News – Page 49

Ambulance Service Staff Facing An Investigation – Why ?

Because they let their hair down. Because they let off steam. Because they were relaxing.

They were doing no more than any other person does in the down times between periods of high activity. They were certainly doing no wrong.

Well perhaps I will concede that they did do one thing wrong. They published their photos on Facebook.

They wanted to share their laughs with a wider audience and in so doing they managed to alert the jobsworths up at HQ. As I have posted before Facebook is such a risky place to publish stuff. It can be a laugh but it is a doubled edged tool and for those who don’t have a sense of humour or perhaps have another agenda it provides a rich source of evidence to be used against an individual.

In this case some jobsworth at South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust has said: ‘They’re bringing the service into disrepute.’

Rubbish !!!

They are showing that they are human. These folks are quite often called to appalling incidents and certainly over the last few days have been under severe pressure to provide a service to the public over long hours in and in very difficult conditions. So come on cut them some slack.

I wonder, Who found out about this first. Was it South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust or was it The Mail ? Who dobbed who in ?

And once again the press have shown that they can bias a story such that the subject is in the wrong. With a slightly different slant this would have been a feel good article which would have put a smile on our faces.

Taking The Piss

Benefits Christmas: Single mother Eloise spends £3,000 to give her four children EVERYTHING they want for Christmas.

And guess what? You’re paying for it

This woman is taking the piss.

Not only that but she has the gall to allow the Mail to report on her. Either she is totally thick and doesn’t realise the uproar this article will cause or she is so programmed into the benefit culture that she doesn’t see that there is anything wrong.

My only hope is that the powers that be actually do something about this. Review her case and ensure that she is on the very minimum that she is entitled to. Ensure that she is only getting valid benefits.

This is a slap in the face for every decent hardworking individual that struggles to give their family a home.

BAA You Should Hang Your Heads In Shame

Yes you BAA !!!

The appalling chaos that Heathrow, this countries premiere airport, is experiencing is down to your poor management through this extreme weather. Yes it may be an unusual experience but it’s not as if you didn’t have any warning. And this is the 3rd time in 12 months that we have experienced extreme weather conditions.

It’s taken you 4 days to get the 2nd runway open. Even allowing for the huge amount of snowfall this amounts to total incompetence. You were offered help to get Heathrow cleared. Whilst some clearing activities may require specialist knowledge and specialised equipment but the sheer volume of snow required basic grunt which could have been supplied by the troops. So why did BAA not accept the governments offer of troops to help clear the runways at Heathrow ?

Also why is it that Gatwick, a smaller airport, has invested more (£1m) in equipment to deal with snow than Heathrow (£500,000) and has plans to invest much more. Gatwick plans £7m investment next year whilst Heathrow is planning to spend just £3m over the next four years. Does this show the BAA as a forward thinking organisation. I don’t think so. Obviously Gatwick are using a different oracle to BAA.

And as for the human element. BAA may shrug their shoulders and say that the responsibility for the passengers is down to individual carriers but lets not forget the root cause here. BAA failed to keep the airport operational. Therefore the airlines were unable to fly their planes in and out which in turn means that hundreds of thousands of passengers are left stranded. I feel for the passengers whose biggest gripe seems to be the lack of communication. I have personally experienced the way in which the airline industry handles this when one or two planes are delayed. The blatant lies, the lies by omission and the misinformation. I am sure that over the last week this has been magnified a thousand fold.

Folks you have my sympathy. Whichever way you look at it BAA have let you down and they have let this country down.

Have just heard claims that the BAA didn’t stock up on enough de-icer and there are calls for Colin Matthews to relinquish his “6 figure” bonus. It just gets more bizarre.

Why Do We Blindly Following The American Model

“Product placement and annoying sponsorship credits will be introduced to British TV shows in February, unleashing a new era of cynical advertising tactics on UK audiences.“

Why on earth would we product placement, sponsorship alerts and all the other possible irritants thrust into our living rooms.

We already have too many adverts on our TVs. ITV throws up adverts at the most inopportune moments in TV dramas and also during sports events. These spoil the flow of the action and can destroy the atmosphere of a great drama. Sky is worse with seemingly unending commercial breaks. The only benefit being that you can leave the room and make a pot of tea during a Sky break.

At least on BBC and Sky you can watch a movie from start to finish without any breaks so you can totally immerse yourself.

