BBC/GUARDIAN JOIN FORCES, POOL RESOURCES
>> TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2011
Most newspapers are trying to come up with new angles on the phone hacking scandal but it seems one in particular is getting some extra help from the state broadcaster.
POISON TOSH
This latest posting from Phil Mercer in the Australian economic suicide story shows a superficial semblance of balance. He reports that proposals for the tax have "split the nation", and quotes opposition leader Tony Abbott claiming that the tax is "socialism masquerading as environmentalism", with another MP weighing in that the tax will destroy what's left of Oz manufacturing industry. But as usual, the devil is in the detail. What Mr Mercer carefully doesn't report is this (from Murdoch's The Australian newspaper):
Labor's primary vote fell three percentage points to a record low of 27 per cent, while the Coalition's support rose three points to 49 per cent for its highest primary vote since the Howard government in October 2001.What he also doesn't mention is that the Australian top 25 companies lost £7bn in share prices a single day after the tax was announced and that the measures will stop global temperatures rising by only 1/14,000 C°. Against that absence, Mr Mercer gives oodles of space to the usual greenie claptrap from prime minister Julia Gillard (without a scintilla of balance) that the measures are vital to save us from freezing, boiling, drowning, dying of thirst and choking to death. He also includes, of course, the usual eco-fanatic clarion call that no matter what Ms Gillard does, it's not enough. And above all, he perpetuates the myth with compulsory BBC zeal that CO2 is "pollution", and those who create wealth are "worst polluters". What utter, poisonous tosh.
Myths and Facts Part 4
>> MONDAY, JULY 11, 2011
The BBC favours stories that show Israel in a poor light, and holds back on the rest in a decidedly disproportionate manner. Because of events in Syria, Turkey now seems willing to resume normal relations with Israel. A UN report about the 2010 flotilla, which deemed the blockade of Gaza legal,and was generally favourable to Israel, passes by the BBC unnoticed, as do the somewhat bizarre attempts by both Israel and Turkey to modify the contents of the report, pre-release. The BBC does mention another UN report, critical of Israel’s conduct during the war with Lebanon. UN special rapporteur Richard Falk blogs an antisemitic cartoon, which is ignored, yet Israel’s arrests of flytillistas at Ben Gurion airport are duly noted. Which brings me to my final point. This fascinating interview with the irreplaceable Abba Eban shows that things have changed, yet somehow stayed the same. In 1958, nine years prior to the six day war, people in the media were already putting the case for Israel’s enemies, implanting and embedding the myths that remain to the present day, and showing that it is Israel’s very existence that her enemies object to and are resisting, aided and abetted by the Carolines, Rachels, Keiras and other BBC tweeters who display their half-baked 140 character ideas with such confidence and bravado. They have probably never even heard of Abba Eban, don’t know the first thing about the history of the Middle East, and are of a mind to overlook the peculiarities of the Islamic mindset and its inherent pathological hatred for Jews. I hope these posts, which admittedly will swamp the site for a few minutes, will illustrate the ignorance, superficiality and agenda-driven half truths, which will be dished up for public consumption if ever the BBC monopoly comes to pass.
Myths and Facts Part 3
A favourite talking head, panellist and guest of the BBC is Green MP for Brighton, Caroline Lucas. She’s the only Green MP, so you’d think she’d be busying herself doing the job she was elected to do. (Saving the planet.) Instead, as Richard Millett shows, she and some other intellectually challenged activists for peace or whatever they call themselves are creating unnecessary carbon footprints with a mock flotilla on the Thames. Why? Activists for peace are not ‘pacifists’ - a term which implies apathy, inactivity and capitulation. These people shriek “Free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” discordantly and shrilly through loudhailers, with little or no knowledge or understanding of what their chant means. The word ‘activist’ resonates with righteousness. Pent-up hatred animates such people into flatulent, gaseous, hyperactivity, till they enact vacuous gestures of pointlessness. Oh! the smug looks on their faces. Do they know what ‘From the River to the Sea” means? The Greens have links with undesirable organisations, antisemitic tendencies, and are popular with the BBC.
