Seen in the News

[Stanley]

See THIS article by Chris Mason on Mandelson.....
These latest revelations about Lord Mandelson leave many Labour figures seething with disappointment and boiling with betrayal. The gravity of what is alleged points to an emerging political scandal building to perhaps one of the biggest for a generation. Plenty knew Lord Mandelson was a big character, a risky pick, a man with a biography scattered with previous examples of departing high office under a cloud. As I wrote here in September, Peter Mandelson twice lost his job in the cabinet two decades ago over his dealings with rich men. Firstly, in 1998, he resigned as trade and industry secretary after a row about borrowing a third of a million pounds from a ministerial colleague. Then in 2001 he resigned as Northern Ireland secretary after a row about a passport application from an Indian billionaire. And, yes, lightning did strike a third time last year when he was given the boot, months into the job, as the UK's ambassador to the United States. The revelations of the last few days would have been significant in any context, but what has turbocharged their significance is they cannot be dismissed as historic. The investigation by the Metropolitan Police will focus principally, we expect, on allegations from more than a decade and a half ago. But what gives the row political salience now is Sir Keir Starmer's decision to send Lord Mandelson to Washington a year ago.
There is much more if you are interested but to someone like me who has been watching Mandy's rise and fall and rise again for many years none of it is a surprise. He has never got anywhere near gaining my trust..... Not that that matters a damn! My opinion is worth nothing but read the article and reflect on what goes on in the corridors of power.....

[Stanley]

See THIS for yet more revelations from Epstein....
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein asked an exotic dancer to "engage in various sex acts" at the late convicted sex offender's Florida home, a legal letter claims. In a letter released as part of the latest tranche of Epstein files, the unnamed woman's lawyers said she had been offered $10,000 to dance and that after she performed Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor had asked for a threesome. Lawyers said the woman had not been paid the promised amount and would keep the alleged 2006 encounter in which she was "treated like a prostitute" confidential in exchange for a payment of $250,000. BBC News has contacted Mountbatten-Windsor for comment. He has always denied any wrongdoing. The letter, dated March 2011, claims that the woman and other exotic dancers from "Rachel's Strip Club" in West Palm Beach had been chauffeured to Epstein's house and offered $10,000 to perform. The document claims that she had seen "other young women dressed provocatively" at the party, some of whom "appeared to be as young as 14 years old".
There is much more from the biggest bonanza for news rooms this year....

[Stanley]

See THIS statement of the obvious.....
Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for believing Lord Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him as the UK's ambassador to the US. The prime minister began a planned speech on funding to improve local communities by addressing the growing anger over how he had dealt with the issue. While he acknowledged it had been publicly known for some time that Lord Mandelson knew Epstein, he said: "None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship." However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the PM's position was "untenable", while the Liberal Democrats called for a confidence vote to see if Labour MPs supported him. The prime minister is facing calls from some of his own MPs to stand down. While the handful of backbenchers to do so publicly are frequent critics of the PM, many more have raised concerns privately. Sir Keir's former political director Luke Sullivan said he thought the PM was "fighting for his premiership". He told the BBC's Newscast: "I don't think you can understate how serious the situation and the peril is that the prime minister finds himself in."
Surely Mr Sullivan meant to say 'overstate'?

[Stanley]

See THIS for more fall-out from the Epstein Affair.....
After a bruising week, it's hard to overstate the mess that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson find themselves in. But increasingly it appears it's a mess their daughters also can't escape. The newly released emails indicate that Jeffrey Epstein had a bigger presence than previously thought in the lives of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. One exchange suggests they had lunch with him in Miami, just days after his release from prison for prostituting minors. Elsewhere, it appears they were called upon by him to entertain his contacts and give tours of Buckingham Palace. For Beatrice, now 37, and Eugenie, 35, these new revelations could put their future under scrutiny. "It will raise questions from the public about just what they were doing," says royal commentator Richard Palmer. But royal journalist Victoria Murphy says while the emails make for "really, really uncomfortable reading", there continues to be sympathy towards the princesses. And there's no doubt that seeing a picture apparently of your father on all fours, crouching over a young woman, can only be deeply embarrassing. It should be said Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing, and being named among the Epstein files is not an indication of wrongdoing. So after the York family brand has been dragged through the mud, where do the princesses now fit within the Royal Family?
The rest of the piece offers opinions but mainly illustrates that the slightest contact with Epstein is turning out to be the kiss of death in current 'news'.

[Stanley]

I found THIS in the news.....
3 hours ago
Dozens of flood warnings and alerts have been issued across England following days of rain. There were 85 warnings and 234 alerts in England as of Saturday evening. Most of the warnings are located in the south-west and the Midlands. There is currently one flood warning in Scotland and none in Wales. The Met Office said on Thursday that rain had fallen every day of 2026 in south-west England and South Wales, with both areas seeing 50% more rainfall than usual. The UK was hit by a succession of three named storms in January, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and disruption.
Reading this report reminds me of how lucky we are here in Barnoldswick. We are on a watershed so we don't get other area's run-off and we have not had the really heavy rain other parts of the country have....

[PanBiker]

Not seen but heard on the news on the morning radio. Apparently the government have decided to fast track apprenticeships. They are reducing the time served to be qualified to 3 MONTHS! In my book this begs the question as qualified to do what? I cannot think of any trade that you could learn competently in three months. I think back nearly 40 years when I was made redundant and decided to apply for a one of Maggie Thatchers business start up grants from Pendle Enterprise.

