WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

Of course China escaped the worst of the IT problem. To paraphrase Tripps, do the Chinese have a word for schadenfreude?

[Tripps]

Mr Google says it translates to 幸灾乐祸 Xìngzāilèhuò in Mandarin.

When you translate it back - it emerges as "gloat" - which I'd say is close enough.

[Stanley]

My Susan visited yesterday and we had a good catch up as I finished my veggie cooking.
I saw THIS in the news this morning.
Disruption to GPs caused by a global IT outage may continue into the coming week, NHS England has said. A spokesman for the health service told the BBC that digital systems for GPs and pharmacies had been restored "in most areas" - but that surgeries would have to work through a backlog of appointments. Practices across the UK have had to cancel routine appointments because of the issue, while pharmacies have been unable to access digital prescription records.
So the disruption caused by a bum piece of code could last longer than we thought.

[Big Kev]

The Hungarian F1 Grand Prix made for interesting viewing this evening.

[Wendyf]

Very awkward!

[Big Kev]

It was indeed.

[Stanley]

You intrigue me....

[Wendyf]

It was one of those situations when 'team orders' became very obvious and dominated the last 10 or so laps of the race. Mclaran were first and second but Norris was told to give up his 5 second lead and let Piastri take first place. We listened to his engineer begging him to do it until the the penultimate lap when he finally slowed down to let his team mate through. There was an interesting commentary from David Coultard who had been given the same order twice in his career and got very emotional about it! Meanwhile back down the field, the charming Max Verstappen was getting very angry and frustrated with his car and was shouting profanities on his radio before locking his brakes and colliding with Hamilton while attempting a desperate overtake. It was all Hamilton's fault of course, and his team's. His own engineer told him to shut up as he was being childish! His character is really coming out now things aren't always going his way.

[Stanley]

He's one of the main reasons I gave up watching Wendy, like you I had him weighed up last year.....
Thanks for the run-down. I may watch it on catch up just just for the pleasure of hearing him losing it.... Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.

[Stanley]

I watched the Hungarian GP and agree with Wendy, Verstappen threw his toys out of the pram.
Not sure what to make of the McLaren case. I don't understand why they didn't just let things play out without interference. It all started when they brought the wrong driver in for tyres first..... A management fault.....
What strikes me in my life is that British Gas have settled down into running my account properly and Well pharmacy and the Medical Centre seem to have got their act together, I have a text message saying my meds are ready. Long may this state of affairs continue!

[Stanley]

I saw THIS in the BBC news....
Four children whose removal into foster care prompted disorder in Leeds have now been returned to stay with their extended family. The children had been staying with other extended family members when they were taken into emergency care by police and social workers on Thursday over concerns they would be taken out of the UK. This sparked disorder which led to a bus being torched and a police car being overturned in the suburb of Harehills. During a Family Court hearing, Her Honour Judge Helen Trotter-Jackson said it was important everyone “focuses on the children’s welfare and taking the temperature down in this case”.
That sounds like a bit of common sense to me. The rest of the article is worth reading as it gives some clues as to what was going on.

[Stanley]

I saw THIS In the BBC news and it looks convincing to me....
A police officer has been filmed kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the ground at Manchester Airport. The uniformed male officer is seen holding a Taser over the man, who is lying face down, before striking him twice while other officers shout at onlookers to stay back in a video shared widely online. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said firearms officers had been attacked while attempting to arrest someone following a fight in the airport's Terminal 2 on Tuesday. It said it had referred itself to the police watchdog. Anger has grown over the video and a crowd of what appeared to be several hundred people protested outside the police station in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on Wednesday evening.

