Monday, 8 February 2010

BOILING SEAS ... - Biased BBC

BOILING SEAS ...: "This morning, I was intrigued by a new posting on the BBC website which said that 'endemic' seals are leaving the Galapagos islands for a new island 1,500 kms away where temperatures are said to have risen as a result of climate change by a whopping 6 degrees Centigrade in 10 years. Such a rise could, of course, could be the result of localised warming due to volcanic activity, but the report is very definite in asserting that it's because of climate change. On my calculations (the current temperature has reached 23 degrees), that means that we are heading for 100 degrees seas by 2110 or so. Boiling seas? That's beyond even the wildest claims of the IPCC.

So I started checking out the writer, Dan Collyns. It turns out that he works for GRNLive, a worldwide agency supplying reports from radio correspondents to broadcasters around the world, including the BBC World Service. GRN is run by a chap called Henry Peirse, and guess what? He's a climate change fanatic. Yet another. Mr Peirse says he is is proud to support, for example, the Earth Journalism Awards, which this year took place at the failed Copenhagen climate summit. I quote from their press release:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri and Internews, the international media development organization, celebrated the best in climate change reporting at the Internews Earth Journalism Awards in Copenhagen.

Among the presenters were key figures on climate and environmental issues, including Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland; Marina Silva, the former environment minister of Brazil; and award-winning Chinese movie star Li Bingbing, who is also the Global Ambassador for WWF's Earth Hour.

'If we are to have any hope of reversing the effects of climate change, then we have a monumental task of educating the six billion people on our planet about how climate change works and what they can do to help,' Dr. Pachauri said. 'The media is critical in this effort, since just one reporter has the ability to reach thousands, even millions, of people. These awards help to expand and honour these vitally important efforts.'

So, wherever you look, have no fear. There's a Pachauri connection and a climate change activist supplying the BBC with a constant diet of the propagand it craves, no matter how nonsensical. Even from the Galapagos Islands, making predictions of boiling seas. And he's supported in his efforts by none other than Li Bingbing. I kid you not.

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YEO KNOW WHEN YOU'RE BEING CONNED! - Biased BBC

YEO KNOW WHEN YOU'RE BEING CONNED!: "C.I.N.O. Tim Yeo was given an interruption free outing on Today this morning 7.12am as he was allowed to waffle on about the EU Carbon emission trading scam. Yeo reckons the price of carbon is just too low to make this scheme work effectively and he was given free rein to pontificate on this scam. No tough questions for Yeo! It would have been nice had the BBC chosen to ask Yeo about the corruption that distinguishes this Carbon Trading system but then again I suppose that would require balance, something which is forbidden by the BBC.

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JOHN BROWNE'S BODY LIES.... - Biased BBC

JOHN BROWNE'S BODY LIES....: "Anyone catch Naughtie's swooning interview with former BP boss John Browne this morning? Browne is that rare beast - a corporatist that the BBC loves. Why do they love him? Because he came out and admitted he was gay. This simpering 6 minute interview was all about Browne's gayness and how tough it was for him in that macho Oil world. But cheer up, Browne has a new 'partner' and all is now well. I wonder if lying heterosexual corporatists will get the same easy ride from the BBC?

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BLAIR'S FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER - Biased BBC

BLAIR'S FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER: "This is a guest post by Hippiepooter.

One cannot be without sympathy for the upset Alastair Campbell suffered in his interview with Andrew Marr today, both on a human level and as a staunch supporter of the Iraq war myself, but as a committed democrat one does feel the need to state that he and Tony Blair dragged British politics through the mud in coopting the already biased BBC as a propaganda weapon and are now victims of the monster they created.

