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Thursday 27 November 2014

Maureen Lipman: Miliband pandering to anti-Semitism masking as anti-Zionism

"Inadvertantly or not, he is pandering to the anti-Semitism masking as anti-Zionism, which is once again sweeping across Europe."

Maureen Lipman right on the money again...

More here http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/maureen-lipman-steps-attack-miliband-israel/but not on the institutionally anti Israel BBC.

Monday 24 November 2014

... the world hasn’t the slightest interest in the fate of Palestinians, other than as a battering ram to use against Israel.

Think about this: Israel closes the major crossing point into Gaza. Thousands of Gazans are stranded in other countries and cannot get home.  In Gaza a thousand more people, in need of medical treatment outside, cannot get out. They are "suffering from medical problems including kidney failure, cancer and blood-related diseases [and] seek urgent treatment or further diagnosis…." A health ministry official says "If the closure continues, their health conditions will deteriorate and we may start to witness some deaths."

Another report states that "Officials of the Palestinian Authority say they are growing increasingly resentful….for continuing the closure of the…border crossing…which has now been closed for over a month." This report says the number of stranded Palestinians is now 3,500, in addition to the thousand inside Gaza who need medical care outside.

Front page news? "Israel Turns Gaza Into Prison." UN Security Council resolution? "Urgently demands that the Government of Israel open the passage and permit those needing medical attention to reach doctors and hospitals." The U.S. State Department? Perhaps it says "We are deeply troubled by the humanitarian dimension and believe the passage should be opened immediately…." Marches and demonstrations in European capitals? "This is Genocide!" signs say.

Nope. Because the crossing in question is Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt not Israel, and the country keeping it closed is Egypt. The Palestinians are "resentful," in that story, about the government of Egypt. The health conditions of the people who are "suffering from medical problems" are suffering because of Egypt.

The Egyptian official explanation is that security requires the closing.  Recently the Egyptian terrorist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledged loyalty to the Islamic State. In October, 33 Egyptian security personnel were killed by terrorists; last week, 5 more. Why these events require that people in need of medical treatment may not use Rafah, and how that closure enhances Egyptian security, may be debated.

My point is a different one: were it Israel keeping the key passage closed and simply saying security requires it, this would be a very big deal. The condemnations would be constant. Instead, near silence. Double standard? The usual uninterest in how Arabs treat other Arabs? The desire not to criticize General Sisi's government in Cairo? So it seems. A Palestinian would be justified in concluding that the world hasn't the slightest interest in the fate of Palestinians, other than as a battering ram to use against Israel. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Taken from here, I couldn't have said it better myself, so I didn't even try...

If the BBC wasn't institutionally anti Israel they might ponder why their coverage of the Palestinian people depends more on whose taking action against their terrorists than what the action is.

Headline from The Telegraph sums up Arsenal...

ANGRY ARSENAL FAN 'THROWS RED WINE AT BENCH'

Pygmy Seahorses - cute and fascinating



Pygmy seahorses can change colour...

Sunday 23 November 2014

Kenya bus attack: Al-Shabab 'wants religious war' - reports BBC news

The slaughter of 28 people on a bus in Kenya is a bid to start a religious war, a senior adviser to President Uhuru Kenyatta has told the BBC.

I take issue with the BBC's reporting of this news. Islamist terrorists around the world have been at war with non Muslims for many years now, some might convincingly argue that Islam has been at war with non Muslims since Mohammed left Medina for Mecca. The Muslim armies which left Arabia and conquered the Middle East, large swathes of the East, North Africa and Southern & Central Europe slaughtered non Muslims along the way, it was only the bravery of Christian soldiers that turned that tide. Unfortunately that tide has now turned and until the non Muslim world realises that, it remains doomed.

Saturday 22 November 2014

Kenya bus attack near Somali border leaves 28 dead as reported by the BBC News

Here's the first half of the BBC's report on the latest terrorist atrocity in Kenya. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30157581

'Suspected members of the Somali militant group al-Shabab have killed at least 28 people in an attack on a bus in northern Kenya, officials say.

The bus was travelling to the capital, Nairobi, when it was stopped in Mandera county, near the Somali border.

After taking it off the road, gunmen separated out those they thought were non-Muslim before killing them, officials said.

Somalia-based al-Shabab has been mounting attacks in Kenya since 2011.That was the year when Kenya sent troops to Somalia to help fight the Islamist militia. Mandera, a remote area in Kenya's north east, has been one of the regions affected.

Kenya's interior ministry said on its Twitter feed that the bus attacked early on Saturday had been carrying 60 passengers.

