Seen in the News

[Tizer]

A 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Rami al-Halhouli, out with his mates yesterday at a refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem made the mistake of rising to a `dare' and lighting a firework. Before the firework went off he was shot through the heart by an Israeli border police officer.

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir hailed the officer who shot Rami as a "hero and a warrior", saying he had done an "exemplary job" and would receive the full support of the minister's office. Mr Ben-Gvir branded Rami al-Halhouli a "terrorist". BBC

I can't think of anything further to say.

[Tripps]

Camilla hasn't quite mastered this upgrade from 'first floosie' to "Queen" yet, and neither have her loyal subjects. Just seen her at Cheltenham presenting a trophy, where she has no 'presence' at all, and the commoners were showing no awe, or even a little deference. In fact the jockey Rachael Blackmore, has just helpfully steered Her Majesty into position on the podium, with a gentle nudge on the back. Last person to touch The Queen was Donald Trump - and I think it cost him the election.

PS It's even more serious than I thought. The kiss

Q. What does familiarity breed?

PPS Noted that Camilla's ex husband was also at the races, in the company of the Princess Royal with whom he was once 'friends'. 'It's all very cosy isn't it?

[Stanley]

" Rami al-Halhouli,"
And then I read ""hero and a warrior"
A perfect example of why I hate the Israeli Far Right. These are the attitudes of the factions that keep Netanyahu in power. According to our twisted current definitions this makes us anti-Semitic Peter.....
I refuse to accede to the logic that can brand a 12 year old boy a terrorist.
David, I read the Express report about 'The Kiss' and wondered how something as banal as that can qualify as news and then I saw this.....Camilla avoids wardrobe malfunction as she arrives at Cheltenham Festival .
As for Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles kissing the Princess Royal. He earned the privilege of familiarity with the Royal family by standing on one side to allow Charles to marry his concubine. That elevated class lives by a different rulebook than us proles.....
You are quite right, she hasn't mastered the transition to Queen and never will. More reinforcement for your comment about QE11 yesterday.

[Stanley]

THIS BBC report caught my attention this morning....
An Australian farm has smashed the record for the world's largest blueberry with a fruit the size of a ping-pong ball. Picked in November and stashed in a freezer since, the monster was almost 4cm wide and weighed in at 20.4g - about 10 times the average blueberry. The title was previously held by a 16.2g berry grown in Western Australia. The specimen is of a new variety developed by the Costa Group, to meet consumer demands for larger berries. Brad Hocking says the Eterna breed consistently yields huge fruit, but recent growing conditions had spurned a bumper crop at their farm in Corindi in northern New South Wales. His team had noticed some promising berries on the trees but were shocked and "stoked" when they were weighed. "It wasn't really until we put them on the scale that we realised what we found," the lead horticulturalist told the BBC. "The record-breaking fruit was obviously particularly large, but we would have picked 20 or more fruit on that morning that would have broken the previous world record." After 12 weeks, the berry was this week certified by Guinness World Records as the heaviest ever documented.

[Stanley]

I was reading THIS BBC report this morning.
Detectives believe they have identified all 35 bodies recovered at a funeral directors in Hull, which is at the centre of a police investigation. Humberside Police said it has had more than 1,500 calls from people concerned about their loved ones' remains. Few details about the investigation have been revealed but police said they had "concern for care of the deceased". Two people arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial have been bailed. The 46-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were also arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.
It brought home to me how much part trust plays in some of the transactions we make during our lives. In the case of undertakers we have no way of knowing who is in the coffin or whose ashes are in the urn. In this case doubt must have been cast on all the recent funerals that the firm has carried out. I hope the police investigation has been able to put their minds at rest.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report which illustrates the condition of some of our hospitals. Third world service?

[Tizer]

A newspaper's headline this morning tells us `Top secret UK military system still managed by Fujitsu'. And it's 2 years since the contract ended. LINK

[Stanley]

The real scandal is the fact that we can't manage top secret programmes like that in-house. Another example of how outsourcing can be a very slippery slope. We found that out a long time ago with hospital cleaners cutting corners under the Blair government but seem to have forgotten the valuable lessons we learned.
Janet once told me that she thought that clients paid more attention to IT advice when they had to pay for it, when it was in-house it was often ignored.

[Tizer]

I'm so cheesed off with both the current political world and the business world that I'm now wishing a government would come along and simply nationalise everything!

