Essex Police: Incompetent or just plain lazy

Just how incompetent or lazy are ESSEX POLICE?

For a number of years now I have been asked by them to provide CCTV footage to assist in their investigations.  And for years I have burnt off CD's with the required information, of which at least 3 out of every 5 discs burnt to disc from the system are never collected.

Now burning off discs from images saved on the system is a relatively simple enough task but it does take time to do it and so, my time and effort is a wasted exercise initiated by ESSEX POLICE.

Now, when you think about it, no POLICE force would look kindly upon any person or group, who time after time, made a nuisance of themselves or wasted their time by phoning or contacting them on issues which were deemed to be time wasting.  In fact I would go as far as to say, that after a couple of time wasting calls or contacts the person wasting POLICE time would be arrested and charged for doing it!

So why shouldn't the POLICE OFFICER who phones me, not be treated in the same manner they would treat me, if I were guilty of that offence?

The most recent example of this was a phone call from an ESSEX POLICE Detective Sgt 'L' based in Rayleigh.  She called me on 31st August 2012, concerning a break in to a games shop in the market.

I had reviewed the CCTV but had no discs available to burn off, so suggested that if she wanted a copy that someone come down with a blank disc and I would do it for them.  I also explained that the two scrotes responsible for the break-in had originally turned up at the back of midnight to suss the place out and that during that visit there was probably at least two good facial images.  I further informed her that on their return to carry out the actual break-in at 2 AM they were on site for over an hour and that there was a couple of good facial shots during that time too!

She asked when I would have new disc to burn on to, and I told her Monday, she replied that they could wait until then. I suggested that she wait until the Tuesday as there was no guarantee what time the office ancillary items would be delivered by the courier.  I also informed her that I would be off from the Monday night, but that she would still be able to collect on the Tuesday, by visiting the office.

So, off I went on Monday afternoon 3rd of September, returning to the office on 10th September, and guess what, go to the top of the class if you guessed that the disc is still sitting on my desk 10 days later!   And this, after me informing her that someone in the POLICE force might well recognise the criminals if their images were emailed around the district to other stations, So just how much of a screw up are ESSEX POLICE?  You hand it to them on a plate and there is no hope of them actually following through, as I said this is not the first time, but it will be the last time.  I will not now be burning off CCTV footage for them unless they turn up with a Request for Disclosure of Personal Data Under Section 29 (3) of the Data Protection Act 1998 and there has to be an officer on site waiting for the disc to be burnt off.

On another incident recently a PCSO phoned me and said they wanted footage of another incident that had taken place, I asked why they needed it and she said in case there is an insurance claim, WTF! So I asked why, are ESSEX POLICE  now taking on the liability for insurance cover for the property? In the end a Sgt phoned me and when I explained my requirements he threatened to come to the site and seize it by way of trying to bully me into just burning it off for him.  So, not only do they appear incompetent and lazy, but if you do not give the item without complying with the rules, i.e. without the aforementioned 'request for Disclosure' which is a legal requirement, even for ESSEX POLICE to comply with, they try and bully you into submission..

On another incident today, after reporting that some of the local worthies had hidden a video recorder under a stall, after having been refused to have it bought from them by the local Cash Converters (pawn shop), two PCSO's from ESSEX POLICE arrived, caught up with them in one of the car parks and one of the PCSO's was eating her sandwich while questioning the 'suspects'! I know they have to eat, but in the street dealing with people. Maybe next time they'll pull out a fold down table and chair and invite the person being questioned to join them in a snack lunch!

So, I'll ask again JUST HOW INCOMPETENT and LAZY are ESSEX POLICE?

Mrs Pearce, aged 83 has a Complaint

While out for a walk on Saturday 2nd June I was walking along Deveron Gardens in South Ockendon when I bumped into Mrs Pearce. She is 83 and walks slowly with the aid of a walking stick.  I stopped to talk to her and she then started talking, complaining, and she had a right to, about cars parked on the pavements, forcing her into the road or onto what could be slippery grass verges.

Now Deveron Gardens is a street made up, primarily of single story small homes for the elderly , as you will see from the video below, two vehicles were parked right across the full width of the pavement.  This is not unusual and it even gets worse on Sundays and at other times when the Belhus Park Independent Evangelical Church has a meeting on - go figure that one for Christian community spirit - when they roll up to services and block the pavements in their posh cars!

So this is what Mrs Pearce had to say and she would like Thurrock Council to take a more proactive approach in dealing with offenders who block the pavements with their inconsiderate parking.

