OneGuyFromBarlick

BBC `Week in pictures: 3 - 9 July 2021' LINK

There's a soccer match on tomorrow - I've been looking at the form of the two runners.

The Italians went into Euro 2020 with the best form of any other nation.
They're now on a 33-game unbeaten run, include 28 wins and five draws.
The last time they lost a game was in September 2018 - a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in the Nations League.
It was Mancini's second defeat as Italy manager - but they've gone from strength to strength ever since. Italy have a very good record against England in major tournaments, which bodes well for Sunday's final. England have only ever beaten Italy once in eight competitive meetings. The Three Lions won 2-0 at Wembley in 1977, which was part of the qualifying campaign for the 1978 World Cup.

England are favourites (5/6) in the betting. We'll see. . . .

I fear for the sanity of many if they lose.
Peter, as usual wonderful pics but what caught my eye was two names: Cynthia Arrebola and '14 year old basket ball prodigy' Zaila Avante-garde.

A BBC summary of today's newspaper front pages says: "New build homes can't handle the heat", warns the Sunday Telegraph. It says the Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, has calculated more than half a million homes built since 2017 will need to be retrofitted to ensure they stay cool - with UK heatwaves expected to occur every year by 2050.

What it doesn't mention is that developers get planning permission based on regulations at the time and then have three years grace period before they need to start building. So they can legally build to 3-year-old regulations, not to the ones current at the time of building. In practice it's even worse because there are many tricks that allow them much longer delays - for example, the favourite is to wait until the end of the grace period, dig foundation trenches then leave the site for further years while the regs change but they can still build to the old regs. LINK We know someone who encountered this when he bought a house and then later found a big house was being built in the field next door. He asked his conveyancing solicitor why their searches hadn't flagged it up. The answer was that the planning application had been granted over 10 years previously and solicitors' searches only went back 10 years. The developer had dug basic foundation trenches then left the site alone and the trenches had been hidden by growth of scrub bushes and small trees in the meantime.

Peter, yet more evidence (if we needed it) that big business has no compunction in using every loophole available to keep their costs down and profits up. Look at Grenfell for evidence on the effectiveness of Building Regulations.... Nobody has been sanctioned as yet and as usual the matter is being allowed to drag on because basically the government sees its duty as being to protect big business. That would never be admitted but show me where owners of leases are being forced to pay for simple safety in their buildings. And not a pair of handcuffs in sight. Reminds me of the banks in 2008.....

With everything else going on this scandal seems to have fallen below the radar. Note that the company has also recently been fined £125m by Ofwat...
`Southern Water fined record £90m for deliberately pouring sewage into sea: Privatised firm dumped billions of litres of raw sewage off north Kent and Hampshire coasts to avoid costs and penalties' Guardian
`Southern Water has been fined a record £90m for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into protected seas over several years for its own financial gain. Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, sentencing the privatised water company, said it had discharged between 16bn and 21bn litres of raw sewage into some of the most precious, delicate environments in the country. “These offences show a shocking and wholesale disregard for the environment, for precious and delicate ecosystems and coastlines, for human health, and for fisheries and other legitimate businesses that operate in the coastal waters,” said the judge. He said the company had a history of criminal activity for its “previous and persistent pollution of the environment”. It had 168 previous offences and cautions but had ignored these and not altered its behaviour. “There is no evidence the company took any notice of the penalties imposed or the remarks of the courts. Its offending simply continued,” he said.

Also, see:
`‘The sea was milky white’: how the Southern Water sewage scandal unfolded: Southern Water fined £90m over sewage' Guardian

I heard the story on the radio, disgraceful behaviour. To get off with a fine is a drop in the ocean (no pun intended) for them. Where's the personal accountability?

And the regulators don't seem to realise that their job is supposed to be stopping these things happening, not slapping wrists afterwards.

I heard the report and knew things were bad in respect of storm discharges all over the country but not as bad as this which is deliberate breaking of the law on a regular basis. Surely there must be some sanction. Once again, why don't we see the executives held responsible and cuffed? Once again a rerun of the banks in 2008 and Grenfell. no real sanctions and shareholders benefit from this.

