Sorry for the slight 'famine or feast' nature of the blog these days. Unfortunately, as everyone around me seems to have started saying these days, "It is what it is".
(Where did the phrase "It is what it is" come from? How has it spread so quickly? And have I even understood it properly?)
Another deluge of posts will doubtless arrive from me later in the week. (Sue will be pre-warned and will reach a place of safety first).
I've got about twenty posts brewing in my head - including ones on Adrian Chiles's Panorama; the very same Adrian Chiles on Nigel Farage's resignation; a particularly snide Newsbeat 'tribute' to Nigel Farage on the BBC website; Eddie Mair's less-than-friendly interview with Nigel; Radio 4's somewhat apocalyptic, post-Brexit The Food Programme; Sunday's pro-Brexit negativity (hate crimes, racism, 'tone' of the campaign); Lord Puttnam calling for anti-Brexit views to be sidelined by the BBC as much as 'anti-global warming' voices are sidelined - and Justin Webb seemingly backing him up over that; Broadcasting House's heavy Remain-focused gloom-mongering, at both ends of the programme; The Shipping Forecast's pro-bad-weather bias (damn them!); food-loving Jeremy Bowen's heavily-biased Iraq stuff (flagrant yes, but right, semi-right, wrong or out-and-out dangerous?); even-more-food-loving Mark Mardell's slightly-more-subtly-biased post-Brexit stuff (March for Europe, huge amounts of Tony Blair, a glimpse of Suzanne Evans, etc); Victoria Derbyshire and Ed Miliband (wherein the latter surprised and the former didn't); last night's Newsnight and Evan's line of questioning about UKIP (tone, tone, tone); Martine Croxall's latest pratfall....etc, etc, etc. All that's needed is time.
I've got about twenty posts brewing in my head - including ones on Adrian Chiles's Panorama; the very same Adrian Chiles on Nigel Farage's resignation; a particularly snide Newsbeat 'tribute' to Nigel Farage on the BBC website; Eddie Mair's less-than-friendly interview with Nigel; Radio 4's somewhat apocalyptic, post-Brexit The Food Programme; Sunday's pro-Brexit negativity (hate crimes, racism, 'tone' of the campaign); Lord Puttnam calling for anti-Brexit views to be sidelined by the BBC as much as 'anti-global warming' voices are sidelined - and Justin Webb seemingly backing him up over that; Broadcasting House's heavy Remain-focused gloom-mongering, at both ends of the programme; The Shipping Forecast's pro-bad-weather bias (damn them!); food-loving Jeremy Bowen's heavily-biased Iraq stuff (flagrant yes, but right, semi-right, wrong or out-and-out dangerous?); even-more-food-loving Mark Mardell's slightly-more-subtly-biased post-Brexit stuff (March for Europe, huge amounts of Tony Blair, a glimpse of Suzanne Evans, etc); Victoria Derbyshire and Ed Miliband (wherein the latter surprised and the former didn't); last night's Newsnight and Evan's line of questioning about UKIP (tone, tone, tone); Martine Croxall's latest pratfall....etc, etc, etc. All that's needed is time.
In the meantime, please let us know anything you've spotted (or want to say) below...
Rather depressing how the 'fall out' from the referendum vote continues to... er... result in falling out.
ReplyDeleteMy wife's US based cousin just sent me a private message on Facebook; featuring a clip of a German Hollywood actor (the chap from Django) offering his thoughts, primarily that Nigel Farage was a rat leaving a sinking ship. She captioned it 'Well said'.
Now, how the heck does one respond to that, especially with the family reunion down the line?
I opted to stick with facts, and pointed out that politicians already under threat, along with family, are not well served by celebrities and media joining in serving up such claims. So well said it was not.
It is to be hoped that my cousin in law may take this in the spirit offered.
Funnily enough (in some sense or other of the phrase), someone (a young, strong Remain supporter) turned the air blue at work yesterday after hearing that Nigel Farage was stepping down. (It was the first I'd heard of it.)
DeleteHe effed and blinded. He used the 'rat and sinking ship' analogy too, plus the word "coward". He said Nigel "should stay behind to clear up the sh*t he's left us in".
No one said anything in reply - other than a manager who said he should tone down the language.
My contribution was to look out of the window and keep drinking my cup of tea.
