Dining with the Tories

The allegations against Chris Renard, like all such allegations, provoke the inflammatory old saying "No smoke without fire".   As a longstanding pipe-smoker I know that it takes attention to light a fire and more attention to blow smoke rings.  It would be interesting to know whether the women concerned approached Channel 4 or Channel 4 approached them.  If the latter, who prompted Channel 4 and why now ?  Were the women interviewed before or after the Eastleigh by-election was called ?  Whatever the answers, we cannot doubt that the Tory press is exploiting the issue to the full.  Just look at today's misleading headlines.    Can anyone believe that these allegations have emerged during the Eastleigh by-election by accident ?    The Tories themselves can maintain a disingenuous silence.   Their backers in the press will do their work for them.   Another old saying applies, when dining with the Tories "Take a long spoon"

BBC, which continent do we live in ?

It's OK.  There's still ten days for the BBC to start reporting on the Italian election.  Compare how much attention they had paid to the US Presidential election ten days before the vote.  Remember how much coverage they gave to the Danish election ? No ? Not a lot. Then tell me the BBC reports Europe fairly !

Let's all join the NRA's list of opponents

According to a BBC report here, the National Rifle Association has set up and published an index of its opponents including Britney Spears,Barry Manilow, the makers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, George Clooney, the Kansas City Royals baseball team, Chaka Khan, Hallmark greeting cards, the American Nurses Association, Dick Van Dyke, the National Parent Teacher Association, Moon Zappa, offspring of the late musician Frank, Kevin Bacon, Tony Bennett, Missy Elliott, Gloria Estefan, Art Garfunkel, Dustin Hoffman, Ricki Lake, John McEnroe, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sylvester Stallone, Reese Witherspoon.

Can't find the list.  They seem to have taken it down from their website.

If you want to go on the index of the opponents of the NRA, join the Facebook Page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Join-the-NRA-Index-of-opponents/539115289443935

Well bless me !

Caption competition: What's Pope Tony saying ?

Here's a suggestion.
"Look, you can trust me.  I'm an honest kind of guy.  Kiss my ring."

Labour policy revealed (at last)

I've finally discovered what the Labour Party's policy on everything is !

The trivial world of the Today programme

Dumbing down at the BBC proceeds apace.  The Today programme covers Michael Gove's GCSE reforms.  Very little discussion of their merits or otherwise.   The presenter's agenda is clear, to label changes as a U-turn.  We leave the subject little the wiser to race through the possibility of a solar storm.  Clearly Sarah Montague wants to get this over quickly.  She interviews the scientist as if he were a politician avoiding the question.  His explanation of the phenomenon becomes disjointed by her frequent interruptions.  I'm shouting at the radio - "Let the man speak !".  He uses the word "perturbation". That's too much for Montague.  She questions it.   It's all right Sarah.  We're the Radio 4 audience.  We've heard it before. Why this rude rush ?  All is revealed.  We have to get to the important item: the BBC Breakfast Poll on how many people eat lunch at their desk.