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emamel

Listed below are comments made by emamel between Sunday, 14th December 2008 and Monday, 8th June 2009.

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Labour's long night of painful firsts 11:45am on 08 Jun 2009 Re #39. Dear forever-blue737, of course no cabinet ministers are going to turn on Gordon Brown. They have grace and favour third homes, claim expenses on second homes and get raised pay exceeding £100K. If they turned on him now, they might lose their seats in an election, and with the housing market in its present state, they may make no profit on the sale of their second homes, to avoid paying Corporate Gains Tax on.
We have had 12 years of rule by Cabinet, with the House of Commons being largely bypassed. With 350 MPs , Gordon has had to create 9 new peers to take seats in his cabinet. This filling the cabinet with unelected cronies bypasses Labour Party selection committees and the electorate. This is Gordons way of cleaning up democracy, by simply removing all vestiges of the democratic process and behaving like a tinpot dictator.
The Cabinet then speak of change and listening to the public, in tones that attempt to disguise their vested interests parading as moral rectitude. For the last 8 years, they have been saying "we must listen to the public" and then disregarding them. They've lost Scotland to the SNP, Wales to the Tories and have just 15% of the public support, even behing UKIP in England.
No mandate, no democracy, no direction - just greed and self interest.
Gordon, you're fired.
G20: The big money decisions 8:34pm on 05 Apr 2009 Re 6 from Christian-on the rock.

Don't burst Pestons little bubble. Like the rest of the Western media, he is in denial. Three years ago it was reported that China would overtake the USA as the wealthiest country in the world by 2020. This was before the banking collapse and 'global' recession (not so global if you're Chinese, Brazillian or Russian), which will probably speed up the process. It already has a space programme, nuclear weapons, a military force to rival the USA, and countries queueing up to trade with it. Of course it's already a superpower.

However, the BBC cares more about its American web viewers than fact or the British license fee payer, so continues with its proWestern elitist white propaganda.

Interestingly, Peston does not discuss whether the Chinese, Saudis & UAEs will be receiving more voting rights on the IMF for bailling the wolrds economy out! This would in reality be a massive news story, clearly showing the tidal change in world politics from West to East. Peston comes up short again, giving China just a brief mention.
Improving Brown's domestic political prospects? 8:20pm on 05 Apr 2009 Re 15 - Super angry.

Whilst I understand what you mean when saying "I don't do conspiracy theories", blind belief is foolish. I, too, do not believe in the many daft theories that exist, Machiavelli lives on in politics and always will. No-one in the British public knew that Britain was selling Israel 'heavy water' technology and equipment in the 1950s, in direct contravention to the anti-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, and Israel still denies having such technology. However, the documentation is now in the public domain, unfortunately it came 50 years too late!

