Seen in the News

[Tizer]

Whatever next?...
`Nose-picking health workers more likely to get Covid, study shows' LINK

[Stanley]

But to be really informative the study should also have looked at the positive aspects of nose-picking (and there are sure to be some, that's the way nature works!), which may even outweigh the downside.

[Tripps]

A couple of items in the news caught my attention in the last couple of days.

1. I heard R4 early doors and now know a lot more about the Manx language, the original inhabitants, and their abandoned houses (called 'falcons' I think), that seemingly abound on the island. Later I became better informed about the egg trade. Seems most of our eggs now come from Italy, but as we now have become used to paying a realistic price for them, more British producers are comimg back. I also listened to Gardeners' QuestionTime earlier. I have long believed that it should be made compulsory listening for recent arrivals in this country.

2. Police in Manchester are seeking a group of youths (photos provided) who rampaged in Market street recently with rioting and looting.

3. A father beat his daughter half senseless with an iron bar "which he carried for his protection" early in the morning of her GCSE exam, outside her school in Whalley Range. He was said to be concerned that she was wearing make up, and may have arranged to meet a boy. Cultural differences were mentioned in his defence. He was not jailed.

4. Those who say there should be no limit on 'asylum seekers' from East Africa might want to see what happened in Sweden recently. Eritrean cultural festival

Make of it all what you will. I'm escaping to Flash Gordon and the Purple Death on Talking Pictures TV.

[Stanley]

Welcome to my world David, Open Country and Farming This week, I never miss them. And yes OC on the Isle of Man was interesting but then it's always interesting when you hear someone talking in joined up sentences about a subject they are an expert on.
This morning at 05:35 there will be an interesting nature programme......

[Tizer]

We think our rain and floods have got worse but others are suffering more than we are...
`Typhoon Doksuri: Alarming pictures show floods in China, Philippines' LINK

[Tizer]

The Russians have been blowing up all the grain stores and now this...
`Ukraine war: Russia hits blood transfusion centre, says Zelensky' LINK

[Tripps]

I guess this is sort of related. Whilst the war in Ukraine remains active, and puts us on the brink of further more serious conflict, I find on a channel I watch quite a lot, a review of a frozen Chicken from Farm Foods which - it is revealed is imported from Ukraine and has the brand name Qualiko

UKRAINE
MHP Head Office,
158, Ak.Zabolotnogo Str
Kyiv, Ukraine, 03143
+380 44 207 99 40
export@mhp.com.ua

Can this be one of the long awaited benefits of Brexit. Show me as 'puzzled' (again).


Qualiko £1.99 chicken review

[Stanley]

In a sort of reverse ferret version of Seen in the news. It's notable that we hear remarkably little about the benefits of Brexit these days. I wonder why?

[Tizer]

I read that the Ukrainian army has been receiving British army trucks and fitting them with equipment to fire what are usually air-air missiles. They are fired in pairs and communicate with each other and with the truck. Once in the air one of the missiles is locked onto the enemy target and destroys it. The second missile automatically locks onto the enemy's tracking radar and destroys the location of that radar. War gets more complicated every day.

[Stanley]

More like a computer game each day! The sooner the generals and politicians can play virtually from their bedrooms the better. Less people killed and collateral damage that way.

[Tizer]

Perhaps Putin and Zelensky will mimic Musk and Zuckerburg and have a cage fight!

[Stanley]

lots of talk there but no action Peter....

[Stanley]

Let's hopE they have it right this time.

[Stanley]

Breaking news..... Legionella has been found in the water supply on the Bibby Stockholm. All 39 asylum seekers have been removed.

[Stanley]

See THIS piece by Angela Rayner on the recently announced cuts in funding for the Canal and River Trust by the Environment ministry. This short term decision is sheer vandalism and typical of the attitude of this government which knows the price of everything but not the value. Just one more example of the destruction they are wreaking on society and the environment.

[Tizer]

`‘An utter disgrace’: 90% of England’s most precious river habitats blighted by raw sewage and farming pollution' Guardian
The reports of pollution from farms usually concentrate on contamination with faecal matter and agrochemicals but another problem is the leaching of mineral and organic matter from the soil. The streams here around Taunton carry away fine silt every time we get heavy rain. That's a loss to the farmer and a hazard for water plants and animals because it blocks out light and leaves the stream bed coated with lifeless silt. I wish the farmers could get it into their head that allowing leaching of all that organic and inorganic matter is a financial loss. They might as well be throwing money into the river! It's an easy problem to solve but requires the farmers to do it. For example create marshy ground at the edge of streams, plant shrubs and trees along the stream sides, make holding ponds for water allowing silt to settle (which can then be returned to their land).

