Seen in the News

[Tripps]

I think that's the article I had in mind fairly recently when I read about the 'new' idea of Regenerative Farming .

I like your version better. I read yesterday that veganism is losing its popularity, and meat consumption per head is rising. Hooray.

[Stanley]

The young always think they have invented everything David. This applies particularly to sex.

[Stanley]

Heard actually.... I have just heard, I think it was Sarah Montague, interviewing a man whose daughter has been kidnapped in Gaza how he felt on hearing the news that there was a possibility of a cease fire and when he had answered that question went on to ask him to describe his daughter. At that point I switched off. How do the answers to intrusive personal questions like that enlighten anyone? Or am I some sort of an odd ball in that I think they are just jerking strings to get an emotional response to fill in the air time they have to account for.
They should be ashamed of themselves and do some proper journalism.....

[Tizer]

I must be an odd ball too, I agree with your view. I think it's all part of the `vox pop' trend.

[Stanley]

I've noticed that since the BBC cut the funding for journalism and made everybody apply for the jobs they already have a lot of voices have vanished and new ones have taken their place, many not native UK accents. (Does that remark make me a racist oddball as well?)
As the amount of old fashioned journalism has fallen the quantity of infill with vox pop interviews has risen. At the same time the quality of communication with anybody outside the studio has deteriorated, to the point where even what I assume are landline connections are going down mid interview or such bad quality as to be useless.
A long time ago I came across a report that the BBC had given the contract for all IT and communications to a famous company, was it Siemens? and it had turned out to be a disaster but for technical and legal reasons they had to stick with it and try to make it work. Not surprisingly, no one from the BBC has ever admitted this or enlightened us about the reasons for the problems.

[Stanley]

See THIS explanation of an obscure financial term. Worth reading if you want to understand the con-trick that was yesterday's Autumn Statement.
Tax cuts were the main theme of the chancellor's Autumn Statement, but the policy decisions will not prevent taxes staying at their highest level on record. A big part of that is due to a so-called "hidden" tax rise, one which can have a bigger impact on household incomes than others, known to economists at fiscal drag. It sounds rather technical and dull, but it impacts millions of people. The term describes a process in which more people are "dragged" into paying a larger amount of tax on their personal income - without tax rates going up at all. While Jeremy Hunt announced a cut in National Insurance (NI) rates, he opted to leave NI and income tax thresholds untouched, meaning they remain frozen until 2028. Usually tax thresholds rise in line with inflation, the rate at which the prices in shops increase, but they have been kept the same since 2021. A period of high inflation in recent times has led to many workers securing pay rises to ease the rising cost of living. But they are also paying more tax because a bigger portion of their income is taxed or they have been dragged into a higher tax band than before. Some 2.2 million more workers now pay the basic rate income tax of 20% compared with three years ago, according to official figures, while 1.6 million more people have found themselves in the 40% tax bracket in the same period. Critics describe freezing tax bands - the level at which a person starts paying different rates of tax on their earnings - as a "stealth tax" because the process happens gradually as a person starts earning a bit more.
So nothing is what it seems......

[Tizer]

Another step in the wrong political direction for Europe (and doesn't the hair style remind you of Trump? )
`Dutch election: Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders wins dramatic victory' LINK

[Stanley]

I heard that report Peter and was struck by the fact that the most surprised person was Wilders! I agree with you, it's bad news and redolent of the way people like Braverman would like to see us go. We don't need extremes but that seems to be the way the Right responds to today's difficulties.
I often wonder if the Kinder Transports would have happened if these people had been in control at the time.....

[Big Kev]

Organisers of the Brit Awards have announced they will update their rules to address criticism over diversity.

The show faced a backlash in January when it was revealed that no women were shortlisted for the best artist prize, which replaced the gendered best male and female categories two years ago.

Best male and female categories combined, so no one felt discriminated against. This has lead to no women being nominated this year, surely if everyone is in the same category it wouldn't make any difference if they identified as male or female. Am I missing something here or am I looking at it too simplistically?

