Britannia Radio

 

THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP..

...between the license-payer and the BBC does bring benefits to some people!

The lavish salaries of the BBC's army of middle managers were disclosed for first time amid growing concerns over its spending. They included a series of advisers and strategists with titles such as 'organisational development and change director' on lucrative pay packages. Others included a £130,000 a year 'outreach' boss, abusiness continuity official on £117,000 and a 'reward director',themselves rewarded with a £196,000 salary.

Because they're worth it?

THAT ANTI-MUSLIM BACKLASH UPDATE...

BBC still worrying about the backlash against Muslims in the US after a Muslim slaughters 13 non-Muslims.

Amid fears of a possible anti-Muslim backlash after the attack, President Obama has stressed the multinational diversity in the US armed forces. "They are Americans of every race, faith, and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers. "They are descendants of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America," he said in the aftermath of the shooting.

It must be such a worry. But here's a thought; Given the number of attacks from "devout" Muslims in the USA since 9/11 perhaps the BBC should investigate what is it that drives such maniacal hatred of fellow Americans from those who embrace Islam.

DEMENTIA HYSTERIA

I note that the BBC has been running with the government initiated suggestion by King's College London expert Professor Sube Banerjee that the inappropriate use of Dementia drugs is killing some 1800 people. Now this is one side of the story but there is another side, namely that these drugs can and do provide a useful function but the BBC seems determined to ignore that side of things. I caught coverage on Radio 4, Radio 5 and the TV news and there was quite a sensationalist edge to it. My mother suffers from Dementia and has been treated with the medications that are being attacked today and labelled inappropriate and my only view is that without such drugs life would be even more unbearable for those who suffer from this awful disease and the family members around them.

DIMBLEBY TALKS BULLOCKS

Hi - been away and just back so time for a few posts. But first...

I see that David Dimbleby is to miss chairing BBC One's Question Time for the first time in more than 15 years after being injured in a "minor farming accident".

The 71-year-old was loading a bullock onto a trailer at his farm in Sussex when it reared, resulting in the presenter being briefly knocked out. He also received a cut to the head that required stitches at a local hospital. John Humphrys will replace Dimbleby in the chair on Thursday, while he remains in hospital for observation.

Let's see how Humphrys handles things!

Open Thread

Ask and ye shall receive a new open thread.

Re Motives

Further to Natalie's post, and with a tip of the hat to Deegee in the comments there, I think it's worth having a couple of screen grabs to compare the subtle difference in the headlines, and the way concerns over political correctness suddenly vanish where a Jewish American immigrant is concerned (click pic to view) :



(Update - they've removed the quotes from the headline. Comparing the two I see the first draft was "US media report... not confirmed." Fair enough in that case - my fault for not understanding the BBC's often confusing conventions where quotes are concerned.)

Matt Frei has offered his take on the execution of John Allen Muhammad:

Despite the older man's conversion to Islam, no-one really thought that the motive was religious, let alone that it was linked to the grievances of Islamic extremists…

When John Allen Muhammad died at 2111 on Tuesday evening, so did any chance of finding out what had really motivated him.

Frei doesn't mention the decision by Muhammad's family to suppress the release of his final letter:

In a statement read by the attorney representing the family of Muhammad, Charlene Paterson said, ‘this morning, the family would like to express remorse."
She confirmed that the family is in possession of a letter, presumably from Muhammad, but said the contents of that letter would not be released.
"We have a letter. Right now we’re not prepared to disclose anything in that letter because it would be extremely inappropriate at this time."
Paterson continued that, "the family is not comfortable disclosing any of the details in the letter at this time."

There are of course a number of reasons why this letter could be "extremely inappropriate at this time", but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Muhammad shared certain, ahem, ideological views similar to those of the Fort Hood killer.

Frei's observations could turn out to be a tad Mardellesque in their presumption. Indeed, as Laban pointed out, there's more than a little evidence to suggest Frei could be wrong already.

Here's one terrorist whose motives are not a mystery to the BBC

Following on from Laban's post below concerning the BBC's claim that the motives of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo are a mystery, it is only fair to point out that for some religiously-motivated terrorists the BBC does feel able to pass on the statements of the perpetrators as to their own motives:

Murder charges for Jewish settler 

A Jewish settler has been charged in Israel with murdering two Palestinians and attacking left-wing Israeli, gay and messianic Jewish targets.

Yaakov Teitel, an American immigrant who lives in the West Bank, faces 14 charges, including two counts of murder and three of attempted murder. 

"God is proud of what I have done," Mr Teitel said in court. 