One official told Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper that assailants had asked passengers to read out verses of the Koran, before executing those who failed.'

Can you see the less than subtle attempt to hide who these terrorists are? No mention of the facts that they are is Islamist terrorists killing non Muslims only in the lead in paragraph, because that's all that most people read if they read the article at all. And because that's what forms the headline line on the main news pages. For the BBC who are desperately trying to pretend that Islamic terrorists are not involved in a war against non Muslims that is very very important. Facts be dammed, there's a propaganda war to win.'

Hmmm

Wednesday 19 November 2014

School marked down by Ofsted for being 'too white' - Telegraph

That Berkeley tolerance for free speech...



The murders in Jerusalem

Vile, disgusting and will happen again unless action is taken. 


Labour's 'clear' position on immigration



Labour's Emma Reynolds is quizzed about "racism" on immigration, and how Labour a few years ago attacked Conservative leader Michael Howard for racism for even metioning immigration, now want to talk about it when Labour are losing votes on the issue of immigration.

Barack Husein Obama: somewhat inconsistent or a liar? You be the judge.



Barack Husein Obama: somewhat inconsistent or a liar? You be the judge. Just don't expect an investigation on the Obamamessiah worshipping BBC.



Tuesday 18 November 2014

The institutionally anti-Israel BBC in action again

The BBC's coverage of the murder of Jews in a Jerusalem synagogue included an interview with the Israeli Minister Naftali Bennett, here's an extract:




My complaint to the BBC has been submitted:


The BBC interviewer refused to allow Israeli Minister Naftali Bennett to show a photograph of victims of the terrorist attack in Jerusalem in this interview.

Naftali Bennett lifted a photo of the scene of the terrorist attack, depicting a man in a tallis (Jewish religious shawl) lying face down on the floor of a synagogue.

“You know, this individual came this morning to pray,” Naftali Bennett said, pointing at the man in the picture.

The BBC presenter said rather indignantly that “We don’t want to actually see that picture, if you could take that down”

I don't recall the BBC being reticent to show pictures of Palestinian 'civilians' killed by Israeli attacks that were in retaliation for the firing of thousands of rockets at Israel. Why will the BBC happily show photos of Palestinan Muslims killed by Israeli Armed Forces but not Israeli Jews killed by Muslim terrorists?

The reason that the BBC will happily, indeed eagerly, show pictures of the Palestinian dead but not Israeli Jews is that they want to increase  sympathy for the Palestinians and dehumanise the Israeli Jews.

Inter species rape?



Seal rapes a penguin.... Seriously!

Monday 17 November 2014

The one hundred and ninety sixth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

Apparently
New surveys conducted in France suggested that Frenchmen of Muslim origin were far likelier to espouse anti-Semitic views than the general population.
Now why would  Frenchmen of Muslim origin be far likelier to espouse anti-Semitic views than the general population?

I know why and that's why being told that 'New surveys conducted in France suggested that Frenchmen of Muslim origin were far likelier to espouse anti-Semitic views than the general population.' provokes a serious "No shit, Sherlock" response.


Sunday 16 November 2014

Funniest Wikipedia remark, re the 'journalist' Michael White

'With regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict, in July 2006 he stated that as he gets older his sympathies are shifting back to Israel.'

They've a bloody long way still to go.

BBC bias explained

Degree on Biased BBC explainshttp://biasedbbc.org/blog/2014/11/13/open-thread-58/comment-page-1/#comment-500743a particular case of BBC anti Israel bias, clearly and concisely.

'... a classic case of semantic manipulation, Media Studies 101, if you will.Palestinian 'shot dead by Israeli army' in HebronOut of 466 words only 49, including the headline and the bold type lead paragraph, have anything directly to do with the death. But as any Media student learns that's the way a news article is structured. In the so-called inverted triangle structure the main points of the story , the who, what, when, why and how should be right at the top while less essential elements can be relegated further down.If one was to read the whole story we learn On Monday, an Israeli soldier and an Israeli woman were killed in separate knife attacks but only in the fourth paragraph. Many readers don't reach that far but even if they do the impression is strongly that the story is that a Palestinian was graphically shot dead by Israeli army. It's what they do, isn't it?The way the the two sets of deaths are covered is instructive. Imad Jawabreh is 22 years old – the BBC has given him an identity. The two Israelis are anonymous although the BBC reported on their deaths three days ago and named them Almog Shiloni and Dalia Lamkus. Referring back to the inverted triangle where the further down the information the less essential, Lamkus's name was only mentioned 11 lines down and Shiloni's 18 lines down in a story about their deaths.Perhaps there was some doubt because the BBC covers itself. Lamkus and Shiloni werenamed by Israeli media. Jawabreh was simply named although presumably the BBC acquired his name from the Palestinian media or health authorities.While it is true that the Israeli soldier was in uniform he was not on duty at the time. He was waiting for a train. The woman was waiting for a bus. By contrast the Palestinian was probably engaged in deadly assaults throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at passing vehicles and Israeli soldiers.A report like that would fail any self-respecting journalism class but competent journalism may not have been the result the BBC was looking for.'

