Seen in the News

[Tripps]

Those pesky "rebels" are on the move again - this time once again in Syria where they have taken the city of Aleppo. There will be many new refugees from the conflict, and as the 4th 5th 6th largest economy we must do our share. It was announced today that 20,000 refugees have crossed the channel in small boats since the Labour Government won the election. That is not enough. We must take more. and to protect them from the dangerous Channel crossing in winter conditions, we should send HMS Albion or Bulwark for one last mission before their announced redundancy. They have fulfilled the role before, and could do so again. What a fitting final mission.
HMS Albion and Bulwark.

[Stanley]

See THIS for what caught my attention.
Two of Gregg Wallace's accusers have criticised his response to allegations of historical misconduct, after he said they had come from a "handful of middle-class women of a certain age". One of his accusers said the comments showed he "clearly hasn't learnt his lesson", while another said he wrongly "seems to be saying he's the victim of classism". In a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, the presenter said there had been "13 complaints" from "over 4,000 contestants" he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC show MasterChef.
If Wallace had wanted to stoke the smouldering fires of the complaint against him he couldn't have found a better way to do it!

Later.... News from the US that President Biden has pardoned his son Hunter after saying he would not. Expect and explosion of righteous indignation from the Orange One (before he pardons hundreds of his supporters gaoled for protests against the result of the election.....)

[Big Kev]

See THIS for what caught my attention.
Two of Gregg Wallace's accusers have criticised his response to allegations of historical misconduct, after he said they had come from a "handful of middle-class women of a certain age". One of his accusers said the comments showed he "clearly hasn't learnt his lesson", while another said he wrongly "seems to be saying he's the victim of classism". In a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, the presenter said there had been "13 complaints" from "over 4,000 contestants" he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC show MasterChef.
If Wallace had wanted to stoke the smouldering fires of the complaint against him he couldn't have found a better way to do it!

There are calls for the BBC to 'pause' further screenings of MasterChef until the investigation is complete. I'm not defending him but surely he's not been found guilty of anything yet. If people don't like him they wouldn't watch the programme. Personally I don't watch it, not sure what qualifies a greengrocer to judge a cookery competition.

[PanBiker]

Later.... News from the US that President Biden has pardoned his son Hunter after saying he would not. Expect and explosion of righteous indignation from the Orange One (before he pardons hundreds of his supporters gaoled for protests against the result of the election.....)

Also his own 37, (or thereabouts) felonies, including inciting those that attacked the capitol building.

Talk about the kettle calling the pot black.

Seems to me that the the American view of democracy is somewhat broken.

[Tizer]

This will interest Ian. The title isn't a surprise but look further for better news as below...
`Bee-harming pesticides found in majority of English waterways' LINK
...The banned pesticide was signed off for emergency use by the previous government to combat a disease impacting sugar beet crops – a decision for which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) is now being investigated. On Monday, the government promised "to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten bees and other vital pollinators.” The Office for Environmental Protection is currently investigating Defra's emergency authorisation for the use of a type of neonicotinoid on sugar beet seeds in 2023 and 2024. The watchdog is exploring whether the government failed to comply with environmental laws when it previously granted the use of the banned pesticide...

[Stanley]

Yes Peter. Another example of the government shying away from doing anything that would damage the profitability of an industry. In this case the growers of Sugar Beet claimed that banning neonicotinoids would destroy their ability to make a profit. How much does the sugar industry contribute to Tory Party funds?

[Tizer]

`England’s environment watchdog told to review risk from lead mines' FT link
The Financial Times has been investigating the risks from abandoned metals mines and has published reports several times this year. Today it says local authorities in England are to be probed on whether they are meeting their legal obligations to identify land contaminated by lead.

The Environment Agency has been ordered to find out whether local councils are identifying contaminated land downstream of historic lead workings as part of a review commissioned by the government. The review into affected areas in England is the first since 2016. Officials say the new “State of Contaminated Land” report will include a survey on the extent to which local authorities are monitoring historic mine sites.

According to the FT the UK has 6,630 abandoned industrial lead mines, 3,600 of which are in England — that continue to disperse the metal into the environment each year. Lead can accumulate in waterways and soil before being consumed by animals and entering the food chain.

