Sunday 2 December 2018

Open Thread


Hills of the north, rejoice! It's time for the advent of a new open thread.


Thank you for your comments. You're doing us proud.

123 comments:

  1. Ah yes, what a great hymn...the Anglican Church have had to mangle the words as it was one of these "We're going to convert every last human being on the planet" songs which, er, wouldn't find favour with the UN Human Rights Rapporteur with Special Responsibility for Religious Rights in the UK one suspects.

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  2. As so often, JHB is right. You have to push back when your whole identity is at stake.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQHiOuTv5qM

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  3. When he is not 'liking' or RTing EVERY.SINGLE.BBC.TWEET the Weasel That Roared tweets cryptically:

    ***
    John Sweeney (@johnsweeneyroar)
    30/11/2018, 01:00
    Watch this space. twitter.com/andywigmore/st…

    https://twitter.com/andywigmore/status/1068283954644566022

    ***

    ...and watching, and waiting, and watching...

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  4. When I visited Australia, I was struck at how good Andre Bolt was.

    ***
    Nick Bryant (@NickBryantNY)
    30/11/2018, 06:15
    When I covered Australia, I was always struck by how the kids watching in the parliamentary gallery were far more impressive than the politicians down below #auspices twitter.com/smh/status/106…
    ***

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  5. In passing, whilst not the BBC, it shows what is out there for Katty to pick up and forget to correct if so minded:

    ***
    Sean Davis (@seanmdav)
    30/11/2018, 22:17
    You need to retract the entire story, because the entire story was premised on a lie. You have no story without the lie. Retract the whole thing. twitter.com/philewing/stat…

    ***

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  6. Let's try another URL...

    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/vb.228735667216/1917295861720615/?”> #CCBGB</a>

    If it fails, I am back to the drawing board, but it was pure Dimbles Does Diego and was struggling to impress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter: Dead link I'm afraid! Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!

      Delete
  7. OK, Gods of HTML... I concede... do your worst...

    Race to the bottom 

    They have found a lovely story about a lady playing Emma Watson, who is not Emma Watson. The comments, again...

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  8. Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Peter, It worked! Ever felt like a plaything of the IT gods?

      Delete
  9. #CCBGB

    https://twitter.com/bbcjlandale/status/1068951811418218501?s=21

    No means to activate hyperlink, but it is worth it.

    James seems to be trying to out Katty Katty, and out beauty Jon.

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  10. Replies
    1. Clearly technology was more advanced in the past when Obama's motorcade could pass noiselessly through residential areas. :)

      It must be humiliating for these obviously intelligent types to prostitute themselves by making such empty-headed obeisance to the great anti-Trump Totem Pole.

      Delete
  11. Craig isn't the only one who's been watching Sky News - having spent last weekend cringing every time the Beeb's Lisa Hambly opened her mouth, I thought I'd try the competition. The Sky reporter's French was no better than Lisa's but the camera-work was. Whereas the Beeb filmed from a safe distance, Sky's man was at the heart of the riot & even interviewing people as the cobblestones & gas canisters flew by.

    The Sky man, unlike Lisa, knew where he was - last week she claimed to be reporting from somewhere called "le palais de le Concorde." Now, 1. there is no such palace, 2. Le Concorde (masc.) was a supersonic airliner - she was trying to say 'La place de la Concorde'. It's strange that the Beeb, which is so pro EU, has so few reporters who can speak one of its main official languages.

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    Replies
    1. It's also one of those "permanent puzzles" that French politicians who profess to be internationalists just can't be arsed to take the time to master even the most basic elements of English (British or American, I don't care) pronunciation.

      Someone like Macron who has worked in international banking must clearly know how to pronounce English.

      But he is a member of what we might call "The French Resistance".

      I may be wrong but I think it is a deliberate insult to the English language the way nearly all French people pronounce it.It's a kind of a passive-aggressive thing...which also allows them space to pretend they don't understand you.

      We know the French think they have THE language of international relations...according to the French way of thinking something went wrong in around 1830 and were it not for that perturbation of the natural order, French would be happily spoken everywhere as the language of international discourse.

      Just a passing observation really...I don't get too het up about it...but I do factor it into my overall view of things. :)

      Last thought: does make you wonder how they teach English over there. Here,it is drummed into you from day one that your pronunciation of French has to be spot on if you are to be understood.

      Over there when it comes to the proununciation lessons it must be a case of "Now take out baguettes, spread them with de beurre and put in some filling to your liking. We will resume lessons in deux heures!!

      Delete
    2. They think much the same about us. I spend several months of the year in Normandy & the place is stuffed to the gills with Brit ex-pats who, try as they will, can't string two words of French together.

      My French wife, who has spent most of her life in the uk, tries, but still announces that she is going to change the 'shits' on the bed, & fondly believes that she crosses the channel on a 'sheep'!

      Delete
    3. Ah yes, the shits on the bed can be annoying!

      I was thinking more of what you might call the diplomatic class where I am sure our lot pronounce French with something like a French accent! lol

      I think I was reminded of this when I heard a senior French politician recently referring to a "burm" - Clouseau like. But in fairness it's probably true that few of our politicians these days can speak French with any facility.

      In honour of your French Connection, let me add that I am bit of a Francophile, and regularly stump up to buy a French newspaper or Paris Match/Le Point.

      Delete
  12. A funny thing happened to me on the way to the forum...

