BBC wanted to sack Jonathan Ross immediately after Mail on Sunday 'Sachsgate' story broke - Daily Mail

BBC wanted to sack Jonathan Ross immediately after Mail on Sunday 'Sachsgate' story broke: "
BBC boss Mark Thompson wanted to axe Jonathan Ross immediately after the notorious ‘Sachsgate’ affair, it was claimed last night."

BBC Luvvies For Labour

BBC Luvvies For Labour: "The BBC is going big on 'Doctor Who star David Tennant 'backs Gordon Brown''. Tennant, a Scot recently replaced by a younger man, is quoted:

'Clearly, the Labour Party is not without some issues right now and I do get frustrated. They need to sort some stuff out, but they are still a better bet than the Tories.'

Meanwhile, election year sees the start of a new topical comedy show on Radio Five Live presented by Chris Addison, the only person who comes anywhere near to matching Tennant's recent levels of BBC ubiquity. So, will Addison's new programme offer a fresh perspective on current affairs, or will it be the same tiresome worldview from the BBC's left-wing comedy establishment? Addison's opinions on the Conservative Party could give a clue:

'It's very difficult, if you were brought up as a child during Thatcher's period, to ever contemplate being a Tory. There is no way I can physically bring myself to vote Tory. That will stay with me till I die.'

On Twitter a couple of days ago he was asked what he thought about the current government and responded:

'Better than the alternative.'

A little later he tweeted:

'My political leanings are decidedly liberal.'

Which, coincidentally, is the first box you have to tick if you want to present a Sunday morning programme on Radio Five Live.

Update 5.05pm. Perhaps we'll be treated to some of Addison's views on Europe. From an interview with him on the BBC's comedy website:

I am fiercely pro-European. I would very much have liked to see this country join the Euro a few years back. Not least because it would greatly annoy the kind of people that I don't generally like.

I'm fiercely pro-European as well (OK, maybe not 'fiercely'), but I don't buy into the anti-democratic EU project.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Book of Revelation - Biased BBC

Book of Revelation: "BBC environment correspondent David Shukman has a book out in April: 'Reporting Live From the End of the World'. A suitably alarmist double meaning in the title there, but I guess it's more catchy than 'Reporting Live From a Temporarily Low Reservoir (Rain Sure To Follow)'.

In his tips to schoolchildren on how best to report on the environment Shukman offers this advice: 'If it's about rubbish, get yourself right in the middle of it.' Like this:


At least he knows exactly what will happen to all the unsold copies of his book.

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"

Eats, shoots and leaves - Biased BBC

Eats, shoots and leaves: "I commented in the open thread about mistakes and shoddy editing. Here’s one.

‘Six Palestinians killed in West bank, Gaza attacks’

Was this responsible for another piece of carelessness that shows how one thing can lead to an other?

“Israel yesterday shot dead six Palestinians in two separate incidents in the West Bank”

It appeared in an anti-Israel editorial in the Observer the next day.

Of course the two incidents were separate, but one was in the West Bank, the other in the Gaza strip, and a comma is different from a forward slash. But if I'm right, it suggests that carelessness, combined with agenda-driven churnalism is alive and well, and that some of us don't bother to read beyond a headline.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

James Cove Update - Biased BBC

James Cove Update: "On Monday I blogged about some of the 'global warming is going to kill the ski industry' stories produced by the BBC over recent years. Many of those news items came from the BBC's long-time 'man in the Alps' James Cove who, I pointed out, had just started his own online ski news venture. For some reason I was in an uncharacteristically generous mood because I offered Cove my best wishes for his new PlanetSki website.

I'm feeling less generous today.

Cove spent a decade producing global warming scare stories for the BBC, but in December on his PlanetSki blog he said, 'the snow level has been pretty similar on average throughout the last decade' and quoted a 73-year-old mountain guide who said, 'Overall things really haven't changed that much.' That's not the impression Cove was creating with his articles for the BBC. He knew what his editors wanted and gave it to them. It's what hacks do.

Now I see that Cove's PlanetSki website is facing accusations of plagiarism. A writer for another ski website, PisteHors, has noted the similarity between an article of his about Corsica and one written by Cove in August 2009 for PlanetSki (the Internet Archive shows that the PisteHors article first appeared in June 2006 and was last updated in April 2008). Cove even embellished his version with invented quotations:

PisteHors:
The snow is usually very good above 1800 meters and can be found down to 1400 meters depending on the conditions. Skiing is possible from December through to April but you can only rely on snow after mid-January. There are currently three downhill ski areas on the island and always talk of projects of creating a real ski resort in the style of the Southern Alps.

James Cove:
The snow is usually very good above 1800 meters and can be found down to 1400 meters depending on the conditions.
'Skiing is possible from December through to April but you can only rely on snow after mid-January,' says a spokeswoman from the island’s tourist office.
There are currently three downhill ski areas on the island and always talk of projects of creating a real ski resort in the style of the Southern Alps.'

PisteHors:
In 1934 the worst avalanche of this century occurred on the slopes of Castagniccia at only 700 meters altitude, sweeping through the village of Ortiporio and killing 37 people.

James Cove:
In 1934 the worst avalanche of this century occurred on the slopes of Castagniccia at only 700 meters altitude, sweeping through the village of Ortiporio and killing 37 people

PisteHors:
The regional ski committee has a long standing plan to develop a ski station in the bowl at La Lattiniccia on the road pass close to Corte The proposal is for 30km of pistes between 1550 and 2400 meters altitude with the possibility of doubling the area in the future. The total cost of development is estimated at 12.5 million € including necessary artificial snow cover. Presumably a large part of this money would come from European funds. Whether this project will ever be realised remains to be seen.

