I am not saying that commercial TV is not capable of quality but I think the BBC is not just part of commercial entertainment but part of our infrastructure.

Sherlock is brand new. Dr Who is bigger than ever. Stuart Lee is ahead of it's time and he has really just mad an entrance into the national TV. Charlie Brooker is producing new and innovative stuff currently.

Not done and dusted. So sorry Andyh but

As for WUB's comment about Red Dwarf; it was only taken up by commercial TV because the formula had already been established for decades.

The pioneers of it were the BBC and they rightly (IMHO) did not want to take it further.

One of the bst things about the Beeb has been their policy of finishing a project at the peakof its popularity (not always but often) and this just never happens with American shows (e.g. LOST, Heroes etc). They suffer from marketting. As unfair as the TV Liscence is, it allows afor this and a lot of "bad-for-business but good for quality-legacy" decisions. It also allows for aesthetic/quality decisions to overall marketting ones.

A good example is The Office and the Office USA (stilll limping on).

I am not saying that commercial TV is not capable of quality but I think the BBC is not just part of commercial entertainment but part of our infrastructure.

While Andy and WuB, you both agree with me on many things, we do depart on issues like this and other similar issues like the NHS.

So no, I do not want to see it all go and be left awash in commercial "choice" which is only manufactured consent.

And no amount of "free market" rhetoric has been able to convince me otherwise.

K-Bone wrote:
Trying to ban guns would work out about as well as trying to ban alcohol. Oh wait, they did and guess what: bootleggers!!

By all means, let's address the core issues and make the world a gun-free place! But in the meantime, let's keep the battlefield level.

Why should John Q. American have his home broken into and his wife & daughters raped/killed just because some low-life shitbag is a little slow on the old "love & light" uptake and chooses to break the law and own guns to commit crimes while law abiding folks suffer unecessary consequences? Criminally minded people are going to be just THAT for as long as there is a reward in it for them. Yes, guns do make it easier for some people in some situations to kill a higher number of folks at a time than if they were relegated to using just baseball bats or crow-bars. But if somebody has murder in their heart they will kill you with their very own fucking body-weight if it means gettin' it done!!

Guns are NOT the problem. Emotionally challenged, spiritually vacant people ARE.

Heh, guess I went the long way around in saying "I agree with ya!"

I totally agree with you about he spiritually vacant people; really great way to describe them. And banning guns is- even assault rifles- isn't going to do jack shit. I'm sick of gun owners being labeled as nuts. I grew up around guns and my father is a damn fine gunsmith; we(my brother) were taught that guns were not toys & for hunting/self defense.

K-Bone wrote: You see, we in Britain don't. That's why it's important for the arguments against gun control to be presented properly and even-handedly.

Maybe I should move to Switzerland....why can't Switzerland be a tropical island in the South Pacific?

Oh, and not all Americans are that way about guns, btw...I mean, I'm sure you know that. Just had to stick up for my fellow non-stereotypical Americans.

Yeah, true about the islands and Japan. I always thought Japan would be a cool place to visit. Kinda like visiting the future!

But what I'm saying is most people in America who have been gun owners for a long time DO have guns for the right reasons. Protection and hunting; not just because its the "in" thing. Now, there is a boom in people running out and buying one just to have and that's a result of the media created hysteria. Believe me, I grew up around gun people.

The kind you speak of drive me crazy! My boss is one of them. He's acting like a freak because he's all hopped up on Alex Jones. He's been talking all this shit about stock piling guns- he never expressed an interest in guns before. He thinks he knows something about guns and combat because he plays Halo or Call of Duty for hours on end. He runs his mouth about how when "shit hits the fan"; he's gonna "lead the militia"! Lmao! He'd probably get taken out in the first wave. He's just caught up in the hype. When it settles down, he'll be back to blowing money on the next new Apple product or some other status symbol to impress all his Facebook friends.

I fear my government and my fellow man! Lol!

And I don't know what part of America you are talking about but I'm from the south and the primary reason for gun ownership IS hunting and protection- hunting more than anything. That may not be true for the yuppies, the trendsetters or the thugs but it IS true for most everyone I've known in my life. Hate to be argumentative but I'm nearly 40 and this is from my experience.

K-Bone wrote:
Well I suppose a tropical island is likely to have even less crime
Hardly any people and hardly any need for crime basically.

The Japanese also buck the trend by the way. Despite the crowded population violent crime at least is pretty low given the population.
China is beginning to see an increase.

The Swiss have little to fear in the way of street crime compared to the US but we should be asking why that is the case. After all, they are armed to the teeth so what makes them different?