    I stopped off at Biased BBC and read some Far Right nut claim that the MSM in the UK were trying to claim the yellow vest movement in France was simply about petrol taxes when in fact it was a much wider movement. That was about 5 days ago. I treated that claim with some scepticism while reading on the BBC and other MSM channels about the "anti fuel tax" protests. Scroll on a few days and Sky News are reporting pretty much what the Far Right Fake News Person said a few days ago...this is not about fuel tax rises alone - this ia much wider political protest. Also heard Hugh Sykes I think it was on Radio 4 pressing the panic button and saying much the same thing.

    Not for the first time I find that BBC,Sky and ITV have served me ill while other news sources have served me much better in ascertaining the truth.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed MB. Yesterday's Sky News reporting gave, I think, inadvertent prominence to a banner saying 'VOTRE EUROPE NOUS RUINE' - 'YOUR EUROPE IS RUINING US'. Well, well!

      Delete
    2. C’est possible Sky munchkins did not do Franglais to ‘O’ level like some.

      Delete
  13. Andrew Marr: The biggest political crisis since Suez & what does Marr give us? - 20+ minutes of Dr Spacely-Trellis, the well-known, go-ahead Archbishop of Canterbury* and, a treat still in store, the views of Delia Smith! I despair, I really do.

    * Dr Spacely-Trellis: a creation of the Telegraph's late, great Peter Simple

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    Replies
    1. I take it back, I was wrong: Delia has just assured us she's quite a deep thinker & has thought about it a lot.
      So that's all right then!

      Delete
    2. It’s ok, Rob is right on it...

      Balance!

      Delete
    3. Shurely shume mistake Sisyphus ... Delia's a deep "drinker"

      Delete
    4. ...was she on the whine again?

      Delete
  14. Morning all. There was a great POV from Roger Scruton on R4 this morning taking aim at PC. Very surprised the BBC allowed it, and I'm sure there will be howls of Twitter outrage.

    After POV was a trailer by Paddy for "Broadcasting House. I used to listen and enjoy Paddy's relaxed and I thought non-agenda driven approach, but how far he has dropped his standards and come into BBC PC line is alarming.

    The trailer featured Ian Hislop telling us to forget about Brexit when we should be worried about housing, health care, etc.. Obvious agenda here, from another BBC sell-out, telling us to just get on and get behind May (ignoring that her "deal" will have ramifications for rest of all our lives across all areas).

    Then we were promised a feature bringing together a veteran of the kindetransport and a recent Afghan immigrant. Obvious agenda here: immigration is good and immigrants/refugees/asylum seekers are all the same thing. Not at all that our Government has allowed 30 year men to sit in schools alongside young girls, no, no, not at all. And of course we should just emote and not think about immigration's effect on what Hislop has just told us are the really important issues, i.e. housing, health care, etc..

    Pure PC globalist propaganda. Pass the sick bag, Paddy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Good evening, this is Radio Fraud and here is the news passed through a PC filter and then watered down to exclude any nasty bits that might trouble you...A senior Republican has lashed out at President Trump calling him a..."

      Delete
    2. Broadcasting House has had a constant 'refugee' thread running through it since 2015, even following the fostering process and a series of reports on the life of a refugee with his foster family. I don't know what happened to that.

      And it's not just Broadcasting House. It crops up in several places across the BBC because they've made it a theme.
      On Friday, Woman's Hour made a point of telling us it was the anniversary of the Jewish children - even though the anniversary was today - and doing a feature on it:
      'On 2nd December 1938, the first Kindertransport train arrived into Liverpool Street Station... 80 years on, how significant was the programme? And what can its history teach us about the current child refugee crisis? ...'
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001cb9
      The funny thing is though, that Woman's Hour being the programme which covers topics from the woman's perspective, as they keep telling us, I didn't notice anything about the absence of women and girls among the 'child refugees' of our time, as an example of something that might qualify as such perspective. But maybe I missed it. I don't always listen with rapt attention.

      Delete
    3. Many drama and soap story lines about refugees and migrants - all talented and keen to make a positive contribution to British society. I can't actually recall a single character with any mal intent. Well, of course writers know it would be a career-ending choice in the PC-controlled media to portray any migrant in a negative light. By the same logic we end up on Coronation Street with a grooming gang composed of white police officers.

      Delete
  15. When in doo-doo, double down 

    #CCBGB

    I like this one:

    "Can't wait to see Mark waulberg play bob Marley"

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  16. I am staying on top of this story, which seems to have more twists than Rapunzel's pony tail.

    Wheels within wheels 

    Still no real clue on what actually happened from start to finish, but I do note the BBC has said little and the initial screamers in the MSM have 'moved on'.

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  17. "Would Madam like some rotting Salmon on their baked spud in Frankie Howerd?"

    As has been said, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/401538510458/posts/10161042442800459/“>#CCBGB</a> 

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  18. This one seems safer:

    ***
    BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast)
    02/12/2018, 09:30
    Meet Ellie Wallwork - ⁦‪@BBCDrWho‬⁩'s first ever blind actor. She's refused to let her condition stop her chasing her dreams – and here's why she thinks the ground-breaking role is so important����#DrWho pic.twitter.com/ZvQp8bUjsJ

    ***

    How soon until she reads something out loud elsewhere, like the shipping forecast? Now this is very sweet and all, but maybe... just cast her and let it be seen as normal, rather than force things like this?

    Or, indeed, this?

    ***
    BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live)
    02/12/2018, 09:09

    Ellie Wallwork stars in #DoctorWho tonight - and she's making history as the first fully blind actor to do so.

    ⁦‪@chriswarburton_‬⁩ asked her about sighted actors playing the part of blind characters in TV and film.