James Cove:
Corsica has several small ski stations and one, near Corte in the centre of the island, has ambitious plans.
The regional ski committee has a 12m euro plan to develop the bowl at La Lattiniccia.
The proposal is for 30km of pistes between 1550 and 2400 meters altitude with the possibility of doubling the area in the future.
It would however need funding from the EU for the project to go ahead but, so far, that is not forthcoming.

PisteHors:
Before you get ideas of snow, sex and sun in the isle of savage beauty you should be aware that Corsica is basically a 2,500 meter high rock surrounded by huge expanses of ocean. As such it catches every weather system as it tracks across Europe. Off piste skiers and freeriders need to carry an altimeter, maps and compass and know how to use them.

James Cove:
Corsica is basically a 2,500m rock surrounded by huge expanses of ocean. As such it catches every weather system as it tracks across Europe.
Off piste skiers and freeriders need to carry an altimeter, maps and compass and know how to use them.

PisteHors:
In the winter violent storms are somewhat less frequent but the constant wind drives the snow into potential slab avalanches. Powder is rare due to the wide daily temperature variations which leads to its rapid transformation. This stabilized snow-pack is favourable to extreme skiing.

James Cove:
In the winter constant wind drives the snow into potential slab avalanches. Powder is rare due to the wide daily temperature variations that leads to its rapid transformation. This stabilized snow-pack is however good for off piste skiing as it makes the snowpack safer.

With that level of journalistic integrity is it any wonder Cove's alarmist articles for the BBC were so unconvincing?

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"

BBC is driving religion 'to the margins', says Simon Mayo

BBC is driving religion 'to the margins', says Simon Mayo: "Sir Terry is inducted into the Radio Academy Hall Of Fame."

'Cocky' Jonathan Ross finally gives everyone a good laugh

'Cocky' Jonathan Ross finally gives everyone a good laugh: "Jonathan Ross, the television presenter, has not received any offers from ITV
since he announced that he was quitting the BBC
."

Jonathan Ross's exit is a victory for all those who refused to 'move on'

Jonathan Ross's exit is a victory for all those who refused to 'move on': "There are wider lessons to be learned from the Jonathan Ross's decline and
fall, suggests Charles Moore."

BIRD-BRAINED BBC

BIRD-BRAINED BBC: "One of the defining features of the BBC's 'climate change' coverage is that they give almost daily unmoderated airtime to government-funded fake charities such as the Royal Society for the Protection for Birds to spout their propaganda about habitats being under threat because of the relentlessly rising heat. Typing 'RSPB climate change' into the BBC website search engine yields a love-in orgy of hits, such as this one; such items have been a staple of Today for years. How ironic then, to read this story, in which an RSPB spokesman says not only that the current arctic weather was seriously putting wildife at risk, but also that the 1962-3 cold winter was 'arguably the single event that had the greatest impact on wildlife within living memory.' Chances of this admission being properly reported and analysed by the BBC's cadre of 'climate change' fanatics? Like the weather, sub zero.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

David Shukman on weather and climate

David Shukman on weather and climate: "Following yesterday's item aimed at making sure the kids are still on message about MMGW, today we had Newsround for grown-ups. In a report which aired on the 6 pm news on both BBC 1 and Radio 4 this evening, David Shukman explained:

'The key thing is that there's a difference between the weather and the climate. The weather's what you get day by day, month by month, like this cold spell. But the climate is the kind of weather you get over a thirty year period, and that's what the scientists say is changing.'

He was a little less clear about any distinctions back in May 2008 when he reported on a dry spell affecting Spain:

In a year that so far ranks as Spain's driest since records began 60 years ago, the reservoir is currently holding as little as 18% of its capacity - at a time of year when winter rains would usually have provided an essential boost by now...
And it may also remind people of the forecasts from climate scientists of still drier conditions to come in the approaching decades.

As soon as Shukman left the area, it rained. A lot. From the Guardian, 7 June 2008:

After months of the worst drought for 60 years, Spain has experienced the wettest May since 1971; it rained on 18 days of the month. Heavy rains have continued into June, which is rare during the Spanish summer...
In Catalonia, the worst affected area, reservoirs whose levels had been reduced to only 20% are now nearly half full.

A proposed water pipeline, cited by Shukman as evidence of the changing climate, was cancelled. From New Europe, 16 June 2008:

The Spanish government recently cancelled a controversial plan to build a 62-kilometre pipeline to divert water from the river Ebro in the Tarragona region to the Catalan capital Barcelona, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said. There was no longer the situation of 'extraordinary necessity' that had prompted the plan, Vega said.

If Shukman did a follow-up pointing any of this out, I can't find it online.

Here are some images from his May 2008 report. This, remember, was explained with reference to climate change:



And here are some images taken from a Spanish blog in October 2009 showing the blogger's recent kayaking trip to the same Sau reservoir:


The blogger states (via Google Translate):

This year the Sau had a significant level in the water, exposing only the latest instalment of the famous bell tower of the church of Sant Romà de Sau.

As far as the BBC is concerned, some weather events are more climate change than others.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Departure of Jonathan Ross a sop to BBC's political critics

Departure of Jonathan Ross a sop to BBC's political critics: "Given a choice between losing Jonathan Ross or the £3 billion licence fee, it’s easy to see why the BBC prefered to end its formal relationship with the controversial host.

"

Jonathan Ross: a history of blunders in broadcasting

Jonathan Ross: a history of blunders in broadcasting: "Jonathan Ross, the television presenter, has pushed his comedy to the limits
of acceptability many times in the past, and repeatly crossed the line. Here
are the events which have attracted the most criticism."