I made my business proposal to become self employed using the skills in electronics, IT and Network infrastructure that I had learnt through a five year City and Guilds and various courses at Lancaster Uni for specific areas of competence. I pointed out that by continuing I had and existing customer base and guaranteed work to continue, I just needed the £2000 capital on offer to secure and establish workshop premises. I had my interview and then was told I would be contacted after my proposal had been evaluated.

It didn't work, I was rejected because I had not undergone training into a different trade. I went back to ask for suggestions and was told that I could train to be a joiner, chef, plumber etc on any number of 6 month courses that were on offer. 30 previous years of experience training into a constantly changing electronic and IT environment didn't count. The enterprise schemes had been running for quite while so I asked how many businesses that they helped start up off the back up of six months training were still trading into their second year. About 3% was the reply, qualified by adding that the 97% failure rate was because the recipients had chosen the wrong trade! I could see I was flogging a dead horse. So I abandoned Pendle Enterprise, took the £45.00 I had to my name to my bank manager (remember them) and asked for a business account. I explained my situation, told him that he could not have the keys to my house or sell my kids. He read my proposal telling me that the normal amount for opening a business account was £1000. He did it anyway. I told him i would turn the £45 into a £100 within the week. I agreed to do weekly accounts for our meetings. I rang my mate Graham who taught me double entry book keeping so I cold present it right. I did nine years of self employment and during that time my bank manager lent me £6,000 on a hand shake so that I could complete a job during the summer holidays, it was part of the £28,000 funding required to complete the contract for a local school before it reopened after the holiday. I delivered a new server and twenty networked computers and software to new infrastructure which was part of the deal.

I know one thing I would not trust any trader with three months of training, it's madness designed to massage the unemployment figures, nothing more, nothing less.

[Stanley]

I completely agree with you Ian, three months training to teach a trade is a ridiculous concept.
Well done for finding your own course and sticking to it. I had some experience with the apprenticeship schemes when I was running the Ellenroad Project because as users of MSC labour we were classed as a trainer and had to teach 'modules' like how to brew tea and how to sweep a floor.... (I kid you not!) As Project director I had to sign the certificates. However we did manage to find jobs for some of the lads.....
I'm glad you had a sensible bank manager and made your own success.

[PanBiker]

My self employment went pear shaped when my landlord sold the building for redevelopment without telling me. I saw an advert in the paper for an IT job at St Theodores (Teds) on Ormerod Road in Burnley. Got the job from 12 applicants whittled down to three. Three months later I was Network Manager after the existing post holder moved on. Pay rise and full control of the IT budget. The school had 20 networked computers in the IT room and an extras new IT room that was non functional. My first summer holiday, (for the school) was ripping out the existing new infrastructure installed by some numpty who managed to mix T568A and T568B termination connections on the same network. They also ran 20 connections the full length of the school from the existing switching in the upper IT room, each wired to the individual network sockets with the mixture of termination.

After discussion with the Head, Burser and Head of IT I proposed a complete new start, infrastructure, server and clients. I built and replaced the server in the main IT room, relocated downstairs and deployed Windows 2000 Server to replace the previous NT4 server. I then built 40 new desktop computers and deployed 20 in each room. I installed a new 19" cabinet in the server room / office now moved downstairs. 32 way 100mB switch and patch panel in the cabinet which fed 20 new network sockets deployed in the trunking at each workstation position. One interconnection lead from downstairs back up to the original IT room and a new cabinet and 100mb switch and patch panel in there. I re-cabled upstairs as well as some of the sockets up there were found to be connected by telephone cable!

I installed Norton Ghost on the server and all 40 clients. Deployed all required software onto a host machine in the office then ripped a full image from the host machine and copied it to the Ghost console on the server. Set all the bare clients (apart from Ghost) to boot from the network and copy the master image from the server. Worked seamlessly, 40 identical newly imaged machines, all I had to do was rest the BIOS to boot from the client Hard drives. I deployed two 20 ppm Networked HP laser Printers, one in each room. Job done and soak tested with three days to spare before the school reopened. Maintaining the suites with Norton Ghost was a game changer and it became much easier to load and deploy new software and expand the network further. In my tenure as Network manager I extended the network with new PC's in the Library, (with bespoke library software). A new IT room across the bottom corridor. I replaced all the PC's in the remote Sixth Form Building and the lower school tower block. I added wireless connections VIA plate antenna deployment from the upstairs IT room to both remote locations.

When Building Schools for the Future came along and everyone's contracts were terminated with a guaranteed new post in the new schools. St Teds had just short of 100 computers between the Secondary and Sixth Form sites. I had built them all and installed the infrastructure to support them all. Happy Days. I got my first choice in the new schools set up in Burnley and Pendle and moved to Thomas Whitham Sixth Form on Barden Lane. That has been shut for some time now since my line manager at the time, apart from making me redundant managed to run the college into the ground. I was 56 at the time and apparently unemployable with my skill set. I Applied for 96 Jobs in the first year and got one interview, (last three), the purely IT job went to a young bloke with a Biology degree . It was a three year contract job, he spent a load of money in the first year and then the project failed, the council pulled the plug, I wonder why?