The surfers in Cornwall have been running a campaign for at least 10 years to protect beach users from infections caused by the frequent discharge of raw sewage. They put out news reports about discharges to warn people and also report the events to the water company, not that they take any action. I can't understand why the local health professionals around the country haven't ganged up on the water companies and at least shamed them but preferably taken them to court for all the infections people have suffered as well as the damage to the reputations of seaside resorts and hazards for the shellfish industry.

And on top of all that the buggers are making a profit and distributing dividends.....

The BBC is self-promoting again, with reference to an `exclusive interview' and `reveals for the first time' etc. All this was reported by The Times ages ago. Their journalists had tracked down those involved and got a detailed story of the escape method...
`Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn: How I escaped Japan in a box' LINK

I heard it and thought it was old news. The Beeb has made so many proper reporters redundant that they are having trouble filling their air time. Have you noticed how many 'human interest' items appear in the news these days.....
PE has been commenting on this for a while now....

Have a look at the video and photo in this news story about the floods in Germany - horrific mudslides and we'll see more of them as climate change progresses...
`Europe floods: At least 120 dead and hundreds unaccounted for' LINK

Tizer wrote: ↑16 Jul 2021, 13:36 Have a look at the video and photo in this news story about the floods in Germany - horrific mudslides and we'll see more of them as climate change progresses...
`Europe floods: At least 120 dead and hundreds unaccounted for' LINK

According to an article in The Sun, some parts of Germany have had 148 litres of rainfall per square metre in the 48 hours. Convert that into less sensational units and it is 14.8 cms of rain in 48 hours, or 3.1mm per hour or about a tenth of an inch per hour. It's pathetic that the system cannot cope with that. Or maybe it is just pathetic reporting in The Sun.

Graham. Don't be so quick to condemn. It's obvious there has been an extreme event and it has caused deaths. Hardly the time for describing it as pathetic.

I see The Sun has now updated its article to say 200 litres per square metre. That's about 8" of rainfall over several days. Yes, it is a lot, but places in the tropics regularly get so much overnight. Location, location, location... Is that the problem? Urbanisation of the wrong places? Like building developments on flood plains and expecting them not to get inundated. Humanity faces a severe challenge with climate change; it hasn't inspired confidence in its ability to handle the current pandemic crisis. All the developed countries spend a significant portion of their GDP on military purposes. Imagine what could be done if this was diverted to global causes. At the end of the day, if there is a cataclysmic event that wipes out 90% of the population, the problem may be solved.

The BBC using reaction inciting headlines again,
Covid: PM and chancellor not isolating after Javid test
No they're not isolating, they're taking part in a pilot using daily lateral flow tests. My eldest did the same...
The great unwashed will read the headline only and decide if it's OK for them it's OK for me and won't bother isolating.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57877373

** 11:25 update, there's been a u-turn. They're isolating now...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57879730

Number 10 said: "They will be participating in the daily contact testing pilot to allow them to continue to work from Downing Street. They will be conducting only essential government business during this period."

What else could they be doing. ... Don't ask

Back to conspiracy theories. How convenient they are all isolating, can't be contacted. No news conferences etc: just when the thick stuff hits the fan.

Boris can still do the big reveal tomorrow as he has his new multi million studio on the premises. I'll bet he wont announce the necessary U Turn.

Boris is at Chequers - so I read. So no access to his studio?

Maybe they should spend a few more million to give him a whiz bang tech platform there as well so he can still exercise the dictates.

He could actually do it with any decent laptop providing they have t'internet thingy at the weekend retreat. Ill fix him up with a Zoom link for a bargain price of £250,000

PanBiker wrote: ↑18 Jul 2021, 12:15 so he can still exercise the dictates.

What on earth does that mean ? I think it's called 'governing'?

My offer still stands, quarter of a million. Two laptops one at the holiday gaff and another at No 10 with the camera setup pointing at it. Job done, its how the Beeb have been doing QT for the last 12 months.

I'll even provide the laptops and my own transport.

I'm struggling to find where he says he won't use Zoom or some such to communicate from Chequers. He'll need it for the launch, and surely For PMQ's on Wednesday.

I shall now re order my priorities, and drink a cold bottle of Timothy Taylors Landlord in the wonderful garden sunshine.