Friday 12 February 2016

Making waves


Barn owl's face discovered in space

You may have seen the announcement...

Yes, all over our screens over the past couple of days has been played (and replayed) that delightful clip of a slowly-enunciating chap saying, with barely suppressed glee, "We've done it.....We've appointed Dan Walker to replace Bill Turnbull on BBC Breakfast", and a roomful of scientists immediately breaking into applause and cheering.

For the first time ever a couple of supermassive black holes (known informally at Caltech and MIT as 'Mardell' and 'Stourton') have been seen spiralling in towards each other, and a 'chirp' has proved that Einstein was right: Dan Walker is the best man to replace Bill Turnbull. 

Unfortunately someone's darn gone and spoiled it (someone in a wheelchair with an American-sounding voice and a speech synthesiser I reckon).

Yes, shock news has emerged that Dan Walker is a creationist. 

If apples fall from trees onto Brian Cox's beautifully-styled bonce it's because of that damned snake, tempting Eve into pulling it down through the force of temptation. 

Someone from the Telegraph immediately fainted on the spot. 

And "a senior BBC figure" (Aaqil Ahmed? Probably not) told The Times that Dan's 'creationist' view are "a bit nutty". 

Einstein is said to be turning in his grave.

******

The chap from the Telegraph wasn't the only one to faint. 

Hundreds of people across the UK also fainted on discovering that the BBC has appointed a believing Christian who refuses to work on Sundays to present its flagship breakfast show.

They'd expected a believing Muslim who refuses to work on Fridays instead.

******

To be serious, this whole storm does seem to have begun with some "senior BBC figure" sounding off at the absurdity of Dan Walker's Christian beliefs, as that senior BBC figure described them to the Times

That sounds like the BBC I know...

...except that that very same BBC has now employed Mr Walker!

Now, I myself don't accept creationism for one minute (and then some) but if believing Muslims can believe that their Prophet (PBUH) flew to Jerusalem on a winged horse and yet still continue presenting current affairs programmes (or maybe even heading Religion and Ethics for the BBC) then surely Dan Walker can present BBC Breakfast without too much nuttiness...

...and people do seem to like what he's done with Football Focus (not that I could possibly comment on that).

******

Nicky, and a dog (which spells 'God' backwards)

Maybe that mysterious bad-mouthing "senior BBC figure" was Radio 5 Live's Nicky Campbell.

Nicky was inviting calls on the subject of gravitational waves this morning when a chap from the Glasgow area came on air to say (very politely) that 'heat loss' proved the earth to be 6-10 thousand years old, 'as the Bible says'. 

Go to 18:11 into the programme and listen to what happened next. 

"Uh-oh!", "Wow!", "Alarm bells are going off in here!"

"I'm despairing," said Nicky about his creationist caller. 

"Oh dear!", he then sighed, before going on to call the caller's beliefs "hogwash". 

"Deal with it!", he added for good measure.

Dare we hope that Nicky will be just as rude to representatives of the Muslim Council of Britain on the next The Big Questions to deal with this kind of subject?

2 comments:

  1. Nothing ever really happens at the BBC except for a reason, and the reason is normally intimately connected to the PC-Liberal-Left-multi-cultural-feminist agenda.

    So on the face of it this is a bit of a puzzle.

    However once you put on the cynical specs as worn by all senior BBC media types, you can see it makes sense as good deflection, good diversion and good camouflage.

    Puttting a Christian creationist in such an august news role, means that the BBC can deflect allegations of BBC anti-Christian bias.

    It means that under cover of this appointment, similar appointments of devout Muslims can take place (time for a head scarf - I spotted one on a TV advert recently...TV adverts tend to give us early warning of such developments).

    Finally, it's good diversion from the continuing huge tsunami of multiculturalist propaganda that the BBC sends our way.

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  2. In BBC bunker terms, I am always intrigued by who gets quoted saying what on which topic. Especially once straying into the rarified atmosphere of BBC seniority.

    Almost never is an actual person named. On occasion Lord Hall is quoted by a spokesperson, who of course remains anonymous, and a very useful one-way valve if what Lord Hall issues forth upon needs clarification.

    Bad-mouthing senior Beeboids seem to enjoy similar filtering facilities. Which is awfully convenient, when they a) May not be senior and b) engaged in covert undermining for the sack of rats that may struggle under challenge.

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