Ofcom overture...

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Ofcom [Link] is the UK's communications regulator; this encompasses all TV, radio, video-on-demand, fixed-line telecoms, mobile phones, postal services and "the airwaves over which wireless devices operate". Not pigeons though, or flags or smoke.



As of TODAY, i.e. effective from 3 April 2017, Ofcom becomes the BBC's first external regulator. Ofcom is developing an 'Operating Framework' covering regulation of the "BBC's performance, compliance with content standards and impact on competition."



The images HERE are a few years old but show just why the BBC must be held to account. "The BBC has a monopoly and it's abusing it". Still today BBC accounts for over 40% of all of the UK's TV and radio; when only news is considered over 50% get their main news from a BBC news outlets (TV, radio and online), this makes their honesty of paramount importance and yet the BBC's Royal Charter [PDF copy] is broken many times a day, every day.



I really truly hope that Ofcom will do the job it is announcing it will do and not just pay lip service to it. The BBC is - and has been for decades - blatantly biased, uses underhand reporting and broadcasting techniques, lies, obscures, omits and ignores many things. The extent is so bad sometimes as to be comparable - or worse - to what some people throughout history have been executed for (the various individuals known as Lord Haw Haw for instance).



Many want to close the BBC completely, I think that is wrong and almost impossible BUT a complete overhaul of all news broadcast and political content - plus the attitude and activity of staff - needs addressing. To say the BBC is a hotbed of sinister rabble rousing lefty twats is an exaggeration...but not a wild one.

Ofcom overture...

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Ofcom [Link] is the UK's communications regulator; this encompasses all TV, radio, video-on-demand, fixed-line telecoms, mobile phones, postal services and "the airwaves over which wireless devices operate". Not pigeons though, or flags or smoke.

As of TODAY, i.e. effective from 3 April 2017, Ofcom becomes the BBC's first external regulator. Ofcom is developing an 'Operating Framework' covering regulation of the "BBC's performance, compliance with content standards and impact on competition."

The images HERE are a few years old but show just why the BBC must be held to account. "The BBC has a monopoly and it's abusing it". Still today BBC accounts for over 40% of all of the UK's TV and radio; when only news is considered over 50% get their main news from a BBC news outlets (TV, radio and online), this makes their honesty of paramount importance and yet the BBC's Royal Charter [PDF copy] is broken many times a day, every day.

I really truly hope that Ofcom will do the job it is announcing it will do and not just pay lip service to it. The BBC is - and has been for decades - blatantly biased, uses underhand reporting and broadcasting techniques, lies, obscures, omits and ignores many things. The extent is so bad sometimes as to be comparable - or worse - to what some people throughout history have been executed for (the various individuals known as Lord Haw Haw for instance).

Many want to close the BBC completely, I think that is wrong and almost impossible BUT a complete overhaul of all news broadcast and political content - plus the attitude and activity of staff - needs addressing. To say the BBC is a hotbed of sinister rabble rousing lefty twats is an exaggeration...but not a wild one.

Operose Oisin...

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...or not, as the case may be. [edited very late to correct name!] No doubt most now know the 'news': Jeremy Clarkson has caused another fracas and has been suspended from the BBC:

"Sources said he was accused of hitting the producer in an incident last week, and the remaining three episodes of the current series might not be broadcast."

A Change.org petition supporting Clarkson - and remember all the details aren't out yet*! - is passing 260 thousand as I write this (Anti PC in action?); it reached 100K within 6 hours of being posted yesterday just after 5 p.m. by Guido.

Clarkson allegedly hit a Top Gear assistant producer Oisin Tymon; this has been said to have been because no food had been laid on during a day out filming but who knows: JC has had a fair bit of stick on various occasions for all sorts of nothings, this however could be a bit more: before the 'Je suis Jeremy' starts we should realise that hitting a colleague wouldn't wash elsewhere. That said, maybe Oisin had previously been a leaker of one or more of the 'naughty Jeremy' stories (Oisin poison has a ring to it), or maybe he liked pink ties, or maybe he's 100% innocent of any fault. No doubt soon all will be revealed.

It's causing a Twitter and media storm - naturally - and I particularly like THIS hilarious Tweet from Maggie Lavan (I hope she doesn't mind me copying it here).

Ed Miliband: If I win the election I will pass a law banning #JeremyClarkson .

— MaggieLavan (@MaggieLavan) March 11, 2015

Operose Oisin...

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...or not, as the case may be. [edited very late to correct name!] No doubt most now know the 'news': Jeremy Clarkson has caused another fracas and has been suspended from the BBC:

"Sources said he was accused of hitting the producer in an incident last week, and the remaining three episodes of the current series might not be broadcast."

