"However, BBC Radio 5 live has extended its commentary rights for F1 until the 2021 season."
Why? F1 on the wireless has got to be serious minority listening. It a bit like going on a diet and saying I will only eat two meals a day, but I am going to buy a candy bar to make up for the fact.
Also, comment from the BBC blog,
"Well done BBC - you have managed to contrive the worst possible solution for F1 fans. If you had only given up the FULL rights at the fist point we maybe would have F1 free-to-air for all races."
I don't get this partial rights and / or showing highlights at stupid times. I didn't even realise until 3 weeks ago that the BBC had bought the rights to NFL highlights, but they put it on at a stupid time. Super League highlights used to be shown in the afternoons.
It's a pity to see the BBC dropping F1, but good to see the adage about people being in favour of cuts as long as it doesn't affect them applies to PB as much as anywhere else...
Mr. Fire, there's a difference between something voluntary and something compulsory. It's crackers that someone can have the money (literally have the money) to pay for something like a bus fare but be prevented from doing so because the computer says no.
Mr. Evershed, quite. Sounds like the idiocy of London buses not accepting cash. Things are changing for the convenience of organisations and businesses at the expense of customers and taxpayers.
What idiocy? 99% of bus journeys in London were being made by Oyster or contactless before the change. Getting rid of cash saves TfL millions in insurance and cash processing costs.
Out of London visitors can have problems when infrequent tube strikes, and buses not accepting cash, means we have to walk or get on the open top tourist bus.
Mr. Urquhart, probably costs peanuts and allows them to claim they're covering F1.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Urquhart, that comment makes the most important point. The BBC shafted the licence fee payer for little advantage. Their Judas Iscariot impersonation a few years ago won't soon be forgotten.
However, I can quite believe that JC is personally polite and courteous. My son met him last week in the pub - he lives in his constituency - and said he was very polite and chatty to people in the pub, including him. He did not come across in person as the grouch he appears on television, which I can well believe, having known other politicians.
It is perfectly possible for someone to be courteous while holding revolting views. I think it a mistake for people to assume that because someone is the former, their views should somehow be excused or thought of as merely a form of exaggerated politeness to one's enemies.
The problem I have with Corbyn's associations is not that he is politely engaging with our enemies but that he does not think of them as enemies; he agrees with them. It's his poor judgment that is the issue not his manners.
Mr Palmer's assessment of Corbyn places a high premium on this and, for all his Europeness, it is a very English response! (IMO anyway)
Yes, there's something in that! Mainly I wanted to address the tendency (which I've met in all parts of the spectrum) to think that if one disagrees with someone they must be disgusting people. In the same way, I genuinely think that Oliver Letwin is one of the nicest people ion Parliament, while not really agreeing with many of his views. Typically, I noticed that someone thought I had an obscure political motive in saying that. I don't - Oliver is a good guy, full stop.
I do think, though, that you (and Phllip) mistake a willingness to give discussion and airtime to people with revolting views as an agreement with those views - it's entirely characteristic that he would like to have a discussion with Trump and with Tyson (the boxer not our Tyson). He, like me, believes in honest discussions more than he believes in any particular opinion (I wouldn't have responded civilly here over the years to lots of fairly unpleasant posts from some quarters - not you, of course - if I didn't).
I don't think there's any doubt that as a backbencher he's seen part of his role as giving a hearing to groups who we've thought of as anti-Western enemies, and his own disagreement with a lot of what the West has done over the years feeds into that. But it's a mistake to extrapolate that into agreement. He is not shy of expressing unpopular views, and if he agreed with Hamas he wouldn't pretend otherwise.
Anyway, I'm off to the States for a week, and will probably only contribute intermittently, so happy Christmas everyone!
Nick: we will have to agree to disagree over Corbyn and his views. However, as always, I appreciate your willingness to engage in debate. I'm glad that I am not the source of any unpleasant posts to you (or I hope anybody)!
I hope you have a lovely time in the US and have a very good Christmas!
Mr. Urquhart, probably costs peanuts and allows them to claim they're covering F1.
Its still costing them something to send people around the world to all the races. All these "peanuts" add up and in terms of F1 on the wireless for very very limited ratings.