Good widdance to Jonathan Ross

Good widdance to Jonathan Ross: "Telegraph View Too many licence-fee payers were appalled by Jonathan
Ross's vulgar humour."

It's the thirties all over again

It's the thirties all over again: "

A piece in American Thinker by Steve McGregor, a former student at University College London where the Christmas Day bomber Umar Abdulmutallab studied between 2005 and 2008, makes an important point which does not receive enough attention. This concerns the general climate of opinion, not just at UCL but in the wider British society, which is doing so much to undermine Britain’s role in the defence of the free world. McGregor writes:

As an American studying in London, I interviewed several protesters at the G20 protests earlier this year. Outside the American Embassy, a crowd gathered to protest the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘I don't think al-Qaeda exists,’ one man told me. ‘If you went to Arab countries, you'd see the peace.’ Many in the crowd shared his sentiment that al-Qaeda is simply a convenient myth used by the Bush administration to wage war. A startling number of people believe that the ‘U.S. government’ was behind the 9/11 attacks.

... While some students have already commented on the startling presence of extremist Islamic groups at UCL, I've noticed a more troubling absence of

"

SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH I...

SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH I...: "Excellent spot by a Biased BBC reader here. Matt Frei, that stalwart of B-BBC, ponders what turns someone into a suicide bomber. He reviews the cases of several suicide bombers and wonders what they all have in common. Clue - he misses something rather obvious and it begins with the letter I....!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

WOSSY IS OFF!

WOSSY IS OFF!: "So, I am sure you heard the news that Jonathan Ross is to quit the BBC. Good. However in a way it doesn't matter since there are MANY more spongers in the BBC feeding off our £3.5bn. So, one down but many more to go!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Foregone Conclusion

Foregone Conclusion: "Who could have doubted the sincerity of the bushy bearded cherub innocently proclaiming his bafflement and perplexity over the actions of his former best buddy?
Not the BBC. They accepted it without a murmur.

Our friend Qasam Rafiq is now the spokesman for the Federation of Student Islamic Societies. Those cute little cupid’s bow lips are employed to invite a multitude of speakers who have supported the holy war and called for an Islamic Caliphate.
Now we hear that not only are we more complacent than ever about the number of Muslim extremists coming to the UK, we are gaily tolerating radical Islamic Societies in our own universities who invite speakers to come over and evangelise Jihad under our noses.

Malcolm Grant, the provost of UCL still won’t have it. He must be a Guardian reader and a devotee of the BBC. He’s chairing a review into violent extremism at universities. I wonder what the outcome will be.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

ALARMISM IN THE KINDERGARTEN

ALARMISM IN THE KINDERGARTEN: "Following on from DB's excellent post, G.O.T has produced the visual goods for your entertainment...

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

BBC to launch review into allegations of bias in its science coverage

BBC to launch review into allegations of bias in its science coverage: "The BBC Trust is to launch an investigation into allegations of bias in its
coverage of science."

BBC probes bias in its coverage of science and the environment

BBC probes bias in its coverage of science and the environment: "
The BBC Trust acted after a string of complaints that the corporation is acting as a cheerleader for the theory that climate change is a man-made phenomenon."

Viva Hypocrisy – Galloway cuts off his nose to spite Palestinians’ faces

Viva Hypocrisy – Galloway cuts off his nose to spite Palestinians’ faces: "

“Gorgeous George” Galloway has taken his overblown ego on another trip to Gaza. Press TV on 24^th December referred to him as a “British lawmaker” and made much of his appeal to the Egyptian government to help the latest Viva Palestina convoy to break the “months-long Israeli siege on Gaza.”

Viva Palestina’s own web page bemoans the fact that the Egyptian government will not let the convey enter Egypt and has given them the following choices:

1. that they hand all the vehicles and aid over to UNRA [sic]


2. that they drive 500 miles back to Syria, and take a 24 hour ferry through the Suez Canal


3. that they have to ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt to Gaza

All the conditions were rejected because they want to cross into Gaza and hand over the aid to the Palestinians themselves.

But is this the true reason for George’s rejection of all the above options? Could his pig-headedness have something to do with what happened when he met Khaled Meshaal in March 2009 with the monetary fruits of Viva Palestina’s labours then? We actually witness Galloway giving funds to Hamas terrorists, which is against British law and yet no legal action has been taken against him. Perhaps he plans to do the same again (he’d do almost anything for a photo opportunity) which is why he is somewhat nervous about negotiating with Israel. Some law maker!

Viva Palestina and Galloway evidently care nothing for the Palestinians they allege are in urgent need of their aid. No, this is about their being much more willing to cut off their own noses to spite Palestinian faces, and, given George’s previous performance, probably handing a hefty wedge of cash to Hamas, than negotiating directly with Israel or meeting Egypt’s demands. Compare, for example, their ridiculous posturing about what they say they would do to aid Palestinians with what is actually being done .

All of which goes to show that with Galloway for a friend the Palestinians don’t need enemies.

UPDATES: 27 December 2009 – More than 400 members of the convoy declared a hunger strike in protest against not being allowed into Egypt. Although the article in Ha’aretz on 28 December 2009 named Gorgeous George as the leader of the convoy it did not make clear whether Galloway is leading them in the hunger strike too.

28 December 2009 – According to Viva Palestina’s home page, organisers of Viva Palestina aid convoy, which is trying to reach the Gaza Strip, have now agreed to go via Syria en route for Egypt. The agreement came after a Turkish mediator reached a deal with the Egyptian consul in Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba.

