What makes for a happy couple?

Armstrong and Miller know...

Another of the BBC's dirty little biases on show

The BBC's anti-India/pro-Pakistan bias is often pretty obvious but today it has reached a new level. The story of the poor Pakistani woman stoned to death outside of a Lahore court has now been relegated from the BBC news front page. However the little pro-Pakistan elves at the BBC have put another anti-India story on the front page in its place. Yes the story from India is really terrible but the BBC's news priorities do shine through, see how they report the two stories below...

The BBC, beyond contempt.

TV Quiz time - the answer

Yesterday I asked - Only two characters appeared in every episode of the original series of Dallas 1978-1991, who?

The answer is J.R. Ewing and Cliff Barnes

A date of betrayal for your diaries unless David Cameron actually does something about the EU

On 1 November 2014 the following areas of competence will switch from requiring unanimous approval of all the member states of the EU to just qualified majority voting. In addition the EU Commission have managed to make it even harder for EU provinces (for that's what the countries that make up the EU are now) to vote down any proposal from the Commission - there now has
to be a 'blocking minority' which represents 'at least three quarters of EU citizens' or 'at least three quarters of member states. Even if such a 'blocking minority' is achieved then the Council undertakes only to 'discuss the issue' further.

1 November is another step on the well trailed path from independent EU nations to a United States of Europe, and not even a democratic United States of Europe but one run by a small cadre of appointees.

The list below shows the area of competence, then what was required under the Treaty of Nice and then from 1 November under the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty:

Initiatives of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Administrative co-operation – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Asylum – Nice: QMV; Lisbon: QMV
Border controls – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Citizens' initiative regulations – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Civil protection – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Committee of the Regions – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Common defence policy – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Crime prevention incentives – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Criminal judicial co-operation – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Criminal law – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Culture – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Diplomatic & Consular protection – Nice: Unanimity Lisbon: QMV
Economic & Social Committee – Nice: QMV Lisbon: QMV
Emergency international aid – Nice: Unanimity Lisbon: QMV
Energy – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
EU budget – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Eurojust – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
European Central Bank – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
European Court of Justice – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Europol – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Eurozone external representation – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Foreign Affairs High Representative election – Lisbon: QMV
Freedom of movement for workers – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Freedom to establish a business – Nice: Unanimity Lisbon QMV
Freedom, security, justice, co-operation & evaluation – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Funding the Common Foreign & Security Policy – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
General economic interest services – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Humanitarian aid – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Immigration – Nice: QMV; Lisbon: QMV
Intellectual property – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Organisation of the Council of the EU – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Police co-operation – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
President of the European Council election – Lisbon: QMV
Response to natural disasters & terrorism – Lisbon: QMV
Rules concerning the Armaments Agency – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Self-employment access rights – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Social Security Unanimity – Nice: QMV; Lisbon: QMV
Space – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Sport – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Structural &Cohesion Funds – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Tourism – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Transport – Nice: Unanimity; Lisbon: QMV
Withdrawal of a member state – Lisbon: QMV

Remember who signed the Lisbon Treaty, Gordon Brown. Here he is signing the Treaty and with it away with another part of the UK's independence...

Is the word traitor too strong?

I am sure David Cameron will once again tell us that the UK is "in Europe but not ruled by Europe". Maybe someone could ask him how his claim matches up to the facts.

Smarter than the average swallow

Birds nesting in an underground parkade could have been locked in when the parkade was converted to a campus bike centre with doors on the end. The swallows quickly learned how to trigger the motion detectors to open the doors and go in and out whenever they want. Smart birds!

We humans think we are brighter than we often are, take @wotsit4 for example. Likewise animals are a lot brighter than we often give them credit for.

TV Quiz time

Only two characters appeared in every episode of the original series of Dallas 1978-1991, who?

Answer tomorrow evening... 

Because on the BBC some 'holy sites' are holier than others

The BBC's report on the Pope's visit to Jerusalem is fascinating for what it reveals about the BBC different attitudes to Jewish and Muslim 'holy sites'.

The BBC article has these two lines near the top of it:

At the al-Aqsa mosque compound, the Pope urged people of all religions to "work together for justice and peace".

He then prayed at the Western Wall, which lies just beneath it, bowing his head as he touched the stones.

Note how the BBC carefully crowbar the word into the Al-Aqsa line but leave any mention of peace out of the Western Wall line, subtle but effective?

Note how these two lines don't ponder why Jews worship at a wall not a standard place of worship, nor why the Al Aqsa mosque compound stands above the Western Wall.

The BBC soon bring in one of their favourite pieces of rubric:

Pope Francis began the third day of his trip by visiting the compound, considered the third holiest site in Islam.  

No mention of for how long the Al Aqsa mosque has been considered the 'third holiest site in Islam', I wonder why.


Moving on, the BBC article then has some more about the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount:

Known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as the Temple Mount, the status of the site is one of the most contentious issues in the Israel-Palestinian conflict .