    #5LiveBreakfast pic.twitter.com/huVxsBS2LI

    ***

    Guess she goes back and helps Stevie Wonder write 'Isn't Xe Beautiful?' next? Or is on the poop deck with Horatio at Trafalgar offering advice, and fails to warn him?

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  19. Breaking News: Sky News - 'The Papers' is reporting that the Telegraph has been passed a letter from Ollie Robbins to T.May in which he warns that the backstop is a bad deal for Britain. Dynamite! - has it exploded' on BBC yet?

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    1. Saw it on Sky... Probably appearing on the Bedforshire page on the BBC Website or whatever page is appropriate to Mr Robbins' residence. Not on the Home Page or Politics page (where they like to bury quite a few stories).

      Delete
    2. PS I heard Sky reporter Kate McCann talking about it. Must say her style seems exemplary. None of the histrionics of LK. Nothing snidey but still a very engaging presentation with good humour and precision.

      Delete
    3. If Olly Robbins doesn't like the deal does that mean that Theresa May is now officially the only person in the UK who likes the deal?

      Delete
    4. Lol!
      It was on Martine Croxall's 'The Papers' on the News Channel. Mentioned but not examined in depth.

      Delete
  20. Just a point to make...Ian Hislop, the BBC, and Mrs May all want to tell us we are "bored" with Brexit. I have just been on Mail Online, with the intent of telling them I have now completely stopped buying their newspapers.

    All the Brexit stories are receiving huge numbers of comments and I would say that after a period of infiltration by Sorosbots, there is now a lot of anger out there as the truth about the Abject Surrender Deal becomes ever more apparent. Comments on any Brexit story are running at anything between 5,000 and 16,000(way above the average for other top stories) and probably 90% of the comments are opposed to May's gross betrayal of trust.

    This "boredom" strategy was tried at the start of the EU Referendum and failed. People were engaged and eventually the UK media had to accept the fact.

    Now, PC bottom-dwellers,contemptible twerps like Hislop are going to have to admit they are wrong again.

    People are not "bored with Brexit" they are "angry with the Bogus Brexit" that our psychologically disturbed Prime Minister has served up for us. Even her own close advisor Olly Robbins tells her it is a deal that locks us in forever potentially with no escape.

    Even if they were "bored with Brexit" going along with May is actually a recipe for another 5 years of Brexit uncertainty as she desperately tries to secure a half-way decent trade deal despite having given away every card she had at the start of the negotiations.

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  21. Emily returns to channeling her inner Katty:
    ***
    emily m (@maitlis)
    02/12/2018, 22:39
    This: 'The response to the ‘Newsnight’ vicar proves centrists are just as prone to conspiracy theories as the far-right' independent.co.uk/voices/newsnig…
    ***
    #CCBGB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wouldn't they be extreme centrists, then, right? Or far-centrist centrists? I mean you can't be calling all those cuddly centrists crackpot conspiracists, can you Emily?

      Delete
    2. People who want us to overturn the result of a democratic referendum, and integrate into a militarised, undemocratic anti-free speech European superstate that doesn't have the will to patrol its borders effectively are hardly deserving of the term "centrist". Pro euro-imperialist extremists would be more accurate.

      Delete
  22. There is a story that the BBC have been ignoring. M Mansfield QC has been arguing on the subject of a delayed pension for a group of women born in the 1950s. He has secured a Judicial Review to look into the Government's mishandling of the matter.

    This has the potentially to expose a mistake that might cost the tax-payer (or should that be the NI fund) up to £3.5 billion. Why nothing on the BBC?

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  23. Daily Mash can be a bit hit or miss, but this seems on point...

    Just a matter of time 

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  24. In my experience, use of terms like 'exploded', 'shocking', etc, are the stock in trade of new media with about six credulous subscribers. And he BBC.

    Boom. Boom.

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  25. Bill Cash is making some very valid points about how the Withdrawal Treaty (abject surrender document), signed by Theresa May is in conflict with the (constitutionally superior) Withdrawal Act of 2018 and is therefore illegal. The latter removes all EU law, whereas the Treaty reinstates it for at least the transition period...

    This seems to me a valid point - especially since Mad May steadfastly refused to answer him as to whether legal advice had been taken on this point or to state that she viewed the treaty as compatible with the Act.

    On a related point, Dominic Lawson tells in the Sunday Times how May refused 9 times to answer a simple question put in different forms: "In what conceivable circumstances would a hard border emerge on either side of the N Ireland border following Brexit? " She would not/could not/did not answer. The obvious reason why, is - what I have been banging on about: there are no conceivable circumstances in which that situation could emerge. The Republic has no wish to or intention of putting in place a hard border in any circumstances and neither do we.

    The whole "seemingly insoluble NI Border problem" is the greatest lie ever foisted on the British public, since perhaps Chamberlain's tissue of lies about peace in our time or maybe Eden's claim we had no prior knowledge of Israel's intentions re the Suez crisis of 1956.

    The truth about the NI border issue has of course been complete;y covered by the BBC who in fact have been one of the most assiduous purveyors of the lie that there is a problem. How many times have the issues been played out on Newsnight with Chris Cook or someone else sighing and say there is just no solution anyone can think of...how many times has some snake of senator from the south been allowed to get away with spreading fear and alarm without being asked a direct question about the Republic's (non-existent) intentions re creating a hard border.

    ReplyDelete
  26. The bbc is selling you on books.

    Read all abart tit!

    Apparently.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Easy to see what they were trying to do. Shame few were fooled, or understood it.

    BBC ‘accused of’ special 

    ReplyDelete
  28. Doubt Carrie Gracie will let this lie.