What say you Councillor Smith, Portfolio holder for Highways and Councillors Kiely and Johnson, ward councillors, what can you do for Mrs Pearce and the rest of us who are forced into the roads or on to slippery grass verges because of these people?

I shall send a link to this post to Cllrs, Smith, Kiely and Johnson and let you know, what if any response there is. buit should you want to email any of these councillors there addresses are:

ajsmith@thurrock.gov.uk

bjohnson@thurrock.gov.uk

akiely@thurrock.gov.uk

Apparently there is a positive side to being Raped!

I read a report in The Guardian on line today, that made me feel quite ill...

For some people who've been raped and had the baby, even if they don't keep it, something positive comes out of that whole rape experience," pupils aged 14 and 15 were told.

Wow, who would have thought that something positive could come out of being raped?  But according to the statement above, it can!

Well, I have to admit here that I am a male and I have never been raped and while, as I understand it, that it is predominantly women who suffer this abuse I understand that men too can be raped as well.  Of course if a man is raped we would not continue to suffer in the way that a woman will through pregnancy and the decision to terminate or not, that pregnancy. I also have to confess that throughout my 'thinking' years as an adult I have from time to time read about the debate over abortion and I have always felt fairly ambivalent to the question of abortion but generally felt that it is a decision to be made by the individual to make, and hers alone.

But clearly this is not the case as 'pro-life' activists have decided that a woman attacked, abused and raped and who had no decision in that momentous and calamitous act carried out on them, should then have the decision on what to do with her body and that of the unborn child taken away from them as well.  Why don't we just tell women to get back to the chains of the kitchen sink and be done with it, let them know where their place is in life!

The foetus is an unborn child but it is still just a growing organism, which if allowed to come to term will be born and grow into a sentient human being, yeah, big deal, look at the sentient human being who attacked and raped the woman in the first place, one might argue, and I would, that anyone found guilty of such a crime should be medically castrated and locked away for life.  Yes, I am pretty unforgiving and I don't care who knows it.  I am married, have two daughters and 4 of my five grand children are girls.  

If any of them were ever to fall victim to this kind of abuse I would have a couple of reactions and they would be:

1. Have an abortion, if they fell pregnant as a result of this attack upon them as I would want nothing to do with this 'innocent' offspring of a twisted demented progenitor, and 
2. If I could lay my hands on the attacker I would happily take my sharpest kitchen knife to his genitals and leave him bleeding to death

But not the 'pro-life brigade, and what disturbs me even more is that these people are being allowed into our schools in the United Kingdom to spew their garbage to our kids, read it here and they are going on to tell them that if they do have an abortion that they are more likely to get cancer, including breast cancer,

"The link with breast cancer is because if a woman has an abortion, particularly in her first pregnancy, changes have to take place in her breasts. 

And then just to intimidate women even more they are turning up at clinics harassing them as they enter and leave, including photographing and videoing them.....

I'm sorry for saying it, well no not really, but, these 'pro-life' people are, as far as I am concerned, just as sick, twisted and deviant as the actual rapists who attacked the women in the first place.   They are continuing to abuse mentally, the woman who have already been put through, I imagine, one of the most horrific things that could happen to them in having their dignity stripped away from them, being physically  and mentally abused and then these 'pro-life' morons continue to hound them after the first attack,  and many are doing it in the name of religion as well.  Very caring, I don't think so.

Sunday trading laws to be relaxed, can't we have just one day without shops? - Walletpop UK

Sunday trading laws to be relaxed, can't we have just one day without shops? - Walletpop UK  

Well there it is, the Government are seriously thinking about relaxing the Sunday trading laws as a means to help retailers in these times of economic austerity!

There are a couple of issues I have with this and indeed with the report by Damian Wilson the author of this horrendous piece of news, although he does finish his article by saying that he does not think it will happen, I do hope that he is correct.

Before I get into my stride about why shops should not be allowed to open for any longer than they currently do, can I ask Damian where he lives?  The reason for asking is not to become a stalker, but rather one of curiosity as he tells us in his piece that the supermarkets only open 24 hours at Christmas, Where is this mythical town of tranquillity and peacefulness resting from the pressures of 24 hour shopping? Is it in the UK or is it somewhere discovered and then lost again by Gulliver on his travels, but, that I missed recently when I re-read that marvellous tome?