6^th January 2010 – George Galloway is reported to have been involved in scuffles with the Egyptian authorities. The protests started after Egyptian authorities at El Arish ordered some lorries to use the Israeli-controlled checkpoint and the activists stamped their collective foot and insisted that the goods to be transported via Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

Gorgeous George, in an unusual display of his powers of ESP, said Israel was likely to prevent convoy lorries entering Gaza (author’s note – How could he know? I wonder what the convoy has to hide? True the Israelis would go over the trucks with a fine tooth comb – and particularly since the convoy was headed up by someone who had given money to their enemies – but if they contain only food and other aid, they will go through although Gorgeous George himself may not be allowed to. No, this is more about Gorgeous’ superordinate pride and the perceived insult to it by his not being allowed to get his own way, and of course we are dealing with a master of the autorhinectomy, except that he is willing to cut off Palestinian noses to spite his face).

He is reported to have told Sky News: “It is completely unconscionable that 25% of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza.” (Again, how could he know that it would not arrive and what makes it “completely unconscionable?”)?

And this is what may well have led to the ruckus – earlier in the week there were “noisy protests” from the convoy members when the Egyptian police took away their passports and delayed handing them back. Note the lack of connect between cause of the police’s behaviour (the convoy’s display of foreclosed adolescence) and its effect (the Egyptian authorities’ insistence that the aid go through Israel) for these graceless chumps. Add to this their obliviousness to, if not ignorance of, the social mores of the country in which they find themselves and the obvious fact that one can achieve much by co-operation and compromise rather than confrontation, and it’s little wonder that they find themselves in trouble. No-one condones police violence but certain things might try the patience of saints.

6th January 2010 - Question: What’s the difference between a three year old in a tantrum and Palestinian supporters of the Viva Palestina activists at the Egyptian border with Gaza? Answer: very little, but the three year old may well be more mature.

In a staggeringly ill-thought-out gesture of solidarity, even for it, Hamas decided that it would rally Palestinians for a demonstration against what it saw as Egypt’s intransigence in the delay in allowing through Gorgeous George’s convoy. Of course the Palestinian protesters could not be content with hurling verbal abuse at the Egyptians, rather they resorted to type and hurled stones instead. The Egyptians, of course, reacted by opening fire at the protesters. In the ensuing melee, during which (according to the BBC) Hamas fired into the air to disperse the demonstration which had rapidly got out of hand, an Egyptian soldier was apparently killed by gunfire from the Gazan side. Amazing in the BBC’s account (the BBC being the BBC) is the acknowledgement that Egypt too has closed its borders with Gaza.

This could run and run. The Viva Palestina convoy seems to have identified very closely with the objects of their charity, even to the extent of adopting their toddler-like behaviour whenever they are thwarted.

Stay tuned for more progress reports or, knowing Gorgeous and his merry men, reports of more cock-ups.

Tagged: George Galloway, Viva Palestina

"

A HAPPY CABINET?

A HAPPY CABINET?: "You can't beat the Today programme for sheer pro-Labour entertainment value. I caught Shaun 'Where's my Butler?' Woodward being interviewed by James Naughtie this morning on the issue of Gordon's leadership (or lack of) and yesterday's fun and games with Hewitt and Hoon. Woodward naturally dismissed this all as a distraction from the real issue (Cameron's dithering) and declared (hand on heart, scout's honour?) that he sat in 'a happy cabinet.' This surreal statement was not challenged in any way by Naughtie and so a line in drawn through the winter revolution in Labour. As an add-on, Woodward was also gifted an easy question concerning Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson which was designed to allow him to wax lyrical on the wonderful relationship between the DUP leader and the IRA in the form of butcher boy Martin McGuinness. All one big set-up, and a complete disinterest in asking hard questions.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Review of science coverage

Review of science coverage: "Trust to review impartiality in science coverage:

The BBC Trust has today announced that it will carry out a review to assess the accuracy and impartiality of the BBC's coverage of science.

(h/t George R)

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Gonna Start a Riot

Gonna Start a Riot: "The treacherous MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, George Galloway has been away from his constituency lately. He’s been sparking off riots in Egypt. His recent publicity-seeking escapade, getting a convoy of aid to the Palestinians who are currently perceived to be imprisoned in Gaza and starving, has even antagonised the Egyptians.
“ The Egyptian foreign ministry launched a scathing attack on convoy leader British Respect MP George Galloway, claiming that his comments regarding the hold up of the convoy defied “honesty and facts.”
“Being aware that Mr. Galloway loves media exposure, for various reasons, the ministry refrains from engaging in media arguments with someone who deliberately changes facts for personal objectives and masters the promotion of false championships that are based on wrong impressions leading to wrong conclusions,” it said.”

The convoy, organized by Viva Palestina, was unable to get to Gaza in time for the celebrations.
The BBC doesn’t tell us this because they’re more concerned with interviewing the poor activists who have been beaten up. They’re also keen to tell us part of what Gorgeous George said.
'It is completely unconscionable that 25% of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza.'
They didn’t bother to report the end of that statement, which was blatantly slanderous and far-fetched: “because nothing that goes to Israel ever arrives in Gaza.”

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

FRYING KENYANS

FRYING KENYANS: "While the rest of us freeze, the BBC website is still fervently pushing global warming. The main goal continues to be to give a platform to greenie fanatics who want to increase the hatred between the developing world and the West, by cultivating the line that the West is responsible for a whole catalogue of 'climate change' crimes. This latest 'opinion' piece is by Greig(sic) Whitehead, of International Climate Challenge, another of the type of brainwashing organisations that the BBC help sustain by giving them unmoderated publicity. His piece is about Kenya, a country I love and know well, and it's typical of the genre. Opinions, of course, are the stuff of democratic discourse, but there are limits. This greenie is a preacher of hate.

