Seen in the News

[Whyperion]

We could go down the delivery people past in forgotten corners. The LMS and BR Parcels Office (red star parcels), The Royal Mail (designed for letters but its own distribution) White Arrow was formed by the mail order companies that came under the Moores/Great Universal operations. Most parcel carriers were nationalised into BRS British Road Services (Carter Patterson, some of Pickfords) others whose names I dont know without looking. The BRS 'Noddy' Van and Karrier 'Walk-Thru' continue in variations with the UPS franchise of today, TNT does use electric vehicles in urban areas, Most run on a Trunk to one or more central sortastations and back out overnight to localised hubs for the distributor pickup. Your Tesco Skipton order is little different from Stanley's Van (or bike) from Earby to nearby customers, it is the packaging and bulk of todays that seem more. The large retail stores were designed for the masses to go to, that was the thinking, now the stuff is coming back to the masses, so the wheel of change comes back to the beginning.

[Stanley]

Send all the parcels by Post?

[Tizer]

The Times has been warning about the Tavistock Clinic for a long time. Even the clinic's own staff have concerns about it. Children are being accepted by the clinic for treatment with puberty blockers because the parents would rather they be `transgender' than risk becoming homosexual...
`NHS child gender clinic: Staff concerns 'shut down'' LINK

[PanBiker]

It does beg the question, the small, 1" x 1/2" power resistor I recently ordered was delivered by a courier service. The package was smaller than a normal letter! Cost will be the driving force you can pay a delivery driver next to nowt and make them work their backsides off with unattainable targets, hence the need to dump and run in many cases. Some delivery drivers don't even get out of the vehicle they just wind the window down and throw your goods somewhere near your door or into the yard. Larger items would have to come by van but I cant see why smaller items should not come by post. Apart from the fact that the postal service has been run down to the point that they can no longer handle the volume.

[Marilyn]

Tizer...transgender individuals can still be homosexual or heterosexual. Transitioning is about how they perceive THEIR OWN BODIES...not what their sexual preferences may be.
You may need to sit down with a strong cup of tea and get your head around it...

[Whyperion]

When the Royal Mail went over to volumetric pricing the level of costs and prices became bewildering, then the Parcels business was made to Add VAT rather than being an Exempt (rather than Zero Rated) Supply, changing a number of delivery options of internet paying per delivery, counted paid postage mark /labels or franked impressions. It becomes, and comparing with private distributions sometimes by online 'aggregators' , a bewildering cost analysis. It was only when I found an old (1930s) Post Office Guide - and the old Kelly's Directories also had post office guide, which incorporate good that cannot be sent, prices shapes and restrictions by speed of delivery and destination (world wide exports too including BFPO), a massive amount of verbage from victorian bureaucrats.

[Stanley]

Maz, you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick, that wasn't what Tiz was on about. There have been some quite shocking revelations about internal policies at the Tavistock Clinic as whistle-blowers open the subject up and I agree with Tiz, what has come to light so far is very disturbing.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the stabbings in Reading. Looks like a random terrifying attack..... Funny old world....

[Tizer]

Stanley, thanks for your support about my Tavistock post.
Maz, I'm not giving my opinion of the Tavistock centre, I'm repeating the concerns of medics and psychologists.

[Stanley]

From what I can see of the Tavistock 'revelations' the treatment given to the children was not based so much on clinical need decided after proper examination and observation but more on the preferences/prejudices of the controlling managers. One of the main complaints voiced was putting the children on hormone therapy almost automatically, in effect, a subtle form of mutilation. If true it is a disgrace and should be stopped.
I see the Reading stabbings are now a terrorist incident.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the imminent reopening of pubs and restaurants with 'suitable precautions'. What puzzles me is how do you eat and drink wearing a face mask?
Is there any point in trying to police it?

[Tizer]

Just for you, Stanley...
`NJ hard seltzer company makes coronavirus face masks with drinking straw flap' LINK

[Stanley]

Nice one Tiz. "If a man makes a better mousetrap the world will flock to his door".
I looked it up and found this; "
The Value of Good Work,
Ralph Waldo Emerson.

If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon or make a better mouse trap than his neighbors, though he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

[Stanley]

Jury trials. There is a move to stop them 'temporarily'. Much suspicion and it is being pointed out that the present situation is more a product of the slashing of the budget for Justice since 2010 and not the virus. Too right!

[Stanley]

I was listening to a report from India on World Service reporting on the plague of hoppers they are having and the devastation to agriculture. We are so lucky! This is one thing we don't have to worry about but it made me think. We are told matter cannot be destroyed only transmuted, if this is the case what is the fertilizer value of the hoppers when they eventually die and decay? Could it be that one farmer's loss is another's gain? Answers please.

[Tizer]

In the past people would eat locusts but it's not safe to do so now because the swarms are sprayed with very toxic insecticides.

Now for something different...
'It's cold and damp': Seeking a workmate in a historic Australian tunnel LINK

[Stanley]

What a nice bloke! I hope he finds a co-tenant. Good idea to farm mushrooms though..... should he expand?

[Stanley]

Heard on World Service... an interesting discussion on the future of office buildings in cities. Some large organisations like Barclay's have realised that home working is efficient and economic. Estimates are as high as 40% of home workers never having to go back to the daily commute into large expensive office buildings in the city. This raises all sorts of questions about the future of what is being seen as an outmoded way of working, the buildings and the transport infrastructure needed to support them.
Just one of the possible consequences of the pandemic.

[plaques]

Estimates are as high as 40% of home workers never having to go back to the daily commute into large expensive office buildings in the city.

Convert them to flats, fill them full of office workers and get them to work from home. No commuting, everything delivered straight to your door. No need for a car. Move over battery hens here we come.

[Stanley]

I hadn't thought of that Ken! You old cynic! But nevertheless you could be right......

[Tizer]

With the onward march of AI the ex-office buildings will be given over to computers and robots.

[Stanley]

The effects on public transport?

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian article about Munira Mirza being put in charge of enquiring into Racial Inequality. Is this a brilliant appointment or a big mistake?
THIS Makes interesting reading.....

[Tizer]

`Rolling Stones warn Trump not to use their songs - or face legal action' LINK
Instead of trying legal action the Rolling Stones and other affected musicians should make songs about how Trump is terrible President and detail all the harm he does. Even better, write it to the tune of `You Can't Always Get What You Want' so that when Trump supporters hear the tune they won't know which version they're clapping and dancing too!

[Cathy]

Good on them! I’ll be keeping my eye on that story.