Seen in the News

[Wendyf]

A possible return for Ivor the Engine!

[Tripps]

Some mitigation for the Christmas Eve situation. . .

No crib for a bed. . .

Noticed that the word 'mitigation' has been well used in recent weeks.

[Stanley]

"The annual puzzle which is the New Year Honours List"
Or farce. Depends on your point of view...

[Whyperion]

Big Ben's bongs as well as being back for New Year's Eve (the Clock tower is still undergoing repairs) , are being sounded on Jan 31st as UK leaves EU. Anyone would think we had one a war (if we have will we loose the peace, again?)

[Tripps]

Floella was on LBC this morning - she admitted she didn't know which way to order her honours, - and by the way - she also has an OBE.

[Stanley]

In the Civil Service the OBE is known as 'Other bugger's efforts'.....

[Stanley]

See THIS. In many ways it is old news but that doesn't make it in any way less shocking. New Year's Eve could be a good day to remind ourselves that this is one of the many scandalous facts that are out there bu, because of their scale. seem paradoxically to be invisible. If a country like ours can't ensure that people are fed adequately what hope is there for the rest of us?
Dickens had it right in Christmas Carol, Scrooge said "Are there no workhouses, are there no treadmills?" In the story he saw the light. How long before we do?

[Tizer]

Remember, they don't have central heating in India...
`India cold wave: Delhi reels from coldest day in more than a century' LINK
`..Delhi's nearly 200 night shelters have been filling up as the city's homeless seek refuge from the biting cold - the minimum temperature has remained between 1C and 3C over the past few days...'.

[Stanley]

I saw that report. These extreme weather events get more and more common..... Very worrying!
Just in, NSW authorities report that seven people have died in the fires.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the killing in Baghdad yesterday of the Iranian general thought to be a king pin in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the direct order of President Trump. To early to comment but this is serious and worrying. It has had an immediate effect on oil prices, Brent Crude rising by $4 a barrel. We will have to wait and see what transpires.

[Tizer]

Note the sentence in this article that says: `Mr Lu argued in court that the airline should have warned passengers not to throw coins at planes. It's not the first time superstitious passengers have been caught throwing coins at plane engines.' How have we managed to have so many gullible people in the 21st Century?
`Man who threw 'lucky' coins into plane engine fined' LINK

[Stanley]

As I have said so many times Tiz. Never, ever, underestimate the capacity of people to be totally stupid. THIS BBC story about the rise in the number of people who have never worked for money caught my attention. It's a slow burner at the moment but I believe it is just the tip of an iceberg that is going to become more and more important.

[Tizer]

We have a 14-year-old relative who had a Saturday job as waitress in the local park cafe until it shut, then found herself an evening job in a restaurant. Her 20-year-old sister had a Saturday job at Debenhams when she was doing A levels but now she's at Sheffield Uni she's concentrating on the final year of her psychology degree. It's not easy for youngsters to find part-time jobs now.

This lass has a sense of humour and knows how to use it against those who want to shoot her down...
`Greta Thunberg changes Twitter name to 'Sharon' after game show error' LINK

[plaques]

Getting temporary work. May I throw another factor into the mix. The minimum wage. Not that I'm against the minimum wage when you think of a 25+ year old with possibly a family to support who is trying to live off it. But with regard to temp work. A lot of small businesses with say less than 20 people may have a structured wage scale with the minimum wage for the least skilled and gradual differentials for the rest. Employing more minimum workers would upset the wage satisfaction requiring a rise throughout the staff. Its far easier not to take on any more temps than upset the balance and increase the overall costs.

[Stanley]

I saw the 'Sharon' story and reading the link I agree Tiz, exactly the right attitude. Highlights the inanity of the remarks without provocation. Brilliant!
Jobs and wages. I have long argued against the way the whole jobs market has moved. Quite obvious that all the evidence: Zero hours. Loss of overtime and benefits. Low rates that need government top-up even if you are in full time work. The rise of the 'gig' economy. points one way, reducing the costs of employing people. This plus the lack of training and proper apprenticeships has produced exactly what it was intended to, a low skill, low productivity work force. The technical term for it is a 'flexible labour market' in other words cheap and 'hire and fire' easily. Is the old contract of employment still a requirement? Has anyone got security of employment?
Harold's dictum "You never had it so good!" rings hollow in our brave new world.