Lets not forget that we already have to suffer DOGs (Digital On-Screen Graphics) on most channels these days. These are already being “enhanced” by the addition of blurb previewing up coming programs. We are not stupid, we know that these are there purely to imprint the brand in our psyche.

Despite what the broadcasters say i.e that the DOGs are there to help us identify their channels when tuning our TVs. What a load of twaddle given how smart the current electronic equipment is . My TV was able to tune all the stations in and identify them all without, I am sure, reading the DOG that was displayed in the corner of the screen.

I have experienced TV around the world and we should feel proud that we have pretty much resisted the worst elements. Our generally blind following of US trends and our now apparent migration to the US style of TV is the thin end of the wedge.

The powers that be in allowing product placement to join all this other visual graffiti are doing us, the great british public, a disservice and I for one, do not want it.

Mail Article Is Misleading

“Distraught children find dead deer entombed in icy lake on ‘magical’ trip to see Father Christmas at country park“

Did any children actually discover these deer ? I doubt it. This is the press sensationlising a mildly interesting story. Yes some children have probably seen parts of some deer projecting from the ice. Did it horrify them or Traumatise them ? I sincerely doubt it.

If an employee from Whitworth Hall Country Park had reported this I doubt it would have warranted a headline in a national paper.

This is just one of the many sad events that are occurring all over the country while we are locked into this foul weather.

Time for some balanced reporting don’t you think

Brucies Got Talent

If Simon Cowell gets a knighthood and Bruce Forsyth doesn’t that will be a travesty.

Brucie has been entertaining the UK for over 70 years.

What has Simon Cowell done ?

Well he, Cowell has blighted UK television for a start. X-Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and so forth all prime examples of how money and hype can sway public opinions.

I like a talent show as much as the next person. But the Cowell touch is just too much. These programs are oversold, the acts are over produced. We don’t actually see the natural talent shining through.

I for one am gagging as a result of being force-fed these shows. It’s almost 24/7. There is no let up. You turn on the TV and no matter what show you watch they have to have a guest appearance of the latest Cowell protegé. You can turn from ITV to BBC and see the same folks performing the same songs within an hour or so.

There is so little news that our papers are filled with latest Cowell celebrity “news” to the extent that it precedes real news.

In contrast, Bruce has appeared on our screens for many decades. He elicits real warmth of feeling from the public despite his trademark corny, recycled, jokes. Although every now and agin he does produce a real gem. And he has real talent and charisma, proven by how long he has survived. Also remarkable is the fact, that in an increasingly ageist profession, he is able to continue working.

What is amazing is the fact that he has not yet been nominated for a knighthood.

And why is that ? Is it because he doesn’t line the pockets of our government ministers or more specifically their party coffers.

Over the years it has become increasingly obvious how our governments have become more susceptible to the spin, hype and celebrity promotion of business.

Is this the real reason that the likes of Cowell will be rewarded and Brucie won’t.

Who’s Got Talent ? ….. Brucies Got Talent !!!

Are We Supposed To Feel Sorry For Julian Assange ?

Do you ? Because I don’t.

Assange and WikiLeaks are the worst face of our society today where it seems some people think that it is the publics right to know everything about everyone and beggar the consequences.

What did he expect when he started WikiLeaks ? A pat on the back, awards for journalistic excellence ?

If you run amuck stamping people’s toes you must expect there to be consequences. Or to put it another way, you reap what you sow.

Mr Assange seems keen to propagate the theory that the allegations being made against him by two women in Sweden are part of a smear campaign. Perhaps part of a wider conspiracy that will see him extradited to the US where, perhaps quite rightly, he is scared he will end up.

Recently, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, has indicated that the actions of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have made it difficult to conduct business with friends and allies .

Diplomacy is difficult enough without raising the paranoia levels of everyone involved.

My view, he deserves everything he gets.

Get Juggernauts Off Residential Roads

Before we go any further I don’t really want to get them off the roads completely. There is a place for them but it certainly isn’t delivering to our local Tesco Express.

To be precise, the WATERLOOVILLE LAVENDER ROAD EXPRESS.

Lavender Road is a residential road leading off Frendstaple Road. It is the main access to a number of private homes, an old folks home and the local doctors surgery as well as being the address for the aforementioned Tesco store which has a car park capable of taking nearly 20 vehicles.

