WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

It now emerges that the mother of young Billy is director of a business selling `cannabis oil' and she says the profits are used to provide Billy with what he needs. But when you read further you find that the oil is CBD, the one that doesn't contain the psychoactive agent THC, and can be sold over the counter. It's not the one that Billy needs but is the one used by the other lad, Alfie. If all this sounds confusing that's because it is!

I'm concerned about the unintended consequences of `chopping the legs from under the dealers by taking control of distributing drugs'. Look at all the trouble we have with alcoholic drinks and even with unhealthy food products - it could be a case of switching from one set of pushers to another, and the new pusher - big companies- have got a lot more advertising and promotional power behind them. Some years ago shops opened here in Taunton selling `legal highs' but it ended up with so much trouble on the streets that the council had to ban them. The same happened in Lincoln. If the government wants to decriminalise/legalise currently illicit drugs it needs to fund big research programmes to investigate their effects, good and bad, on health and consider the results and implications before making the decision to go ahead.

[Stanley]

You may well be right Tiz and I wouldn't argue against your contention. Alcohol is far more damaging than cannabis and half the legislators are addicted to it. The brewers have become the dealers.
I heard about the mother's company but they issued a statement to explain that they sold the safe versions of the oil to generate revenue to pay for the child's drugs.
THIS BBC report grabbed me yesterday. The Gosport War Memorial Hospital scandal. Hard to believe it could happen but it evidently did. My brother Leslie is a qualified nurse and he once told me that when he was at St Thomas' in London they regularly gave what was known as a Brompton Cocktail to terminally ill cancer patients and it worked like a charm when all else had failed. Have a look at this LINK, I realise there is a case for this and it is different than what was happening at Gosport but there comes a time when dangerous measures have sometimes to be used when all else has failed and it is a question of palliative care. In her final two days my daughter Janet was treated in this way and it was a relief. The problem with Gosport is that it seems to have been a routine treatment even if the patient wasn't in extremis.

[plaques]

A bit slow off the mark but I've been told that the A56 road over Blubberhouses is closed again due to a land slip. The closure could last some while. Past experience says that the Ilkley route can be a nightmare. Anyone know of a good alternative route to say Harrogate?

[Wendyf]

I'm heading for York in a few minutes via Ilkley, I'll report back.

[Tizer]

Stanley, I agree with your comments regarding the Brompton Cocktail. People now seem to have a more selfish attitude and when a relative or loved one gets to a terminal or vegetative stage they won't `let them go'. If a doctor eases their passing he/she is now liable to be accused of manslaughter. My father was given pain relief and allowed to slip away peacefully. Whether the pain relief also hastened his passing we'll never know, but the time had come and he was no longer in a fit state to cope with life. I hope they'll do the same for me if I get to that stage!

[Wendyf]

A bit slow off the mark but I've been told that the A56 road over Blubberhouses is closed again due to a land slip. The closure could last some while. Past experience says that the Ilkley route can be a nightmare. Anyone know of a good alternative route to say Harrogate?

Ilkley wasn't a problem at 10am this morning, the road was busy but flowing and it only took 10 minutes from one end to the other. I would never go through Otley in the daytime, best to bypass the centre then head down Pool Bank. There were signs warning of major roadworks causing delays on the Pool to Harrogate road so that could be an issue. I turned off before that to head for Harewood.
If you have time and it's a nice day you could go via Grassington & Pateley Bridge to Harrogate.
I'm considering a different route for my trip home tomorrow.

[Big Kev]

Grassington and Pateley Bridge would be a preferable route to Ilkley.

[Stanley]

Very true Tiz. Janet had a very good palliative nurse and was at home and well supported. I warned the kids that we would get to that stage and that when the time came it was the best for Janet. They were all very sensible and what could have been horrendous was a vary peaceful letting go. Some conditions are so cruel...... The trick is knowing when to let go.
I listened to a consultant commenting on Gosport and he said that the attitude there is still very common. When I wrote the 'Drugged to Death' series I found in my research that many care homes regularly prescribe very high levels of sedatives..... The man also said that despite all the fine words, being a whistleblower in the NHS was still a sure route to black-listing and even worse. That's the real cause of the problem. Janet's palliative nurse in Australia had a panel of doctors she could consult with daily and that was all they did, give permission for the medications needed for effective terminal care. It seemed to me to be a good system.

[Tizer]

With our three parents who went into care and nursing homes (both private and public) we didn't see or hear of any evidence of over-prescribing sedatives. If anything the staff were desperate to avoid being accused of such things and therefore took extra care to explain whatever they were doing and to get our agreement. Of course, it's the bad apples in the barrel that cause the stories that `go viral' in the news media (and that sells more papers!).

[Stanley]

Two things..... I lost my house keys yesterday..... inside the bloody house!! I have a spare set and because I know I haven't simply dropped them I am not worried about security. But I hate mysteries! The second thing is that I have just realised I will run out of Ramipril BP tablets before I get my new prescription. I think I will survive but the BP readings will be interesting!
In another part of the forest it's Trump and his trade war.... The man is a loose cannon.

