Belgium terror suspects 'planned to seize passenger bus' per Telegraph

This Telegraph report is frankly terrifying. Coming to the UK and the rest of the Western world soon?

'Three terror suspects, equipped with Belgian police uniforms, four Kalashnikov assault rifles, handguns and explosives, were planning to seize a passenger bus, according to reports

Heavily armed Belgian terrorists were planning to seize a passenger bus and take hostages, according to press reports.

Two jihadists who were recently returned from Syria were killed on Thursday by Belgian special forces after a raid on their apartment in Verviers, near the German border with Belgium.

A third man was seriously injured in the police operation followed a warning from the country secret service surveillance that the group was about to launch a major terrorist attack, probably in the early 

hours of Friday morning.

According to Belgium's RTL broadcaster the three terror suspects, equipped with Belgian police uniforms, four Kalashnikov assault rifles, handguns and explosives, were planning to seize a bus, taking passengers hostage.

According to the Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper the terrorist cell was planning to kidnap a senior police officer or magistrate before beheading them for a video to be distributed on the internet.'

Here we nearly went again...

Labour plans were 'ill-conceived and misguided' during financial crisis per The Telegraph reporting on Bank of England minutes

The Telegraph recently reported thus:

'Bank of England meeting minutes reveal officials' concerns about Gordon Brown's plans to solve banking crisis

The Labour government put the financial recovery at risk by rushing through new laws despite the Bank of England warning they were 'ill-conceived and misguided', newly-released documents reveal.

Minutes from meetings held by the Bank's directors at the height of the financial crisis from 2007 to 2009 have been published for the first time.

The minutes reveal tensions between the government, the Bank and the Financial Services Authority, as they battled to stop the British economy collapsing.

Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown, then Chancellor and Prime Minister, claimed credit for saving the banking system, but the minutes reveal serious concerns over Labour's strategy at the Bank of England.

The minutes reveal particular tensions over the drafting of key pieces of legislation to stem the financial crisis. According to the notes, Bank officials believed that the proposed legislation was being hurried for political purposes.'

Well there's something that I can't recall the BBC reporting at all. Imagine these were minutes revealing that the Bank of England thought that the Margaret Thatcher or David Cameron government had 'put the financial recovery at risk by rushing through new laws despite the Bank of England warning they were 'ill-conceived and misguided'', how large would the BBC headlines have been? How often would Robert Peston have been called upon for his expert analysis of the culpability of Conservative government? How often would Nick Robinson be called upon to comment on the no doubt 'explosive revelations that' Bank officials believed that the proposed legislation was being hurried for political purposes.'.

But this is a report that casts a bad light on the Gordon Brown Labour government and the BBC have no interest in reporting anything of that sort.

European Parliament's Head of Press Tweets Muslims 'Being Framed' for Paris Attack per Breitbart

Breitbart reports:

'EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S HEAD OF PRESS TWEETS MUSLIMS 'BEING FRAMED' FOR PARIS ATTACK
by A.B. SANDERSON
7 Jan 2015
The Head of the European Parliament's Press Service has tweeted that the shooting of staff at the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine might not have been committed by Muslims.

Marjory Van Den Broeke took to her twitter account to say that "if she wanted to frame smone (someone) I would [shout 'Allahu Akbar']" referring to the video released of the gunmen.

Her tweet has caused outrage and she has tried to backtrack, saying her tweet was misinterpreted:

Regret my call to wait for real knowledge on killers was taken wrong way. So deleted.

— M van den Broeke (@mvandenbroeke) January 7, 2015'

'taken the wrong way'? What was the right way to take this? Just as with the BBC's Tim Wilcox recently the offending remark was not misinterpreted but rather too revealing.

Argentinian president accused of covering up details about the country's worst terrorist attack per The Guardian

The Guardian reports that:

'An Argentinian federal prosecutor has accused the country's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, of attempting to cover up Iran's involvement in the bombing of a Jewish community centre in 1994, in which 85 people were killed.

Prosecutor Alberto Nisman said on Wednesday that he had issued a request that judge Ariel Lijo interrogate Fernández and the foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, "for being authors and accomplices of an aggravated cover-up and obstruction of justice regarding the Iranians accused of the Amia terrorist attack".

In a 300-page presentation to a Buenos Aires court, Nisman alleged that the president conducted secret negotiations with Iran through non-diplomatic channels in 2013, and offered to cover up the involvement of Iranian officials in return for oil to ease Argentina's chronic energy deficit. Under the deal, the oil would be exchanged for Argentinian grain, Nisma said.'

No discernible coverage on the institutionally anti Israel and pro any country that opposes British interests BBC.

'They see those attackers as heroes'

We have a serious problem

Je Suis Charlie - The Movie - How the media sees it's main role as preventing 'Islamophobia'

Because to the likes of the institutionally anti Israel BBC, preventing 'Islamophobia' is the most important role.

Saudi Arabia's 'Great Wall' to keep out Isil

The Telegraph reports that Saudi Arabia is building a second defensive wall to keep Islamist terrorists out of it's lands and to prevent civilian deaths.

'The Saudis are building a 600-mile-long "Great Wall" - a combined fence and ditch - to separates the country from Iraq to the north.

Much of the area on the Iraqi side is now controlled by Isil, which regards the ultimate capture of Saudi Arabia, home to the "Two Holy Mosques" of Mecca and Medina, as a key goal.

...

The border zone now includes five layers of fencing with watch towers, night-vision cameras and radar cameras.

...

It is not the only fence with which Saudi Arabia has chosen to surround itself....

It has also created a physical barrier along parts of the even longer, 1,000-mile border with Yemen to the south.'

Oddly the BBC have not reported this news. Odd because they are so obsessed by Israel building a barrier to keep Palestinian Islamist terrorists out of Israel and prevent Israeli deaths.  Maybe the BBC consider Israeli deaths acceptable in a way that Saudi Arabian deaths wouldn't be.