Pope Francis took off his shoes to enter the Dome of the Rock, from where Islamic tradition says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Pope then walked to the nearby al-Aqsa Mosque.

Speaking to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the Pope deviated from his prepared remarks to call on Christians, Jews and Muslims to "love one another as brothers and sisters".

"May we learn to understand the suffering of others. May no-one abuse the name of God through violence," he said.

Afterwards, he headed to the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism. It is part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount dating back to a time when a Jewish temple stood there.

The Pope spent a few minutes praying at the wall, as he did on Sunday at the controversial Israeli security barrier that separates the biblical town of Bethlehem in the West Bank from Jerusalem.  

The Western Wall is described as 'one of the holiest sites in Judaism' there is no mention of what would be the holiest site in Judaism - the Temple in Jerusalem - because Jews don't choose to have a wall to worship at, they only have a wall because Islam has built a bloody great Mosque on top of the Jewish Temple.  The BBC do at lease mention that a Jewish Temple did once stand there but it's left to the reader to put two and two together and reach the uncomfortable (for the BBC) truth that is the number four.

Note also how the BBC equate prayer at the Western Wall with the 'controversial Israeli security barrier'. No mention of why Israel needed to build that security barrier, oddly the BBC choose not to call it a wall here but the comparison with the Western Wall does that for them in this instance and the BBC would have loved the idea of comparing the two walls.


The BBC piece continues:

Later, the Pope travelled to Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial, where he kissed the hands of several survivors in a sign of honour.

At a solemn ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance, he spoke of the "boundless tragedy of the Holocaust", describing it as an "unfathomable abyss".

"Never again, Lord, never again!" he said. "Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man - created in your own image and likeness - was capable of doing."

Our correspondent says the visit to the memorial holds special significance because of questions over the Vatican's position during the Holocaust.

Now the BBC know that the holocaust was a bad thing and like to attack (quite correctly) the Catholic Church for its failure to oppose the holocaust. Oddly the BBC are less willing to link the Muslim population of the Middle East and in particular their leader, the Mufti of Jerusalem, with the holocaust. I suppose such links would, whilst truthful, go against their view of Islam...

The BBC piece continues:

The Pope then met Israel's two chief rabbis before attending a private audience with President Peres, whom he asked to guarantee pilgrims free access to Jerusalem's holy sites.

Did the Pope not bring up the matter of Islamic persecution of Christians in the Palestinian Territories? If not, why not? If he did then why do the BBC not report it, or ask why he didn't?

Finally the BBC include this bit:

Shortly before departing for Rome from Ben Gurion airport, he celebrated Mass at the site known as the Cenacle, where Jesus is reputed to have taken part in the Last Supper with his Apostles on the eve of his crucifixion.

The Cenacle is located in a historic building on Mount Zion that is also sacred to both Jews and Muslims. The reputed burial place of King David is on the ground floor of the Cenacle, while a mosque is situated on the roof.

 What a coincidence, another Jewish holy site with a mosque built on top of it. What are the odds on that happening more than once? For the BBC this is a matter of no interest at all, just one of those things.


So there you have it, another superbly unbiased piece of Middle East reporting from the BBC:

1. for whom the holocaust was a bad thing but Islam's links to it must never be mentioned
2. for whom Jerusalem's place as the third holiest site in Islam is sacrosanct whilst it's position in Judaism is an inconvenience to peace
3. for whom the presence of Jewish religious sites underneath Muslim ones is of no interest or relevance
4. for whom any reference to prayer at the Western Wall must be linked to the security wall

 

Labour's Chuka Umunna knows the 'UKIP vote not about Europe'

Labour's would be Barack Obama doesn't have to listen to the public who voted for UKIP, he knows that the "UKIP vote wasn't about Europe". These arrogant Labour (and Conservative and Lib Dem) politicians will just not listen, because to listen would be to have to realise how much this is about the EU.

So that's why people have children... or become radio hosts...

A threesome, or coffee...?


Or indeed why people become radio hosts?


A threesome, or coffee...?

Benedict Cumberbatch impersonates Alan Rickman, David Tennant, and Jonathan Ross

Benedict Cumberbatch impersonates Alan Rickman, David Tennant, and Jonathan Ross


And here undertakes an Alan Rickman impersonate off with Jimmy Fallon


A win for Mr Cumberbatch?

The new Doctor - NSFW - Maybe they'll have to move Doctor Who to after the 9pm watershed!

Peter Capaldicould be an interesting Doctor!

You know your middle aged when...

Harry Enfield visits the Polish cafe...

Armstrong & MIller and Jessica Stevenson do porn!

Oh yessss... porn not believable?

Coming back to work after 30 years?

I fear that nobody under the age of 30 will even understand that video joke!

If David Lynch had directed Star Wars - Return of the Jedi

Looks interesting...

This Charming Man celebrates his 55th birthday today

This Charming Man celebrates his 55th birthday today, no wonder he's miserable now...




Happy birthday Morrissey and lighten up...