As a youthful Tribunite member of the Labour Party in the late 70's it was clear to me that the only real bias at the BBC was towards the Left, and I was against it as it was bad for democracy. When Tony Blair assumed leadership of the Labour Party, this bias went into overdrive. It was patently evident to anyone semi-politically literate that pre '97 Tony Blair's office was running an anti-Tory smear campaign in concert with the BBC to get elected, and once elected proceeded to govern with the same appalling contempt for democracy. Mr Campbell certainly wasn't complaining when Mr Marr in both his Observer and BBC incarnations was doing New Labour's dirty work traducing the integrity of the Conservative Party in the same manner that he has traduced his own and Mr Blair's over Iraq.

What our former Prime Minister Mr Blair showed, to me at least, over the Iraq War, is that his heart was in the right place all along. He is, despite all his manifest shortcomings in attaining and retaining power, a personal hero. The Iraq War was just that critical. But if one's ego is large enough to believe that the means he used via Mr Campbell to attain power were justified, sympathy for their vilification over Iraq has to be qualified. As it is, many of the moral bankrupts who he'd previously exploited to his advantage and who are now vilifying him would be calling for Mr Blair to be strung up for not going to war if we had to suffer the consequences of that today. Saddam could restart his WMD programme at any moment of his choosing. He had given Al Qa'eda leader Al Zarqawi refuge after fleeing Afghanistan. Had we stood down from the threat of war to enforce compliance of UN arms inspection, the marriage between WMD's and terrorists that Blair feared would have become a reality, with all the apocalyptic consequences that carries.

We dont need another Iraq inquiry into Tony Blair's decision making. What we need is an Iraq Inquiry into how the BBC acts as a propaganda weapon for the enemy at time of war.

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Sunday, 7 February 2010

BBC plans Boy George drama - Guardian

BBC plans Boy George drama: "

Mark Gatiss, Mathew Horne and Marc Warren will feature alongside newcomer Douglas Booth in drama set in 1980s

A drama chronicling the early life of musician Boy George will be the third film in BBC2's upcoming trilogy about the 1980s.

The part of Boy George will be taken by newcomer Douglas Booth, while Mark Gatiss plays music impresario Malcolm McLaren. Hustle actor Marc Warren will play nightclub pioneer and Visage front-man Steve Strange.

Gavin and Stacey star Mathew Horne will play Culture Club drummer Jon Moss in the new drama, which has been scripted by Hotel Babylon writer Tony Basgallop.

The BBC2 controller, Janice Hadlow, has given the green light to Worried About the Boy, a drama to be made by the independent producer Red which will follow the future Culture Club singer's journey to become a star of the 1980s fashion and music scene.

Worried About the Boy starts with George, known then by his real name George O'Dowd, leaving the London suburb of Eltham to work as a cloakroom attendant before he meets his future bandmates and becomes a fixture at London's Blitz Club – the favourite haunt of those at the forefront of the New Romantic pop culture movement.

BBC2's 90-minute drama will start filming in Manchester later this month and will be shown as part of the 1980s season on the channel this spring alongside The Royal Wedding, written by Abi Morgan, and an adaptation of Martin Amis' Money, starring Nick Frost.

The 80s season replaces the BBC's planned Decades series of dramas, which has been dropped because of creative problems and cost.

Ben Stephenson, controller, BBC drama commissioning, said: 'Worried About the Boy will be an evocative and visually enticing drama about one of our most iconic British pop stars. With its mix of music, fashion and youth, it rounds off our trio of dramas for BBC2's 80s season perfectly.'

The executive producer, Red founder Nicola Shindler, said the drama would 'show a different side to a story everyone thinks they know'.

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Church of England is 'living in the past', says BBC's head of religion - Telegraph

Church of England is 'living in the past', says BBC's head of religion: "The BBC's head of religion has accused the Church of England of 'living in the past' and said that the corporation should not give Christianity preferential treatment."

BBC to review how it treats commercial rivals after 'unfair' U2 deal - Times

BBC to review how it treats commercial rivals after 'unfair' U2 deal: "The BBC is to overhaul the regulations that dictate how much damage it can do to its commercial rivals after being criticised by its own fair trading committee."