    ***
    Katty Kay (@KattyKayBBC)
    02/12/2018, 16:33
    So now that Claire Foy’s played me on ⁦‪@nbcsnl‬⁩ - can I play the Queen? pic.twitter.com/i7P556qvvQ

    ***

    ReplyDelete
  29. Sorry, too many 'blind' links and incomprehensible, context-free Twitter droppings appearing under 'comments' for my liking.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Says, 'Anonymous'. What do you like?

    Given the BBC does its best work on twitter, maybe acquiring the desire and skills to actually click a working link (Blogger is hardly friendly in this regard) attached will reveal all, including context? In the case of quoted tweets, it is hardly a chore to go to Twitter and find out more for oneself.

    I don't mind opinion, but as pioneered by the BBC to the exclusion of all else, I prefer substantiated evidence.

    If the site owners are unhappy I will of course defer and leave sharing information to those who already make such a valuable contribution, especially when coy on who they are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter - You keep on going - some links are better than none; if they work, they save time &, if they don't, we can, as you say, go to Twitter itself!

      Delete
    2. If the BBC do their best work on Twitter why bother with all those expensive TV and radio channels? I see very little purpose in posting a link that doesn't give any reason as to why it should be clicked on. Links to Twitter are particularly poor value as the destination may just be a re-tweet which is not of itself bias, being circumstantial evidence at best. The most influential output of the BBC is via its regulated broadcast channels, not I suggest snippets of group think from the sewer that is Twitter.

      Delete
    3. Oh anonymous one, same or another, what you do not see is noted. Along with your assessment of purpose. I look forward to all the contextualised, clickable links you are set to share from channels that are, as you say, regulated. Yet still reveal much. And hence offer all the value of their sharing, which the ITTB owners do so well. However the entity that is the bbc is staffed by people, whose views are, we are advised, their own. So much is to be gleaned from such less regulated exposure: which will be continued to be exposed until the site owners express preferences otherwise.

      Delete
    4. Peter, I’m a named regular, if occasional comment maker - please carry on dregging through the cess pit that is twitter and providing links for my amusement.

      Delete
    5. Thx, CO... keep your eyes peeled (see what I did there?).

      As an aside, sadly for continuity, I cannot predict where this will appear. Another quirk.

      Delete
  31. In the spirit of not pleasing some of the people all of the time, I cross all fingers and add a context-enhanced link (I hope) to an FOI request whose outcome I await with interest.

    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i_would_like_to_know_every_judge?

    BBC journalism is proppa, innit? 

    ReplyDelete
  32. Re. Open Thread Comments. I have noticed that if the Open Thread is away from the top, of the ITBBC? site, comments become fewer in number. Also, within the Open Thread comments, only the current (latest) topics receive attention. Once comments have been superseded, the debate is lost. It's the debate, sometimes expressed at length with plenty of reading and the necessary links that give appeal to this site. I don't mind if they're live or that I might need to copy and paste.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Time for the Festive Fifty again! Feel free to suggest additions... I'm not sure I've noticed any really new technique, but perhaps I haven't been looking closely enough!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MB, how about a Festive Fifty Predictions as to what we might expect from the BBC in the coming year.

      1. Transgender contestant in Strictly - able to dance with either a male or female professional.

      2. Women's football having equal billing to men's in Match of the Day.

      3. Songs of Praise becomes an exclusively Gospel Singing show.

      4. CountryFile takes us on a tour of a halal slaughterhouse - joke!

      Delete
    2. 5. The Now Show have had comedians on saying how rubbish democracy and free speech are...how about jokes about freedom of conscience.

      6. BBC cancels production of "1984". Guardian reports that BBC high-ups are concerned it may feed poplism sentiment. "Not the right time to air what is after all a historical work of literature of little relevance to the current era." Marina Hyde publishes article mocking "the Little Winston Smiths who are so afraid of progress under the Corbyn government. Maybe they should have a rat cage attached to their faces, or somewhere even more sensitive."

      7. Ofcom issues report criticising Radio 4 for "Insufficient attention to minority and equality issues and a lack of genuinely working class voice. BBC announces Accent Equalisation Programme for Radios 3 and 4."

      8. Songs of Praise axed after "exclusively gospel" approach leads to falling audience figures. D-G says "Shame but the programme's moment has passed."

      This is easy - make it 100! :)

      Delete
    3. I raise you...

      10. Masterchef Halal Edition

      Delete
    4. Followed by...

      11. Springwatch is renamed Summerwatch to emphasise the terrible depradations of global warming climate change.

      12. Top Gear is speed governed to 55 MPH to reduce carbon emissions.

      Delete
    5. 13. Gareth Malone forms a choir of pot-bellied, hairy-a**ed hardhat and yellow vested builders, cured miraculously from their now banned wolf-whistling tendencies.

      Delete
    6. 14. Question Time with Gary Lineker...Fiona Bruce is indisposed due an unfortunate incident with an antique commode. Gary is feted in the Mail and Express as a marvellous progressive chair of the programme, who rightly slapped down any expression of right wing opinion, and in view of the media response, the BBC decide to appoint him on a permanent basis.

      15. "Love Once More - EU Will Always Be Ours" - the story of how we were saved from Brexit and returned to the EU - a 58 part series on Radio 4 presented by Mark Mardell, his hushed undertaker tones now replaced by those of resonant jubilation as he relates how the heroes of the resistance - Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell, Peter Mandelson, Nick Clegg, George Soros, Dominic Grieve, Keir Starmer, Ken Clarke and Anna Soubry - pulled off a remarkable coup in overturning the illegitimate Brexit vote and secured our peace and happiness for the next 1000 years.

