OPEN THREAD

And as Wednesday appears with the inevitability of an unbreakable plate, so we also have a new Open Thread. Enjoy...

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Justifying Jihad?

I only had half an eye on Peter Taylor’s Generation Jihad last night - and also, until I noticed it on the website, I didn’t realise it was only part one of a series of three. So my impression that he was more sympathetic to his Jihadi interviewees than strictly necessary may be premature. He may have been coaxing them into letting their fanaticism speak for itself. But this episode strove to convince us that Islamist extremism wasn’t the real Islam, but as chalk to ‘moderate’ Islam’s cheese.
I was horrified to see him perpetuating the discredited tale of the Al Durah shooting at the hands of the Israelis, when the veracity of that has been exposed, at the very least, as dubious.

If Peter Taylor is sufficiently ignorant about the controversy surrounding that case to use it to illustrate justification for Jihad how does that make the rest of his programme look?

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THE ENEMY WITHIN..

Did you read that the head of Britain’s special forces has been trying to stop the publication of a book by a senior BBC journalist which describes in “tactical detail” operations carried out by the SAS in Iraq from 2003 to 2009?

The major-general, who cannot be identified for security reasons, is concerned about the impact of Task Force Black on the elite regiment’s operational effectiveness because of the contents, which are understood to be based on interviews with members and former members of the SAS. Negotiations with lawyers representing the book’s author, Mark Urban, Newsnight’s diplomatic and defence editor, and the Ministry of Defence, have been going on for months, and a compromise had been reached.

I suggest that the BBC's visceral hatred of our military - and our Special Forces in particular - drives this sort of project and even though the publication of this book may result in future deaths of OUR soldiers, I am sure Newsnight's Urban has no such worries. 

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LORD BROWNE - BBC IDOL

I wonder what it might be about gay corporatist Lord Browne that encourages the BBC to give him ANOTHER spot on the Today programme, second day running?

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WHEN A DEBATE IS NOT A DEBATE

The BBC allows all shades of opinion, from A to B! With our first past the post system no longer looking so good for Labour, time for the Today programme to have a debate on alternatives. So, around 7.51am this morning bring on Hillary Benn and Chris Huhne to cover the topic - what could be more balanced than that? All shades of political opinion...!

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ALI DIZAEI...BBC ICON

The newspapers are well-and truly laying into jailed Met Commander Ali Dizaei this morning; it seems that the world and his wife knew about his corruption and his bullying, but the Met sought to cover it up as best they could because they feared his chants of racism - and shared his 'equality' agenda. So of course did the BBC. They disgracefully made his pack-of-porkies autobiography Not One of Us Radio 4's book of the week when it was published, despite its lack of obvious literary flair (to put it mildly!); and then there's this gem of an interview by Andrew Marr soon afterwards. Here's a small extract of the gut-wrenching exchange to illustrate how avid Marr and his cronies are to hear and air such claims:

ANDREW MARR: Just to be clear, you're saying that the police are still institutionally racist?

ALI DIZAEI: Yes they are. We are less institutionally racist than ten years ago. Have we got a clean bill of health? No. Is it within our grasp? Possibly. And I think the reason this is very important, and I think politicians ought to really take this very seriously, because there is direct correlation in the way the police service looks in terms of this composition, and the way we deliver a service to our community.

ANDREW MARR: You have become Commander at the fifth attempt, which of itself suggests that you are abnormally tough and determined to keep going when other people might have given up long ago. Was it frankly humiliating to have to do, go through that process five times...

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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.

Update: The BBC website now has this at the end of the item:

Correction 8 February: An earlier version of this story had the species incorrectly as sea lion - lobos marinos. The mammal in question is fur seal - lobos marinos finos. The measurements of average sea temperatures were taken by the Peruvian Geophysics Institute, and should not have been attributed to Orca as in the earlier version. The earlier version had a reference to the temperature rise being caused by climate change. This has been removed as the relevant research is still in its early stages.

In other words, the whole story was a pile of garbage. As B-BBC readers have pointed out, the reason why such animals "migrate" may be nothing whatsoever to do with climate change. The saga confirms what I have long suspected - any scare will do so long as it contains the magic phrase. Or, never let the facts get in the way of a good climate panic story.

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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....

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

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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STILL SEARCHING FOR HOPE AND CHANGE...

Have you read Mark Mardell's latest love message to Obama - and just before Valentine's! Mardell opines on The One's most recent teleprompter recital which contains "solid economic measures" and in words which were "striking". Mardell goes on to allege that Obama was "daring the GOP to vote against potentially popular measures such as curbing lobbyists, promoting new jobs and toughening banking rules." Pity that under Obama lobbyists are even more to the fore and entrenched, jobs have hemorrhaged and $$$billions have been lavished on the banks. Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good story, right Mark?

