It must be a fundamental human right not to have to pay James Purnell. The obnoxious Blair clone is on £420,000 a year at the BBC. I found this article absolutely horrifying; the BBC has appointed as director of news and current affairs James Harding, a man who wrote a defence of the 2008/9 massacre of 1400 Palestinians in Gaza, which used illegal and horrifying white phosphorous bombs as well as depleted uranium, and killed hundreds of small children. That attack was so shocking it reintroduced a significant proportion of the British student population to the idea of radical politics.
That the BBC should appoint the openly politically partisan to top positions – and that they should be openly neo-con – is not shocking because we have come to accept the depredations of the political class as normal.
The purpose of the BBC ended when Grag Dyke and Andrew Gilligan were forced out and the BBC issued a formal apology – in effect to Tony Blair – an apology for telling the truth about Iraqi WMD and the “dodgy dossier” which Blair, Campbell and Scarlett conducted. The BBC has seldom made the mistake of telling the truth since.
I increasingly find myself advocating political opinions I would have found anathema five years ago. I am forced to the opinion that now it is time to abolish the licence fee and end all public funding to the BBC. We should not be blinded by nostalgia; the BBC has no claim to impartiality or “public service ethic.” Nor, for the most part, to quality. Talent shows, reality TV and endless cooking and property auction programmes are not something everybody should be obliged to pay for, on penalty of not owning a television.
Doubtless bits of the BBC would survive in the private sector. World Service broadcasting might be taken over by DFID – another “fake independent agency” can be interposed if desired. But even if some good were lost, the overall harm done by this inflated structure and its all-pervading propaganda is such that it would be worth the sacrifice.
The Leveson Inquiry was a brilliant sleight of hand which managed to get liberals arguing for more government control of the media, while the real problem – the need for a radical breaking up of media ownership – was ignored. If we fracture the Murdoch empire and break up the BBC, with radically tough regulations restricting the percentage of the market any owner can have, we have a real chance to have a diverse media and broader political debate.
All institutions tend to corruption the longer they have existed. Over time those who control the structures of power develop ways to make sure large institutions are twisted to their personal interests. There is not much the rest of us can in truth do about it, except to give the kaleidoscope a good hard shake every now and then.
It is time to shake the kaleidoscope and abolish the BBC.
UPDATE
Just received from BBC Press Office:
Hi Craig
We wanted to draw your attention to our release from 14 Feb this year:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/tony-hall-senior-team.html
James Purnell’s salary as Director, Strategy and Digital, will be a total of £295,000 not £420,000.
Best wishes
BBC Press Office
So that’s OK then.
Not seen on the BBC – Profit has no moral compass…
First Poundbury, now Bahrain: Should Prince Charles really be selling town planning to despots?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-poundbury-now-bahrain-should-prince-charles-really-be-selling-town-planning-to-despots-8616371.html
Vronsky: I can’t disagree: obviously the reporting before, during and after the attacks on both Afghanistan and Iraq was run by Blair’s inner cabal rather than the public interest or the interests of journalism (I could rant for pages about this). And, unlike, say the Sun, the BBC might indeed be expected to represent the public, just as the government might be expected to represent the people who pay them.
There were many factors at play in ensuring that dissent did not spill over into direct action. Of course the lack of anything but officially sanctioned propaganda was one of them. Who knows, even now, that the two men who tried to disable a B52 bomber were found not guilty, on the grounds that they acted to try and prevent a worse crime?
http://www.b52two.blogspot.ie/
These days, imagining honest headlines – I think the news would explode.
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)
14 May, 2013 – 3:19 pm
“How else to explain this outpouring of ‘knowledge’, which is scarcely irrelevant to the main thrust of this thread?”
Don’t you mean scarcely relevant?
“There are many potential sources of food and it is inherently (if not actually) a renewable. Oil and gas are scarce and depleting, and having your own source can avoid a lot of trouble. Ask the Georgians or Ukrainians.”
If we aren’t capable of producing the food we need then it isn’t renewable.
The Ukraine can have all the gas they want, they just have to pay for it at the same prices the rest of Europe does. They left the Soviet Union so can’t expect to continue getting their gas subsidised by Russia. Stealing gas meant for Europe wasn’t a good idea either.