Another good example of nonsense, was BBC buying the highlights version of the Claire Balding show. So I can watch it on BT Sport, or I can wait several days and watch it in an abridged version.
NFL highlights again another. C4 and C5 have had a go at this and have got nowhere, despite showing live games and putting highlights on the Saturday late morning slot (which if you are going to get 18-30 males, seems a prime time slot).
So the BBC, who are supposedly cutting back, shell out for the rights to just the highlights + Wembley Game, not the Monday Night Football game. But we know that if you are a serious NFL fan you watch the excellent live coverage on Sky, who with this deal added the big MNF to complement their extensive live Sunday package.
Mr. Fire, there's a difference between something voluntary and something compulsory. It's crackers that someone can have the money (literally have the money) to pay for something like a bus fare but be prevented from doing so because the computer says no.
If they have the money then they can go and get an Oyster card, sold by just about every newsagent in London. Or just use a contactless card, which most people have and cost less than the cash fare anyway.
Another disadvantage of letting people pay by cash is that it is far slower than using a card due to the need to count out the fare and have the driver give you your change. Something to be avoided at all cost in a high-frequency, high volume network like the London bus network.
An Oxford student who is leading a campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue has been bullied online after revelations that his education has been funded by the scholarship set up by the colonial politician, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Mr. Fire, other cities also have lots of people...
'letting people pay' sounds crackers. Who's the bus service run for? People who want to use it, or people who want to run it?
Besides, if 99% choose to use an electronic means, are you really saying the 1% (typically tourists and Britons from outside of London) would really slow the buses?
An Oxford student who is leading a campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue has been bullied online after revelations that his education has been funded by the scholarship set up by the colonial politician, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Unbelievable....I hope he is going to return all the money he has been given.
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock)
And yes, I do not a dangerous little about the tech behind it.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Mr Palmer, did Corbyn ever have meetings with the loyalist terrorists?
I think we know the answer to that. All this rubbish about Corbyn being polite means nothing. Most politicians are polite. As you imply, its who he never bothers to speak to that defines his rudeness.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
The nonsense that student nurses will need to take out loans instead of having grants seems extremely silly - even for Osborne.
I blame Jezza entirely. The Tories know they can bring in any policy they like now because the LOTO is unelectable. It's a recipe for a nursing crisis.
Are you satisfied now, Labour? It's all your fault.
In the eighties, the only charge that stuck against the Conservatives was that they knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing. They don't need to worry any more.
I think the BBC needs to cover fewer sports on their website and stop sending people to foreign countries to cover foreign tournaments in which there are no British teams competing. The website has become too wide ranging. For example they have added live coverage of Barcelona and Real Madrid football matches and they have live coverage of all the Champions League matches even those without Premier League teams in them. That is an easy saving. Cover British teams on the continent, and nothing more. If there is something out of the ordinary write an article of licence one from AFP.
I find it unbelievable that the BBC has lost the rights to the Olympics after the success they had with London, and now they are scrambling to do a deal with Discovery for retransmission.
I don't doubt that sports rights are becoming more expensive and F1 in particular is an unrealistic target because the rights holders are completely out of this world when it comes to licence fees (having been in the room when SCEE handed back the F1 game licence I know that FOM are insane when it comes to fees), but overall I think the BBC are failing to get the right balance. Their website is too bloated and needs cutting down to size, the same goes for the news portion of the website as well, there is too much editorial and opinion content which clogs everything up.
Well quite. His pathetic argument is that it wasn't Rhodes money, but evil spoils stolen from his ancestors.
Honestly, I wonder what level of grievance mongering is beyond some. We had a spate of this a year or so ago, with IIRC Jamaicans claiming slavery reparations. Well we can start bitching out monies from Italy in that case.
Where have all these adult children come from? I can't stand the whining that seems to have been imported from the US.
An Oxford student who is leading a campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue has been bullied online after revelations that his education has been funded by the scholarship set up by the colonial politician, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Unbelievable....I hope he is going to return all the money he has been given.
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
Mr. Fire, other cities also have lots of people...
'letting people pay' sounds crackers. Who's the bus service run for? People who want to use it, or people who want to run it?