[Stanley]

There's a piece on the current Private Eye about the £718k annual salary of Nicola Shaw YW's CEO, the £9billion the foreign owners have paid out in dividends and share by-backs and the fact that the previous CEO, Richard Flint, got the CBE in 2020 'for services to the water Industry and the environment'.
Now tell me that privatisation of essential services is a good thing..........

[Tizer]

Have a look at this 2021 table of owner data...
Owners of water and sewerage companies in England (November 2021)

It was referenced in this article...
Let's take back our water

[Tripps]

Speaking of the home of Hollyoaks - Chester - What has happened to this trial?
The jury, after a nine month trial, has been 'out' for nearly a month, which I'd suggest is a little unusual.

The jury in the trial of baby murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby has been adjourned due to juror absences.
Letby, 33, denies murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit and attempting to murder 10 more. After nine months of hearing evidence, the jurors were last week considering verdicts on the 22 charges Letby faces. The 22 charges are seven of murder, and 15 of attempted murder, which the prosecution allege happened at the neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

On Monday, July 17, trial judge Mr Justice James Goss said only 10 of the 12 jurors were present, and that meant no deliberations could take place. The jury in the trial of baby murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby has been adjourned due to juror absences. After nine months of hearing evidence, the jurors were last week considering verdicts on the 22 charges Letby faces. The 22 charges are seven of murder, and 15 of attempted murder, which the prosecution allege happened at the neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

On Monday, July 17, trial judge Mr Justice James Goss said only 10 of the 12 jurors were present, and that meant no deliberations could take place.

Hopefully we are not heading for a retrial.

[Stanley]

I'm not surprised there are absences. It must be terrible having to think and decide about a case like that.....

[Tizer]

`A meteor shower and a satellite 'train' caught on camera' BBC video

Wikipedia: As of May 2023, Starlink consists of over 4,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO),[5] which communicate with designated ground transceivers. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000.

Talking of space, I agree with the Astronomer Royal and many others that we should immediately stop trying to send humans into space. It's dangerous, it's not necessary and it's using eye-watering amounts of money that would be much better spent here on Earth making life better for billions of humans, preventing hunger, fighting disease, holding back climate change and improving our understanding of this planet (we know more about the Moon than we do about Earth's deepest oceans). I'm not saying we shouldn't study the universe beyond Earth - on the contrary, we will be able to study it better, more safely and at a fraction of the cost using robots and AI. And if humans want to experience the other planets and moons they will be able to do it on Earth by advances in virtual reality technology. Sending humans into space is simply a vanity project of national entities like NASA and an attempt to make big money by private businesses like those of Musk, Branson etc.

[Stanley]

I don't know enough to be certain about my attitude to it but your argument sounds very reasonable Peter. And until I know any different I'd be happy with that.
David's question was very timely. We got the answer yesterday. See THIS BBC report on the verdict in the trial. She looks as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. I find the attitude of the hospital when consultants on the ward raised the matter with her managers very disturbing. They seem to have been more concerned with avoiding bad publicity than protecting the babies.....

[Stanley]

I think there is little doubt that the main topic of conversation (one way or another) Is going to be the Final of the Women's World Cup in Australia. As far as the politicians are concerned today's cartoon sums it up I think......

[Tripps]

There is much discussion about why Prince William has not gone to Australia to support the 'Lionesses' in the womens world cup final,

Aspects of the affair which have not got much attention - why on earth is he President of the Football Association? Ask someone else about the detail - I just don't think it's appropriate. It's a big money, poor behaviour, area which doesn't need royal patronage. For starters - why not make the NSPCC the RSPCC ?

What if they lose - (1-0 to Spain as I type) - that would be a bit embarrassing -though we are world class at getting beat.

What if his reception in Australia was less than enthusiastic. the lionesses knocked Australia out - he may not get a good welcome. Such a visit needs a lot of organising. There isn't time, and republicanism is gaining support.

Best watch it on the TV.

PS - that's what I did, and quite enjoyed it all. I contrast to the mens' game - I did not see a single sequence of mid field passes resulting in a pass back to the goalkeeper. On gaining possession each team immediately set off the get a goal. There was no time wasting - including by the Spaniards when they were in the lead with only minutes to go, and it might have been forgiven. The skills and enthusiasm of both sides was memorable.

It's only a game. . . .

[Stanley]

I agree David. I dipped in and out of the TV coverage and it seemed to me that Spain were the best of two good sides.
Sunak will have to deal with an English loss. It's not going to be any sort of shield for him.