There is a surplus of cheap shale gas in America, easy enough to put it on a ship and fetch it over. The gas companies buy the cheapest they can get as where it comes from.
The Soldier Prince
No cavorting with Miss America. Note Agent Cameron attended.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2324668/Prince-Harry-New-York-Miss-USA-Nana-Meriweather-attends-Manhattan-Four-Seasons-party-wants-marry-Prince.html
http://www.royalfoundation.com/about-our-foundation/trustees/
£5M in the bank. Note snakish Manning of Bush and Blair fame is there.
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/FinancialHistory.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1132048&SubsidiaryNumber=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Manning
Can’t find out who the American Friends actually are. It took me ages to get the Charity Comm page up in spite of using the no. on the Foundation website with the banner picture of the gleesome threesome. When I typed out the whole title, it appeared under exactly the same number??
Surely the way to go is to ensure that the rich couple pay their whack rather than hitting the poor couple, no matter whose sins they are subsidising? And an amnesty would raise some immediate cash, in the event of the new draconian approach being anticipated by the rich couple’s accountants. I think the current proposal is bound to hurt more people unjustly than it brings justly to book. The plea of ‘collateral damage’ is always a shabby one.
Re. the bankers, the reason everyone’s bust is that the financial system has failed. Nothing is being done to prevent it failing again, and everyone except the well-connected is taking a haircut Among the well-connected are precisely the financial functionaries whose job it was to ensure that loans were properly secured, and that credit was not extended simply as a way of adding notional cash to the balance sheet. Hanging’s too good for them, and all they’re getting is a slap on the wrist, with colossal amounts of taxpayers’ money. Now government mismanagement has ensured that existing taxation is not enough to stuff their insatiable mouths to the point where they might actually start investing in anything heavier than air again, and the usual process of stripping assets from the public is under way.
You fail to engage my sympathy, I’m afraid.
Err – by “amnesty”, I don’t mean “all is forgiven, go away and sin no more.” I mean “if you make a correct declaration now, we won’t make you pay in arrears, but we’ll know where you stand in future. If you don’t make a correct declaration – and we’re checking – it’s the sub-basement of Korydallos for you.”
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)
14 May, 2013 – 3:19 pm
“Quite interesting btw that the Obsessive Poster (14h39) gives out great chunks of history (lifted from various websites) so soon after I quoted from material written in the 1930s.”
So Halfacock, your post of 14 May, 2013 – 9:09 am comprised of quotes “from material written in the 1930s.”
April Showers provides referenced links to her commentary you, as ever, do not.
KingofWelshNoir
Says:
“Habbabkuk”
“Wow!”
“In a departure from your usual habit of carping, hectoring, badgering, nit-picking and generalised obfuscation you actually post something cogent.”
But according to your own post above you were quoting from other people’s material from the 1930s, as if it was your own work.
Plagiarism this is called.
April Showers – American friends whois report has used identity protection.
Domain Name: AMERICANFRIENDSROYALFOUNDATION.COM
Creation Date: 2012-07-02
Expiry Date: 2014-07-02
Nameserver: ns.123-reg.co.uk
Nameserver: ns2.123-reg.co.uk
Registrant Name: Identity Protection Service
Registrant Company: Identity Protect Limited
Registrant Address: PO Box 795
Registrant Address: Godalming
Registrant Address: Surrey
Registrant Address: GU7 9GA
Registrant Address: GB
Administrative Name: Identity Protection Service
Administrative Company: Identity Protect Limited
Administrative Address: PO Box 795
Administrative Address: Godalming
Administrative Address: Surrey
Administrative Address: GU7 9GA
Administrative Address: GB
Administrative Email: [email protected]
Administrative Tel: +44.1483307527
Administrative Fax: +44.1483304031
Technical Name: Identity Protection Service
Technical Company: Identity Protect Limited
Technical Address: PO Box 795
Technical Address: Godalming
Technical Address: Surrey
Technical Address: GU7 9GA
Technical Address: GB
Technical Email: [email protected]
Technical Tel: +44.1483307527
Technical Fax: +44.1483304031
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)
14 May, 2013 – 4:30 pm
“The Greek tax base, and therefore potential govt. revenue, was sufficient to cover even the profligate spending of the last decade or two – provided, however, that the taxes due were actually paid and collected……………”
More plagiarism?