That's Sparks not Morrissey, if you hadn't realised.


I was going to leave this post there but I've just found out that Miley Cyrus has covered There's A Light That Never Goes Out...


From the sound of it, her fans weren't overly familiar with the Smiths' oeuvre!

Here's the original for them to educate themselves with...

The latest ITUC survey

The International Trade Union confederation have released their Global Rights Index which shows 'The world’s worst countries for workers'. Countries are rated from 1-5+, where:

1 – Irregular violations of rights: 18 countries including Denmark and Uruguay 2 – Repeated violations of rights: 26 countries including Japan and Switzerland 3 – Regular violations of rights: 33 countries including Chile and Ghana 4 – Systematic violations of rights: 30 countries including Kenya and the USA 5 – No guarantee of rights: 24 countries including Belarus, Bangladesh and Qatar 5+ - No guarantee of rights due to breakdown of the rule of law: 8 countries including Central African Republic and Somalia.

Here are the worst countries, do you spot any pattern?

5+ Central African Republic Libya Palestine Somalia South Sudan Sudan Syria Ukraine 5 Algeria Bangladesh Belarus Cambodia China Colombia Cote d'ivoire Egypt Fiji Greece Guatemala India Laos Malaysia Nigeria Philippines Qatar Republic of Korea Saudi Arabia Swaziland Turkey United Arab Emirates Zambia Zimbabwe

The UK is ranked with a 3, along with countries such as Australia and Israel. .

The one hundred and ninety first weekly "No Shit, Sherlock" award

This week's winner is Robert Wilson for this Guardian article entitled 'The green movement is not pro-science'.

"No shit, Sherlock"

The truth about the Nakba

The Palestinian population is no more than a human shield for cynical money and power-seekers. There never was an established Palestinian Arab society in Palestine. The majority of the Arabs living in Palestine in May of 1948 were Syrians, Egyptians, Iraqis and North Africans who arrived there in response to Jewish investment in rehabilitating their own ancient homeland, beginning in 1882. The movement accelerated in response the Mufti-induced riots and murders of Jews in the 1920's and the artificial blockage of Jewish immigration in the 1930's.

In 1948 the Jews owned 6% of the land in Palestine. Less well known is that Arabs owned only 3%, again while they enjoyed unimited immigration and the Jews were blocked by British military.

A new unprecedented false definition of 'refugee' was invented for these people alone, of residence of 2 years in Palestine. In this way a Syrian or Egyptian or Bedouin could roll off the vegetable truck from Egypt and immediately begin shouting and rioting 'Jews out of Palestine'.

Also unprecedented is the definition of children of these phony refugess as refugees as well, for the purpose of maintenance by a special UN agency also invented just for them. It was an attempt to create a new kind of nation resembling the Jewish nation in exile, in which children of Jews actually are citzens of the Jewish nation. Why couldn't those people be absorbed back into their own ancestral homelands or Syria or Morocco? Because they were pawns of power seekers looking to get a state for free, that's why. There need not be even one Palestinian Arab refugee anynore.

The story of Palestine is the story of efforts to impede the establishment of a Jewish homeland of any kind in Palestine. After the Balfour Declaration, the enemies of the Jews regrouped and did everything to prevent its implementaton. After Eastern Palestine (80%) was emptied of Jews and given the homeless King Abdullah, and Northern Palestine was was emptied of Jews and given to the French Mandate of Syria and ultmately becoming Lebanon, and Western Palestine (Gaza) was emptied of Jews and given to Egypt, a tiny little area was again to be divided with Arabs getting the mountains and valleys and ports and water, and the Jews getng the beach and the desert.

One reason for this was that Britain controlled the Iraqi oil and wanted to build and control a pipeline from Iraq to the port of Haifa. They assumed that it would be easier to install an Arab puppet regme in Palestine than to deal with those pesky, stubborn and independant Jews.

The Arabs refused to allow the Jews to have even that scrap of land.

The Arab High Command told the Arabs to leave so as to facilitate their victory in 1948. You can also add that later all Arab states and Persia got rid of all their Jews and they got absorbed in Israel with little delay. 66 years later Arab states still leave "their brothers" in refugee camps instead of having absorbed them and their support is from western sources, not Arabs. Where is the legendary Arab hospitality?

Israeli Arab can parade with their "Nakba day" and live to see the next day. Can any Arab in any Arab state do the same and live? Israeli Arabs have rights that most Arabs can't even dream of having.

On June 8, 1951, Habib Issa, secretary-general of the Arab League, wrote in the New York Lebanese daily al-Hoda that in 1948, Azzam Pasha, then League secretary, had "assured the Arab peoples that the occupation of Palestine and of Tel Aviv would be as simple as a military promenade ... Brotherly advice was given to the Arabs of Palestine to leave their land, homes and property, and to stay temporarily in neighbouring fraternal states

On April 9, 1953, the Jordanian daily al-Urdun quoted a refugee, Yunes Ahmed Assad, formerly of Deir Yassin, as saying: "For the flight and fall of the other villages, it is our leaders who are responsible, because of the dissemination of rumours exaggerating Jewish crimes and describing them as atrocities in order to inflame the Arabs ... they instilled fear and terror into the hearts of the Arabs of Palestine until they fled, leaving their homes and property to the enemy."