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WE LEAD - OTHERS FOLLOW!

Just to make it absolutely clear: the Sunday Express page one story here about BBC pensions and climate change follows on from what B-BBC exclusively revealed on Monday.

What's fascinating about how fast the warnming bubble is now bursting (in some quarters - not the BBC!) is that the MSM are now falling over themselves to follow up blogs like this - three months ago they didn't give a hoot. But of course, in the world of the MSM, credit where credit is due is not a term they recognise.

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OPEN THREAD...

Better late than never, a new Open Thread comes along! So, what is bugging you about the BBC today?

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INSTITUTIONAL AGW BIAS

My, who would have guessed that striking parallels between the BBC’s coverage of the global warming debate and the activities of its pension fund are revealed today.

The corporation is under investigation after being inundated with complaints that its editorial coverage of climate change is biased in favour of those who say it is a man-made phenomenon. The £8billion pension fund is likely to come under close scrutiny over its commitment to promote a low-carbon economy while struggling to reverse an estimated £2billion deficit. 

Concerns are growing that BBC journalists and their bosses regard disputed scientific theory that climate change is caused by mankind as “mainstream” while huge sums of employees’ money is invested in companies whose success depends on the theory being widely accepted. The fund, which has 58,744 members, accounts for about £8 of the £142.50 licence fee and the proportion looks likely to rise while programme budgets may have to be cut to help reduce the deficit. The BBC is the only media organisation in Britain whose pension fund is a member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which has more than 50 members across Europe. Its chairman is Peter Dunscombe, also the BBC’s Head of Pensions Investment.

I think B-BBC has done a cracking job in recent months nailing BBC bias in this regard and I wanted to thank all those fellow writers and contributors who collectively have done such a great job in this regard! 

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LIVING IN THE PAST...?

Did you see that 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? Well, he IS a Muslim and he is acting to form in that regards. What a scandal that Christianity is so abused by the BBC head of religion and what an even bigger disgrace that we are asked to fund this.

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AFRICAN HOT AIR

EU referendum's Richard North leads the way yet again today in exposing that the IPCC 2007 report not only got it drastically wrong about melting Himalayan glaciers and disappearing Amazon rain forest, but also about serious food shortages in Africa. It's deja vu - all over again! - because the IPCC report depended on inflated claims from a pressure group rather than scientific fact. The BBC, of course, as Richard points out, swallowed the bogus claims hook, line and sinker and in a chart about the impact of climate change, has this about Africa:

Projected reductions in the area suitable for growing crops, and in the length of the growing season, are likely to produce an increased risk of hunger. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020.

But the BBC's involvement in spreading these untruths about climate change in Africa goes much deeper and is much more sinister. As I pointed out last week, the World Service Trust, funded predominantly by grants from our taxes by the UK government and the EU, runs a scheme to 'educate' African journalists about the dangers of global warming, and to train them how to spread propaganda based on the premise that the West - as the main originator of CO2 emissions - is responsible for virtually all Africa's woes. The Trust is deadly earnest in its mission, and recently published a lengthy and lavishly produced policy briefing on the topic. This, in the light of Richard North's revelations, is a tissue of political proopaganda and misinformation. You need to read it it to realise the sheer scale of this lunacy. It beggars belief. Masquerading as 'research', it is actually a vitriolic polemic against the West. This is a taster:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) places Africa at special risk from climate change, in part because of its lack of capacity to adapt to changing environmental realities. Sufficient support to enable African governments and citizens to adapt to climate change will be a key ingredient of any successful international treaty. A major policy conclusion of this report is that meeting the
information and communication needs of African citizens should be considered as a critical component of adaptation strategies around climate change. Providing African citizens with the information they need to respond and adapt to climate change is just one component of probable forthcoming debates around climate change in Africa. A central issue is one of environmental justice. African citizens will be among the most affected by climate change but are least responsible for the greenhouse gases that have caused it. They cannot make just demands on the rest of the world, or determine properly their own political and other responses to this emerging crisis, without being informed about its causes and its consequences. African citizens need better information on climate change, but they also need far better ways of communicating their reality and perceptions on the issue to those principally responsible for causing it.

Thus, the BBC is hard at work with your cash, hell bent on a political mission to persuade millions of Africans that a series of cobbled together lies are the truth. Its co-conspirators are the EU and the government.

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DOG'S BREAKFAST...

The BBC very belatedly and no doubt even more begrudgingly has commissioned a poll probing views about global warming. Despite the years of BBC propaganda to the opposite, a total of 73% are not convinced that climate change has anything to do with humans; only 26% believe it is man-made, a drop from 42% a year ago when the Times newspaper conducted a similar poll. So who does the BBC turn for comment about the results? Why, of course, a spoksman from DEFRA, who professes himself "very disappointed". What? - that the British people don't accept being mugged by a battery of government climate change taxes?

