OPEN THREAD

109 Responses to OPEN THREAD

1. jonuk says:

   May 24, 2012 at 10:55 pm

   are the BBC still promoting John Barrowman as the straightest gay man? He hasn’t been on Loose Women lately

      2 likes
2. Alfie Pacino says:

   May 25, 2012 at 12:48 am

   I’m probably out on a limb here and you’ve probably debated this to death, but there’s a Panorama programme kicking the hell out of the Eurovision Song contest and sticking the boot into Englebert’s bollocks.
   Why?
   Simply, it takes as it’s starting Point last year’s winning entry. So to a simpleton such as me, I wonder why this documentary wasn’t made last year? 2Why are they still sat at the milking stool a year on?
   I really couldn’t care less if I’m honest but the hypocrisy of the BBC rather than that of their choice of partners to broadcast to billions makes me want to puke.
   Biased BBC will wash their hands of their manufactured indignation but they will broadcast the contest anyway and will manufacture a news story to run alongside the story.
   Their contacts and those that may be killed matter not one jot to the crass BBC journo who I would bet my mortgage that is sleeping well in his nw4 bedroom tonight and will watch Eurovision live.
   Any deaths or jail terms not his fault?

      2 likes
   • Guest Who says:

     May 25, 2012 at 6:47 am

     They want your views (well, I suspect, only selected ones)…
     BBC Breakfast ‏@BBCBreakfast
     Will you be watching this year’s #Eurovision song contest tomorrow is it Euroheaven or Eurotrash?
     Nil points.

        2 likes
     • Reed says:

       May 25, 2012 at 6:52 am

       The only reason to tune in was to listen to Wogan’s withering mockery of the whole ridiculous spectacle. No point now.

          2 likes
3. Reed says:

   May 25, 2012 at 3:28 am

   Just how messed up is this – for so many reasons…

   …I came across this blog post…

   http://hauntingthelibrary.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/global-warming-author-says-bar-code-everyone-at-birth/
   In a fascinating insight into the mentality of those who espouse the mantra of catastrophic global warming, writer Elizabeth Moon has a short piece for the BBC in which she argues that everyone should be involuntarily implanted with a microchip at birth so that “anonymity would be impossible”.

   …thought I’d give it a read at the source – BBC Worldwide

   http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120522-barcode-everyone-at-birth

   …and instead of an article I get this message…

   BBC Future (international version)
   We’re sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee.

   …here is their ‘about’ page…

   http://www.bbcworldwide.com/about-us.aspx
   BBC Worldwide operates under the BBC Charter and Agreement, which sets out the following four commercial criteria with which our activities must comply. BBC Worldwide must:

   -Fit with the BBC’s Public Purposes as set out in the Charter;
   -Be commercially efficient;
   -Not jeopardise the good reputation of the BBC or the value of the BBC brand;
   -Comply with the BBC’s Fair Trading Guidelines and avoid distorting the market (that’s a killer, ain’t it)

   …so, although this channel/website comes under the banner of ‘The BBC’, is subject to the BBC Charter, and has numerous links to the main BBC website, we in the UK are not allowed to view either the content of the website or the programming! They claim that this is solely a venture to increase funding for the BBC, but it smacks of empire building out of sight. Without the guaranteed funding from the British taxpayer to sustain the BBC’s existence both past and present, this outside venture simply wouldn’t be possible. This colonial expansion is probably an issue that our overseas contributors are far more aware of than us here in the UK, to whom it is mostly hidden – for good reason no doubt. I was vaguely aware of some outside BBC channels (BBC America), but had no idea of the extent of this outward expansion. That there is content that has been produced under the British Broadcasting Corporation logo, that British people are unable to access at all, is simply wrong. The BBC needs to decide whether it’s a publicly funded national broadcaster with the limits and conditions that should be implied, or whether it’s a global commercial enterprise that is independently funded. If more people here realised the global extent of our so-called national broadcaster, there would be far more vociferous calls for it to be reformed and pruned back drastically….or scrapped altogether.

      4 likes
   • wally greeninker says:

     May 25, 2012 at 9:01 am

     In a piece on Today at 8.45 this morning we were told of warnings from various Americans that we are in danger of entering a post-enlightenment, irrationalist, anti-scientific era – a major sign of this, is people’s increasing scepticism about AGW. But don’ worry – the geeks are fighting back and the forces of sweet reason and light may yet triumph

        2 likes
4. Guest Who says:

   May 25, 2012 at 7:13 am

   On SKY just now: despite the cuts, even more parking tickets issued. How, then, is this ‘performance’ not replicable elsewhere across public sector?

      1 likes