Seen in the News

[Tripps]

Another bit of self indulgence. . . .

I learned yesterday that today is Pentecost. This information came from in an advert from a persistent Audio software company (Audials) from Germany. Ah that's Whit Sunday then thinks I.

I treated myself to BBC Radio 4 this morning as a change from endless idiots phoning into LBC. There was much coverage of Pentecost - and then a long spiel from Howard Jacobson which was brilliant, but referring to Eric Gill took 15 minutes to say "Love the art even if you hate the artist".

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

Someone said the language thing was due to too much 'new wine'.

This is the sort of thing that comes to mind for Whit week - Whit walks

I think I prefer that to its more modern equivalent Oldham Shia Jaloos

PS I've got this on my phone Italian Whit walks

All a bit incongruous - I love the bands, and the words are stuck in my mind.

The minstrel boy to the war has gone - in the ranks of death you'll find him.
When Malachy wore the collar of gold that he won from the proud invader.
Faith of our fathers holy faith - we will be true to thee til death. . .

I think we were mildy brain washed.
***************

10.00 pm PS Spooky time again - Howard Jacobson is on BBC 2. Programme about Germaine Greer, Barry Humphries, and Clive James.
The lad from Prestwich gets around - and is rather clever.

[Tripps]

The Post office say of course that this is a historic document and they are not racist

I have a copy of this book, Bankrupt The BCCI fraud and If you read it you will see why an aspect of such things is based on religion, race or ethnicity, and to some extent they should be taken into account. That by no means excuses the Post Office's appalling behaviour in the slightest.

Stereotypes are based on some factual experience. Of course all Yorkshiremen are not tight fisted, but . . . .

[Stanley]

If we applied that way of looking at things to our present senior politicians in government we would soon be in deep trouble David.....

[Tizer]

`Malaysia detains Chinese ship suspected of looting British WW2 wrecks' LINK

[Stanley]

That's interesting Peter.... Funnily enough I knew about the use of pre-war steel from shipwrecks because of its low residual radiation levels from my time at the dairy tanking milk. We used to have a regular job tanking distilled water to a location near Harrogate where scientific experiments on particles was being carried out in steel tanks made of plate from Wrecks in Scapa Flow for that same reason. (We may have been poor but we saw life!)

[Tizer]

I agree with Teacher and union secretary UCAC Chris Shaw...
`Vaping: We should follow Australia's ban, says teacher' LINK
A teacher has called for the UK to take "a leaf out of Australia's book" by bringing in stricter laws on vaping. Under new laws in Australia vapes will be available by prescription only. Teacher and union secretary UCAC Chris Shaw added: "They as a country banned vapes for everybody except those on plans from their GPs and that seems to be a sensible way forward."

Dr Sinan Eccles, a consultant in respiratory medicine, said he has seen patients admitted "with severe respiratory problems due to vaping" and who have "become extremely unwell". He said that some "needed to go to intensive care and be on a ventilator why they recovered". Dr Eccles said there is a lack of research on impact of vaping on young people. "We definitely see lots of common Bronchitis type symptoms, so breathlessness, a cough, wheezing. "That can happen to people who vape and people who are exposed passively to vapor as well. "We do see a smaller number of people who have a severe reaction. Those are small numbers of people, but they do become extremely poorly if that happens.

"The majority of people we've seen have been late teens, early twenties." He said he was "concerned" that the number of young people vaping is "increasing at a rapid rate". "We are seeing a quite a rapid take off in younger people. I think that's partly due to the marketing. I think it's probably partly due to disposable vapes coming onto the market, too," he said. Dr Eccles said disposable vapes' "bright colours" make them attractive to young people. "[Vapes] can be brightly coloured, fruity flavoured and advertised in lots of different ways, much more than tobacco is, and I think that that certainly is attractive to a younger cohort of people," he said.

[Stanley]

I agree with every word of that Peter and thought the same thing myself when listening to a report on the radio. Te subject of vaping is being treated in exactly the same way as tobacco and asbestos was. 'It's profitable and contributing to the economy and that's the main thing'. Despite Sunak's concern he has never mentioned doing the bleeding obvious, following Australia's example.

[Tizer]

Talking of Australia...
`BHP: Mining giant says it underpaid workers for 13 years' LINK
It's yet another of the many examples we are seeing of giant companies, institutions etc not knowing what's going on in their own organisation. The newspapers are full of examples these days.

[Stanley]

The recent increases in the Base interest rate has had its effect on the housing market, prices are falling. The 'experts' reckon that interest rates will have to rise another 1% to 5.5% before this year is out. That will mean a further decline in house prices as higher mortgage rates kick in.
One consequence of this will be a return of the phrase 'negative equity' in discussions about the housing market. We haven't heard that one since 2008.

[Tizer]

I don't know how we'll ever solve the problem of rising house prices unless we have a total collapse of the economy. Cleft stick comes to mind.

[Stanley]

They're not doing too badly at the moment Peter!

[Tizer]

This is an example of how warfare is changing...
`‘Stream’ and ‘Torch’: the Gazprom-backed militias fighting in Ukraine: Russia’s state gas company has recruited, equipped and paid security guards to join the invasion ' FT
...Although formally attached to competing branches of Russia’s secret services and armed forces, the groups are turning the country’s fighting force into a messy patchwork of units with a plethora of elite sponsors, according to western and Ukrainian intelligence officials. “There are various chess pieces on the board. They are trying to work out what to do to preserve their wealth, position, and power,” a western security official said. ..