[Tizer]

If the two categories are combined then arguably the one with the most `members' will have a greater chance of having winners? I don't know how they judge it so I don't know what's fair and what isn't.
-----------------------------------

`Chris Mason: Brexit means buck now stops with government on immigration' LINK
The interesting bit (for me) is the section after the graph because we need immigrants, especially trained nurses and social workers...
The Scottish National Party lashed out at what it sees as Westminster's obsession with driving the numbers down. The SNP says Scotland needs more immigration of people of working age, not less - to help public services function and the private sector to thrive.
Compare that to the language of the Conservatives and Labour - and what comes across as an attempt to out do each other in their anger.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the figure was "shockingly high".
The prime minister's official spokesman said it was "far too high".
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman claimed the numbers were "unsustainable" and "a slap on the face to the British public".
And yet at the heart of all of this is an essential truth.
Brexit offers a clarity.
The responsibility for immigration policy, from anywhere, lies at Westminster.

[Stanley]

I think you are dead right Peter.... Brexit and the arguments used to persuade the Little Englanders to vote to leave have meant that now we know exactly who to blame for the increase....
Or do we? Something that is never clearly addressed and acknowledged is the global change in the basic pressures that have governed migration for thousands of years.... Difficulty surviving in one location and a suspicion it would be easier somewhere else. This was what drove the very first major migrations out of Africa and north westwards into Europe. Can we really blame people in unstable famine-ridden parts of the world from casting their eyes to more prosperous regions and deciding they would have a better chance of survival there? We call such people 'economic migrants' and use this as a pejorative description but I have never seen it as a bad thing. What it meant in the past was that the most energetic and resource in the destination country. Ask yourself how we got so many migrants making a success out of shop-keeping.
What everyone has to accept is that these natural tides of migration will grow stronger as the effects of global changes increases and anyone with a higher standard of living or, even more importantly, quality of life, is going to have to be ready to share.

[Stanley]

See THIS for the reason why a seemingly minor news report about a piece of road subsiding because of coastal erosion got national coverage yesterday.
The unexpected collapse of a cliff edge and a road has forced the evacuation of a caravan park as well as revealing a suspected unexploded bomb. High tides and wind caused a road to collapse at Pakefield Holiday Park in Lowestoft, Suffolk, leaving caravans "dangerously close to the edge". Later a suspected unexploded device was found at the base of a cliff a few hundred metres away. A controlled explosion has now been carried out on the device. Leon Crossman, 34, spotted the suspected bomb on the beach close to a second holiday park, Pontin's, and said he alerted coastguards, who arrived in 10 minutes. "You couldn't miss it," he said.

[Stanley]

See THIS report of Mr Gove's thoughts on the progress of the Bill on leasehold properties.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has said he is confident a bill reforming the leasehold system in England and Wales will pass by the next general election. The bill, which would ban leaseholds for new houses but not flats, is due to be introduced in Parliament later. It would also make it easier and cheaper for homeowners to extend their lease or buy their freehold. Under the current system leaseholders often have to pay ground rent and expensive maintenance charges. This is because they only own the lease, which gives them the right to use the property, but not the land it is built on. Mr Gove said the long-promised legislation would mean leaseholders can "take back control of their property" and ensure service charges and ground rents are transparent and "reasonable". The plans have been broadly welcomed by campaigners but some are disappointed a ban on the sale of new leaseholds does not include flats. There are an estimated five million leasehold homes in England - 70% of which are flats.
I'm afraid this doesn't go far enough for me. I have always said that the system of leases and ground rents (Added to nowadays by service agreements if you live in a flat or a park home) is a feudal remnant and should have been abolished long ago but this never happened because some of the biggest capital holders in the country get much of their income from ground rents.
Gove says he wants to abolish it entirely but this is as far as he has been able to go.

