WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

I'm sure that's all accurate and true Tiz but whether it signals any immediate trouble for Putin is another matter. I doubt if it is a good idea to lose focus on what Russia is doing in the hope that all will change shortly because of the economy.

[Big Kev]

I'm more inclined to be concerned by North Korean long range missile tests than Russian tensions. It could just be 'foot stomping' from Kim Jong Il but worrying developments from a country run by a bit of a fruit loop...

[Pluggy]

"bit" of a fruit loop ?

I've got him down as a rabid crackpot myself.

[plaques]

I'm reminded of Tom Lehrer and his not so comedy song of "Who's Next" Lehrer.. It allows small countries to 'punch above their weight' at a cost to their own population. This probably now includes the UK.

[Tizer]

`Drone photography: on top of the world' LINK
Some terrific photos taken around the world using drones.

[Big Kev]

"bit" of a fruit loop ?

I've got him down as a rabid crackpot myself.

Probably a more accurate description

[David Whipp]

These dogs posing as I took a picture of the bridge at Greenberfield today.

Best wishes for 2017 to everyone.

[Stanley]

That's a Lancashire Life pic.....
See THIS for a Reuters report on the scandal that is gripping South Korea. I've just been listening to the BBC correspondent in Seoul commenting on it and he says that it is increasingly looking as though the allegations of collusion with Samsung are correct and could have very serious consequences for President Park who has already been deprived of her power. Interesting that he compares what is happening in Seoul, mass protest every day, with what seems to be happening in other countries. He sees evidence that there is rising disquiet about the levels of cooperation and perhaps collusion between large financial interests world-wide. When Cameron first came to power he said that lobbying and influence peddling was the next great political scandal but did nothing to stem the tide. I hope the BBC correspondent is right because there can be no doubt that the present situation is serious and a danger to democracy.

[plaques]

You can't get much more positive than this. Daily Mail on line...
Theresa May WILL stop EU migrants from claiming benefits. Then tempered down to.. 'Theresa May is planning..' 'It is understood Mrs May wants...' and finally adjusted to..'no 'magic bullet for migration' and that nothing had been finalised.' More gobbledygook aspirations, just read the head lines, don't bother to read further and for god's sake don't even start to think about what has been said.

[Stanley]

Dead right as usual P. The bad news is that we have years of this to come..... The thing that infuriates me about Cameron's Catastrophe is that the whole concept of Brexit is posited on ignorance and 19th century political DNA. Hasn't anyone noticed that we are in the midst of massive global change and that, as we have noted on this site before, one of the main consequences of these changes is going to be mass migrations to escape difficult conditions. The major factor at the moment is war and genocide rooted basically in mistakes made by 'The West' in treating the Middle East like an economical and strategic resource instead of the seat of civilisation and an area that should be nurtured but climate change is going to do the same thing anyway. Instead of retreating behind outdated national aspirations we should be looking outside our boundaries for greater international cooperation and the EEC was a good, if flawed start towards this. We are seeing exactly the same antediluvian thinking in America as Trump imposes his infantile view of the world on the US.
At the end of WW2 the world was shocked into considering the advantages of cooperation and there were changes. Even these are being eroded now by the cancer of ignorance. Sorry, but I see nothing good or progressive in what is happening and no sign that 'our leaders' are working on anything but gut feelings and aspirations based on massaging populism for electoral advantage. Hence what P has noted in the pages of the Mail.

[Tizer]

Plaques, you mustn't criticise the poor journalists, they work hard to hide the truth and to make their stories fit the beliefs of their readership. That's also one reason why they like the front page with an enormous picture leaving room for little text so they can get away with showing their favourite bit first then leaving the real meat of the story for somewhere else in the paper (which PE lampoons with, e.g., `See page 127'). It's always best to begin reading an article at the end to find out what it's really about!

Did you hear Michael Gove still touting the lie about £350 million for the NHS by leaving the EU? Perhaps he's said it so many times he now really believes it's true?

Are any of you getting annoying phone calls about boiler replacement? For several weeks before Christmas we were getting them every day and now it's started again - we've had two already this morning. They are a recorded voice beginning `This is an urgent announcement. If you are on benefits you can have your non-condensing boiler replaced free of charge...' and ending with `Press ... key now'. It's particularly annoying because we're not on benefits and we don't need a new boiler. Each call seems to come from a different phone number, all UK numbers and appearing to be from all over the country. I know the government has a scheme for replacing boilers and it is only for folk on benefits but I don't understand why we are getting so many calls...if we'd wanted one we would have responded by now. When I search the web for information it seems the boiler replacements were being arranged by a company called Mark Group but it collapsed and the project was taken over in 2015 by a US company called SunEdison, but that company filed for bankruptcy in April 2016. I don't know who's involved now but I'd be very wary of the phone calls - even if I was eligible!