Besides, if 99% choose to use an electronic means, are you really saying the 1% (typically tourists and Britons from outside of London) would really slow the buses?
Bus usage is far higher in London compared to other cities, as of course is the population. There are approx. 700 routes in London, of which most urn at least every 8 minutes for 20 hours a day, a service level unheard of anywhere else in the country. With this level of frequency dwell times make real difference.
And yes,1% of people paying cash will slow down the service, in the same way it only takes one person driving slowly on a motorway in the wrong place to cause congestion. Removing this option is definitely the right thing to do for the other 99% of users who use the service and have already migrated.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
I don't see the problem. I use self-scan at Waitrose and it is much quicker and more convenient.
I think the BBC needs to cover fewer sports on their website and stop sending people to foreign countries to cover foreign tournaments in which there are no British teams competing. The website has become too wide ranging. For example they have added live coverage of Barcelona and Real Madrid football matches and they have live coverage of all the Champions League matches even those without Premier League teams in them. That is an easy saving. Cover British teams on the continent, and nothing more. If there is something out of the ordinary write an article of licence one from AFP.
I find it unbelievable that the BBC has lost the rights to the Olympics after the success they had with London, and now they are scrambling to do a deal with Discovery for retransmission.
I don't doubt that sports rights are becoming more expensive and F1 in particular is an unrealistic target because the rights holders are completely out of this world when it comes to licence fees (having been in the room when SCEE handed back the F1 game licence I know that FOM are insane when it comes to fees), but overall I think the BBC are failing to get the right balance. Their website is too bloated and needs cutting down to size, the same goes for the news portion of the website as well, there is too much editorial and opinion content which clogs everything up.
What gets me is when the BBC have multiple people reporting separately from the same event e.g. even the cricket, they have different people doing the report for R5 and R4.
I notice that Sky make their staff do for instance the reports for Sky News, Sport Sports News, and the live coverage itself. I also know that Sky Sports presenting staff are expected to be much more hands on with the technical side of things. Also, if Sky win the rights to something, they squeeze every last second out of that.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock)
And yes, I do not a dangerous little about the tech behind it.
The banks will cover you 100% for any contactless fraud (which is any case limited to £25 per transaction)
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock)
And yes, I do not a dangerous little about the tech behind it.
The banks will cover you 100% for any contactless fraud (which is any case limited to £25 per transaction)
I think the BBC needs to cover fewer sports on their website and stop sending people to foreign countries to cover foreign tournaments in which there are no British teams competing. The website has become too wide ranging. For example they have added live coverage of Barcelona and Real Madrid football matches and they have live coverage of all the Champions League matches even those without Premier League teams in them. That is an easy saving. Cover British teams on the continent, and nothing more. If there is something out of the ordinary write an article of licence one from AFP.
I find it unbelievable that the BBC has lost the rights to the Olympics after the success they had with London, and now they are scrambling to do a deal with Discovery for retransmission.
I don't doubt that sports rights are becoming more expensive and F1 in particular is an unrealistic target because the rights holders are completely out of this world when it comes to licence fees (having been in the room when SCEE handed back the F1 game licence I know that FOM are insane when it comes to fees), but overall I think the BBC are failing to get the right balance. Their website is too bloated and needs cutting down to size, the same goes for the news portion of the website as well, there is too much editorial and opinion content which clogs everything up.
What gets me is when the BBC have multiple people reporting separately from the same event e.g. even the cricket, they have different people doing the report for R5 and R4.
I notice that Sky make their staff do for instance the reports for Sky News, Sport Sports News, and the live coverage itself. I also know that Sky Sports presenting staff are expected to be much more hands on with the technical side of things.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
I used one for the first time in months on Saturday. The bloody thing ended by saying "ho ho ho Merry Christmas".
Mr. Max, indeed. Empire-building only works if you can sustain it.
Mr. Urquhart, cheers for that link. Be interested to see who fronts the programme.
Mr. Fire, by that rationale, you'd get rid of cheques because most people have online access (and paper tax returns, for that matter). Anyway, we clearly disagree, but as I'm off now I'll leave it there.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
I don't see the problem. I use self-scan at Waitrose and it is much quicker and more convenient.