Saturday 15 November 2014

England all-time leading Rugby Union point scorers

England all-time leading point scorers

Rank Points Caps Player
1 1179 91 Jonny Wilkinson
2 400 32 Paul Grayson
3 396 71 Rob Andrew
4 301 60 Toby Flood
5 296 33 Jonathan Webb
6 280 26 Owen Farrell
7 269 38 Charlie Hodgson
8 240 25 Dusty Hare
9 210 85 Rory Underwood
10 203 14 Simon Hodgkinson

In case you didn't realise quite how exceptional Jonny Wilkinson was.

Pat Condell apologises unreservedly


Pat Condell apologises unreservedl, as only he could.

The funniest man in London (part 3)



William "Bill" Callaghan, this time with some marriage guidance, a decent Yoda impression and some opinions on women - "my God she looks like a horse and not one I'd like to ride"

The funniest man in London (part 2)






More from William "Bill" Callaghan, a Yeoman Warder at HM Tower of London with a fine line in comic quips and a great way with children.

Friday 14 November 2014

The funniest man in London...



A Yeoman Warder, William "Bill" Callaghan, imparts a fair bit of historical knowledge with great humour during a tour of the Tower of London. Not a great fan of children though..., nor the French, Italians and quite a few others.

Give this man his own history series, he's comedy gold!


Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Kevin McCloud wrote a Grand Designs episode 'deliberately' targeted at fans' drinking game

I knew it... Kevin McCloud must realise...


The Grand Designs presenter has revealed he made an episode of his long-running architecture show “deliberately designed to get people as drunk as possible” after discovering its fans had invented a drinking game based on the series.

The rules of the drinking game required viewers to drink when regular incidents happened on the show, such as the owners running out of money or quitting their job to manage the project.

McCloud said: “We even actually wrote an entire programme around the drinking and it’s covert so one of the programmes is deliberately designed to get people as drunk as possible.

“There are all kinds of rules like every time I used the word ‘bespoke’ it’s a double shot, the wife gets pregnant half way through, that's a treble.”

Other rules include having a drink if the owners ignore planning permission or their windows do not fit.

 What do you drink when the client says they 'want to be in by Christmas'?

Wednesday 12 November 2014

The R2D2 Budgie


The R2D2 Budgie

Star Wars in a budgie cage!

The European Arrest Warrant - an inconvenient fact that seems to be being ignored by such as the BBC

In all of the coverage of the European Arrest Warrant there seems to be one inconvenient fact that's being ignored. From Wikipedia:

The European Arrest Warrant was established by an EU framework decision in 2002.[5] Framework decisions were legal instruments of the third pillar of the European Community akin to directives and only take effect when implemented by EU member states by transposing them into their domestic law. The European Arrest Warrant replaced the 1957 European Convention on Extradition (ECE) which had previously governed extraditions between most member states, and various legal instruments which had been adopted to streamline the process of extradition under the ECE such as the 1989 agreement on the simplification of the transmission requests for extradition, the 1995 Convention on simplified extradition procedure, the 1996 Convention on extradition between Member States, and the provisions of the Schengen Agreement regarding extradition.

The EAW Framework Decision came into force on 1 January 2004 in eight member states, namely Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. By 1 November 2004 all member states had implemented the legislation except Italy, which did so on 22 April 2005.[6] Bulgaria and Romania implemented the Decision on their accession in 2007.
So the EAW Framework Decision came into force under a UK labour government...

Tuesday 11 November 2014

"... call it the stupidity of the American voter..."



That's one of the main Obamacare architects, Jonathan Gruber, bragging about deceiving the American people, who he says are stupid.

Imagine if this had been a Republican saying this, how loud would have been the outcry and how much coverage would it have received on CNBS, the BBC and the other Obama cheer leading channels? But as it's an Obama man, shhh not a word.