Reports: Policewoman Targeted By Paris Driver - Here we go again?

Sky are reporting that:

'A Paris policewoman has been injured after a motorist drove at her outside the President's residence, according to reports.

According to newspaper reports the car had been driving the wrong way along a one-way system and left the 37-year with wrist, knee and back injuries.

Le Parisien newspaper said four suspects ran away from the car.

Two have been arrested on Rue d'Anjou and two are still on the run.

It is unclear if this incident is related to last week's terror attacks and officials have not yet commented on the incident.'

I wonder...

Coffee shop boss faces death threats over 'Je suis Charlie' sign outside Brick Lane cafe per London Evening Standard

The Standard reports:

'A coffee shop owner today vowed he would not back down after receiving death threats for displaying a "Je suis Charlie" sign outside his cafe.

Adel Defilaux, a French-born Muslim, was terrified when a man stormed into The Antishop in Brick Lane, East London, at 9.30am yesterday.

The intruder demanded that Mr Defilaux take down the sandwich board featuring the slogan that has become a rallying cry in support of the 12 victims of Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

But when Mr Defilaux, 32, calmly protested the man became aggressive and warned that anyone who supported the French satirical magazine should die.'

Isn't life in London marvelous?

The article ends by informing us that:

'Police were today watching CCTV footage taken from a camera in the cafe as they launched an inquiry to trace the intruder.'

I do hope that is the case because previosuly I would have feard that the Metropolitan Police were more likely to arrest Mr Defilaux for inciting racism than look for the man who threatened him.

'Not safe': French Jews mull Israel emigration per BBC News whose Kevin Connolly can't bring himself to say certain words

This BBC report on why so many French Jews are leaving France and moving to Israel, manages to avoid the words Islamist, Muslim, and antisemitism. Even the Islamist terrorists who attacked the Jewish supermarket in Paris are just described as gunmen.

The BBC's ability to ignore facts in order to support their chosen narrative on a story never ceases to shock me, although I am no longer surprised by it. Jews are fleeing France because they don't feel safe in a country where massive  Muslim immigration has turned the low level atmosphere of anti Semitism, that has long existed in France, into something far more dangerous.

Kevin Connolly manages to include this short passage in his report, a passage which is a masterclass in BBC reporting:

'It's only fair to point out that Mr Levy blames the media at least in part for the current atmosphere and argues that it has tended to demonise Israel in recent years in the wake of events ranging from the first Gulf war to the first and second Intifadas.

That perhaps is a debate for another time - and it is worth pointing out that France naturally insists that its Jewish population can safely remain there.'

Read that again. What is the 'It's only fair to point out' doing there? Other than to suggest that this claim is risible but the BBC is reporting it as it can't just ignore the claim.

Can you think of a major international media organisation that has demonised Israel and so contributed to the rise of anti Semitism in France as well as the UK and elsewhere in the world? I can, and it's Kevin Connolly's employer, the BBC.

'That perhaps is a debate for another time'. 

Why is that a debate (and Kevin Connolly says that only perhaps it is) that we shouldn't hold now? Surely if it's a reason some people are using for why they are fleeing a European country, it's something that needs discussing. If Muslims said they were leaving a European country because of Islamophibic sentiment, you know that the BBC would be reporting that in great depth. 

Kevin Connolly uses 'it's only fair to point out' to describe the views of Mr Levy but when it's a view that is more in keeping with the BBC narrative then it gets introduced like this 'it is worth pointing out'. Can you see the difference?

'France naturally insists that its Jewish population can safely remain there.' 

Can Jews safely remain in France? Can they do so only if they're willing to hide their Jewishness by forsaking wearing the kippah in public. Can they do so now with French soldiers guarding their schools and synagogues, should the latter be allowed to reopen? What happens when the soldiers are taken away once the immediate threat is deemed to have reduced? 

Britain feels increasingly dangerous for Jews, dangerous enough to have Jews considering their future, but if I was a French Jew I'd be on my way out of that country. 

The reason I'd be citing if I had to flee the UK would be the climate of anti Semitism that the BBC's ceaseless vilification of Israel, and by extension, Jews had helped cause.

Weaponising the NHS

Here's Ed Miliband refusing to deny that he used the word 'weaponise'...


I think that the UK deserves a Prime Minister who can remember something that he said a few weeks ago.


Here's The Telegraph's revelations that:

'Ed Miliband has come under pressure to admit that he plotted to "weaponise" the NHS as an election issue after it emerged he secretly briefed up to 15 executives at the BBC over his plans, The Telegraph can disclose.

The Labour leader used the phrase during a meeting with some of the corporation's most senior figures in around November of last year and said he intended to make the NHS the centrepiece of his campaign. He made the comments weeks before the NHS began to experience unprecedented pressure.'

Here's David Cameron responding to Ed Miliband's evasiveness...

Has Tim Wilcox crossed a line, again?

From BBC News Channel, special news coverage of Paris rally, at 16.47 on Sunday 11 January 2015.

BBC Newsreader Tim Wilcox answers the fears of a scared Jewish lady in Paris, with the suggestion that "Palestinians suffered hugely at Jewish hands." This took place at today's huge Paris rally following the terrorist atrocities carried out in recent days in Paris, which included the targeting of a Jewish supermarket.

Strange how the BBC is keen to persuade the public that Muslims should not be blamed for the actions  of Muslim terrorists but this BBC newsreader is not at all woriied about associating all Jews with Israel's actions.


Tim Wilcox's words comes only weeks after his statement in November 2014 that "a lot of these prominent Jewish faces will be very much against the mansion tax”. See video here...



If I write anything else now then I think that I will get rather too rude about Tim Wilcox.


UPDATE:
I have complained to the BBC about Tim Wilcox's statement, I doubt that I will receive a satisfactory response.

