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Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year to all visitors, regular or otherwise, to my blog. I wish you a happy, safe and prosperous 2013.

I am currently debating whether I should keep this bog running as it currently does, I will let you know what I decide soon...

Something to get the party started


"Delilah" - This version is by the Leningrad Cowboys and the Russian Army Choir... A great version and I think I'll be posting more of the Leningrad Cowboys cover versions in 2013.

Fails of the year - women's edition


I think the overall message of these is 'avoid alcohol'!

The Community Reinvestment Act is remembered and allocated its share of the blame at last

The reason blog reports that:
''twas Wall Street greed what done it, some folks say, when it comes to explaining the spectacular housing meltdown of recent years, which had its roots in a great many astonishingly risky loans.

Other folks suggest that the federal government just may have played something of a role in inducing, even strong-arming, banks to take risks they otherwise would have avoided. Specifically, the Community Reinvestment Act and related policy pressures are pointed to as culprits, part of a government effort to extend home-ownership in lower-income neighborhoods. Now comes a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research that says, quite bluntly. that the CRA played a major role. In the academic world, mealy-mouthed delivery of even powerful conclusions is the norm, so it's refreshing to see authors Sumit Agarwal, Efraim Benmelech, Nittai Bergman, Amit Seru answer the title's question, "Did the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Lead to Risky Lending?," with the clear, "Yes, it did. ... We find that adherence to the act led to riskier lending by banks."'
Do read the whole article at the above link but also remember that I've covered this before:

First in September 2008:
I have wanted to blog about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for some months now but have been cautious of doing so for obvious reasons. However the vitriol being spewed out, by the usual suspects in the left wing media, at the banking community has really pissed me off. So here we go, as Forbes tells us:
"The CRA forces banks to make loans in poor communities, loans that banks may otherwise reject as financially unsound. Under the CRA, banks must convince a set of bureaucracies that they are not engaging in discrimination, a charge that the act encourages any CRA-recognized community group to bring forward. Otherwise, any merger or expansion the banks attempt will likely be denied. But what counts as discrimination?

According to one enforcement agency, "discrimination exists when a lender's underwriting policies contain arbitrary or outdated criteria that effectively disqualify many urban or lower-income minority applicants." Note that these "arbitrary or outdated criteria" include most of the essentials of responsible lending: income level, income verification, credit history and savings history--the very factors lenders are now being criticized for ignoring."
I know this is not the agreed narrative but it is the truth.
In February 2009:


I have blogged many times about the Community Reinvestment Act and how it was one of the key factors in creating the US housing bubble as well as its effect on UK housing finance. You should read my earlier articles - here, here, here, here (in October 2008) the links to Barack Obama and here the links to UK policy.

I raise the matter today because Christopher Booker in The Telegraph yesterday wrote
"It is all very well for President Obama to vent his anger on all those US bankers who continued to claim billions of dollars in bonuses while expecting Washington to bail them out after the sub-prime mortgage scandal brought the banks to their knees. But conveniently overlooked has been the curious part Mr Obama himself played in the sub-prime debacle.

At the heart of it was a 1995 amendment to the Community Reinvestment Act which legally required banks to lend money to buy homes to millions of poor, mainly black Americans, guaranteed by the two biggest mortgage associations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And no one campaigned more actively for this change to the law than Mr Obama, as a young but already influential Chicago politician.

It was this Act which, more than anything, helped to create the US housing bubble, well beyond the point where it was obvious that hundreds of thousands of homeowners would be likely to default. And in 2005 no one more actively opposed moves to halt Fannie Mae's reckless guarantees than Senator Obama, as he was by then. As the official records show, no senator received more donations from Fannie Mae than he did (although Hillary Clinton ran him close). Thus no US politician arguably did more to promote the sub-prime disaster than the man now expected to pick up the pieces, Rather like Gordon Brown, really. "

I couldn't have put it better myself and somehow I doubt that this story will get anywhere near the BBC where the Obamamessiah is beyond criticism and will remain so so long as he follows the BBC approved line.
 In March 2009:
'A very interesting article in the New York Times should be read here. It's from 30 September 1999 that's whilst Bill Clinton was President and in the light of the current sub-prime crisis it is quite enlightening:
"In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.'' "


Read the whole article and wonder at how the MSM and especially the BBC have just ignored this angle on the banking crisis. Anyone would think they had an agenda...'

What are the chances of the BBC reporting this analysis? Zero?

‘Unemployed Man Who Refused A Job Because He Didn't Want To Get Up At 8am’

listen to ‘Unemployed Man Who Refused A Job Because He Didn't Want To Get Up At 8am’ on Audioboo

LBC's Julia Hartley-Brewer was discussing whether benefit cards are a good idea but this call diverted the discussion somewhat as this caller revealed that he was recently offered a job, but didn’t want to have to get up at 8:00 in the morning. I think this makes the point about the difference between strivers and shirkers more eloquently than any politician’s speech.
As an aside can you imagine a BBC presenter being that shocked by such a caller? Most would side with him.

“Palestinian” people are a fabrication, an invention. — Winds Of Jihad By SheikYerMami

BBC News - Duncan Smith condemns tax credits as 'not fit for purpose'

"In the years between 2003 and 2010, Labour spent a staggering £171bn on tax credits, contributing to a 60% rise in the welfare bill," Mr Duncan Smith said.

He also accused previous Labour governments of boosting tax credit payments ahead of the last two general elections in "an attempt to gain short-term popularity".

"It knew what it was doing - this was a calculated attempt to win votes," he said.