A Change.org petition supporting Clarkson - and remember all the details aren't out yet*! - is passing 260 thousand as I write this (Anti PC in action?); it reached 100K within 6 hours of being posted yesterday just after 5 p.m. by Guido. Clarkson allegedly hit a Top Gear assistant producer Oisin Tymon; this has been said to have been because no food had been laid on during a day out filming but who knows: JC has had a fair bit of stick on various occasions for all sorts of nothings, this however could be a bit more: before the 'Je suis Jeremy' starts we should realise that hitting a colleague wouldn't wash elsewhere. That said, maybe Oisin had previously been a leaker of one or more of the 'naughty Jeremy' stories (Oisin poison has a ring to it), or maybe he liked pink ties, or maybe he's 100% innocent of any fault. No doubt soon all will be revealed. It's causing a Twitter and media storm - naturally - and I particularly like THIS hilarious Tweet from Maggie Lavan (I hope she doesn't mind me copying it here).

Ed Miliband: If I win the election I will pass a law banning #JeremyClarkson .
— MaggieLavan (@MaggieLavan) March 11, 2015

Obvious offence III...

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Map from Political Geography Now [Link]

Argie-bargie: Top Gear attacked for 'coincidence' of licence plates: H982 FKL (1982, the year of the Falklands War and FLK is the ISO Country code for the Falkland Islands...pretty close). According to Diario Journada last week Jeremy Clarkson 'chose'  to use the provocative number plate on his car for the filming. Really Jeremy? He insists the whole thing is contrived but if it was a publicity stunt it almost went to the edge but will pay dividends (see his tweet). Plus [from the DT] the executive producer of Top Gear, Andy Wilman, said: "Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme; to suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original, is completely untrue." It is still big news in Patagonia today [in English: BBC] but you can see the contrived response when a spokesman says that they (the British) have been lying to them for 200 years (well, we know better). JC says he is convinced the mob was state organised and he could be right: the Buenos Aires Herald says the 'mob' was made up of "war veterans, unionists and neighbours".

Obvious offence III...

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Map from Political Geography Now [Link]

Argie-bargie: Top Gear attacked for 'coincidence' of licence plates: H982 FKL (1982, the year of the Falklands War and FLK is the ISO Country code for the Falkland Islands...pretty close). According to Diario Journada last week Jeremy Clarkson 'chose'  to use the provocative number plate on his car for the filming. Really Jeremy? He insists the whole thing is contrived but if it was a publicity stunt it almost went to the edge but will pay dividends (see his tweet). Plus [from the DT] the executive producer of Top Gear, Andy Wilman, said: "Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme; to suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original, is completely untrue." It is still big news in Patagonia today [in English: BBC] but you can see the contrived response when a spokesman says that they (the British) have been lying to them for 200 years (well, we know better). JC says he is convinced the mob was state organised and he could be right: the Buenos Aires Herald says the 'mob' was made up of "war veterans, unionists and neighbours".

Occasional objicient...

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[edit, title and image added 11/04/14] Venezuela and telenovelas. Corny, cheesy soap operas are as much a part of Latin American life as caudillos and coups (mix of languages that English uses there!). My own first direct experience was "Y la Luna también" (Ruddy Rodríguez, image) back in the 1980s. There is an interesting and sad juxtaposition of this way of life written by Venezuelan playwright and essayist Ibsen Martínez in the New York Times.

"In Venezuela, the violence is driven by gangs that were, originally, organized around petty drug businesses in the slums...

Many of these gangs have been co-opted by the Chavista government and given an innocuous name: colectivos, a misleading word with progressive overtones of communal solidarity. In fact, colectivos are now feared paramilitary forces that harass street protesters and are responsible for many of the 39 casualties during recent demonstrations." 

..."Every so often, filming is interrupted when a cast or crew member receives a text message alert that some staple is available at a nearby supermarket. The studio empties before the rationed stock of toilet paper, milk or corn flour runs out.

Many Venezuelan telenovela actors also moonlight as theater players, but rampant kidnappings and armed robberies have cast a melancholy, self-imposed curfew over Caracas’s once glamorous night life, limiting what actors can do off the set."

Hat-Tip: Caracas Chronicles.

Occasional objicient...

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[edit, title and image added 11/04/14] Venezuela and telenovelas. Corny, cheesy soap operas are as much a part of Latin American life as caudillos and coups (mix of languages that English uses there!). My own first direct experience was "Y la Luna también" (Ruddy Rodríguez, image) back in the 1980s. There is an interesting and sad juxtaposition of this way of life written by Venezuelan playwright and essayist Ibsen Martínez in the New York Times.