Another refugee told the Jordanian daily a-Difaa on September 6, 1954: "The Arab governments told us, 'Get out so that we can get in.' So we got out, but they did not get in."

The Jordanian daily Falastin wrote on February 19, 1949: "The Arab states... encouraged the Palestinian Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies."

The facts of the 'Nakba' are clear but unfortunately the 'Palestinian' narrative has become the accepted one. Thus anti Semites and idiots have fuel for their hatred of Jews and Israel.

Ed Miliband speaks... rubbish mostly

Ed Miliband on BBC Radio Swindon showing how well briefed he is and repeating himself as usual...



Ed Miliband showing how out of touch he is on Good Morning Britain...


If this had been a Conservative, UKIP or maybe even a Lib Dem senior politician then the BBC would be all over these stories and the BBC's tame satirical comedians would be revving up the lazy jokes to garner easy laughts. However as this was the Labour leader (no really, he is) the silence will be deafening.

Remember Ed Miliband has form with these brain freeze moments, here he is stuck on repeat in 2011...

Does anyone not think this is one of the most embarrassing political interviews ever? Yet for the BBC it's been forgotten, did it even appear on Have I Got News For You?

To be fair, Ed Miliband has embarrassed himself on other TV networks as well, here he is on Channel 4 last year

If the Daily Mail made Sat Navs

Armstrong and Miller of course...

With the EU elections tomorrow, sentiments we should all bear in mind - 'turn right'

UKIP asks 'Who really runs Westminster?'

A nice sharp poster that asks a relevant question and one that David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband really don't want to have asked and certainly not answered.

Religious Freedom is important

The 2014 USCIRF Religious Freedom  report is out now and just as last year there seems to be some common threads that unite the worse offenders.

 Tier 1 CPC Countries
Designated by State Department & Recommended by USCIRF
Burma - Military government of a particularly nasty type
China - Single party Communist state
Eritrea - Single party state split 62.5% Christian, 36.5% Muslim
Iran - Islamic republic under Shariah Law
North Korea - One party authoritarian regime, based on Communism
Saudi Arabia - Islamic republic under Shariah Law
Sudan - Single party Islamic state
Uzbekistan - Former part of Communist Soviet Union




Tier 1 CPC Countries
Recommended by USCIRF
Egypt - Islamic state with Muslim Brotherhood problems
Iraq - Islamic state with troubled past and future
Nigeria - Troubled African country, approx 50% Muslim and 50% Christian with major Islamist problems
Pakistan - Islamic state
Syria - Islamic state with civil war in progress between different brands of Islamists
Tajikistan - Former part of Communist Soviet Union
Turkmenistan - Former part of Communist Soviet Union
Vietnam - Communist state

So of the 16 above countries:
Islamic - 7
Large part Islamic -2
Communist or ex Communist - 6
Military government - 1

Makes you think.

I await the BBC's reporting of this report, but as Israel are not listed I doubt that they will bother, 'mustn't spoil the narrative'...

The Guardian's Comment Is Free section asks 'Should women get paid menstrual leave?'

The Guardian's Comment Is Free section asks if women should get paid menstrual leave - it's a fair question, after all there is a magic money tree to pay for all extensions to workers benefits.

However this is a highly discriminatory measure and I demand equality. I don't see why I, as a man, should be discriminated against by not receiving this extra benefit. Just because I can't menstruate, I should still have the right to be able to menstruate and so have these extra days leave...

The Monty Python team once had similar views... In Life Of Brian.

Oddly the BBC have not reported this NHS story

The 2014 CHKS awards  included at the top of patient care award shortlist an NHS hospital by the name of Hinchingbrooke. Nothing unusual there, there are a lot of NHS hospitals on the various shortlists, but what is odd is that just two years ago Hinchingbrooke Hospital was a failing NHS hospital with debts of £40 million. The Cambridgeshire hospital was described by The Royal College of Surgeons as ‘dysfunctional’. A private firm, Circle, was tasked with the running of this failing hospital and just over two years later, the hospital has won an award. Over that period, the Hospital Trust has also topped a ranking of 46 trusts in the Midlands and East Anglia for A&E waiting times and was fifth for referrals for cancer tests. The Hinchingbrooke Trust loosened the grip of the managers and administrators and now the majority of the 15 board members are clinicians.

It hasn't just been a clinical success, Circle also reduced the £10million annual deficit to £3.5million in its first year and this dropped to £1million last year and the trust expects to break even this year before moving into surplus in 2015. A spokesman for Circle explained this thus:

‘The biggest chunk of the savings was from improving quality. Bad quality care exposes you to lots more litigation for mistakes. Patients also stay longer than necessary or have to come back for further treatment. Locum costs have also dropped. There is a 50 per cent premium for temporary staff and the hospital had problems with recruiting as people didn’t want to work there.’ 

