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Moonwolf

Listed below are comments made by Moonwolf between Saturday, 3rd January 2009 and Monday, 26th January 2009.

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BBC and the Gaza appeal 11:03pm on 26 Jan 2009 All these people complaining about the BBC not running an appeal on TV to help the victims of the massacre committed using British weapons and munitions ...

The idea of not allowing the massacre to occur in the first place was obvious too taxing.

But then again, the BBC doesn't have planes and missiles and white phosphorous shells. A much safer target for the sheeple.
BBC and the Gaza appeal 2:28pm on 26 Jan 2009 One_Marble_Left @ 754:

The UN has long been a waste of time when it comes to this topic. The 1967 resolution has been flagrantly disregarded by Israel for over 40 years now, does anyone really think that Israel is going to pay them any attention this time?

We'd all have a better leg to stand on if Hamas had been given the chance to actually govern, "put their money where their mouths are", after the elections in 2006, but that was never going to be a possibility.

Israel can't afford for Hamas or any similar organization to have political power because such groups won't give Israel what they really want - a peace treaty ceding the occupied territories to Israel.

Fatah is Israel's only real chance of getting that, and so avoiding an internal *Israeli* civil war. So Hamas was set up to do exactly what they did.

Andrew Roberts's article is right for the wrong reasons, he totally misses the fact that Israel violated the ceasefire on November 5th with another missile strike assassination.

Which is not to say Hamas didn't capitalize on it at the "official" end of the cease-fire period.

I'm just curious though. How many of those complaining about the BBC and threatening to not pay the license fee have threatened their MP with not voting for them come election time for allowing British weapons, kit, and munitions to be used in the massacre, and for continuing arms sales to Israel?

How many of them are going to campaign so vociferously when UK resources are used to continue the siege?

The solution to aid getting in is simple - load it onto a bunch of RN vessels and sail it in. Everyone who's been on Windies patrol is trained in disaster recovery, but NGOs are the ones tasked with sending in aid whilst the UK has volunteered to help maintain the siege.

Why are 11,000 people all up in arms about the BBC not showing the DEC Appeal and *not* up in arms about the government's commitments to *maintaining* the disaster's effects?

Likewise, the comments *here* about how the viewers are intelligent enough to tell the difference between a political/news report and a humanitarian appeal seem to be utopian - experience shows that the large majority of viewers have no such ability to discriminate.

On a side note One_Marble_Left, thank you for the "conversation", it's a pleasure to meet another user on these comments who can express their opinion in such rational and thought out postings. There are damned few of us here :P
BBC and the Gaza appeal 07:18am on 26 Jan 2009 @ 735

Some few do raise their voices, and it *is* difficult to get comments that accurately sum up outrage approved. But my comments are aimed at the people who have suddenly found "voices" and are aiming them at a "safe" target.

HYS is on Giyus' Megaphone watchlist, and is notoriously spammed by their bots.

Thankfully, when the BBC switched the blog platform over to this new hybrid that in part uses off the shelf blogging software, the Giyus bots are less able to spam it, which tends to make for more "anti" comments being posted.

The "truth" is elusive, because broadcasters are afraid of being labeled anti-semitic, the default "chilling effect" accusation - despite the fact that Palestinians are also a semitic tribe. Ironic really.

Don't get me wrong, Hamas deserves to shoulder some of the blame for this mess because I truly believe they deliberately placed their own in harm's way in *order* to generate outrage at mass deaths.

Neither side comes out of this covered in glory, and Israel already knows it's facing serious war crimes accusations it can't easily dismiss as propaganda given the evidence.

But the BBC is right to stand on this - the government is now *openly* attempting to influence editorial/programming decisions, and *that* should be sounding alarm bells in everyone's ears at the situation.

People need to put their moral outrage aside, since they really have no grounds to stand on, and look at it from what they want the BBC to be.

This may be the first time since Kelley that the BBC has made a stand against influence and bias being forced upon it, and even if we disagree with the cause they've chosen to make that stand on, we have to support their right to be able to make that decision themselves.

Else we're simply condoning the very influence people decry being present in the BBC - all those people who have accused the BBC of being biased or lapdogs of the government, this is their chance to help the BBC be what they keep saying they're not.

Neutral.

If not, everyone who complains about BBC "bias" will lose any moral or ethical right to ever criticize bias in the future.
BBC and the Gaza appeal 9:18pm on 25 Jan 2009 APbbforum wrote:

The BBC has received over 11,000 complaints - that's 11,000 people at least who think it has compromised its impartiality.

The question is: Where were those 11,000 when WP was being used and bulldozers went in?

Strange the "battles" they choose to pick - especially when this one is far less likely to end up with them being videotaped by the police.
BBC and the Gaza appeal 5:29pm on 25 Jan 2009 Given the publicity surrounding the BBC's decision, are there really any people left who aren't aware of the DEC appeal to begin with?

And I'm curious, how many of those who have complained (here, HYS, phone, email) have actually donated to DEC yet?