[Stanley]

Another example of us damaging the planet. Think of the scale of resource extraction today and work out the consequence of that. Our lead mine's contribution is a drop in a very large ocean.
See THIS local news for Lancashire....
Plans for a so-called super prison have been given the green light by the deputy prime minister three years after the local council rejected the application. The jail will hold 1,700 inmates and be built on green belt land on the border of Chorley and Leyland, close to HMP Garth and HMP Wymott. Chorley Council had refused the application for Ulnes Walton jail over concerns inmates in the area would out-number residents in the nearest village, and the planning inspector recommended an appeal against the authority's decision be dismissed. But Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has decided the harms identified would "clearly be outweighed by the benefits".
Do we keep building prisons or look at the reasons why people are in prison in the first place?

[Tizer]

`Why are people pouring milk down the drain over a cow feed additive?' BBC Verify
The social media and anti-everything crowd are attacking it because of this paragraph...
Opponents of the additive have pointed to a report by the FSA last year, which found that “3-NOP “should be considered corrosive to the eyes, a skin irritant, and potentially harmful by inhalation” to humans handling it. But experts emphasised that no traces of Bovaer or the compounds contained within it would be found in milk or other produce, as it is broken down in a cow’s stomach.

Hey guys we can't let Bill Gates and Elon Musk get away with poisoning us all. Let's stop the sale of vinegar and it's use in food - it's corrosive to the eyes, a skin irritant, and potentially harmful by inhalation to humans handling it!

[Stanley]

I heard that mentioned in the news and had the same thought as you did about vinegar Peter.

I saw THIS news item and asked myself if this is a sign of something.....
The price of Bitcoin has for the first time broken past the $100,000 mark, hitting a new record high. The value of the world's biggest cryptocurrency has been boosted by hopes US President-elect Donald Trump will adopt crypto-friendly policies. The milestone was reached hours after Trump said he would nominate former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Paul Atkins to run the Wall Street regulator. Mr Atkins is seen as being far more pro-cryptocurrency than the current head of the SEC, Gary Gensler. The $100,000 milestone prompted celebrations from cryptocurrency fans around the world.
“Whom the gods wish to destroy….. they first make mad.” is my reaction......

[Tizer]

Each day now I begin to understand better why `ordinary' people around the world are voting for leaders who are extremists, whether on the right or the left wing of politics. People have lost confidence in present politicians' ability to see that in reality we are being increasingly ruled by the ultra-rich using their wealth to shape the world to suit them. Elon Musk is a perfect example but there are many more around the world. Trump and those like him are so rich they can mould the narrative around themselves to make the average Joe think they are the answer to all our problems. (For example Trump's exhortation to `drain the swamp'). Hitler and Mussolini did it and they didn't have the magic of social media to help them. Stormy waters ahead, folks!

Meanwhile, back in the real world, let's raise a cheer for the brave men and women who had to deal with the repercussions of this disaster...
`Behind the scenes of the Baltimore bridge collapse' BBC

[Stanley]

I'm sure you're right Peter and it goes back to the same syndrome we discussed re. your hearing aids. The super wealthy don't realise that enough of the electorate is intelligent and experienced enough to see through what they are doing. We have even written books about it (Thomas Piketty and 'Capital').
The problem is that even when it does strike them they don't care as we are not a threat, all they want is for the capital to keep flowing upwards.
As I have said before many times, the problem is that as they bleed Society dry, it starts to break down and this erodes the foundations of the capital holders lives as well as the rest of us. They need a functioning and efficient society. In this respect they are their own worst enemy and in the end must fail.
The big problem with this is that as they slowly destroy their own world they destroy ours as well.... Look at what they are doing to the planet by ignoring the clear message of climate change.....
Another example, they buy vast tracts of land and take them out of food production by planting trees to harvest artificial carbon credits which further increase their wealth. What happens when home produced food reduces? Simples they say, we buy more from abroad and import it. We found the flaw in that solution in WW2 and it is going to happen again.
Th super wealthy like Musk and Trump are a cancer and if not excised they will kill our world. QED.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on a subject we visit from time to time but it has been quiet lately......
A young couple died as a result of a house fire which was "most likely" caused by faulty e-bike batteries, a coroner has concluded. Josh Pearson, 28, and Danielle Bamber, 24, died after a fire devastated their home in Peter Street, Blackpool, in the early hours of 17 July. The couple left two young children. Blackpool Coroner Alan Wilson recorded a finding of accidental death. It comes after the fire service in London said e-bikes were becoming one of the capital's fastest-growing fire risks, with more than 130 fires in the city up to the end of September – more than three a week.