 All sensible and obvious stuff but the NHS hospital needed private sector management to clear away the stultifying bureaucracy that permeates so much of the NHS.


So how are the BBC reporting this news story? You won't be surprised to learn that the answer is - not at all. In fact the last mention of Hinchingbrooke hospital on the BBC news website was in this article that bemoans the news in January this year that

'Almost 70% of contracts for NHS services in England between April-December 2013 were won by private firms, a campaign group claims.'

 If the BBC were an unbiased news reporting organisation then they would report this good news NHS story but as they are in reality a propaganda organisation, campaigning on behalf of various left-wing causes, this story will slip them by. You can guarantee that if the Hinchingbrooke Trust had failed under private control then that would have been headline news on the BBC.

Immigration - some facts

At the start of this video of Douglas Murray speaking at the Oxford Union there are some facts that are rarely heard, or maybe it would be better say allowed to be heard.

Do listen to the whole of Douglas Murray's speech, it's not quite twelve minutes long.

He also covers some of the points I've made about the lie that Britain is a country of immigrants. The comparative figures of Hugenots and Ugandan Asians to recent immigration should be used whenever a Labour spokesman or BBC presenter tries to use this lie.

When the BBC call someone 'controversial' you know they don't approve... BBC News - Indian election: Narendra Modi hails 'landmark' win

When the BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27439456 describe the newly elected Indian Prime Minister as 'controversial', you know that they disapprove of him.  He's pro business, not a dhimmified coward and willing to stand up to anti Indian sentiment both within and outside of India. You can see why the BBC find him controversial...

Unfashionably I appreciate London Live TV

London Live TV (Sky 117) has been getting a lot of stick since its launch and apparently has very low viewing figures. For a lot of the time I can understand why, just look at the schedules. However it does also show three really great shows:

1. Coupling - Steven Moffat's master-work of three series from 2000 to 2004 and a dodgy series four. A genius comedy series with some great acting, some poor acting but always very very funny, and sometimes toe-curlingly embarrassing. You must watch this series, if not on London Live then buy the DVD. I have previously blogged about Series 1, Episode 5 'The Girl with Two Breasts' - Shadayim... and Series 3, Epsiode 1 "Split" is another that you must watch. The series starred Jack Davenport, Sarah Alexander, Gina Bellman, Kate Isitt, Ben Miles and Richard Coyle. This was a programme about relationships, sex and misunderstandings.

Shadayim extract...


How to dump your girlfriend...


Sally could kiss Jennifer...





2. Spaced - Simon Pegg's great TV slacker comedy series with a heart and numerous popular culture (mainly sci-fi) references. Simon Pegg is great but to my mind Jessica Stevenson steals the show, along with Colin (the dog). A wonderful great programme but not really lending itself to video extracts, do watch it.



3. Smack The Pony - The brilliant sketch show that didn't receive the recognition that it deserved. The stars of this programme included Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan, Sally Phillips, Sarah Alexander and Darren Boyd. With a mostly female cast this show was often portrayed as some sort of feminist programme, to me it was just very very funny.

The window cleaner



Hair

May 15: Nakba or defeat? | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.

An interesting article by a Muslim Arab about the creation of Israel and the 'Nakba'.

'The Palestinian-Israeli conflict could have been resolved on May 15, 1948 by either accepting the United Nations mandate or by absorbing the thousands of Palestinian refugees into the Arab world.'

http://www.arabnews.com/news/570476

The sort of view that the BBC would never allow airspace to.

If conference calls happened like real life

If conference calls were in real life... We've all been there!

The BBC news website has a report entitled 'Bulgarian and Romanian job figures to be revealed'

At the end of this BBC news report the BBC show their priorities with this request 

'Are you Romanian or Bulgarian and working in the UK? Have you arrived since 1 January this year? You can email your experiences tohaveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, using the subject line 'Working in the UK'.'

Oddly the BBC don't ask for the  experiences of British people who have lost jobs to Romanian or Bulgarian workers, who live near a house occupied by a dozen Romanian or Bulgarian workers, or have had to walk across Marble Arch recently.

The BBC manage not to report what links these men

This BBC news report on the 'Oxford sex gang' just can't quite mention what links them together. 

We read that ' The court heard how the men - two of east African origin and five of Pakistani origin'  but it's only at the very end of the piece that a clue emerges ' The men convicted and jailed were Kamar Jamil, Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Assad Hussain, Mohammed Karrar, Bassam Karrar and Zeeshan Ahmed.'

I've lost count of the number of sex abuse gangs which have been reported upon that have Muslim members and prey on non Muslim girls. The BBC seem to not want to make that link...

For some reason it reminded me of this American satirical sketch (from In The Bull Pen) of a few years ago...