Give him his due Damian does tell us that the relaxation of the current laws is based on a study that only had 2696 responses, but that is also somewhat disquieting to read as well.  Why is that? I hear you ask.  Well for one thing if the government of the day is seriously considering relaxing Sunday trading laws based on under 3000 responses to a study, why did the government of the day not consider, for example only you understand, pulling our troops out of (or not sending them in the first place) Iraq when there were hundreds of thousands of protesters on the streets concerned about our involvement in this war.   Conversely I also note that E Milliband was equally as horrified at the 'publics' outrage over the damning revelations of Milly Dowler's phone vowing on the tens of thousands of people who were outraged by this, that it should never happen again. Although not an MP at the time Iraq kicked of he was 'special' in terms of endorsements and involvement with the Labour party and I suppose we can infer that with his support for involvement in Libya, that he was/ is supportive of the Iraq war in the face of  public resentment!  Mind you he also did manage, I understand, to radically change the UK energy policy after being threatened by Pete Postlethwaite, so minority and not majority opinion does sometimes count!

Look, you have me going off again, please stop doing that, now where were we, Oh yes I remember, Sunday Trading extensions.  

I don't like Sunday trading. But, I do confess to have gone to the shops on a Sunday, but, normally under duress.  I don't want all shops to close on a Sunday, and my objections are not based on religious beliefs. My objections are a bit more fundamental than that and they are really in the main two fold.

The first reason and it is purely based partly based on what is contained within Damian Wilson's article and what has been said by many people, usually traders and those who stand to gain from the shops being opened for all this extra time, is the contention that it will aid and assist, mainly the smaller retailer, in their endeavours to survive, by increasing their turnover and therefore their profit margins.  Well please do excuse my crassness and reverting to type here, but what a piece of unadulterated bollocks that is, well isn't it?  Smaller retailers are never going to compete on the industrial scale of the large supermarkets,  they have never been able to and never will.  If they could we would not see the empty high streets that have become derelict ghost towns in every town and city the length and breadth of the country.  Oh, sure there are exceptions to the rule, but that is what they are, exceptions, nothing more nothing less.  And unless you are located where one of these exceptions exist there is absolutely no financial reason for you to even attempt to open your doors in competition to the  wagon train of supermarkets that surround you.  It is nonsense to suggest anything else to the contrary.

Also, how can it it aid retailers to open longer on a Sunday, even the larger ones, as a means of increasing their profitability by bringing in more shoppers to spend even more money than they already are or can.  Lets face it there is a financial wilderness upon us.  We open up our browsers each day and read the news [don't do print newspapers unless I am on the train and there is a freebie there] or hear another report telling us that we have even less in our pockets to spend, because the price of fuel, gas , electric, food, has gone up yet again.  And then of course there is the impact of economic loss to industry in the service sector particularly and in local authorities where people who have not been given a pay rise for a number of years, are now being told, ' you can keep your job but we cannot afford your current salary, so what is it to be,? your job on a reduced salary or redundancy? What would you do, what can you do?

And, if you are lucky enough [or some might say, unlucky enough] to keep your job and on a reduced salary, you are still seeing the swingeing tax rises that we still have to pay through PAYE, VAT, etc. etc.

So just where do these people who want to see a total relaxation of the trading laws for Sunday, think that Mr and Mrs Average are going to find the money to spend during these extra opening hours.  I know it isn't always as simple as I make out and that there are some people out there who either are still getting good wages, or there are those who have diligently saved and have money in the bank to allow them to continue to maintain their lifestyle, but surely these are in the minority and can not in themselves justify the sweeping away of the remaining Sunday trading  laws, can they?

The AA website reports that fuel sales have dropped by 1 BILLION litres [how many zero's is that] in the first 3 months of this year. Fuel Sales Fall First quarter petrol and diesel sales drop by one billion litres .  If people cannot afford to put fuel in their vehicles, how can they get to the retail malls to spend the money to justify extending their opening hours, it is nonsense.  And what does the government do, they increase the duty we pay on it!  Crazy, crazy crazy.  It's a bit like me working for a commercial garage in the 80's and a pay rise was announced, as it turned out it worked out to be one shiny penny, no point really.  Now I wasn't, although I could have been but never did on principle,  claim any state benefits, but others I worked with, were and did.  The additional one pence on their wages just tipped them over the limit for benefits and ended up costing them their rent rebates and other allowances, and that is another story......

So, finally, for this part at least, is there a beneficial and economic reason for shops to be allowed to open for longer on a Sunday, I say NO, but what do you say?