It took me two minutes on the internet dispel his preposterous lie, that 'climate change' is creating widespread devasatation in the country.

Climatic risks are the norm in the dry pastoral areas of East Africa and often account for widespread social and economic costs and human suffering. Nowhere is this more apparent than in northern Kenya and southern Somalia, which in 2000 were once again caught in the throes of a terrible ‘natural’ disaster.

Kenya has always suffered from droughts, not because of 'climate change' but cyclical weather patterns that are highly complex. On top of that, the population has risen from 5m to 35m in a little over 50 years, and the result has been widespread timber felling, affecting rainfall, the water table and waterflows from the crucial Mount Kenya region.

Extremists in countries like Kenya with a colonial legacy will use any excuse they can to attack their white 'enemies'. So, too, will Muslim fundamentalists, of which there is a significant minority in Kenya. I sympathise deeply with the plight of Kenyans, but what is needed is genuine understanding of their problems, not the spreading of baseless propaganda. What Greig Whitehead is doing by filing such pieces is adding highly-toxic tinder to the complex political set-up in the country. Such men are dangerous, and the BBC should hang its head in shame for encouraging and spreading such naked agitprop.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Newsround Thought Police

Newsround Thought Police: "Hat tip to 'Votefor' in the comments for drawing attention to the latest edition of Newsround (the BBC's news programme aimed at children, for those who don't know).

This evening's programme began with a report from Manchester showing kids enjoying a day off school because of the snow.

Innocent winter fun, same as it ever was?

Not as far as the BBC Newsround thought police are concerned, relentless as they are in their fight against potential global warming thoughtcrimes.

Back in the studio, presenter Sonali was on hand to remind any young viewers who had spent the day having fun in the snow about the terrible super-heated future of our planet:

Sonali: Now this cold snap has been going on since before Christmas so you probably won't be surprised to hear that last month was the coldest December we've had in 14 years. But we're always hearing about global warming so what's going on? Well BBC weatherman Simon King has popped into the studio to help clear up any confusion. Hi there Simon.

Simon: Hello.

Sonali: So why are we seeing this snow when the planet's heating up?

Simon: Well the snow we're seeing at the moment is actually a very rare event. Normally we'd expect to see much milder conditions, but if we look at the whole of 2009 and average the UK temperature, 2009 was actually the fourteenth warmest year on record, so things are signalling to be warming up.

Sonali: And do you think, then, it would have been even colder at the moment?

Simon: Well decades ago the river Thames used to freeze, we used to have snow and ice every week causing all sorts of disruption, so things in the future we could start to see more extreme weather like this. It won't happen every year unfortunately but we could see more colder winters and much hotter summers, so lots of heavy showers, flooding possibly in the United Kingdom and other severe weather across the globe.

Sonali: Really? Everywhere, everyone is going to see extreme weather?

Simon: Absolutely. Well, the globe is warming up. If we look at the whole of the globe and average all of the temperatures there, we can actually say that 2009 was the fifth warmest year on record so the signals are certainly there that our planet is warming up.

Sonali: Thank you very much for coming in Simon. And speaking of that extreme weather, over on the other side of the world Australia has been sweltering through its hottest decade since records began. Now part of the country is recovering from another natural disaster - powerful rainstorms.

Hope that helps to 'clear up any confusion' kids. You see, we used to have snow and ice 'every week', but because of global warming we get milder weather except when we get the same extreme weather we used to get before global warming. Or something. Anyway, never mind all that because it's been a bit hot in Australia and now it's a bit wet. You see, it's all global warming, children. Just promise you won't flick channels and watch all the news about record snowfalls in China and America, OK? That would be too much confusion to clear up in one programme.

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"

BLACK IS WHITE (AGAIN)

BLACK IS WHITE (AGAIN): "Is this a greenie fanatic, our friend Richard Black, in retreat? Lost for words, so therefore back-pedalling madly? At bay? Or just more BBC hot air? You decide! One thing is for certain. Writers like Black would never accept for a second that there might be something wrong with their over-arching 'climate change' fantasy.

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"

Its not about you

Its not about you: "

There’s something rather ironically predictable about the Guardian choosing to end this particular year, in which Israel and Jews everywhere have been under unprecedented attack, with a rather pompous piece by Mehdi Hasan. This rising young star of the British media world has been in the spotlight rather often in recent months for reasons which can best be described as ‘interesting’ in the same manner that my children used to describe my mother’s culinary attempts.

For non-British readers, here’s a quick guide to Mehdi Hasan’s world. He was an editor at Channel 4 and commissioned various ‘Dispatches’ documentaries, including ‘It Shouldn’t Happen To A Muslim’ by Peter Oborne – best known to some of us for his recent programme exposing the non-existent ‘Jewish Lobby’. Then Hasan moved to The New Statesman, where he currently works as senior political editor and also blogs. Since taking up his new position he’s managed to ruffle quite a few feathers by suggesting that it’s acceptable to work for the Iranian regime mouthpiece Press TV, that it’s good to talk to the Taliban, and that Israel is to blame for rising antisemitism in Britain. Understandably, he has been taken to task for these and other claims. There was also a rather prolonged spat with Harry’s Place, which culminated in the publication of a video of Hasan speaking at an Islamic centre.

In today’s piece on CiF, Hasan the Londoner informs us that he’s changed his mind about the desired outcome of Middle East peace negotiations and declares that the only way forward is a one-state ‘solution’. He blames Israeli settlements in the West Bank for closing the window of opportunity for two states for two nations, conveniently managing to completely ignore the entire second Intifada, which put paid to the Oslo agreements and scuppered an embryonic Palestinian state a decade ago. Like so many others of his ilk, senior political editor or not, Hasan has a remarkable ability to ignore those facts which inconvenience him.