[Stanley]

" They are trying to work out what to do to preserve their wealth, position, and power,"
I suppose that's what has been going on since time immemorial, it's just the participants who have changed. Dynastic monarchy has been replaced by great industrial organisations.
See THIS for a simple everyday story that highlights so much that is wrong with society today.
Searching for a new mortgage is time consuming when you have a demanding job, a new baby to care for and a Victorian home to renovate. "Last time we looked properly, [the repayment] had pretty much doubled to £850 or £900 a month," says Ian Thackray. "It's terrifying quite honestly." Ian's five-year fixed rate deal expires at the end of the year and the blacksmith and his partner, who is currently on maternity leave, find themselves, like so many others, in a "very difficult" situation. They have been paying £450 a month for their terraced home in Blandford Forum, Dorset. From August, when his partner returns to work, they need to factor in a monthly childcare bill of £600, and with Ian being self-employed, his wages fluctuate. "There have been times on my way home from work when I've looked at the ads for Aldi, Lidl and Tesco and at £14 an hour, it's really tempting. If I have to give up being a blacksmith, then I will," the 39-year-old says. The craftsman is not alone. Many are facing similar financial dilemmas as they contemplate rising mortgage costs.
These families will never make the headlines but they are under a cloud of worry and debt that has an effect on their mental and physical health.
This is bad enough but we are not looking at a 'poor' family here. They would be seen by many as relatively well off.
I think of the people who are really suffering when I see images of smiling wealthy politicians, do they really understand what is happening in the country? Is there any chance of us ever getting to a world where we are not under constant pressure?

[Tizer]

This won't go down well with the Rees-Mogg Fan Club!
`Immigration can help push down UK inflation, says IMF deputy' BBC

[Stanley]

The link was bad Peter. Try THIS.
I think Gita Gopinath is right Peter, it always worked before... Remember why we brought in the Windrush generation? Problem is that we have ensured we have the worst of both worlds by ensuring that asylum seekers cannot work or earn money to support themselves which is what they desperately want to do. So they act as a direct opposite force and drag the economy down.
Later, I have heard in the news that consideration is being given to licensing drugs to aid in weight loss. I am reminded of the Romans who deliberately made themselves sick so that they could enjoy eating more food. There is something dreadfully wrong with a society that can even consider this route to cutting obesity.

[Tizer]

Thanks, I've corrected the link. I don't know how I managed to post the link to the OG reply page instead!

[PanBiker]

If you are quick you can buy Kilnsey Crag, on the market, only £150K

Kilnsey Crag Sale

[Big Kev]

Screenshot_20230607-181152_Facebook.jpg

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65834167

[Stanley]

How strange..... and confusing!

[Big Kev]

Despite the 'tongue in cheek' picture it's a true story.

[Stanley]

If I hadn't seen Carol Vordeman on Youtube talking about THIS I wouldn't have known about it.
Government fraud has almost quadrupled under Rishi Sunak from £5.5 billion to £21 billion, a new report reveals today. The Commons’ Public Accounts Committee compares the two years before the 2020 pandemic under Theresa May’s Government with the two years that followed when Rishi Sunak was Chancellor under Boris Johnson.
HM Revenue and Customs, which was the direct responsibility of Sunak, contributed enormously to the rise in fraud after the then Chancellor approved £97 billion to be spent on the pandemic furlough scheme, the bounce back loan scheme, and his ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme to combat the downturn in the economy during the Coronavirus crisis.
HMRC estimates that total fraud and error across the lifetime of these [furlough] schemes was £4.5 billion, although its estimate is highly uncertain,” the report states. “HMRC is forecasting that it will recover only a quarter (£1.1 billion) of the losses.” The bounce back loan scheme – run by the business department – has lost an estimated £2.2 billion to fraud and error, and at the end of last year the department had only recovered £10 million. It did not contact the Cabinet Office to put in place counter fraud measures until months after the scheme had already been launched. Another £1 billion was lost to fraud and error on grant schemes run by local government to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. There was a huge discrepancy between the money Sunak put aside to tackle fraud caused by the money handed out by HMRC to alleviate the effects of the pandemic. The National Investigation Service has been provided with £13.2 million for counter-fraud activities, compared to the Department for Work and Pensions’ £613 million investment in counter fraud. One side-effect of the measures to tackle the pandemic was that 4,000 tax compliance staff were transferred to run the programme, resulting in a big drop – estimated at £9 billion – in the revenue collected from businesses and people in the two years during the pandemic, compared to the previous two years.
Could it possibly be that the report of the PAC was slipped out on a day when Prince Harry was diverting attention in Court?

[Tripps]

There must be a black joke in this somewhere - but it won't be coming from me. . .

Crematorium fire

[Big Kev]

There must be a black joke in this somewhere - but it won't be coming from me. . .

Crematorium fire

I must confess to smiling at that story. This headline did make me laugh out loud though...
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/ ... ematorium/

[Tizer]

Both of those links gave me a smile - thanks!

[Stanley]

And me!
Meanwhile in another part of the forest I saw THIS rep[ort of Yvette Cooper accusing Suella Braverman of knowingly giving the wrong facts to support her argument about the backlog of people awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim having reduced.
Labour has accused Suella Braverman of getting her figures wrong after the Home Secretary claimed the backlog of people awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim has reduced. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called on Ms Braverman to withdraw the claim in the Commons. But the Home Secretary declined to respond to the criticism.
Not a biggie but a good example of how standards in the House have fallen under this government. Accuracy evidently doesn't really matter any more.
(PS I nearly called them a regime....... Would I have been wrong?)