What makes you happy ?

Don’t screw with South Park.

Isacc Hayes quits South Park. Sorry, that should read “Certifiable loon quits South Park” or even “Isaac ‘I want teeth like Tom’ Hayes quits South Park. Maybe “Isaac ‘scientology does not permit me to think for myself’ Hayes….”

Stone said: “In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.

“He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show.”

WTF is it with this ‘slag all but mine’ off ? [Gratuitous link to South Park's Come out of the closet video] Thing is, this just shows that scientologists are just as screwed up and petty and vindictive and divisive and destructive and extreme as all the other religions out there. (I have a problem with scientology being called a religion too. It’s a frigging cult ffs).

So, Chef is voiceless. Kill Chef. Send him to hell.

I don’t drive. I never have driven. I never want to drive. Cars bore me. I can’t quite understand people who love cars and engines and gears and … all that stuff. But I love Top Gear. If you saw tonight’s show you’ll know what the title is about and if you didn’t you won’t – and the best part about the program is that I couldn’t explain it either :)

From The Free Dictionary

1. A fixed sum charged, as by an institution or by law, for a privilege: a license fee; tuition fees.
2. A charge for professional services: a surgeon’s fee.
3. A tip; a gratuity.
4. Law An inherited or heritable estate in land.

Shall we try Tax ?

1. A contribution for the support of a government required of persons, groups, or businesses within the domain of that government.
2. A fee or dues levied on the members of an organization to meet its expenses.
3. A burdensome or excessive demand; a strain.

Get that ? Now I would say there is a difference and hardly a pedantic one at that.
Taking the word ‘fee’ though… now read this story from the BBC which is entitled “Fine warning over TV on mobiles”

No, there is no quote because on that BBC page the word ‘fee’ does not appear. The word ‘licence’ does though – quite a few times. But the word ‘fee’ does not accompany it. Why ? Because as I posted in January the licence fee is now a tax. However, in that story at the bottom it says ““We have a database of 28 million addresses that shows us who does and does not have a current TV licence,” the TV Licensing spokesman said.” Okay… so the line is still being followed. Until you go to the home of TV Licensing and check their ‘About Us’ page. The word ‘Fee’ is mentioned 6 times. The word ‘Tax’ is missing.

TV Licensing call it a ‘Fee’
BBC call it a ‘License’
and some buried piece of bureacracy calls it a ‘Tax’

It continues…..
According to the BBC, The BBC is paid for directly through each household TV licence. (did you notice the /licencefee/ in the url ?).
It repeats itself elsewhere on the site: “The BBC is financed by a TV licence paid by households.“.
The BBC are also keen that we know that the “BBC World Service is funded by Government grant and not your TV licence.” and that “Profits from separate BBC commercial services help to keep the licence fee low.“. Seeing anything odd yet ?

It also claims that the license fee “.. allows it to run a wide range of popular public services for everyone, free of adverts and independent of advertisers, shareholders or political interests.“. Hmm…

The vision:

Its [sic] vision is to be the most creative, trusted organisation in the world.

Well why not start by telling the truth about the Govts new tax then eh ?

The BBC pages have profiles on the countries / regions of the world, and in the UK page there is this list of the Press.

A couple of observations:

1. Why not use alpha order instead of what could be randomness or could be something else given the top paper is right-wing and it’s position (given the lack of commentary) could be taken as meaning the DT is the principal paper ?
2. Why not use age order instead ?
3. Tabloids ….. if a broadsheet is a paper that is large and requires much careful manouvering when trying to read it in a car / bus / train, and a tabloid is of the smaller variety, then why are some papers called “former broadsheets” when they are actually tabloid size ? You can pick that maybe they are ever so slightly bigger but the distinction is still being made – it’s like the BBC are trying to say “They used to be big and important but now that are small but still important and whatever you do, don’t call them tabloids”. But it is also saying “Tabloids are not as important” and while you can argue about the role of the tabloids – Name ONE headline the Times has ever run ? No ? I bet you can name a couple from the Sun – what cannot be denied is that more people in the country read the tabloids than the broadsheets. Why is the BBC making this distinction worldwide ? Is it a class thing ? Some sort of antiquated view they wish to push ?
4. Why are the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail not described as ‘Daily’ when the Daily Express is ?
5. Why is the Daily Star not listed ? (rhetorical :) )
6. Why is it called “Daily Telegraph” when it is actually “The Daily Telegraph” ?
7. Considering their importance and the in-depth news they can deliver, why are the Sunday papers not there ? Such an omission means that the Observer fails to be mentioned.