Tim Wilcox's interview of a Parisian lady included this statement "Palestinians suffered hugely at Jewish hands." That Tim Wilcox's statement is offensive for two main reasons: 1. Why does Tim Wilcox think it's fine to associate all Jews with the actions of Israel? Would he similarly call Muslim the members of the various sides killing many thousands of people a year in Syria? Would he similarly describe the members of Boko Haram, who are killing many thousands of people in Nigeria and elsewhere, as Muslims? 2. Tim Wilcox wasn't asking a question but making a statement. Is that the correct role for a BBC news presenter in this sort of situation? I note that Tim Wilcox has subsequently issued a mealy mouthed apology on Twitter 'Really sorry for any offence caused by a poorly phrased question in a live intervbiew in Paris yesterday - it was entirely unintentional.' Leaving aside the questions arising from the inconsistencies in that apology, only a tiny number of people will see this apology compared to the number who saw the original offence. Will Tim Wilcox be apologising on-air for his offensive statement? I understand that Tim Wilcox has form in this area having previously brought up "Jewish faces" during a discussion about Labour's Mansion Tax losing the Labour Party support.

Charlie Hebdo: Could Paris attack happen in London? Per BBC News who have to get one of their obsessions into the report

Towards the end of this BBC report on whether similar attacks to the Paris one could happen in London, the BBC display their obsession with the possibility of an anti Muslim backlash.

'...  there is another issue that the UK government and others will be thinking very carefully about: how to prevent a backlash.

So while the Paris attack was very obviously carried out by jihadists inspired by the al-Qaeda ideology, Home Secretary Theresa May has been very careful today to emphasise that everyone in society should be working together to eradicate extremism "wherever it exists". She and others have rejected UKIP leader Nigel Farage's claim that Paris raised questions about a "gross policy of multiculturalism".'

Strangely the BBC never seem to worry about their creating an anti Jewish backlash by their continual vilification of the only majority Jewish state.

Patriotic Russian Cat Stands To Attention For Russian National Anthem

 

Patriotic Russian Cat Stands To Attention For National Anthem

Lance Percival RIP

Lance Percival has passed away, here's how I first heard of him.

And here he is from a 1963 TW3 sketch

Michael White in The Guardian shows his obsession with Israel

This Guardian article by Michael White about how we should or shouldn't react to the attack on Charlie Hebdo contains this section:

'Islam is a prime case in point. The moderate Muslim majority – here and elsewhere – are as horrified by the Paris attack as other decent people. But they must often feel abused by western media. The feeling is shared by beleaguered Christians, who feel their faith is safely mocked in print and on the airwaves by "brave" satirists who might hesitate to do the same to Islam or even Judaism, behind which secular Israeli politicians sometimes take cover.'

Perhaps Michael White could give some examples of satirists who have not satirised Judaism for fear of the response. Perhaps Michael White could give some examples of satirists who have satirised Judaism and in return have been slaughtered by Jews.

I can't think of any examples of the former but I can think of dozens of vilely anti Semitic cartoons that are published around the Muslim world, some of which (or similar) may even be seen in publications freely available on the streets of London. Here are some examples...

First four examples of the anti-Semitic blood libel

Next six examples of Jews / Israel as or equivalent to Nazis

Next some examples of the anti-Semites favourite claim that Jews / Israelis are controlling the world or at least the USA. for many Muslims and anti-Semites The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a factual account

Next four miscellaneous anti-Semitic cartoons

Finally one cartoon, from America, that shows the anti-Semites favourite get-out, anti-Semitism is a false flag operation

Having published these am I scared of attack from Jews?

Would I have something to fear from Islamists if I reprinted Charlie Hebdo's cartoons about Islam?

BDS Leaders Promote Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory Linking Mossad to Charlie Hebdo Atrocity

From Algemeiner:

' The anti-Semitism at the heart of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel was again laid bare yesterday, as prominent activists from the campaign took to social media to advance the conspiracy theory that yesterday's terrorist attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was carried out by the Mossad.

Leading the charge was Greta Berlin, a spokesperson for the Free Gaza movement, an organization that has been closely involved with attempts to break Israel's blockade against the Hamas regime in Gaza. In a Facebook posting, Berlin declared, "MOSSAD just hit the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo in a clumsy false flag designed to damage the accord between Palestine and France…Here's hoping the French police will be able to tell a well executed hit by a well trained Israeli intelligence service and not assume the Muslims would be likely to attack France when France is their freind (sic.) Israel did tell France there would be grave consequences if they voted with Palestine. A four year old could see who is responsible for this terrible attack."

Berlin's colleague, Free Gaza co-founder Mary-Hughes Thompson, echoed those same views in a posting on Twitter. "#Hebdo killings indefensible. Can't help thinking #JSIL Mossad false flag though. Killers spoke with perfect French accents. Time will tell," she wrote. Even the International Business Times, a more mainstream publication, explicitly asked, "Charlie Hebdo Attack and Mossad Link: Is Israel Venting Its Fury for France's Recognition of a Palestinian State?"  although the offending item was quickly removed by an editor at the publication.'

Because for some people Israel is always to blame.

Yet no Christian fundamentalists have killed anyone because of it.

 

Piss Christ is a 1987 photograph by the American artist and photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine.

One of the fundamental symbols of Christianity displayed in a container of urine and yet no Christian fundamentalists have killed anyone.

Is this the difference between insulting Christianity and Islam?

The Charlie Hebdo massacre - How the West will respond

Yesterday I read this Breitbart article by James Delingpole. It was highly prescient as pont after point became reality. Of course that was predictable as the West and it's dhimmified media are entirely predictable. Here's three James Delingpole's predictions that have already come true:

'2. Politicians, police chiefs and mainstream media reports will urge restraint over what is clearly an inexplicable rogue incident which may have nothing whatsoever to do with the Religion of Peace.

