Cooking Doesn’t Get Tougher Than This!
I's Da Boys!
It doesn’t get more entertaining either. Masterchef is back and, yet again, it’s better than ever.
The producers have made some little tweaks here and there. All of them are improvements. The individual skill test in front of Greig and John is wonderful, confrontational, dramatic, even excruciating at times!
It is extraordinary that even the very best restaurants will now let in Masterchef contestants as guinea pigs in their kitchens. That is the power of television.
The secret ingredient? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- it’s the music. That’s what makes it so compelling. It’s the relentless driving beat. I don’t know whether it’s house or trance or what but it’s addictive. It’s the one. I’m totally, utterly, obsessed, enslaved to it. I couldn’t dream of turning over!
The Centre For Social Cohesion – A Zionist Deception
On the BBC’s “Sunday Morning Live”, the director of “The Centre For Social Cohesion”, Douglas Murray, was wheeled out as an apologist for Israel.
The question was “David Cameron causes a stir by calling Gaza a “prison camp”. So is it time for a franker dialogue with the Jewish state? Or are we already too critical of Israel?”
Mad, Bad And Dangerous
Murray tried to defend Israel’s actions in Gaza, in particular coming out with the latest Zioinst propaganda about shopping malls and the “luxury” that Gaza’s inhabitants enjoy.
I agree with David Cameron’s words entirely. I would make just one slight correction. I would call Gaza a “concentration camp” just to make the similarity with the Nazis absolutely clear.
I can only assume that “The Centre For Social Cohesion” is Murray’s personal plaything. It surely cannot be a serious organisation. It is difficult to imagine anyone giving this joker any sort of responsible job. What more pompous and inaccurate title could there be for an organisation that he has anything to do with? He must have made it up himself.
Drivel
It styles itself as “a non-partisan think-tank that studies issues related to community cohesion in the UK. Committed to the promotion of human rights, it is the first think-tank in the UK to specialise in studying radicalisation and extremism within Britain”.
What, with Douglas Murray as its director? How utterly, excruciatingly absurd. His attitudes are as far away from socially cohesive, non-partisan and promoting human rights as it is possible to imagine.
Can the name of this organisation or what it says about itself be covered by the Trades Descriptions Act?
What can right-thinking, honourable and truthful people do to defeat such deception?
Expose him and his organisation for the pariahs that they are. Complain to the BBC here and tell them that we are looking for truth on our televisions, not deception, propaganda and lies.
Jessica Ennis – Our Golden Girl
Heading For Glory
What a wonderful performance in Barcelona. Jessica is a delight in every way, a formidable lady of determination, strength and courage. She is so tiny yet so huge in spirit and presence. She will be the star of London 2012.
And a spectacular performance by the whole British athletics team. Perhaps, for once, we have got our timing right. It looks like we’re heading for the most fantastic celebration in London 2012.
Cameron Takes Charge
Once More Unto The Breach Dear Friends!
I am tremendously impressed with David Cameron. His light has been hidden under the bushel of the coalition for too long. His courageous words in Turkey and India have reminded me that he is a true leader. Tonight’s excellent BBC documentary, Five Days That Changed Britain, reminds me that it was his bold leadership that initiated the coalition, an idea that is proving stronger and cleverer than anyone can have thought.
He has said precisely the right thing about Turkey, Israel, Gaza, India and Pakistan. He has spoken the truths that so many others have been afraid to. I am proud that he is our prime minister. He fills me with confidence that he knows his direction and will stick firmly to it. He is nobody’s fool and everybody’s champion. He is a man who I am very prepared to trust, to give him the time he needs to achieve the big ambitions.
David Cameron is the right man at the right time. We should all give him our support.
Cameron Calls For An End To Prison Camp Gaza
A Worthy Leader
I am proud to see our Prime Minister speaking out unequivocally against the Israeli blockade and oppression of Gaza. See here.
As for Turkey, I agree that they should be welcomed as EU members. Perhaps the resistance from other parts of Europe is because they see the EU as a social union whereas even the europhiles in the UK still see it primarily as a trading partnership. There are social benefits to be gained though. Bringing an Islamic nation, just about the only Islamic democracy, into the EU could do wonders for mutual understanding and peace.
