:
Sun Oct 29 -

BBC'S BUMPY WEEK -

# In an Op-Ed piece at the UK Sunday Mail, Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, asserts that on-air news readers won't be permitted to wear tribal face masks:

*BBC closes door on
newsreaders in Muslim veils*

The piece then goes on to discuss the "secret summit meeting" which was "leaked" during which some BBC executives supposedly admitted they have a "liberal bias." Oddly, Thompson vehemently denies the meeting was secret:

*In fact the seminar was open to external participants and many outside guests took part. Far from being secret, it was streamed live on the internet.*

I wasn't aware that any such meeting was streaming or about to be streamed. If I had been aware of such, I believe I would have made an effort to watch. I have to presume Thompson is being coy about this or, perhaps, even pickwickian. Perhaps he only narrow-streamed it to "Have Your Say, Kent!" in an effort to mollify the legendary Disgusted From Tunbridge Wells.

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# Last week the BBC NewsNight program scored a big "get" with their interview of the Taleban in some remote location. I happened to catch that show and watched over the internet on my laptop.

Before the controversy about it eclipses the content, I thought I discerned at least one bright and hopeful spot in the presentation: the Taleban said they had changed their position on videos. And they appointed an official spokesman, a Mr Arrif.

I was delighted that they demonstrated that they have the capacity to change and that their policies and positions are not set in cement. I didn't have any particular criticism of the reporter, but the overall tone of the presentation seemed mysteriously hostile toward the TV audience or viewers. I was rather baffled by this off-putting tone which I found somewhat distasteful.

Mr Arrif appeared on screen all wrapped up like a mummy, as if he were talking to us from the midst of a sandstorm. Yes, he was masked. I have no idea why. It loooked a bit silly. Perhaps he was masked because he was actually Adam Azzam... are Azzam and Arrif one and the same??? Well, have you ever seen both of them in the same room together? Neither have I. Hey, just a thought ;-)

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# Political cartoon:
Al Qaida Announce
Terms For Peace Plan.

Shows the Statue of Liberty
in a burqa. Worth a click :-)

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