BBC could fall apart

[Odin]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp

That ties in with the old Reithian values that the BBC should add value to the nation. It's never been simply an entertainment medium alone. It also means that we get unquestionably great features such as the BBC's magnificent Natural History unit which has produced genuinely groundbreaking TV, and changed the medium as we know it (remember "Life on Earth"?). If you want my opinion that justifies its existance alone.

Walking With Dinosaurs!

[Ramo]

BBC easily has the best international news quality of any media organization. American sources like the NYT, WP, CSM, NPR, and the Newshour w/ Jim Leher (really, the only TV source that matches the quality of the best print sources IMO) cover American news better, but one'd expect that. I'm sure Le Monde covers French news better than the BBC too.

[Solly]

Firstly- the BBC isn't funded by taxation. It's a licence fee. If you don't own a TV you pay nothing towards it, and can listen to BBC radio free of charge.

You'll be claiming the rise in NI contributions isn't a rise in income tax next.

Of course the licence fee is a tax. If one does exist (and there could be economic justification for it I'm sure), then it surely would be fairer to split the proceeds across stations.

Secondly, the BBC is not just a news channel. Its charter commits it to certain levels of educational/religious/local programming- unprofitable things, to be blunt. It's a public service.

If it is providing things that are unprofitable, it is an inefficient service. And other channels manage to provide local news, as well as commitments to things other than news.

That ties in with the old Reithian values that the BBC should add value to the nation. It's never been simply an entertainment medium alone. It also means that we get unquestionably great features such as the BBC's magnificent Natural History unit which has produced genuinely groundbreaking TV, and changed the medium as we know it (remember "Life on Earth"?). If you want my opinion that justifies its existance alone.

I don't remember that. I suppose that makes me one of the plebs that would prefer to see programs created that the people want (it is a public service after all Laz?), rather than a few programs for the intellectual snobbery of a few.

And before I'm seen criticising and not expressing my PoV, I'd rather see all programs as pay-per-view. This would be more efficient than the current method, and wouldn't serve as a regressive tax, as the licence fee does. Of course, for programs such as Coronation Street, I'd expect the cost of watching to be as little as 5 pence an episode. With the advent of interactive television, I'm sure there could easily be a system whereby users are charged per month for the TV they have watched, similarly to other utilities. Better programming that way.

[Solly]

I strongly dislike the argument that has appeared a couple of times on this thread..."I liked Program X that the BBC created, therefore the licence fee is an excellent idea!"

Other channels have equally good programs, but that isn't an argument that the licence fee should be abolished.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Fez


Franco has been gone since 1975. A lot has changed. Ask my parents who were there in the last years of Franco... and about how the country is now.

So don't be a moron.

I think someone who didn't realize

i) I was male

ii) I was gay

is ill-suited to call me a moron, let alone anything else.

From my post, you have no idea when I went to Spain, nor howmany times. I had the (mis)fortune to go there when the Catholic reactionary regime of The Great Cauliflower was still in place, and before he breathed his last.

Very instructive- I had never seen public beggary before (this was a few years before Margaret Thatcher's election) and was shocked to be approached in the street and at railway stations by figures out of Goya's caprichos asking for a few pesetas.

I have also been since the Great Cauliflower died, and my what an improvement, since the Great Blockage to progress was sent on its way by the laxative of death.

So Fez, don't go bandying about insults- you'll only end up looking a complete arse, rather than the usual one and a half buttocks.

[chequita guevara]

Anyone who goes up against molly in a battle of wits must be lacking some.

[Giancarlo]

What do you want me to say to you?

Originally posted by molly bloom


I think someone who didn't realize

i) I was male

ii) I was gay

is ill-suited to call me a moron, let alone anything else.

Huh?

From my post, you have no idea when I went to Spain, nor howmany times. I had the (mis)fortune to go there when the Catholic reactionary regime of The Great Cauliflower was still in place, and before he breathed his last.

And? Ummm weren't you born in 1969? You went there when you were a child? So you knew you were gay when you were what 4 or 5 years old? I'm sorry I'm not following you. Franco died in 1975.

I have also been since the Great Cauliflower died, and my what an improvement, since the Great Blockage to progress was sent on its way by the laxative of death.

I am in support of the current government. Even check my signature. You know where my support is.

So Fez, don't go bandying about insults- you'll only end up looking a complete arse, rather than the usual one and a half buttocks.

I think I already made you look like a fool.

[Caligastia]

GO FEZ!!!

[Chemical Ollie]

No Fez, you made yourself look like a fool, not knowing that anyone who's born before 1970 gets Birthday December 31 1969 after the Apolyton server chrash last year.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Park Avenue


You'll be claiming the rise in NI contributions isn't a rise in income tax next.

NIC isn't a tax, at least according to the Inland Revenue. The IR have lots of technicalities like that though.

And before I'm seen criticising and not expressing my PoV, I'd rather see all programs as pay-per-view. This would be more efficient than the current method, and wouldn't serve as a regressive tax, as the licence fee does. Of course, for programs such as Coronation Street, I'd expect the cost of watching to be as little as 5 pence an episode.

Coronation Street isn't on BBC, its cost of production is covered by ITV's advertising revenuess. Why would you want to pay more for it when the cost is already covered?

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
No Fez, you made yourself look like a fool, not knowing that anyone who's born before 1970 gets Birthday December 31 1969 after the Apolyton server chrash last year.

I didn't know that. And don't say I am a fool.. because the only fool around here is you.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Fez
What do you want me to say to you?


And? Ummm weren't you born in 1969? You went there when you were a child? So you knew you were gay when you were what 4 or 5 years old? I'm sorry I'm not following you. Franco died in 1975.


I think I already made you look like a fool.

An apology might be nice, but given your obduracy unlikely.

No, I wasn't born in 1969, I was born in 1963. Which is irrelevant in any case, since I didn't have to be an adult to know what a beggar was, nor to understand what a country mired in Catholic reaction and ignorance looked like- all I needed was a pair of eyes.

When did I know I was gay? Exactly how that has any bearing on the matter I'm not sure- but I first had feelings towards men when I was three or four- I remember watching 'You Only Live Twice' on holiday and seeing Sean Connery in a Japanese bath being washed. I thought he looked nice, but I didn't know why.

That took a few more years

As for me looking like a fool- well, the sabot is definitely on your pied, because you've definitely sabotaged yourself again.

I retract my earlier statement- you now appear more than a complete arse, and are now easily a horse's as well as a human arse.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by molly bloom
No, I wasn't born in 1969, I was born in 1963. Which is irrelevant in any case, since I didn't have to be an adult to know what a beggar was, nor to understand what a country mired in Catholic reaction and ignorance looked like- all I needed was a pair of eyes.

I am not defending Franco. For the last time!

That took a few more years

As for me looking like a fool- well, the sabot is definitely on your pied, because you've definitely sabotaged yourself again.

I retract my earlier statement- you now appear more than a complete arse, and are now easily a horse's as well as a human arse.

F**k off. I admitted I did not know about the server crash. It was a simple mistake. Or do you want to display more hostility where it is unwarranted?

[Dauphin]

I love irony.

[Caligastia]

Molly is clearly in the wrong here.