Turkey has been a staunch ally in Iraq and Afghanistan, something that must have been very difficult at times for its people to accept. It also looks likely to enjoy explosive economic growth in the next few years. We should welcome Turkey with open arms although there must be appropriate controls on immigration. Any good would be undone if we were to be inundated with Turkish immigrants.
The One Show Reborn
Gorgeous Gaby. Who's He?
Christine is long gone and now forgotten.
Gaby Logan was absolutely stunning tonight.
No one else will do.
Keir Starmer – The Next Lord Widgery?
No Better Than A Terrorist
The scandalous decision not to prosecute PC Simon Harwood over the death of Ian Tomlinson is reverberating right across the world.
British justice has become a laughing stock and our proud history of freedom, liberty and fairness is heaped with derision – and deservedly so
When the establishment needs to dissemble and misinform it calls on its tame lawyers and paper tiger figureheads. Keir Starmer, the DPP, is clearly angling for his peerage and his place on the government roster of professional liars, deceivers and propagandists.
In 1972, when British soldiers murdered protestors on the streets of Londonderry, they wheeled out Lord Widgery who produced a report of such crass dishonesty and fundamental deception that it took a further enquiry lasting 12 years and costing £200 million to expose it as nonsense.
When millions across the world have witnessed the unprovoked assault from behind on Ian Tomlinson, they have wheeled out Keir Starmer, another tame QC, to demonstrate a complete absence of integrity and deliver a deeply corrupt, manipulative and unforgivable decision not to prosecute.
In the last 50 years more than 1,000 people have died while in police custody in the UK but not a single policeman has been prosecuted.
Is it any wonder that we have pond life like Raoul Moat feted and worshipped by the underclass when they suffer under the yoke of police oppression, when they see no justice nor fairness nor hope?
The truth is that PC Simon Harwood and Raoul Moat are two peas from the same pod. Police websites, such as the notorious Inspector Gadget, reveal serving police officers’ attitudes just as perverse as those that supported the Raoul Moat Facebook page. The police are completely out of control, ineffective, mismanaged and corrupt.
It took 30 years for the Metropolitan Police to admit that one of its officers was responsible for the death of Blair Peach.
The suggestion from the extreme left is that we are being softened up and desensitised against a future where with swingeing public expenditure cuts we can expect to see riots in the streets and more police violence. I don’t buy this conspiracy theory but I am desperately worried for the future of British justice when men like Keir Starmer are in charge.
It isn’t just incompetence. It isn’t just misjudgement. There is clear intent to pervert the course of justice. He knew that the six month limit on bringing a charge of common assault was passing. He knew that the conflict between expert evidence was for a jury to determine. He knew that never was it more essential “in the public interest” for a prosecution to be brought.
Keir Starmer is every bit as dangerous to the fabric of our society as any terrorist or subversive. Look at how many lives Lord Widgery’s behaviour was responsible for. Look at how his lies prolonged the violence and fed the divisions within Northern Ireland. The same thing is happening all over again.
PC Simon Harwood, Raoul Moat, Keir Starmer. They are all the same. They are all a danger to society. They should all be behind bars.
In Defence Of Nick Griffin
"Oh let him in. He's harmless really!"
I am not a supporter of the BNP but I defend their right to campaign for their policies, especially those individuals who have been elected to office.
Despite his crass, discourteous behaviour, it was a mistake to have Nick Griffin barred from the Queen’s garden party. He was invited there as an elected MEP and he should have been welcomed in accordance with his office.
A bad mistake. Far too clumsy to have been made by any member of the Royal Family itself.
Peter Reynolds 
A Fundamental Problem At The BBC
with 3 comments
I am very close to being the BBC’s biggest fan. It is a remarkable and entirely unique institution. Somehow it occupies a place between the state and the people which I can find no comparison for. It would be easy to define it as some sort of socialist idea but it is genuinely independent from the state. I do, however, have some concerns about its accountability. I am very concerned about the way it handles complaints.