[Stanley]

I know the feeling and sympathise with you Peter. The ultimate nationalisation was the way we managed the country in WW2. When you look back, miracles were worked by a government of all the talents focussing on what was best for the country. The great con trick that is 'The Market' has taken over completely and those in control look after themselves first. Look at the returns that chief executives get now even in national enterprises like education. Remuneration Committees rule OK?
It's just struck me that the example we should all be looking at when assessing the efficiency of the market is the water companies. Their example should guide us.
I seem to remember some of us saying that if you're going to 'privatise' water and gas you might as well do the same for fresh air....... We were laughed at and told we were old-fashioned.......

[Tizer]

Seeing the BBC's report this afternoon on the latest UN negotiations over the Israel-Gaza war I find myself for once agreeing with Russia. This from the BBC's live feed....
Russia's ambassador to the Security Council Vasily Nebenzya made Moscow's opposition to the US draft resolution clear even before the vote. He accused the United States of doing nothing to rein in Israel in Gaza, and mocked Washington for speaking of a ceasefire after "Gaza has been virtually wiped off the face of the Earth". "We have observed a typical hypocritical spectacle," he said. Nebenzya said that the resolution would have "ensured the impunity of Israel, whose crimes are not even assessed in the draft".

[Big Kev]

The Princess of Wales has announced she is currently undergoing chemotherapy, after cancer was found, following her 'abdominal surgery' in January. Hopefully the speculation will stop now and they leave her alone to recover.

[Gloria]

I do wish they’d leave Kate alone, it’s like the media has a feeding frenzy and implies the world wants to know. Well me in my little world doesn’t want to be badgered to death with it. She has my sympathy, but why can’t they leave her alone?

[Stanley]

I agree Gloria but she accepts the advantages of being a Royal and this sort of media attention is part of the contract.
"He accused the United States of doing nothing to rein in Israel in Gaza, and mocked Washington for speaking of a ceasefire after "Gaza has been virtually wiped off the face of the Earth"."
I know Russia is The Bad Guy but you can't argue with that statement. The big mistake was to say from the beginning that Israel had a right to retaliate after October 7. And then supply the arms and do nothing to reign them in. 30,000 dead, the survivors starving and 50% of the infrastructure destroyed is a bit excessive......
I see that Hunt says that £100,000 a year isn't a huge salary in Surrey. He may be right but what matters is that it's fabulous wealth in Barnoldswick!

See THIS BBC report of the attack on the concert hall in Moscow.
Gunmen have attacked a concert hall on the fringes of Moscow, killing at least 60 people and wounding 100 more, Russian security services say. At least four attackers clad in camouflage gear took part in the attack, in the north-west suburb of Krasnogorsk, BBC-verified video shows. Crocus City Hall was about to host a rock concert when the gunmen burst into the foyer and then the theatre itself. Much of the building was engulfed by fire and part of the roof collapsed. Children are said to be among the casualties and the Russian foreign ministry has condemned a "terrorist attack".
Later reports say that US intelligence warned the Russians about the likelihood of an attack but was ridiculed by Putin.

[Tizer]

Russia keeps on being attacked by Islamic State and other terrorist groups but Putin now simply blames Ukraine.

[Stanley]

True Peter. I noted yesterday that he said that the suspects who had been captured were 'fleeing towards Ukraine'. Problem is that too many Russians believe every word he utters!
Today's home news is dominated by royal cancer.

[Tizer]

I noted yesterday that he said that the suspects who had been captured were 'fleeing towards Ukraine'.

Zelensky pointed out that trying to flee to the east and Ukraine would be suicidal because of all the military and police. They'd never make it out of Russia. Perhaps they did immediately go west; the concert hall is a few miles west of Moscow and it would be mad to flee into Moscow so they'd first go west then head south-east. The Americans had warned Putin about a forthcoming ISIS terrorist attack. If it wasn't ISIS it would likely be Chechens who've been attacking since the war in Chechnya.

[Tripps]

If it wasn't ISIS it would likely be Chechens who've been attacking since the war in Chechnya.

I remembered the Chechen revolt yesterday, and the fact that the Russians levelled Grozny in putting it down. It was a while ago, and didn't seem to be important to UK at the time. It looked like Gaza looks today.
I had a virtual drive round Grozny yesterday courtesy of Google, and it looks to have been totaly rebuilt and quite a normal town.

I half heard a reference to a "Water Park" in Gaza yesterday. Having been told for years that the area was a hell hole concentration camp -I found it hard to imagine such a thing.

However - seems it was true. Crazy Water Park
Apparently Hamas didn't allow their followers to enjoy themselves and so closed and destroyed it. They don't like men and women to 'mingle' together in public. A bit like the 'Iftar' in Barlick the other day.