I'm off to be probed by aliens from Mars, who frighteningly look like Alistair Darling. I also believe that the Milibands are not human, but hybrids from Mars Attacks.
BBC News and disabled audiences 09:02am on 02 Mar 2009 Showing a general awareness and consideration for your 'viewers' is a perfectly reasonable action and I commend you for your direction.
Perhaps you could now ask your staff to stop announcing 'the news from where you live/are' as Gordon Burns has never been in my lounge and I live in Manchester not Liverpool nor Preston nor the Lake District.
BBC and the Gaza appeal 8:57pm on 25 Jan 2009 There has been a comment above that suggests the vast majority of people decrying the BBCs actions are either anti-semitic or anti-Israel.
I believe that the truth is that we are supporters of neither the Israeli government (with an election brewing) nor Hammas (like with the IRA/Sinn Fein, a terrorist organization with a political wing, who must be engaged if peace is to be sought, like Northern Ireland), but are in fact supporters of life, irregardless of race, colour, creed.
Perhaps, in the interest of impartiality, Mr Thompson would release details of the present DG and Past DGs religious beliefs, political affiliations, and charity work? Will we see these statistics reflect a balanced cross-section of the UK population?
BBC and the Gaza appeal 8:37pm on 25 Jan 2009 Mr Thompson states that Gaza is "a major ongoing news story, in which humanitarian issues - the suffering and distress of civilians and combatants on both sides of the conflict, the debate about who is responsible for causing it and what should be done about it - are both at the heart of the story and contentious", yet this was identical when DEC launched it's Darfur Appeal which the BBC aired.
Mr Thompson also states "whether aid raised by the appeal could actually be delivered on the ground", which was also a more significant matter in Darfur, where the UN felt it should be an African issue, yet the African Nations did not succeed in creating and delivering a peace-keeping force till months after the appeal. Alternatively, UNWRA have been operating as best they could during the conflict, and other aid agencies were operating in Gaza before the conflict and will be returning with large parts of their networks still intact.
Mr Thompson finally states that the BBC has "a duty to ensure that nothing risks undermining our impartiality. It is to protect that impartiality that we have made this difficult decision". In that case, can he please explain what was going through his head when the BBC elected to devote a half hour of peak time evening television for a whole week, DURING the conflict, of 'Anne Franks Diary'!? This would be regarded as tactless timing at best, and propaganda at worst. In the light of Sir Gerald Kaufman, the Right Honourable Member for Gorton, Manchester that the Israeli military were behaving akin to the Nazis, and that his grandmother had not been shot by a German soldier to provide an excuse for the Israeli behaviour (comments that were not widely reported on BBC1), perhaps the BBC has already chosen its side in this matter, and has seriously failled in its "duty".
Thousands need urgent medical help, but the hospitals are without medication or supplies. Thousands more are homeless and have lost all their possessions and need tents and blankets, clothing and shoes. Although Gaza is on the Meditarranean, it is still winter and the nights are cold, especially for starving people.
Gaza has been blockaded for 9 months, and the residents need food, fuel and essential daily items.
This is not about Israel or Hamas, it is about human beings, innocents within this conflict, who need help. Whatever your politics or religious beliefs, you know that it would be a further shame on mankind if we stand by and let these people die. It will not help the future of the Middle East, as the relatives of these people will blame for this; the children left without food whilst sitting among the bodies of their mothers and siblings could easily become the suicide bombers of tomorrow, if nothing is done to show the Palestinians that the world recognises their plight and wishes to help.
The BBC should support the DEC Appeal and air their promotionary video. It is morally right, it is impartial and it is the BBCs duty to report, not censor.
BBC and the Gaza appeal 8:16pm on 25 Jan 2009 The DG states that a major reason for not broadcasting is that Gaza "remains a major ongoing news story, in which humanitarian issues - the suffering and distress of civilians and combatants on both sides of the conflict, the debate about who is responsible for causing it and what should be done about it - are both at the heart of the story and contentious." The DEC appeal for Darfur was identical to the statement above.
The concerns that the aid may not be safely delivered and to the right people was even more so in Darfur, where the African Nations were arguing about a peace-keeping force, and the UN would not get involved.
In Gaza, UNWRA are already there, and other aid agencies were operating prior to the latest conflict, and shall return with their networks mostly still intact.
Whatever a person feels about Israel or Hamas, approximately 1,000 young children and thousands of adults are in need of medical care but the hospitals have not the relevant medicines and equipment. Thousands more humans are now homeless, and whilst Gaza may be meditarranean, it is still winter, and temperatures are very low at night. They need tents and blankets, shoes and clothes.
Additionally, there has been a 9 month blockade of Gaza which has let to shortages of food, fuel and other essential daily items.
This is a valid DEC Appeal, with international backing, and the BBC should support it.
If there is also any hint that broadcasting the appeal could be deemed to have breached the BBCs impartiality, perhaps Mr Thompsonwould like to consider how his phrase "a duty to ensure that nothing risks undermining our impartiality" tallies with the BBCs choice to dedicate a half hour of peak time evening viewing for a whole week to show 'Anne Franks Diary' DURING the conflict. In the light of Sir Gerald Kaufman's comments in the House of Commons, the BBC seems to have taken a side in this matter already, and is not fulfilling its "duty".
The dangers of consulting the public ... 2:54pm on 15 Dec 2008 I think the problem behind the latest BBC phone in fiasco is less about public consultation and more about the BBC.
Apparently, 11million people watch 'Strictly Come Dancing', though I've never met one person who does, and the BBC keeps urging me to pay 15p to vote (inbetween tv programmes, as well as the 7 days a week coverage, + news updates). Now it transpires that 11 million people don't count a fraction as much as a few overpaid nobodies, whom no-one had ever heard of.
The judges each get a vote equivalent to approx 10million people, and can not be overturned by any number of votes by the public. Democracy is one person, one vote.
Mistaken report: Delhi airport 2:48pm on 15 Dec 2008 Anyone else think that the editors are getting lazy.
It's 15th December, and yet the latest blog entry under the editors is 5 Dec.
Must be the season to forget the job you're paid for, and be merry at the license payers expense!
New European 'No' party 5:38pm on 14 Dec 2008 #60 Webaliceinwonderland.

Thank you for your insight into the current events in Russia regarding the Patriarch. I apologize for not having mentioned the Georgian Orthodoxy, which I would consider to be Georgian rather than Russian, but just as imperative to the issue I raised.

I would not fear a pro-Russian Ukraine, because the citizens fought long and hard for their independence, so even if favouring Russia, it would not wish the two countries to become one. I also believe that the American proposal for 'a defensive shield' is no more than an active act of threat to Russia, and a step back towards the 'cold war' which America and the West have clearly lost (as China remains Communist and is shortly going to become the richest country in the world, surpassing America), and completely unnecessary. As Russia already has the capability to plunge Europe (including the UK) into darkness and cold by withdrawing its gas supplies, why should it need to risk voters lives by starting a military conflict?

I would also be in favour of the abolition of NATO, where American and European objectives are now diametrically opposed. This was apparent when the UK/USA invaded Iraq, and Russia and France were willing to veto any such action at the UN Security Council.

Unfortunately, on the religious front, there is no such thing as a Protestant representative - the non-Catholic christian church is so fragmented, they can't even talk to each other. I was born in the UK, and my birth certificate states that I am Church of England (Anglican), although I can't remember the last time I entered a church. Even this faith is in turmoil internally, with Nigerian Anglicans saying that the Archbishop of Canterbury does not represent them! I appreciate that the Ukraine did not endear itself to its neighbouring countries during the second world war, as it chose to align with Germany, and some of its troops carried out horrendous acts of genocide against Poles and Russians in particular. It may be because of this that no formal presence was apparent at the funeral, as 'old wounds run deep'.
It is a shame that the Protestant faiths could not find at least a token gesture to the passing of such a high ranking man of religion - you can be sure that they'd be queueing if it had been the Dalai Lama.
Perhaps, one day soon, people will be able to put the Cold War behind them, and move forward. Europe needs Russia, and Russia would benefit greatly from a stronger tie to Europe.
As the UK still feels seperate from mainland Europe, and is suspicious of France and Germany, it may take a long time to completely bury the past, but I'm still hopeful.
All the best, and thanks again.

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