4. Liberal commentators will take pains to draw a distinction between Islamism and Islam, noting that the former is a malign perversion of the latter which (apparently) explicitly forbids the murder of innocents.
5. Warming to this theme – and once the bodies are sufficiently cold, so as not to offend anyone’s good taste – one or two braver liberal commentators will suggest that while, of course, they wholly condemn all such acts of violence, it’s nevertheless the case that one or two of Charlie Hebdo’s editorials and cartoons could be quite needlessly provocative and that their contribution to the current climate of Islamophobia may have been responsible for heightening religious tensions in the broader culture. There have to be limits to free speech, after all. You can’t shout fire in a crowded theatre.'

And here's one that I fully expect to come true before the weekend is over:

'7. On a BBC youth debate programme the audience will be canvassed as to their views on the cause of the increased tensions. To a man – and regardless of whether or not they are themselves Muslim – they will blame only two factors: “foreign policy” and “Islamophobia.” A young, attractive, female Muslim on the panel will win massive applause from the audience by dissociating herself and her co-religionists from the actions of the killers, explaining that though they may have thought they were acting in the name of Islam they weren’t, actually, because they just weren’t. So that’s OK then.'

French police name Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects per BBC News

This BBC report on the latest Islamist Jihadi terrorist attack on a European city does manage to include the sentence:

'The gunmen were heard shouting "we have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Great" in Arabic ("Allahu Akbar").'

However they precede that sentence with this one:

'The magazine has angered some Muslims in the past by printing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The offices were firebombed in 2011.'

Why do the BBC and others insist on writing 'the Prophet Muhammad'? I would accept them saying the Islamic Prophet Muhammad but he's not the prophet of non Muslims. 

The BBC don't prefix any mention of Jesus with Lord, Saviour and son of God, do they. 

Ah but then I've heard some dhimmi BBC idiot explain that they say 'the Prophet Muhammad' to differentiate from all the other people who are named Muhammad. This is bullshit, first because from the context people should be able to spot whether the Islamic Prophet Muhammad is being referred to or some other Muhammad. Secondly because the BBC don't use the same logic re the many people in the Spanish speaking world whose first name is Jesus. 

The BBC writing the Prophet Muhammad are just exhibiting a cultural cringe and the next step would be to add pbuh in brackets after each mention.

Labour plans were 'ill-conceived and misguided' during financial crisis

The Telegraph reports that:

' Bank of England meeting minutes reveal officials' concerns about Gordon Brown's plans to solve 

banking crisis

The Labour government put the financial recovery at risk by rushing through new laws despite the Bank of England warning they were 'ill-conceived and misguided', newly-released documents reveal.

Minutes from meetings held by the Bank's directors at the height of the financial crisis from 2007 to 2009 have been published for the first time.

The minutes reveal tensions between the government, the Bank and the Financial Services Authority, as they battled to stop the British economy collapsing.

Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown, then Chancellor and Prime Minister, claimed credit for saving the banking system, but the minutes reveal serious concerns over Labour's strategy at the Bank of England.'

Somehow I think it unlikely that the BBC will report this in any detail, if at all. The BBC is after all little more than Labour's propaganda arm.

"I'm sure my petrol filler cap was on this side of the car"

One lady driver has a problem with parking with her filler cap on the right side at the petrol pump. Spacial awareness issue?

By the way did you know that on most fuel indicators there's a little arrow pointing to the side that the filler cap is on? Very useful when driving a hire car.

Rik Mayall gone but not forgotten

There was a great documentary on the BBC tonight, watch it if you can. This was the end song....

"cos I'm evil and my middle name is Jeremy"

Rik Mayall singing 'Evil' in the big top in Nether Wallop at a big charity gig. It is with Jools Holland's Big Band featuring Bill Wyman, Jools on piano and a bizarre appearence from John Otway on guitar.

The main headline on the BBC early evening news, why?

The main headline on the BBC early evening news on New Year's Day was that - Three Egyptian journalists will get a retrial. 

Why is that the most important news story for the BBC? 

Is it anything to do with the BBC's obsession with promoting the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamism?

HarperCollins omits Israel from school atlas

The Telegraph reports that Harper Collins omitted Israel from a map with this explanation...

'...  Collins Bartholomew, the subsidiary of HarperCollins that specialises in maps, said that including Israel would have been "unacceptable" to their customers in the Gulf and the amendment incorporated "local preferences".'

Well they are correct because to a vast number of Muslims in the Middle East, and beyond, Israel's presence is "unacceptable" and their preference would be for Israel not to exist and for no Jews to pollute 'Muslim land'.

HarperCollins's decision to willingly pander to Islamic anti Semitism stinks and I wonder if a Jewish and other right-minded people's boycott of HarperCollins publications is in order... Hit the company where it hurts, in their bank account.

Polygamy in the UK - the benefits (system)

Polygamy in the United Kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Polygamous marriages may not be performed in the United Kingdom, and if a polygamous marriage is performed, the already-married person may be guilty of the crime of bigamy.

Polygamous marriages legally performed in another country where the law allows it are not recognized for pension, immigration or citizenship purposes.^[1] However, they may be recognized for the purposes of welfare benefits. This decision was not made without controversy, and there have been protests against it.^[2] None the less, it is unofficially believed that there are up to 20,000 polygamous marriages in the Muslim community of the U.K. ^[3]

No comment necessary

You are not the centre of the universe

You are not the centre of the universe.


One of those mindbending videos about space...

The strangest extract from a news report that I've read in a long while

The Scotsman's report  on the Glasgow bin lorry incident contains these lines:

'THE identity of the driver of the bin lorry that killed six people when it crashed in Glasgow city centre will be protected indefinitely, the local authority has said.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council, which owns the bin lorry involved in the George Square tragedy, said it would “never release the names” of the driver or other two individuals who were in the cabin when it crashed.'

I don't ever recall such an action being taken before, can you? Is it legal? What happens at any subsequent inquest? What is the reason for this action?

Can you spot the missing word in this Daily Express headline? 'The majority of Brits now support an EU exit - so why no referendum?'