How many of those who are up in arms claiming the decision is "indefensible" were demonstrating at the Israeli Embassy while the massacre was at its height?

The BBC will better serve the public by looking into why Olmert felt it necessary to publicly state no Israeli soldier need fear war crimes charges - which raises the question as to his knowledge of them having been committed.

Which no doubt will have Giyus in a tizzy.
BBC and the Gaza appeal 06:59am on 25 Jan 2009 Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

The politicians are amusing, up in arms about the BBC not showing the DEC appeal - but they're culpable in not raising concerns at the massacre in Gaza to begin with, so this is simply their way of trying to deflect the criticism that's coming.

The sheeple are funnier than a Monty Python skit - they've been bleating on for so long (including on these very blogs) about how biased the BBC is towards Palestinians, and now the BBC does something and publicly says it's because of impartiality, what do they do? Scream that the BBC should be show bias towards Palestinians.

Hypocrisy - the new British Method.

Man, am I glad I got out of that madhouse before you all turned it into an international laughing stock.

Little Britain should be reclassed from comedy to reality TV, and Great Britain should be renamed "Country of the living dead" - Romero's creations would be starved over there trying to find "Brains!".
DC countdown 1:46pm on 17 Jan 2009 You hope you can get to work?

Most of us who have to work here all the time have pretty much given up on any chance of getting to work monday to wednesday because there's going to be hordes of clueless idiots swarming all over the place being as rude and inconsiderate as possible.

It was bad enough with the Pope, but this? This is going to be hell.
Why blogs matter to the BBC 9:13pm on 04 Jan 2009 TheArpAssassin @ 121:

How would you feel if you had no sunday dinner to sit down to in the first place because your entire territory was under siege and blockaded to the extent only sub-subsistence levels of basic commodities were being allowed in?

I think, were you in their position, you'd be tempted to lob rockets at the occupying force too (and remember nearly all Israeli citizens are reservists once they complete their national service - the definition of "civilian" is fluid).

Both sides are going to keep on doing stupid things that kill people who just want to sit down to sunday dinner in peace.

Neither side wants peace, because peace can only come if both sides "surrender" something they both lay claim to - Israel will never accept peace as long as it involves giving up land they've occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and Palestinians will never accept peace as long as it involves giving up land occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

See a large problem here?

And for once I agree with MarcusAureliusII.

It'd make for *really* interesting blog entries too, outside of the "Official line".

Even if there's a bias in the reporting, and the blog would simply be a reporter's personal opinions, it's still at least one more perspective than we're currently getting.

But - aren't there local stringers for the BBC there? Al-Jazeera can't be the only broadcaster with sources.

How about the BBC kick open a blog for them, and their Israeli counterparts, instead of giving us sanitized and promotional interviews and diaries in the main news sections?
Why blogs matter to the BBC 09:56am on 04 Jan 2009 djlazarus @ 116:

"The Mail can print whatever they like and we have a democratic right to buy it or not, read it or not, take it on board or not, however, we don't have the same rights when it comes to the BBC. We have to "buy" it whether we like it or not, and as such I do expect a certain amount of balance."

You aren't buying it though, not really. The license fee is a license to own and operate a device capable of receiving broadcast images (or whatever the definition is), and it's really no different than having to get MOT, insurance, road tax, or a driver's license.

The way to avoid those things is not to drive a car, and the way to avoid having to be licensed to own a TV is ... well, not to own one (or an analog of one).

The Government uses the license fee to subsidize the BBC - but does it also use it to subsidize transmission facilities, the licensing agency itself, and things like Open University?

I don't think the BBC itself is the only thing the license fee subsidizes, but you still end up not paying for the BBC itself, you're paying for the privilege of owning a TV to begin with.

Which is still a particularly strange idea, I'll admit. Licensing for cars and to drive them makes sense, but not TVs.

They should at least participate in the comments though. If they're willing to offer their thoughts on the news, then it stands to reason they'd be willing to debate them, else what's the point in offering those thoughts to begin with?
Why blogs matter to the BBC 8:24pm on 03 Jan 2009 And I would wonder if your real name happens to be on that leaked list of BNP members - it would indeed, be folly, if it does.

As for your comments elsewhere, they got moderated, twice - the references to certain groups going to live with their own kind and your definition of who should be considered "English", wasn't it?

Trying to appear "reasonable" *now* isn't going to help you, you know, neither will your attempt at clever word play on "here".

The moderators haven't seen fit to share just what house rule was broken, your assumption that they agreed it was slander is unproven.

If my remarks *were* slanderous, I suggest you step up and employ legal remedies. Of course, that would require you not only be identified, but be associated with your statements - so I doubt I have anything to worry about.

If you truly believed you were right, and your extremist views were acceptable, then one would imagine you would be proud to let people know you're one of the "righteous".

Another advantage to the BBC having blogs: It means other people can be exposed for who and what they are in their own comments.

I too refuse to be cowed, especially by radicals and extremists, be they Muslim - or any other sort.

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