“We have been instructed by our superior not to stop hecklers, and if you try to stop the hecklers, we have been instructed to close down the program.”

Here's some video for you

'Anti-Israel hatred at the University of California-Davis last night (2/27/12) at a presentation by two Israelis sponsored by the campus Chabad club and the local chapter of StandWithUs (SWU).'

For more context take a read of this Jihad Watch article.

Davy Jones RIP

Davy Jones the Manchester-born lead singer with The Monkees has died aged 66, his music will live on...


'Daydream Believer'


'Last Train to Clarksville'

Davey Jones the man responsible for David Bowie being David Bowie, look it up, you will be sorely missed.

The only constant are that we should be afraid, do as we are told and pay more taxes

Yesterday the BBC informed us that:

'The progressive shrinking of Arctic sea ice is bringing colder, snowier winters to the UK and other areas of Europe, North America and China, a study shows.As global temperatures have risen, the area of Arctic Ocean covered by ice in summer and autumn has been falling. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a US/China-based team show this affects the jet stream and brings cold, snowy weather.'

The BBC's warmist evangelist Richard Black is happy to spread the fear.

As I wrote just three weeks ago, in 2000 The Independent newspaper was reporting as fact that:

'Britain's winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives.

Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain's culture, as warmer winters - which scientists are attributing to global climate change - produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries.

The first two months of 2000 were virtually free of significant snowfall in much of lowland Britain, and December brought only moderate snowfall in the South-east. It is the continuation of a trend that has been increasingly visible in the past 15 years: in the south of England, for instance, from 1970 to 1995 snow and sleet fell for an average of 3.7 days, while from 1988 to 1995 the average was 0.7 days. London's last substantial snowfall was in February 1991.

...

However, the warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers. According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".

"Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said.

...

David Parker, at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Berkshire, says ultimately, British children could have only virtual experience of snow. Via the internet, they might wonder at polar scenes - or eventually "feel" virtual cold.'

The same certainty on display there as the climate 'experts' tell us what they know will happen, except they were wrong. Britain and elsewhere have had three snowy winters on the trot. Have we had an apology from Dr David Viner or David Parker? Somehow I doubt it.

Why should we believe experts in 2012 who tell us one thing when we were told almost the opposite with just as much certainty in 2000. The only constants are that we should be afraid, do as the 'experts' tell us and above all pay more taxes.

"We cannot possibly let Greece go because if she leaves the Euro other countries will want to follow and that will be the end of our European project"

According to Nigel Farage the above were the words of Chancellor Angela Merkel, here's Nigel...

Plenty more in the speech about democracy in the EUSSR, David Cameron's broken promise and so on.

Dear President Karzai

In advance of the first serious challenge for England's Rugby team this season

If you don't understand that one then you shouldn't be watching the match.

Mrs NotaSheep will be sitting alongside me watching the match, she gets into most sport and worryingly becomes expert very quickly - keeps me on my toes...

I am intelligent... If this is a measure of intelligence...

Take this quiz from The Intercollegiate Studies Institute

'Full Civic Literacy Exam (from our 2008 survey)
Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.'

I hate to blow my own trumpet but here's my score...

How did you do?

The one hundred and sixtieth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

I read that the IAEA has reported that it cannot 'conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities'.

"No shit, Sherlocks"

Friends to Wanderlust

I found myself watching an old episode of Friends, the one where Rachel and Joey try to get it on (and Ross gets a tanning overdose) and two things struck me...

Jennifer Aniston's nipples, quite popular on the internet I believe...

Now remember what I wrote in 2010:

'It seems that Jennifer Aniston is hoping to try and improve her box office figures by appearing topless in her new film Wanderlust. In fact the role calls for her to strip off for the first time in her acting career. Apparently Jennifer Aniston's character also indulges in a threesome with two other women and sleeps around with numerous men.'

Well the film is nearly here, so here's the trailer...

The BBC making their positon clear

It's all in the punctuation... From this piece of BBC reporting on the IAEA inspectors in Iran comes this line:

'In November, an IAEA report - based on what it called "credible" information - indicated that Iran had built in 2000 a large explosives containment vessel at Parchin to conduct hydrodynamic experiments.'

Am I alone in thinking that the purpose of those speech marks is less to indicate a quotation and more to illustrate cynicism at the quality of the IAEA's information?

The whole of that BBC article beautifully illustrates BBC bias and I may well return to it later.

No further comment necesary

I have posted previously on this blog re the last Labour government's deliberate opening up of the country's borders to mass immigration and the revelations from Andrew Neather that this was to ‘rub the Right’s nose in diversity’. Today I read that Simon Heffer has written in a similar vein; I commend this piece to you. It's the sort of information that the BBC will never, ever, ever, allow to be broadcast.

The BBC's obsession with burning Korans

The BBC report, and it's all over the airwaves as well, about the Koran burning by US troops in Afghanistan. As a matter of interest have you ever noticed the BBC report on the Saudi Arabian burning of Christian Bibles that people try and bring in to that country? I would add the Jewish Bible but very few Jews would try and visit Saudi Arabia.

'But for the Jews...'

A piece that I was made aware of earlier today and that I think bears repetition...

But for the Jews Advising against It
By Berthold Brecht
 
But for the Jews advising against it;
The King of England would offer our Chancellor his Indian empire saying “Just help yourself”.
And the French Assembly has long harboured the desire to bestow the mineral resources of Lorraine on our Chancellor, whose Moustache it so admires:
Only the Jews would not allow it.
 
Until the Fuhrer told us we had no idea what a clever and powerful people the Jews were!
Though there are only a few of them scattered across the Earth’s face,
It now seems they control everything because of their genius.
 
At the sound of the softest whistle, the British Lion rolls on its back and wags its tail;
Mighty New York towering up into the Heavens fears Jewry’s frown more than any earthquake; and the Pope eats out of its hand.
 
This being so, the entire World asks itself with a shudder “What would happen to the Global Structure if the Fuhrer had chosen for his lofty purposes, not the relatively talented Germans,
But the Jews?”. 

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

This week's winner are the BBC for this Tweet from yesterday

Labour 'tax, borrow and spend' - "No shit, Sherlock"


Interestingly by this morning there was no reference to these lead-in words in the verbiage around the video, which now reads:

'Labour argues the economy needs a temporary stimulus to improve the chances of growth.

The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury explained the party would also be tough on wasteful public spending.

Rachel Reeves said her party was "ready to complete the job of deficit reduction in the next Parliament".

Jo Coburn asked her to explain how the plans were different to government policy, while Conservative MP John Redwood suggested what the Chancellor might do for jobs and growth in next month's Budget.'

I wonder when the BBC made the changes and why?

Khadar Adnan Palestinian hero

For the last week or so I have been inundated on Twitter by tweets alerting me to the plight of Khadar Adnan, the 'innocent' man being held without charge by the Israelis.