BBC News - Nigeria kidnapped girls 'shown' in new Boko Haram video

Is the reporter really called Nick Childs? Do the BBC understand irony?

BBC video here.

Nigel Farage and Enoch Powell

There's an interesting part of the following video when Raymond Bennett joint national Secretary of Unite Against Fascism (sic) says (6:25) that 'Nigel Farage says that Enoch Powell is his hero'.

Incidentally just before that (6:05) watch Raymond Bennett's reaction when he's asked about the non-white members of UKIP. I think it might be his floundering over that question that makes him make his claim re Nigel Farage and Enoch Powell.

Here's the full Daily Politics interview.



Has Nigel Farage ever said that Enoch Powell is his hero? I can't find such a comment, all I did find was this interview with Dermot Murnaghan when he says that the basic principle of Enoch Powell's so called 'Rivers of Blood' speech is right.



What's especially interesting is Nigel Farage's comparison of immigration in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s with the rate since the election of the Labour government in 1997.

The multi-talented Boris Johnson

Coolness personified shooting a basket...



A redoubtable rugby tackler

The fact that it was on a football pitch is irrelevant!



A good humorous speech maker



An expert in whiff whaff



And willing to say what he thinks about hecklers...

Antisemitism on Twitter - It's @_fuck_israel_ again

I've blogged about @_fuck_israel_ before and the anti-Semitic views that he freely espouses. He stepped over a line last week, here's some examples.

First some general anti-Semitic insults:

Secondly some general threats aimed at all Jews:

Thirdly a direct threat aimed at @Adelirose

Finally a direct threat aimed at me

 

If you notice @_fuck_israel_ has abandoned any pretence of not being anti-Semitic and has changed his Twitter handle to fuck-jews. Why does Twitter allow such blatant anti-Semitism and threats against Jewish users of Twitter to be made?

Reporting Bethlehem and the BBC

The BBC love a good Bethlehem story, anything involving Israel and restrictions on the travel of Palestinians from Bethlehem rates a headline. Around Christmas the BBC wouldn't be the same without a story about the Christians in Bethlehem suffering some imaginary deprivation at the hands of the Israelis. However when it's Palestinian Muslims attacking a Christian church the BBC is oddly silent.

A Bethlehem Greek Orthodox Church (St. George’s Church – Khadar – near Beit Jala) was attacked by Muslims during its annual St. George’s Day services on May 6. … Some local Muslims either tried to park a car too close the church and/or tried to enter the church during a service honoring St. George – the initial instigation isn’t clear. But when the intruders were asked to leave, one of them stabbed a Christian man who was outside the church serving as a guard. He was hospitalized. Several then started throwing stones at the church. 7 or 8 Christians were injured and some physical damage was done – broken windows etc. The police didn’t show up for an hour.

More here.

Songs to ban from the BBC? - NSFW - Warning songs include the 'n' word, quite a lot in some cases

The BBC have just let a rather elderly local radio DJ go for having the temerity to play 'The Sun Has Got His Hat On' a song that includes the (as it is now almost compulsory to say) 'n' word. This comes soon after they censured Jeremy Clarkson for maybe or maybe not muttering that same word under his breath during a recital of 'Eenie Meenie, Minee Mo'. However I note that at the BBC not all their output is as regularly policed for the 'n' word. There are numerous repetitions of the 'n' word in Pulp Fiction which I think the BBC has broadcast but also in many songs, some of which I have definitely heard on the BBC and others which I doubt the BBC would refuse to play on one of it's 'music' stations.



Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - New York New York



Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army



Stiff Little Fingers - White Noise
This song may have more 'racist' words than any other... lyrics here.



NWA (aka Niggas With Attitude) - Straight Out of Compton



Ice-T - Straight Up Nigga



Ice Cube Ft Lil Jon - Roll Call



Eminem and Biggie and 50 Cent - Realest Nigga



Snoop Dog - Vato



Kelis ft Clipse milkshake remix 



Public Enemy - I don't want to be called Yo Niga 




Now I'll be honest, I only knew the first three songs straight off, the others needed some looking up. 

I do like the output of Grandmaster Flash: it's intelligible, often intelligent and has musicality that is so often missing from the likes of Public Enemy etc. I used to love Elvis Costello's songs although his politics grates more and more now. Stiff Little Fingers are not my favourite punk era band but they had their moments, I'm not sure White Noise is one of them.

After those three there were a huge number of (mostly) American, Gangster Crap (the c is silent) tracks that I could have picked, most of which are unintelligible, unintelligent and lacking any discernible musicality. 

I spent much of my time at school being called 'Yid' or 'Yiddo', did I like it? No. Did I want the people shouting it to stop? Yes. As an adult would I run screaming to the police if someone called me the same today? No, because I'm an adult and those words only cause upset if I allow them to.