Farage doesn't hold any public office in Britain, nor is he on any committee or part of any think tank. The only office he was elected to is a sham, where he can't introduce legislation or initiate any kind of repeal motion.
DeleteWhat is he supposed to do? He has no ability to "clean up the mess". And whoever said that would be equally freaked out if he was elected to any public office in Britain anyway.
These reactions are evidence of small minds and limited thought processes.
Fallout Unchained -
Deletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/christoph-waltz-brexit-nigel-farage-head-rat-eu-referendum-a7120156.html
He was ‘emotional’ though, so pointing fingers inaccurately, is simply fine.
Had to like the edit and soundtrack.
At least he didn't sound off about gun violence like Janie Foxx did during the movie promo stage after another mass killing.
Professional courtesies.
WRT Puttnam - Disrespect to "His Lordship" totally intended.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/07/05/scrap-impartiality-laws-bbc-peer/
BBC Presenter, Labour Peer: Scrap Impartiality Laws Because We Lost The Referendum
“The Labour peer boasted that he had successfully campaigned for the BBC to change how it covers climate-change, and called for a similar overhaul on its coverage of issues like the EU.”
“BBC presenter Justin Webb echoed the peer’s thoughts and called for a “discussion about impartiality in the modern era”. He said that during the referendum campaign, audiences were “hungry for real knowledge”. Mr. Webb slammed broadcasters for presenting both sides of an argument, saying they should only show “what [is] true”.”
Where’s Goebbels when you need him BBC ?
Who has been impartial that they need to repeal the law? I didn't notice anyone.
DeleteI came to the conclusion that the BBC was not simply failing to deliver on impartiality but was actually a malign and dangerous influence. I think it was during the 2015 migration crisis, really, when they deliberately banged the drum for uncontrolled migration, despite all the evidence about how the majority of migrants were not refugees, did not have the skills claimed, were not sympathetic to our values (as Cologne New Year's Eve was later to show), were most young men (not vulnerable families with children) and harboured a significant number of ISIS operatives (later proven during the Paris-Brussels attacks).
DeleteObviously they don't see themselves as malign and dangerous, they just seem themselves as purveyors of objective truth...but that makes it all the more worrying.
Their latest wheeze on BBC 3 is to sell Islamic ideology through a load of bogus "humorous" responses to naive (and carefully chosen) questions about Islam from ignorant Kaffirs. No ignorant Kaffirs are allowed to query or examine the responses of course. There's a link on the website if you can bear to watch the promo.
We have seen how the BBC has been reporting since the referendum, now that they apparently feel that impartiality is no longer required - just imagine what their coverage would have been like if they were only required to report 'the truth.' There would, of course, have to be a body to decide what 'the truth' was - it could be called 'The Ministry of Truth!' I, myself, found their coverage very biased towards Remain during the referendum and suspect that many people will have supported Leave because they were bright enough to know they were being manipulated & resented it.
ReplyDeleteThe only way forward now I believe is to require the BBC Management Board to be elected by all licence fee payers. This should be open to everyone - Katy Hopkins, Jeremy Clarkson, Peter Hitchens...whoever. We have similar systems for electing our building society boards and that works well. I believe such elections would see and immediate and fundamental change in the way the BBC relates to the public.
ReplyDeleteShortly before Economics Editor Stephanie Flanders left the Beeb for pastures new, she expressed the sentiment that 'London' believe that they are a world-class city trapped within a second rate country. I believe this opinion is privately shared widely within the Corporation. After the referendum, Scotland echoed the view, considering themselves to be the true Europeans forced into relinquishing their European status by the Leave campaign.
ReplyDeleteWe can take this argument further: Now we are expected to believe that the whole of the Remain camp consider themselves to be part of an over-arching group of world-class Euro-centred 'better than thou' intelligentsia trapped within a racist country occupied by no-hopers, Northerners (not Scots, though) and a population less important and less intelligent than themselves.
The democratic decisions firstly in the Scottish Independence vote and now recently in the EU Referendum has indicated the view of the UK voting public. That is the News - over to you BBC. Report the News not your own opinions.
Anyone watching the NHS propaganda series? Is that part of the BBC's remit? Mark Easton would say so, but I'm not sure.
ReplyDelete