The BBC as usual have jumped on the story and their report is as unbiased as you would expect from the BBC: 318 words of which seven are given to the Israeli case against Khadar Adnan.

The aforementioned tweeters have been telling me that Khadar Adnan is not a terrorist or leading member of the terrorist organisation Islamic Jihad but an innocent baker. Here's that innocent baker giving out bread recipes...

Thinking of voting for Ken Livingstone as London Mayor? Are you a woman, a homosexual or Jewish (or any combination)?

Still thinking of voting for Ken Livingstone?

How about a reciprocal arrangement?

The South-East of England faces a drought and we are told that building the infrastruscture to transfer water from the wetter North of England to the drier South would be too expensive. It's odd how Central government (and the Water industry) are happy for the North to keep their water and leave the South-East without but same Government insists on transferring more massive sums of money from workers in the South-East to benefits claimants in the North.

My other thought on this matter was that I wonder how much of the water shortage is due to the increased population in the South-East of England? If the last Labour government had not deliberately increased immigration to the detriment of the job prospects of existing Britons would we also not have a water shortage? 

Anti-Semitism and hatred on the stage at the English National Opera

Anybody who doubts that anti-Semitism is rife in Britain should read this piece from The Telegraph. Words fail me so here's an extract from The Telegraph article:

'Now, the English National Opera (ENO) is to risk public protests with a new production of The Death of Klinghoffer, based on the murder of a disabled Jewish tourist during the hijacking of a cruise ship by Palestinian militants.

Jewish groups have accused ENO of “giving a voice to terrorism” and have threatened to mount protests after the company’s decision to stage the rarely-performed work, which the opera company itself says will “shock”.

Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old American, was celebrating his wedding anniversary in October 1985 aboard the Achille Lauro, when he was shot twice and thrown overboard in his wheelchair during the ship’s hijacking off the Egyptian coast by members of the Palestinian Liberation Front.

 But the company has defended its decision to press ahead with the production, despite several requests to cancel the opera.

John Berry, ENO’s artistic director, said: “One cannot shy away from the fact that this was the most brutal of terrorist attacks, and nor does the production, but the purpose of art is often to shock and challenge audiences. The story is handled with sensitivity and gives an even-handed portrayal of those on both sides of the conflict.” '

Let's pause for a moment there;  'an even-handed portrayal of those on both sides of the conflict'. Oh how modern and sensitive of you, even-handed between an innocent Jewish wheelchair bound man and the terrorists who shot him in cold blood and threw him off a  cruise ship. Even-handed?

'Written by John Adams, the American composer, with a libretto by Alice Goodman, The Death of Klinghoffer opened in Brussels in 1991 and was met with protests and criticism for being sympathetic to the terrorists’ cause.

Both Glyndebourne and the Los Angeles Opera subsequently cancelled their scheduled performances and a 1992 production in San Francisco was disrupted by protests. The opera has been widely avoided since.

Mr Klinghoffer’s two daughters, Lisa and Ilsa, attended a New York production of the opera in 1991, which they described as “appalling” and “anti-Semitic”.

Last night, Ilsa told The Sunday Telegraph: “What we find most offensive is our feeling that the opera attempts to rationalise the murder of our father by presenting the hijackers as poetic and romantic valiant freedom fighters, when they were nothing more than terrorist thugs.”

Lisa added: “The murder of our father is still our nightmare, and not something to be used as a tool to provide entertainment and make political statements.”

Previous productions of the opera have depicted Mr Klinghoffer’s murder off-stage, but ENO’s version will show him being shot on stage.'

Hey it's only an old disabled Jew being shot, why hide the killing? I am getting increasingly riled by the ENO.

'The opera also includes an Aria of the Falling Body, sung by Mr Klinghoffer’s dead body as he is thrown overboard.

The production is the opera directing debut of Tom Morris, the artistic director of the Bristol Old Vic theatre. Mr Morris co-directed the successful stage adaptation of War Horse and produced the controversial West End musical Jerry Springer: The Opera.'

So Tom Morros has attacked some of the central tenets of Christianity and now is producing a piece that  makes light of the murder of an old Jewish man. Will he be turning his edgy skills towards Islam next? A comic opera based on the life of Muhammad perhaps. What edgy humour he could have with Muhammad marrying a seven year old but having to wait until she is nine before consummating the marriage. What a song of longing could be sung by the tenor portraying Mohammad and what an opportunity for a young opera singer to make her name with the haunting aria 'That bloody hurts, I'm only a child you know' .

'“This is a drama about conflict and of course, it articulates both sides of the conflict,” he said. “It does not romanticise the hijackers at all but it does allow them to express what thoughts or feelings might motivate them. The idea that it should not be put on because anyone might disagree with what the characters say is ridiculous.”'

What side of the conflict was  Leon Klinghoffer on? He was a 69-year-old American, celebrating his wedding anniversary on a cruise. Do all Jews have to choose sides in the Middle East conflict? If so I choose the side of life and democracy over that of hatred and murder. I choose facts over lies. I choose those who love life, over those who love death. I choose Israel over the Palestinians.

'Vivian Wineman, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “No one should lose sight of the fact that an innocent, disabled, elderly passenger was murdered in cold blood and thrown into the sea for no reason other than the fact that he was Jewish. No amount of artistic licence should excuse or obfuscate that simple fact.”

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach described the ENO’s production as “morally reprehensible” and said that he planned to stage protests with Jewish groups outside London’s Coliseum where the opera opens later this month.

Rabbi Boteach said: “The murder of Leon Klinghoffer is one of the most despicable crimes of the modern age. To have his killers celebrated on stage, singing about the murder of a man in a wheelchair, about their humanity and suffering, while presented with such artistic merit is a justification of terrorism which is morally reprehensible.

“It is extraordinary that a prestigious cultural institution would give a voice to terrorism in this way. Would the ENO dare stage an opera about the London bombings, with the perpetrators singing about why they felt aggrieved? It would be unthinkable.”

A spokesman for the Community Security Trust, which represents the Jewish community on anti-Semitic and terrorism issues, said: “The tragedy of an elderly man who was murdered in his wheelchair and thrown overboard because he was Jewish is a totally inappropriate subject for an opera.

“Terrorism against Jewish communities is a real and serious issue and we are amazed the ENO has decided to stage a new production of Klinghoffer.”'

I couldn't agree more.


 As for the librettist:

'The controversy ended the musical career of Ms Goodman, who was attacked for presenting the terrorists as complex, “rounded” characters who sing poetically.

Ms Goodman, now a Church of England priest based in Cambridegshire, said: “I did not think I would see another production of Klinghoffer by a leading opera house in my lifetime.

“People who kill and hijack do get to sing beautiful songs and the bad people in it are not entirely bad while the good people are not entirely good. It is a risk for ENO but I applaud them for sticking their head above the parapet.”'

Now a Church of England priest, I think that says a lot for the Church of England. Do they know of Alice Goodman's past writings? Do they agree with her views on the cold-blooded murder of innocent Jews?