It comes as no surprise that there is nothing at all in the report from the 'sceptics'. And David Shukman, who reported the poll on BBC News 24 in funereal tones last night, blathered on about how people's views went against what he said was unquestionably "mainstream science".

Meanwhile, the Today programme this morning continued on its warming mission by bringing on a Green Party candidate and a carbon-obsessed academic to discuss how CO2 taxes must be introduced on everyone who owns a cat or a dog. I kid you not. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic that the BBC's editorial values have been traduced in this way.

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All Quiet on the Wilders front

Although there was plenty of news on the BBC about Geert Wilders last year when he was banned from entering the UK, now that he’s on trial in the Netherlands, the BBC has gone quiet.

One would have thought there would be much material to interest the world’s foremost news organ in this story. For a start the 15 defence witnesses that the court has disallowed, leaving only three, and causing Mr Wilders’s supporters to wonder whether the trial can have a fair outcome.

Those of us who are hurt, offended or frightened by anti-Semitism should always apply a test whenever negative feelings about Islam overcome us.

We have to ask ourselves whether our negative thought is rational and based on a genuine concern, or just a phobia-like distaste, a tarring with the same brush, a generalisation based on myth and mystery as per anti-Semitism.

While we mustn’t scapegoat groups of people, dehumanise them or blame them for all the evils in the world, surely we can criticise what needs criticising, and not be afraid to make value judgments when necessary.

At the time of writing, most references to Geert Wilders on the BBC website are dated last year; one by Mark Mardell actually puts his case in a reasonably evenhanded manner.
Many people distance themselves from Geert Wilders’s campaign, but there is considerable and undeniable logic in what he is saying, which should be reported and given a fair hearing. So for that reason I think the BBC should not only be reporting the trial, but also discussing the issues it brings up.

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BBC STILL DEFENDS 'CONSENSUS'

Here's a letter a colleague has just received from the BBC's complaints unit. I reproduce it in all its glory so it can be fully savoured:

I understand you're unhappy with the BBC's reporting of climate change as you feel we've been biased towards the AGW's point of view. The BBC is committed to impartial and balanced coverage when it comes to this issue. There is broad scientific agreement on the issue of climate change and we reflect this accordingly; however, we do aim to ensure that we also offer time to the dissenting voices.

Flagship BBC programmes such as Newsnight, Today and our network news bulletins on BBC One have all included contributions from those who challenge the general scientific consensus recently and we will continue to offer time to such views on occasion. You might be interested in the views of former Newsnight editor, Peter Barron, who explored this issue in an online posting at our Editors' Blog and explained some of the editorial issues it throws up.

I can assure you that we're committed to honest, unbiased reporting and are determined to remain free from influence by outside parties, whether political or lobbyists. Our Charter and Agreement allows us independence from political pressure and the licence fee gives us independence from advertising, shareholder or other commercial interests. Impartiality forms the cornerstone of BBC News and Current Affairs and we've nothing to gain by weighting our coverage in political terms or by allowing influence from any other outside body.

I appreciate you may still believe the BBC is biased with regards the climate change argument and so I've registered your comment on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers. The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content. Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Regards

Joe O'Brien
BBC Complaints

Thrown up yet? Note that the official line is still that there is a consensus. Laughable, if it wasn't so serious a subject. Meanwhile, the Spectator has a cracking piece which shows how totally cuplable the MSM have been in not reporting 'climate change' - and ends on a note that the BBC should be responding to.

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Excuses

In Roger Harrabin's latest article about what he calls the "hue and cry" surrounding the Rajendra Pachauri "manhunt" (not betraying your feelings much there, Roger) the BBC's environment analyst says that he's been having difficulty getting in touch with one of the co-chairs of the IPCC working group which oversaw the inclusion of the discredited Himalayan glacier info:

Professor Parry has repeatedly refused to answer my questions about the genesis of the errors, and his out-of-office assistant now says he is travelling for a month.

A lame excuse by Parry, and the fact that Harrabin mentions it suggests he's not convinced.

When Andrew Montford of Bishop Hill fame tried to find out some fairly straightforward information about the BBC's involvement in Harrabin's Cambridge Media and Environment Programme, here's how the BBC explained its tardy response to his FOI request:

I am writing to advise that unfortunately we are not in a position to provide you with a response to your requests for information made under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This is due to the fact that Roger Harrabin has been abroad and then on leave for much of the last six weeks and is now tied up with pressing stories.

Well, it's just so difficult keeping in touch these days isn't it?

UPDATE. It's unrelated to the above post but I can't resist sharing this headline: Hackers Steal Millions in Carbon Credits

The madness of it all in six words.