'The majority of Brits now support an EU exit - so why no referendum?'

The missing word is "that's" and it should be placed between "so" and "why". Thus the headline should properly read:

'The majority of Brits now support an EU exit - so that's why no referendum?'

The Daily Express article is here.

Hamas prevents Gaza orphans visiting Israel - BBC News manage a not totally anti Israel piece!

This BBC article on Gaza, Hamas and Israel manages some straight reporting, but also the usual sly anti Israel line. 

I haven't done a fisking of a piece for a while but since I have 5 minutes...

'Thirty-seven children whose parents were killed in the recent Israel-Gaza conflict have been prevented by Hamas from visiting Israel on a trip organised by peace activists.

Hamas said they would have had to visit "settlements and occupied towns".'

No interest from the BBC as to what towns Hamas might consider 'occupied'. This leaves the casual reader with the impression that occupied means what the BBC line is, post 1948. In reality Hamas would call occupied any part of Israel. 

'The children, aged between 12 and 15 and accompanied by five adults, were turned back at the Erez crossing.

More than 2,100 people, mostly Palestinians, died in the 50-day July-August conflict, the UN said.

Israel said 67 of its troops and six civilians died.'

I'm not sure why the latest conflict's death toll is relevant but no others but still.  

What's more interesting is that the Palestinian figures are quoted as per the United Nations, which sounds independent but in reality the United Nations gets its figures from the Palestinian authorities, which in Gaza means Hamas. Meanwhile the Israeli causality figures are as per Israel.

'The visit, organised by kibbutz leaders, the charity Candle for Peace and Arab-Israeli officials, would have taken the children to Arab towns in Israel, southern areas targeted by militants' rockets in the 

conflict, a mixed-race school and the beach in Tel Aviv.'

A mixed race school in Israel? But surely Israel is an apartheid state, or is that just a lie?

'A visit to Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to meet the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also planned, according to Yoel Marshak of the Kibbutz Movement.'

Is the West Bank occupied? Really?

'The week-long trip had been approved by the Israeli security service.

But Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, said the cancellation was justified to protect children from "the politics of normalisation" with Israel.'

Normalisation being contrary to the Hamas policy of creating as much hatred of Israel and Jews as possible, including by demonising Israelis and Jews in television programmes and other media aimed at children. 

'Spokesman Eyad Bozum said Hamas would ensure such a trip "will never happen again".

Three weeks ago, Hamas too had given approval for the visit, Mr Marshak, said, expressing surprise that it was blocked.

Charity for Peace director Malek Freij told Reuters news agency: "They thought that Israel wants to exploit these children, and that's a mistake."'

I'm not sure how or why Hamas approved this trip, must have been a mistake. I wonder how the culprit has been punished. 

'Hamas refuses to recognise Israel, which it sees as occupying Palestinian land, and under its charter is committed to Israel's destruction.'

Well that's true and rarely pointed out by the institutionally anti Israel BBC. Shame it's so far down the report.

'Several nations, including Israel and the United States, count Hamas as a terrorist organisation due to its long record of attacks and its refusal to renounce violence.'

Subtext here is that 'But we, the BBC, disagree with this and consider Hamas to be freedom fighters. 

'The most recent Gaza conflict flared after tensions rose between Israel and Palestinian militants.'

True but why did tensions rise? Was it because Hamas was firing rockets at Israel for years?

'Hamas fired thousands of rockets and mortars towards Israel during the 50-day conflict this summer. Israel carried out an aerial bombing campaign and a ground invasion.'

A more truthful version of that last paragraph would read.

'Hamas fired thousands of rockets and mortars towards Israel during the months leading up to Israel finally responding. Following these attacks, Israel responded by carrying out a targeted aerial bombing campaign and a ground invasion which made every effort to minimise civilian casualties, a policy that was made harder by Hamas firing rockets from civilian areas contrary to the Geneva Convention.'

Miley Cyrus goes topless in sultry bedroom snap as she hits out at censorship on Instagram - Daily Mail obviously don't do irony

This Daily Mail article includes this line:

'Free The Nipple is an equality movement that's meant to empower women across the world, against female oppression and censorship, as many states still have laws against public toplessness.'

The photos of Miley Cyrus that accompany the article have Miley Cyrus's nipples obscured or airbrushed out... Hmmmm The Daily Mail obviously don't do irony.

If Joseph and Mary tried to reach Bethlehem today...

Every year people start articles with the line 'If Joseph and Mary tried to reach Bethlehem today...'  What follows is usually some article full of lies and at best half truths that is designed to raise the hatred of Israel and thus Jews. 

This year The Washington Post fisked one such article rather well. Have a read and keep it on file for next year... 

Here's a brief extract: 

'... since Joseph and Mary were Judeans, i.e., Jews, from Nazareth, they wouldn’t need to be afraid of Israeli roadblocks needed to combat Palestinian terrorism, but of being murdered by terrorists from Hamas or Fatah.'

Merry Christmas to all my friends

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

New Year's Eve destruction in France

Over New Year 2012/13 there were 1,193 vehicles torched across France.

Over New Year 2013/14 there were 1,067 vehicles torched across France.

What do we think for this New Year? Higher or lower? Or have a proportion of the little tinkers moved on from vehicle burning to driving vehicles into innocent shoppers?

Crusades vs Jihad in European, Middle East and North African history

How many times Muslims invaded Europe vs Christians invading the Middle East 

 Not quite the way that the BBC and other politically correct fools portray this part of history, is it.

Jordan is Palestinian - Mudar Zahran knows this to be tryetrue

Jordan is Palestinian per Palestinian Mudar Zahran interview

 

Maybe such as Jeremy Al Bowen, Lyse Doucet, Jon Donnison should watch that video, they might learn something.

The economics of the madhouse from Watts Up With That?

Watts Up With That have a wonderful piece by Christopher Monckton that you should read in full, here's an extract... 