[Stanley]

I can't say whether I am getting boiler calls or not because as soon as I hear a recorded voice, especially one that starts "This is an important message....." I hang up but I'll bet I have had them. My policy of only answering the phone before noon could be slowly paying off because I don't get anywhere near the number I used to have. I have another current rant but will post in Politics........

[Wendyf]

We get constant "boiler" calls, some from local numbers. Another irritation now are calls from people wanting to offer us a maintenance contract on the solar panels.

[Tizer]

We had four boiler calls yesterday, and it's only the first day after the bank holiday! And just had another one and it's not 10.00 yet.
Every call seems to come from a different phone number and I suspect whoever is instigating them has set it up this way to avoid BT's new, much trumpeted way `to stop unwanted calls'. It's basically like a computer anti-spam software but relies on collecting the offending number and stopping them, so it won't stop the calls we are getting. I tried going to the Which web site where they are reporting offending numbers, but again that won't stop them. I don't want to waste my time repeatedly filling in a multi-page form on the Which site to report the numbers.

[Stanley]

That's the biggest irritation for me Tiz, the waste of time. I am not going to fall for any of the offers because like you, I decide when and where to make changes.
One overt offer that worries me is the new service heavily advertised on YTV for the company (whose name I forget) will manage your energy bills by switching you automatically to what is the current 'best offer'. In other words outsourcing the responsibility for your energy costs. Can you, like me, see the potential for trouble in this approach? I predict a flood of complaints down the line...... Outsourcing is contagious and it has spread from government into the private sector. It is in effect an abdication of responsibility in the hope of a quiet life. There is no such thing as a free lunch!

[Stanley]

The pleasure I got from Kev's visit to get the map files. Lovely to be able to do something that brings pleasure to someone. He'll make a lovely job of the blow ups for his wall. I still get pleasure every day from the composite he did for me in collaboration with you lot for my 80th birthday.....



The news in the BET that it is now official, among others, Earby and Barrowford libraries are to be sold. I can't tell you how angry I am that the LCC has been forced into this by budget cuts in the name of austerity. The public library system in Britain used to be the envy of the world.... this slashing of a public service could only happen under a government of Philistines who have no concept of social priorities.

[Tizer]

There's nowt like a good bit of wassailing... LINK

[Moh]

Not sure where to put this but I wondered if anyone knew how Doc. is getting on in his adventure.

[PanBiker]

Doc is recording his adventures via Facebook, you can read all about it here:

Doc's Facebook Page

[Stanley]

I'm listening to a council official talking about the amount of extra money that is needed to keep up with pothole repair on minor roads. The point was made by the interviewer that potholes slow traffic and are therefore a road safety aid. Basically the official refused to recognise this because it didn't fit in with his argument. I am reminded of the road into the outskirts of Carlisle in the 1960s and 70s. The last mile before you hit the city as you came in from Moss Band was famously terrible, it wasn't just a case of potholes but the whole road was breaking up and was randomly repaired by filling holes with tarmac. It was well known that the City Council left this piece of road in that condition because it slowed traffic down as it entered the city. At the same time they completely reconstructed the main A6 inside the City limits. So there may be something in the road safety argument......

[Stanley]

I wasn't sure where to put this. Over the years my hearing has deteriorated and the quality of sounds in my house has deteriorated. I've never made up my mind whether the deterioration is my ears or the equipment but have never chased the problem down. At the same time I had another sounds issue, one of the twin speakers hooked up to my computer had gone AWOL. I had this set of Busby speakers upstairs surplus to requirements and today I bit the bullet and brought them down, swapped for the duff system and threw them out. Then I went on the web and found Bach's Toccata and fugue on Youtube and played it.
Wonderful! Because the speakers are on my level (the others were on the floor) I'm getting full enjoyable sound so whilst my ears aren't as good as they used to be they are good enough! This encourages me to think about radio in the rest of the house. If anyone has any advice I'd be pleased to have it.....

[PanBiker]

It will be even better if you put the speakers either side of the desktop, you need a few feet if separation for effective stereo reproduction.

Bose do some good audio distribution systems, expensive but good quality.

[Wendyf]

Colin recently bought a Denon AV amplifier which we can play everything through, TV, radio etc....it was expensive but nothing like as expensive as Bose.

[Stanley]

I did that Ian and while I was at it found one of the speakers was not working so I remade all the connections and voilà, I now have two speakers on stereo and separated. Much better. Thanks for the nudge!
Much later.... I was so delighted with the sound that I went looking for old favourites. Have a look at these two short songs by Alberta Hunter. I met her when she was making a come-back aged 83 in a bar on Third Avenue in NY. She took a shine to me and we corresponded for many years. If you have a look at this you might understand why, this is how I remember her (LINK) and THIS . They are short but well worth a listen!

[Stanley]

How much clearer World Service is this morning!
Something I have noted is that the internet radio signal arrives considerably later than the FM signal. The pips don't match the clock on the screen!