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QUESTION TIME LIVEBLOG

Well folks, another week has gone by since we last met, and tonight I bring you QT Live in the absence of our good friend the All Seeing Eye, Geoff. So I am hosting and moderating this evening so best foot forward and see you at half past Ten. On the panel this evening are chuckling Charlie Falconer, Gorgeous George Galloway, Theresa May (but they again she may not), the fragrant Clare Short (On to discuss "Mo") and finally, Melanie Philips, the only person worth listening to on this panel tonight. Hope you can clear your diary and potter along...see you ALL later!

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BROKEN TRUST...

The BBC World Service Trust is an arm of the BBC that receives £17.9m a year - mainly from the Department for International Development and the EU (52%)- to train broadcasters to spread messages about development. Some of what it does is vital and laudable; for example helping to spread knowledge about HIV/Aids through the development of soap operas that are actually listened to. However, and as in everything the BBC does, it is a big caveat, there is a sinister side to its mission. It campaigns loudly about 'the environment', and inevitably, where BBC folk are involved, that actually means about 'climate change'. Take, for example, Africa Talks Climate (do you notice the missing word?)about which the organiser says:

The drive to help people understand issues such as climate change and to have the opportunity to speak and act is at the heart of our work...In a partnership project funded by the British Council, ten countries have been identified in which BBC WST researchers will be conducting research: DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The major objective of Africa Talks Climate is to identify the entry points to engage, inform and empower Africans in local, national and international conversations about climate change. To achieve this, the initiative will collate opinions and then amplify the voices of people at all levels of society.

Interestingly, this was all done with the British Council, which as EU Referendum has pointed out today, is another government-funded body which has been infested with 'climate change fervour.

Back with WST, their efforts extend to the eastern Caribbean and South America, but also to India. Here, the trust's aim was again to train journalists:

An extensive training programme for journalists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was carried out in nine Indian states to improve the quality and quantity of information published in the media and to create a better flow of information between environmental NGOs and the media.

Their partner in part of the enterprise was TERI (The Resources and Energy Institute) set up by none other than Ravendra Pachauri, the boss of the IPCC. TERI itself is not without controversy (to put in mildly), but, eh, this is 'climate change', so for WST, it's simply "our non-profit partner".

Now I'm all for Indians and Africans (and anyone else) becoming more aware of the need to treat the environment properly. But this, folks, as we well know, is not really about that. It's about the BBC pushing their 'climate change' lies and propaganda, and nothing will get in their way. The truth is that the World Service Trust, funded by our taxes, is busily at work persuading journalists round the developing world to spread lies and to hate the West for the injustices they have heaped upon them through CO2 emissions. The BBC, whose motto is "Nation Shall Speak Peace unto Nation" is frantically stoking up hatred instead.

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DV AND NEWSNIGHT

Well now, did YOU catch my fleeting appearance on Newsnight on Monday evening perchance? It's about half ways through. I've been away for the past few days so first chance to catch up and update you on my close encounter with Michael Crick and the guys.

The background is that the political party to which I now belong - Traditional Unionist Voice - held a public meeting at the heart of the constituency of Northern Ireland's First Minister, Peter Robinson. This was our way of making it clear we will challenge his seat at the looming Westminster election. I was one of three speakers on the evening and Newsnight carried a few words. Crick was there and in fairness he did an interview with our Party Leader and then stayed for the duration. He then went off, obviously did some other interviews, labelled me and my colleagues "backwoodsmen" and ensured that the Newsnight item was on message i.e doing deals with terrorists is the right thing to do. Michael said it had been some time since he was in Belfast, I hope he will not leave it so long until the next time he comes back, I want a word with him.

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FAT CAT CREAM

The big oil companies, once the greenies' villains of the peace, are now in bed with them. They are the cats that truly have the cream, because on top of their massive oil and gas reserves - which of course the world still needs - they are now also benefiting massively from the lunatic government subsidies for building wind farms and other so-called renewables. Their grasping greed is part of the sinister conspiracy that, as Ofgem pointed out yesterday, will lead to energy bills soaring to £5,000 a year by 2020 and regular power cuts well before then. So when Dr Anthony Hayward, the BP boss, comes down from his subsidy-fuelled castle to give - as fawning Evan Davis put it this morning on Today "a rare interview" - how is he treated? With sickening deference. Our chain-wearing Evan's first question was, he obviously thought, quite a toughie (and designed to be a sop to all those anti-warming 'deniers' he clearly sneers at); whether the great doctor actually believed in 'climate change', despite all the recent controversy. The answer was "yes", so naturally, this was treated as the gospel truth, and the rest of the exchange followed entirely predictable lines. It revealed nothing other than that BP is fat, complacent, and chillingly opportunistic.

What Davis should have asked the good doctor is how much he and his company stands to make from government subsidies in the massive 'renewables' scam. That is precisely the qestion that the BBC will never ask.

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