Seen in the News

[Stanley]

I heard that report Peter and also the evidence of the lady at Twitter who was in charge of protective measures but who says she has no staff since the Musk cuts and also the people who left voluntarily because they didn't trust the new management (This includes her.). He may have once been the richest man in the world but we have watched him prove he's also the worst manager. See THIS BBC report for the full story from Marriana.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report for a completely acceptable news item! (A very rare event these days... )
"Bumblebees learn to solve puzzles by watching their more experienced peers, scientists in Britain have found. Experts from Queen Mary University of London trained a set of bees to open a puzzle box containing a sugar reward. These bees then passed on the knowledge to others in their colonies, the study found. The researchers discovered that "social learning" may have had a greater influence on the behaviour of bumblebees than previously imagined. To carry out the study, the scientists created a puzzle box that could be opened by rotating a lid to access a sugar solution. The lid could be rotated clockwise by pushing a red tab, while pushing a blue tab could rotate it anti-clockwise. The scientists trained "demonstrator" bees to use one of these methods to open the lid while the "observer" bees watched. When the observer bees tackled the puzzle, researchers found they chose the same method they had seen 98% of the time, even after discovering the alternative approach. The study also found that bees with a demonstrator opened more puzzle boxes than control bees. This suggests the bees learned the behaviour socially rather than discovering the solution themselves, the researchers said.

[PanBiker]

Not surprising really, bees learn through dance and can communicate the direction and distance to pollen sources, found by other worker and scout bees.

[Tizer]

Two clips from today's newspaper front pages...


and this...

[Tripps]

The onward march of bureaucracy continues.

Stand by for the creation of OfChic

Fortunately Budgerigars are exempt (for now). 'Ofbudge' will have to wait

[Stanley]

First the failure of the environment agency. I suppose the excuse is that the administrative budget has been cut to such an extent that they can't function. No point in regulating if you don't enforce the rules.
I don't see how the identity of who sabotaged the gas lines helps anyone. The fact is it was done and Putin took advantage of it.
As for the new inspection regime for small numbers of birds David. Wonderful, set up a new administration and jobs and then starve of funds so it can't do the job it was designed for. When will we learn that some things are best left alone?
Sorry I'm such an old cynic but can you blame me?

[plaques]

Not a lot of cover for Sally's WASPI protest. Perhaps a first hand account will drive it home and expose the foot dragging that these women have been subjected to. The whole episode is typical of this so called compassionate government that exploits the vulnerable and ignores their responsibility to them.

[PanBiker]

Indeed Ken, the rally was very well attended and was covered by ITV, Sky and London Live. Sally has just found the link for the latter and she features with her "Yorkshire Lassies Want Their Brass" banner behind the lass that was being interviewed. She went down with three of her Carleton friends who are all in the same position.

[Stanley]

I have never seen an administration that is so obviously dismissive of all other matters but the ones that concern it directly. You have only to look at the hard faces on the government benches to realise they have no empathy at all for children in temporary accommodation or being expelled from the country. So it doesn't surprise me that Sally and her comrades have been ignored. Roll on the day when we see some justice prevail and the downfall of these loathsome creatures.

[Tripps]

"Supermarket beef fraud: Lancashire-based Booths revealed as retailer probed over South American meats labelled as British

Booths supermarket has been named as the retailer probed over "beef fraud"."

Say it ain't so Joe. . .

Actually I'd have bought some if it was labelled correctly. I was hoping that a benefit of Brexit would be that I could buy Brazilian steaks again. Most corned beef is from that country - what's the problem?

[plaques]

Soon we may see one of our senior members having to register her chickens. This goes along with a yearly update on whether it met its untimely end on the dinner table or just curled up its toes and died. God knows what the penalty will be if a fox gets it. And what happened to all the eggs? Will a supply chain of 'fences' be required? This is serious stuff which doesn't stop at chickens as always there is knock on affect that spill over into broader areas. Consider the total environment. Think of a plague of earthworms attracting all the birds that can fly which may carry bird flu. Not something to be sneezed at. Mind you it will give the Tories another priority slogan to put on their lectern.... Stop the Chicken.

[Wendyf]

Have I missed something? Chickens....what chickens??

[Tripps]

The onward march of bureaucracy continues.

Stand by for the creation of OfChic

Fortunately Budgerigars are exempt (for now). 'Ofbudge' will have to wait

Oh do keep up . . . .

[Stanley]

David.... As I understand it the problem wasn't so much the beef but the fact it had been packed and labelled as Red Tractor assured. I agree with you about Brazilian steaks. I remember those small sirloins in vacuum packs and nicely matured by the time we got them.