“A decade that began with Bill Clinton bringing together Arafat and Barak to attempt to conclude the Oslo process, at Camp David, has ended with Barack Obama unable to persuade the government of Netanyahu and Lieberman to agree to a partial settlement freeze. On Monday, the Israeli housing ministry announced plans to build nearly 700 new apartments in occupied East Jerusalem.”

Well, some residents of the West Bank may be rather surprised to learn that there is no building freeze after all! Others may care to ask just why Mehdi Hasan seems to believe that any future peace agreement should preclude Jewish presence in either east Jerusalem or the West Bank. Besides the fact that these are issues still to be negotiated, surely Mr. Hasan can see just how racist such an approach is, particularly when one considers that some 20% of Israel’s population is non-Jewish. In fact, if one thinks about it, any supporter of a one-state solution should not be in the least bit bothered by Israeli settlements wherever they are. Naturally, Hasan also manages to completely ignore the fact that Israel has evacuated settlements in the past from both Sinai and Gush Katif, proving beyond all doubt that when the situation justifies it, settlements are not an obstacle to peace.

The fact is that what the last decade has shown us beyond all doubt is that the PA, even whilst negotiating seemingly endless agreements, never intended to settle for a two-state solution. What Fatah has not been able to achieve throughout the 45 years since its inception by use of the military might of surrounding Arab countries or the terrorists of its own creation, it now hopes to achieve politically and has hooked up with both the extreme Left and Islamist factions in the West in order to do so.

People such as Mehdi Hasan, and many others of CiF’s pages, are in fact encouraging the Palestinians to avoid making peace by persuading them that there is a global movement in favour of holding out for ‘a single, secular and binational state’ as Hasan puts it. Such a state would not only be the very opposite of a peaceful solution to the problems of the Middle East, it would also be racist as it would deny Jews their basic right to self-determination.

What is truly amazing is that Mehdi Hasan should think that his opinion on this subject carries any weight whatsoever. There are many of us who have a real stake in finding a lasting and just solution to the conflict in the Middle East because we actually live there and will have to bear the consequences of any agreements signed. Mehdi Hasan and his fellow travellers on CiF and at the Guardian will not. When will these people have the intellectual honesty to admit that it’s not about them?

Tagged: Antisemitism, Comment is Free, Guardian, Mehdi Hasan, One State Solution

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BBC is leaving viewers 'cynical and disappointed'

BBC is leaving viewers 'cynical and disappointed': "The BBC is leaving viewers 'cynical and disappointed' by concentrating on
'safe' programme choices, trustees of the corporation have warned."

Save Top Gear Facebook group draws half a million

Save Top Gear Facebook group draws half a million: "More than 420,000 people have joined a Facebook group called 'Save Top Gear'
after fears emerged online that the popular BBC Two show might be axed."

The Walled Guardian

The Walled Guardian: "

This is a guest post by AKUS

There may be some reading this who remember the endless debates at the end of the 1990’s about whether media should use the Internet as an “open platform” or create “walled gardens” in which users would have access to material served up to them by the website run by the particular media outlet. The premier “walled garden” site was AOL (America On-line). The idea was that users would pay to have the convenience of a consistent experience and content selected for them, much as a newspaper or magazine presents selected material. It was also assumed that users were not technologically savvy enough to navigate the vast territory of the untamed Internet unassisted. Thus, it was seen as a way to help users, and, coincidentally, get them to “stick” to a website, thereby attracting advertising money and user fees. Some may remember the term “sticky eyeballs” as a measure of a site’s success.

Of course, over time, the idea collapsed, especially after Netscape provided a browser that made it easy and possible for users to navigate the web, followed by the browser wars led by Microsoft who also made unavailing efforts to tie users to their sites.

Now, open your browser (in a different window or tab so as not to navigate away from this article!) and take a look at an article on CiF. For example, look at the following article, written by Austen Ivereigh, The separation wall. I’ll come back to the article in a moment or two – first let’s look at it through the eyes of someone interested in creating a “walled garden” to direct your web browsing mainly to related articles that reflect the GWV (Guardian World view) – a “Walled Guardian”, so to speak.

Helpful links are included in the following “walls”:

• Adjacent to the right side of the article we have links to other articles on related topics, but only those from the Guardian’s website. (The double reference may be an editorial error rather than a deliberate attempt to increase the width of the “wall”). Here’s a screengrab of what it looks like:
  
  

• On the far right of the page, we have a column that walls in the current CiF article. In addition to carrying advertisements, it helpfully lists the columns from the Guardian that are “Most viewed, “Latest”, Most commented”, “Bestsellers from the Guardian shop”, “Latest posts” (on CiF), “Most viewed on guardian.co.uk”, “Free P&P at the Guardian bookshop”. Here’s a screengrab:

Notice that all of the above keep you firmly attached to the Guardian website.

However, that still leaves a potential escape route at the bottom of the current article, so that loophole is closed with some ads served up automatically via Google, which does its best to provide a changing set of ads related to the content of the article. Often the results can be quite amusing – for example, when an article critical of Israel is followed by an ad that offers special deals on trips to Israel. In this case, I can see the following, and note that the server is smart enough (or sneaky enough, if you prefer) to read my IP address even though I am not signed in, in order to serve up ads directed to a US reader in the Washington-Baltimore area.