"In Venezuela, the violence is driven by gangs that were, originally, organized around petty drug businesses in the slums... Many of these gangs have been co-opted by the Chavista government and given an innocuous name: colectivos, a misleading word with progressive overtones of communal solidarity. In fact, colectivos are now feared paramilitary forces that harass street protesters and are responsible for many of the 39 casualties during recent demonstrations." 

..."Every so often, filming is interrupted when a cast or crew member receives a text message alert that some staple is available at a nearby supermarket. The studio empties before the rationed stock of toilet paper, milk or corn flour runs out. Many Venezuelan telenovela actors also moonlight as theater players, but rampant kidnappings and armed robberies have cast a melancholy, self-imposed curfew over Caracas’s once glamorous night life, limiting what actors can do off the set."

Hat-Tip: Caracas Chronicles.

Outstanding on-board...

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An epic split: Van Damme the man. What a great ad; I must admit I thought it was another for Coors when I saw the gold trucks but WSJ has the details; I don't want to ruin it but the trucks are going backwards (!!!) and "The stunt is real and is performed in just one take". Fantastic. The video director called it an "honest homage to Van Damme, "a pop cultural icon that I have had in my life since I was a kid. The spots he has been in before have looked down on him, in my opinion. I was looking up, in celebration."" Good for you Andreas Nilsson. I'm presuming Volvo's new dynamic steering system is pretty good...

Outstanding on-board...

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An epic split: Van Damme the man. What a great ad; I must admit I thought it was another for Coors when I saw the gold trucks but WSJ has the details; I don't want to ruin it but the trucks are going backwards (!!!) and "The stunt is real and is performed in just one take". Fantastic. The video director called it an "honest homage to Van Damme, "a pop cultural icon that I have had in my life since I was a kid. The spots he has been in before have looked down on him, in my opinion. I was looking up, in celebration."" Good for you Andreas Nilsson. I'm presuming Volvo's new dynamic steering system is pretty good...

Obliged obscurantism...

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Don't let the Left fool you: they say everything is free and fair in Venezuela. That there are no press restrictions. Well, finally, Cae el último canal televisivo crítico con el Gobierno de Venezuela [El Pais]. Under constant pressure up until this week, Venezuela’s only TV Station critical of Chavez will be sold, [Bloomberg]. Globovision are the ones that have been broadcasting the excellent and remarkable speeches that Henrique Capriles has been giving the last few days. The channel is being sold to "government-aligned investors."



Apparently the sale is 'forced' but the channel would only have lasted a few years anyway, not from all the fines, lawsuits, harassment etc but because it had been shut out of the analogue to digital migration announced last month by Science and Technology Minister (now Vice President, illegally) Jorge Arreaza (Krusty's brother in law).

Obliged obscurantism...

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Don't let the Left fool you: they say everything is free and fair in Venezuela. That there are no press restrictions. Well, finally, Cae el último canal televisivo crítico con el Gobierno de Venezuela [El Pais]. Under constant pressure up until this week, Venezuela’s only TV Station critical of Chavez will be sold, [Bloomberg]. Globovision are the ones that have been broadcasting the excellent and remarkable speeches that Henrique Capriles has been giving the last few days. The channel is being sold to "government-aligned investors."

Apparently the sale is 'forced' but the channel would only have lasted a few years anyway, not from all the fines, lawsuits, harassment etc but because it had been shut out of the analogue to digital migration announced last month by Science and Technology Minister (now Vice President, illegally) Jorge Arreaza (Krusty's brother in law).

Outer obit...

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[Edited: 'dead' image/video removed]
Very sorry to read of the death of the 'fearlessly eccentric' Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS [Wiki]. Sir Patrick is amongst the very few 'scientific names' that most people could recognise, highlighting his valuable 'contribution to the popularisation of science over the past fifty years'; he was the presenter of the 'longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history' (24th April 1957 until today, 9th December 2012): The Sky at Night; he "was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
Moore was a former president of the British Astronomical Association, co-founder and former president of the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA), author of over 70 books on astronomy...". What a shame; question now is - for those of you paying attention - will he become a black dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole?

Outer obit...

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[Edited: 'dead' image/video removed] Very sorry to read of the death of the 'fearlessly eccentric' Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS [Wiki]. Sir Patrick is amongst the very few 'scientific names' that most people could recognise, highlighting his valuable 'contribution to the popularisation of science over the past fifty years'; he was the presenter of the 'longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history' (24th April 1957 until today, 9th December 2012): The Sky at Night; he "was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore was a former president of the British Astronomical Association, co-founder and former president of the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA), author of over 70 books on astronomy...". What a shame; question now is - for those of you paying attention - will he become a black dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole?