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Is Global Dimming related to Global Dumbing as featured on BBC Weather
Forecasts?

Just a thought.

Steve Richards
Swansea

[Les Crossan]

wrote:
Is Global Dimming related to Global Dumbing as featured on BBC Weather
Forecasts?

Just a thought.

Steve Richards
Swansea


As the population gets dimmer, the forecasts get dumber???

This has mere detail than the average bbc (and ukmo?) weather forecast:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/whatisw...er/cloud.shtml


Les
--
Les Crossan,
Wallsend, Tyne & Wear
54.95N 1.5W
Home of the Wallsend StormCam and the Backup USW FAQ -
www.uksevereweather.org.uk

[Nigel Morgan]

On 7 Oct 2005 09:14:03 -0700, inspired by Deep Thought wrote:

Is Global Dimming related to Global Dumbing as featured on BBC Weather
Forecasts?

Just a thought.

Steve Richards
Swansea

What gets my goat more than anything (and yes, I totally agree the BBC forecasts
are a VERY poor shadow of what they used to be in the days of Bert Ford and Jack
Scott) is the now mandatory FIVE MINUTES or more of the BBC blowing its own
trumpet at 18:55pm (and I suspect at many other times during the day as well) by
showing shedloads of unwarranted and largely ignored marathon trailers for its
own rubbish programmes. I counted EIGHT in succession the other evening!

I thought the license charter says "NO ADVERTISING": shame it doesn't say
anything about trumpet blowing!! This slot used to be one of the few if not the
only time in the day when enough time was allocated to give something
approaching a decent forecast. But alas, blowing its own trumpet is now
considered more important by the BBC management than providing what it started
out doing in 1922 i.e. giving a SERVICE to the public!

Oh, and how long will it be before the BBC forecasts resemble an episode of
Rainbow (if they don't already)?? No offence to Rainbow lovers BTW.

Nigel.

Aagh! Every time I learn something new... it pushes something old out of my brain!

[Graham P Davis]

Nigel Morgan wrote:



What gets my goat more than anything (and yes, I totally agree the BBC
forecasts are a VERY poor shadow of what they used to be in the days of
Bert Ford and Jack Scott) is the now mandatory FIVE MINUTES or more of the
BBC blowing its own trumpet at 18:55pm (and I suspect at many other times
during the day as well) by showing shedloads of unwarranted and largely
ignored marathon trailers for its own rubbish programmes. I counted EIGHT
in succession the other evening!

I thought the license charter says "NO ADVERTISING": shame it doesn't say
anything about trumpet blowing!! This slot used to be one of the few if
not the only time in the day when enough time was allocated to give
something approaching a decent forecast. But alas, blowing its own trumpet
is now considered more important by the BBC management than providing what
it started out doing in 1922 i.e. giving a SERVICE to the public!

Over 50 years ago, on the Home Service near eight o'clock in the morning,
the weather forecast used to last five minutes and was a script read by an
announcer - similar to the Shipping Forecast. However, nearby in the
schedule was Programme Parade, a five-minute programme of radio highlights
for the remainder of the day. So what's new?

Other highlights of the morning were Lift Up Your Hearts - the 5-minute
God-slot, and the Radio Doctor. I remember the latter answering a worried
mother that her son would eat nothing but beans on toast. He told her not
to worry as baked beans were full of nutrition and roughage (they didn't
talk about being "high in fibre" in those days). So Mums were worried that
kids were into "junk food" in those days - except it wasn't junk.

--
Graham Davis
Bracknell
It was raining cats and dogs and I fell in a poodle. - Chic
Murray(1919-1985)

[Nigel Morgan]

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 11:03:53 +0100, Graham P Davis
inspired by Deep Thought wrote:

Nigel Morgan wrote:



Over 50 years ago, on the Home Service near eight o'clock in the morning,
the weather forecast used to last five minutes and was a script read by an
announcer - similar to the Shipping Forecast. However, nearby in the
schedule was Programme Parade, a five-minute programme of radio highlights
for the remainder of the day. So what's new?

The fact that nowadays instead of getting five whole minutes we get at best
about 45 seconds of dumbed down waffle that's more often wildly inaccurate than
not! These days trumpet blowing, endless political speculation, mudslinging and
arguing over meaningless statistics (remember children there are lies, damned
lies & statistics!) are deemed far more important on Radio 4 at this time of the
day than religion & weather - even though thuoghts of a spiritual nature and an
accurate weather forecast are of FAR more use and value to those setting out for
work/the rat (sorry school) run than the endless political drivel that pours out
from Radio 4 at that hour.

Other highlights of the morning were Lift Up Your Hearts - the 5-minute
God-slot, and the Radio Doctor.

Yes I can remember these, and can you remember "Five-to-Ten" on the Light
Programme?

I remember the latter answering a worried
mother that her son would eat nothing but beans on toast. He told her not
to worry as baked beans were full of nutrition and roughage (they didn't
talk about being "high in fibre" in those days). So Mums were worried that
kids were into "junk food" in those days - except it wasn't junk.

Could this explain the significant rise in the amount of very windy weather we
now get in comparison with the 50s & 60s? ;-) That combined with the
never-ending "sex scandals", sensationalist junk food & political garbage we get
forced down our throats by the media these days!

burp!

Nigel

Aagh! Every time I learn something new... it pushes something old out of my brain!

[Graham P Davis]

Nigel Morgan wrote:

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 11:03:53 +0100, Graham P Davis
inspired by Deep Thought wrote:

Nigel Morgan wrote:



Over 50 years ago, on the Home Service near eight o'clock in the morning,
the weather forecast used to last five minutes and was a script read by an
announcer - similar to the Shipping Forecast. However, nearby in the
schedule was Programme Parade, a five-minute programme of radio highlights
for the remainder of the day. So what's new?

The fact that nowadays instead of getting five whole minutes we get at
best about 45 seconds of dumbed down waffle that's more often wildly
inaccurate than not! These days trumpet blowing, endless political
speculation, mudslinging and arguing over meaningless statistics (remember
children there are lies, damned lies & statistics!) are deemed far more
important on Radio 4 at this time of the day than religion & weather -
even though thuoghts of a spiritual nature and an accurate weather
forecast are of FAR more use and value to those setting out for work/the
rat (sorry school) run than the endless political drivel that pours out
from Radio 4 at that hour.

Other highlights of the morning were Lift Up Your Hearts - the 5-minute
God-slot, and the Radio Doctor.

Yes I can remember these, and can you remember "Five-to-Ten" on the Light
Programme?


One advantage with the scripted forecast was that all the regions were
mentioned - as in the Shipping Forecast - so that you always knew where
each bit of the forecast referred to. The Radio Times used to publish a map
of Shipping and Land areas every so often. Nowadays I often come to the end
of a forecast realising that I've no idea what the prediction is for my
part of the country. Some of the Radio 5 forecasters don't help by starting
the forecast in the SE instead of Scotland. My brain doesn't get into gear
until I hear the forecast for Scotland, assuming everything preceding that
is the general introduction, so I get caught out when they finish at that
point.

Memories of a Five-to-Ten programme are so vague as to be almost
non-existent. As a "born-again" atheist I suspect my feelings about the
religious slots may differ a little from yours so I'll say no more -
probably said too much anyway.


--
Graham Davis
Bracknell
Entente Cordiale: Being friendly in a tent; Coup de grace: Lawn-mower.
(Archie Andrews in Educating Archie, to Max Bygraves? Tony Hancock?)