My other reason, and for me personally, this is the crux of the argument.  I do know that other people will have similar arguments and jump on MY bandwagon, but this is my own personal reason for not wanting large shops and shopping malls to open for longer and as far as I am concerned I would be quite happy and content if they were closed down on Sunday's all together.

 I have three grown up children and have been married for 35 and a bit years.  My two eldest, daughter  Marie and son Brian work in the Restaurant and Pub industry. They choose to work long unsociable hours for the benefit of their employers and customers.  [Brian is actually the leaseholder of his own little pub and his hours of work is reaping benefits and he is bucking the trend in that area by ever  increasing sales figures]  The Sun Bethnal Green But long and unsocial hours was and is the case in pubs and restaurants long before shops were allowed to open past tea time and at weekends and is steeped, whether rightly or wrongly, in tradition.  In an effort to increase turnover and maximise profits, Marie is now having to get up at 5 AM to get to her restaurant, a Harvester, as that company have now also started for the first time doing breakfasts, so the hours are even more unsocial and long.  All of this while raising  five year old twins.  My third child, Jennifer a mother to three girls eight, five and 4 months, is a part time class assistant at the local school.

Marie's hubby Peter is the manager of the restaurant and I am told that last week for instance, they managed to spend an hour of quality time with each other during the course of the week.  Brian's partner Nick runs the pub with him  Jennifer's partner Steve is an Heavy Goods Vehicle mechanic who has to do night shifts.  Operators of HGV's cannot afford to take them off the road during the day so they have to be serviced at night, makes sense but a complete pain in the ass.

Ishbel, my better half, works in a department store, part time but feels like full time and has to work every Sunday.  Me, well I have always managed, apart from my ten years in the Army to avoid working at weekends except when absolutely unavoidable, so I guess I have been the lucky one in the family in that respect.  But this is where my whole point is made.  Look at the hours and times these guys are working, and I can tell you the wages do not engender a feeling of well being from those employed and in Ishbel's case the weekend working , where she has to go to work when the kids come over and bring the grand kids.  So the scenario at our home on the weekend is that, if Jennifer and Steve are coming over they can't come to early on a Saturday because Steve has been out to work on the night shift on Friday, so they do not arrive until the afternoon, giving grandma a shorter visit than she would like.  Before you know it it is time for the children's bed time and off they go.  Sunday morning, up we get and have breakfast and then grandma has to get herself ready for work and off she goes and the kids are again missing time with grandma and instead have to put up with 'grumps' on his own.  Grandma finishes work at 4 pm, comes home and we all sit down to dinner.  But because the kids are going to school on Monday they can't stay to late, as they have to drive back down to Surrey and get the kids to bed again. It is the same with Marie and the twins.  Because they are so busy through the week they have to set aside time on Saturday for the kids, and this currently involves swimming lessons and so by the time they arrive on Saturday and it has already been a long day they have had to eat before they get here,  we then miss having dinner with them and again at five years of age they can't be kept up to late as they get like me, grumpy, so off they trot to bed and grandma has only seem them for a couple of hours and then the Sunday process starts all over again, with breakfast and grandma rushing off to work.

This is repeated in households all over the country and not just with grandmas and their grand kids, but with mothers and fathers who have to work in the retail industry.  It is all very well saying well, if they work at the weekend, they get a day off during the week, yes but husbands and partners are probably working on those days off or have other days off and children are at school, so the the family unit is not benefiting from that working arrangement, it can't.  There is a fragmentation of family life that continues to be eroded and while I cannot blame these conditions entirely for the breakdown of a social normalcy that we would all love to live, it does play a major role in it's continued slide into oblivion.

So, that is my gripe about Sunday trading, it breaks down what is left of the family unit and does not allow for the quality of time that that unit requires and needs to be self sustaining and self fulfilling.  Sunday trading is like a grenade that has exploded into society's across the word and fragmented the closeness of families every where.  I know that some will say that not all families are like that and want to spend time together and looking back at my days in the 60's as a kid when there was no Sunday trading other than the family run corner shops.  It wasn't even as rosy as the picture I am trying to depict, but, the point is, it has got worse and will continue to get worse and the only thing I can suggest to those of you who find yourself in the situation where you have not the financial means to say, 'stick your job', is to make sure that the time you do spend together are good times, do not fight and squabble over little things, enjoy each others company, talk together, read together, go for walk together even watch a bit of telly or a movie together and above all else enjoy each others company, you never know, you might just get to like your family and want to spend time with them.


