Re: Keeping people ignorant : Fri Nov 16, 2012 2:38 pm  

The OP's general point is somewhat redundant in the light of government pressure to make all tax-payer funded research in UK universities 'open access' & freely available for everyone. This is really happening. Whether anyone will read it is another matter, but it hardly fits your agenda of 'keeping people ignorant'.

Such research will be far more reputable than any state-sponsored TV channel and will no doubt include many publications/papers fundamentally at odds with UK government policy, or indeed prevailing western/capitalist ideologies etc.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Fri Nov 16, 2012 3:01 pm  

Anyone know why HMG wants to block this channel? ... what reason has been given?

Seeing that Lauren Booth works for them, it is very tempting to think of the station as a joke ... but that should be up to the individual to decide, not HMG.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Fri Nov 16, 2012 3:18 pm  

I'm not suggesting Press TV doesn't contain its fair share of moonbats. But it's not like British television offers any great example to hit other channels with.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Fri Nov 16, 2012 3:22 pm  

Exeter Rhino wrote:

The OP's general point is somewhat redundant in the light of government pressure to make all tax-payer funded research in UK universities 'open access' & freely available for everyone. This is really happening. Whether anyone will read it is another matter, but it hardly fits your agenda of 'keeping people ignorant'.

It's less a case of fitting the agenda than fitting the topic of the thread - Iran and the lack of any Iranian perspective for us to consider before our government decides to, say, support air strikes (or worse) against countless facilities containing nuclear material. That stuff doesn't go back into the box, you know.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:19 pm  

Conversations with the vast majority of people about any topic of global importance ought to tell you that there's no need for the government to do anything at all to keep the majority of people 'ignorant'. They quite happily keep themselves that way with no outside help whatsoever.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:57 am  

So basically the difference bwetween Press TV and Fox News is that this bloke:



isn't this bloke:



Maybe I'madinnerjacket should consider bunging a few Western politicians?

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:19 am  

Exeter Rhino wrote: The OP's general point is somewhat redundant in the light of government pressure to make all tax-payer funded research in UK universities 'open access' & freely available for everyone. This is really happening. Whether anyone will read it is another matter, but it hardly fits your agenda of 'keeping people ignorant'. Such research will be far more reputable than any state-sponsored TV channel and will no doubt include many publications/papers fundamentally at odds with UK government policy, or indeed prevailing western/capitalist ideologies etc. That could have more to do with allowing their commercial mates open access to any useful research than any altruistic sentiments. I'm also concerned with Cameron's recently announcedintention of "removing more red tape" from planning and new legislation. He cites an increase in judicial reviews without detailing the reasons for those judicial reviews. If you strip out the JRs launched in immigration cases, the number has actually fallen in recent years. Similarly, ending or at least reducing Equality Impact Assessments before legislation is presented to Parliament, is simply removing another tool of democracy and equality. He's basically telling us all that "Nanny knows best"

Exeter Rhino wrote: The OP's general point is somewhat redundant in the light of government pressure to make all tax-payer funded research in UK universities 'open access' & freely available for everyone. This is really happening. Whether anyone will read it is another matter, but it hardly fits your agenda of 'keeping people ignorant'. Such research will be far more reputable than any state-sponsored TV channel and will no doubt include many publications/papers fundamentally at odds with UK government policy, or indeed prevailing western/capitalist ideologies etc. That could have more to do with allowing their commercial mates open access to any useful research than any altruistic sentiments. I'm also concerned with Cameron's recently announcedintention of "removing more red tape" from planning and new legislation. He cites an increase in judicial reviews without detailing the reasons for those judicial reviews. If you strip out the JRs launched in immigration cases, the number has actually fallen in recent years. Similarly, ending or at least reducing Equality Impact Assessments before legislation is presented to Parliament, is simply removing another tool of democracy and equality. He's basically telling us all that "Nanny knows best"

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:02 am  

cod'ead wrote: I'm also concerned with Cameron's recently announcedintention of "removing more red tape" from planning and new legislation. He cites an increase in judicial reviews without detailing the reasons for those judicial reviews. If you strip out the JRs launched in immigration cases, the number has actually fallen in recent years. Similarly, ending or at least reducing Equality Impact Assessments before legislation is presented to Parliament, is simply removing another tool of democracy and equality. He's basically telling us all that "Nanny knows best" In all this talk of relaxing planning legislation and making things easier for developers, the one thing he hasn't yet done is reintroduced "garden grabbing"; the practice of selling off large existing plots for redevelopment at higher density. It was one of the first things the coalition abolished when they took power, but surely bringing it back would benefit the economy - after all, we're in the economic equivalent of a war as Cameron suggested yesterday and tough times call for tough measures and we're all in it together.

cod'ead wrote: I'm also concerned with Cameron's recently announcedintention of "removing more red tape" from planning and new legislation. He cites an increase in judicial reviews without detailing the reasons for those judicial reviews. If you strip out the JRs launched in immigration cases, the number has actually fallen in recent years. Similarly, ending or at least reducing Equality Impact Assessments before legislation is presented to Parliament, is simply removing another tool of democracy and equality. He's basically telling us all that "Nanny knows best" In all this talk of relaxing planning legislation and making things easier for developers, the one thing he hasn't yet done is reintroduced "garden grabbing"; the practice of selling off large existing plots for redevelopment at higher density. It was one of the first things the coalition abolished when they took power, but surely bringing it back would benefit the economy - after all, we're in the economic equivalent of a war as Cameron suggested yesterday and tough times call for tough measures and we're all in it together.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:12 am  

BrisbaneRhino wrote:

Conversations with the vast majority of people about any topic of global importance ought to tell you that there's no need for the government to do anything at all to keep the majority of people 'ignorant'. They quite happily keep themselves that way with no outside help whatsoever.

Correct. If it isn't soaps, sport or alcohol, the government will get away with banning whatever they want.

Re: Keeping people ignorant : Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:24 am  

I'm just checking here.

Is "Not having the Iranian point of view" essentially the same as "Not getting the Palestinian point of view"?