[Stanley]

THIS grabbed my attention this morning.....
The mood in Damascus appears to be one of confusion and fear, with many people unable to find out exactly what is going on as rebel factions approach ever closer. In several suburbs, symbols of the power of the Assad dynasty have been torn down or toppled. The interior ministry says it's creating a ring of steel around the capital. But government forces have notably failed to provide any such defence in cities, towns and villages that have fallen to rebel factions across the country. Rumours are swirling over the whereabouts of President Bashar al-Assad, with people logging flights in and out of Damascus to work out whether he might have left. His office has denied all such reports, saying he's still at work in Damascus, but there has been no sign of him.
At the root of these claims is the stunning success of the rebels, the fact that government forces seem to be in full retreat offering no opposition and the expected help from Russia and Iran failing to materialise. The smart money says that Assad has fled but we have no proof of that.
I hope he has. He and his family before him have run Syria as a private fiefdom and cause the deaths of tens of thousands. We can be sure that he has prepared for flight and will have his slush fund ready and waiting......

[Stanley]

THIS could affect a lot of people....
By his own admission, Marcus Johnson's metallic blue Suzuki Swift was an unremarkable car - a little runaround bought after passing his driving test. But how this run-of-the-mill vehicle was sold is now at the heart of a far more remarkable, multi-billion pound saga. Lenders and dealers have been accused of hiding commission payments made when cars were bought on finance deals. A recent Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Mr Johnson, and two other car buyers, raised the possibility of millions of motorists receiving compensation.

[Tizer]

Assad and his family are now in Moscow, granted asylum by Putin who is caling for a UN meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Russia has two military bases in Syria, one for the air force and one on the coast for his navy vessels. I wonder if Putin has withdrawn his military `assets' or whether he'll try to keep them there? As well as bombing in Syria he has used the bases as a stopover point for his ships and planes flying to and from his `allies' in Africa.

[Stanley]

I welcome the fall of the Assad hegemony in Syria Peter but recognise that until we have evidence to the contrary it increases uncertainty and the likelihood of more conflict in the Middle East.
Jeremy Bowen has been watching the ME and analysing it for many years. See THIS for his take on Syria....
In the end the Assad regime was so hollow, corrupt and decayed that it collapsed in less than a fortnight. No one I have spoken to has been anything other than astonished by the speed with which the regime turned to dust. In the spring of 2011, the year of the Arab uprisings, it was different, when Syrians tried to grab some of the revolutionary magic that had swept away the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt and was threatening the veteran strongmen of Libya and Yemen. By 2011, the regime created by Hafez al-Assad and passed to his son Bashar on his death in 2000 was already corrupt and decadent. But the system that Hafez built still had much of the brutal, ruthless strength that he believed was necessary to control Syria. Assad senior had seized power in a country that was prone to coups and delivered it to his son and heir without a significant challenge. Bashar al-Assad went back to his father's playbook in 2011.
The rest of his piece is worth reading. Possibly one of the best sources available.

[Stanley]

THIS BBC report seems to me to epitomise much that is wrong about the UK today...
3 hours ago
The justice secretary has said even under the government's plans to open 14,000 more prison places, they could still run out of space over the next few years. Shabana Mahmood told the BBC that "building alone is not enough" to deal with the critical lack of space in UK jails. The government is publishing its 10-year strategy to deal with overcrowding in prisons - including more details of how it will create 14,000 more places in England and Wales by 2031. It comes after prisons were just 100 spaces away from reaching full capacity over the summer.
Will 14,000 more places be enough? More importantly, why do we need so many?
Sorry, but these things trouble me.

[Tizer]

There's a lot that's interesting in this report...
`Russian ships move from Syria base amid doubts over future' BBC Verify

[Stanley]

An interesting article Peter. I like the graphic demonstrating the change..... Uncertain times, not good for forward planning!