PS: Wikipedia's article on Sunday Shopping around the globe makes for interesting reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping  

  

UPDATE MONDAY 23RD JULY 2012 

Well it has arrived, albeit, one hopes, as a temporary measure, for shops with a floor space of more than 280 sq mtrs being allowed to open for additional hours on a Sunday for the Olympics! But, according to the union, Usdaw:

The government failed to make a coherent business case for the suspension and there is no evidence that it will boost the economy or tourism.

And, it started yesterday, 6 days ahead of the Olympics with Lakeside in Thurrock opening until 7 PM.  Now you have read my piece above, so you know exactly where I stand on this and my mind still hasn't been changed by this latest erosion to our lives.

It's not as if those people working in these shops are going to get any material benefit from this change. All the shops are doing is re-arranging the rota's and shift patterns so that the staff are working the same hours as last week but are just being inconvenienced to start later and finish later destroying what little quality time that families were already hard pressed to have together.

Let's not also forget that this is happening on a Sunday when public transport is already running a reduced service, hourly instead of the usual 20 or 30 minutes between services and look at my better half as an example of this.  She normally starts work on a Sunday at 11 AM and if she were to get the bus to work she would have to get the bus just after 10 AM. The journey takes between 15 and twenty minutes so she is there, at the work place a good thirty to 40 minutes before she has to be.  With the changes she starts work at 1 PM and again this means she would need to get a bus at noon.

Same on the reverse journey; she finishes at 5 pm normally but has to wait around if getting the bus for 25 minutes and the same at 7 PM.  The shopping centres change their times but the bus operating companies don't!

Lakeside has been chosen as one of the 'park and ride' centres for the Olympics but really, if you have driven for a couple of hours to get there and then you have to get on a bus to get you to an Olympic venue and then you have spent a day watching the sporting event of your choice and been forced to gorge on hamburgers, then to queue for a bus and get back to your car; are you really going to be in the mood or even want to spend another couple of hours in a shopping mall, just how nuts would someone be to want to do that.......

And as for the rest of us we are going to get snarled up in the surrounding environs on the roads with all the additional traffic jams and pollution giving us the benefit of all those wonderful negatives, with absolutely no positives.  It's not as if the local community is going to reap any benefits from this, or is my view already to coloured to see it?

And as for the first 'late opening' well, Ishbel arrived home at 7.30 PM and announced that for the whole day her department, men's suits took the grand total of £300 and that from 5PM (usual closing time) she had a total of two customers - browsing.

So thanks, coalition government, and Lakeside for ruining another day  

Is an immoral press our fault?

This was the question posed by the BBC's Sunday Morning Live programme on Sunday 10th July.  A programme hosted by Susanna Reid with guests Paul McMullan ex NOTW features and investigative reporter, Peter Hitchins Mail on Sunday Derek Hatton failed militant.

Now this is a BIG question and of course with what is happening with all the accusations and counter accusations that are on the go in the UK it is surely a question that is going to go on being debated for a long time after the presses have run dry with News of The World ink.

But here is my take on it, for what it is worth.

The answer to this question is not just a straight yes or no. First I suppose I have to tell you my newspapers, well to be honest I don't buy papers anymore.  When I was a kid growing up in Scotland until I left at 15 in 1971 it was the Sunday Mail and Sunday Post and I did read them, but the Post in particular was a great buy if for nothing else, the comic section, The Broons and Oor Wullie in particular.  But it wasn't just for them that I read them, and anyway it wasn't me buying them.  I was aware that there was other papers available, but I suppose like every other working class family in Britain you rarely picked up what is termed a broadsheet or 'quality' paper but stuck to what you knew.

When I left home in Coatbridge, located between Glasgow and Edinburgh, closer to the former than the latter, to join the Army, this was the first time I was away from home and you couldn't get much further, or so I thought at the time, arriving in Shornecliffe on the Kent Coast.  Anyway I was suddenly in a dormitory with about 20 other guys and while there was still no sign of the broadsheets  The Mirror and The Sun were my early staple diet as a young boy moving into manhood.

As my personal development grew this had to be matched by my interest in what was going on in not just the tabloids of the day but in a broader spectrum of newspapers if I wanted to know what was really going on in the world other than the staple diet of dross that was being fed to me by the 'red tops'.  So I moved on but to no particular paper but rather would visit the WRVS lounge in barracks where they had all the daily papers, The Guardian, The Times, The Express, The Mail,The Observer, The Sunday Times, and much later on The European.