But you miss out on that essential of Waitrose shopping - some poor cashier on minimum wage having to see your wonderful life-style choices that they couldn't possibly afford, paraded in front of them....
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
Grass is the devils work. I refuse to mow lawns on principle. Self serve tills are OK for a modest shop I think. My main gripe is with women (its always women I am afraid) who get all their shop through the till, faff at packing it and then and only then realise they cannot find their purse and then cannot find their credit card and then cannot find their discount card and then insist on checking their till roll. Why is it always the same getting on the bus?
The question of whether ministers will be bound to support Cameron in the referendum is a numeric one. If there are only a couple of Cabinet refuseniks, I think the PM will go down the collective responsibility route. If it's a significant number, he'll have no choice but to follow the Harold Wilson precedent of allowing cabinet ministers to campaign on either side.
Of course it's not just about cabinet ministers, but junior ministers as well. I can't see how he can realistically avoid giving them a free hand is this - there would be just too many resignations if he tried to insist on collective responsibility.
Agreed.Similar to the problem had with the Syria vote. Corbyn was landed with threat of major insurrexion,damage limitation is the only way out.For those Tory leadership candidates, there is still the choice of resignation from the Cabinet to lead the Leave campaign,a decision like the Labour vote on IDS Welfare cuts,which determines the result,in the manner of a certain cannon in billiards.
I think the BBC needs to cover fewer sports on their website and stop sending people to foreign countries to cover foreign tournaments in which there are no British teams competing. The website has become too wide ranging. For example they have added live coverage of Barcelona and Real Madrid football matches and they have live coverage of all the Champions League matches even those without Premier League teams in them. That is an easy saving. Cover British teams on the continent, and nothing more. If there is something out of the ordinary write an article of licence one from AFP.
I find it unbelievable that the BBC has lost the rights to the Olympics after the success they had with London, and now they are scrambling to do a deal with Discovery for retransmission.
I don't doubt that sports rights are becoming more expensive and F1 in particular is an unrealistic target because the rights holders are completely out of this world when it comes to licence fees (having been in the room when SCEE handed back the F1 game licence I know that FOM are insane when it comes to fees), but overall I think the BBC are failing to get the right balance. Their website is too bloated and needs cutting down to size, the same goes for the news portion of the website as well, there is too much editorial and opinion content which clogs everything up.
What gets me is when the BBC have multiple people reporting separately from the same event e.g. even the cricket, they have different people doing the report for R5 and R4.
I notice that Sky make their staff do for instance the reports for Sky News, Sport Sports News, and the live coverage itself. I also know that Sky Sports presenting staff are expected to be much more hands on with the technical side of things.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
The polite way of saying "We think you are a shop lifter!"
An Oxford student who is leading a campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue has been bullied online after revelations that his education has been funded by the scholarship set up by the colonial politician, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Unbelievable....I hope he is going to return all the money he has been given.
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
Those who want to pull down statues because they do not like the views of the people those statues represent are not different in their aims (if they are in their means) than IS who want to pull down ancient statues and monuments because they regard them as idolatrous.
In both cases you have hysterical uncivilised and ill-educated ninnies who believe that they have found the whole sum of human knowledge and are determined to ensure that nothing should be allowed to exist outside of their own limited knowledge.
And, yes, you're right: I suspect that any disagreement will be described as "bullying". Well, b*ll*cks to that!
An Oxford student who is leading a campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue has been bullied online after revelations that his education has been funded by the scholarship set up by the colonial politician, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Unbelievable....I hope he is going to return all the money he has been given.
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
Those who want to pull down statues because they do not like the views of the people those statues represent are not different in their aims (if they are in their means) than IS who want to pull down ancient statues and monuments because they regard them as idolatrous.
In both cases you have hysterical uncivilised and ill-educated ninnies who believe that they have found the whole sum of human knowledge and are determined to ensure that nothing should be allowed to exist outside of their own limited knowledge.
And, yes, you're right: I suspect that any disagreement will be described as "bullying". Well, b*ll*cks to that!
A few years ago, an American football team were playing so badly it was embarrassing. The season ticket holders were so embarrassed, they began attending matches and putting a paper bag with eyeholes over their heads - so people couldn't recognise them. In fact, the team were so bad they often didn't bother with the eyeholes.
