WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

My focus is on a mundane occurrence this morning. My boiler service was cancelled last Friday because my plumber had an emergency. We are having another stab at it at 10:00 this morning. I am hopeful we might get it off the list today!

[Cathy]

ADELAIDE has been voted The Most Beautiful City In The World, due to our Nature, Architecture and Wine.

[Stanley]

Who did the voting Cathy?

This purports to show the Prince of Wales undergoing maintenance at Portsmouth. From the number of awnings it looks more like summer holidays!

[Cathy]

Architectural Digest did the voting.

[Stanley]

I'm sure it was an honest vote Cathy. Congratulations for living there!

See THIS BBC report for another part of modern life I don't understand....
The threat from international and domestic terror presents a “breadth of challenge greater than it has ever been”, according to senior US and UK police officers who oversaw the successful prosecution of Anjem Choudary. The Islamist preacher from east London is starting a life sentence for directing a group banned under UK terror law, and encouraging support for it online. The officers say his case highlights the continuing danger posed by radicalisers - and the violent groups they support. But they also say counter-terrorism forces are now battling a wide diversity of threats - including from a worrying number of people who don't support an underlying ideology, but are simply drawn to violence. Young people being attracted to online extremism through conspiracy theories, the actions of “hostile states” such as Russia, and the “toxicity of our political environment” are also concerning, they warn.
There is much more in the report. What are we coming to?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report....
Signs of life have been found growing from the stump of the felled Sycamore Gap tree. Eight new shoots have emerged from the base, giving hope the historic tree lives on ten months after it was cut down. The tree stood in a dip in Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland and, when it was attacked with a chainsaw in September last year, there was a national outcry. The National Trust and Northumberland National Park Authority hope the shoots could develop significant growth to form new trees around the stump.
They call it coppicing....

[Stanley]

As usual the lovely taste of my morning coffee. It's the only one I have during the day so I make sure it is s good one. Organic Machu Pichu coffee and full cream milk......

See THIS BBC report of one woman's experience after being raped.
A woman who says she was raped in 2017 has described the criminal justice system as "absolutely broken" after a series of problems and errors allowed the accused man to allegedly start stalking her. Despite reporting the rape allegation to police the day after it happened, the case is not due to be tried in court until next May - eight years after the alleged assault. In that time, delays and errors by police, mistakes by prosecutors and court backlogs have contributed to the woman having a mental breakdown. "It's shambolic, embarrassing, disgraceful and debilitating," says the woman, who is legally entitled to anonymity. "I shouldn't have felt abandoned and hopeless." The woman, who we are calling Samantha, says the rape was carried out in March 2017 by a man who was "prevalent in my life before and knew where I lived". After she reported it, the man was arrested and questioned before being released under investigation. Samantha says West Mercia Police initially updated her on developments but, after about six months, communication petered out and her efforts to make contact went unanswered. "Being left like that - forgotten about - is exactly how you're made to feel."
There is much more and I have enormous sympathy for her but I suspect there will be many cases like this where a lack of police will and resources has led to failures in the justice system. Stories like this lie behind the decisions taken from 2010 onwards to pursue 'sound money' by cutting support for vital services.
My question is, are we doing the same thing all over again?

[Stanley]

See THIS for what grabbed me....
An academic who discovered a Roman fort while out on a bike ride says his discovery indicates a more militant history for west Wales than previously thought. It is believed the site, which is located underneath a farmer’s field in the north of Pembrokeshire, suggests that Wales was fully integrated into Roman Britain. Dr Mark Merrony, of Wolfson College, Oxford, said he was "absolutely thrilled". "I wasn't expecting to find something like this... it's one thing finding a villa or a road, but to find a military site like this is [on] a very different scale altogether really."
I love the fact that time and time again, when we look, we find! I have said for years that a large well-organised dig in Barlick would produce astounding results, the analysis of LIDAR surveys by John Clayton gave many tantalising clues.

Or you could be 'practical' and look at THIS BBC report...
A police office building has been attacked and the property next to it set alight during clashes between rioters and police in Sunderland. Three injured officers were taken to hospital and eight people arrested, Northumbria Police said. Beer cans and stones were thrown at police officers in riot gear outside a mosque and at least one car was set alight during the disorder on Friday night.
Deep Joy.......

[Stanley]

I think it might be Wendy's birthday..... If so many happy returns of the day!

[Cathy]

There’s nothing listed under Birthdays… own up Wendy, is it your Birthday today?

[Wendyf]

It is my birthday Cathy, 74 today! I don't have my birthday listed on One Guy...perhaps I should.

[Wendyf]

I think it might be Wendy's birthday..... If so many happy returns of the day!

Thank you Stanley

[Big Kev]

Happy birthday Wendy

[Cathy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDY.
.
I hope you are spending your Birthday doing your own thing. Enjoy

[Stanley]

How much better I feel now that I have done something about the non-delivery by Evri. (Late Hermes....)
Kev, do I remember you having problems with them?

[Wendyf]

Thank you for the birthday messages, I had a pleasant day pootling in the garden and quietly celebrating a nice little win from Ernie!

[Big Kev]

How much better I feel now that I have done something about the non-delivery by Evri. (Late Hermes....)
Kev, do I remember you having problems with them?

I did when the 'regular' delivery man left the company, they have been very reliable now we have a new 'regular'

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

THIS caught my eye this morning....
ITV has been criticised after Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls interviewed his wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, on Monday's programme. The former Labour MP and his co-host Kate Garraway interviewed Cooper following the recent wave of violent unrest across England. Police officers have faced attacks in recent days, while shops have been broken into and cars set on fire. In response to accusations that the interview represented a conflict of interest, an ITV spokesman told the BBC it considered its interviews "fair and duly impartial". "Following a weekend of rioting and national unrest, GMB featured a range of interviews and discussion around this national emergency on today’s programme," the broadcaster told BBC News. "[These] included James Cleverly, Shadow Home Secretary and Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary. "We are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial." The programme attracted criticism on social media after it aired, with some viewers suggesting it raised issues of bias and conflict of interest.
It's all a bit too cosy for my liking, a matter of national importance and a privileged position reduced to a nice little earner. Can you imagine Ernie Bevin doing this?

[Stanley]

Not a bloody courier in sight! Yippee, the day is mine!

[Tizer]

Another lithium battery danger...
`Moment dog sparks house fire after chewing power bank' BBC video

[Stanley]

By coincidence I saw a video on YouTube last night showing the dangers of a Lithium battery by dismantling it. Not something I would recommend! Here's the report about the fire.

[Tizer]

`How pioneering UK photojournalists captured change' BBC

[Cathy]

Some very powerfully images there Tize, well worth seeing.
The image of the woman and baby - I wonder if the woman is the mother or grandmother. A very hard life there.

[Tizer]

Compared with the variety of faces in old photos young people are now beginning to look like clones.