I like to think that this broader spectrum of reading has helped to shape me into a much more rounded and knowledgeable person on world events and occurrence, than I would be if I had stuck to 'Red Tops and Tits'.  Surely you can not just live on another blaise headline proclaiming Brits drink another Spanish beach town dry or endless pages of naked women, and men, spread across what is essentially a terrible use of resources required to print these 'papers'.  I wont call them 'newspapers' as the paucity and quality of news contained in them is of such a dubious nature and much less informative to the sum of knowledge found in a kids comic of today.

I have to confess that I stopped buying papers years ago, once the internet and broadband came along and I found I could get all I wanted from that. Ishbel on the other hand continued to read the Daily Mirror, and while it did not have a page 3 it is just as bad as the Sun for the diet of gossip and innuendo that it throws at you.  I recall one day I picked it up to have a read and within a few moments I had put it down again.  Ishbel said, 'That was quick, you can't possibly have read the paper that quickly...' Well, what can I say.  I mean I can't remember what was in it as there was no news of note but I do recall replying that I had absolutely no interest in the fact the So and So was Seen snogging So and So or whether an 18 year woman had set up home with a 55 year old man.  I was even less interested to know what was happening in the daily drudge of soapland or that an actor from one of these had been found in another compromising position, or that So and So was again signing in to the Priory.

Of what social importance do these items have to the nation or it's citizens, absolutely none. One of the most recent intrusions was that of Max Mosely outed for his sexual proclivities by the NOTW.  I did not read the story in  a newspaper and I did not read it on-line at the NOTW site but one could not fail to know about it because of the storm it created. And do you know what, I was still less than interested in it.  I had heard of Mosley through my passing interest, not a complete died in the wool fan, but I am interested and occasionally follow motor sport and F1, so I knew who he was.

Was I interested in what he got up to in his or anyone else's bedroom, not in the least.  Was I interested in the fact that he was a married man and getting up to these shenaigans, well about as interested then as I am now. In other words not one bit.  If he had been in 'public office' and by that I mean local or national government I may well have been interested if evidence had been produced that he was giving away state secrets during his escapades, BUT he was a private fellow, working in a company with a public image, but that company or his running of it had nothing happening  in it that would have impacted on the lives of the readers of the paper that exposed him, or anyone else for that matter.  Apart from the damage to his personal relationships and family what purpose did it serve to run such a story other than to publicly damage and try to humiliate someone who was rich and successful? And who is to say that the guy had these urges and was in a relationship that did not return that interest but allowed him to wander.... who cares.

To then justify this and other stories of that ilk by saying that is what our readers want is  a totally and completely disingenuous response.  'You' print it.  'You' publish it and I am not just referring to the defunct NOTW, I am referring to every newspaper and gloss magazine that exists in print with one aim and one aim only. And that is to make the vast sums of money from sales and advertising that YOU do make.  It has nothing to do with the fact that your readers want it it has to do with the fact that that is what you want to print.  The Sun was of course the leader in this daily offering of sleaze and they have been literally force feeding it down the public's throat now since November 1969 when it changed from, believe it or not, a 'broadsheet' to a tabloid and then a year later in November 1970 when it published its first topless photo!

The relentless march down the road of sleaze over news has been constant since then and the public read it because that is what is presented to them.  Of courses 'editors' and owners will tell you if they did stop producing this tat and filled their columns with actual news, then their readers would stop buying, and of course the economics of that, not just to the paper alone but all of the associated jobs linked to the production of it, would be in jeopardy.  Maybe so, but at least in the current economic situation they would be joining the rest of us on the breadline. Anyway it didn't seem to be a major concern for Mr Murdoch when pulling the plug on the NOTW earlier!


So the question was, Is an immoral press our fault?  In a way then, it is.  The public continue to purchase and devour it and while there is an unappealing appetite for this kind of dross I am sure that they will, regretfully continue to do so, BUT don't ever forget it was THE IMMORAL PUBLISHERS AND OWNERS of these rags that took the decision to produce them in the first place and to turn round and try and now justify that first decision is just as IMMORAL now as it was back then.

Best Wishes 

A Smorgesboard of Eruptions

Just a couple of things that have attacked my senses this past while that need to be commented on, well at least I think they need to be commented on.