'ENO is no stranger to controversy. Its recent production of Don Giovanni drew criticism for depicting the gang rape of a woman by a masked mob wearing T-shirts featuring the image of Jesus Christ.'

Christianity again, would the ENO put on a version of Romeo & Juliet in which Romeo is a bearded middle aged Islamic warlord and Juliet is a nine year old child? I think not.

For anyone who wonders if I might  be over-reacting, here's an extract from the 'Hijackers' Libretto'

"We are not criminals And we are not
vandals
But men of ideals."
"...wherever poor men
Are gathered they
can
Find Jews getting fat.
You know how to cheat
The simple, exploit
The virgin, pollute
Where you have exploited,
Defame those you
cheated,...
You are all wolves,
Wolves without teeth."'

 "Jews getting fat"; so what do you want? Should we bring back the concentration camps, no Jews got fat there.

Maybe the ENO could put on an opera set in Aushwitz, exploring the tensions between the concentration camp guards and the Jews they are killing; in an 'even-handed' way of course.

The BBC and their choice of words to omit from an article

The BBC report on the arrest and hunger strike of Khader Adnan in the usual fare from the BBC, a one-sided piece of pro-Palestinian propaganda. Here's the whole text of the BBC piece, reproduced complete for a reason:

'A Palestinian prisoner being held in Israel without charges or trial has begun his 10th week of a hunger strike.

Khader Adnan has not eaten since mid-December when he was arrested by Israeli forces at his West Bank home.

Doctors say that after 64 days without food the prisoner is at immediate risk of death.

Israel says he is a security threat. Its high court of justice has scheduled a petitions hearing regarding the case for Thursday.

The group Phsyicians for Human Rights said after visiting him in hospital in Israel that he had lost a third of his body weight and was shackled to his bed.

He has agreed to take glucose and mineral infusions but could die at any time, the group said. It says Mr Adnan has suffered "significant muscular atrophy".

The 33-year-old baker is being held under what Israeli law calls administrative detention, meaning he can be held without trial or charges indefinitely if he is deemed to be a security threat.

He has been told he will be held for four months, although that could be extended.

Rally staged

Earlier this week thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza and the West Bank in support of Mr Adnan, who is widely believed to be a member of the militant group Islamic Jihad.

The group has said it will retaliate if Mr Adnan dies.

He is protesting against what he says was a violent arrest as well as his detention without trial.
Israel's high court of justice granted Thursday's petitions hearing in response to a request from Mr Adnan's lawyers, who are trying to secure his release.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said she was following Mr Adnan's case with great concern.

She said prisoners had the right to be informed of any charges and to be subject to a fair trial.'

Has there been some rewriting of the piece for the only mention of Khader Adnan's membership of Islamic Jihad is in the middle of the piece but the digest of the BBC article shows this information rather higher up the article

Here are some more facts about Khader Adnan that the BBC choose not to report:
1) Islamic Jihad has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and Australia as well as Israel.

2) Islamic Jihad's avowed goal is the destruction of the state of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic state.

3) MSNBC, YNET, Associated Press, Xinhua News Agency and Bahrain Gulf Daily News all acknowledge that Khader Adnan served as a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Even The Guardian admit that he was a "one-time spokesman" for the PIJ in the past.

4) Previously the BBC have described Khader Adnan as a leader of the PIJ in the West Bank. This view has been shared by CNN and Al Jazeera and other news agencies.

5) In 2010, the Palestinian Authority arrested Khader Adnan and held him for 12 days, during which time he went on a hunger strike.

I wonder why the BBC have chosen to admit the above facts, it is almost as though they are following an anti-Israel agenda. What a shame that the Balen report has not been published, a report that no doubt clears the BBC of anti-Israel bias;l or does it?

The worst football foul ever?

Ben Thatcher on Pedro Mendes, Manchester City vs Portsmouth.

Any worse fouls than this?

labour the true 'nasty party'?

Ken Livingstone has provoked fresh controversy, after telling an audience: "Hang a banker a week until the others improve.".

Recently Ken Livingstone in an interview with the New Statesman said that the Conservative party had been "riddled" with gay people.

Ken Livingstone is using the 'jokes' defence; yes Ken very funny...

Meanwhile 'According to Labour Party sources Councillor Florence Anderson of Sunderland City Councillor has been suspended with immediate effect after Mark Wallace spotted that she had “Liked” a post on Facebook calling for the IRA to bomb the next Tory conference... It seems she has previous. In October 2010 she called for Thatcher to “burn in hell”.'


Any interest in these stories on the BBC or do they think any attack on the evil Tories is fair enough?

The regular sound of terror that the BBC does not want to report

'Uploaded by eilat100 on 20 Aug 2011

At 5:50 am this morning (Saturday 8/20/11), my wife and I were jolted out of bed by the screeching sirens being sounded all over Ashdod warning of incoming Palestinian Grad rockets from Gaza. We immediately ran down to our bomb shelter in the bottom of our house and waited. You will see darkness as we made our way downstairs, then the inside of the bomb shelter. Finally, after the siren stops, listen for the explosion. We found out later today that a Grad rocket had hit a house 300 meters away. (Pardon the quality of the video-- it was inadvertently shaky--and made with my small Canon camera). See my blog at www.israelstreet.org'

A nasty tweet came to my attention last night questioning how many Israelis had been killed by rockets fired from Gaza. I replied that the answer was very few because of the Israeli bomb shelters. Israelis have seconds to get into those bomb shelters when the siren goes off, imagine living like that...

Saturday morning catch-up

The usual story too many tabs and not enough time

1) WND reports that: 'Attacks on Christians are surging in Kenya, and analysts say Islamic radicals are putting a bull’s-eye on the community.'

2) The Telegraph have an article that I confidently predict will never feature on the BBC, it's entitled 'The Obama administration’s top 10 foolish quotes of 2011'. Here's three:

'7. The US Ambassador to Belgium blames Israel for some forms of anti-Semitism

Not to be outdone by James Clapper's ridiculous testimony, US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman sparked outrage in December with his comments suggesting Israel should shoulder the blame for some forms of anti-Semitism, remarks that even the Obama administration itself tried to disown. According to a report by Haaretz, Gutman declared:

"A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned, and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,” Gutman reportedly told those gathered, going on to argue that “…an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism."

8. Hillary Clinton calls the Mubarak regime “stable”

It’s fair to say that the Obama administration’s approach to the Middle East has been one of incompetence matched only by naïveté. From extending the hand of friendship to the Iranian regime through to a complete misreading of the situation in both Egypt and Syria, the Obama team has been out of its depth, demonstrated by Hillary Clinton’s assessment of the situation in Egypt in the final days of the Mubarak regime, given here during remarks with Spanish foreign minister Trinidad Jimenez in Washington on January 25, two weeks before Mubarak fell on February 11:

But our assessment is that the Egyptian Government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.