I can’t figure out the order at all….

And just under that section, it covers the TV.
“BBC World – commercially-funded international news channel ”
Wrong !
“BBC World – funded through taxation disguised as a fee”
Correct !

Note the lack of any financial description next to the obviously politically neutral BBC…

Today the Govt increased tax. Notice it ?

National Statistics Online
The television licence fee has been reclassified as a tax

BBC
The television licence fee is to rise to £131.50 from 1 April, a 4.2% increase, the government has announced.

Tax. Fee. Tax. Fee. Which is it to be ?

(And the news of this tax increase ? It’s in the BBC’s Entertainment section)

Saw a post on The American Expatriate which mentions a VERY significant event in the UK.

The television licence fee has been reclassified as a tax, because the licence fee is a compulsory payment which is not paid solely for access to BBC services. Previously, the licence fee had been classified as a service charge. This reclassification means that the BBC will move from the public non-financial corporations sub-sector to the central government sector, effectively moving from one part of the public sector to another.

Where the money that we currently call the license fee goes is of no importance in this. What IS important is that what used to be called an “independent” BBC can no longer be called that. The BBC is now directly funded by the goverment of the day. That is a fundamental change isn’t it ?

But it’s not just the BBC according the National Statistics Online

S4C receives most of its income from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and has therefore been reclassified to the central government sector.

All the above adds up to “We pay for it so it belong it us” or to put it another way “Our toys, Our rules.”

Reassuringly though:

They have no implications for the independence of these broadcasters.

Excuse me while I say something … Bollocks.

Why is this not different to the “state-run Chinese TV” ? Or the “Hussein influenced Iraqi TV” ? One of main sources of television is now openly under state control – a state currently run by Tony “Iraq ? Where’s that then ?” Blair. Isn’t this important ? I can see why the BBC aren’t going to say a damn thing about this – but I hope the newspapers rip into it. The fact that it may have already been happening is no issue – the fact that it is brazenly now going to happen IS. After all, someone somewhere said “Bring it in”. Who ?

UK TV viewers will not get to see an episode of South Park which shows Nicole Kidman and fellow Scientologist John Travolta attempting to coax a fictional Tom Cruise character out of a closet, with Kidman saying: “Don’t you think this has gone on long enough? It’s time for you to come out of the closet. You’re not fooling anyone.”
(src: The Register)

Yes we can ! http://www.smithappens.com/video_southparkgay.php
And also by torrent

C’mon Tom, chill …. get a sense of humour …. smile and make the world a more beautiful place. Twat.

This from The Independent

The Government’s Chief Whip has launched a petition calling on George Galloway to leave the reality show Celebrity Big Brother and return to the job of representing his constituents………..
“We call on him to represent and respect his constituents, not further his own ego, as he is by remaining totally out of touch in the Big Brother house.”

This is, I suspect, what others might say

The Government’s Chief Whip has launched a petition calling on Tony Blair to leave the rest of the World alone and return to the job of representing the people who elected him………..
“We call on him to represent and respect his constituents, not further his own ego, as he is by remaining totally out of touch in the Big Bush House.”

This is hilarious:

A petition accusing MP George Galloway of egotism for entering the Celebrity Big Brother house is being launched by a Cabinet minister.

MP’s enter parliament because they think they can change the world (starting with the UK) (unless your name is Mr T.Blair in which case you try to sort the world out (and fail) before coming back to the UK) so if that isn’t a case of ego then I’m a pink banana.
Politics is ego ego ego – it’s all about lying and trying to get away with it for long enough. It’s all about ‘show’ and ‘performance’ and ‘bluster’ ‘hot air’ and in many cases bare-faced cheek.

Accusing George Galloway of having an ego is like telling me I’ve got an ego too – we all have.
He’s playing a game.
He’s bringing the lie to people who think MP’s are ‘special’
He’s got the balls to do it.

BBC