Myths and Facts part 2
The Rachel Corrie topic led to DB’s reminder of a couple of B-BBC articles we prepared earlier, concerning a journalist called Keira Feldman who had devised a kind of agenda-driven honey trap in order to coax a sensational story from Robert Spencer of Jihadwatch. She gave him the impression that she was “a freelancer working without a specific assignment”, when she was in fact working for the BBC. She now writes for US based radio stations and online publications, so her relationship with the BBC may have been but a brief fling. Her utterances on Twitter reminded me of why not to join. Keira’s photo with jaunty hat exudes the cockiness and overconfidence of a gel convinced of her own righteousness, despite having acquired dangerously little knowledge. Her anti Jewish articles indicate a deep-seated self-hatred or similar internal psychological conflict which would be best addressed medically. Hers, and thousands of others’ reflexive support for the fly/flo tilla illustrates how myths bed-in, however illogical they may be, and become part of the landscape. By now, everyone but flotillistas accept that Gaza is not under siege. The famine in Africa throws Gaza’s humanitarian non-crisis into perspective. The BBC lets the failed flotilla story slink away with its tail between its legs, willing it to fade hurriedly into obscurity. But we do hear about the flytilla,another publicity stunt dreamed up by Israel-haters, primarily to make Israel look cruel, but also intended, in some transcendental way, to ‘help’ Palestinians.
Myths and Facts part 1
The initial lurid sensationalism is the part of a story that will always stick, never mind what emerges thereafter. Cindy Corrie’s piece in the Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ (H/T Too True) reminded me how unfortunate that can be, especially if the story appears to confirm any of the commonly-held negative preconceptions about Israel. Just as people still repeat the Al Dura lies unchallenged on the BBC, the myth of Rachel Corrie’s noble martyrdom remains untarnished despite the facts that have come to light following the regrettable incident in 2003. The notorious legend of Rachel Corrie’s adventures in Gaza concerns her passage from youthful but misguided idealist, through useful idiocy, to her final, inevitable destination - being bulldozed to death. Posthumously exalted, deified and immortalised by Israel-hating dramatists and propagandists, and further elevated by having the good ship Rachel Corrie named in her honour, (and seized by the Israelis during last year’s propaganda-stunt-flotilla) her media-fuelled journey from zero to hero bears out the adage that a little knowledge is truly a dangerous thing. It is understandable that Corrie’s family should take up her cause and exploit the unassailable position their bereavement affords them. To face the stark truth about her death would be to accept the futility of it and to rub salt into a painful wound. However, overwhelming evidence indicates that she sacrificed herself on behalf of the ISM, a cynical and exploitative group who used her mercilessly. The martyr myth endures, regardless. People won’t let an inconvenient truth get in the way of a cherished fairytale. The Corrie fable is firmly embedded in the stubborn imaginations of people determined to cling to their preconceptions. To make matters worse, Israel had initially performed its customary suicidal ruse of taking the blame itself, even before the blamers had a chance to get their own accusations out of their mouths. They’re now beginning to see that was hasty.
“We’re nuts. We overlook the fact that Corrie’s death took place in the midst of the “intifada” terrorist onslaught against Israel and that she was working for a Palestinian-led organization as the first line of defense against Israel’s Operation Defensive Shield to stop terrorist suicide bombers. Just ten days before Corrie’s death, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus in Haifa, a few miles from the courthouse where the Corrie parents are suing.” “Corrie and her band of ISM internationals had been disrupting IDF activity in Rafah just yards from the infamous “Philadelphi route” along the Gaza-Egypt border. This was an area of intense terrorist activity and was — and still is — the location of Hamas tunnels.” “On the day of Corrie’s death, the new ISM aggressive actions involved placing themselves in severe danger. Eyewitness reports recorded immediately after Corrie’s death prove that the ISMers had knowingly decided to put themselves in harm’s way.
“Reported here — for the first time — is the fact that prior to Corrie’s death at least two “internationals” had been pulled out from under the bulldozers at the last second.”Eight years on, Corrie’s parents have again taken Israel to court, being dissatisfied with the initial investigation. The first phase of this is over and a press conference took place in Jerusalem on this very day. Whether the BBC will report this I wouldn’t like to guess, but if Israel can be blamed unequivocally, I’d hazard a yes. The Guardian, needless to say, is already on the case. But it’s not over yet. Even when the courts have finally finished with it, the legend will live on. I’m telling this story merely because you won’t hear it, at least not impartially, on the BBC; and because it’s a prequel to more things I’m going to mention, which I hope will illustrate the ignorance, superficiality and agenda-driven half truths which will be dished up for public consumption if ever the BBC monopoly comes to pass.
ON THOSE DETECTOR VANS...
A Biased BBC reader writes to advise that despite suggestions to the contrary, BBC Detector Van's evidence has NEVER been used in Court! Here are details
"Despite being very reluctant the BBC has finally confirmed what we all knew anyway - detector van/portable detector evidence has neverbeen presented in court. The revealing Freedom of Information Act response came after the BBC u-turned on their earlier decision to withhold the information under the law enforcement exemptions of the 2000 Act. In their revised response, issued after an internal review found in our favour, Beeb Kiwi lawyer Dan McGregor says the following: "I can confirm that TVL has not, to date, used detection evidence in Court.I find the whole "detector vans" aspect of the BBC operations positively menacing and evidence of a mindset that is both arrogant and bullying.
LOVING ALISTAIR!
You cannot failed to have noticed the frequency with which Alistair Campbell has been appearing on the BBC recently. He has become ubiquitous as the BBC pursues the next target on the hit-list David Cameron for employing Andy Coulson. A Biased BBC reader asks is this the same BBC that now has Tony Blair's spin doctor, the man who took us to war on a lie leading to the death of British soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians? The Daily Mail has noticed: 'With almost unbelievable feebleness, it has clasped its one-time persecutor to its bosom. Worst of all, it is treating him as though he is a great statesman, a man of honour and a respectable person, whereas he is, in fact, an unscrupulous bully who has often omitted to tell the truth.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-467567/Why-IS-BBC-lionising-liar-like-Alastair-Campbell.html and so has political blogger Iain Dale: " I can think of no one who book the BBC has publicised more than Alastair Campbell. I can think of no one who has ever had a full half an hour interview in the 8.10 slot of the Today Programme. I can think of no one who would be allowed three programmes simply to read their book out on prime time BBC2. Is this the BBC's way of saying sorry?' http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-bbc-is-saying-sorry-to-alastair.html Yes it is, step forward Alastair Campbell...here having an enviable amount of free publicity for his books...all organised by the BBC.... 'OMG, as the yoof says, if they (the BBC top brass of course) could see me now .. all alone in a BBC studio, sitting at a BBC computer, eating a BBC tuna melt. They’re very trusting these BBC people — I reckon if I twiddled enough of the hundreds of knobs in the vicinity, I could get on air somewhere. Not that I want to. My voice is starting to go a bit already, having done breakfast telly and then 19 local and regional radio interviews, all in the interests of publicising a book These mass interviews are organised by something called BBC GNS. http://www.alastaircampbell.org/blog/2010/06/03/all-alone-in-my-own-bbc-studio/ or how about another BBC job appearing in 'The Speaker'....ushered in as a mentor, a figure to be looked up to and respected by young people.... 'Tony Blair's former Director of Communications and Speech Writer Alastair Campbell, demonstrates the subtleties of Persuasion.' http://www.bbc.co.uk/speaker/about/mentors/index.shtml or how about this, a special one off programme just for Mr Campbell: 'Cracking Up' In 1986, Alastair Campbell “cracked up”. His breakdown was the culmination of months of intensive stress at work, too much alcohol and myriad other complex issues. Twenty two years later, the former Downing Street Director of Communications embarks on a personal journey, exploring his breakdown and subsequent recovery in this special, one-off programme for BBC Two. http://www.recoverywirral.com/2010/03/bbc-headroom-cracking-up-alastair-campbell-on-breakdown/ or there is 'The Alastair Campbell Diaries'....a series of programmes in which he reads extracts from his diaries. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007swj3 or this programme, 'My Life in Books', where he reads discusses his 5 favourite books, , and note no mention of his controversial past: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z7sgp 'After the 1997 election he became the Prime Minister’s Chief Press Secretary and Official Spokesman. He returned to the Labour Party for six months prior to the 2005 general election and continued to advise the party informally under Gordon Brown, including during the 2010 campaign.' oh and the appearance on Question time, innumerable other appearances on news programmes and with Andrew Marr.