9. Hillary Clinton refers to Syrian dictator Assad as a “reformer”

The Secretary of State was woefully caught out as well on Syria, hesitating to forcefully condemn the brutal repression meted out by the Syrian regime against democracy protestors. Asked in March on CBS's "Face the Nation" why the US administration was adopting a far softer approach towards Bashar al-Assad compared to Colonel Gaddafi in Libya she explained that Syria was led by a “reformer”, albeit one who subsequently went on to butcher more than 3,000 people:

There’s a different leader in Syria now. Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.'

3) Seattle pi reports on a rather strange TSA related story:

'A woman who just flew back home from Las Vegas says an airport security officer confiscated her frosted cupcake because he thought the icing on it could be a security risk.'

Even Obama Girl has had enough...

In 2008 Amber Lee Ettinger became 'Obama Girl' and made headlines during the 2008 Presidential election with her scantily clad rendition the eponymous song. 2012 is a while other year and she's back with the above video, it seems as though 'Obama Girl' has changed her mind and is singing to a different tune.


Here's the original 2008 video when so many people hadn't realised how poor a President Barack Obama would become.

Dear @Tweet_Palestine (an update)

My post of yesterday did elicit some replies in the comments section. One was not the sort of comment that I publish, Tentacles please refrain from that type of insults when trying to express such sentiments on my blog. Another came, or was alleged to come, from @Tweet_Palestine. I did publish it but as not everyone reads the comments here it is in full with my response - @Tweet_Palestine has not yet responded to my questions therein:

'Anonymous Anonymous said...

this is TWEET Palestine wow it took you some time to write this post....all it would have taken you was to open the Israeli foreign ministry page to grab some of the items there which is the Israeli narrative zionist propaganda. its sad that all the things i sent you about zionist attacks even on Jews and the fact that Palestinians both Christan and Muslim are prosecuted by the Zionists did not make you at least think or rethink the narrative you have been told. once again i tell you that Palestinians have no problem with the Jewish religion both Christians and Muslims respect the religion, the problem and the conflict began with the Balfour deceleration and the zionist Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine 7 million Palestinians are currently living in exile, the rest of us suffer from the cruel occupation, which brings with it daily humiliation, discrimination, injustice and continued policies of ethnic cleansing. i hope one day you can wake up and realize before its too late what crimes have been done to the people of Palestine, as a Palestinian all that we want is to live in peace to have the right to return to our homeland the freedom and dignity and justice that all humans deserve irrespective of their religion or nationality. I think all three religions have the right to live on this land, were we are all equal. i hope you have the courage to allow this post to be put on ur blog. and good luck to you in finding peace for your self and hopefully one day you will try to accept the right of others to live in peace.
@tweet-Palestine 16 February 2012 12:25'

'Blogger Not a sheep said...

Anon/Tweet_Palestine:
You say in your comment - 'once again i tell you that Palestinians have no problem with the Jewish religion'

Have you even read my piece?
Nizar Rayan, Hamas religious and military leader, who said on 1 Jan 2009: "Regarding the Jews, our business with them is only through bombs and guns... the prophet [Muhammad] promised that we will fight you, with Allah's help, until the tree and stone say: "Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

That's Jews not Israelis, Jews. So do Hamas have a problem with Jews?


How about the excerpts from a Friday sermon in Al-Bireh, the Palestinian West Bank, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on January 6, 2012.

'Preacher: "Oh servants of Allah, every evil and catastrophe on the land of Palestine – moreover, in the whole world – is caused by the Jews.

"They generate civil strife with their clandestine handiwork, their despicable texts, their bitter hearts, and their abominable intentions.

"Allah said: 'Whenever they kindle the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it, but they strive to do mischief on earth. Allah loves not those who do mischief.' This is the history of the Jews.'

Is that exhibbitting a problem with Jews?


How about the crowd in Tunisia?
Crowd member: "Killing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Killing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Driving out the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Driving out the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Crushing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Crushing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Are those the words of people who have no problem with the Jewish religion?


The Christian population of Israel is increasing, there are Christion and Muslim MPs in Israel, how many Jewish MPs are there in Syria, Saudi Arabia or any other Muslim country?


You have managed to avoid addressing the points I have made, yet again.

Let me ask you another few questions: does Israel have a right to exist? if so, where and what should its borders be?

16 February 2012 14:13'

I will of course let you know when/if @Tweet_Palestine responds to my last comment and if he/she/they actually address my questions. It is interesting that all @Tweet_Palestine could say to my historical facts was 'wow it took you some time to write this post....all it would have taken you was to open the Israeli foreign ministry page to grab some of the items there which is the Israeli narrative zionist propaganda' Perhaps @Tweet_Palestine could explain where my historical account is flawed and incorrect, I'd be fascinated to know...


Maybe I should leave the last word to another correspondent:

'Anonymous Ed P said...

Never mind @Twat-Palestine, I've learnt a lot! An excellent, dispassionate and historically accurate summary - it's difficult to understand why anyone except a racist would find fault with Israel, surrounded as they are by unjustified & irrational hostility.

16 February 2012 11:04'

Dear @Tweet_Palestine

Over the past few weeks I have been in a Twitter conversation with @Tweet_Palestine and it has not been a pleasant experience. @Tweet_Palestine made a lot of the usual accusations about evil Israel and the poor Palestinians. @Tweet_Palestine has not really responded to any of my examples of where he/she/they is/are mistaken, so I thought I would put all of the links I posted and some others in one giant post giving the truth about the history of Israel and what Hamas and the Palestinian Authority really think about Israel and Jews.

So let's start with Israel's size and creation on Palestinian land.

Israel's very size at creation was a result of losing land. The first map below shows the land promised to Israel as the Jewish National Home in Palestine as demarcated in the December 1920 Franco-British Boundary Convention. The second map shows the borders of the Jewish National Home in Palestine after the British cut off the eastern 77% of the demarcated borders to form Trans-Jordan. Trans-Jordan, later Jordan, is the Palestinian homeland, just as Israel is the Jewish homeland.

The truth about Jordan is that it is the Palestinian State. It was set-up in 1929 on part of the land promised by the 1917 Balfour declaration for the 'establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people'. Here's another map of the Palestinian Mandate, see how it divides between what is now Israel and what is now Jordan?

So in 1946, Transjordan became an independent state under Hashemite rule. In November 1947, the United Nations proposed to partition the remaining 22 per cent of Palestine. The territory between the Jordan River and the sea was divided into a Jewish and an Arab part. The Jewish representatives accepted the UN partition plan, but the Arab representatives refused. In an attempt to “drive all the Jews into the sea,” they began the 1948 war and lost.

The losing side did not sit back and lick their wounds, they took their revenge on the Jews in East Jerusalem and the rest of Cisjordan — the ancient provinces of Judea and Samaria — now held by Muslim forces. This entire region was ethnically cleansed of all Jews. Even the name of Judea and Samaria were wiped off the map and replaced by the term “West Bank.”

