Seen in the News

[plaques]

My pal was in the Toronto Canada police force, one day a gang raided the bank next door to the station. As expected the police stormed out and surrounded the bank where a shoot out took place . Bullets flying everywhere mainly from the police. Windows were broken four stories above the bank. All the police were sent on compulsory gun training. Imagine what would happen with civilians took part in a shoot out. Madness.

[Tripps]

From the Liverpool Echo -
File under "what could possibly go wrong"

The 31-year-old, from Norris Green, said he last saw his dad near Lush Bar on Rue des Dames at around 1.40am today. James said his dad went missing between the venue and the Novotol Suited Paris Montreuil Vincennes hotel, where they are staying.

PS *Update Jimmy has since been found*

[Stanley]

I suppose we really shouldn't jump to conclusions.....

[Stanley]

We keep talking about what it will take to rid us of this 'austerity for the poor and good times for the rich' government. Read THIS BBC report about the deterioration in service by the police which includes some harrowing personal stories. This same erosion of service can be seen in every aspect of society from underfunded schools to a NHS break down. It may be eventually that the penny will drop for the voters and they will act.
I ask myself the question... 'How would I have got on if I had rung an ambulance after my fall a fortnight ago?'
As it was I got a friend to call and two hours later was sorted without leaving my kitchen. I heard only yesterday of a friend who had a bad cut on her hand, went to A&E, waited five hours and was given an emergency dressing and told to come back the following day. She did so, had another three hours wait and they put two butterflies on it and sent her home. That isn't an unusual story.....
How the hell can people be so blind? And yes, I am angry!

[Tizer]

Not so much `Seen in the News' as `Heard on Radio 4'....Tom Heap on Costing the Earth interviewing the Ukrainian man who had been responsible for the environmental safety of the Chernobyl site. He said that the Russians who invaded the site had only old maps from before the nuclear accident and the soldiers didn't seem to have any idea about the dangers, so they've unwittingly spread radioactive contamination elsewhere and exposed themselves to serious levels of radioactivity. They've burnt lots of forest and grass which means the contamination they contained has been released into the atmosphere. They've even put up buildings and made camps in the most dangerous areas around the site. It's time human beings got together and decided that war is a very bad idea!

[Stanley]

It's hard to imagine the troops being in such a state of ignorance.
I constantly remind myself that this is war reporting and every bit of information that comes out of a theatre of war should be taken with a large pinch of salt!
This doesn't mean I disbelieve the report, just that it and all similar 'news' should be treated with caution.

[Tizer]

But most of the information comes not from the Ukrainian government but from Reuters reporters in Ukraine and from the Centre for Information Resilience and the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The BBC has done a great job of forging relationships with authoritative and trustworthy organisations to get the maximum amount of genuine, reliable information about the war in Ukraine. Another announcement in recent days describes how the BBC has worked with others to reveal something that probably accounts for so much indiscriminate destruction of buildings and killing of civilians. They've found that Russian helicopter pilots are using a trick called `lobbing' to give their rockets longer range but poor accuracy and letting them keep further back from the very accurate ground-to-air missiles used by the Ukrainians*. The pilot pulls up the nose of the helicopter sharply just before firing the rockets so they go in a higher, more curving trajectory thus travelling a greater distance but often landing nowhere near the original targets. The pilots just want to get back to base and be able to show they've fired their rockets.

*Last week the Russians announced their most senior military man so far killed in action in Ukraine, a Major General flying one of their latest jet fighters shot down by the Ukrainian air defences.

[Stanley]

You may well be right Peter but I still believe a healthy dose of scepticism is a good thing when assessing war zone news....

[Tizer]

What a combination!...
`Apple announces buy now pay later, among iOS 16 plans' BNPL 1

`Buy now, pay later: Warning over use of credit cards to cover payments' BNPL 2

[Stanley]

It looks as if the strategy we employed most in the days before instant credit was correct and will still work today, 'Wait until you can afford it!'
From what I have seen in the news another Cunning Wheeze thought up by the Johnson government is a pale imitation of Margaret Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' policy. The Johnson version still aims for home ownership and holds out the possibility of buying a home using benefits! They just don't get it do they.... the need is for social housing at affordable rents for the poorest people in society not impossible targets for people facing eviction because they can't afford rent, let alone buying a house.

[Tripps]

Judge them by their actions - not their words.

The government’s borders inspector has spoken out about his “frustration” at not being able to meet home secretary Priti Patel once since his appointment more than 14 months ago.
David Neal – appointed the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration last March – told MPs that he was “disappointed” to have had five or six meetings cancelled.
“I’ve not met the home secretary yet,” he told the home affairs select committee. “I’ve asked to speak to her on a number of occasions, and pre-arranged meetings have been cancelled on maybe five or six occasions now.”
Asked if the apparent snub was different from previous dealings with other departments, Mr Neal said: “It is – I’m disappointed I haven’t spoken to the home secretary, and frustrated, because I think I’ve got things to offer from the position I hold.”
The Immigration Service Union (ISU) told The Independent that Ms Patel had also rejected requests to meet leaders representing borders staff to discuss the small boats crisis.