      Delete
  34. Here, for the hard of contextualising, if not cut and pasting, is a Senior BBC anchor engaging with a Senior ennobled loon, and yet still managing to lose the public...

    ****
    emily m (@maitlis)
    03/12/2018, 14:46
    Sorry Andrew - think you missed my response:
    "Don't be a peddler of fake news". We do - as I said earlier - need our parliamentarians to be better. I don't expect an apology. But do think about the lives of vulnerable people you're hurting. twitter.com/andrew_adonis/…
    ***

    It’s quite a gift.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Those who watch Newswatch and enjoy Craig's fisks of them, will also be aware that BBC editorial integrity applies there too, namely choosing what the BBC thinks should be watched, and found about right.

    When even those in the BBC family have their doubts this is as comprehensive as might be, the BBC might have a problem it cannot ignore much longer.

    Context-laden link, from another Blogger account, hopefully follows in support:

    Ooo, look, squirrel! 

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anyone fancy a bet? I'm in for 20 pence that the BBC won't touch the piece by Lord (Mervyn) King in Bloomberg. They are happy to quote Carney until the cows come home. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-12-04/mervyn-king-says-may-s-brexit-deal-is-a-betrayal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No I won't take the bet because they more often bury stuff - bottom of the business page perhaps.

      Delete
  37. Guido reports yet another piece of outrageous bias from a senior BBC Presenter, this time Kamal Ahmed:

    “On the Brexit economic forecasts if we leave the impression “well it might be right, it might be wrong” we would be doing a disservice to our audiences. On economics (and of course there are many other ways to judge Brexit, politically, culturally) the evidence from expert modellers who know what they are talking about (unlike many non-economist politicians) is clear – it’s a bit rubbish.”

    Expert modellers? The very same people who predicted an iummediate recession after a Brexit vote and who were proved spectacularly wrong?

    This, let us remember, is the guy the BBC have put in charge of the mass re-education campaign which is to be conducted, so that we finally give up on treating Treasury forecasts and the like with a degree of scepticism, or possibly cynicism.

    It is clear that the BBC mob think they are invulnerable now. No effective oversight from Government, MPs, Ofcom of BBC Management - quite the reverse, in many cases the bias is being encouraged (e.g. on Sharia, climate change and the like).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “Forecasts by their nature are not “wrong”. If you had two dice, a forecast central tendency on the most likely number thrown would be 7. If you threw a 12 it would not make the forecast wrong, just an outlying possibility had come to pass. “12” is on the distribution.”

      But there is only a one-in-six chance of getting "7" so although it might be the most likely outcome it isn't outstandingly so, certainly not enough to discard all the others. Perhaps that applies to economic modelling too?

      Delete
    2. My understanding is that the economic models are sets of computer algorithms that are based on economic theories about how money, labour, investment, prices, inflation, production and all the rest interact. They may have an element of probability but I think they are based on more on theoretical assumptions, than mathematical probability. To put it another way, I think they turn all those graphs they love into algorithms which will react accordingly to different number inputs.

      All I know is that the Treasury, OBR, IMF and Bank of England (plus nearly BBC economics correspondents) all have a quite stunning record of being spectacularly wrong about just about everything. How they can be so wrong so consistently without reverting to the mean, I don't know.

      Delete
    3. JRM explained a major and well known problem with forecasts , I think to Evan who wasn't listening. Seems Ahmad wasn't listening either. It's the "black swan" phenomena. You go for years and years seeing only white swans so you base all your assumptions and forecasts on white swans. But one day a black swan comes along. Ruins all the forecasts in a second. None of these bodies forecast the financial crash in 2008/9. None of these bodies know what the effect of Brexit will be.



      Forecasts are just forecasts , most definitely not facts. And the further into the unknown (i.e. the future) and the more variables, the less likely to be accurate.

      Delete
    4. I think Hammond, Carney and May are well aware forecasts are not facts, any more than opinion polls. They are used as part of a ruthless propaganda war.

      Delete
  38. A link to a tweet to a leak in order-order. This is likely double-plus bad..

    Oh well.

    <a href="https://twitter.com/MediaGuido/status/1069912307105452032”>#yesletsgowith ‘leaked’</a> 

    I wonder if the BBC will touch this either? Officially or otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  39. BBC Trending is of course a joke, being not what is trending at all, but what a section of the BBC puts up to get the rest of the BBC to pass on and hence then justify a re-report that it is actually trending.

    When they go low, the BBC gets down their with them 

    They also like norty bits.

    Here's a press release I got sent earlier:

    ***

    The UK’s Kinks Revealed

    View this release online at: pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/96679/

    4 December 2018

    Honour Clothing is one of the largest retailers of fetishwear and kink related accessories in the world. A study was conducted on a sample of 100,000 searches on Honour.co.uk. This reveals some interesting kink related facts.

    Interesting Facts:
    The UK’s kinkiest ages are between 25-34 and closely followed by 45-54.
    65+ presented a considera... [ View the full release ]

    ***

    Envy of the world.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Currently on Facebook:
    ****
    BBC News
    2 hrs ·
    How will Brexit affect chocolate? ������
    bbc.in/2zIxpIp (via BBC Money)
    ***

    Also enjoying comments that could....

    ReplyDelete
  41. Meanwhile, not on the BBC a member of the BBC community regrets leaving his safe space.

    Complete with transcript.

    Maybe BBC Trending can make sure it doesn't?

    ReplyDelete
  42. I am surprised it took the BBC this long. On Facebook (no link):

    ***

    BBC News

    Racist, sexist, offensive... or just Christmas ditties? ��

    About this website
    BBC.COM
    Should we stop listening to these Christmas songs?