Police called him a "Jewish terrorist" when he was arrested in October. His lawyer says he is mentally disturbed.

(For bonus points, the BBC even managed to mention that Mr Teitel was an immigrant and told us where he emigrated from! Compare this.)

Once More ...

>> WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2009

.. as John Allen Muhammed is executed, the BBC are puzzled by the motives of the perpetrator(s) of a shooting spree.

Sniper's motive remains a mystery

They weren't always so baffled. I distinctly remember the 'angry white male' theory being aired on the Today programme.

I know it's difficult to distinguish between a racist murderer (of their ten murder victims, eight were white, one black and one Asian) who happens to be a Muslim (admittedly a member of a Muslim sect that could be considered racist) :

John Allen Muhammad, 45, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 21, brought America's capital to a standstill in 2002 as they picked off white targets at petrol stations and shops in the city's prosperous suburbs. Malvo testified that Muhammad, driven by hatred of America because of its "slavery, hypocrisy and foreign policy" and his belief that "the white man is the devil", planned to kill six whites a day for 30 days.

Or an Islamist-inspired murderer :

(drawing by Lee Boyd Malvo presented in evidence - exhibit 65-057)


but you'd think the BBC might be able to give us the evidence and let us decide for ourselves.

More Mardell

Mark Mardell:

There has been a lot of debate, here and elsewhere, about whether politicians and the media have played down possible religious motives of the killer. The president did not: "No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favour. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next."

I think there's a "(me included)" missing after the word "media". As for Obama's words, George Stephanopoulos thinks they signify the President's acceptance that this was indeed an Islamic terrorist act, while Andy McCarthytakes issue with the statement that "no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts".

GETTING IT RIGHT..

>> TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2009

So, even as the next of kin mourn the loss of their loved ones care of devout Muslim Major Hasan, the BBC ponders "Shooting raises fears for Muslims in US Army." To be honest, I would have thought the mass murder raises fear ofMuslims in US Army. Not quite the same thing and a perspective alien to the BBC,

That Sinking Feeling

If exposure on the telly or the radio wasn’t the most valuable publicity available to mankind there would be no advertising - and authors and publishers wouldn’t spend so much time and effort doing the rounds on the circuit plugging their book.
I’m sure some agents and publicists have to pull all sorts of strings to get a slot on the One Show or Start the Week, but Shlomo Sand wouldn’t have met much resistance.
The BBC doubtless bit his hand off when, as one of their favourite types of people, the Israel hating Israeli, he offered to come and advertise his new book.
I’m not in a position to examine the dodgy science behind it, but others are,and surely for an impartial broadcaster it would have been only fair to mention that his theory was highly contentious, instead of treating the author with the fawning admiration that was bestowed upon him from assorted guests and presenter Andrew Marr, none of whom were in any position to examine orquery the content of this book.

A phrase I frequently use myself is cropping up more and more these days.
It’s ‘that sinking feeling.’ That’s the feeling everyone gets when the topic of Israel, the Jews, or Islam comes up in relation to the BBC.

"OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM"?

I was interested in a report on Today this morning (8.52am) which makes reference to "occupied East Jerusalem." Has there been an invasion here that has gone unreported in recent days or is this the BBC once more parroting pro-Palestinian propaganda? Just asking...

MILIBAND BROADCASTING CORPORATION?

I noticed that the BBC has been merrily spinning the line that although Europe yearns for him, Mr Bean look-a-like David Miliband has "rejected" the chance to become EU High Representative. I wonder who it is in the EU that is so enthusiastic to get Miliband into this position, exactly? The BBC does not tell us - though I am sure Miliband enjoys all the PR he has obtained this morning.

Open Thread

>> MONDAY, NOVEMBER 09, 2009

Time for another open thread (Bumped)

(Possible discussion for Remembrance Sunday - Media Lens wants the wearing of red poppies banned on the BBC.)

Peter Dow - Comedy Genius

I thought the Jo Abbess email to Richard Black would be the funniest BBC-related correspondence I'd read for a long while, but I was wrong.

Many thanks to Peter Dow, the Scottish republican featured in the film I postedhere yesterday, for drawing my attention to an email exchange he had with the BBC. I particularly love this bit, which reads like something straight out of Ted L Nancy :

I have had only 10 minutes on TV in my whole life. I am now 48 years old so that works out as an average of 12.5 seconds per year for each year of my life.

Now that is more than many others get on TV but compare my 12.5 seconds per year average to the average time which the Queen gets per year or Prince Charles or any other member of the royal family.

The royals get a greatly disproportionate amount of time on TV.