Mr. Max, indeed. Empire-building only works if you can sustain it.
Mr. Urquhart, cheers for that link. Be interested to see who fronts the programme.
Mr. Fire, by that rationale, you'd get rid of cheques because most people have online access (and paper tax returns, for that matter). Anyway, we clearly disagree, but as I'm off now I'll leave it there.
Fair enough - you won't be surprised to hear that I'm in favour of abolishing cheques too!
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock).
The worst offender is a bank which gives itself the high falutin' name of the Bank of England. They issue vouchers called 'bank notes' which are rather like contactless cards, and you know what? The bastards refuse point blank to reimburse you if they are lost or stolen. It's a disgrace, I know people who have lost hundreds of pounds with no hope of compensation and not even an apology from the Bank of England.
Mr. Eagles, I had minor ID theft (I think, some money was erroneously taken from my credit card). I concur entirely that contactless cards sound bloody stupid.
All seven cards in my wallet are contactless. They must save me literally seconds every day when I use contactless instead of entering my PIN
The contactless cards are for the benefit of retailers who can reduce the staffing at salespoints if the service time is reduced by seconds for each customer.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Self service tills are the Devil's work. I refuse to use them on principle.
The polite way of saying "We think you are a shop lifter!"
It's a pity to see the BBC dropping F1, but good to see the adage about people being in favour of cuts as long as it doesn't affect them applies to PB as much as anywhere else...
Can you blame the BBC for dropping the overblown bit of nonsense that is F1.
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock).
The worst offender is a bank which gives itself the high falutin' name of the Bank of England. They issue vouchers called 'bank notes' which are rather like contactless cards, and you know what? The bastards refuse point blank to reimburse you if they are lost or stolen. It's a disgrace, I know people who have lost hundreds of pounds with no hope of compensation and not even an apology from the Bank of England.
The difference is that somebody has to physically rob you of said notes, the amount stolen is limited to what you have on hand at that time and it makes quite a scene if somebody tries to do that to everybody in a crowded restaurant. Also, the whole point of cards is not to have to carry said notes in any real quantity (These days I carry no cash at all beyond a few coins).
On the other hand, it is quite possible for somebody to invisibly steal everybodies details in an entire place without anybody knowing and have access to their entire balance thanks to the wonders of contactless.
Sadly it looks as if the glories of ancient Libya are now also being threatened by IS and their cohorts: Leptis Magna, for instance, which is even more glorious than Palmyra.
Bastards!!!
There was a good report on this in yesterday's World at One on Radio 4. Worth listening to - if utterly utterly depressing. I would also worry about monuments and art here - specially objects from the Middle Eastern world - being at risk from fanatics here. I hope the museums/galleries have thought about security and are taking the right steps.
Makes a change from reporting on phone-hacking fines....
Does make you wonder what the Telegraph is going to say if Corbyn is still in place come 2020 though.
I think they will be more than happy to repeat the operation and pay a lot more than £30k in fines if it aids Corbyn from getting anywhere near the levers of power. Although, I highly doubt these last minute emails from the Telegraph changed many votes.
It's a pity to see the BBC dropping F1, but good to see the adage about people being in favour of cuts as long as it doesn't affect them applies to PB as much as anywhere else...
Can you blame the BBC for dropping the overblown bit of nonsense that is F1.
If it’s a cost cutting measure as claimed, then perhaps they should scrap the Glastonbury coverage? – They never will off course, far too many perks, parties and hobnobbing with the stars…!
Plans for pamphlet to be sent British households outlining why staying in the European Union is the right decision - despite Prime Minister's ongoing renegotiation with Brussels
An Oxford student who is leading a campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue has been bullied online after revelations that his education has been funded by the scholarship set up by the colonial politician, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Oxford and the Rhodes scholarship used to be very exclusive, now they're so inclusive as to give admission to actual imbeciles like this would-be iconoclast. Sent him down.
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock)
And yes, I do not a dangerous little about the tech behind it.
The banks will cover you 100% for any contactless fraud (which is any case limited to £25 per transaction)
No. They will cover you for contactless fraud that you tell them about, if they believe you.