Church of England Bishop gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar…http://wp.me/P3pxXH-2I
Not from here, anyway, Doug.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-and-germany-to-blame-for-greece-crisis-7218923.html
Maybe the Greek taxes would have paid for all this if anyone had bothered to collect them?
The chair of American Friends of the Royal Foundation is http://www.hrw.org/bios/john-j-studzinski . Also vice-chair of Human Rights Watch…
Prince Charles criticised over Bahrain housing deal
Opposition activists say contract for prince’s charity gives a green light to regime to continue human rights abuses
Robert Booth
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 May 2013 19.59 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/14/prince-charles-
criticised-bahrain-housing-deal
Prince Charles (left) with the Crown Prince of Bahrain at St James’s Palace in London. Photograph: PA
Prince Charles has been accused of lending credibility to an autocratic regime accused of serious human rights abuses after his architecture charity signed a deal to advise Bahrain on a 4,000-home development.
The contract with the Manama government was agreed last month by the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community and is being backed by the Foreign Office.
~~~
Yet another Royal Foundation.
…yet, strangely, Identity Protect LTD is a dormant company. How does that work, then?
http://companycheck.co.uk/company/07407280
Apparently: The only allowed transactions of a dormant company are:
payment for shares taken by subscribers to the memorandum of association;
fees paid to the Registrar of Companies for a change of company name, the re-registration of a company and filing annual returns; and
payment of a civil penalty for late filing of accounts.
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/dormant-limited-company.html
There’s more than meets the eye to this…
Evil dictator (thinks) “I’d better send Ali down to the cells with the electrodes today. We’re overrun with innocent prisoners and we need some confessions. But hold! How can I legitimise my vile and despotic methods? I know! I’ll get Prince Charles to advise me on that upmarket housing development in downtown Despotisehr, and all will be well! Don’t forget the branding irons, Ali!
Thanks Mark and Komodo. Top secret eh?
More on Studzinski written well before the casino banking crash happened.
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/john-studzinski-banker-philanthropist-and-anglophile
Britain’s Prince Harry, left, shakes hands with John Studzinski, president of the American Friends of The Royal Foundation, as he arrives at a fundraiser for The Royal Foundation, Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/297391/slide_297391_2451261_free.jpg?1368601987486
@ The Scourge :
“But according to your own post above you were quoting from other people’s material from the 1930s, as if it was your own work.
Plagiarism this is called.”
———–
Not quite, old bean! Plagiarism is lifting stuff from others’ writing without acknowledgement. I indicated the sources (Lord Reith and Malcolm Muggeridge) and put the bits of text in quotation marks.
Take a deep breath and calm down, dear!
BTW 1 : “April Showers provides referenced links to her commentary you, as ever, do not.”
colon or semi-colon needed after the word “commentary”
BTW2 : “So Halfacock, your post of 14 May, 2013 – 9:09 am comprised of quotes “from material”
no need to say “comprised of”, “comprised” will do just fine.
BTW 3 : “Plagiarism this is called.”
what a twee inversion. Were you feeling literary?
A conversation on Medialens about this post of Craig’s.
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1368582014.html
@ John Goss:
Well, thank you so much for your kind words!
But when you say “and this blog is his life.” aren’t you getting me mixed up with “April Showers”, formerly known as “Mary”? You know, the commenter who declared that she was leaving this blog for pastures new … and then slunk back under a new name a few days afterwards?
BTW, that wasn’t a child the Bilderbergers were sacrificing, it was a wax doll.
Dreoilin
14 May, 2013 – 11:42 pm
“I just think it should be widely known.”
Yes I agree. The warning of “viewer discretion” leaves people with the choice to view or not.
Such disgusting actions are not fully covered by the MSM; the reporting of war and all the atrocities that it entails is sanitised by the western media.
The western media is, in my view, complicit in covering up war crimes by our governments. However they have shown, with glee and graphically (and repeatedly), Gaddafi’s murder and the moments leading up to the execution of Saddam Hussein; leading to dancing in the streets; all shown by the MSM including the BBC.