Whatever Israel does is always wrong

Israelly Cool had an insightful post on this subject recently:

We have to admit it, the other side is bloody clever. Look at this headline and byline from Reuters:

Israeli forces demolish West Bank mosque as peace talks deadline passes
BY ALI SAWAFTA
KHIRBET AL-TAWEEL, West Bank Tue Apr 29, 2014 10:16am EDT

Genius stuff. It’s not until paragraph six that we get some balance:

The Israeli army said in a statement that eight structures, including a “mosque in use”, were demolished because they had been built illegally inside a dangerous live-fire military training zone.

So lets get this straight, illegally build a mosque and “three one-storey family houses, animal shelters and a communal well.” Then allow “around 30 people” to live there.

In the middle of a live fire army training area!

Win win! Either Israeli forces show up to evict and destroy illegally built structures or someone gets blown up by LIVE FIRE in an accident! Either way they get the PR coup they were looking for and Reuter’s Arab stringer is standing by to take the obligatory heart rendering pictures.

The only thing missing is a child’s toy. I wonder how they missed that trick?

A great article that points to the power of images, the success  of Pallywood and the way that the Western media will always take the Palestinian side and waste no opportunity to vilify Israel.

Eurovision 2014 winner Conchita Wurst's original song video

Am I wrong?

Surely Conchita Wurst owes the late great Kenny Everett a big thank you for the inspiration of Cupid Stunt.

More scenes of apartheid on the streets of Israel

Following yesterday's post, I thought I'd share some more photos from Real Jerusalem Streets, these are from Pesach 2014

Apartheid in action?

Women in the army, I forsee a problem...

Women serving on the army frontline, I foresee a problem...

Songs for ADD sufferers

Tim Hawkins with a great shortened version of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler included.

I agree with Marcus Brigstocke!?! - Update - It;s OK it wasn't Prickstocke, it was John Holmes

Oh my god I find myself agreeing with Marcus Brigstocke's piece on the Jeremy Clarkson N-word furore on tonight's Now Show. Marcus Brigstocke likes Jeremy Clarkson and defends him. He also attacks Harriet Harman's overreaction.

Listen for yourself here.

I need to go for a shower now.

Update - As advised by Steve, it was in fact not Marcus Brigstocke but John Holmes. I feel clean once more, I did think it odd that Marcus Brigstocke would take a less than right-on approach.

More from the streets of 'the apartheid state of Israel'

Israel is often called 'an apartheid state' so I thought these pictures from the very streets of Israel might be of interest.

There's more of these photos at The Real Jerusalem Streets but definitely where anti-Semites and anti-Israel idiots meet to call Israel, incorrectly, an 'apartheid state'.

The @Wotsit4 flounce (part 2)

You may remember a while back that @Wotsit4 flounced off. Unfortunately he came back to Twitter and this time he's been even nastier than previously. He's flounced off again, here's the last Twitter exchange...

The question that @Wotist4 won't answer is the one I posted previously:

Why do you think that Israel is occupying the West Bank and Gaza post 1967 but that Jordan and Egypt weren't 1948-1967?



It would seem that @Wotsit4 would rather hang out (on Twitter) with anti-Semites like @fuck_israel than answer a good and very relevant question.

Ah bless @Wotsit4 has made a friend or two

And

Isn't it nice when likeminded people get together?

So that's it settled, Scotland will vote for independence on September 18th

I had always believed that, unfortunately, Scotland would vote 'No' in the independence referendum on September 18th. But today I learn from The Times that:

'Gordon Brown is to become more heavily involved in the campaign against Scottish independence after being identified as a "star striker" to persuade undecided voters to back the Union in the September referendum.'

I understand why Labour are desperate for a No vote, they need those Scottish Labour MPs to ensure a Labour majority in future general elections, but they have just signed the 'No' vote death warrant.

The ignorance of the Labour Party is shocking

The Labour Party have issued a new poster, here it is...

Can you spot the mistake?

Obviously beyond the knowledge of the Labour Party is the fact that most of the items in that shopping basket re charged VAT at the rate of 0% so I'm not sure how VAT increases have affected the cost of that basket.

Labour Party ignorant as well as incompetent?

UKIP's Nigel Farage makes a good speech to a recent UKIP meeting.

Nigel Farage's recent speech in full.I look forward to the BBC reporting this speech and the anti-racist sentiment, I also look forward to money growing on trees and peace on Earth...

Does he sound like the racist fruitcake that the BBC and the pro-EU political class try to portray him as? Why do you think the left and pro-EU middle are so desperate to discredit UKIP?

Are you revising for your History A'Level and having problems with the First World War?

Are you revising for your History A'Level and having problems with the First World War?

This may help...

The First World War explained as a pub fight...

Germany, Austria and Italy are stood together in the middle of the pub, when Serbia bumps into Austria, and spills Austria's pint.

Austria demands Serbia buy it a complete new suit, because there are splashes on its trouser leg.

Germany expresses its support for Austria's point of view

Britain recommends that everyone calm down a bit.

Serbia points out that it can't afford a whole suit, but offers to pay for cleaning Austria's trousers.

Russia and Serbia look at Austria.