THIS was what got my attention.....
On the morning of 13 November, four weeks into the murder trial of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, came a moment so dramatic it left jurors open-mouthed and an Old Bailey courtroom horrified. Sara’s father Urfan Sharif had not long been in the witness box on the seventh day of giving evidence when suddenly, trembling, he uttered five words that would change the course of the trial. “She died because of me.” Until then, he had denied almost everything, instead blaming his wife - Sara’s stepmother - for her death. Now he was suddenly taking full responsibility for his daughter's death.
I heard the report yesterday on World At One and it was horrifying. What sort of a culture leads to clubbing a little girl to death with a cricket bat? Even worse, he was her father. If this is common in their culture it perhaps explains some of the violence in the Middle East......

[Tizer]

I like the graphic demonstrating the change.....

If you mean the graphics with a sliding bar to switch smoothly between `before' and `after' that's available in Gimp when you're editing images. I assume it's also available in that other graphics software used by Microsoft folk.
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Now then, here's a news story for the conspiracy theorists. You'll remember the drones over airfields in East Anglia, well now they're over the Pentagon too and One of Trump's lot, US congressman Jeff Van Drew claimed he had heard from "high sources" that the flying objects were tied to Iran. Speaking to Fox News, the New Jersey Republican said the drones were coming from an Iranian "mothership" in the Atlantic. "That mothership... is off the East Coast of the United States of America. They've launched drones into everything that we can see or hear," Van Drew said on Wednesday.
`Mystery New Jersey drones not from Iranian 'mothership' - Pentagon' LINK

[Tripps]

Th landlord of a pub in London has just said on Sky News that people are not spending as much - "just having a pie and a pint for £20 instead of a three course meal". Good job Rachel from Accounts took 1p off the draught beer duty then, in the October Budget . I don't think I'm missing much by staying at home most of the time now.

[Stanley]

Peter, I read the link re. the 'drone' scare. We get a glimpse of what we can expect over the next four years in American politics if misinformation like this flourishes.....

David. I'm sure you're not missing anything! I look at prices I see reported in the media and wonder how people can afford to live! I see in the news that the £5 cup of coffee is upon us as bean prices rise. I thought my coffee was expensive at £4.35 for 200g but I can make a lot of coffee with that far cheaper than in places like Costa or Starbucks.
As for £20 for a pie and a pint..... I remember when, after Harold Wilson's speech about devaluation when he used the memorable phrase 'The Pound in your pocket', I said in the pub that the time was coming when you would get no change out of a pound note for a pint and ten cigarettes there were gales of laughter. I see it would cost about £12 now.....

[Tizer]

Stanley, although US congressman Jeff Van Drew might be a conspiracy nutcase reports of drones in sensitive areas have been coming in from many places. For example, three US bases in the UK have reported them, they've been seen in New Jersey and New York and over a US air base in Germany. Of course it may be that the US military has developed a new type of observation drone and is using it to protect its bases. This is supported by the fact that they haven't shot down even a single one!
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`UK 'doesn't have enough builders' for Labour's 1.5m homes' LINK
...Based on the government's plans, the estimated number of new workers required for some common trades, for example, would be: 20,000 bricklayers, 2,400 plumbers, 8,000 carpenters, 3,200 plasterers, 20,000 groundworkers, 1,200 tilers, 2,400 electricians, 2,400 roofers, 480 engineers...

It's time our housebuilders entered the 21st Century. In other parts of the world, notably other European and Scandinavian countries, they are building modern, much better-insulated timber houses in modular form in factories on production lines. Once groundwork is done, lorries take out the modules and they are quickly erected on site.
For example: Dan-Wood and Architizer

[Big Kev]

Peter, I read the link re. the 'drone' scare. We get a glimpse of what we can expect over the next four years in American politics if misinformation like this flourishes.....

David. I'm sure you're not missing anything! I look at prices I see reported in the media and wonder how people can afford to live! I see in the news that the £5 cup of coffee is upon us as bean prices rise. I thought my coffee was expensive at £4.35 for 200g but I can make a lot of coffee with that far cheaper than in places like Costa or Starbucks.
As for £20 for a pie and a pint..... I remember when, after Harold Wilson's speech about devaluation when he used the memorable phrase 'The Pound in your pocket', I said in the pub that the time was coming when you would get no change out of a pound note for a pint and ten cigarettes there were gales of laughter. I see it would cost about £12 now.....

Packs of 10 cigarettes haven't been available since 2017 (according to Google), the average price of a packet of 20
is around £15.26. The last pint of beer I bought (Wednesday) was £3.50. Depending on where the pub is a pint can be as much as £6. You'd be lucky to get change out of a £20 note...