WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

The Local Government Association has woken up to the fact that they are having to spend a lot of money repairing the temporary repairs done by contractors. I'm sure we've all seen examples of this, just brush the hole out, spray it with solvent and stamp some cold tarmac into it. They have known about this at street level for years but it now seems to have percolated through to the management. About time too!
Thoughts about the number of people in low paid or part time jobs that have got up this morning in a cold house and had to go out in the bitter cold to a cold job. God knows I have had to do it often enough and I never forget those who are doing it now. I wonder whether this ever crosses the mind of those warm and well-fed politicians in Westminster? Mind you, it only affects the oiks and they deserve no better....

[Tizer]

The news media are hyping up worries over North Korea's successful long-range rocket test - noting that it could reach the west coast of the US and that Iran might have been helping with development of the roocket. But look on the bright side - China and Russia are nearer to North Korea and they're even more worried about the rogue state being able to target them. We might see China, Russia and the US begin to work together against N. Korea and Iran.

[Moh]

Yes he's rejoined under the name "Angus", but doesn't post much anymore. Shame really - I enjoyed his photos. Always plenty of happy smiling people on them.

So did I shame they may be lost. Just had a thought, if pluggy gets the archive from the old site on here we will have duplicated topics.

[Thomo]

Many of us at around my age got up in a morning to a cold house, and then went to work. nor was it ever a problem. The modern population of this country has gone "Soft", and here in Barlick there are problems that just did not exist in those times. I have made comments about the local shops before, and I am going to "fire off" again now. When I was younger there were at least 8 fresh fruit and veg shops in this town, now there is just one, and it is run by those who have only their own interests at heart, and they do not buy from local dealers with a good reputation. What they sell to their own community may be fine, the rest is seconds. So this morning, fed up of having to ditch stuff bought from them. ie. rotten potatoes, I rang Wellocks at Lomeshay, and yes they could help, and they did. A full bag of good potatoes for just over 12 quid, and if you are not happy, "call us". That is how it was then, so why put up with it now!!!!!?

[Stanley]

No Moh, any reposting of the archive will be in the archive section which already has quite a lot of the old site in it but you have to log onto the archive to see it.
I like Chowdrey's, reminds me of when I ran a greengrocer's shop.

[Nolic]

I've been doing some safeguarding training at a specialist school for young people and young adults with autistic spectrum and mental health disorders. On the first session I did last week I met a young lady of about 16 who remembered me from about 3 years previously when I went there with my Ofsted hat on. She is charming but very inquisitive and over the day I saw her on about 4 occasions when she wanted to know if I liked fast foods, did I like coffee or tea best, was I staying for lunch and did I mind her being so inquisitive.
She is a charming young woman and you cannot help but like her but she can get a bit in your face. One of the final things last week she wanted to know was how old I was. I told her that my birthday was the following day and I was 62. She then started to work out the year I was born and we went from 1948 to 1958 and 1962. When I told her the year had a 0 in it she tried 1940 , 1960 and finally 1950 and got it right. She was really pleased with herself and her parting shot as she went to one of her classes was " I'm good at maths aren't I ?"
Yesterday I was back there again doing some training for the managers and was surprised not to see this young woman in the communal area. However as I joined the staff and young people for lunch I heard this very loud voice from across the dining hall " Hello Colin, Its me Janey. Do you remember me?" Once met never forgotten. Nolic

[Tizer]

" I'm good at maths aren't I ?"

That could be true - if someone had the time to give her some algebra or geometry questions, rather than arithmetic, and a bit of guidance she might prove to be very capable. As individuals our minds vary in their efficiency at the different types of maths. I find mental arithmetic easy but when it comes to algebra I'm so bad that I could be classed as `disabled'.

[Stanley]

I once went to similar facility to do some pics for them on a voluntary basis. What struck me was how affectionate they were. The staff warned me and made sure I wasn't swamped but I have an idea that some of them will still remember my visit thirty years later. They were like eager puppies, sorry if that's an improper description but that's how they struck me. It was a good experience.
I watched the Panorama programme on evictions and homeless people and reflected how lucky I was. All right, some of the problems are self-inflicted perhaps but the level of stress and human misery portrayed was pitiful. I couldn't help putting myself in their shoes and it's frightening.

[Nolic]

Comrade I agree with both you and Tiz. However I think the costs of tutoring someone like "Janey" would be massive and detract from the costs of care. The priorities for her are to keep herself and others safe and instill in her an ability to function with support in the community. Nolic

[Cathy]

Still no reply from Postman Pete then re the suicide of the nurse who received the prank call ?
No matter, it's too sad anyway to carry on about it. I read that we won't hear much more until March/April anyway.

[EileenDavid]

How dark it's been all day today. Eileen

[PanBiker]

20 elementary school children killed by a gunman in Connecticut, along with numerous adults including his father and mother who was a teacher at the school. The children were all members of her class. It may well transpire that he has killed his brother at another location as well. How does anyone come to terms with this? Tragic.

[Stanley]

They don't Ian, it's too enormous to deal with. I thought Obama was quite splendid when he spoke about it. You could tell he was itching to go for the gun lobby but kept his cool. Remember the clip of Charlton Heston holding the gun aloft and shouting 'from my cold dead hand'? It struck me that there are other cultures where guns are prevalent but are they as prone to things like this as the US. Yes, I do remember Dunblane. The NRA are a scary organisation and the extent of gun ownership in the states is enormous, including automatic weapons. One thought, why was he dressed in military fatigues? Rambo complex? Too many video games?
The other, more normal thing that grabbed me yesterday was the gloom....... Just the weather for triggering SAD syndrome!

[Stanley]

The fact that we had a good level of light!
Stories of incredible acts by the teachers in Newtown.
News that Danny Boyle has refused a knighthood for his part in the Olympic Games on the grounds that it would go against his belief that all citizens are equal. Splendid!

[EileenDavid]

Danny's from Radcliffe like myself and the old school that knighthoods and awards were earned for special services now they hand them out like dolly mixtures. One of my brothers was steward at St Mary's Club were Danny took his Oscars. He used to go to the club regularly as his father liked to go but his father has since died. He accepted the Freeman of the town though to which my brother a bit of a joker said he can graze his sheep on public land.Eileen

[Big Kev]

The following caught my attention today. it has been "doing the rounds" for a few weeks and is well worth the read.

Very insightful and very true....Take a second to read this:

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as “Holiday Trees” for the first time this year which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. I think it applies just as much to many countries as it does to America . . .



The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.


My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

[EileenDavid]

Hell Kev I loved it and it really attracted my attention today. I don't think the Jewish population have a problem with us Christians but I think there are others who do. Eileen

[Stanley]

Ben Stein is quite right. I used to spend a lot of time in a Jewish household where they celebrated Xmas and when I asked why the lady told me that "A holiday is a Holiday!" I like that attitude, pity Christians haven't something like the Seder. (LINK) What they don't mention in the article is that the youngest person has to learn the answers to questions about the symbols in the meal and when I was there they made me the youngest and I had to read it up in a small book. Lovely custom and good grub as well! (Apart from the Kosher wine. Kosher wine is a bad Jewish joke!)

[Marilyn]

I am absolutely seething with rage...

We have lived in this neighbourhood for about six years. I think it is about time we seriously considered moving!
It wasn't such a bad place six years ago, but these last couple of years, there has been a visible change to our environment. Sure, there were always the lazy residents about who refused to care for their gardens, couldn't be bothered taking their bins in from the street from one week to the next, and wouldn't dream of stooping to pull out a weed....what neighbourhood doesn't have the usual offenders? Then we have certain families who tend to bring home all kinds of rubbish, sort it, then dump what they don't want back out on the council strip for collection ( and I must say that our council do a wonderful job of regularly visiting these premises and removing rubbish). Lately, have a strange collection of people raiding everyone's bins on rubbish day for anything they can find to recycle ( which I find so annoying). There is also the usual dumping of shopping trolleys on street corners, by people too lazy to carry their bags home. School holidays are upon us, which means the graffiti kids will be out tagging fences and cars ( seems to be a school holiday attraction around these parts).
But I honestly saw RED today when driving home from the shops to see somebody has dumped rubbish ( wood, iron, old paint cans, old rags etc) on each and every corner of every street I drove along and on the perimeter of every park I passed.
And you can tell it was all done by one vehicle. Something was leaking from the vehicle...looks like watered down white paint) so one is able to follow the trail from one pile of rubbish to another. There are mountains of it everywhere!
What makes a person do this? ( What is wrong with them?!)
Talk about take the shine of the neighbourhood...anyone coming here to visit for Christmas will think they have arrived in the Bronx.
Time to move...before I strangle someone...

[Nolic]

I witnessed just the opposite attitude yesterday.
I was about a half a mile from High Bentham on my way to Lancaster and I saw a lady jogging. She was well into middle age and was well kitted out and obviously a keen jogger. What was strange was she was carrying a plastic bag that looked quite full and then I realised what she was doing. She stopped bent down towards the hedgerow and picked up some rubbish. She was collecting all our discarded flotsam from land that was presumably not hers and keeping the roadside tidy. Great community spirit and wonderful multi-tasking. Nolic

[Wendyf]

We used to have a litter picking day every year in the little community where we used to live in Scotland. It was always a fun event with everyone turning out to scour the roadsides for litter. The council provided a skip, collection bags and fluorescent vests, and tea & cakes were provided by the Resident's Association when the job was done.

[EileenDavid]

Are other people likewise in their thoughts that there should be no need for litter pickers. What happened to education on Keep Britain Tidy. I have seen people throwing Macdonalds bags out of their car windows and the motorway slip road at the Heywood bypass is a disgrace. Eileen

[Cathy]

I understand your anger Marilyn, as you know I often pick up junk mail and bits of rubbish out the front of my place and it really infuriates me, but to have deposits on almost every corner, yuck!! I'd be taking pictures and ringing the council if I could. It's bin-night tonight and I just witnessed a neighbour putting rubbish in my bin which is out on the verge ( he quickly looked at my front door and windows as he did it and walked away quickly - cheeky bugger), but I won't complain cause there was room in my bin and his rubbish was wrapped in a bin bag, it's much better than just dumping it on the verge (the bin men won't get out of their cab to pick it up) or keeping it out the back of his place for another week, incase it attracts vermin.

[Cathy]

I'm getting excited... tonight we have a tv show called THE BEATLES SECRETS, have you had it on your tele??

They have advertised it as being about murder, illegitimate children, secrets etc.

All very intriguing, hope it doesn't knock them off the pedestal i have them on... oh dear

[Marilyn]

Have calmed down a bit now...several hours later...and two glasses of red wine with dinner ( quite amazing the calming properties of red wine).

I always pick up rubbish in the street on bin days. I have scrubbed my neighbours fence on four occasions due to graffiti ( my neighbour doesn't care about it but I do). I also trim a few of the street trees that become impossible to walk under without ending up with a wasp in your hair.
We have a lot of strange people in our neighbourhood, mostly due to closeness to mental health facilities, and the fact that our council welcomes multiculturalism and rehouses a lot of refugees within its bounds ( and it is a huge council area). Some people cannot help living in a muddle, surrounded by rubbish and unable to cope with sorting it ( I understand that and have empathy). Others are downright lazy. One house we regularly walk past has a three piece velvet lounge in the front yard ( which I cannot call a garden as it is just weeds). The occupants sit on the outside 'lounge' each night, drinking and throwing cans about. One doesn't DARE look sideways at them if walking past. You cannot help but be awed by the ever present hill of rubbish on their grass verge beside the footpath. One evening I was astounded to see about forty pairs of shoes neatly lined up against the kerb. Guess the idea behind it was that someone may take a fancy to a pair and take them home! ( as if!)
We are not regarded as a 'poor' area at all.
I can't work out what the solution is. How do you give people PRIDE? How do you make people CARE about themselves and their environment. How can you unite all of these different people from different cultures ( with different life expectations)?


And I had a problem with mice and RATS earlier this year. Council came and said they were using the fence line as a highway. Spoke to everyone about and not one person had seen them ( are you BLIND?!).
Don't know how people don't see rats running along the top of fences...