Ordinarily, I will tune in to Radio 4 “Today” or else check out the BBC main news portal as a means of assessing the presentation of news by the State broadcaster. But this morning, I am in London on business and I can only watch the TV news in my hotel room. So, for a change, I tuned in to the “Breakfast” programme on BBC1. It’s an eye-opener because it too has a rampant bias which is ever so subtle and aimed at the wider audience watching at this time in the morning. In that regard one could argue it is all the more dangerous in terms of its’ malign influence.
The lead story was concerning how people are being aggressively pursued by debt collection agencies. And who did the BBC choose to interview about this? A lady, clad in full Niqab gear, who claimed she was the victim of identity confusion. The fact that we could not even see her face because she chose to wear Islamic garb seemed an irony lost on the BBC. Cut to fluffy dog story – and then we had a story about Lord Rumba of Rio’s bail-out to the UK car industry, with an touching human interest interview with an ever so grateful car industry worker. Good ol’ Mandy – he’s providing much needed job security. Cue more feel good news about the octuplets. Then a story about rising child care costs in GB which are, thank goodness, being obviated at least in some areas by progressive local Councils and our wise government. It’s the proverbial curate’s egg, inane in some bits, toxic in others!
LOL, Tom.
The idea that ‘English is too difficult’ is almost as barmy as ‘illiteracy is not an issue’.
But is there anyone who still believes that professors can’t be idiots?
He’s not an antisemite, just a hater of Israel
Yeah, right, that old chestnut.
Thanks, Sue.
.
Tom writes: “The BBC are always against grammar….”
The BBC is always against grammar, surely?
(koff)
‘The BBC are’ is correct if you are talking about beeboids as individuals, as distinct from a BBC policy imposed by one DG or whatever.
Tom 4:50
Ok, I get it.
So it is about the BBC promoting illiteracy , presumebly only in the English language ?
Or does it also extend to Arabic ?
Sorry to add to the OT apostrophe subject, but it’s on the front page of the Telegraph today. Birmingham City Council have/has banned them on road signs because they find them problematic.
(Note; I’m afraid to commit to have or has.)
It can be confusing about the its without the apostrophe if you think of ‘it’ as a thing that can have things of its own, i.e. possess things. Like a table and its tablecloth. Does a table possess its cloth? No, stupid, the owner of the tablecloth (who possibly owns the table as well,) owns it. Unless they have loaned the cloth to the lady next door for Eid.
…Like a table and its tablecloth….
Sue | 30.01.09 – 10:33 am |
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Hmm… it’s not confusing, though, if one remembers that it’s always means it is or it has.
Besides, my, your, her, his, our, your and their table cloth (and the tablecloth is mine, yours, hers, his, ours, yours and theirs) don’t take an apostrophe, so why bring one into the possessive its and its tablecloth?
Birmingham City Council have/has
Either can work here
banned them on road signs because they find them problematic.
Any further evidence needed of the profound illiteracy of much of the population of this country?
Near where I live, the council has painted in large letters on the road at a zebra crossing:
Look bothways before crossing
I keep meaning to tell them about it.
I believe that in several pimary schools they have abandoned the use of indented paragraphs and instead use the space-wasting practice of leaving a blank line and starting on the left. This is correct for a computer printed letter but not for an essay.
I do not know why.
Possible explanations are:
– teachers have given up trying to teach this task as they are not very good at teaching
– attempt to dumb down
Millie Tant:
Tell them to paint the words ‘Zebra crossing’ instead …
Tom – Re the Christian hate mail – why not just give them half of the first programme (30 min) to put their arguments? Let people judge for themselves. – no 15 min will do. No, okay 10min. 5min? What zero min again?
It is like they are covering one of the biggest debates in history whilst saying ‘obviously, we will only be covering one side’
N.O. – the professors of education are probably the most idiotic. Any sensible person who has been through teacher training will tell you that they have invented an entire false world complete with its own jargon for them to live in. One product of this world filtering through to the real one is that many primary schools no longer teach multiplication or division by the traditional methods.