The Incredible Sinking City - and more 'militants'

The Englishman takes issue with the latest 'We're all going to drown" BBC story, on rising sea levels in Perth, Western Australia.

As he puts it : Two minutes with Mr Google and another scare story falls apart....



also in the Pacific - a teacher is beheaded in the Phillippines :

Police in the southern Philippines say the severed head of a kidnapped schoolteacher has been found in a bag at a petrol station. Gabriel Canizares was abducted by Abu Sayyaf militants three weeks ago. His body is still missing. He was travelling with colleagues on the island of Jolo when he was seized. The militants had demanded a ransom equivalent to $42,000 (£25,000; 28,000 euros) for Mr Canizares, which his family refused to pay. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus expressed shock at the teacher's killing, saying six other teachers who had been kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf earlier this year had all been released despite threats to behead them.

Hmm. Tell us more about these 'militants' ?

Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for many of the country's worst terrorist attacks, including the firebombing of a ferry in Manila Bay that claimed more than 100 lives in 2005, and the abduction of American tourists in 2001.

A land mine explosion under a military convoy carrying American troops on 29 September killed two US Army Special Forces soldiers - the first US military deaths in the southern Philippines in seven years.

Hmm. Any idea who these people are and what their motivation might be ?



* tumbleweed blows across street *

Some Updates

Re Saturday's blog post about Gavin Lee's interview with Duane in Killeen. First Post reports today:

Questions were being asked in Texas this weekend about the friendship between the US Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people in a shooting spree at the Fort Hood military base last Thursday, and a young man called Duane Reasoner Jnr. Interviewed by the BBC on Friday, Reasoner said he felt no pity for Hasan's victims because "they were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims".

A tape of the interview, conducted by Gavin Lee of the BBC, has ended up on YouTube and other sites and is getting an angry response from Americans still shocked by Hasan's deadly rampage.

The clip I posted is currently ranking 2 in Most Discussed (Today) - News and Politics on YouTube. A group of terrorist-supporting Islamic supremacist whackjobs who were featured by CNN on Friday have also put the clip on their website (no link for those arseholes). Needless to say, they're very proud of young Duane.

It's pleasing to note that Melanie Phillips linked to Friday's post about Mark Mardell.

And I'd like to give a shout out (as President Obama might say) to Artists Against Wind Farms who linked to this post yesterday. Their noble endeavour is to stop our countryside being blighted by those monstrosities.

Oh yeah, there's some more F-bombgate news in the Daily Mail today (scroll down - even I'm bored with the whole thing now and therefore can't be bothered to give it a blog post of its own.)

This is a Some Updates Update. BBC North America editor Mark Mardell's eagerness to dismiss an ideological motive for the Fort Hood killings looks ever more foolish:

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

Further Update. Hasan's calling card - "Soldier of Allah".

Mark Mardell #fail.

THE PARENT TRAP...

There was a rather surreal debate on the BBC this morning on the issue ofparenting. I suggest to you that the BBC is antagonistic to the essential idea that a traditional family unit provides the optimum environment in which to bring up children which is one reason why it shills for "gay marriage" and other such bizarre inventions. So in this discussion at 7.50am, we have a really strange debate on parenting which has a lady, Camila Batmanghelidjh of charity Kids Company, who seems to believe that the State can be an effective substitute for parents. Richard Reeves from Demos suggests that those on a low income struggle "to parent well" and thus need government "help." So much jargon employed, so little common sense.

WHY CAMERON IS A NAZI LOVER,...

BBC showing it's absolute political impartiality this morning by giving us the insight on "David Cameron's new colleagues - the Latvian Fatherland and Freedom Party." Vote Conservative, Get Nazi lover, right?

PYMS ALL ROUND..

Had to laugh at Hugh Pym's simpering cheer leading (7.17am)for Gordon Brown's latest taxation wheeze. It is perfectly obvious that Brown's big idea went down like a lead balloon with the likes of the USA and Canada (though of course the French like it!) but Pym was there to suggest that it is still on the political radar and who knows, even the US, might come back and show some love for it.

PUPPETRY OF THE DHIMMI

Wonder what you make of this item on Today this morning.It concerns"militant" Islam's attack on puppets. That's right - puppets in Pakistan.Andrew Hosken waxes lyrical about the "great cultural influence"of Islam in Pakistan and then highlights how those who "take an extreme view" of Islam threaten this. However this is in itself a matter of Hosken's interpretation since there are many who feel that the Jihadisrs themselves operate an ideologically pure form of Islam. There are many tough questions that need to posed concerning Islam but Mr Hosken consistently shies away from doing this.