An interesting article on BBC -
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20873180

As yet no Labour response, but one will be up soon I am sure. I wonder how they will deny what is demonstrably true? This Labour policy of giving state money to as many people as possible rather than reducing taxes, always struck me as a way of buying votes...

Sunday 30 December 2012

Hold on, does that mean that Egypt was blockading Gaza?

A tricky story for the BBC to tell but they manage to blame Israel.

The article is headlined 'Gaza construction convoy crosses from Egypt' and begins 'Egypt has allowed a shipment of construction materials to enter the Gaza Strip from its territory for the first time since 2007.

A convoy of trucks carrying thousands of tonnes of supplies donated by the Gulf state of Qatar entered Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on Saturday.'
Hold on, if Egypt has a land border with Gaza then wasn't Egypt blockading Gaza just like Israel is accused of. Fortunately the BBC set the record straight in the next line:
'Egypt had previously followed import restrictions imposed by Israel.'
It's incredible how powerful Israel is/was, they managed to force Egypt to blockade Gaza.

Readers of this blog will recall how the BBC have tried to hide the fact that Gaza and Egypt even share a border by manipulating maps. Something that I have picked them up on and successfully made them change.


Must read article including analysis of refugee numbers around the world, including Palestinian 'refugees'

'Statistics provided by the UNHCR at the end of 2010 put the total number of refugees in the world at 15.4 million – of those, 4.82 million Palestinians. Of the 10.58 non-Palestinian refugees, 3.05 million are from Afghanistan and 1.7 million from Iraq.

However, the UNHCR does not include in its refugee figures Internally Displaced Persons, and in that category it placed a further 27 million people in 2010 – mostly from Libya, the Cote d’Ivoire, Somalia and Sudan. UNRWA, of course, does not count Palestinian refugees living under Palestinian rule in the Gaza Strip (1,167,572 in January 2012) or the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories (727,471 in January 2012) as repatriated refugees or IDPs. 

Uniquely, those Palestinians remain refugees because unlike the UNHCR, which constantly strives to reduce the number of refugees and DIPs and which in 2010 repatriated 197,600 refugees to their countries of origin and resettled 98,800 more in other countries, UNRWA has not made any effort since its establishment to reduce the number of Palestinian refugees either by resettlement or by ending the hereditary status of refugees of Palestinian origin. And of course like the Arab dictatorships which Lindsey German and her fringe organization support, she has nothing to say against the manipulation and exploitation of Palestinian refugees for political purposes.'



http://bbcwatch.org/2012/12/30/bbc-gives-air-time-to-stop-the-war-coalition/

Compare Syrian regime attacks on its civilians with those of Israel on Palestinians



'The picture above (and follow link)  is from an attack on civilians in Aleppo, Syria, by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is indifferent to attacks on civilians. Compare that to Israel, which uses its drone technology to minimize civilian casualties.
http://israelmatzav.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/who-avoids-civilian-casualties-and-who.html

Saturday 29 December 2012

Saudis Sweat Bullets As Energy Revolution Changes the Rules | Via Meadia

' As the energy revolution unfolds, the Saudis are likely to have less discretionary money for missionary projects and the United States will be in a stronger position to press its longtime partner on a variety of issues. Interesting times.'
More here - http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/12/29/saudis-sweating-bullets-over-energy-revolution/
Will this reduce or increase Saudi funding for Islamism around the world.

British man reportedly stopped in Africa while attempting to join terrorist group - Telegraph

Muslim Member of British Parliament Supports Israel! | United with Israel

'British Economic Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Bromsgrove, Sajid Javid, is a self-made man. The son of a bus driver, he grew up attending British state schools and won a place to study economics and politics at Exeter University. 21 years ago, he became active in Britain’s Conservative Party. In 2010, Javid would be elected to the British Parliament as a member of the Conservative Party after working his way up the latter with his own hands. He is a secular Muslim who married a Christian woman and also happens to be a supporter of Israel.

As a member of the British Parliament, he recently addressed an audience of 700 people at the Conservative Friends of Israel business lunch in order to vocalize his support for the Jewish State. There, he stated, “If for some reason, I had to leave, with my young family, and I was told that I must go and live in the Middle East, where would I decide to go? […]There is only one place I could possibly go: Israel, the only nation in the Middle East that shares the same democratic values as Britain and the only nation in the Middle East where my family would feel the warm embrace of freedom and liberty.”'


 http://unitedwithisrael.org/muslim-member-of-british-parliament-supports-israel/


A secular Muslim speaks, ONE Muslim MP who the BBC won't be praising.

Fiscal cliff...

BBC News - Drought may last until Christmas: Environment Agency

Hmmm got that right didn't they...

'Head of water resources at the Environment Agency Trevor Bishop said: "A longer-term drought, lasting until Christmas and perhaps beyond, now looks more likely.

"We are working with businesses, farmers and water companies to plan ahead to meet the challenges of a continued drought.

"While we've had some welcome rain recently, the problem has not gone away and we would urge everyone - right across the country - to use water wisely now, which will help to prevent more serious impacts next year."'


http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17690389

When I was young this programme was one of the highlights of the week

No, not Doctor Who but Superstars. I can still remember Brian Jacks' dips. Jodie Scheckter's questionable sliding squat trusts and yes, Kevin Keegan's wobbly bike crash. I know it won't be as good now but somehow I'm sitting here ready for it to start. Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah and some others...

Put your money on Anthony Joshua (the boxer) or one of the Brownlees and in the women Christine Ohuorogu, Nicola Adams or Jade Jones. 

German Scientists Shoot Down Recent Claims Of “Rapid Warming” In Antarctica – Overall Continent Is Cooling!