Contactless cards are stupid, and I've been saying as much on here for years. They just push more risk onto the consumer away from the banks. But it's okay, as only small amounts can be used ... (smacks the person who said that on TV around the head with a wet haddock).
The worst offender is a bank which gives itself the high falutin' name of the Bank of England. They issue vouchers called 'bank notes' which are rather like contactless cards, and you know what? The bastards refuse point blank to reimburse you if they are lost or stolen. It's a disgrace, I know people who have lost hundreds of pounds with no hope of compensation and not even an apology from the Bank of England.
That's a stupid comment. Contactless payments are very different from cash.
I think the BBC needs to cover fewer sports on their website and stop sending people to foreign countries to cover foreign tournaments in which there are no British teams competing. The website has become too wide ranging. For example they have added live coverage of Barcelona and Real Madrid football matches and they have live coverage of all the Champions League matches even those without Premier League teams in them. That is an easy saving. Cover British teams on the continent, and nothing more. If there is something out of the ordinary write an article of licence one from AFP.
I find it unbelievable that the BBC has lost the rights to the Olympics after the success they had with London, and now they are scrambling to do a deal with Discovery for retransmission.
I don't doubt that sports rights are becoming more expensive and F1 in particular is an unrealistic target because the rights holders are completely out of this world when it comes to licence fees (having been in the room when SCEE handed back the F1 game licence I know that FOM are insane when it comes to fees), but overall I think the BBC are failing to get the right balance. Their website is too bloated and needs cutting down to size, the same goes for the news portion of the website as well, there is too much editorial and opinion content which clogs everything up.
The website might be a red herring. Probably the marginal cost of additional coverage is very low. A few years back the BBC was leant on to close its cult site which was actually maintained in their spare time by a few Buffy and Dr Who fans on the payroll.
Well quite. His pathetic argument is that it wasn't Rhodes money, but evil spoils stolen from his ancestors.
Honestly, I wonder what level of grievance mongering is beyond some. We had a spate of this a year or so ago, with IIRC Jamaicans claiming slavery reparations. Well we can start bitching out monies from Italy in that case.
Where have all these adult children come from? I can't stand the whining that seems to have been imported from the US.
Ntokozo Qwabe has been accused of “disgraceful hypocrisy” over the weekend because he has been funded by the scholarship set up by the man whose statue he wants removed.
Unbelievable....I hope he is going to return all the money he has been given.
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
This has come in part from the mistaken belief that being a victim grants you some sort of moral status, some sort of moral halo or special immunity. A victim is just a word to describe a person who has suffered a crime or injury. It has no moral meaning. But somehow we have moved to a position in society where our feelings of compassion for someone who has suffered have resulted in us imbuing the person who has suffered into someone whose status qua victim - and, therefore, his/her views etc - are special, to be given special attention, to be beyond criticism, to be sanctified in some way.
Victims can be bad people; bad people can be and are victims.
Little wonder that people want to be classified as "victims" when it grants them this sort of secular holiness and they can make demands, no matter how unreasonable, which people feel unable to refuse because, poor things, it would make them feel even worse.
It's beyond pathetic: why would you want to be a victim, for God's sake? What a pathetic ambition. It's like wanting to be ill, just for the fuss. It's childish and narcissistic. It's what happens when we confuse sentimentality with true compassion, when we confuse self-esteem (the cry of the adolescent) with self-respect (the mark of an adult), when we confuse false sentiment and incontinent emotional outpouring with a proper moral sense of what it means to injure others, the difference between real repentance and remorse and how to cope with life's inevitable injuries and disappointments.
OT: Just looked at a pleasant modern house where the current selling typical price on the not unpleasant estate is still 10% below what they sold for new in 2004, in cash terms.
Comments
Why? F1 on the wireless has got to be serious minority listening. It a bit like going on a diet and saying I will only eat two meals a day, but I am going to buy a candy bar to make up for the fact.
Also, comment from the BBC blog,
"Well done BBC - you have managed to contrive the worst possible solution for F1 fans. If you had only given up the FULL rights at the fist point we maybe would have F1 free-to-air for all races."