[Stanley]

Later. See THIS BBC report of the latest news to emerge on HS2. "There is "overwhelming evidence" that the costs of HS2 are "out of control" and its benefits overstated, the deputy chair of its review panel has said. Lord Berkeley said the high-speed rail line, linking London and northern England, is likely to cost over £108bn. A vocal critic of HS2, the Labour peer said he believed MPs had been "misled" about the price - set at £55bn in 2015."
That confirms what others have said previously, some even being sacked for voicing it.

[chinatyke]

Later. See THIS BBC report of the latest news to emerge on HS2. "There is "overwhelming evidence" that the costs of HS2 are "out of control" and its benefits overstated, the deputy chair of its review panel has said. Lord Berkeley said the high-speed rail line, linking London and northern England, is likely to cost over £108bn. A vocal critic of HS2, the Labour peer said he believed MPs had been "misled" about the price - set at £55bn in 2015."
That confirms what others have said previously, some even being sacked for voicing it.

Well they have already spent more than a billion and so far only got a few artists impressions! The Chinese would have built it for that price!

[Big Kev]

HS2 looks to be a complete waste of money just to shave 20 minutes off of journey times. As I've said before, just leave 20 minutes earlier.

[Tizer]

Well they have already spent more than a billion and so far only got a few artists impressions! The Chinese would have built it for that price!

And Admiral Jackie Fisher would have built you several Dreadnoughts in the time that's passed so far!

The whole thing is preposterous when you think of the parlous state of the rest of the rail network. The money would have been better spent on providing more and better rolling stock so passengers could at least have a seat for their journey.

[PanBiker]

From a rail point of view we should have invested in Mag-Lev technology, we did invent it! Eric Laithwaite (UMIST) used to demonstrate his linear motor in the Christmas Science Lectures but successive governments would not invest. Japan took advantage of course. A mono-rail bullet train would make HS2 look like a clockwork train.

Wiki- Eric Laithwaite

[Stanley]

I agree about the over-engineering and speed. I have always said that £50billion (now £108billion) could be better spent. There is already most of the track in place on the old central line.....
As Kev says, if you want to gain twenty minutes get up earlier. The old line would connect more places as well. Expense of scrapping it is nothing compared with building it. Any bets that even £108billion would cover it?

[Tizer]

Another form of transport. It looks like this Russian company is racing ahead with driverless cars..
`CES 2020: The Russian car with no driver at the wheel' LINK

[Stanley]

I heard Zoe's report on R4 yesterday. Impressive but no way would I ever trust one! The one thing that is certain about computers is that they can go wrong and that thought would always be in my mind. One bug in the programme and ........ Then there's hacking and the baddies out there. Include me out!

[Tizer]

I heard Zoe's report on R4 yesterday. Impressive but no way would I ever trust one! The one thing that is certain about computers is that they can go wrong and that thought would always be in my mind. One bug in the programme and ........ Then there's hacking and the baddies out there. Include me out!

Balance against that the present danger of drivers who are inebriated on alcohol or drugs (legal or illegal), ones who have had too little sleep, angry drivers getting out of control, drivers on phones, drivers distracted by passengers, inexperienced drivers, elderly drivers getting to the stage of being unsafe....and cars driven by computer begin to look very attractive!

We think it's strange that Scotland is having high temperatures such as 18C in early January but in Russia the mild weather is much more of a shock...
`Russian fishermen pull cars from icy sea' LINK

[Stanley]

I agree Tiz, that's why I chucked my car and licence into touch. The other drivers frighten me these days!
I suppose you have all seen the flood of news coming in, Iranian missiles, stock market reactions and even the crash of a Ukrainian airliner.
However, the Iranian statement after the strike included the word 'concluded'. Trump tweets "All is well". It could be that calmer heads are prevailing. I hope so.