So, if you are still with me, you will find that you can quickly and easily click through to other articles the Guardian’s editors have found for you, and “planted” in their “garden” – for example, you can click on “Palestinian Territories” to conveniently get a long string of CiF articles on “the Palestinian territories”, most derogatory of Israel. Under “most viewed”, as it happens, #5 is Jimmy Carter’s on “Gaza must be rebuilt now” after a piece on religion, one on rape, and someone raging on behalf of ordinary Joes.

But what is more interesting, however, is what is NOT permitted in the walled garden.

There is not a single link to articles from outside the Guardian’s “walled garden”, nor to any articles even from their own paper that might shed a different light on the topic of the article they have posted. Any dissenting opinion, or alternative view, is ruthlessly weeded out by those wielding the editorial keyboard. The reader is kept firmly in the little world created by the Guardian, his or her opinions deliberately molded by the selectivity of the “plants” allowed to thrive in their walled garden. Only the more determined and critical readers will venture outside by seeking more information than is provided in the article itself or the conveniently placed links.

So, having established where we are, and what the Guardian’s world looks like as we are asked to view it, we are ready to take a look at Ivereigh’s credentials and the content of his article.

One of the common features of many CiF articles is that the moment you begin to dig into the author’s background and the opinions he or she presents as facts, two tendencies often appear. One is that the author has a history or associations and biases that the Guardian is not anxious to reveal. The second is that arguments presented by the contributor start to crumble as their ignorance, superficiality, lack of research into their topic, and often plain fabrications are revealed. So it is with Ivereigh’s article about the Separation Barrier on the West Bank.

It turns out that the author himself has some interesting history not reported on his mini-bio at the head of the article, and the article has a definite bias and contains deliberate falsehoods.

This is what his CiF profile has to say about the contributor under his name:

Austen Ivereigh is a Catholic writer, journalist, commentator and campaigner

What a noble fellow! He punches all the right tickets (“campaigner” – sends a little frisson of delight down the spine of the armchair Israel basher – it’s like being “a human rights activist”), and he must surely be a writer whose commentary on matters of religion are well-founded, and worth reading.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Austen Ivereigh has had an interesting prior life as a Catholic. One which speaks to a set of double standards that were resolved in court in his favor yet may leave the less legalistic observer with questions about the high level of moral indignation he displays when it comes to describing Israel’s separation barrier (which he mis-characterizes as a separation wall) even though it has been so effective in reducing terror attacks and deaths in Israel. A little research provides volumes of information about Ivereigh’s travails on the Internet, but why stray far from the “walled garden” when the information is so embarrassingly provided by the author himself in a CiF article titled An ordeal – but worth it – if only the editors cared to draw our attention to it?

Here is a Catholic who managed, by his own admission, to get two women pregnant out of wedlock, but launched a successful lawsuit that he claims cost £3 million against the Daily Mail for its article I’m not an abortion hypocrite, insists Catholic adviser accused by girlfriends, accusing them libeling him– with “lurid untruths that had been originally hurled at [him]”.

In the Guardian article he wrote about the case, a “weed” carefully kept out of the “walled garden” of this article about Christmas and “one of the world’s great monstrosities” – a wall that has saved countless lives - he wrote:

“the Mail said [he] manoeuvred a woman into having an abortion”.

What he objected to was the charge of manouvering a woman into having an abortion (the second woman miscarried), not the fact that despite the Church’s strictures against pre-marital sex he twice impregnated two women. He does not dispute the charges which his Church regards as almost as serious, of actually getting the women pregnant. In an article titled Bishops rebel as cardinal defends aide over ‘affairs’ the TimesOnLine reports that several Bishops called for his sacking after accusations of “heinous hypocrisy” were leveled against him. Note that the article points out that this man, responsible for two out-of-wedlock pregnancies, was “credited with being the architect of the cardinal’s drive to demand tougher laws to curb abortion!!”

Finally, before turning to his article about the separation barrier, on CiF on December 19^th 2009, it’s worth noting that this paragon published On condom use, the pope may be right:

On condom use, the pope may be right

A western attitude to sex, encouraged by only the promise of contraception, has caused an Aids boom in Africa

Well, there seems to be some consistency in his attitude to condom use, at least, and, of course, blaming the West for what Africans do is a sure-fire entry ticket to an article on CiF.

In his article about the Separation Barrier, Ivereigh strives to give a number of false impressions. First, he refers to it as “one of the world’s great monstrosities” when in fact, it has been responsible, with other defensive measures, for reducing the number of attacks on Israeli citizens to almost nil on the Israeli side. Coincidentally with his article, a settler was murdered two days earlier driving on the West Bank shortly after a checkpost near his settlement had been removed. One would expect that a person as respectful of human life as Ivereigh claims to be would be willing to accept that a barrier that saves lives, even if they are not those of unborn fetuses, is serving a worthwhile purpose.

Moreover, of course, this is by far not the only “separation wall” in the world, and by far not the longest nor the highest. We can cite for example:

Texas

India

Northern Ireland “Peace Line”

Etc.

Then Ivereigh claims that Bethlehem’s economy is in ruins due to Israel and its “Separation Wall”:

“Bethlehem is shuttered and depressed not because of Koran-wielding thugs but because the wall has smashed its economy.”

This, of course, is false on two counts.

One is that, in fact, “Koran-wielding thugs” HAVE been driving Christians out of Bethlehem (and Gaza) for decades, as this article from the WSJ reports, using names and dates rather than the two “I”s of innuendo and invention that are the hallmark of most articles about Israel on CiF

The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees

Even in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians are suffering under Muslim intolerance.

… In 2007, one year after the Hamas takeover, the owner of Gaza’s only Christian bookstore was abducted and murdered. Christian shops and schools have been firebombed. Little wonder that most of Mr. Khoury’s Christian friends have also left Gaza.