To be fair to the BBC – the article on rebel eating the heart is still there
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22519770
BUT I think they are burying it so its difficult to find. They also effectively censor by not promoting certain documentaries (e.g. why poverty?) and making sure they are away from peaktime so the majority of viewers are in beddyboes (panorama iraq war 10 years on)
A lot of content is now watched via iplayer and you will never see any “critical” programs in the featured section – you will have to specifically look for them.
Anyway BBC is basically controlled by The Crown so of course its propaganda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC
@ Doug Scorgie (16h41) :
“The western media is, in my view, complicit…”
———–
Your pedantry must be catching : plural noun….and a singular verb??
Tut, tut!
@ Komodo (on the Greek crisis) :
Last one from me, there’s a new thread to get our teeth into!
1/. “Surely the way to go is to ensure that the rich couple pay their whack rather than hitting the poor couple”
Well, the richer couple will certainly pay more under that new property tax than the other couple. One of the points of that tax is that it’s unavoidable (you can’t hide a villa).And as far as asset-based tax evaluation is concerned, the poorer couple won’t be affected.
2/. “Re. the bankers, the reason everyone’s bust is that the financial system has failed.”
Well, everyone’s not bust; in fact, most people are far from bust. That was a general comment. As far as Greece specifically is concerned, the crisis was NOT caused by bankers whether greedy or not. It is that (1) the state spent money as if there was no tomorrow (this started with the first PASOK govt.) (2) it pulled in insufficient revenue because of a mixture of tax avoidance, corruption by tax officials and the state turning a blind eye to certain practices from certain client groups. Add to that a more generalised corruption (eg by public officials and elected representatives), the irresponsibility of political leaders and a generalised lack of civic feeling (the Greek looks after himself and his family first and doesn’t give a stuff about the wider community) and that’s how the present mess came about.
3/.”You fail to engage my sympathy, I’m afraid.”
It’s a curious reading of my comments to think that I’m calling for sympathy for the bankers. And, moreover, if I had to ask someone for sympathy, I doubt if it would be you.
Se you on the next thread no doubt. 🙂
The one who spews out the verbal diarrhoea, intended to disparage, discredit and smear (but failing) spurs me on.
I might have another name change soon – May Flowers and then Flaming June perhaps.
Habbabkuk (La Vita È Bella!)
Unblock?
No chance.
“There are many potential sources of food and it is inherently (if not actually) a renewable.” — Vronsky
Indeed. And if you can stomach reading this, good luck to you:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/13/breed-insects-improve-human-food-security-un
(Yes, yes, I know that in some cultures they are considered a delicacy, but I’ve had a “thing” about insects since I was a child.)
@ the Obsessive Poster :
“I might have another name change soon – May Flowers and then Flaming June perhaps”
———-
Nothing flowery about you, old girl, unless you consider dogweed to be a flower.
How about being meterological and calling yourself “Washed-out June”?
I intend to be a the rally in Glasgow on Saturday because the BBC in Scotland lies to Scotland on a daily basis. It does this by carrying bizarre nonsense coming as press issue from Labour (and occassionally Tory) spokepersons and does not seek a balanced view against any of it.
If I want to know what the BBC in Scotland will be majoring as news or hosting discussions on I only have to check with the stuff coming out of Labour Scottish HQ in West Regent Street in Glasgow.
There is an unholy and dishonest alliance undermining democracy in Scotland.
Technicolour…The bcc are Pretty sucessful war Propagandists and ARE actually Guilty of War Crimes as stated by one the world leaders of international goings on…Michel Chossudovsky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71pDlls4JZo
April At 1 ; 56 Here’s another Bit on P harry Warmongering
Interviewer: “Have you killed from the cockpit yet Harry?”
Prince Harry: “Yeah, so, lots of people have.”
Poet Heathcote Williams doesn’t think we should forget the contrast between Harry’s sordid romp in Las Vegas and his arrogant boast of killing Afghans…
He and his Father ( Re Bahrain ) make feel Sick
http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php/the-trouble-with-prince-harry-naughty-boy-peddling-war-propaganda
Deolin
Insects in Food…You may NOT wan to Know too much by visiting this wee Page
Gross but true: A certain number of rodent hairs are allowed in the food you eat. (A whole mouse, however, is not.)….Yikes
http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06/29/how_many_insect_parts_and_rodent_hairs_are_allowed_in_your_food.htm