Monday 10 November 2014

Police Attacked with Rocket Fireworks In East London


Police Attacked with Rocket Fireworks In East London 


Isn't London simply lovely these days?

I'll not hold my breath waiting for the BBC to report this.

Thursday 6 November 2014

Which Labour leader is which Doctor Who?

This week's New Statesman, the low circulation left of centre magazine plays with the word "regeneration" by portraying Labour leaders past and present as particular Doctor Who's, does it work, have they chosen the right ones?

From left to right:
The New Statesman has chosen to portray Tony Blair as the 5th Doctor, the Peter Davison one. An odd choice, for me Tony Blair would be more of a 6th Doctor, the Colin Baker one. I believe that the death count during the Colin Baker years was way above that off any other Doctor Who. In 'reality' maybe The Master in his first Roger Delgado guise would be more Tony Blair - a pantomime villain yes but capable of great evil anyway.

Harold Wilson as the First Doctor, the William Hartnell one. The first, the oldest, the posh pretending to be a man of the people? That fits, Harold Wilson pretended to be a simple pip man when he was in fact a cigar man.

Let's leave Ed Miliband for the moment, he should be the climax of this story. That may be the first time that the words Ed Miliband and climax have ever appeared together.

Next is Neil Kinnock as the Ninth Doctor, the Christopher Eccleston one. I see the pertinence of the hard man, leather jacket image, but Neil Kinnock is far too much of a wordy wind-bag to be the Ninth Doctor. He prattles more like the Second Doctor, the Patrick Troughton one,

Last in the line-up is Gordon Brown as the Fourth Doctor, the Tom Baker one. Well the Fourth Doctor was rather eccentric but their the similarities end. Maybe the Seventh Doctor the Sylvester McCoy one would be more suitable, maybe not. No, with .Gordon Brown's capability for destruction of the British economy, society and general mayhem; maybe Davros would be a better option.

Now back to Ed Miliband. The New Statesman have portrayed him as the Eleventh Doctor, the Matt Smith one. Is that because the New Statesman are so stupid that they think Matt Smith is the current Doctor? Maybe it's because they see Ed Miliband as the callow youth to be followed by the serious older man, ....sorry I couldn't think of a serious elder man in the running to be Labour leader. Maybe it's an image thing, Ed Miliband does have something of the child about him, but whilst Matt Smith's Doctor had a depth of feeling, age and wisdom behind the yes, with Ed Miliband there's just a petulant teenager hiding behind the facade of... a petulant teenager. I'm sorry but I just can't see a Doctor to compare Ed Miliband to. How about a Doctor Who villain? A villain who's evil but not scary. Who's incompetent and lacks a backbone? The Green Death? Maybe he's an intermediate stage in the life-cycle of The Wirrn?

What ideas do you have for the right characters to be portrayed by Labour leaders? How about other Labour figures? I suggest John Prescott as the Abzorbaloff, what do you think?

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Doctor Who - Dark Waters, the Nethersphere and Missy revealed

In short - well we all saw that coming... Or at least I did, indeed I tweeted my prediction that Missy would be revealed to be the Master and that this was a test run to see if the public would accept a female Doctor Who as the next or one after that regeneration. At the BBC political correctness demands that there be a female Doctor Who as a matter of urgency!

Now before I tackle the episode Dark Water, I feel I must make my feelings public about this series. I was a huge fan of Matt Smith and did worry whether Peter Capaldi came with too much historical baggage (of previous roles) to convince as The Doctor. I worried needlessly, almost from his first appearance he was The Doctor and now, just as when Tom Baker replaced Jon Pertwee, I accept that they were/are/will be The Doctor.

As for this series, some notes about each episode. This is not a series of reviews or even when I saw the twist firsts, but some short views:

1. Deep Breath - The tricky first episode with a new Doctor. This one was OK, a bit too much silliness and reptilian lesbianism (not a phrase that I think I've ever typed before) but it set Peter Capaldi up as a believable and differently nuanced Doctor, more fitting for his real age.

2. Into The Dalek - Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. A fair idea but with very poor execution. The antibodies from Who Killed Hitler made an unwelcome return and the plot had more holes than all the golf courses in Scotland. I watched it, I don't begrudge the time I spent doing so but could do so much better.

3. Robot Of Sherwood - Another somewhat irritating episode. Lots of nice Robin Hood references and de-mythologising but too much clowning around and just not that enjoyable.

4. Listen - This was an odd one. I enjoyed parts, I had a little squeal when the childhood Doctor was revealed and yes I did spot that he was in 'that barn' before it was made clear BUT what were the things under the bed, on the bed etc. Did I really care?

