Seen in the News

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the advent of 'woke' in France and the struggle this has triggered.
I have to admit that on a scale of 1 to 10 it rates about 3 on my 'woke' meter....
(Perhaps I need educating....)

[Stanley]

Word from both the Treasury and the Office of national statistics is that inflation has jumped to 5.1%, a ten year high, faster than was expected. Things aren't looking good for the New Year.... Will the B0fE have to raise interest rates?
Will Johnson rescue us using our sovereignty?

[Big Kev]

See THIS BBC report on the advent of 'woke' in France and the struggle this has triggered.
I have to admit that on a scale of 1 to 10 it rates about 3 on my 'woke' meter....
(Perhaps I need educating....)

I treat everyone the same, I don't need a 'woke' education. I still consider that 'woke' is something I did this morning after sleep

[Stanley]

Quite.... It's a load of old cobblers!

[Big Kev]

[Tripps]

Another appalling child murder revealed yesterday. Not widely reported, but I'm fairly sure that woke / PC issues played a part in it all.

The perpetrators hid behind the fact that they belonged to two minority categories, and used the fact to avoid close examination of their actions. I'm guessing that any social worker who questioned this would swiftly be categorised as homophobic, or racist or both, and would not prosper.

It occurred to me that we have the RSPCA, and the RSPB which look after the interests of animals and birds, and have Royal in the title. Then we have the NSPCC which doesn't. Understandable perhaps? I had a quick look at their website, and it was dominated by appeals for money, and the usual assortment of pictures conforming to the modern standards of diversity in advertising.
********************************************************
PS An MP has just said as much at PMQ'S. He was interrupted, and stopped from saying more by Mr Speaker who said the matter was still sub judice.

[Stanley]

The fact that children only get 'national' while pets and birds get 'royal' has long puzzled me.
And yes, I think you are right, the fact that the woman's partner was not only another woman but a boxer as well.
It was noticeable in the BBC reporting that you had to listen very carefully to pick up her gender. I failed the first time I heard it but got enough clues the second time round. This suggests they were treading very carefully so as not to be accused of any kind of bias. I would suggest that telling the truth is not bias.

[Stanley]

The main thread in the news this morning is the tsunami of Omicron, the advice being given by the experts to cut back on contacts over Xmas and the forecasts by the entertainment and restaurant industries that Xmas is now ruined for them.
Meanwhile Johnson is upbeat, does he know something we don't? Or is he simply a fool whistling in the dark.....

[Tizer]

`UK cuts grants for electric vehicles for second time in a year: Subsidy available will fall from £2,500 to £1,500 – half the sum available to buyers at the start of the year' Guardian

[Big Kev]

`UK cuts grants for electric vehicles for second time in a year: Subsidy available will fall from £2,500 to £1,500 – half the sum available to buyers at the start of the year' Guardian

I reckon they've realised the current technology/infrastructure isn't fit for purpose. EVs are too expensive, not practical to charge (unless it's parked on your drive) and don't have the range of an ICE. That's just my opinion though.

[PanBiker]

Hit the nail on the head there Kev. I reckon all motor sport should be electric now to research and advance the technology as that is what they say it is all about.

On the electric front, our Jack has just taken delivery of a new electric bike. He bought it on a bike to work scheme, (it's 30 miles when he has to go into the office). He has commuted before on his straight road bike but this will help get the journey time down. It's a British hand built bike and he is loving it, rode it back from the dealers in Halifax the other day. I'm going to have a go on it sometime but doubt I can afford one, (about £2.5K)

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report that the BofE has raised interest to 0.25%.

[Tizer]

An investigation by The Times on its front page today. I feel sorry for the people who deliver parcels freelance for Hermes - we've always had good service from them and thy must be very frustrated by what goes on in the depots. Also, we don't what happens in the other big couriers companies...
`Exposed: the Hermes delivery staff throwing your parcels against the wall: Amid a surge of complaints about one of Britain’s largest delivery companies, an undercover reporter has discovered an apparent culture of chaos' The Times
`Couriers working for one of Britain’s largest delivery companies mishandle parcels, routinely fail to complete next-day orders and are encouraged to lie to customers, an investigation by The Times has found. This month an undercover reporter worked for Hermes, which delivers online orders for retailers including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Next, amid a surge in complaints about packages being late, damaged or lost.'...

[Stanley]

How much of the problem is down to under paying inadequate numbers of staff and treating them badly. Everything is geared to the cheapest possible service. This is endemic through society today and we hear MPs saying the cure for staff shortages and bad service everywhere is to pay more. Perhaps many of these ills would be improved by valuing staff and treating them better all round.
The lives of the people in charge of these matters is governed solely by money. financial reward, and the cheaper they can run their enterprises the more they get.

[Tripps]

I know some do not get on with this news source - so hold your nose - but it seems to be a scoop, and won't help the PM to sleep better tonight.

"More details are expected to emerge later tonight".

Lord Frost

[Stanley]

David, he's had a bad start to an already bad week.... He'll be hoping that getting into recess will quieten Parliament down. This would have been the case in the old days before social media but now they can concentrate solely on their phones and fume to their heart's content.
I have no sympathy for him, he deserves all that is coming to him. It's time the blustering and lying stopped.

[plaques]

Lord Frost. Has 'Get Brexit done' done for him? Negotiations with the EU were gradually going against him. Our ploy of doing nothing that he and the Buffoon agreed to when they wrote the agreement is a total failure with Northern Ireland going from strength to strength because they still have the advantage of being in the common market. With the Buffoon now on countdown until the Tories find a an alternative leader Frost has decided to jump ship rather than being dragged down with the Captain. Remember Frost was our unelected Brexit Minister brought into the Cabinet to smooth out the Brexit transition not to pronounce on other government policies. To site a difference of opinion in the direction of government may well be true but they real reason may be that nobody wants their future to be tied to the failure of someone who has been shown to tells lies.

[Stanley]

Very perceptive Ken and I think you have hit the nail on the head. The EU aren't giving in to Frost's brand of hard nosed 'negotiating' and you are quite right, news coming out of N Ireland is that they are doing very nicely thank you out of the present arrangement where they have the benefit of both UK and EU club membership. I heard a piece about that on R4 yesterday.
I also think you are right about him wanting to cut association with a failing politician. It has taken a while but lies and obfuscation by blustering and playing the buffoon whenever he is under attack are taking their toll of Johnson's style of management. Whatever they say, his days are numbered and as we get into the New Year and the multitude of consequences from Brexit start to bear down on us he will be blamed.
Perhaps the world was right when they voiced incredulity at the news we were leaving the strongest association of allies we have ever had. Even more incredulous when they heard it was about 'sovereignty'. It was and is a stupid policy and we are just starting to pay the price.

[Tizer]

Have a look at this to see how the crafty scammers go about their wicked ways. We soon won't be able to safely believe in anything ...
`BBC Bitcoin mining report used in crypto-scam' LINK

[Stanley]

Classic confidence trick and what you need to make it work is a mark who is greedy and thinks you can get money for nothing. That first $40 'profit' was the maggot on the hook.
If it looks too good to be true it probably is......

[Tizer]

I'll believe anything about Scottish Power. We had our first internet account with Demon Internet from the mid-1990s on recommendation from computer security colleagues. Demon was great, never any problems, they were a favourite with techy people. Then at the beginning of the 2000s they were taken over by....yes, you've guessed it, Scottish Power. The Demon service quickly went down the pan, including them setting the debt chasers on us for a claimed debt of £5. That's why we moved to Plusnet....
`Scottish Power debt team filmed raiding wrong home' LINK
Scottish Power debt enforcers have been caught on camera breaking into a woman's flat seeking payment for debts she did not owe. The woman was on holiday at the time and was not a Scottish Power customer. Doorbell video footage shows two uniformed men tampering with locks before going into the flat and identifying themselves as Scottish Power representatives. The energy firm has admitted the error, apologised and offered compensation. It is the latest in a series of reports from BBC Scotland featuring allegations of heavy-handed measures by representatives of Scottish Power..'...

[Stanley]

That's a scary story Peter and flags up one of the fundamental flaws in the law. Anything to do with property gets precedence over everything else. In this case the right to security and privacy in your own home. That's why in days gone by even minor theft was a hanging or transporting offence.

[Tizer]

Britain's biggest construction company...
`Balfour Beatty to pay £49 million fine for fraud against US military: British construction firm lied about military housing repairs to gain bonus payments, says Department of Justice' LINK
`British construction company Balfour Beatty will pay $65m (£49m) in fines after pleading guilty to fraud committed against the US military. The company’s US arm was one of the biggest providers of privatised military housing to the US army, navy and air forces at 55 bases across the states of Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas, but it lied about repairs in order to increase bonus payments, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday. The company, a member of the FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies, had to meet various maintenance and resident satisfaction targets to qualify for the bonuses. But employees deliberately altered data in its property management software and falsified resident comment cards to reach the required levels.'....

Note also in that article...`It is not the first time that Balfour Beatty has been censured for defence-related work. In the UK in 2019 MI6 sacked the company as a contractor during refurbishment work after it lost sensitive plans of the layout of its headquarters in London’s Vauxhall...'

Also in 2019....`Balfour Beatty fined £600k for Third Don Crossing excavator death' LINK

And in 2018....`Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions has been fined £500,000 and ordered to pay another £195,000 in costs after it was found that its workers were exposed to hand-arm vibration over a nine-year period.' LINK

And 2016.....`Balfour Beatty fined £2.6m over trench death' LINK

[Whyperion]

I doubt that Balfour Beatty (a long established company) record on Safety is any worse than any of the other major construction companies, its only when the systems fail to reckless that one could suggest that there is a systematic failure within the company ethos.

As to having contracts which have the 'soft' reports in them , I dont think I am in favour of them, while it might be in people's nature more to complain rather than give the 4/5 start +ve ratings, surely the best metric is the number of justifiable complaints. (late on site, not fixing first time, incorrect materials or workmanship, bad attitude of staff). Sounds like a contract that was designed not to pay a (full?) bonus.

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian report that Ghislaine Maxwell has been found guilty of five out of six charges of trafficking young girls for the late Jeffrey Epstein. There will be an appeal but it is believed that Maxwell will not be given bail until then.