    ***

    The BBC use of #wefiles 'speaking for the nation and questions projected at their audience in lieu of a headline always garners an excellent response.

    Unless you are the BBC.

    ReplyDelete
  43. BBC rely on 'belief' a lot.

    <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCNewsPR/status/1069987109660999681”>BBC Statement on how life is soooo unfair!!!!!</a> 

    Seems it is being shaken.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I emerge from nearly two months of gloom to find that Theresa May has lost three votes on the trot in the Commons. Oh happy day - there is still hope for British democracy! Strangely Kuenssberg and co don't seem too happy about this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm Pienaar was ecstatic on R4. He combined the votes with the possibility of Article 50 being revoked and a second referendum.

      Delete
    2. Didn't know that Oz. On 6pm tv news he was busy with the good old vox pops where the employees knew, presumably, what they were expected to think & say.

      Certainly I agree with you that the master plan was for May to create chaos (success!) and then for a weary nation to beg to remain in the EU! So the BBC has spent the last couple of weeks showing us vox pops of people saying, "Just get on with it!" Bang on cue, the European Court ruled today that we are free to revoke article 50 - quelle surprise! I think that they and May have overplayed their hand and underestimated the anger that her monstrous, sustained deception has engendered.

      Delete
  45. BTW I just had to turn off R4 at 6.30 pm as yet another "comedy" program featured yet another unknown American sounding off again about "Trump". I want my money back!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Odd isn't it that they indulge in such repetitive fare when the second coming of St. Michelle of Obama provides such comic potential?

      Delete
  46. Yeah I heard that,so overtly biased against Trump that he actually admitted to campaigning for Hilary and spent a fair amount of time mocking the old.

    It’s one of the greatest myths of our time that only the old voted right / trump / Brexit. Nobody knows it’s based on polls of a few 1000 at best and people lie because of the stigma it gets from the more “enlightened”.

    ReplyDelete
  47. St Theresa of Maidenhead would be worthy of a giggle or two as well - just think what satirists could have done with material like her! Satirists!-Those were the days! But what does the BBC give us? Little Ian Hislop!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, they give us his slop and pretend it's comedy... when it's just a little squished up face laughing at its own jokes.

      Delete
  48. Is Humphreys getting senile? On Radio 4, in a discussion with some Remainer (was it Nick Boles? - not sure), he averred that if we joined a Norway Plus arrangement we would at least have stopped Free Movement. Keep up John! - his interlocutor with alacrity, or perhaps it was glee, pointed out that would not be the case: free movement would be retained. The interviewee then went on to define Norway Plus - the "Plus" meant we would be in a Customs Union with the EU (not something I've heard BBC commentators spell out before)! But, steady on...the interviewee was also claiming we would be in EFTA and therefore the EEA and therefore not subject directly to the ECJ. It is extremely difficult to see how you could be a member of EFTA and yet a member of the EU customs union, since EFTA has its own co-ordinated international trade policy and is not a member of the EU Customs Union.

    But Humphreys seemed too confused by all these nuances to ask any meaningful questions.

    Part of my beef with the BBC is not just that it is biased but that it is pretty useless, despite paying its "talent" hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of pounds. What do we get in return? Confusion and ignorance. The BBC should be spreading light not darkness. They need to clarify:

    - The EEA is an agreement between EFTA and EU (Norway does not have a stand alone agreement with the EU).

    - The EEA is NOT the Single Market (although it offers EFTA states enhanced access to the Single Market). The Single Market is the seamless economic entity within the EU.

    - The EEA is not in the EU Customs Union.

    - The EEA does pretty much replicate EU-style free movement.

    - Confusingly, although Switzerland is a member of EFTA it is not a member of the EEA. It has its own treaties with the EU.

    Is it too much to hope that BBC presenters who are paid huge amounts should be able to grasp these essentials.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Since the BBC won't do their job, I'll do it for them... The Irish Times reports the WTO have made clear that operating under WTO rules will NOT require the erection of a hard border (despite the mad claims of the Remainiacs, which are always given a free pass by the BBC):

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/wto-says-its-rules-would-not-force-eu-or-uk-to-erect-hard-irish-border-1.3710136?mode=amp

    And remember both the Irish Republic and the UK government have made clear they have absolutely no intention of erecting a hard border.

    I think the way is clear to a negotiated WTO-basis departure.

    The difference from "no deal" I think would be that we would leave the money on the table, all £39billion, as a (conditional) msweetener for co-operation on a number of key areas: Dover-Calais, tech solutions/bonded warehouses for NI customs and regulatory checks, air travel, mutual recognition of right of migrants already here to stay and our continued involvement in some useful European institutions e.g. security arrest warrants etc (although to avoid ECJ authority, some parallel, Swiss style agreements may be required).

    Put that "deal" to the British people in a Referendum and I think they will snap you hand off.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Predictably the Beeb News only showed a brief clip of Boris's speech: the bit where he was snarled at by the old duffer behind him, whose blood pressure had risen so high that his scalp appeared to be leaking - it would have been interesting to hear the solution that he went on to offer. Less predictably, Sky showed exactly the same clip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On the other hand, I'm just watching The (EU) Debate on Sky. Totally different from Beeb 'debates' & vox pops: Sky's Brexiteers are intelligent & articulate as, indeed, are the Remainers. What do we get on the Beeb? -Mainly not very bright, inarticulate folk.

      Delete
    2. How they fear of Boris! Of a night when they are tucking the (privately educated) little uns in bed I expect BBC presenters ("Now be good and go to sleep or the Boris Monster will get you, and we won't be able to stay in the EU.").