5. Time Heist - Much better. A tricky time travelling plot and some great supporting acting along with a great new alien to conjure with. some plot holes but none large enough to let the magic escape through. Not happy to see the antibodies from Who Killed Hitler ,make a second appearance in this series though.

6. The Caretaker - I quite like the episodes when The Doctor goes undercover in England, the best of these in recent years being the two-parter Human Nature and The Family OF Blood, although the presence of Jessica Hynes may have affected my judgement a little, I admit. This one was nowhere near as good as that two-parter and indeed maybe not as good as the James Corden stories. The Skovox Blitzer made for an exceptionally poor opponent, for a robot with enough firepower to destroy a plant it seemed a rather poor and weak shot.

7. Kill The Moon - Promised a lot, delivered a lot less.

8. Mummy On The Orient Express - I'm not usually a big fan of the Doctor Who Period Dramas, I detested The Unicorn and The Wasp for example. But this one was a right good romp. The Doctor was selfish and calculating, infuriating and brilliant. The plot worked and I enjoyed this episode a lot.

9. Flatline - Oh yes, a real return to form. Just what a planet Earth Doctor Who story should be like. Things going on just out of your eyeline, an enemy you can't communicate with and humans in danger. I liked this episode a lot and may even watch it again soon...

10. In The Forest Of The Night - Too many irritating children for my liking and too many plot holes, such as why were there so few people roaming around the London forest? How do trees stop fire by producing more oxygen? I watched it and tried to forget it.

11. And that brings us to Dark Water.

Two parters generally work better, there's more time to establish the characters, to play with the concept, to set the scene and ramp up the tension, as well as have some nice comic sidenotes. This episode did all of that. The concept of a real afterlife was nicely done, the reveal of who was (partly) behind it managed to not be obvious to me before the reveal, how embarrassed I was not to have seen that coming - a hidden exo-skeleton, the Cybermen eye symbol everywhere, "Who would harvest dead bodies" followed by the lift doors closing and revealing two Cyberman eye symbols... come on how did I miss that?

The 3W derivation was nicely handled too, will demand for cremations fall now? "Don't cremate me, don't cremate me, don't cremate me...." I'm opting to be buried lying on soft cotton sheets, on a comfortable bed, in a marshmallow room heated to a comfortable 66 degrees Fahrenheit!

Then there were the little comic asides - "tongues", "Doctor Chang!!!", "You have iPads in the afterlife? iPads, we have Steve Jobs", "nothing at the end of the cord", "Sounds like somebody left their body to science", "Can you just hurry up please or I'll hit you with my shoe", "I presume you've got stairs? I'm not a dalek", "... Another ranting Scotsman in the street, I had no idea there was a match on", "This is going to be our last conversation, and I'm the one who's going to have to live with that" - Missy/Missi channelling Miranda Richardson's Queenie there were nicely delivered. 

I enjoyed the performance of Chris Addison as Seb, a nicely judged piece of acting with just the right blend of humour and menace.

The main irritation was the predictable reveal of who Danny Pink killed when a soldier; it was always going to be an innocent non-combatant, for who else do soldiers kill according to the BBC? And also a hiding antibody like creation, again, this time it's a Gallifreyan Data Slice?!?

The reveal of Missy was so well signposted that The Doctor should be ashamed of himself, the hand on the heart was so blatant that I fear this Doctor may be a little lacking in spotting the obvious. As I said at the start of this post, I had long ago predicted that Missy would be revealed to be a regeneration of the Master and that this was a test run to see if the public would accept a female Doctor Who after a future regeneration.I'm not sure that I will and that doesn't make me a sexist; Doctor Who is a strong male character and I remain to be convinced that Missy is a patch on any of the former iterations of The Master. I suppose I'll know more after this Saturday's Death In Heaven.


Robert Peston and half the story about today's immigration story

BBC Radio 4 Today programme had a debate on immigration just before 7am that was pretty fair in the time allowed to both sides and level of questioning. The 7am news that followed lead on the benefits of EU immigration but did at least then mention the high costs of immigration from outside of the EU. 

However when Robert Peston gave his 'expert' summation, he mentioned only the positive effects of EU immigration and not the negative effects of immigration from outside of the EU.The BBC just can't help themselves can they.

Monday 3 November 2014

When an idiot shows his idiocy

Sometimes it's just so amusing when an idiot shows his idiocy and ignorance, especially when they think they've been so clever.

Take a look at this little Twitter exchange





It would take a heart of stone not to laugh!