[Stanley]

Later..... My brother Leslie found THIS on Tinternetthingy and sent me the link. Well worth watching. His interest was that Allied Ironfounders, the firm behind the test was the one my father worked for. Our present leaders would do well to watch this and reflect what can still be done to improve housing stock by enlightened subsidy.
Notice the date, 1949, we had just come out of WW2 and we were broke but contrast the mood of the period with today. There is more.... Look up George M'Gonigle on wikipedia and note his book Poverty and Public Health published in 1937 which was the first time that the link between poverty and health was proven. This sounds like common sense but in fact it's incredibly difficult to find evidence. This was the result of his experience as Medical Officer of Health on Stockton so there is a direct link.
So this film is well worth watching and then having a think afterwards!

[Stanley]

The good news is that my keys reappeared! It was my fault, I'd chucked them in the pot where I keep my loose change.... Obvious really but it was the one place I hadn't looked. I had a search of the rubbish bin and the dirty washing this morning and then on an afterthought, looked in the pot. Very satisfactory!
What grabbed me around 06:15 was the fact the internet had gone AWOL. I switched everything off and got on with my life, I looked at 08:00 and it had returned.

[Tizer]

I now get more times when Internet connection is lost for about 5 minutes. It doesn't sound like a long time but it's very annoying if you're in the middle of ordering something online or doing a bank transaction. Perhaps the networks are getting less reliable due to Russian interference?

At last! One of the VW bosses has been thrown into jail for his part in the emissions scandal. LINK

[Stanley]

That must be annoying..... I have just noticed that the BBC says it is 11:03 and my screen says it is 11:19. I shall shut down and start up again and see if it cures it.....
No, it's still wrong....... Could it be the end of the world?

[Stanley]

Later still.... I solved my mystery which somehow I'd created myself. It was the BBC that was wrong. Somehow I had logged into the internet version of R4 on about 20 minutes catch up, bit like starting from the beginning of a programme on the TV. So once again, it was all my fault.....

[Marilyn]

I often lose my sunglasses, Stanley. Nine times out of ten, they are on top of my head!

[Stanley]

I regularly lose the tool I used two minutes ago in the shed Maz. You get so engrossed in what you are doing you put it down in a different place and when you reach for it it's gone! That was what happened to my keys yesterday, I had something engaging my attention and varied from my routine. Nice when you put your hand on whatever it is again.....

[Tizer]

This video of maps grabbed my attention. It's a great way of illustrating what's going on around the world...
`Maps reveal hidden truths of the world's cities' Map video

[PanBiker]

Our 10 mile run out on our bikes this afternoon. Coming back from Kelbrook, the cycle lane does not start until the other side of the old railway bridge so you share what should be a very wide pavement with pedestrians. Problem is, and this has been mentioned over in Facebook land, many of the shrubs and trees at the side of the pavement are very overgrown from both sides causing in some places an impediment for users. I hit one of those in the shape of an overgrown hawthorn that I thought I could sneak past. Not so, and my left arm now has multiple lacerations to prove the point! You have to duck on a bike to get under some of the others as well. The verges are shaved and cut back clean but I suppose LCC have run out of money or can't be bothered to keep the pedestrian walkway / cycle track clear for users as well.

[Stanley]

That's a fascinating video Tiz.....
Encroaching vegetation.... domestic hedges are culprits as well Ian. There are some really bad examples. That reminds me, must prune my lilac in the front garden, it's making an escape bid into the path!

[plaques]

PanBiker, you would be proud of me. On the top of our front garden wall we had some very much well established rhododendrons, possibly over 70 years old. Year after year they gave quite a good display but gradually the branches extended over the pavement and although they provided some shelter for the pedestrians and I kept them trimmed to over a 7ft+ level the hooligans thought different. Almost every day I had to watch out that they hadn't been pulled / broken down to eye level. Last year the got the chop. Reduced to tank traps but gradually recovering.

[PanBiker]

As an individual house owner you are responsible for your boundary and any vegetation that may encroach on the highway or public footpaths. If you damaged anyone with your foliage you would be in bother. Similar to your swinging vandal problem, I have a boundary wall that has been damaged by kids climbing on the wall and even bigger kids in the shape of some of the post people short cutting over rather than round the wall. I will have to make this good although none of it is my fault. So it should be with LCC the footpath is downright dangerous and is no different to my wall in effect. If I was more of a litigation type I could almost certainly claim for my injury, but I'm not like that, glad I had my sunglasses on though could have been much worse.

Well done on your tidy trimming albeit some what enforced.

[Tripps]

some very much well established rhododendrons,

Can't be too careful. This went into trippssnipps straight away. Rhododendrons go rogue

[plaques]

Rhododendrons! tell me about them. When we first moved in over 30 years ago the place was overrun with them. They had layered and layered at every opportunity. My conservative estimate on the numbers dug out is over 30, Mrs P says 50. The trouble is that the buggers bite back. In my last attack in november last year I slipped next to a stump and one of the broken branches stuck in my leg. I continued sliding and the beast ploughed a 4 inch strip out of my leg. Mrs P always did say I was gormless, I now wear footballers shin pads whenever I'm gardening.

[plaques]

Early morning sunrise 4AM this morning. Almost doing a Stanley.