….The other truth usually ignored by the Western press is that the barrier helped restore calm and security not just in Israel, but also in the West Bank including Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity, which Palestinian gunmen stormed and defiled in 2002 to escape from Israeli security forces, is now filled again with tourists and pilgrims from around the world.

Or:

Bethlehem’s exodus

….Christians are fleeing the town of Christ’s birth, and the much-reported hardship that Israel inflicts on residents of the West Bank town has little to do with it. It’s the same reality across the Arab world: rising Islamism pushes non-Muslims away.

Islamists frown on real-estate ownership by non-Muslims — Christian, Jew or anything else. And though the secular Palestinian Authority still controls the West Bank, the clout of groups like Hamas is growing: Even in Bethlehem, where followers of history’s most famous baby once thrived, Christians are ceding the land.

As for smashing its economy, you may as well blame Israel for smashing Ireland’s economy, or that of Iceland or the UK. In this year of international financial crisis, Bethlehem is doing quite well economically and Joseph and Mary would have had no chance at all of finding a room there. 70,000 tourists headed into town for Christmas with the overflow housed in nearby Jerusalem. Yes, it may not have been the best year for shopkeepers we’ve ever seen at Christmas, but neither is it for shopkeepers in the USA, UK, or Europe. Or Jerusalem, for that matter – lots of grumbling there about hard-up tourists not buying the usual knick-knacks.

But it was in the commentary to this article that the full nature of Ivereigh’s callousness towards the deaths of others and his hypocrisy was revealed. He is the author of the following comment, which I will nominate for the most horrifying comment, among the many contenders for the title, to have appeared on the CiF threads:

AustenIvereigh

23 Dec 2009, 12:06AM

Contributor

….

And obviously (yawn) I abhor suicide bombings.

Need more be said?

And (obviously) I am left wondering how this monstrous hypocrite sleeps at night.

PS: A more recent example was the article by Brian Whitaker that curiously mimicked an earlier article by Ben Popper on Slate – perhaps Whitaker was hoping, or expecting, that his readers would not stray outside the walled Guardian to find a similar article elsewhere.

Tagged: Austen Ivereigh, Comment is Free, Guardian

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B-BBC ELECTIONWATCH

B-BBC ELECTIONWATCH: "Yes, this IS going to be a long series but with the General Election campaign now well and truly underway, I think we should take the time to dissect exactly how the BBC covers it. Today started in fine fettle this morning by contrasting on the one hand Conservative 'confusion' over tax policy for married people with Labour vision to help our farmers. Nice, especially when one considers how Labour has screwed up farming over the past 12 years. I hope any farmers reading this will share just how wonderful Labour has been for their industry but in the BBC worldview, Labour offers hope whereas those bad evil Conservatives will return us to the wilderness of the Thatcher years. Vote Labour, you know it makes sense....

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

LOVING THE SAUDIS

LOVING THE SAUDIS: "For years now, the BBC has been a proud champion of the left wing political view that Guantanamo Bay must be closed and that the majority of those interned there are innocents whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. B-BBC readers will recall how the BBC has helped turn 'Brit' Binyam Mohammed into a virtual hero after his release from that place. Of course it is a tad tricky for the BBC when it turns out that some of those released from Gitmo then revert to type and rejoin the Jihad ranks from which they came so I was interested to listen to Owen Bennett Jones report @ 7.37am this morning on the pesky problem of those Yemeni Jihad enthusiasts. I was amazed at the bit in which he reaped praise on the Saudis for the great job they do in turning Islamists away from Jihad. I wonder has he ever heard of Wahhabism and it's central role in the promulgation of global jihad?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

TORY ATTACK!

TORY ATTACK!: "I've received several email from B-BBC readers today picking up on the way in which the BBC has been putting the boot into Cameron's first bout of electioneering. This is what one reader had to say earlier...

'Radio 5 presents Yougov's Peter Kellner as a neutral'

Radio Five just interviewed YouGov's Peter Kellner on the election - specifically his opinion on Cameron and the Tories. Q. Why were Tories not doing better in the polls considering Labour's unpopularity? Obviously the real answer is Cameron's position on European Union and Global Warming. Kellner's 'analysis' was that the Tories were still suffering from Major era, while Cameron remained very popular. A few sentences later he smeared Cameron. BBC did not mention that Peter Kellner is married to a Labour Minister. How can BBC interview someone so biased on the election and keep the bias from the listener?

Well the answer to that is very simple - the BBC has no shame. I heard Nick Robinson earlier doing a similar assassination job on the Conservatives. The election is ON and between now and polling day the BBC will do everything possible to ameliorate any Conservative advantage. I am no fan of David Cameron but I can see how unfairly he and his party will be treated by the State Broadcaster. It amazes me that he is so meek and mild as to how he will treat the BBC when he gets into power. I know what I would do, wouldn't you?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

SWINGING WITH OBAMA

SWINGING WITH OBAMA: "Obama's another guy the BBC will need to work hard for in 2010, and true to form we have the news that The One has been hung in Plains. Georgia. Most be those white supremacists, I guess. Or just a stupid puerile prank unworthy of international news? Or a useful way to ensure that critics of Obama are categorised in the right way? Good to hear the secret service is looking into this, it's not as if they have anything else to distract them these days....

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

DEBT - WHAT DEBT?

DEBT - WHAT DEBT?: "Had to smile at this little pro-Labour economic ramble from our dear friends at the BBC entitled 'Is UK Government debt really that high?'. The answer is YES. What next 'Is Gordon Brown really that unpopular?' It's Election Year so we can expect more of this pathetic nonsense from the BBC as they try to prop up Brown.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"