Friday 28 December 2012

Helen Chamberlain has a wardrobe issue - A rule 5 Friday post - NSFW

The video at the bottom of this page seems to have been disappeared so for all those people who only seem to visit this site on a Saturday morning...
Helen Chamberlain has pokie problems

Helen Chamberlain does her fire-eating act in a bikini

My favourite - Helen Chamberlain destroys Stamford Bridge

And here's the one that has disappeared...

Soccer AM's Helen Chamberlain should have worn a bra and/or a less see-through top. Unless she wanted to appear like this... She has form, she even appeared in Penthouse!

Satire? Marx on Monday – The Christmas dream | Bogpaper.com

'Ed Balls (one of our own – although his dad owns his own zoo and he was born in Tory Norwich, Ed moved to the midlands industrial city of Nottingham and developed the beautiful northern accent he uses to destroy Osborne across the dispatch box.) Ed Balls is an economic genius. When he was economic advisor to Gordon Brown he came up with what has to be the most successful economic policy ever adopted in this or any other country. And we have Labour and Ed Balls to thank for it.
Based on George Monbiot’s undisputable theory that people on benefits are more profligate with their money you take three million people in work and put them on the dole. You then increase their benefits, sit back and watch your economy grow. Ah – say the cynics – but what about the three million jobs that nobody is doing anymore? And that’s where Ed’s genius comes to the fore. You sign up to the EU freedom of movement charter and bring in three million Eastern Europeans to do the jobs.
Everyone’s a winner! The Eastern Europeans are happy because they start a new life in a prosperous country; the three million out of work Brits are happy because they get to sleep in late and watch Jeremy Kyle; and the country is happy because our economy grows faster than China’s.'



Satire from Bogpaper?

Thursday 27 December 2012

How fast can you run 200 metres?


So you think the wealth gap is growing? Wrong - Comment - Voices - The Independent

Hezbollah's Nasrallah

Dry Bones nails it as usual.

Why would Nick Clegg say that? Why is Nick Clegg so pro-European?

Nick Clegg has warned David Cameron that Britain must not back out of Europe and dismissed plans for a referendum on the country’s membership of the EU as “putting the cart before the horse”. Why would he say that? Why is Nick Clegg so pro-European? Is it anything to do with safeguarding his nice EU pension? Remember that EU pensions are paid on the understanding that the EU can remove this pension, if in the view of the Commission or the Luxembourg Court, they "fail to uphold the interests of the European Communities".

Wednesday 26 December 2012

The original Harry Potter?

Terry Scotts' screen wife in Carry On Camping introduces herself as Harry Potter, actually Harriet Potter in the credits.

Howard Walowitz has some barmitzvah bonds he wasnts to spend

Another Big Bang Theory spoof, once again from Planet Suzy. The link is NSFW.

BBC wasting our money on payoffs for managers

Almost 200 senior BBC managers have received payoffs of more than £100,000 each in the past three years, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The National Audit Office is to examine the scale of severance packages at the corporation after MPs raised concerns that leaving the BBC was like "winning the lottery".'

That's what you get when you have a publicly funded organisation that is all but unaccountable.
More here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9761921/BBC-faces-official-investigation-after-giving-200-managers-100000-pay-offs.html

Tuesday 25 December 2012

Happy Christmas from The Big Bang Theory - NSFW

OK that's not actually a Big Bang Theory still but one of the spoof photos from Planet Suzy - Warning - Some are very NSFW

Hamas leader calls for 3rd intifada, suici... JPost - Middle East

Something you won't find reported on the institutionally anti Israel BBC.
' A senior Hamas leader Tuesday called for a third intifada and the resumption of suicide bombings against Israel.
Ahmed Halabiyeh, director of the Jerusalem Department in Hamas, said that armed Palestinian groups, including Hamas, should initiate a confrontation with Israel over its plans to build new houses in Jerusalem and its suburbs.'
More here... http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?

Mark Steel shows why he's one of the BBC's favourite comedians

What a lovely chap.

Is it time to stuff the bird yet?


In other words... Merry Christmas

"I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation which has, over the years, become more or less established practice... as we approach the terminal period of the year — calendar, of course, not financial — in fact, not to put too fine a point on it, Week Fifty-One — and submit to you, with all appropriate deference, for your consideration at a convenient juncture, a sincere and sanguine expectation — indeed confidence — indeed one might go so far as to say hope — that the aforementioned period may be, at the end of the day, when all relevant factors have been taken into consideration, susceptible to being deemed to be such as to merit a final verdict of having been by no means unsatisfactory in its overall outcome and, in the final analysis, to give grounds for being judged, on mature reflection, to have been conducive to generating a degree of gratification which will be seen in retrospect to have been significantly higher than the general average."
As Sir Humphrey put it so memorably in Yes Minister.

Some Christmas Music


Yellowman - 'We wish you a Reggae Christmas'


And also...

Mariah Carey(?) - 'All I Want for Christmas is Jews' The GoGo's - "I'm going to spend my Christmas with a Dalek" Save Ferris's "Christmas Wrap" and the song that that is based on The Waitresses - "Christmas Wrapping"

Saturday 22 December 2012

The apartheid state of Israel strikes again

http://www.israellycool.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/trees.jpg

It's time to fight Slave Leia fatigue - Kaley Cuoco explains



Pay attention; it's the fancy dress party season so think before you wear that slave Leia costume...

Synthetic Personnel Using Dielectric Substitution

An interesting acronym used by Boeing. It's part of Boeing's project to put wifi in planes.