I don't get this partial rights and / or showing highlights at stupid times. I didn't even realise until 3 weeks ago that the BBC had bought the rights to NFL highlights, but they put it on at a stupid time. Super League highlights used to be shown in the afternoons.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Urquhart, that comment makes the most important point. The BBC shafted the licence fee payer for little advantage. Their Judas Iscariot impersonation a few years ago won't soon be forgotten.
I hope you have a lovely time in the US and have a very good Christmas!
Another good example of nonsense, was BBC buying the highlights version of the Claire Balding show. So I can watch it on BT Sport, or I can wait several days and watch it in an abridged version.
NFL highlights again another. C4 and C5 have had a go at this and have got nowhere, despite showing live games and putting highlights on the Saturday late morning slot (which if you are going to get 18-30 males, seems a prime time slot).
So the BBC, who are supposedly cutting back, shell out for the rights to just the highlights + Wembley Game, not the Monday Night Football game. But we know that if you are a serious NFL fan you watch the excellent live coverage on Sky, who with this deal added the big MNF to complement their extensive live Sunday package.
If they have the money then they can go and get an Oyster card, sold by just about every newsagent in London. Or just use a contactless card, which most people have and cost less than the cash fare anyway.
Another disadvantage of letting people pay by cash is that it is far slower than using a card due to the need to count out the fare and have the driver give you your change. Something to be avoided at all cost in a high-frequency, high volume network like the London bus network.
EXCLUSIVE:American owners deciding whether to swing axe now or wait for Stoke result on Boxing Day
http://bit.ly/1kcgp25
And hoist on his own petard.
'letting people pay' sounds crackers. Who's the bus service run for? People who want to use it, or people who want to run it?
Besides, if 99% choose to use an electronic means, are you really saying the 1% (typically tourists and Britons from outside of London) would really slow the buses?
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
And yes, I do not a dangerous little about the tech behind it.
Remember that TESCO reduced costs by cutting back on manned service tills, making customers wait longer. As a result they lost maket share to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl kept their costs low by restricting the range not having longer queues.
So TESCO forgot to "pile it high and sell it cheap" and instead piled it wide and tried to sell it at a premium with cheap customer service. TESCO have now increased the number of manned tills and reduced queues, although self service is still prominent at tills.
Plus he's key to us getting Lewandowski next summer.
Well a boy can dream.
Why aren't they moving heaven and earth to try and get Guardiola.
http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-becomes-terrestrial-home-of-formula-1
Kop Drop Crap Klopp
I blame Jezza entirely. The Tories know they can bring in any policy they like now because the LOTO is unelectable. It's a recipe for a nursing crisis.
Are you satisfied now, Labour? It's all your fault.
In the eighties, the only charge that stuck against the Conservatives was that they knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing. They don't need to worry any more.
I find it unbelievable that the BBC has lost the rights to the Olympics after the success they had with London, and now they are scrambling to do a deal with Discovery for retransmission.
I don't doubt that sports rights are becoming more expensive and F1 in particular is an unrealistic target because the rights holders are completely out of this world when it comes to licence fees (having been in the room when SCEE handed back the F1 game licence I know that FOM are insane when it comes to fees), but overall I think the BBC are failing to get the right balance. Their website is too bloated and needs cutting down to size, the same goes for the news portion of the website as well, there is too much editorial and opinion content which clogs everything up.
Honestly, I wonder what level of grievance mongering is beyond some. We had a spate of this a year or so ago, with IIRC Jamaicans claiming slavery reparations. Well we can start bitching out monies from Italy in that case.
Where have all these adult children come from? I can't stand the whining that seems to have been imported from the US. Unbelievable....I hope he is going to return all the money he has been given.
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
And yes,1% of people paying cash will slow down the service, in the same way it only takes one person driving slowly on a motorway in the wrong place to cause congestion. Removing this option is definitely the right thing to do for the other 99% of users who use the service and have already migrated.
I notice that Sky make their staff do for instance the reports for Sky News, Sport Sports News, and the live coverage itself. I also know that Sky Sports presenting staff are expected to be much more hands on with the technical side of things. Also, if Sky win the rights to something, they squeeze every last second out of that.
And when BBC claim no money...
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/20/bbc-spent-34m-on-taxi-fares-in-past-three-years
Mr. Urquhart, cheers for that link. Be interested to see who fronts the programme.
