WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

A general feeling that as people feel more insecure, as in the present situation in France, distrust of minorities and reaction against them increases. This is perhaps more dangerous than the original cause....

[Tizer]

A total of 60 million cars recalled due to safety concerns in the USA in 2014. One in every five cars. Among other problems, airbags have been exploding and potentially peppering the car's occupants with shrapnel. The airbag manufacturer, Takata, refused to instigate recalls and it's been up to car manufacturers themselves to do it. And this GM problem...
"In the wake of revelations that GM had ignored a series of fatal accidents relating to problems with ignition switches in its vehicles, the car marker was forced to recall 2.6m cars in February of 2014. But as a series of missteps by GM's engineers, managers, as well as by US safety regulators were uncovered, that number quickly ballooned to nearly 30m cars by the end of 2014 - significantly more than GM sold during the year - as GM sought to proactively recall any cars that could possibly have defects."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30751781

[Stanley]

As cars get more complicated and the public demands absolute safety we get into a situation where this is perhaps the new consumerism, The ability of news to spread by social websites makes it easier for these demands to surface.
What is exercising me is my steam engine cylinder, such a shame for it not to be part of an engine.....

[Tizer]

`What happened to England's forgotten railway stations?' BBC web page, 12 Jan 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29816152

[Thomo]

This afternoon we had a visit from the descendants of a Soldier who died in WW1. Private William (Willie) Dowd. Williams name was added to our Memorial in 2013. today his Grandaughter, her Sister, Sheila and husband came for copies of the book. Williams Grandaughter Maureen was at school with my wife, so there was much to talk about. Ian (Panbiker), thank you for the "heads up" on this, it is again another result. Pic is from L to R Memsahib, Maureen Dowd, her Sister Sheila and her Husband.

[PanBiker]

Sound like a good meet up Peter, all from a posting on one of the local towns Facebook sites, a good result.

[Stanley]

THIS report in the Guardian about the current edition of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. They are printing 3million copies.....

[Tizer]

Amidst all this talk about `defending the right to offend', Jim Naughtie on Radio 4 this morning mentioned that Oxford University Press - one of our most famous publishers and associated with one of our leading universities - includes among its instructions to authors a sentence telling them not to use the words `pig' or `pork' because they may cause offence to some people. Coincidentally, it looks like somebody has got thrown out of Big Brother for using the word Negro.

[PanBiker]

The government pulling the plug on NMP's inability to meet targets on the decommissioning contract for nuclear waste sites at Sellafield. The task will be transferred to state control although this step in itself will take a further 15 months. NMP are six years into a projected 17 year contract on the site and massively over budget. The total time for clean up is judged to be over 120 years. Part of this contract is the clean up of Britain's worst nuclear accident of October 1957 when the site was know as Windscale. Nearly 60 years after the event and they still can't manage it.

Sellafield nuclear clean-up firms to be stripped of £20bn contract

[Bruff]

Is that true regarding the OUP, or has Mr Naughtie been suckered by an urban myth? I only ask as the OUP publishes the Oxford English Dictionary and I’m sure that will include the words pig and pork, as well as stuff like pig iron and pork-barrel. I find it inconceivable too that the OUP would refuse to publish a book on the Bay of Pigs say.

As for ‘negro’, quite right. Refer to someone being black if you must. It’s like folk saying ‘coloured’. What, you mean someone is blue?

Richard Broughton

[Thomo]

Some of the current political correctness has I believe gone just a tad too far. Negro, or Negroid is much the same as Caucasian, or White as opposed to Black, neither of which are actually colours, it is a generalisation, White being the light that when absent leaves black, or vice versa! A Pig is an animal of which Pork is a product, The word "Pig" can be used as a derogatory term for Officers, whether Military or Civilian, or someone without table manners. Other words, including Chalky, Limey, Honkey, Whitey and smelling of dead fish, we can hear, and ignore without serious offence. This type of political correctness appears to be a single edged sword, indeed so does racism, some can become deeply offended, the rest just get on with it. Since the events in France, there have been many attempts to show unity, and some very noble sentiments expressed, but such things cannot work without co-operation, and toleration has to come from both sides, not just the host country. There is one term that must not be used here, yet is frequently used by they who could become offended, particularly in the country of their origin, I know this because I have been there !!!

[Stanley]

This PC is very confusing. The NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) is one of the oldest campaigning groups in America.



The bad news is that I had a funny turn and started climbing ladders. The good news is that the refurbished 2X35watt light is back up on the ceiling.... Now all Mo has to do when he comes this week is help me put the new 2X35 up over the Harrison Lathe in the shed....

[Stanley]

Very bright in here this morning.....

[Bruff]

Well it appears that Mr Naughtie was not mentioning an urban myth; report in the press today here

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/j ... guidelines

But from the report it appears that this is about textbooks (rather than academic publishing), which are sold the world over, and so authors should be mindful of what the OUP term ‘cultural sensibilities’, given that they tend to be approved for use in schools by the local education Ministries. My reading of what these sensibilities might be are the sort we would see emerge here if say, textbooks on relationships aimed at children decided to use a gay couple; or a wedding was illustrated with a same-sex couple.

So something and nothing really.

Richard Broughton

[Tizer]

The trouble is this, Richard: it would be OK if the publishers were targeting the books at a particular country or geographical area and thus customising the book to suit those students. But instead they want the books to be sold globally so they demand that all the taboo words are avoided and that's when it gets ridiculous. If they want to reflect local cultural sensitivities then they should publish different books for different areas. It would be more expensive but it would be a far better solution.