Austria asks Serbia who it's looking at.

Russia suggests that Austria should leave its little brother alone.

Austria inquires as to whose army will assist Russia in compelling it to do so.

Germany appeals to Britain that France has been looking at it, and that this is sufficiently out of order that Britain should not intervene.

Britain replies that France can look at who it wants to, that Britain is looking at Germany too, and what is Germany going to do about it?

Germany tells Russia to stop looking at Austria, or Germany will render Russia incapable of such action.

Britain and France ask Germany whether it's looking at Belgium.

Turkey and Germany go off into a corner and whisper. When they come back, Turkey makes a show of not looking at anyone.

Germany rolls up its sleeves, looks at France, and punches Belgium.

France and Britain punch Germany. Austria punches Russia. Germany punches Britain and France with one hand and Russia with the other.

Russia throws a punch at Germany, but misses and nearly falls over. Japan calls over from the other side of the room that it's on Britain's side, but stays there. Italy surprises everyone by punching Austria.

Australia punches Turkey, and gets punched back. There are no hard feelings, because Britain made Australia do it.

France gets thrown through a plate glass window, but gets back up and carries on fighting. Russia gets thrown through another one, gets knocked out, suffers brain damage, and wakes up with a complete personality change.

Italy throws a punch at Austria and misses, but Austria falls over anyway. Italy raises both fists in the air and runs round the room chanting.

America waits till Germany is about to fall over from sustained punching from Britain and France, then walks over and smashes it with a barstool, then pretends it won the fight all by itself.

By now all the chairs are broken, and the big mirror over the bar is shattered. Britain, France and America agree that Germany threw the first punch, so the whole thing is Germany's fault . While Germany is still unconscious, they go through its pockets, steal its wallet, and buy drinks for all their friends.

Glad to be of service, please credit me on your A' Level history paper.

Lefty logic and a prediction for how the BBC will become very shortly

News about the Obama administration that you won't find given much prominence on the BBC

The BBC pushed Barack Obama as the man to save America (Gil Scott-Heron 'B-Movie' reference intended) mostly because they wanted a black President of the USA, for their purposes the fact that Barack Obama had a white mother was irrelevant. As it became obvious that Barack Obama was no messiah, the BBC have tried to minimise coverage of any news detrimental to his reputation. Here's a piece of news that I found overnight that I predict the BBC will not be reporting.


The House of Representatives has voted to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about her agency's targeting of conservative and other groups. Republicans contend that the IRS, for political reasons, targeted for extra scrutiny groups seeking tax-exempt status. The IRS, the Obama administration and Democrats reject any political motivation. Lerner, who was put on administrative leave and then retired last year from the IRS, headed the unit that did the screening. So far, she has refused to testify before Congress.


Of course if you get your news mostly from the BBC TV or radio news then you won't even have heard of the IRS targeting scandal let alone of Ms Lois Lerner. The BBC news website has reported the story but very sotto voce indeed.

I thought that Labour had denied using 'class war' language

Their latest Party Election Broadcast film suggests otherwise

'Ever wondered what really goes on around the Cabinet table? The sorry story of Nick Clegg - the un-credible shrinking man!'

Juvenile,  pathetic, desperate - three words that sum up this PEB and indeed the Labour Party

No reporting of this good economic news on the BBC, I wonder why?

A recent OECD study ahs found that quality of life in the UK has been only 'modestly affected' by the global financial crisis with happiness and even trust in the government rising, this is in marked contrast with the UK's neighbours in the Eurozone. According to the OECD whilst the recession sent unemployment rising and did put a squeeze on living standards in Britain, as elsewhere, the drop in national morale seen in other countries is just 'not visible' in the UK.

The OECD study found that the British enjoy the highest levels of income, job security, clean air and water, personal safety and democratic accountability in the OECD and some of the strongest friendship networks.

In the UK the proportion of people who said they were very satisfied with their lives overall edged upwards from 63 per cent to 64 per cent. By way of contrast in Greece, which was worst hit by the Eurocrisis, reported satisfaction with life fell by 20 per cent between 2007 and 2012. It fell by 12 per cent in Spain and 10 per cent in Italy.


Across the Eurozone the proportion of people who said that they trust their national government fell by 10 per cent in the five years to 2012. However in Britain it rose from 36 per cent to 47 per cent.

The OECD study 'How's Life' ranks Britain along with Switzerland, Australia, Scandanavia, Canada and New Zealand in the top tier with regards to the quality of life across 34 leading countries.

In their commentary to the study's findings the OECD said:

'In the OECD as a whole, the poor employment situation had a major impact on life satisfaction...

This trend is not visible in the United Kingdom where, from 2007 to 2012, the percentage of British people declaring being very satisfied with their lives increased from 63 per cent to 64 per cent.'

So there's some good news about life in Britain today, but as it doesn't conform to the Labour Party / BBC narrative you will not be surprised to learn that I can find no reference to this OECD report on the BBC.

How odd, or rather predictable.