'Typical gasoline-powered auto engines are approximately 27% efficient. Typical fossil-fueled generating stations are 50% efficient, transmission to end user is 67% efficient, battery charging is 90% efficient and the auto's electric motor is 90% efficient, so that the fuel efficiency of an electric car is also 27%. However, the electric car requires 30% more power per mile traveled to move the mass of its batteries.CO2 emissions from domestic transport account for 24% of UK CO2 emissions, and cars, vans, and taxis represent 90% of road transport (DfT, 2013). Assuming 80% of fuel use is by these autos, they account for 19.2% of UK CO2 emissions. Conversion to electric power, 61% of which is generated by fossil fuels in the UK, would abate 39% of 19.2% (i.e. 7.5%) of UK CO2 emissions 

However, the battery-weight penalty would be 30% of 19.2% of 61%: i.e. 3.5% of UK CO2 emissions. The net saving from converting all UK cars, vans, and taxis to electricity, therefore, would be 4% of UK CO2 emissions, which are 1.72% of global CO2 emissions, abating 0.07% of global CO2 emissions of 2 ppmv yr–1, or 0.00138 ppmv. Assuming 400 μatm concentration at year end on business as usual, forcing abated by the subsidy for converting all UK cars to electricity would be 5.35 ln[400/(400-0.00138)], or 0.00002 W m–2, which, multiplied by the Planck parameter λ0 = 0.31 K W–1 m2, gives 0.000006 K warming abated by the subsidy.

The cost to the UK taxpayer of subsidizing the 30,000 electric cars, vans, and taxis bought in 2012 was a flat-rate subsidy of $8333 (£5000) for each vehicle and a further subsidy of about $350 (£210) per year in vehicle excise tax remitted, a total of $260.5 million. On that basis, the cost of subsidizing all 2,250,000 new autos sold each year (SMMT, 2013), would be $19.54 bn.Though the longevity of electric autos is 50% greater than that of internal-combustion autos, the advantage is more than canceled by the very large cost of total battery replacement every few years. No allowance for this extra cost is made. Likewise, the considerable cost of using renewable energy to bring down the UK's fossil-fueled generation fraction from the global mean 67% to 61% is not taken into account, though, strictly speaking, an appropriate share of the cost of "renewable" electricity generation should be assigned to electric vehicles.

Dividing the $19 bn annual cost by the warming abated gives a unit abatement cost of $3400 tn K–1. Abating the 0.013 K projected warming over the study period by global methods of equivalent unit cost would thus cost $45 tn, or approaching $6500 a year per head of global population, or almost two-thirds of $71 tn global annual GDP.'

The BBC come close to an epiphany over the French attacks on pedestrians

The BBC report report this morning on the third recent vehicular attack on pedestrians in France includes this line:

'Also, even if it is established the car attacks were the work of unbalanced individuals, might not Islamist propaganda have played some role in pushing them to the act?'

The BBC get close to the truth but will not investigate what the source of this Islamist propaganda might be...

Joe Cocker R.I.P.

Joe Cocker has died: what a man, what a voice, what a loss...

Here's his 1969 Woodstock performance of With A Little Help from My Friends

Top 10 Worst U.N. Decisions Of 2014

http://www.buzzfeed.com/unwatch/top-10-worst-un-decisions-of-2014-16hdk?sub=3543930_4535524&s=mobile#4535524

Israel launches Gaza air strike on 'Hamas target' per BBC News

This BBC article http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30558922 is so blatant in its anti Israel structure that I can't even be bothered to fisk it. Have a look for yourself.

Words fail me... Ponytails can just fall off? Why would a footballer wear a fake ponytail?

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos_h264high/030E8C0C401157099804770373632_SW_WEBM_1418848294830e451f2cba6.mp4?versionId=Z3WQNAJjf6Z3IvcZrCMuq6CosF2omv1l

Happy Channukah / Hannukah / Channukah... How should one spell the name of this Jewish festival?

How should one spell the name of the Jewish festival of Hannukah / Channukah etc.?

Here are some helpful hints...

Clear now?

Sara X goes classical but still uses her breasts (vaguely NSFW)

This time Sara X Mills accompanies Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. I think Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have approved!

Women sold as sex slaves in Islamic State markets, says UN official

JPost reports reports that:

'The situation for Syrian women has worsened since July at the hands of Islamic State, said Valerie Amos, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.

She described how women and female children as young as 12 are enslaved and sexually abused. "Women captured as slaves by [Islamic State] have been sold in markets in Raqqa. Some are sold to individual men. Others are kept by [Islamic State] in rest houses and face multiple rapes by fighters returning from the battlefield," Amos reported during a UN Security Council session on Monday.

"Kurdish refugees from Kobani reported the capture of young girls by [Islamic State] for sexual purposes, girls as young as 12."'

The BBC are less keen to report such news, after there's Israel to vilify.

A Christmas carol reimagined (vaguely NSFW)

Sara X Mills plays Jingle Bells in an interesting manner.

Musical breasts, whatever will they think of next!

Fatboy Slim on the making of his hit single 'Rockafeller Skank'

A great track and an interesting video from Bose that gives some insight into the creation of Norman Cook aka Fat Boy Slim's masterpiece Rockafeller Skank.

Ed Milliband repeats himself, over and over again

An oldie but a goodie. 

If this had been a Conservative leader the BBC would show parts of this again and again, as they still do occasionally with John Redwood's singing of the Welsh natioal anthem. But as it's the Labour leader, shhhhhh

Bruce Grobbelaar misses the better joke!

The BBC report the ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar as saying about the dropped Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet:

'He doesn't command his area," the 57-year-old Grobbelaar told BBC World Service Sport."I've likened Mignolet to worse than Dracula because at least Dracula comes out of his coffin now and then.

He seems to stay on his line and that's it. That whole area, not just the six-yard area, is the goalkeeper's.'