Israel, including Judea and Samaria, has been the land of the Jews since time immemorial. Judea means Land of the Jews. Never has there been an autonomous state in the area that was not Jewish. The Diaspora of the Jews, which began after their defeat by the Romans in AD 70, did not lead to the departure of all the Jews from their ancient homeland. Jews had been living in the Jordan Valley for centuries until the Arab invaders drove them out in 1948, when the provinces of Judea and Samaria were occupied by the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan, which abbreviated its name to Jordan in 1950.

Note that until 1967, when Israel regained the ancient Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria, no-one, not a single Islamic scholar or Western politician, ever demanded that there be an independent Palestinian state in the so-called West Bank.


But what of the Palestinian people; who are they? I could quote any number of historians and politicians but lest they be tarnished by being called Zionist scum, as I have been for making this point before, let's listen to a senior Palestinian:

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview with Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

Read that again: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.


For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva ."


Take a look back in time, until the late 1980s, Jordan’s Hashemite rulers did not deny that their country was Palestine. They said so on numerous occasions. In 1965, King Hussein said: “Those organisations which seek to differentiate between Palestinians and Jordanians are traitors.” As late as 1981, Hussein repeated “Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.”

In March 1971, The Palestine National Council, too, stated that “what links Jordan to Palestine is a national bond […] formed, since time immemorial, by history and culture. The establishment of one political entity in Transjordan and another in Palestine is illegal.”

In 1988, as the first Intifada raged, Jordan officially renounced any claim of sovereignty to the so-called West Bank. In recent years, the Jordanian authorities have stripped thousands of Palestinians of their Jordanian citizenship. They do so for two reasons.

First, because the alien Hashemite rulers fear that the Palestinians might one day take over their own country. And second, because stripping Palestinians of their Jordanian citizenship supports the falsehood that Jordan is not a part of Palestine. And that, consequently, the Palestinians must attack Israel if they want a place of their own.

The other claim that I have made to me is that the Palestinians only want to live in peace alongside Israel and that a return to the pre-1967 borders is all that they want. Leaving aside the fact that the armies of six surrounding Arab nations tried to wipe Israel off of the map in 1948 before Israel won another defensive war in 1967, the enemies of Israel make no secret of what they want and how they intend to achieve it.

Do remember that on the same day Yasser Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn in 1993, he explained his actions on Jordan TV thus "Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel."

The removal of East Jerusalem from Israel and a general return to the 1967 borders is not the aim of Hamas, Fatah/PLO/PA or the rest of the Muslim Middle East, it is but a staging post on the way to the eventual destruction of Israel.


The following are comments made by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on his visit to Tunisia in early January 2012. The comments were all recorded and broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV:

"I say to you now, in the capital of south Tunisia: We will never ever recognize Israel."

"The land of Palestine, oh brothers and sisters, is an Islamic, as decreed by the second caliph, Omar ibn Al-Khattab. We shall not relinquish the Islamic waqf on the land of Palestine, and Jerusalem shall not be divided into Western and Eastern Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a single united [city], and Palestine stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, and from Naqoura [Rosh Ha-Niqra] to Umm Al-Rashrash [Eilat] in the south."

This is Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, saying on 14 December that whilst Hamas may work for the "interim objective of liberation of Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem," this in an "interim objective" and "reconciliation" with Fatah will not change Hamas' long-term "strategic" goal of eliminating all of Israel. Ismail Haniyeh also said this:

"The armed resistance and the armed struggle are the path and the strategic choice for liberating the Palestinian land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, and for the expulsion of the invaders and usurpers [Israel]... We won't relinquish one inch of the land of Palestine."

From the sea to the river, now where have I heard that before? Oh yes, remember that every time someone chants "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" they are calling for the destruction of Israel, the ending of the Jewish state. The river is the Jordan, the sea is the Mediterranean; from the river to the sea is not calling for a two state solution, it is calling for the destruction of Israel.

Two days after Ismail Haniyeh's speech, the Palestinian Authority's Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said that Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashaal had agreed that:

"There will be no military resistance."
"The permanent solution is on the '67 borders."

According to Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas had agreed to a permanent solution based on the 1967 borders. However, Haniyeh said that Hamas agrees to a temporary solution on the 1967 borders as a first stage only.

Who to believe?

Before you say Mahmoud Abbas, remember that for many years, the PLO itself promoted a "stages plan" that would first create a Palestinian state on the 1949 - 1967 armistice lines, and then work from that position to destroy Israel. Indeed senior Fatah official Abbas Zaki recently stated that this remains the goal for Fatah as well, but that "you can't say it to the world. You can say it to yourself."...


The west listens to and believes what Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas say about wanting a two state solution and a return to 1967 borders because that fits in with their world view of an evil Jewish state stealing land from poor Palestinians. The truth is some way from this narrative but the western media, especially the BBC, just don't care; facts will not be allowed to intrude into this narrative.


So the next time you hear a Palestinian spokesman saying they want to live in peace with Israel or a BBC Middle East 'expert' explaining how Hamas and the PLO have changed and really do want peace with Israel, remember that it's all lies. Hamas and Fatah/PLO want to destroy Israel, they claim all of the land that Israel stands on and the return to 1967 borders is but the first step on the path to destroying Israel and killing all Jews.


Another question that springs to mind when people say that the Palestinians want their land back is what was the case between 1948 and 1967. In 1948 Jordan 'occupied' the 'West Bank' whilst Egypt 'occupied' the Gaza Strip. Were there any protests by 'Palestinians' against these foreign occupations? I suppose an alternative question would be why was no Palestinian state formed in the West Bank and Gaza in 1949? Could it be that Zahir Muhsein was telling the truth?

A line that @Tweet_Palestine and others push is that the Jews are immigrants to a previously Muslim Palestine. Let's examine that claim and start with Jerusalem

Jerusalem was the capital of a Jewish state from around 1000BC until the Jews were expelled one, two or more times. When the State of Israel was created in 1948, it was alongside Jerusalem as a 'corpus separatum under the administration of the UN.' aka an international city. This regime was to remain in force for a period of ten years, whereupon a referendum was to be held in which the residents were to decide the future ownership of their city. This plan was superseded by the 1948 war when the armies of four or more Muslim states tried to wipe Israel off the map and drive all the Jews, who could not be killed, into the sea. The Arab Legion attacked Western Jerusalem and at the end of the 1948 war Israel controlled the newer western part of Jerusalem and Jordan the older east, including the main religious sites.

From 1948 until 1967 the Jordanians expelled Jews from Jerusalem, destroyed many synagogues and some churches and refused access to religious sites to most Jews and many Christians.

By way of contrast since 1967 Israel has not restricted access for Muslims to the Dome of the Rock or the Al-Aqsa Mosque despite them being partly built on top of the site of 'the Temple'; what would be the holiest site in Judaism had it not been destroyed. Indeed the Western ('Wailing') Wall is all that remains of the Second Temple.