[Stanley]

I heard a report from Israel about the way the extreme Right Wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu is characterising the Supreme Court and attacking its powers.
It struck me that this was very similar to what we are seeing here. We hear complaints about Left wing lawyers and civil servants coming out of the heart of Downing Street and whilst more muted, we have had reason to suspect that some Supreme Court decisions, particularly those that went against government policy in Johnson's time, were not welcomed.
This impression fits with the general hardening of attitudes in this government and doesn't bode well for the next couple of years......
See THIS BBC report of street protests against the reforms today.

[PanBiker]

we have had reason to suspect that some Supreme Court decisions, particularly those that went against government policy in Johnson's time, were not welcomed.

WASPI women a case in point and well before Bozo's time. Shafting people is part of Tory DNA.

[Stanley]

See THIS for reassurance that the UK will continue to punch above its weight in today's troubled world.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to increase defence spending by nearly £5bn over the next two years to counter emerging threats from hostile states. The funding boost will be confirmed in a new UK foreign and security strategy, to be published on Monday. It comes ahead of talks between the prime minister and his US and Australian counterparts in California. The trio are set to agree details of a UK-US pact to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement, known as the Aukus pact, was signed in 2021 as part of a joint effort to counter Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific region.
So that's all right then......

[Stanley]

I've heard a statement from Barclay the Health Minister that he is 'incredibly disappointed' with the doctors union.
I'll bet he's nowhere near as disappointed as the junior doctors who have had no positive response to their demand for their pay to be reinstated to where it was ten years ago, Since then they have lost 26% plus 9% inflation.
How much has Barclay lost over the same period.

[Tizer]

I heard a report from Israel about the way the extreme Right Wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu is characterising the Supreme Court and attacking its powers....See THIS BBC report of street protests against the reforms today.

The Times ran a 2-page article on this topic on Saturday from their Jerusalem correspondent. In particular it went into detail about the subject mentioned in this para in the BBC article: On Monday, in an unprecedented move, dozens of reserve fighter pilots in an elite Israeli Air Force squadron said they would not report for training. They later reversed course and agreed to attend and hold talks with their commanders.
This was a big shock for Israelis because 69 Squadron has the same place in their history that the Dambusters have in ours. They were the first squadron and played the main part in bombing Iran's nuclear plant. They claim to be always `on guard', ready for immediate deployment and nobody dreamed they would refuse to come when called. Most of the military support them and the protest has had a stunning effect on Israelis. The BBC has an articleo n it here: `Israel's elite fighter pilots escalate judicial reform protest' LINK

[PanBiker]

The report on the new nuclear submarine deal with Australia. New class of submarine to be built by BAE at Barrow, SMR power plant to be built by Rolls Royce at Derby. Wasn't this technology for the small modular reactors supposed to come to Rolls at Barlick?

[Stanley]

Peter, I see echoes of how this Tory government thinks in the way Netanyahu is operating in Israel but the only thing we are protesting about is pay!
Ian, I don't think Rolls in Barlick ever thought that.
I think the bottom line is that Barlick is an outlier now as far as Derby are concerned. Don't hold your breath waiting for any cavalry riding over the hill.....

[plaques]

RR pushed most of their Fan Blade work to Singapore, Fortunately for Barlick I'm told their quality is poor and Barlick have retained some of the work. Wellhouse was home to some of the nuclear work mainly hard facing the valves. I doubt if RR Barlick will ever get any nuclear work becoming another backwater until the infrastructure deteriorates to a point that it is economically unviable.

They could always house failed asylum seekers there. Out of the way, out of mind.

[plaques]

Unemployment stops at a low level.

The unemployment rate for November 2022 to January 2023 was largely unchanged on the quarter at 3.7%. The number of people unemployed for over 12 months increased slightly in the latest three-month period.

Good news but still a shortfall of workers to fill all the vacancies. Part of the blame is being place on people retiring early and prepared to 'make do' rather than work for peanuts and be out of pocket at the end of the day. The government don't like this one bit. Its now their mission to make it too expensive to live on a 'make do' basis and drive people back to work by making things more expensive. How sick can you get?

[PanBiker]

I doubt if RR Barlick will ever get any nuclear work becoming another backwater until the infrastructure deteriorates to a point that it is economically unviable.

It was certainly mooted as a way forward when they shed the last tranche of employees.

[Stanley]

Well, you've got to try to find something cheerful to say when you are announcing job losses Ian!