E.Coli Outbreak  


Another tragedy occurs and is fast spreading and isn't it always the way that out of tragic circumstances there is always more to the story than the tragedy of people dying:


The poor old Spanish have been blamed for it without apparently a shred of evidence against them and then of course we learn today that the fruit and veg sellers in the UK have seen a 50% drop in sales of vegetables with every indication that it will continue in that vein for the foreseeable future.  So what happens to the 'eat 5 a day campaign' is that going to be rewritten to 'eat 5 a day but only when sitting outside your doctors or the local A and E department?


In today's Metro newspaper, buried deep within the article, one expert, and I got slightly confused over his title (read it and see) commented that he thought there might be a link to the outbreak through manure spread over organically grown crops! Well excuse me, but haven't the pontificating organic society been informing us for years that organic is better for us as it is better to eat naturally grown foods rather than foods that have been sprayed with dozens of pesticides!  Well if the pesticides kill off bacteria and not us, I say spray away.


Link to Metro Article: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/865084-e-coli-is-new-unseen-strain-as-fears-grow-over-four-new-cases-in-britain

Apparently this is a new super strain of bacteria never before seen, and it is causing consternation around the world, and rightly so, but it strikes me that while there is a need for people to be informed that this bacteria is out there and contracting it could lead to death, should the information provided to us by the media not be confined to the facts and sensible information in regard to hygiene precautions that we should all be taking, rather than spreading unsubstantiated information and supposition.  In cases like this the media itself can probably be likened to a bacterial spread. Of course the difference between the new form of E.Coli bacteria and the Media bacteria is, that one is new and unknown with no known form of treatment and the other is old and tired that spreads also uncontrollably but also with no known form of treatment until after the damage has been done.






Government Not Fit For Purpose - 1 


Lord Taylor convicted and sent to prison.  Lord Hanningfield convicted and awaiting sentencing, likely to be sent to prison.  Lord Archer convicted and sent to prison.  Now the obvious connection is that they are all 'Lords' and they are,likely to, or have been convicted in the courts of criminal offences and have done, probably will do and are doing time at HM Prisons.


Now here is a question for you, what is the role of the Lords in the UK Parliament.  Well my basic understanding of it is this;


Our elected members of Parliament sit in the House of Commons and the 'elected' government of the day tries to pass 'Bills' which they want to be enacted as laws. To do this they must pass the 'bill' through the House [with MPS variously opposing it, tabling amendments to it whatever.  At some point the 'bill' then goes to the House of Lords and the Lords in all their unelected glory and power then have to debate, discuss, amend, etc, etc, etc. Eventually, the 'bill' will then be passed back to the House of Commons as it is, ready to be presented to an unelected monarch to sign off into law, or passed back with amendments that the government may or may not like.


My point is That the Lords are unelected, three of them have been convicted of crimes BUT and it is a big BUT, once they have served their time, they can take up where they left off.  In other words these UNELECTED CRIMINALS can go straight back into the House of Lords and sit in judgement on 'bills' that can be turned into Law that we must observe, but that they feel they are above, and of course they can claim and be be 'paid' up to £300.00 per day.


Is it not also interesting that since becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron has created MORE Life Peers than any other PM in living memory, 117 in a single year, see link:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1378855/House-Lords-David-Cameron-creates-117-peers.html 



One can see the logic of why he has done this, from a purely sterile point of view, he wants to tip the balance of power in the Lords to his party's favour. But in the 21st century why are we as a nation allowing this kind of feudal system still to operate. Every right minded adult in the UK should be offended by the fact that unelected people are sitting in our parliament and deciding what laws we have to abide by.


On the one hand the Prime Minister and his Deputy Dawg, Nick Clegg have formed a coalition to govern us, in a much fairer way than previous governments, or so the underlying message appears to be, and in so doing, they want it to be an inclusive and Big Society with fairness for all.  Well,what is fair about one man and his dawgs appointing people to be part of our government without giving us a say in their appointment.  Then to top it all when they commit a Criminal Act, and if we are lucky enough to find out about it, and then if the police and CPS bring charges and they are brought to court, found guilty, convicted and sentenced, IT DOESN'T BLOODY MATTER, BECAUSE AS SOON AS THEY WALK OUT OF THE COSY OPEN PRISON THEY WERE, HAVE, PROBABLY WILL BE SENT TO, they can walk straight back into the House, and claim their allowance. IT NEEDS TO BE STOPPED AND STOPPED NOW. 