Let's look back to the time when Israel was finally formed in the aftermath of the Second World War. This was a time of great population transfers in Eastern Europe, between India & Pakistan and elsewhere; yet only in Israel/Palestine are the displaced still considered refugees. In 1948 over a million Hindus fled Pakistan and a similar number of Muslims left India for Pakistan. Both populations were absorbed by their new countries. In the same region, large population transfers happened when Bangladesh was created. Likewise ethnic Germans were expelled from Central & Eastern Europe and so had to assimilate into Germany. Meanwhile Hungarian refugees from Czechoslovakia and other places found sanctuary in Hungary, Ukrainians who were expelled from Poland found sanctuary in Ukraine, and so on.

Meanwhile In the Middle East 750,000 Jews were expelled form their homes in Arab countries and were absorbed into Israel. Why were the 'Palestinians' not absorbed into Jordan, Syria, Egypt & The Lebanon? The Palestinians talk about the 'right of return' and their right to live in their ancestral homes again. Does the same right exist for the Jews forced to flee Iraq, Egypt, Syria and other Arab countries? The value of the assets these Jews left behind has been valued at today's prices at around $300 billion. A US based organization has decades-old property deeds of Jews from Arab countries on a total area of 100,000 sq.km. - which is five times the size of the State of Israel.

So why did the Arab countries not absorb the Palestinian refugees? In 1959, the Arab League passed Resolution 1457, which stated thus:

'The Arab countries will not grant citizenship to applicants of Palestinian origin in order to prevent their assimilation into the host countries.'

So the Palestinian refugees are not permanent refugees because of Israel's actions but because of a decision taken by the Arab League. Thus the accepted narrative that heaps blame on Israel because it expelled the refugees is actually not true.

Remember that I started this post by explaining that Israel lost around 77% of what was promised to the Jewish people for a homeland and now exists on a sliver of land surrounded by far larger Muslim countries why should Israel be further reduced in size? Do you realise how small Israel is? Why should the Jews not be allowed to keep one small portion of the land they were promised in the Balfour Declaration? If you listen to the BBC and The Guardian you would think Israel occupied (pun intended) an enormous part of the Middle East; here's a map to illustrate the truth; can you spot Israel amongst it's Muslim neighbours?

Let's take another quick look at the claim that the Palestinians only want a return to the pre-1967 borders, a claim that Barack Obama and others seem happy to swallow.

I'll begin with a reminder of the words of the then Fatah leader, Yasser Arafat on the same day that he signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn in 1993, he explained his actions on Jordan TV thus "Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel."

A return to 1967 borders for Israel is not the aim of Hamas, Fatah and the rest, it is a staging post on the way to the destruction of Israel.

The surrounding Arab countries attacked the new born state of Israel in 1948 declaring that they would drive all Jews into the sea. They failed and for that any sane person would give thanks but why did they attack were they demanding a return to the pre-1967 borders? In 1967 the same neighbours of Israel mustered forces ready to attack and destroy Israel again, once again they failed and in defeating the aggressors, Israel captured various territory. Why did the Arab countries attack Israel, were they demanding a return to the borders of 1967? Land captured in a defensive war is normally kept not surrendered back to the aggressors but in Israel's case this seems not be the case.

In 1973, on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Muslim countries attacked Israel again and were defeated again, Israel captured more land from Egypt and Syria in another defensive war. Were the Arab countries in 1973 calling for a return to 1967 borders?

So despite the evidence of three wars started by Muslim countries to destroy Israel we are expected to believe that now the Palestinians just want peace so long as Israel returns to its pre-1967 borders. We are meant to ignore the words of Yasser Arafat in the past as quoted above but also of current Hamas leaders like Nizar Rayan, Hamas religious and military leader, who said on 1 Jan 2009

"Regarding the Jews, our business with them is only through bombs and guns... the prophet [Muhammad] promised that we will fight you, with Allah's help, until the tree and stone say: "Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

How about Fatah's 1968 Charter:

'– In the Palestinian state only Jews who lived in Palestine before 1917 will be recognized as citizens [Article 6]:
– Only the Palestinian Arabs possess the right of self-determination, and the entire country belongs to them [Articles 3 and 21].
– Any solution that does not involve total liberation of the country is rejected. This aim cannot be achieved politically; it can only be accomplished militarily [Articles 9 & 21].
– Warfare against Israel is legal, whereas Israel's self-defence is illegal [Article 18].'

That 1968 Charter does not call for Israel to return to 1967 borders it calls for 'the entire country' to return to Palestinian control.

Barack Obama should know this history but maybe his upbringing as a child in Indonesia and then as a knowing adult in the church of Jeremiah Wright may have affected him. In case he or you need reminding here are some facts about the state of Israel and Palestine.

If after all this you still believe that Hamas and Fatah just want Israel to return to 1967 borders then here is a question for you: if this is the case then why do Fatah and Hamas incessantly show maps (in schools, on TV, on logos, in government literature) that contain no mention of Israel just Palestine occupying the whole area of Israel and the Palestinian territories? If Fatah and Hamas want a return to 1967 orders then why do they not recognise those borders in their own literature and propaganda?

Here are a few examples

Maybe you'd like instead to read the lyrics of a song played regularly on PA TV that runs:

"Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours.
[I] Muhammad sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are ours.
[I] Kabha sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
From Bethlehem to Jenin is Palestinian,
Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian.
Nowhere is more beautiful than Jerusalem;
no matter how much we travel
From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian;
Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."

You can see the song being sung here. Not much interest in a return to 1967 borders there is there?

Over and over again Hamas, Fatah and others have stated that they want Israel destroyed, Jews killed and one Palestinian state in its place. Yet still we are expected to believe that a return to 1967 borders is all that is wanted.

@Tweet_Palestine claimed, as do many others, that Hamas and their ilk have no problem with (or hatred of Jews) just with Israel and Zionists. Let's examine the evidence:

Influential Islamic scholars Muhammad Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, the most prestigious centre of Muslim learning, call Jews “enemies of Allah.” Tantawi was generally considered a moderate by the Western media and policy makers. But how did this “moderate” address a delegation of Palestinian Muslims who visited him in 2002?

He urged them to intensify suicide attacks against Israelis, stating that every so-called “martyrdom operation” against “any Israeli, including children, women, and teenagers, is a legitimate act according to [Islamic] religious law, and an Islamic commandment, until the people of Palestine regain their land.”


Here are some excerpts from a Friday sermon in Al-Bireh, the Palestinian West Bank, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on January 6, 2012.

'Preacher: "Oh servants of Allah, every evil and catastrophe on the land of Palestine – moreover, in the whole world – is caused by the Jews.

"They generate civil strife with their clandestine handiwork, their despicable texts, their bitter hearts, and their abominable intentions.

"Allah said: 'Whenever they kindle the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it, but they strive to do mischief on earth. Allah loves not those who do mischief.' This is the history of the Jews.'