[Stanley]

See THIS for an analysis of the significance for the collapse in copper prices. Often called 'Dr Copper' it is possibly the most reliable indicator of the state of the global economy.
See THIS for a BBC report on the two men who have 'free climbed' El Capitan in the Yosemite National Park. 19 days, over 3,000ft and no climbing aids. I can't make up my mind whether they are madmen of heroes, probably both! I'm glad they survived and were successful.

[David Whipp]

The power cut we've had overnight. Only a short one, but it's knocked all our equipment off.

Cuts can be checked on the Northern Power Grid site.

Faults should be phoned in on 0330 123 0675 or 0800 375 675.

[Stanley]

No drop out in East Hill Area David....
BBC announcer this morning "the lowest price ever since 1984" Sloppy grammar, 'lowest' is qualified by the date. 'Ever' is redundant. I know I am a pedant but this annoys me.....
The BBC programme about the super-rich last night. It begins to look as though I was ahead of the curve when I was banging on about 'the economic miracle' for months. Other people have been taking notice of economists like Stiglitz and Piketty when they predicted that GDP in the 21st century will slow and the effect is that more and more money will be locked up in the top 1% of capital holders. At the moment they control 14% of the nation's wealth and this proportion is rising rapidly. Interesting hearing one of the highest paid men in the world (£28million per annum) wriggling on the hook when confronted by the facts. The bottom line of course is that if and when dissent and chaos spreads, he and his ilk will suffer just like anyone else as their world falls to pieces. Madness.....

[Stanley]

See THIS for the report of the finding of Beagle 2 exactly where it was supposed to be on Mars. What a pity Colin Pillinger wasn't alive to be vindicated. The fault was that one of the solar panels failed to open and it was masking the radio transmitter so Beagle couldn't tell us where it was.

See THIS for an account of the unexpected revaluation of the Swiss Franc yesterday. I don't fully understand the reasons but this has been bad news for some financial houses. Several have bankrupted or are expected to do so. Those who live by the sword sometimes die by it.....

Mail from grandchildren in Oz who are reading my memoirs. They say they are loving them. Of course that's why I wrote them, to give them some idea who their grand dad is... Lovely to know the hard work paid off!

[Tizer]

BBC announcer this morning "the lowest price ever since 1984" Sloppy grammar, 'lowest' is qualified by the date. 'Ever' is redundant. I know I am a pedant but this annoys me.....

I noticed when looking at a Co-op Buildings Insurance quote that it started out by saying cover included damage to the building by "fire, lighting, earthquake, explosion...". Damage by `lighting'? Their inability to check what they've written in important documents gives me little confidence in Co-op insurance! I wonder if it's a cunning wheeze to escape having to pay out on lightning strike damage?

Perhaps you heard the news this morning that half of boys and two-thirds of girls don't shower after PT at school. And I thought kids were always taking showers these days. Is it because they're now too shy to let others see them without their clothes? That doesn't stack up with the evidence of the way girls dress! But then I notice when in a public toilet that many young men now don't use the urinals, they go into a cubicle for a pee as if they're too shy to stand by someone else while peeing. Do they not get the experience of using a urinal as a child now? Do the boys' toilets at schools no longer have urinals? So many questions...

[PanBiker]

Another question would be how many of them actually do PT or hard physical sport. When I was at school we did cross country runs and played football in all weathers if it was on the timetable and sometimes when not! we had a sadistic head of PE in our first year at secondary school who insisted on every PE lesson starting with a cross country, even if we should have been in the gym. Showers were mandatory as you were invariably cold wet and mucky. Turning the showers to cold was a quick way of getting everyone out as well! How may school sports fields have been sold off now with the knock on effect of less active sport for kids?

On communal changing, you could be right about the shyness bit, anyone would think they had something different. It may be a product of the more mollycoddled lives kids are subject to, (less early independence development). Wouldn't do for them to visit the "Blue Lagoon" hot springs in Iceland. Two changing rooms, one for men and one for the ladies, each have open hot showers at one end of the room, full width of the wall, rest of the changing rooms are rows of seats and lockers. All you need, no one has any hang ups about this everyone just gets on with it and enjoys themselves.

[plaques]

I've used the Co-op insurance for years. On the odd occasion I've had to make a claim they have always been more than helpful. Can't really fault them.
As a regular user of the sports centre my only beef is that people don't use the showers before they go into the swimming pool. There's plenty of activity after a swim to get the chlorine smell away but it does make you think about their personal hygiene.

[PanBiker]

Two things, the temperature read out on my car dashboard read -7c this lunchtime, it was reading 28c by the time we got to Colne. New sensor in order I reckon.

Other thing is an ongoing phenomena outside our front window. I noticed before Christmas that there is a dead leaf hanging from the dormant climbing rose that is on the ornamental wooden arch in our front garden. I think the leaf is from our pear tree and has probably been there since the Autumn fall. It is attached to the arch by a single spider thread. None of the lousy weather or the high winds have caused it to break. Quite amazing when you think that it has been hanging there for probably 3 to 4 months!

[PanBiker]

Saw a fully grown Fox trotting across the field to the right of Bob Prestons this afternoon on our walk. Quite unusual to see them during the day.

[David Whipp]

The damaged concrete lamp column on The Butts below Taylor Street...

Later, I checked to see if the column had been sorted out. Sometime between 2pm and 4pm a car had struck the lamp-post leaving it in three or four pieces and electric wires sticking out. When I looked after 6pm two LCC trucks were there dealing with the problem.