Nuff said

Domming down

Bernie Russell — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:01:29 +0000

There was a terrific piece from the BBC about the scandal of people who are resident in the UK but not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes – the non-doms.

It was backed up by a blog from BBC political editor Nick Robinson on why this issue is so important.

The article and the blog looked at Tory donor and deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, Lord Paul, the Labour donor and close friend of Gordon Brown, Labour donor Lakshmi Mittal, Labour donor Sir Ronald Cohen, Labour donor Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Labour donor Sir Gulam Noon, Labour donor William Bollinger, Labour donor Mahmoud Khayami and Labour Party Dr David Potter…[more info here]

Never heard of them
No, hang on. I’m geting confused.

It didn’t look at those people at all.

Just Lord Ashcroft.

BBC cutback shock horror

Bernie Russell — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:36:05 +0000

Reported plans by the BBC to cut back its massive share of UK broadcasting and online output have caused shock and horror throughout the land.

There’s particular concern at the suggestion that the radio station, 6 Music, may be dumped.

6 listeners
So who cares? According to mediaUK, the station gets just 695,000 listeners a week – which gives it a market share of 0.4 per cent.

Never mind the quantity

Still, it may make up in quality what it lacks in quantity.

Here’s Phil Jupitus, quoted in the Guardian, on the rigorous and professional approach the station takes to programme planning:

One of the beauties of 6 Music from my point of view was how casual the approach to putting a show together was. At home the night before a show I would scan my CD racks and see where the mood took me.

Playing the game

In fairness to Phil, he does admit: “Being a deejay was never really in my game plan, but when I was asked to launch BBC 6 Music and present the breakfast show, I thought I’d give it a go”.

It would be tough living without a station that makes such an effort to get everything so right.

Worth a try, though, I’d say.

Slasher Thompson takes axe to BBC?

Bernie Russell — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:40:25 +0000

The Times reports that BBC Director-General Mark “Slasher” Thompson is to start hacking down the ever-expanding BBC.

Half the web site and two radio stations will go.

The BBC says
The Beeb itself is saying nothing, though their report quotes a Guardianista who reckons the corporation is running scared of a Tory election victory, and wants to reassure Tories that “it’s not rampant in terms of its expansion…”.

Good luck with that one.

Nuff said says
As axe attacks go, it’s fairly restrained.

But, hey, it’s a start.

Mail Online on top

Bernie Russell — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:47:28 +0000

Press Gazette reports that Mail Online was the most popular national newspaper website in January according to Audit Bureau of Circulations figures released today (25/2/2010).

So who’s pulling in the punters? Melanie Phillips, Richard Littlejohn or Jan Moir?

Erm…

Bernie Russell — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:03:28 +0000

I watched John Prescott on Newsnight last night blustering on about how Gordon Brown wasn’t a bully, etc., etc.

It was pure Prescott – a jowl-wobbling, syntax-mangling rant, that was, at times, almost impossible to understand.

But what did come across loud and clear in his defence of Brown was when he said that “he was the man who didn’t want to go into the ERM [Exchange Rate Mechanism]…and thank God we didn’t.”

That’s not true. Brown supported our entry into the ERM, as did most of the political establishment.

So is this another of those things that’s been purged from the history books, like, say, Tony Blair’s membership of CND?

Or given that we did go into the ERM, is it just Prescott not really knowing what he’s talking about, as usual?

Erm.. yes

Losing faith in the BBC

Bernie Russell — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:54:31 +0000

Writing in the Times today on the BBC’s decision to appoint a Muslim as its Head of Religion, William Rees-Mogg says:

What I do not understand is why the BBC did not choose its head of religion from the majority English church, which is plainly the Church of England.

He points out that “that would have been more democratic and professional”.

The piece that passeth all understanding
I must say I don’t quite understand why he doesn’t understand.

Because I understand perfectly well.

I understand so well, in fact, that I’d have been astonished beyond all understanding if the BBC had appointed a Christian.

Nuff said, I think.

Animal wrongs

Bernie Russell — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:24:56 +0000

Animal rights fascists have claimed another scalp. Lydd Primary School headteacher Andrea Charman has quit after campaigners threatened violence against her and her primary school.

Why? Because she sent a lamb for slaughter.

To see a lamb at school
The lamb, called Marcus, was reared on a school farm set up by Mrs Charman.
The farm was meant to educate the children about the reality of farming, and to let them know where their food comes from.

The bleating obvious
Marcus, though no doubt a winsome beast, as lambs tend to be, was therefore an animal raised for meat.

Ee aye ee aye
The decision to slaughter him was approved by most of the children, and by the governors.

Oh…
But the balaclava bigots couldn’t stomach that, and launched a hate campaign against the school.

Bah bah
In this, of course, they were helped by the cuddles brigade – hundreds protested outside the school; there was (sigh…) a “Save Marcus” Facebook page; and TV host Paul O’Grady offered to give the lamb a home if it was spared.

And some parents claimed their children had been “traumatised” when they learnt the lamb had to die.

This is obviously not true, of course, ‘traumatised’ being probably the most misused word in our much-misused language.

I blame the schools. Speaking of which…

When Mrs Charman arrived at the primary school, it was in special measures.

When she left, it had just got “a glowing Ofsted report”.

Nuff said…

The wheel’s coming off

Bernie Russell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:16:59 +0000

It’s not a great time for the ecomentalists, is it?

Dodgy emails, glaciers that aren’t melting…and now the Prius is on the skids.

Ah me…

I hate to sound smug, but the brakes on my Land Rover work just fine.

Nuff said, I think…

Ticking the right box

Bernie Russell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:39:22 +0000

I had to fill in a form the other day to register for a course at my university. Most of the information was relevant, and there for an obvious purpose – name, address, place of work, etc.

No Harman done
But then we got to the Harriet boxes: race, gender, etc. I can see why these data would be useful and even harm(an)less for some purposes. But the fact is, that after 12 years of Labour rule, I just don’t trust anyone who wants to know all this; and I don’t know what they’ll do with the information.

Aside from leave it on a train, of course.

The Bartleby box
So I looked for what I call the Bartleby box – the one that lets you tick Rather Not Say.

This always struck me as a bit feeble. So you can imagine my delight that the legend had been replaced by the much more robust phrase, Information Refused.

MYOB
It’s not perfect – my preferred legend would be Mind Your Own Business.

But it’s a start.

So I ticked it.

Information refused.

Nuff said.

Terrible eco in here

Bernie Russell — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:23:14 +0000

As my readers (LOL) will know, I like to keep a weather eye on the ecomentalists, whether it’s checking under the Land Rover for eco bombs, or monitoring the eco media.

So I was very pleased when a friend of mine on Twitter sent me a link to a blog called REMark, which is “the blog of the staff, board and colleagues of Regeneration East Midlands (REM).

REMind me?

You’re probably wondering what REM is and does. Well…it…er…

helps people to make better places.

And it…er…has…:

a passion for sustainable communities, and supporting people to make them.

Paid for, naturally, out of our taxes. Sigh…

Readme

I did try to read the blog entry, honest. But when I got to the following, I had to give up:

To remain within our environmental limits and ensure global social justice, NEF calculate that the UK’s GDP must fall by 25% by 2050 on today’s levels.

That’s drivel, isn’t it? I mean, it’s posh drivel, I’ll grant you. But it’s still drivel.

NEF off

REM’s mate, NEF, in case you were wondering is “an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being”.

Say what??? Nope. Me neither.

But I bet its members have no plans to cut their living standards by 25% any time soon.

(Absolutely no links, btw. I’m trying to deny these people the CO2 of publicity.)