You can read more in the LA Times -
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-73756022/

Yes Boeing are using potatoes instead of people, insulting to all except Ian Hislop. The acronym is SPUDS!

Thanks to Jon Worth @jonworth for the spot on Twitter

A sign as to how much India has changed

The Hindustan Times reports that:
'Our attitude to truffles is changing. Now, they are all around us – in upmarket grocery shops, at weddings, parties, restaurants. But they’ll always be a luxury. One measure of how quickly India is changing – in food and wine terms, at least – is our attitude to truffles. When I first
wrote about truffles, most readers of Rude Food knew very little about them. They associated the term ‘truffle’ with those round chocolates and were not sure how it was pronounced. Was it ‘troofle’ or ‘truffle’? (It is, of course, the latter.)

Now, just five or six years later, truffles are all around us. Upmarket grocery shops in our metropolitan cities sell bottled truffles and truffle sauces. Chefs reach for their bottles of truffle oil at the slightest provocation. Truffles are served at top weddings and parties. And restaurants import white truffles every autumn when the season begins in Italy.
I’ve always been something of a truffle devotee. So, five years ago, I would go to Italian restaurants carrying my own truffles (and usually, a truffle slicer) so that I could grate them over eggs, pasta or risotto.

Strictly speaking, the chefs would have been within their rights to refuse to let me eat my own truffles. But, in reality, most were so thrilled to see fresh white truffles, that nobody ever refused. (If I had asked to be able to use my own Kraft cheese, on the other hand, I’m sure they would have thrown me out.)

But these days, you don’t need to take your own truffles. Let’s take the example of Travertino, the swish Italian restaurant at the Delhi Oberoi.

Many years ago, when I first took a white truffle to the restaurant, the Italian chef was so delighted that he tried to devise a special truffle menu while the Indian chefs all lined up to smell and feel the truffle because they’d only read about fresh white truffles but had never actually seen them.

Two weeks ago, the same Travertino was serving an elaborate truffle feast, supervised by a Michelin-starred chef from Italy, and the hotel’s own Soumya Goswami. The Oberoi chefs were shaving fresh white truffles on to thin, crispy pizzas at Threesixty, the all-day dining restaurant located next door to Travertino. Nobody thought of truffles as being such a big deal any longer.

In fact, I think I’ve probably eaten more truffles in Delhi this season than I’ve ever eaten in my life. The Princess’s two parties for her husband’s birthday turned into truffle fests as guests ate alarming quantities of the finest Piedmont truffles with pizza bianca, risotto, tagliolini or simply grated over fried eggs.

The Princess was being extraordinarily generous. But even those of us who did not benefit from her largesse had many opportunities to eat truffles elsewhere.

At Sevilla, the Mediterranean restaurant at Delhi’s Claridges (now back on the gastronomic map), I had a truffle dinner with the hotel’s general manager, Oliver Martin: baked eggs with white truffle, pasta with truffle and then finally, truffles freshly grated on Japanese wagyu. Nor was this a special treat for me: the truffles were on the Sevilla menu.'

 Delhi is changing and the rest of India is too. 20 years ago Claridges had a Dhabba restaurant, a very good one, now it has an upmarket Italian one as well. More shockingly, what is a restaurant in Hindu Delhi doing serving wagyu beef, that is something that I never thought I'd see on a Delhi menu. I know cows are not, as many people mistakenly think, sacred to Hindus but no Hindus that I know would ever eat beef, it is taboo.  I on the other hand love a nice, juicy, rare steak.

Friday 21 December 2012

What is happening on the flightdeck of your plane? Not Safe For Work

Quite a lot from the look of these two videos... You don't even get that sort of service in First Class!


stewardess strip powered by YouPorn.


Air Stewardess Tease powered by YouPorn.




A ridiculous Israeli own goal - literally!



Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper Assaf Mendes takes on a very strong wind...

The worst football freekick ever?


Sam Corcoran takes a disastrous free kick for Chelmsford City against Hayes and Yeading

Is swearing at the poice a crime?

From The Telegraph last year:
'Swearing at police is not a crime because officers hear foul language “too frequently” to be offended, a judge has ruled.

...

Overturning Denzel Cassius Harvey's conviction, Mr Justice Bean said officers were so regularly on the receiving end of the "rather commonplace" expletive that it was unlikely to cause them "harassment, alarm or distress".'
There's something that defenders of the police position re Andrew Mitchell would do well to think about.

Some good news

Assuming the Mayans were wrong then here's some good news.

At 11:12 GMT today, the sun will reach its (apparent) southernmost point and start (apparently) travelling northward, thus for us in the northern hemisphere the days will start getting longer. In other words today is the winter solstice.

What is 'Hate Speech' or Why Islamic Fascists Get Away With Hate Speech - No Compulsion

http://nocompulsion.com/why-islamic-fascists-get-away-with-hate-speech/

"It's not about Jews, it's about Israel"

The next time you hear a 'pro-Palestinian' activist inform you that the Middle East problems are not about Jews but just Israel, call them out as a liar. Many use that explanation to try and excuse their visceral hatred of Israel AND Jews. If they are demonstrating their support for Hezbollah, maybe claiming that it is a social organisation dedicated to helping the Lebanese people, remind them what Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah said:
"If all the Jews gathered in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. . . . It is an open war until the elimination of Israel and until the death of the last Jew on earth."
Pretty clear? Is Hezbollah interested in 'just' destroying Israel or in killing all Jews?

Thursday 20 December 2012

Mother of 'I Am Bomb, Jihad' T-Shirt Boy Appears in French Court - Israel National News

Followers of the religion of peace in action again...  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/wap/Item.aspx?type=0&item=163353

Another magic date and time

20:12 20.12.2012

Hypocrisy?


UN leaders to condemn Palestinians for incitement to terrorism | CiF Watch

United Nations do something useful, I am in shock...
http://cifwatch.com/2012/12/20/un-leaders-to-condemn-palestinians-for-incitement-to-terrorism/

The four European members of the United Nations security council are drawing up a strong joint condemnation of recent Palestinian acts of terrorist incitement amid growing international censure.

The unusual statement, expected this week from the UK, France, Germany and Portugal, follows blunt criticism from the US of official PA radio broadcast of songs explicitly encouraging 

Palestinians to engage in deadly suicide bombings against Israelis.  

Western leaders were especially incensed that such incitement was aired a mere two days after ‘Palestine’ was granted observer status at the UN.  The statement also condemned recent videos broadcast by Hamas, on Al-Aqsa TV, describing the killing of Jews as “a religious act in worship of Allah”.

Actually when I read the next part I thought something might be up:
William Hague, the British foreign secretary, urged Palestinians not to approve such broadcasts, saying that if they continue “it would make a negotiated two-state solution very difficult to achieve”.  Government sanctioned calls to murder civilians are “illegal under international human rights law”, he added.
 William Hague taking a stand against Palestinian incitements to terrorism, yeah right.

The article is of course a spoof...

Wow and I thought Chris Patten was arrogant, he's got nothing on Piers Morgan



Great interviewing style Piers...
Piers Morgan on his CNN show 'interviewing' Larry Pratt, the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, calling him "an unbelievably stupid man" who's "dangerous," - Thank heavens Piers Morgan is no longer on British TV, I hope CNN see sense soon.

Nazis ‘shipped arms to Palestinians’ - Israel News, Ynetnews

Is anyone surprised that the Nazis supported the Palestinians? Maybe Jeremy Bowen and Jon Donnison but anyone else?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3248081,00.html

Merry Christmas from Funeraria Lopez

The weirdest corporate Christmas advert ever?

'Two Little Boys'

Last night's programme on Christmas Number Ones had some glaring omissions, not a mention of Dave Edmunds' classic 'I Hear You Knocking' (1970) , Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (TWICE - 1975 & 1991), Wings' 'Mull of Kintyre' (1977), The Flying Pickets' 'Only You' (1983), Jackie Wilson's 'Reet Petite' (1986), The Pet Shop Boys 'Always On My Mind' (1987), Michael Jackson's dire 'Earth Song' (1995) or Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman's 'Something Stupid' (2001).

However the programme did a little piece on Rolf Harris's 1969 Christmas Number One - 'Two Little Boys' - Ah the memories...



And from 1980 here's Splodgenessabounds' cover version, apologies for the Jimmy Saville intro - he just couldn't hide it, could he?

Wednesday 19 December 2012

In case you can't access the Biased-BBC blog

Biased-BBC has moved, it's now current, maybe temporary, address is now http://biasedbbc.org/

I Want Candy


The Strangeloves original version from 1965




The Bow Wow cover version from 1982 - my favourite version
The hideous Jedward version from 2010.

The BBC's sensitive about mentions of the Balen Report

I have just realised that I never did post the BBC's Stephanie Harris's latest response to my complaint about Jeremy Bowen's choice of one of the two holiest days in the Jewish calendar to hold a Twitter Q&A. Here is is, my response will follow later.
Stephanie Harris 10 Dec Dear Sir/Madam Thank you for your further email. With regard to publication of the Balen report, the BBC did not wish to publish this internal report and fought against its disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, as you are aware. The reason for this was that we regarded it as a crucial point of principle to protect our journalism. The BBC maintained that the report was held for the purpose of journalism and was therefore not disclosable under the Act. Repeated court rulings agreed with this position which was endorsed by the Supreme Court. We were forced to defend our position because free and impartial journalism is vital to viewers and listeners. If we are not able to pursue our journalism freely and have honest debate and analysis over how we are covering important issues, then our ability to serve the public effectively will be diminished. This was one of the reasons that Parliament enacted the "journalism" designation for Public Service Broadcasters in the first place. I hope this explanation is helpful. Meanwhile, I will await the outcome of the Trust’s deliberations in relation to your substantive appeal. Yours sincerely Stephanie Harris Head of Editorial Compliance & Accountability, BBC News

'Israeli death squads involved in Sandy Hook bloodbath: Intelligence analyst'

Iran's Press TV are at it again. 'It' being blaming the Jews for everything. Read the article here if you want to despair of the world.

Monday 17 December 2012

Gazzo's cup and ball magic



Tomorrows World had a mobile telephone in 1979



'From the BBC Archive 'Tomorrow's World' collection: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrowsworld/index.shtml Michael Rodd makes a call with an experimental cordless mobile phone. It's 1979 and time for the telephone to go mobile. In this report from a longer programme, Michael Rodd (pictured above) examines a British prototype for a cordless telephone that allows the user to make calls from anywhere. Also included at the end of this item is a rather nice out-take as Rodd also experiences the first mobile wrong number.'
Fascinating, quite fascinating.

The one hundred and seventieth weekly 'No shit Sherlock' award

This week's award is presented to Thames Valley Police for this tweet:

Eating and drinking lots at xmas is to be expected, be aware that alcohol can effect peoples judgement and behaviour http://t.co/k5u78Z1j -- Thames Valley Police (@ThamesVP)
People will eat and drink a lot at Christmas - No shit, Sherlock
Alcohol can affect people's judgement and behaviour - No shit, Sherlock

Sunday 16 December 2012

I don't usually subscribe to conspiracy theories, but...

Politico reports that:
'The State Department said Saturday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fainted and suffered a concussion, but did not specify when that happened or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
She will not testify this week before House and Senate committees about the Sept. 11 attacks on Benghazi as scheduled, congressional sources said.'
Hmm, convenient?

If you like conspiracy theories then Politics & Finance have a doozy ...

Another person that fooled Penn & Teller

Like last night's post this is someone who fooled Penn & Teller

Maybe the second best Big Bang Theory scene ever

Yes the ball pit scene is probably the best but this had me laughing as well, it's the basketball one - on - one between Sheldon and Barry Kripke



"I wan out of woom"

Israel Matzav: 'Palestinian' reaction to Newtown, Connecticut massacre

Elder of Ziyon: Palestinian Arabs - killing their own kids to win a propaganda war

'Think about it from the Palestinian Arab leaderships' perspective. If Israel gives them free treatment, they win. If the children die because Israeli hospitals cannot afford to provide free care for them, they simply publicize this and they win even more.

The only losers are the Palestinian Arab people - and they are just cannon fodder anyway, if you are Mahmoud Abbas or Khaled Meshal. '

Read whole story here - http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/palestinian-arabs-killing-their-own.html

Saturday 15 December 2012

Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority, Who Said “Where Hitler Failed, We Must Succeed”, Wants to Run for President

Here's some views out of the Palestinian Authority that I can pretty much guarantee that the anti Israel BBC will not report. I can't even be bothered to complain as I know what their reply would be: we don't report every comment from either side. That's a crap excuse and I have identified the clear bias in BBC reporting comments before. The Balen Report must have found anti Israel bias or else why are the BBC so desperate to keep it secret.

"The Jews are destined to be persecuted, humiliated, and tortured forever… , and it is a Muslim duty to see to it that they reap their due.  No petty arguments must be allowed to divide us.  Where Hitler failed, we must succeed."

More here at Frontpage

That's Israel's 'Partners in Peace'. Makes you sick. Well it does unless you're Jeremy Bowen, Jon Donnison etc.

A brilliant magic trick

I love magic, especially card tricks, and the Penn & Teller 'Fool Us' format was great. Here's one that I somehow missed as Sean Farquar fools them

What does a map of Tasmania look like? Slightly NSFW

Answer 1:




Answer 2:

Amanda Palmer and The Young Punx - "Map of Tasmania" 8ft. Records


'They don’t play the song on the radio
They don’t show the tits on the video
They don’t know that we are the media
They don’t know that we start the mania
Your Eyes don’t want to see what I’m making you
Your ass is off its seat and I’m shaking you
Walking down the street I’m the lady – ah -
Showing off my map of Tasmania
Soft and sweet and shaped like a triangle
Some girls want no shape and they shave it all
That’s so whack, it hurts with the stubble
Walking ’round and look like an eight-year-old
Soft and sweet and shaped like a triangle
Some girls want no shape and they shave it all
That’s so whack, it hurts with the stubble
Walking ’round and look like an eight-year-old
I say grow that shit like a jungle
Give ‘em something strong to hold onto
Let it fly in the open wind
If it get too bushy, you can trim
They don’t play the song on the radio
They don’t show the tits on the video
They don’t know that we are the media
They don’t know that we start the mania
You Eyes don’t want to see what I’m making you
Your ass is off its seat and I’m shaking you
Walking down the street I’m the lady – ah -
Showing off my map of Tasmania
My map is symbolic
It get drunk a lot
Hey, does that make it an alcoholic?
Call it M.O.T. for short
Let’s take this bottomless case straight to the court
Freedom down there, i swear, do you see me smirkin’?
Do you see me wearing a merkin ?
Get in the formation let start
Triangle jerkin’
Triangle jerkin’'

Delicious for Chanukah?

Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot at Walmart. 

I suppose the BBC's Jeremy Bowen would use this as proof that Jews don't observe the religious rules and so it's fine to hold a Twitter Q&A on the Middle East on Rosh Hashonah.

Thursday 13 December 2012

John Archer fools Penn and Teller with one of the simplest magic tricks that I have ever seen - not at all Vegas


It's 1984 and Steve Jobs wants to introduce the new Apple Mac




Hold on is that really Steve Jobs? Where's the black turtle neck?

Don't mention the Balen Report

I have received a response to my last email to BBC re Jeremy Bowen's choice of Rosh Hashanah for a Twitter q & a. I dared to mention the Balen Report and Stephanie Harris has sent me a fascinating response.
I will fisk it properly when I have time.
A complaint to the BBC Trust will be sent over the Christmas period anyway.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

The mobile telephone was envisaged in 1906


Charles E. Alden was a visionary with his 'telephone for your vest pocket'

It's time...

At 12 seconds after noon on today the time and date showed as 12:12:12 12/12/12 - rather pleasing.

The next time this happens will be on New Years Day 2101, I am unlikely to see that happen!

Israel's borders - a short history lesson


BBC News - Netherlands 'halal homes' ignite religious row

Study the language the BBC reports uses to identify views of Muslims & opponents of these 'modifications'. Pretty obvious which side the BBC is on? I thought the BBC was meant to be unbiased...
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20679558

Monday 10 December 2012

Now that's an odd date and time

At 12 seconds after noon on Wednesday the time and date will be 12:12:12 12/12/12 - rather pleasing.

The next time this happens will be on New Years Day 2101, I am unlikely to see that happen!

Gratuitious cleavage shot

A gratuitious cleavage shot from 0:15 in this video of Vicki Butler Henderson...

"I promise you the President has a big stick"




Vice President Jow Biden back in April with a comment that seemed to pass by the British topical news programmes. If it's a Biden gaffe, it's just not newsworthy. In fact I only found this clip after watching this 'Innuendo Bingo' clip with Rachel Riley...

The Mobira Cityman 1320




Before Nokia was Nokia, there was the Mobira Cityman 1320. Nice Joy Division soundtrack, albeit Isolation was a 1980 track.

Doctor Who?

I found this rather good homemade trailer on YouTube, nice use of all the incarnations of The Doctor... It was created as a trailer for The First Question episode. The first question, the oldest question, hidden in plain sight being 'Doctor Who?'


'Openly reading a book related to a historically and racially abhorrent subject'




The censorship of free speech in the United States is scary but does anyone think there is much more freedom of speech at UCL or Oxford University, let alone SOAS?

Sunday 9 December 2012

Egypt’s President Morsi prays for destruction of Jews: not enough for Zawahiri who wants full implementation of Sharia law…CatholicismUSA | CatholicismUSA

http://www.CatholicismUSA.com/egypts-president-morsi-prays-for-destruction-of-jews-not-enough-for-zawahiri-who-wants-full-implementation-of-sharia-law/
Remember President Morsi is the choice of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organisation that the BBC's Middle East editor described as moderate & peaceful. 'nuff said?

What's the best number?

"The best number is 73.
Why?
73 is the 21st prime number.
Its mirror (37) is the 12th and its mirror (21) is the product of multiplying 7 and 3.
In binary, 73 is a palindrome, 1001001 which backwards is 1001001." 
This passage appeared in the 73rd episode in the entire Big Bang Theory series.

Thursday 6 December 2012

The BBC respond - inadequately, of course


Further to this post I have finally received a response from the BBC. It's a long response but it doesn't satisfy me.


Stephanie Harris
6 December 2012 15:27
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for your emails to Helen Boaden which have beens passed to me, as it is my role as Head of Accountability for BBC News to investigate such matters on behalf of the Director of BBC News. You suggest that the BBC's Middle East Editor was biased when he held a Q&A session on September 17th, the date of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashonah, because you believe he was excluding “the vast majority of Jews” who would not have been able to take part. You also suggest that he “would not dream of scheduling such an event for a Friday during Ramadan. You have made clear that you contacted Jeremy Bowen about your concern and have had a tweeted response from him. I think his reply suggesting that in his experience the religious holiday didn’t preclude Jews from using social media was fair enough, but I’m sorry you weren’t convinced. I am sorry, too, that you remain dissatisfied by the subsequent emailed replies you have received to your complaint. the questions were sent in by Twitter and reported on the BBC News website. For reference a digest of the live session is available here:
Your questions to Jeremy Bowen

I think it important to explain that when it comes to news it is not usually a matter of “scheduling” coverage or choosing when to run a story or, in this case, an online Q&A. By its unplanned nature, news doesn’t tend to work like that. Choice is restricted further when a specific correspondent or editor is needed to author the programme or publication: his or her availability is obviously paramount and dependent on events. In this instance, Jeremy Bowen was in the middle of a reporting trip to Libya, Egypt and Lebanon and  September 17 was the only time available in his busy diary for this particular Q&A.  You acknowledge that he said in his tweet to you that the timing could have been better, and I agree that it was unfortunate that the session fell on the Jewish New Year holiday, but there is absolutely no evidence to support your suggestion of bias and of some sort of conspiracy deliberately to exclude Jews from participating. The timing was simply due to Jeremy Bowen’s availability and he and the online editorial team clearly felt it was better to run the session then than not run it at all.

After all, as has also been explained, this will not be the only Q&A of its kind.  I’m sorry that you find it offensive to have been informed that there will be other opportunities to take part for those who may consider they were excluded on September 17th. It is not a question of Jews “being allowed” to take part in the future, as you suggest, but pragmatism.  No single date will ever be suitable for everyone, which is why we strive to give viewers, listeners and readers a range of programmes, platforms, dates and times to accommodate them and reflect their range of perspectives within an appropriately proportionate timeframe. Additionally, you are also able at any time to follow his @BowenBBC twitter account and ask him questions, as you have done.  Access is not generally an issue for those who use social media, as you do.

To sum up, I am unable to uphold your complaint about bias because I donot believe the evidence is there to support your suggestion. Please be assured that news editors are committed to covering the Middle East conflict and the issues arising from it fairly, accurately and impartially, giving due weight to events and to the widest range of perspectives over an appropriate timeframe, so that audiences can form their own judgements about what is happening

You may be interested to know that for internal journalistic purposes, the BBC monitors its overall coverage of the Middles East. This is a matter of public record - as outlined in the BBC News management response to the Independent Panel Impartiality Report of April 2006 (the Thomas report) commissioned by the then BBC Governors:  http://www.bbcgovernorsarchive.co.uk/docs/reviews/terms_of_referencefinal.txt

I hope that I have addressed your concern but if you wish to pursue your complaint, it is open to you to ask the BBC Trust to review your complaint on appeal.  However, please note that the Trust does not consider every appeal brought to it. If a question arises as to whether an appeal ought to be taken, the Trust is the final arbiter.