Excerpts from footage of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya's visit to Tunisia, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV  was posted on the Internet on January 5-10, 2012. This is a transcript:

'Crowd: "The people want the liberation of Palestine.

"The people want the liberation of Palestine."

Crowd member: "Killing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Killing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Driving out the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Driving out the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Crushing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty."

Crowd member: "Crushing the Jews…"

Crowd: "…is a duty." […] '

So do the preacher and the crowd hate Israel or Jews?


This post has taken quite some time to put together; I hope that @Tweet_Palestine managed to make it through the whole post and has learnt something as a result.

Balen Report update - not good news

The JC reports:

'The Supreme Court will not force the BBC to reveal a report commission into potentially biased reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The court's five justices unanimously dismissed the appeal of solicitor Steven Sugar, who had demanded the BBC release the internal 2004 report, compiled by the BBC's senior editorial consultant Malcolm Balen, under the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Sugar, described as a "respected solicitor and supporter of the state of Israel", had fought the case since 2005. He died of cancer in January last year. His widow, psychologist Fiona Paveley and Mr Sugar's former firm, Forsters, took on the case.

The BBC had argued it was exempt from releasing the report because it was "for the purposes of journalism, literature or art."

Four out of five of the Supreme Court judges ruled that the report was beyond the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, even if information was held only "partly for the purposes of journalism."

Lord Wilson ruled that if information was held "predominantly" for the purposes of journalism, it was outside the scope of the act, and he judged that to be the case with the Balen Report.

They dismissed the argument of appellant barrister Tim Eicke QC, that the withholding of information would violate the European Convention on Human Rights Article 10, the right to receive and impart information.

The BBC said in a statement: "We welcome the Supreme Court's judgment, which upholds the rulings of other courts in this case, and will ensure that the BBC is afforded the space to conduct its journalistic activities freely.

"Independent journalism requires honest and open internal debate free from external pressures. This ruling enables us to continue to do that."

The Information Tribunal ruled in Mr Sugar's favour in 2005, ordering the BBC to release the report. But the decision was overturned by the High Court, and upheld by the Court of Appeal.'

I think we can draw our own conclusions as to what the Balen Report found, from how resolutely the BBC has fought to keep its findings from reaching our eyes. I wonder how the BBC would react if the Balen Report was leaked, after all they do favour such leakings when it helps the interests of their friends on the left of politics.

Blogging update

Apologies for the lack of substantive bloggging by me so far this week. I have been very busy at work but also have been involved in a rather lengthy discussion on Twitter with a supporter of the Palestinian people. As with so many supporter of that cause this Tweeter is long on insults and short on facts. He/she/they seem to be incapable of reading the many links I have sent them, or at least of realising the truth of what I say, so a blogpost response to them will follow either later today or tomorrow... 



UPDATE:
Some two hours of collating and writing later, I've finished my post; it'll be posted tomorrow morning as I doubt I'll post anything else tomorrow.

Bored of your romanceless morning commute?

What a way to propose...

The difference between being an existing customer and a potential new customer (part 2)

Following on from this previous post I have found another example...

So prospective customers get a Freephone number but existing customers have to pay to speak with their bank. Great customer service Elephant.

IPCC climate predictions vs reality

The above graph shows a comparison between alarmist CAGW models in green with the reality and solar based variation in blue. I think this makes it very clear that the CAGW computer models and IPCC based models are utterly wrong.

I have yet to see this graph on the generally true believers in warmism BBC although Paul Hudson 'weather presenter and climate correspondent for BBC Look North in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire' has reported some news that I doubt will be acknowledged by his seniors at the BBC climate change propaganda unit:

'it (2011) is the 11th year out of the last 12 when the Met Office global temperature forecast has been too warm.

In all these years, the discrepancy between observed temperatures and the forecast are within the stated margin of error.

But all the errors are on the warm side, with none of the forecasts that have been issued in the last 12 years ending up too cold.

And, in my opinion, that makes the error significant.

...

Whatever the reason for the ongoing 'warm bias' in Met Office global temperatures, their forecast for the first half of this decade, published in early 2010, that half the years between 2010 and 2015 would be hotter than the hottest year on record (with an anomaly of 0.52C set in 1998) is already looking in doubt.'

The BBC's general policy of pushing of global warming  as fact not theory is bias, pure and simple.

Dumbing down education in England

This article from yesterday's Telegraph shows so much of what is wrong with the education system in England.

'Mandrake hears that one examination board, Edexcel, has added Britain’s Got Talent to its GCSE syllabus.

“Pupils are expected to study the ITV1 home page of Britain’s Got Talent, an advert for a reality show called Got to Dance and a 2009 cover of Heat magazine,” says Toby Young, the author and Telegraph blogger, who helped set up one of the first free schools last year.

Edexcel says Britain’s Got Talent was included as part of a section testing English Language GCSE students “on their ability to analyse non-fiction, contemporary text from a range of sources”.

Joseph Reynolds, an education campaigner, whose daughter is studying the course, tells me: “This is a prime example of aiming at the lowest common denominator. Britain’s Got Talent has been chosen purely to make it fun. Where is the educational factor?”

 

An Edexcel spokesman says: “This approach gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to analyse the English language in its many forms.”

It insists that all pupils are also required to sit examinations on poets and authors including Shakespeare, Steinbeck and Wordsworth.'

'the English language in its many forms' - So what? Pupils can read Heat and watch crap reality/talent shows in their own time. In English classes they should be made to read and study somewhat more improving books. That line that 'all pupils are also required to sit examinations on poets and authors including Shakespeare, Steinbeck and Wordsworth' is also disingenuous; back in my day we read entire Shakespeare plays, wrote essays on them and could be examined on any part or parts of the plays. Now too many examination boards require that only parts of Shakespeare plays are read and only knowledge of those parts are tested.

English schools have been being dumbed down for years and the last Labour government just sped up the process as it pursued its policy of ending elitism. I have nothing but contempt for those people who have destroyed England's educational standards and the future of many of our young.

Forget the facts, the BBC have a narrative to tell

I found this page on the BBC news website devoted to the death of Diana Gould. The BBC explain this woman's importance thus (under the famous piece of audio):

'The Gloucestershire woman who famously clashed with Margaret Thatcher in a 1983 TV debate over the Falklands War has died, aged 85.

Diana Gould found fame after she questioned the Prime Minister's explanation of the sinking of the Belgrano - which she saw as wrecking a potential peace proposal being drawn up.'

Ah the sinking of The Belgrano, that totem of the left that proved Margaret Thatcher was evil - 'it was sailing away from the Falklands Exclusion Zone' was the cry of the left. The trouble is that wasn't true. In that interview Lady Thatcher said "One day, all of the facts, in about 30 years time, will be published."

The BBC do not report that which The Telegraph reported at the end of the last year:

'Top secret papers are set to prove that the warship Belgrano was heading into the Falkland's exclusion zone when it was sunk, and not heading back to port as the Argentinians claimed.