      Delete
    3. It is the subtle bias that can be the more profound...ensuring your leaver invites go to those who are less than impressive.

      Another observation on my part: Brexiters generally have been playing this like a game of cricket from perhaps 1925...but this is no gentelmen's game. The Remainiacs have thrown everything they can at Brexit: they have lied, distorted, impugned Brexiters' honesty, indulged in ad hominems, indulged in bogus arguments from authority, covered up fake forecasting, commissioned bogus, biased polling, engaged a succession of Project Fear campaigns...and in all this they have been ably aided by the biased BBC. It's time to take the gloves off (not a cricketing metaphor in this case)...well in truth it was time immediately after the vote when it became clearly that most Remainers were not prepared to accept the vote.

      The leadership of the Brexit campaign has been woefully inadequate. I think Mogg has done his best in the circumstances, leading a cowardly rabble of place seekers. Boris has shown insufficient leadership from the front. Gove of course proved himself a traitor to the cause when he stabbed Boris in the back, the front and the sides in order to secure personal advantage. Leadsom seems to have fallen in love with office - perhaps Fox always was in love with it. Davis has shown some honour, but also a great deal of naivety it would seem - I can't help shaking off the feeling he's a bit lazy when it comes down to it.

      I still think Boris could pull this off. Depose May, DD as caretaker PM. Seek 3 month extension on Article 50. Hold Tory leadership election. DD agrees not to stand against Boris. Boris scrapes in at no. 2 against Gove. Both are promising seeking Canada Plus trade deal. Boris elected by the membership. Boris goes to General Election seeking mandate for Canada Plus swift negotiation or leave on WTO terms with $30 billion off the table. I think he could win the election handsomely.

      Of course the pro-globalist media will throw everything at him.

      Delete
    4. There's very little chance of this outcome. There are simply too many Conservative MPs (two thirds I think) who are Remainers. Also, the two MPs who might make it happen, Graham Brady and Julian Smith, seem to be in full support of May's Withdrawal Agreement.

      Delete
    5. ONe thing you can say is that the vast majority of Conservative MPs have few principles and not much honour...given firm leadership, they will fall line. Remember all these "Remainers" stood on a manifesto of respecting the Brexit vote and leaving the single market and customs union. That's how principled they are. If Boris were to lead the Conservatives to a 100 seat majority - something I think he is quite capable of doing if all goes well - then the extreme Remainers will be irrelevant.

      Delete
  51. "What do we get on the Beeb? -Mainly not very bright, inarticulate folk."

    To reiterate MB's point, if only to say it may be subtle but is outright venal, if clever.

    If these clowns do have handlers, they are as thick themselves to allow these clowns to be representative, or the BBC has ways to simply avoid anyone better being put up.

    The BBC runs into trouble with the Labour front bench, as often they cannot really ask questions of anyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  52. One for Katty Fans...

    ***
    BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR)
    05/12/2018, 00:41
    What is… oh, we should know this one… ICYMI, ⁦‪@Jeopardy‬⁩ tonight featured ⁦‪@KattyKayBBC‬⁩ and ⁦‪@BBCWorld‬⁩ pic.twitter.com/faZTEX5wXy
    ***
    BBC PR heart Katty 

    ReplyDelete
  53. The BBC does like 'quotes', and never more so when they can seem to go Boom!

    And so here is the BBC morning email summary:

    ***
    'Explosive' Trump-Russia revelations

    'Explosive revelations'

    Michael Flynn was once a fervent supporter of Donald Trump and served a brief tenure as his national security adviser. He later became a key subject in the probe into alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 US election, and eventually, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about discussions he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington before Mr Trump entered the White House. Now the office behind the probe has said it isn't seeking a jail sentence for Mr Flynn because of the information he has provided.

    Much of its memo is redacted, but the BBC's Anthony Zurcher says the bits that can be seen point towards explosive revelations to come. It says Mr Flynn provided first-hand detail about interactions with Russia, but also "substantial assistance in a criminal investigation". Who is being investigated? For what? Our correspondent says those questions could cause Donald Trump and those close to him sleepless nights in the days ahead.
    ***

    Their correspondent Anthony follows 'Much ... redacted, but ... the bits that can be seen... point towards... explosive revelations to come' by concluding with a BBC 'could'.

    I must put stuff that 'points towards' in explosive headlines more often.

    For credibility.

    ReplyDelete
  54. The BBC is of course very adept at having out of body experiences itself, but this from one who was once within is still worthy in all its bitter glory, along being so 'news' they have it in their title.

    ***
    Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews)
    04/12/2018, 13:38
    The worst thing about the BBC proposal is that only they could have made it: a politicised and biased editorial decision alongside all the others they've made from the get go. All other broadcasters though "popcorn" BBC thought "how do we curry favour?" twitter.com/kevin_maguire/…
    ***
    Me either 

    ReplyDelete
  55. What a land of lies and deception we have become!

    May's outriders (people like the untrustworthy Javid) are now signalling that "we can maybe look at the backstop again")- barely a couple of days after May told us faithfully, hand on heart that this was it, the final deal.

    Then we have Katya Adler on PM, pumping out EU propaganda with Evan laughing at her snide jokes (at the UK's expensve of course). Adler's propaganda line was as follows:

    1. The EU is a body not a state...

    Really? despite having numerous trappings of being a state. Why have internal laws if you're not a state? Why have an assembly if you're not a state? Why have an anthem, why have embassies, why lay plans for an army, why have a currency, why lay plans for fiscal union, if you're not a state?