This road is regularly compromised by the parking up of articulated lorries which are waiting their turn to deliver goods to the store. They are usually waiting because there is already an articulated lorry offloading.

Any vehicle parked in this spot would be causing a hazard but an articulated lorry is well over 40 feet long. If a car was parked in this spot you do have some chance of seeing around it and even some visibility through the windows. An articulated lorry doesn’t give you any visibility through the vehicle, it is significantly wider than a car and also higher.

Quite often lorries parked here do so facing the wrong way. That is to say it is parked on the right hand side of the road, facing the oncoming traffic who, if they are turning left into Lavender Road, cannot see if there is anything coming towards them until they are already exposed.
I guess the direction they are facing doesn’t really matter since the obstruction is the same either way.
The folks who were lucky enough to have safely made it into the car park and now wish to leave cannot see round the back end of the trailer (or front) to see those vehicles that are also playing Russian Roulette and about to make the dash along the far side of the trailer.
At peak times in the morning i.e. during the school run this road at its junction with Frendstaple Road becomes very busy. With an articulated lorry parked just short of the junction to say this road becomes congested is an understatement

If there hasn’t already been an accident caused by these trucks I will be very surprised.

The current weather / road conditions has exacerbated the situation. I was witness to latest milk delivery when the truck driver was struggling to turn his vehicle around so that he could reverse up to the Tesco loading dock. Needless to say his 40ft trailer did not want to go where he wanted it to go as it skated from side to side on the ice. During his many attempts access to the doctor’s surgery, the old folks home and a number of private houses was completely blocked.

Come on Tesco. This is dangerous. Its time for you to rethink the delivery options to your local stores before you cause the death of one of your customers.

The Cameron Government is Being Misled

I’m glad that I am not the only one saying this. You would think that the Ministry Of Defence would take an unbiased view at what this country needs. But once again it seems as if our armed forces are doing what they do best which is bicker amongst themselves. They are all jostling to make sure that get the biggest slices of the ever shrinking cake that is the Defence Budget. And he that shouts loudest and longest gets the biggest slice. Never mind if it makes tactical or logistical sense.

And so here we are about to expose Britain once again to the possibility of military action, just like dropping your trousers, bending over and inviting all comers to take a swing with their hobnail boots.

Ever since the announcement that the Harriers were to be retired (scrapped) the press has been full of voices saying this is a mistake. And the latest has exposed the truth of it. The RAF once again trumpeting their ability to provide air cover for Great Britain’s assets.

Prime Minister David Cameron was today warned he was a ‘victim of bad and biased briefing’ in his decision to scrap Harrier jump jets.

“In a letter to the prime minister, Lord Alan West hints heavy lobbying by RAF chiefs during the defence review led to the wrong call being made.
He urges Mr Cameron to ‘take a last look’ at his decision to axe the navy’s Harriers and keep hold of the air force’s Tornado jets.”

This is exactly the foolhardy actions that made us the sitting target that the Argentine military thought we were and led to the Falklands conflict.

The RAF had lobbied hard and ~~sold~~ misled the then government on the premise that the RAF could provide whatever air support was necessary. They were proven wrong then and if the government proceeds along the path they are on now we will find ourselves at the mercy of some tin pot military action the other side of the planet. And once again we will have to commit unnatural acts to get ourselves out of the mire.

And don’t think that our “friends” will help us out. They didn’t back then and they won’t the next time either. Due to all the politicking that goes on around the planet, they were unable to openly support us as they might step on somebody else toes. A someone who isn’t quite as friendly with us.

So come on Cameron, don’t let the RAF pull the wool over your eyes. Keep the Harriers and put some money into keeping a carrier fleet that is able to fly planes as well as helicopters.

Its All The Fault Of The Police

Here we go again !!!

A student ends up in hospital and its all the polices fault or so says his mother who wasn’t actually with him when he received his injury.

Who’s to say that he didn’t receive his injury from something thrown by one of his fellow protesters ?

Whilst I sympathise with him regarding his injury at the same time I find myself exasperated. Surely, given the recent media coverage of recent protests, is there anyone who doesn’t understand the risks of being involved in such an event.

Anyone who attends one of these protests, after what has previously occurred over last couple of weeks, surely does so at their own risk.

He may well be one of the majority of peaceful protesters but once again I say they are culpable if they don’t stop the anarchic minority from causing mayhem. It is unfair to automatically blaim the police every time someone gets hurt.