No Complaints Accepted Here
I have grown up with the BBC and I trust it. In fact, I think that it’s done a better job of maintaining Britishness and values of integrity, tolerance, fairness and justice than any UK government of any political complexion. That’s why the curmudgeons in all political parties turn against it. I think Jeremy Hunt’s recent attacks and comments were particularly poorly judged. He hasn’t a had a good start in government at all has he?
I made a complaint to the BBC recently and I am very, very unhappy about the way it has been handled. The subject is not relevant here. I shall write about it in future but for now it would distract from my point. I am horrified to discover that the BBC does not handle complaints itself. They are outsourced to Capita in Belfast which describes itself as “the UK’s leading outsourcing company…at the leading edge of redefining and transforming services to the public.” For me that needs a huge pinch of salt, a mountain in fact and even then I’m choking on it.
Handling complaints should be at the very heart of an organisation. It is the essence of your brand. There is no more important management function. Contracting them out is an abdication of responsibility. More than that, it is a complete failure of integrity, a massive mistake. If an organisation is truly committed to meeting its customers’ needs it must be as close to them as possible. This irresponsibility strikes at the very heart of everything I value about the BBC. I am deeply disillusioned.
If this disastrous decision had resulted in a well administered service then that might be some consolation but not a bit of it. It is dreadful. Every bit as bad as any horror story you’ve heard about British Gas, BT or yes, even a bank. This is the British consumer experience at its very worst.
Not What It Used To Be
In sharp contrast to the rest of the BBC’s websites, try making a complaint online. It’s like something from the very early days of the internet with clumsy, badly aligned fields and an archaic feel. I almost expect to hear a modem whistling away in the background. From a complainant’s point of view it’s quite useless. You don’t get any option to save a copy of your complaint or email it to yourself. You don’t even get an acknowledgement once you’ve completed it so you’re left with a completely unsatisfactory feeling of uncertainty. Did they get it or not? Will I get a reply? When?
It gets worse. Complaints are lost. They don’t get answered at all. They certainly don’t get answered within the 10 working days promised. One answer I received was just laughable in its anodyne, crass simplicity. It was nothing more than an patronising acknowledgement of what I was “unhappy about”.
Useless
I could go on even further but I won’t. It does get even worse and it becomes embarrassingly so when Capita start to trot out the oldest excuse of all about “system problems”. It is an excruciatingly bad, defining example of appalling customer service. I’d say it takes the biscuit.
All this is the inevitable result of outsourcing your complaints procedure. That aspect of business that should be one of your most important tools. What’s worse is that Capita are absolutely useless at doing the job.
It is no exaggeration to say that, for me, this rocks the very foundations of everything I believed about the BBC to the very core. It is not the organisation I thought it was. I feel betrayed. I am “disgusted of Tunbridge Wells”. In fact, I am very, very, very disgusted of Weymouth, Dorset.
Written by Peter Reynolds
August 12, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Posted in Business, Consumerism, Politics, technology, television, The Media
Tagged with abdication, accountability, acknowledgement, anodyne, appalling, archaic, attack, bad, bank, BBC, Belfast, believed, betrayed, brand, British, British Gas, Britishness, BT, Business, Capita, choking, clumsy, comment, complainant, complaint, consolation, consumer, contrast, crass, curmudgeon, customer, customer service, decision, defining, disastrous, disgusted of Tunbridge Wells, disillusioned, Dorset, dreadful, email, embarrassing, essence, exaggeration, example, excruciating, excuse, experience, failure, fairness, fan, feeling, foundations, government, horrified, horror story, Independent, institution, integrity, internet, irresponsibility, Jeremy Hunt, justice, laughable, lost, management, mistake, modem, online, outsourced, patronising, pinch of salt, political, political party, poorly judged, remarkable, reply, responsibility, rocks, simplicity, socialist, system problem, the people, the state, tolerance, trust, UK, uncertainty, unhappy, unique, unsatisfactory, useless, values, Weymouth, worse, worst