Mr. Fire, by that rationale, you'd get rid of cheques because most people have online access (and paper tax returns, for that matter). Anyway, we clearly disagree, but as I'm off now I'll leave it there.
Self serve tills are OK for a modest shop I think. My main gripe is with women (its always women I am afraid) who get all their shop through the till, faff at packing it and then and only then realise they cannot find their purse and then cannot find their credit card and then cannot find their discount card and then insist on checking their till roll.
Why is it always the same getting on the bus?
I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy? That is not bullying and I am start to get rather concerned that the term bullying is being used as a get out of any criticism.
Those who want to pull down statues because they do not like the views of the people those statues represent are not different in their aims (if they are in their means) than IS who want to pull down ancient statues and monuments because they regard them as idolatrous.
In both cases you have hysterical uncivilised and ill-educated ninnies who believe that they have found the whole sum of human knowledge and are determined to ensure that nothing should be allowed to exist outside of their own limited knowledge.
And, yes, you're right: I suspect that any disagreement will be described as "bullying". Well, b*ll*cks to that!
In both cases you have hysterical uncivilised and ill-educated ninnies who believe that they have found the whole sum of human knowledge and are determined to ensure that nothing should be allowed to exist outside of their own limited knowledge.
And, yes, you're right: I suspect that any disagreement will be described as "bullying". Well, b*ll*cks to that!
I await the "iz it cos I iz black"....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZbrqE1CF4
Just a thought for the OT faithful.
Editor’s message asking hundreds of thousands of readers to oppose the most ‘leftwing Labour leader for a generation’ crossed a line, says watchdog
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/21/telegraph-fined-email-conservatives
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/#/politics/market/1.107664938
'I am interested by "bullied online" means. Does that mean people simply and quite rightly pointing out his hypocrisy?
Yes, otherwise we would no doubt have seen the 'bullied' messages.
On the other hand, it is quite possible for somebody to invisibly steal everybodies details in an entire place without anybody knowing and have access to their entire balance thanks to the wonders of contactless.
Bastards!!!
There was a good report on this in yesterday's World at One on Radio 4. Worth listening to - if utterly utterly depressing. I would also worry about monuments and art here - specially objects from the Middle Eastern world - being at risk from fanatics here. I hope the museums/galleries have thought about security and are taking the right steps.
Does make you wonder what the Telegraph is going to say if Corbyn is still in place come 2020 though.
At the end of an era
The First thing to go
Are the heads of our leaders
Kicked down in the road...
On the day of reckoning
When we've struck & won
Watch close as their heroes
Go crashing down on the pavement...
The workers in Poland rose
& in Hungary too
Somoza & Jose fell
... Azania coming soon!
Kick over the statues
And the tyrants die
Wave bye bye with a hammer
To their heroes
The first act of freedom
All over the world
Is to topple the statues
Kick the bosses over
(Am I the only PBer to have attended a Redskins gig?)
New Thread New Thread
Jeremy Corbyn is hugely popular. Why are people even trying to deny it any more?
#Jez100
https://t.co/OJ4eX3dJq5
This has come in part from the mistaken belief that being a victim grants you some sort of moral status, some sort of moral halo or special immunity. A victim is just a word to describe a person who has suffered a crime or injury. It has no moral meaning. But somehow we have moved to a position in society where our feelings of compassion for someone who has suffered have resulted in us imbuing the person who has suffered into someone whose status qua victim - and, therefore, his/her views etc - are special, to be given special attention, to be beyond criticism, to be sanctified in some way.
Victims can be bad people; bad people can be and are victims.
Little wonder that people want to be classified as "victims" when it grants them this sort of secular holiness and they can make demands, no matter how unreasonable, which people feel unable to refuse because, poor things, it would make them feel even worse.
It's beyond pathetic: why would you want to be a victim, for God's sake? What a pathetic ambition. It's like wanting to be ill, just for the fuss. It's childish and narcissistic. It's what happens when we confuse sentimentality with true compassion, when we confuse self-esteem (the cry of the adolescent) with self-respect (the mark of an adult), when we confuse false sentiment and incontinent emotional outpouring with a proper moral sense of what it means to injure others, the difference between real repentance and remorse and how to cope with life's inevitable injuries and disappointments.