[Stanley]

I'm intrigued by your parallel with Barlick David..... Were we frowning on men and women mingling?

I suppose I ought to be leading with the fact that that nice Mr Hunt is letting me have an 8.5% increase in pension under the Triple Lock next month but what trumped that for me is THIS report about a 12 year old boy being charged with attempted murder.
A 12-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder after a teenage girl was stabbed in Sittingbourne, Kent Police has said. The 15-year-old girl suffered injuries "consistent with a knife wound" at Adelaide Drive just before 16:00 GMT on Friday. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has also been charged with possession of an offensive weapon. He is due to appear at Medway Magistrates' Court on Monday.
I'll state the bleeding obvious.... Something has changed since I was 12 years old!

THIS Caught my eye.
The first female runner to complete one of the world's toughest races has said she did it for "women worldwide". Jasmin Paris is one of only 20 people to have finished the Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, USA, since it was extended to 100 miles in 1989. She crossed the finish line on Friday with 99 seconds to spare before the 60-hour cut-off. Jasmin, from Midlothian, Scotland, said she wanted to test the limits of what she was capable of and inspire others. The annual race at Frozen Head State Park involves five loops of roughly 20 miles (32km), with 60,000 ft (18,000m) of ascents and descents - twice the height of Mount Everest from sea level.
I have only one comment..... 'Include me out'.

[Wendyf]

It was Jasmin who won the Pennine Way Spine Race a few years back, breast feeding her baby at the checkpoints!

[Stanley]

I thought I recognised the name!
It's beyond me.....

[Tripps]

I'm intrigued by your parallel with Barlick David..... Were we frowning on men and women mingling?

Actually I'm frowning on the lack of mixing. Look at the photos of the event for yourself - I'd say the adult M/F ratio is about twenty or thirty to one. Iftar

[Stanley]

You're right David but look at the current agitation about women's pensions and reflect that it happened because women were treated as chattels not as citizens. On the whole women always get the mucky end of the stick.

THIS news item caught my eye this morning. It would appear I am not alone....
The number of smart meters in Great Britain not working properly has risen by over a million, the latest figures show. According to data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), 2.7 million were not operating in smart mode as of June 2023 - by the end of the year this had gone up to 3.98 million. Customers have reported being hit by massive bills caused by faulty meters, and the DESNZ says it is concerned that reporting errors by a minority of suppliers are behind the rise. Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers are obliged to replace faulty meters.Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity a household uses and show how much it costs in near real time. They can send readings via a remote connection to energy suppliers (smart mode, external). If they lose connection customers often rely on estimated bills, which should be corrected once the supplier has manual meter readings. But some customers have paid too much and struggled to get their money back – or too little and gone into debt. According to Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation focusing on the benefits of smart meters, there are now almost 35 million smart meters in Great Britain and the 'vast majority' are operating as intended. It said 88.6% were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, up from 87.3% the previous year.
I agree and sympathise with the stories told as examples by the two women, I too lost many hours of sleep, I couldn't relax with that on my mind all the time. In case anyone isn't up to speed, British Gas say that it's down to a wi-fi black spot in Barlick and they are 'working on it'. I don't believe a word of it as some meters work and others don't.
I have gone back to sending my readings in on the first day of each month.

[Wendyf]

You definitely aren't alone Stanley - Colin here pretending to be Wendy
This 'official' web page gives more info: THE FULL STORY ON UK SMART METERS
Not the full story, but as much info as you are likely to get
The system is as usual - totally cock-eyed.
Down south they use mobile signals - or not now that 3G is being switched off...
Up here in the frozen north we have to (not) use Long-Range Radio communications (LRR) supplied by Arqiva.
Ours supposedly comes from the TV Mast at Pendle Forest - but many areas - including yours in the depths of Barnoldswick can't get the signal.
I'm in that boat, as my signal is hidden behind Kelbrook moor.
I've spent many an entertaining hour/days/weeks (and money) on rigging up Yagi antennas to relay the signal to my Dumb Meter.
Roger my neighbour across the valley has got his to work by doing this, but he has a distant LOS path to The TX'ing mast.
My efforts are on-going.
It's so frustrating to be in a Smart Meter 'not-spot' along with broadband and mobile signal etc.
But the Gov as usual couldn't care less - for years Arqiva have been telling them they've met their installed target - but most don't work.
Ho hum

[PanBiker]

HI Colin, being that way inclined, I would be interested to know how you have interfaced the yagi to your meter? Is it via some extra bit of electronic kit of your own design maybe?