STOP MURDOCH
It may be a new week but the BBC is very clear on the need to STOP Rupert Murdoch taking control of BSkyB. Listen to this onslaught led by Robert Peston and were that not enough for you then try this from Nick Robinson. It's remarkable to see the State Broacaster taking such an active and clearly biased role in this story as it seeks to buttress it's own massive monopolistic power at our expense. One surreal angle that the BBC has been pushing is that the Murdoch evil empire is so big, so powerful, that it constitutes a threat to that all important "diversity." A B-BBC reader informs;
But just who are the biggest providers of web services? The United Kingdom Online Measurement Company Ltd. www.ukom.uk.net top web brands. While the profile of businesses populating much of the Top 50 has changed since 2004, the Top 10 web businesses place the BBC 5th behind google, facebook, msn and yahoo. Sky is 15th, News Corp papers are 29th.The fact is that it is the BBC which constitutes the single BIGGEST threat to democracy and diversity of opinion and it is relentlessly taking advantage of the (defunct) NOTW saga to try and nail Murdoch. This is the story that the MSM seems oblivious about and so you will excuse me if I harp on about it.
UNIQUELY FUNDED
Reported in the Telegraph:
The BBC's annual report, published tomorrow, will show that it paid 19 presenters, actors and journalists more than £500,000 last year, at a cost of £22 million. However, despite promising MPs that it would reveal how many stars are paid between £500,000 and £750,000, as well as the number on £750,000 to £1million and those on more than £1million, the broadcaster has now dropped the plans.BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten has defended the U-turn. So, sod you licence payers.
What You Won't Be Told About The U.S. Budget Deal
>> SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2011
There won't be a fantastic budget deal tonight, and the President won't get His big economic victory. The BBC seems to think that only the "newly empowered Republicans" are causing ideologically-driven obstacles to agreeing on a debt package.
When the Congressionally-set debt limit has been reached in the past, Congress has voted to raise it. This year, however, newly empowered Republicans are determined to prevent any tax increases and want to see aggressive measures to reduce the deficit in exchange for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling.
Actually, they're prepared to allow some of the class-war taxes (e.g. the expiration of the Bush tax cuts) in exchange for real lowering of the overall tax burden in the near future. The BBC knows that the President needs a big score here, as most people simply don't trust Him to fix the economy right now.
The Obama administration wanted "the biggest deal possible" on debt reduction, Mr Geithner told NBC's Meet the Press.
And now it looks like He's not going to get one. So, who is to blame? The White House version, as told by the Washington Post, is the class war angle.
“We cannot ask the middle-class and seniors to bear all the burden of higher costs and budget cuts. We need a balanced approach that asks the very wealthiest and special interests to pay their fair share as well, and we believe the American people agree,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement.
The BBC, naturally, echoes it:
But it also involved tax hikes and closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans, something opposed by many Republicans. In a statement released late on Saturday, Mr Boehner said he was pulling back from the $4tn package because it involved tax increases. "Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes," he said.
The quotes from Boehner seem to support the White House's side of the story. Except here's the part the BBC doesn't want you to know about the tax deal.