Surely the funnier Dracular reference relates to someone's inability to deal with crosses...

How Greenpeace Wrecked One of the Most Sacred Places in the Americas

"This has been done without any respect for our laws," Peru's deputy minister for culture Luis Jaime Castillo told the press, calling Greenpeace's actions "thoughtless, insensitive, illegal, irresponsible and absolutely pre-meditated." 

He explained further: "It was done in the middle of the night. They went ahead and stepped on our hummingbird, and looking at the pictures we can see there's very severe damage. Nobody can go on these lines without permission—not even the president of Peru!"

Greenpeace are apparently sorry, big deal. They've done major, maybe irreparable damage to part of the Nazca and should face appropriate retribution. The Greenpeace people that I've encountered have been so self-righteous and convinced of their moral superiority that I can well imagine them doing something like this and then whining 'But I'm trying to save the planet, why are you stopping me?'

More here http://gizmodo.com/how-greenpeace-wrecked-one-of-the-most-sacred-places-in-1669873583 but probably not on the eco warriors favourite news organisation, the BBC. For Greenpeace are heroes to the BBC and it's politically correct brigade of 'journalists'.

Michele Bachmann Cornered Obama At The White House Party And Said ONE Incredible Thing To Him

'"I turned to the president and I said, something to the effect of, 'Mr. President, you need to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities, because if you don't, Iran will have a nuclear weapon on your watch and the course of world history will change,'" she told the Washington Free Beacon.

"And he got his condescending smile on his face and laughed at me and said, 'Well Michele, it's just not that easy.' And I said to him, 'No, Mr. President, you're the president, it will happen on your watch, and you'll have to answer to the world for this.' And that was it and then I left. Merry Christmas," she said with a laugh.'

Read more at Young Conservatives

Nigel Farage on Russell Brand after Question Time

'... my take on Russell Brand. The leader of the revolution. The messiah of hipster, new media. The doyen of stock statements and half-funny jokes. 

Well I'll tell you what I found out tonight: the messiah has feet of clay, and the revolution is not occurring on Mr Brand's side – it's happening with UKIP, and it's happening fast."'

More here at Huffington Post

Airline Boss Sorry Over Daughter's Nut Row but better than British Airways

As reported by Sky http://news.sky.com/story/1390559/airline-boss-sorry-over-daughters-nut-row

'Korean Air's Chairman Cho Yang-ho told reporters the 40-year-old's behaviour was "foolish" and that he regrets he did not raise her better.

The row happened after Cho Hyun-ah, who was travelling in first class, was offered macadamia nuts in a bag and not on a plate.'

British Airways don't even serve Macadamia nuts any more.

“I don’t need to consult a folder to tell you what I believe in”

Thurrock's Tim Aker MEP takes Labour's Westminster Candidate and former Ed Miliband aide, Polly Billington, to task on the NHS during a debate at a local college in Thurrock.



“I don’t need to consult a folder to tell you what I believe in” and an attack on Labour's PFI record, I like the cut of Tim Aker's jib. Whilst Polly Billington seems to be just another Labour machine politician who would rather make a fool of herself looking up what the current party line is rather than risk saying something off-message.

Hospital face pressures as winter hits - health leaders - BBC News

The BBC once again manage to report on the pressures faced by the NHS, without exploring why demand is rising. 

There's a few lines that hint at rising demand but that's all:

'"While the NHS is used to seeing a spike in demand during winter months, this year emergency departments have experienced a spring, summer and autumn crisis as well, leaving no spare capacity in hospitals as we approach winter."

At the same time, GP surgeries are struggling to cope with unprecedented levels of demand."'

Now why might demand be unprecedented? 

Could one factor be that the massive rise in immigration since 1997 has led to an increase in demand for the NHS's services? 

You might think that, rest assured that the BBC won't even ask that question. For to do so would, in their eyes, be racist.

Ed Miliband fails to count to... 8

The Telegraph reports that Ed Miliband seems incapable of counting to 8.

' Labour leader Ed Miliband failed a challenge to come up with an eight-word election slogan, even after using his fingers.

...

The slogan the Labour leader chose "a country that works for you, not the privileged few" ran to 10 words, exceeding his budget by a quarter.

...

Asked for a one-line message to put on a billboard in Piccadilly Circus by Andrew Morley, the chief executive of advertising firm Clear Channel, Mr Miliband responded "how many words do I have?"

Mr Morley told him: "Let's say eight."

The Labour leader said "eight?", then counted on his fingers before deciding: "What I would say is 'a country that works for you, not the privileged few'."'

If this had been a Conservative or UKIP politician then the BBC would be all over this story and the BBC's tame satirists would be revving up their quips. 

However as this is the leader of the Labour Party I confidently predict there will be not a word about this on the Labour Party supporting BBC.

Birmingham City Council hid links between Asian cabbies and child sex victims for 23 years - Birmingham Mail

The Birmingham Mail reports http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-city-council-hid-links-8131813 something most worrying.

'Birmingham City Council 'buried' a report linking Asian private hire drivers to child sexual exploitation victims 23 YEARS ago, the Mail can reveal.

Researcher Dr Jill Jesson was asked by the authority to look at the issue of child prostitution involving girls in care back in 1990.

The following year, after six months research, she produced a critical two-part report which showed child protection failings by social workers and other agencies.

Her report also highlighted claims that some Asian private hire drivers were linked to the sexual exploitation of young white girls in care, including some who had been cautioned for prostitution offences.

Yet when Dr Jesson presented her draft findings to a steering group, she was ordered to remove all reference linking ethnicity and the private hire trade.

Incredibly, her full amended final report was never published. A meeting planned to discuss it was cancelled – and all copies were to be destroyed.'

Will anybody from that Council face censure? Will anybody learn that political correctness causes more problems than it solves?