Appeals must be received within 20 working days of the date of this email. The Trust may, exceptionally, take an appeal brought after this date if it considers there is a good reason for the delay.  The appeal should not exceed 1,000 words and should clearly state the points you raised at Stage 2 which you want the Trust to address, with your reasons.  The Trust will not normally consider new points. You can find full details of the complaints procedures here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/governance/complaints_framework/ Correspondence for the Trust should be addressed to the Complaints Adviser, BBC Trust Unit, 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ or to trust.editorial@bbc.co.uk

Yours sincerely,

Stephanie Harris
Head of Editorial Compliance & Accountability,
BBC News

I will be appealing to the BBC Trust, although since its Chairman is the anti-Israel Chris Patten, I am not sure how far I will get. I note that I am allowed 20 working days in which to appeal, how generous. If you have any ideas as to how to best write an appeal (in no more than 1,000 words) then do please let me know.

In the meantime, I have responded:
Dear Ms Harris,

I am in receipt of your email and I am not satisfied. I find your glib comment that 'I think his reply suggesting that in his experience the religious holiday didn’t preclude Jews from using social media was fair enough' to be insulting and possibly revealing of the BBC's attitude to Jews.

I am also intrigued by your reference to the BBC monitoring its Middle East output for bias. Since this monitoring is a matter of public record, maybe you could let me have a copy of the Balen Report that the BBC commissioned into this matter but have spent large amounts of money to keep secret from the people who paid for the report, the Licence Fee payers.

Rest assured that I will be appealing to the BBC Trust.

Regards

NotaSheep MaybeaGoat
I have just replied this Out Of Office reply from Ms Harris, something tells me she's not that good with technology...
Stephanie Harris
20:38 (4 minutes ago)

to me
I am on holiday until Monday 19th November 2012 and will respond to your query on my return
 12 days back from holiday and her Out Of Office is still turned on...

Muslim rage is an odd thing



BBC promotion of the ‘targeting the media’ myth | BBC Watch

Wednesday 5 December 2012

It’s never been about the 1967 borders - Legal Insurrection

' ... It's never been about the 1967 borders, and it isn't today. It's about the elimination of Israel and wearing Israel down over time.'
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/12/its-never-been-about-the-1967-borders/

The worst cover version ever?

I have just been made aware of Fuzzbox's 2010 version of Pop Musik


Why? Why? Why?

Here's M's very wonderful original version from 1979
Now that's much better...

Foreign press beats IDF


'Journalists need to be courted, wooed, educated and trained. Complaints against media must be lodged and legal claims brought. Until Israel enters the fray of world opinion, its world beating army could yet again find itself sitting uselessly on the sidelines.'

YNet have more of this story. Personally I think it's too late for Israel to woo the western media. 'News' organisations such as the BBC are institutionally anti-Israel, nothing will change their minds.

When is inciting genocide not inciting genocide?

WSJ have the story.
The answer of course, is when it's genocide against Jews.

It's a prime reason

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge must name their first born child George and he must in turn name his first born Henry.

Why?

That way the run of Kings and Queens from the current Sovereign would run:
Elizabeth 2
Charles 3
William 5
George 7
Henry 9

2, 3, 5, 7, 9 - a run of prime numbers that I doubt could ever be repeated.


Jews are a peculiar people





It's an interesting and thought provoking sentiment, but not one that the BBC will recognise the truth of.

Another photo of life in the apartheid state of Israel

Yet the cry still goes up 'Israel is an apartheid state'

The one hundred and sixty ninth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's award is presented to the BBC and Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perceptions Indexfor coming up with this piece of news and headline:

'Greece 'most corrupt' EU country, new survey reveals'
Staggering.... "No shit, Sherlock"

Tuesday 4 December 2012

World double standards





The BBC are still obsessed by Israel daring to build in and around its capital city. They are less interested in the deaths of 29 children in a Syrian school today and all the other deaths that are happening in Syria every day.

Why?

The only explanation that I can think of is that the BBC are institutionally biased against Israel. I presume that is what the Balen Report concluded and that is why the BBC have fought so hard to keep it secret.

Hamas don't seem to leave much room for a two state solution in their 25th Anniversary logo





Not much room for Israel in that map of an Islamic Palestine on Hamas's 25th Anniversary logo.

There is a country where hundreds of thousands of people live out their lives in prison camps





Shin Dong-hyuk was born inside Kaechon #14, one of the world's harshest labour camps. His parents were political prisoners, declared enemies of the state for having committed minor offenses against the North Korean regime. His mother was executed in front of him. Shin was routinely subjected to torture and knew nothing of the outside world until his escape at the age of 23. There are still around 200,000 other forced laborers currently languishing under the regime of Kim Jong-un.

Where is the international outcry?

Where are the protests outside the North Korean embassy on Gunnersbury Avenue in Ealing, London?

Where are the protests from the brave people who stand up to Israeli genoicide? Are these protestors really more concerned with destroying the Jewish state than with human rights?

eJewish Philanthropy: Your Jewish Philanthropy Resource » An Open Letter to Jewish Campus Professionals and Educators

'Michael Walzer,... argues that "When Palestinian militants launch rocket attacks from civilian areas, they are themselves responsible – and no one else is – for the civilian deaths caused by Israeli counter fire. But … Israeli soldiers are required to aim as precisely as they can at the militants, to take risks in order to do that, and to call off counterattacks that would kill large numbers of civilians  … Still, minimizing does not mean avoiding entirely: Civilians will suffer."

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/an-open-letter-to-jewish-campus-professionals-and-educators

Thought for the Day

"Having sex with your biographer is more fun than having sex with your autobiographer”
David Petraeus, 2012


Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

A nice piece of time lapse photography




California photography and film professor Cy Kuckenbaker filmed 60 different planes which landed at San Diego international airport between 10.30am and 3pm and edited them all together into an amazing 25-second time-lapse video, creating an amazing effect.