I noticed also tucked away that the amount needed for unfunded public service pensions increased by 16 % last year and now stands at £2 Trillion . That is 'off balance sheet', and is close to the total national debt. I must declare a big interest, but Like SCG I think we're heading for big trouble.

[Stanley]

"I think we're heading for big trouble."
I don't think there's much doubt about that David. The BofE and IMF seem to think so as well.
I find it surprising that the Home Secretary can refuse to meet essential parts of her remit like Borders and the Immigration Services Union. There should be sanctions that can be applied to the post to make sure that proper consultations were being held. Why is she doing this? Could it be that they would raise uncomfortable truths like the fact that every one of her flagship innovations has had to be abandoned and Rwanda looks like another one coming down the line. There's a distinct lack of ethics and discipline here. If she can't treat essential parts of her remit with respect, how can she expect to get any respect back from them?

[PanBiker]

I recently signed a couple of open letters to the small airlines that Priti Orrible has engaged to do the flights to Rwanda. These were urging them not to engage in illegal human trafficking. Never heard of either of the airlines, I think they are using these to keep it all under the radar so to speak. The big carriers refused to be involved and rejected the contracts.

[Tizer]

The government’s borders inspector has spoken out about his “frustration” at not being able to meet home secretary Priti Patel once since his appointment more than 14 months ago.

Surely you're not trying to tell me that somebody actually wants to meet Priti Patel? If he does meet her he'll probably need psychological support afterwards!

Like SCG I think we're heading for big trouble.

Never mind, it will all seem irrelevant when Trump becomes US president again, exits Nato, concentrates on fighting China over Taiwan and lets his mate Putin send the Russian tanks rolling west across Europe. (Yesterday, in a meeting of defence chiefs from the two countries, China told the US that if it tried to prevent them taking Taiwan they will go to war with America.)

[Stanley]

I'm glad I'm old...... With a bit of luck they will hold things together until I die...

[Tizer]

This is another example of what I've written about the BBC doing valuable work with other organisations to provide solid evidence of Russia's atrocities in Ukraine, in this case killing and maiming civilians including women and children. Russia still denies it uses them in Ukraine...
`Ukraine war: Evidence shows widespread use of cluster munitions in Kharkiv' LINK

[Stanley]

What a wonderful world we have and just look at what we do to it and ourselves. It makes me so sad.....

[Tripps]

Sir Lenworth George Henry is well oyned that there are no brown or black faces in the crowd at Glastonbury. I noitced the very same phenomenon at Royal Ascot this afternoon. I think it's shocking that these venues can discriminate against such people and deny them entrance. This needs to be looked into immediately.

[Stanley]

Perhaps they have more sense than to want to go to such venues.....

[Tripps]

Perhaps they have more sense than to want to go to such venues.

I agree. I watched Ascot yesterday, buit wouldn't go there in the flesh for free. I saw Camilla dressed up to the nines at age 74, and thought - what if she woke up that morning and said "sod it - I don't fancy this today, and Judge Judy, and The Chase is on later" She has no choice.

Dylan says "are the birds free from the skyway"? That's fanciful isn't it?

I liked Penny Lancaster who has nothing to prove, and no one to impress - who had a frock that looked like Primark's finest, and admitted that her hat was fifteen years old and shock horror- she had worn it in public before. Looked good to me.

[PanBiker]

Regarding Glastonbury though..., nowt to stop anyone of any creed or colour getting tickets. Its about as far away from a vetted event as you can get. At least two of our Dan's tents are buried somewhere on the site. It was an annual pilgrimage for the lad at one time.

[Tripps]

nowt to stop anyone of any creed or colour getting tickets.

Yes - I know that - and optimistically assumed that everyone else did too.

It was an attempt at ironic humour. Seems to have been a failure.

[Tizer]

I saw this a few days ago but forgot to post it. It's becoming a very strange world!....
`Car insurer Geico may have to pay $5m after woman contracts STI in a vehicle' LINK

[Stanley]

David, you didn't fail as far as I am concerned.
Peter, If I understand it right the insurance company weren't faulted because of the actual facts but because they never entered a defence for their client. In other words lawyers playing lucrative mind games.... So what's new about that.....

[Tizer]

`Ambulance Service staff unable to drive new vehicles due to height' LINK
`Dozens of staff at an ambulance trust claim they cannot drive its £54m fleet of new vehicles due to their height or body shape. Documents reveal a string of problems with converted Fiats, which replaced the ageing Mercedes vans at the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST). The vehicles are part of an NHS drive to standardise its fleet and are being adopted by trusts across the country. An EEAST spokesperson said it had been working to address the issues. The trust brought in a specialist to assess 160 staff members who, due to their height and body shape, had come forward having experienced a range of problems. Ninety-four have now been identified as being unable to drive the vehicles.'...