BBC takes homeopathy bias too far

For the first time, I have felt it necessary to write a complaint to the BBC.

Last night (22/02/10) just after 1930 on News24 an interview was broadcast on the subject of homeopathy. The interview was highly biased towards advocacy of homeopathy, despite the fact that it has no scientific basis and is proven to be ineffective. Of particular concern was the claim that homeopathic treatment could cure cancer. This claim was repeated an hour later in another interview, and not accompanied by any disclaimer. This is not just misleading but dangerous and irresponsible. Under the Cancer Act 1939 (specifically §4) it may even be criminal. It is utterly unacceptable, and I would like to know how you intend to correct this.

The interview itself is here, and it was also quoted as fact later on in the evening.

Not everything wrong should be banned

I unfriended somebody on Facebook the other day. It’s something I’ve only ever done once before, as “friends” lists are just a representation of a network graph, not a way to describe the relative strength of each relationship. But in this case, I have never even met the person and had no mutual friends, and although he did nothing directly against me, I decided I couldn’t see a good reason to retain a connection to him.

What prompted this decision? It was something you could see as a very small thing. I saw in his news feed that he had joined a group calling for Islam4UK to be banned from marching through Wootton Bassett. I fully agree he has the right to not want it to happen. The entire idea of a terrorist front staging a media stunt in what has become a shrine to the fallen must surely be highly offensive to any decent human being, whatever their views on the conflicts.