In another part of the forest THIS report informed us of a change in the GB Olympic Team.
With the Paris 2024 Olympics just days away, the equestrian world has been rocked by the news of Charlotte Dujardin's withdrawal, and subsequent provisional suspension, after footage emerged of her "excessively" whipping a horse. The video, since obtained by the BBC, shows Dujardin repeatedly striking the horse with a long whip around its legs. Here, BBC Sport recaps what happened, the reaction, and looks at what happens next.
One of the elements of 'training' often used with all animals is fear. I can remember many years ago we had a very successful show jumper here in West Yorkshire and I remember being told by a man who worked on his farm that the way he made his horses frightened of the top rail on the fences was to wrap barbed wire round them. I saw no reason not to believe him.

[Stanley]

Later. The fact that a small plastic part on my electric razor has given up the ghost. I shall take a view and decide what to do. At the moment I'm favouring binning it and buying a new one. I'll shall think about it.....

[Stanley]

I have crawled all over the floor looking for any bits off my razor but found nothing so I have ordered a new one. £50 but at least I start with a new razor and spares off the old one! That's that crossed off the list.

[Tizer]

I just can't believe it!...
`CrowdStrike backlash over $10 apology voucher' LINK

[Big Kev]

I just can't believe it!...
`CrowdStrike backlash over $10 apology voucher' LINK

That one made me smile, you couldn't make it up

[Stanley]

"But some people who said they had received a voucher also took to social media to say it did not work."Uber flagged it as fraud because of high usage rates," CrowdStrike admitted."

I agree with you and to add insult to injury it looks as though some of the credits didn't work.
They must have had some very effective fine print in the contract. Otherwise we would have heard about some substantial claims.....

[Big Kev]

Middle offspring is on his third plane to Sydney via Canada. He left Manchester yesterday lunchtime to pick up an internal flight to Vancouver.

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[Cathy]

Big Kev , is your son’s trip business or pleasure?

[Big Kev]

Big Kev , is your son’s trip business or pleasure?

Pleasure Cathy. He's on his way to Bonner to marry his girlfriend, he'll be there for the next 3 weeks

[Cathy]

Gosh, that’s a long way to go. Is his soon to be wife, Australian?

[Big Kev]

Gosh, that’s a long way to go. Is his soon to be wife, Australian?

She is indeed. She's been to the UK to visit a couple of times and seems very nice, which is a bonus

[Big Kev]

He's nearly there.

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Screenshot_2024-07-26-20-00-49-920_com.google.android.apps.maps~2.jpg

[Stanley]

The question is Kev, will your lad be as warm as us here at home? At the moment Barlick is being promised 25C on Wednesday....

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS BBC report on the expected scale of cuts that Chancellor Reeves will be announcing today.
The chancellor is set to announce immediate cuts worth billions of pounds, aimed at plugging a £20bn black hole in the finances, when she addresses Parliament on Monday. Rachel Reeves’ plans are expected to include the cancellation of some road and rail projects, a reduction in spending on external consultants and a drive to cut public sector waste. She will accuse the previous government of “covering up" shortfalls in departmental budgets and then “running away”. However the Conservative Party said the chancellor’s message was designed to “con the British public” so that she could raise taxes. A Treasury internal audit of the public finances will be published on Monday, and is expected to show a gap of around £20bn between tax revenues coming in and expected spending. The chancellor will tell Parliament that this requires “immediate action” to restore economic stability and “fix the foundations of our economy”. Projects that could be paused or cancelled include: the road tunnel under Stonehenge, Boris Johnson’s New Hospital programme and the Euston section of HS2.
I hope someone is reviewing what was done in 2010 to plug the shortfalls caused by the Credit crisis of 2008. The Tories immediately applied severe austerity and made the situation worse by strangling what money circulation there was in the economy. At the same time they relaxed the restrictions on the most wealthy. The consequence was that over the next 15 years the wealthy saw a steady increase in their accounts while the lower 80percentile saw theirs decrease. Eminent economists said at the time this was wrong but they were ignored.
My fear is that a version of this is what is going to happen all over again. The case can be made for adopting a strategy of deficit financed spending but my fear is that Labour will shy away from giving the Tories any opportunity for accusing them of borrowing and spending which will be their automatic response.
So much depends on how brave and enterprising Ms Reeves is. I hope she surprises me!