The BBC censoring the words Muslim and Islam even from this report

The BBC report this morning on the results of a study into the extent of Jihadist violence in November 2014. Do read the whole article and note how the word Muslim doesn't appear at all, nor the word Islam. The word Islamic appears only in the context of Islamic State and Mosque only in the context of victims.

Here's how this mealy mouthed piece starts:

'More than 5,000 people worldwide died in November as a result of jihadist violence, a BBC study has revealed.

The four worst-affected countries were Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Syria, accounting for 80% of all deaths.

The investigation - co-ordinated with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) - recorded a total of 664 attacks in 14 countries.

It aims to quantify the human cost of jihadi violence in one month, and to offer a snapshot of a complex movement.

The investigation showed that nearly seven people died every hour in November as a result of violence attributed to al-Qaeda, its offshoots and groups that subscribe to a similar ideology.'

'a similar ideology'? But what is that ideology? I believe that the subscribers to that ideology would call themselves Muslims and state that they were following the ideology of Islam. The BBC, it would appear, know better.

The BBC once again doing their best to protect their Labour friends (part 2)

In amongst all of the BBC's almost hysterical coverage of the NHS's 'privatisation' there seems to be one factor missing, PFI. I haven't heard or seen a mention. The left-of-centre New Statesman manages to report that:

'To save the NHS, Labour must face the ugly truth of PFI debts

 

Labour is right to focus on rescuing the NHS from the harm done by this government, but must face the truth that it was the party that introduced private finance into the health service in the first place. 

 

...

 

...if Miliband is serious about rescuing the NHS, there is an ugly truth to face. The NHS is riddled with extortionate debt from decades of misguided PFI deals. NHS hospitals owe £80bn in PFI loan unitary charges – in other words, the ongoing costs of maintaining PFI hospitals and paying back the loans. Next year alone, trusts will make some £2bn in repayments.'

For more information on the scale of PFI under the last Labour government you would do well to visit NHS For Sale. Here's an interesting graphic...

I await the BBC reporting this part of the NHS story, but not with any hope.

The BBC prefer to lead with 'The NHS would be "in dire straits" without migrant workers, one of the UK's senior economists has claimed.' You can read the article here but I'm sure you could write it yourself.

The BBC once again doing their best to protect their Labour friends (part 1)

In all of the copious coverage of the CIA 'torture' claims of recent days I haven't heard or seen mention of possible British participation in or even just knowledge of these activities.

By way of contrast The Telegraph report:

'The US Torture report provides reams of uncomfortable details about the CIA’s use of torture that was authorised by the administration of George W Bush, but for Britons it leaves one key question unanswered.

What did Tony Blair, then Prime Minister, and Jack Straw, then Foreign Secretary, know of a CIA torture programme that was sanctioned at the very highest levels of the US government? And to what extent were they complicit in giving UK assistance to US operations?

More than a decade after 9/11 the British government has yet to conduct a full inquiry into the UK role in the US torture and rendition programme.

The Gibson Inquiry, set up by the coalition government in 2010 to investigate the issue, was shelved in January 2012 when compelling new evidence emerged that MI6 had been involved in the rendition of two suspected terrorists to Libya in 2004.

An ongoing Scotland Yard investigation into the renditions of Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Sami al-Saadi and a civil claim for compensation in which Jack Straw was named as a respondent rendered the

Gibson Inquiry untenable since it risked prejudicing those proceedings.
However intelligence sources who spoke to The Telegraph earlier this year alleged that both Mr Blair and Mr Straw knew in detail about the CIA’s secret programme after the September 11 attacks and were kept informed “every step of the way”.' 

Interesting, but clearly not to the BBC.

But that's The Telegraph, ostensibly a Conservative supporting newspaper. Why should the BBC follow their lead?

How about The BBC's favourite newspaper, The Guardian? In 2012 that newspaper reported that:

'Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, and Sir Mark Allen, a former senior MI6 officer, have been cited as key defendants in court documents that describe in detail abuse meted out to Libyan dissidents and their families after being abducted and handed to Muammar Gaddafi's secret police with the help of British intelligence.

The documents accuse Straw of misleading MPs about Britain's role in the rendition of two leading dissidents – Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Sami al-Saadi – and say MI6 must have known they risked being tortured. They say British intelligence officers provided Libyan interrogators with questions to ask their captives and themselves flew to Tripoli to interview the detainees in jail.'

Now The Guardian is a Labour (or other left-of-centre party) supporting paper, is the BBC more loyal to Labour than the BBC?

Giles Coren disses chocolate

Giles Coren disses chocolate in his latest  Time Out column

'... let's face it, chocolate is pointless, containing mere calories without nutrition, coveted by fat idiots the world over thanks to a centuries-old marketing campaign that has succeeded in linking it, quite randomly, with sex.

...

... the sugar rush that passes for pleasure in people who are too fat to have actual sex. And after the rush, the body's chemical response: secretion. Chocolate doesn't make you sexy, it makes you obese. 

And it makes all your teeth fall out. And it's time we stopped telling lies about it.'

Hmmmm pass me the 70% cocoa content, single Estate...

Australia worst performer on climate change - report - BBC News

The BBC headline this report thus:

'Australia worst performer on climate change'

Then there's a picture of Sydney under a polluted sky. You have to read the caption to see that the pollution is because of 'raging fires'. Looks as though the BBC's photos are chosen to set the agenda as well as ever.

You have to read on to discover that Australia was the worst performing industrial country in terms of climate change and that the bottom country on the list was in fact Saudi Arabia.

The BBC's hatred of governments that aren't of the right type means that Australia is ripe for attack, how dare Tony Abbott express doubts over the Religion of Climate Change? Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is beyond criticism as the home of Islamism.

As an addendum, how can Saudi Arabia not be classified as an industrialised nation? It's the 19th largest economy in the world and according to the latest figures I could find its economy is split agriculture: 3.2%, industry: 60.4%, services: 36.4%. It's an economy built on a sea of oil, it's not some sort of agrarian paradise.