The White House isn't giving in on any of the entitlement reformsthey promised they'd make in exchange for the Republicans giving in on the quick tax rises I mentioned above. In fact, they want even more tax increases right at the time when the smart money says that's the worst thing to do.
The Republican source said the Boehner-Obama effort stalled over taxes. After Boehner pushed the president to pursue major entitlement changes in the debt deal, Obama insisted on additional revenues, which Democrats have demanded throughout the deficit discussions. The Speaker, according to the Republican source, said the new revenues must come from economic growth and broad-based tax reform, not straight tax increases. The Republican said the White House rejected a Boehner proposal offered on Friday for “the core elements of tax reform.”
“A gulf also remains between the Speaker and the White House on the issue of medium and long-term structural reforms,” the Republican said. “Consequently, the Speaker believes a package that is smaller but still consistent with the standards he has outlined may now be the most appropriate option.”
The White House says it's not true, but then read this:
WH is demanding major, unambiguous tax hikes. To get spending caps & entitlement tweaks, greater economic pain appears to be the WH’s asking price. It is increasingly likely that we aren’t going to see a ‘big’ deal if the WH doesn’t budge. Speaker looks to be holding strong. … Their fierce insistence on higher taxes is beyond bizarre. After months of demanding ‘clean’ increase to avert economic calamity (default), WH threatens economic calamity (default) unless they get economic calamity (trillions in tax hikes). No wonder these guys are governing over an economic calamity (9.2% & growth malaise), w an economic calamity on the horizon (debt explosion as mapped out in president’s budget).
The President's own Comission He set up to look into this approved the Republicans' notion of overall tax reduction and reform, but He won't do it. None of this is in the BBC's coverage. They either don't have good enough sources, or just don't feel like telling you.
It's ideological. He's too partisan, too stubborn, too stuck in class war mode. The result will be that Boehner will walk away tonight and we'll end up with a smaller quick fix which won't be the economic home run the President needs. He'll have done it to Himself, but it will be spun as the Tea Party destroying the country, and Republicans selling out the country to protect the wealthy. That will be the story the BBC will tell you. And they won't tell you what He really did.
PC Puzzle
A B-BBC reader says “There’s much puzzlement in Hampshire about what section of the community feels it is acceptable to put an old pony in a trap and force it into a lake in order to drown it.” Pony ‘beaten’ into Hampshire lake dies. (Or should that be ‘dies’?) When the BBC finally has the monopoly of newsgathering and reporting how will anyone ever know what’s behind the politically correct obfuscation of such stories? Will such incidents always be carried out by ‘People’ and never by‘Travellers’ or indeed ‘Gypsies’?
BLACK DISRESPECT...
There's no doubt whose side the BBC is on in Julia Gillard's attempts to force her country into economic suicide by taxing "carbon" output. Australia is a "worst polluter", so of course such measures are right. A picture of horrendous, belching CO2 (actually, most likely steam, but never mind - the message has to be rammed home by the BBC thought police) has been carefully selected to show just how bad it is. Yes, opposition leader Tony Abbott is quoted and it is made clear that 60% of electors also oppose the measures, but the thrust of the story is that coal-guzzling Aussies must take their medicine and Miss Gillard is a saint. Meanwhile, Richard Black continues his vicious campaigning to discredit the hated deniers. Here, in a pile of statistical gobledeygook and obfuscation, he turns his fire on that nasty rag the Daily Mail and mentions specifically a story carried last week by someone he calls Christopher Brooker which had the effrontery to challenge the idea that we would all be frying but for Chinese aerosol particles. I posted on the story last week to show how biased the BBC's coverage was. Actually, Mr Black, it is Christopher Booker. I've been reading his journalism and his books for more than 40 years, and I would venture to suggest that he knows more about his craft in his little finger than you do at all. Here, in case you missed it, is his latest piece on the zealotry that you espouse; I would also recommend you read this - his sharp, knowledgeable book on the massive scam that your are perpetrating with such venom. Next time, though, if you want to attack such targets, at least use your spellcheck. And show some respect.
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