    2. The EU would not budge on this deal. That is pure EU propaganda. They have said that numerous times in the past and have then budged - the Lisbon Treaty is an example.

    3. The backstop is required to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland. This is a straightforward lie from Adler. She must know the Irish Republic and the UK have stated they have no intention of erecting a hard border and that the WTO have stated there is no need to erect a hard border.

    4. Because the EU is a "body not a state" it can only operate through careful adherence to the agreed laws (despite not being a state, it has laws note). This claim is nonsense. Merkel did not adhere to EU law when she invited in over a million undocumented migrants. Greece was allowed to avoid legal budget restrictions. We also know that other countries adherence to EU laws is to say the least lax, whereas we have always been fastidious in that regard. Whether it's the French allowing migrants to roam free without claiming asylum in their country, or allowign people to stop free movement across the channel or the Maltese government and journalists, the EU and the law are a marriage of convenience. The EU is not a nation of laws but an empire built on a promise - a promise of no more war, after the horrific traumas of the 20th century.

    Anyway, I am glad Adler nailed her pathetic colours to the mast. If May goes cap in hand back to Brussels we'll see if she was right. My guess is that there will be a tweak and that will prove Adler was wrong. But more importantly a new government will also prove her wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  56. There is a degree of sensitivity in both the BBC and Sky about the stuff they take to heart as they trip over George Orwell's statue with their fingers crossed each morning.

    However unlike Rob Burley, some are less adept at defending their matronly honour. Emily M has already tried and failed, so now relies on Adam Boulton, liking and retweeting him as if she were a hyper John Sweeney, were that possible.

    Given Adam's attempts, she may have hitched to a very large wagon plunging off a very steep cliff. He has moderated a tad after a real howler, but here is his latest, Emily-approved one:

    ***
    Adam Boulton (@adamboultonSKY)
    05/12/2018, 09:00
    We are not pro Remain or Leave . We do think remainers and others are entitled to express their views. Speaking for ⁦‪@SkyNews‬⁩. twitter.com/gazilapod/stat…
    ***
    Partial, us? Shocked, we tell you; shocked! 

    Good luck with that, Adam.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a reminder, this is Emily who knows thevmen she likes...

      ***
      Does feel as if #dominicgrieve is emerging as the quiet parliamentary hero of this whole fiasco.

      ***

      I wonder if she has his picture on the wall? Dart free.

      Delete
  57. Know how the BBC got big on diversity, and so the world of media followed suit?

    Well, it looks like the world of media have stolen a march on Aunty.

    ***
    @LBGNews

    34% of Black people and 30% of Asian people feel they are inaccurately portrayed in advertising. Read our new report and see our action checklist to help advertisers represent modern Britain.
    ***
    Numbers are no longer enough; they must be the right sort 

    That will throw the cat amongst the pigeons in BBC Drama. Well, more than already.

    Bet that LBG got a few excited too before reading on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a white horse I have never felt that LBG represents me.

      Delete
  58. And now a mid week chuckle...

    ***
    Sam White (@SamWhiteTky)
    04/12/2018, 16:22
    I think that was actually literally the voice of Britain, emanating from deep underground. twitter.com/Jamin2g/status…
    ***
    Mad about the boy 

    Well, when you put your heroes on pedestals...

    ReplyDelete
  59. Feedback this week: 'This week, Roger Bolton hears from listeners concerned that the BBC gives too much time to so-called Think Tanks - without disclosing their political leanings or how they're funded. Should Think Tanks be obliged to reveal their sources of funding before being allowed on air?' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001g9l

    You'd think the world's greatest broadcaster wouldn't need the likes of us humble recipients of its genius to tell it what it should be doing in the interests of transparency and impartiality.

    I noted with interest Mr Dimbleby's deference to Bronwen Maddox of the Institute for Government on Any Questions? tonight. It must be because she is from a Think Tank, or rather the right sort of THink Tank. I wonder how it's funded etc. When she lectured us that we were running two systems of democracy which don't go well together, namely direct democracy by referendum and Parliamentary representative democracy, she somehow omitted to mention that we not only had a referendum but also an election of Parliamentary representatives based on party manifestos supporting Leave. But the way he was carrying on, you'd think she was the Oracle of Delphi dispensing the wisdom of Apollo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Institute of Government is a Blairite, Remainiac front organisation funded by Lord Sainsbury, who heads its board. Bronwen Maddox wrote an article in Prospect setting out why we should remain in the EU (no surprise there). So for Dimbleby to tout her as an objective analyst on Brexit is beyond absurd. But he must know that. He must know the IoG is pro-Remain and so is Bronwen Maddox. So he must be seeking deliberately to deceive the audience.

      Delete
    2. Ah, Sainsbury, used to be a Science Minister under Blair.I knew from listening to her tonight she was an ardent remainer. He definitely was treating her as some sort of expert and fount of wisdom, as if she was a cut above the rest. These days I find him detestable and wonder how it was I ever used to think well of the Dimblebys.

      Delete
    3. They lived off the image of their father, I think - a patriot, albeit a Liberal Party supporter, who risked his life to report on our bombers' raids over mainland Europe and who commentated on State ceremonies in respectful, not sneering or grudging tones.

      Their supposedly "neutral" chairing has become a joke. Like the Evan Davis Opinion Show and the David Aaronovitch Show, they have turned their respective programmes into the David Dimbleby Opinion Show and the Jonathan Dimbleby Opinion Show.

      Delete
  60. From Conservative Woman - The BBC doesn’t fight fake news – it commissions it.

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-bbc-doesnt-fight-fake-news-it-commissions-it/

    ReplyDelete

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