For decades debate and recrimination has raged over where the ship was heading when it was torpedoed by a Royal Navy submarine.

Britain received international criticism after the sinking after the Argentine Junta announced that the warship had been returning to its home port and was outside the 200 mile exclusion zone imposed by Whitehall.

But Major David Thorp, who spent 34 years working as a signals expert in military intelligence, has disclosed for the first time that he was asked to carry out a trawl of all the intelligence on the sinking at the direct request of Margaret Thatcher a few months after the end of the war.

He was ordered to compile a report for the Prime Minister called “The Sinking of the Belgrano” that has never been published.

From his own signals intercepts and those from other Government agencies, he proved that the Argentine cruiser was heading into the exclusion zone.

Major Thorp was in charge of a top secret signals interception section hidden on the amphibious warship Intrepid as it steamed with the Task Force.

Around Ascension Island, 4,000 miles from the Falklands, his team began picking up naval communications sent to the Argentine fleet which they were easily able to decipher.

The report states that in late April 1982, they intercepted a message sent from naval headquarters ordering the Belgrano and its escorts to a grid reference within the exclusion zone and not back to base as the Argentines later claimed.

The Belgrano was sunk by two torpedoes fired by the hunter-killer submarine Conqueror on May 2 with the loss of 323 lives a number of miles outside the exclusion zone.

“For some reason they decided on a rendezvous point still within the exclusion zone,” Major Thorp said. “Whether they were trying to raise a thumb at us I don’t know. At the time I thought it was strange thinking why didn’t they go straight into port?”

In his new book, The Silent Listener, Major Thorp wrote: “The findings of my final report stated the destination of the vessel was not to her home port as the Argentine Junta stated but the objective of the ship was to relocate to a prearranged RV within the exclusion zone.”

Despite the report being read by Mrs Thatcher she never disclosed the information either in Parliament or elsewhere possibly because she did not want to reveal Britain’s eavesdropping capabilities.

But during her infamous BBC exchange with the schoolteacher Diana Gould who confronted her on the sinking Mrs Thatcher made an intriguing reference to the report saying: "One day, all of the facts, in about 30 years time, will be published." Mrs Gould died earlier this month.

In recent years the Argentine navy has accepted that the sinking of the Belgrano was a legitimate act of war.

In his book, that was cleared by the security services, Major Thorp also discloses for the first time how the British code-cracking operation gave the force a significant advantage.

Shortly before the Battle of Goose Green, Lt Col “H” Jones, the commander of 2nd Bn The Parachute Regiment, boarded Intrepid after hearing about the eavesdroppers through SAS colleagues.

“That morning we had picked up 10 grid references on intercepts and H looked at the map and realised that they were his own troops’ locations. He said “bloody hell we are sharing the same hill as the enemy.’”

“He wanted to know the strengths and weaknesses of the Argentines, then we looked at calibre of people on ground and he came to the conclusion that perhaps 600 Paras were worth 1,500 Argentines.”

The intelligence gave the commanding officer the “peace of mind” to start the battle that would lead in his own death, a posthumous Victoria Cross award and ultimately victory in the campaign. '

No mention of this fact by the BBC, the 'news' organisation never happier than when opposing British interests.

Delta cannot keep to the promises they make on their website...

'Delta Airlines recently offered its Sky Miles members the opportunity to use their air miles to fly to "The Occupied Palestinian Territories". This is a little absurd, considering that there are not international airports in the area that the Palestinians call 'occupied' .'

A lovely little video that shows what happens when an airline tries too hard to be 'politically correct' and someone decides to teach them a lesson.

Thanks to Israelly Cool for the spot.

For more background take a read of this article and this one too.

Not the whole story on the BBC

I rarely print whole stories for comparison but this one is so stark that I feel it warrants it.

First the BBC article hidden away on the Manchester news page:

'Man charged with assault on teenager in Hyde

A man has been charged with assault after an attack on a teenage boy in Greater Manchester left him with fractured eye sockets.

The 21-year-old from Hyde was charged following the attack on the 17-year-old in Tameside on Saturday.
After falling while trying to escape a gang of young men, the teenager was punched and kicked on the ground.
The man was remanded in custody at Tameside Magistrates' Court to appear at Manchester Crown Court in March.

A 17-year-old boy was also arrested in connection with the incident, but has been bailed pending further enquires.

Police said the teenager and his friend were passing a takeaway in Hyde when a group of young men and women began goading them.

One of the boys was punched and kicked as he lay on the ground, suffering two fractured eye sockets, while his friend was punched in the face.

The first victim is now in a stable condition.'

Not a lot of context or detail there....

Now the same news as in The Mail - just the start of the article as the missing details are all there:

'Was this boy beaten senseless because he's white? Teenager fighting for his sight after 'hate attack' by Asian gang.

A teenager was left for dead after being chased and savagely beaten by a gang of Asians in a suspected racist attack.

Daniel Stringer, 17, was pursued through a busy town centre by up to eight men and then repeatedly kicked and punched in the head.

He was left in the road, bleeding and barely conscious, as the gang melted away into the night.

Police say there is no evidence of provocation and are treating the attack as a serious hate crime.'

Why is there no mention of the assailants' race on the BBC? Why no mention on the BBC of the police treating the attack as 'serious hate crime'?

What is the BBC playing at?

George Galloway supporting the murderous Syrian regime and attacking Israel

From George Galloway's radio show.

This 'man' organises demonstrations and protests when Israel kills a terrorist but he won't even criticise a dictator who is murdering hundreds of Muslim civilians so as to stay in power.

What was most noticeable is that George Galloway is still willing to push the line that Syria should be popular because it stands up to Israel, a line that even the Israel hating BBC have dropped since the Arab winder hit Syria.

I find it hard to express quite how much I loathe George Galloway but I am sure you can imagine.

The 'holocaust' being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza

I keep being told of the 'holocaust' being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza; however this is just untrue.

Here's a graphic to show how the people of Gaza have NOT been systematically wiped out since 1967 whilst the Jews of Europe were between 1939 and 1945. 

I have previously published photos on this blog of  life in Gaza and death in a Nazi concentration camp but I make no apology for doing so again as the scum who try and make the comparison between what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany (and its captured lands) and what is happening in Gaza are just way off the mark.

I actually find it hard to find words to adequately describe those people who accuse Israel of perpetrating a holocaust or committing genocide in Gaza. Whilst I think of some why not compare these photos of the concentration camp that is Gaza with a real concentration camp...

 
That's Gaza, now here's what happens when one group of people try and wipe out another group of people in a holocaust...

If you can't spot the difference then I fear that your humanity and sense of reason are at variance with mine and those of all civilised people and I would ask you to rethink your outlook on life and if you still think Gaza is a concentration camp and that Israel is perpetrating a holocaust against the Palestinians then please, kindly f*** off - I no longer want to discuss the matter with you.