump would be the new Mussolini. That sound you hear is your inner ear fluids rushing around as your head spins. The man is a legend.
Next question: Can "Remoaners" just shut up already with the negativity. I paraphrase somewhat. Ken Clarke is continuing to push the lie that Brexit voters didn't know what they were voting for. Apparently nobody said what Brexit would actually look like. Dimbleby just tried to goad him on not accepting the result, which is lame because Clarke had already said twice that he did.
The audience member who asked the question replied that he and many other Brexit voters had actually done their homework and knew what they were voting for. The exact opposite of how Nick Robinson and every single BBC reporter on the vote night portrayed them.
Continuing on Brexit, Varoufakis repeated his schizophrenic view of the EU that he pushed around the country during the referendum campaign. As a Democrat, he says Brexit is correct, but then goes on to push the 'Soft Brexit' lie. There is either Brexit, or there isn't. If the EU was willing to allow Britain to redo the deal on their own terms, it would have happened when Cameron went behind closed doors for his 'renegotiation'. Again, 100% right, and 100% wrong at the same time. This is why I'm such a big fan.
Another audience member made a good challenge to Rayner, calling her out for trying to undo the public's vote. She denied it and said she had an obligation to jobs and other platitudes, so denying she's trying to undo the vote is a lie. Universal Clarke told the 500 million consumer lie about the EU, and then told the "It will make Britain poorer" lie. Dimbleby then gave him an opportunity to say that Brexit could mean staying in the EU, but he ended up waffling on and tangented his way out of reason, and Dimbleby had to shut him up.
Varoufakis piped up to say that true democracy would be to ignore the referendum vote and hold a general election on what Brexit would look like. He never fails to astound and entertain.
Can nobody on the BBC - guest or staff - ever mention that there are other EU countries where all the poor, vulnerable children at the Calais Jungle, never mind all the rest of them there, could go first? Were they all just magically teleported straight from Aleppo to Calais? This whole argument is so dishonest. Universal Ken Clarke tried to have his migrant cake and eat it too, pretending to be tough on immigration numbers, just so he could say checking the facts on those who claimed to be children was a bad idea.
The answer to David's last point is that, for many years, anyone who attempted to raise concerns on immigration (particularly on QT) has been howled down by a baying mob - carefully hand - picked by the BBC to ensure that only the 'right' (ie LEFT) opinions are heard.It is only since UKIP arrived on the scene that it has been possible to discuss immigration at all. It is taking people a while to get used to their new - found freedom.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the most remarkable thing about this week's edition of QT was that,for once, we had a balanced audience - some Beeboid must have blundered!
To be honest, my impression of the audience is that it was majority in favor of unlimited immigration and against checking the facts on these 'children', and in favor staying in the EU somehow. Not overwhelmingly so, but the applause in response to the guy criticizing "Remoaners" was very sparse, while some of Varoufakis's BS, for example, was met with solid applause. The reaction to the challenge to Rayner on ignoring the referendum result didn't give me the impression that the audience was solid majority pro-Brexit, either.
DeleteDidn't watch this one but I've also noticed the audience has got more balanced. Now I don't for a minute think this is the BBC's doing so it makes me wonder if this is representative of a national change of mood. As you say though I think it's also the referendum result that has given the non PC left crowd the courage to speak out again.
ReplyDeleteIt's still on iplayer, & well worth watching. Dimbleby ' s face as he realized he was not dealing with the usual tame audience & that the Brexiteers were giving the Remoaners a pasting, was a delight to behold!
ReplyDeletePS The Polish woman was definitely not booed; she claimed she had been & the BBC has gleefully repeated the lie.
ReplyDeleteSorry to the commenter whose comments got removed today (something I've never done before and hate doing), but we'd be really grateful if you didn't use monikers and avatars that might lead passing readers to get the wrong impression and think the worst about us as a site (however innocently you meant it). Hope you understand. And thank you if you do.
ReplyDelete