[Tripps]

Or rather - Not seen in the News

Google 'Auchinlek riot 25 November' and you will see numerous reports - all remarkably similar, about serious civil disturbance in this small Ayrshire town. A house was set on fire and Police were injured. I see no explanation in any of the articles, as to the cause of the disturbance.

However if you look at Simon Webb's offering today, and you will find out the cause - assuming what he says is true. I don't know where he gets his information from. Auchinlek disturbance

Worth a look, and a bit of a think I'd say.



I

[Stanley]

I'll agree with one thing he says, that relying on traditional media for news is not very effective these days but I think there is a very simple explanation for this. Resources aren't being put into training and paying old fashioned journalists and finding out 'the truth' is no longer an article of faith. All that matters is profit. So much of 'the news' nowadays is sourced from 'Citizen Journalists', in other words, a passer-by with a smart phone....
I suppose this ought to worry me but I find I have so much on my plate just negotiating everyday life that I haven't time or energy to address the matter. All right, I know that this means I am neglecting my duty as a concerned citizen but that doesn't worry me. Stuff has been going on all my life but I have been too busy dealing with everyday things like earning a living and caring for a family and it has passed me by. Too late to start being concerned now.
Top of the UK news this morning is the Elgin Marbles and I have commented elsewhere on what I think about that......

[Tripps]

" relying on traditional media for news is not very effective these days"

Amen to that - and I'd add, relying on social media is equally (probably more) risky.

Take care out there. . . .

Re the Pendle Deputy Mayor and the exposé in Private Eye - what would he have to do /say to actually have to resign?

[Stanley]

That thought had struck me as well David. It's disgraceful. These people are supposed to set an example. I often think they escape public sanction because people are afraid of being accused of racism.......
Later.... See THIS BBC report of the successful rescue of the 41 construction workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel in the Himalayas.
Wonderful news....

[Tripps]

That thought had struck me as well David. It's disgraceful. These people are supposed to set an example. I often think they escape public sanction because people are afraid of being accused of racism.......

Spot on - and reflected on a national basis in other matters. Hard to imagine David Whipp (who was quite uncharacteristically silent at the meeting) making such remarks - or staying on after doing so.

Did you ever watch 'Can't pay we'll take it away' . The consequences of such threats were vey real, and immediate. Words of advice and an apology do not seem enough. If tradition is followed - he'll be Mayor next year.

[Stanley]

You're right about David, unthinkable that he would even consider language like that.

See THIS for the news story I heard on R4 yesterday that caught my attention. At least one area of cooperation with China has been quietly functioning for years without causing any problems. Lessons to be learned I think!
Later..... News that Henry Kissinger is dead. I am in the camp that remembers his support of the insurrection in Chile that took Pinochet to power and his part with Nixon in illegally 'bombing Cambodia back into the Stone Age'. One of the most ridiculous moments in international diplomacy came when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was not a peace activist.

[Tizer]

On today's Telegraph front page...
`UK should rejoin EU to ‘fix’ Brexit, says Ursula von der Leyen: European Commission president says she tells her children ‘we goofed it up’ when discussing UK’s departure from EU' Telegraph
The United Kingdom should rejoin the European Union to “fix” Brexit, Ursula von der Leyen has said, after Labour pledged to forge closer ties with the bloc if elected. Mrs von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said “we goofed it up” when asked on Tuesday whether Britain could ever reverse Brexit. She was speaking amid much improved UK relations since the signing of Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland in February and after the shock victory of Geert Wilders, who wants the Netherlands to leave the EU, in Dutch elections last week.

“First of all, thank God, with the Windsor agreement, we had a new beginning for old friends. Very important,” Mrs von der Leyen said at a Brussels event hosted by the Politico website. “And then I must say, I keep telling my children, you have to fix it. We goofed it up. You have to fix it. So I think here, too, the direction of travel, my personal opinion is clear.”

Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said the Prime Minister did not agree with Mrs von der Leyen that future generations would have to fix Brexit. “It’s through our Brexit freedoms that we are, right now, considering how to further strengthen our migration system,” he said. “It is through our Brexit freedoms we are ensuring patients in the UK can get access to medicines faster, that there is improved animal welfare. That is very much what we are focused on.” There is no expectation that the UK will ask to rejoin the EU, a lengthy and complex process that can take many years, any time soon. [Ed. Well he would say that, wouldn't he!]

[Stanley]

And what Sunak can't explain is why, on every measure you use, UK plc is doing worse now we are 'free' from the EU than we did before. And we did it just in time for the period of maximum insecurity for us all.
Leaving the EU was a ploy by a weak PM to try to mollify the rabid right wing of his party and it failed on every count. This is a disaster manufactured and nurtured by the Tories and god help us if we ever fail to remember this!

[Tizer]

Two things...
This took place in the far east, north of Mongolia, and they craftily put explosives on the other route which they knew the Russians would divert trains too when the first was put out of action...
`Ukraine says it blew up railway in eastern Russia' LINK

...and: George Santos has been expelled from the US House of Representatives after he was charged with multiple crimes, causing colleagues to declare him unfit to serve. We were listening to this on Americast at lunchtime. They were saying that it's notable because this isn't supposed to happen until the person is convicted so it's going to set a precedent and cause a lot of trouble.

[Stanley]

Perhaps the Santos expulsion sets a precedent for doing the same to Trump if necessary.....

See THIS BBC report about the closure of the Pontins holiday camps.
Locals and businesses near a closed Pontins holiday park in East Sussex have described the decision as "a bolt out of the blue". On Thursday, Pontins closed its sites in Camber Sands, East Sussex, and Prestatyn, Denbighshire with immediate effect. Following earlier speculation that the site could be used for asylum seeker accommodation, the Home Office said there were "no plans to use the sites". The local MP said the seemingly sudden decision was "extremely concerning". Hastings and Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart said: "It's just before Christmas so to close Pontins so people don't have jobs is actually horrendous and obviously local businesses will be worried they won't get the footfall as much." Rother District Council, which owns the freehold of the site, said it was "surprised" to learn of the closure. It said: "We have had no communication from Pontins or their parent company Britannia Hotels about the closure, its duration, or their intentions for the site in the long term."
Also have a look at THIS report.
Are Parisians falling out of love with their own Olympic Games? That conclusion might seem inescapable after a series of bad news stories over the last couple of weeks. First the city's own Mayor Anne Hidalgo said out of the blue that transport for next summer's Games would "not be ready in time". Then it was announced that far from buses and metros being free for competition ticket-holders - as promised in the Paris bid for the Games - fares will actually double for the six weeks of the Olympics and Paralympics. The police chief revealed that his security plan comprises no less than four separate exclusion zones around each Olympic venue - prompting the head of the hoteliers' union to say it was "so complicated I get a headache just looking at it". And an Odoxa opinion poll showed that nearly one in two Françiliens - inhabitants of the Paris region - now thought the Games were a "bad thing". The 44% negative rating was double what it was in 2021. The same poll found that 52% of Françiliens were considering leaving Paris for the duration of the Games. "Perceptions about the Games are reaching alert level," Odoxa reported.
I have to say I share this opinion, I have long wondered just exactly what is the point of the Olympic Games......

[Tizer]

Re Trump - see this too in today's news...
`Judge rejects Trump's immunity claim in 2020 election case' BBC

[Stanley]

I heard that report on R4 Peter. I hope things are going as badly for him as it sounds but with that bugger you can never be sure! I get the impression that if he does fail it is more likely to be as a consequence of his financial peccadilloes than political ones. As long as someone or something gets him before the election next year.....
Something I heard about Israel grabbed me. I heard a commentator who seemed to have some authority on the subject say that Netanyahu was finished as a politician as soon as the action against HAMAS comes to an end. He had no doubt about this. We shall see...... I Hope he is right. What the IDF is doing now seems to me to be quite clearly a war crime.....
(Is it permissible to say that? or am I open to being called anti-Semitic?)