1. All convicted members of the House of Lords, should immediately be stripped of their Titles and Privileges’, NO EXCEPTIONS, NO EXCUSES. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW
2. All parties now need to agree that an Upper House OF ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES IS BROUGHT IN AT THE VERY EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY AND GET RID OF THE UNELECTED HOUSE OF LORDS.  THIS SHOULD HAPPEN WITHIN THE EXISTING TERM OF PARLIAMENT.
3. FIXED TERMS PARLIAMENT SHOULD BE ENACTED BY LAW TO STOP THE PREVARICATION OF SITTING PM'S AND THEIR PARTIES

And lets not forget that it isn't just Unelected members of the Lords who are at it.  Elected Members of parliament as we know are at like bunnies in a warren, stealing and fiddling, that is, not sure about the other 


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393515/MPs-expenses-Cheating-Eric-Illsley-just-kept-claiming.html

1. And we also learn that in a two month period the noses are still firmly buried in the rough with MPs racking  up £3.2mllion in expenses in two months.  I have to say that I have absolutely no objection to expenses being claimed back, and for the MP claiming for a newspaper, why not, chap I do work for wants me to keep an eye out in the local press for articles on the business/ area and I purchase the paper each day and send him a bill once a month for the cost plus 20% mark up, no problem, no issue, but the level of expenses and the vast array of items claimed for is scandalous, by any standard, and all of this while we are being taxed and hammered into the ground.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/865170-mps-rack-up-3-2mllion-in-expenses-in-two-months#ixzz1ODDM6xgZ

Government Not Fit For Purpose - 2




I learned this week that the Immigration service has effectively given an amnesty to tens of thousands of Illegal Immigrants, see story link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/8550197/Immigration-asylum-backlog-led-to-amnesty-MPs-warn.html




Now I have absolutely no problem with controlled immigration into this or any other country, but when we know that many visitors to this country are likely to become illegal immigrants purely based on the fact that they and every one else knows, that we are a soft touch vis-a-vis benefits and housing, it is ridiculous to allow this situation to be mismanaged in the way that it clearly is.  


The bleeding hearts out there who belong to all of the organisations that promote love and tolerance to all, really do need to be ignored.  Human rights activists who complain about DNA databases being an infringement of the individuals right to be able to go about their business, whether it is legal or not, need to wake up and smell the roses.


Every single person in the country should be on a DNA database and every child born in the country should have their DNA added to that database.  An extension to that should be EVERY SINGLE PERSON ENTERING THE COUNTRY, SHOULD BE REQUIRED BY LAW, TO HAVE A SAMPLE TAKEN FROM THEM, AT THEIR POINT OF ENTRY INTO THE COUNTRY AND THIS SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE DNA DATABASE.


If, and when, someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant their DNA can be checked against that recorded at the time of entry, and if found to have overstayed their allotted time, they can be summarily deported, there should be no ifs, buts or doubts, and if a DNA Database was employed, there wouldn't be.


An introduction of this system, must surely, be a way to control immigration, crime and ultimately save millions, and of course the first £1m saved, would be the salary of the incompetent boss of the service and then save a few more bob by sacking the minister in charge of this appalling situation.


The above are just a couple of the items that have got up my nose and surely shows that we have indeed got ourselves A GOVERNMENT THAT IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE




The almost final item, I will leave you with a feel good story, promise, (if you have managed to stay the course so far) in my rant is one item concerning Egypt, but it should be taken in context with this, and other Western governments newly found desire to militarily promote democracy in countries that have never had democracies, probably will never have proper democracies in the true sense of the word and do nothing but place the rest of us 'In the Line of Fire' from terrorists and disaffected nationals of other countries. HOW CAN WE PROMOTE DEMOCRACY WHEN WE ALLOW OUR SITTING PRIME MINISTER TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS OF UNELECTED MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS - THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY IN THAT SYSTEM.




Come on, democracy seemed to have won the day earlier this year in Egypt when dissidents called for the down fall of a President Mubarak.  Britain and its allies actively supported Mubarak for years and then like a chameleon changed its colours and supported the dissidents.  What do we get,we get a country run by the generals who believe it is acceptable to drag women of the street and mentally rape them while subjecting them to god knows what horrible tests to determine whether they are still virgins.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8549192/Egyptians-outraged-over-virginity-tests-on-female-protestors.html


This leaves me with two thoughts and these are:

1. Why is our government supporting these animals, and 
2. Don't you wish the people, who are doing this, that their mothers had remained virgins!  

AND FINALLY.....


Did you here about the 90 year old who had a fling with a 40 year old toy boy and out of this fling there was indeed, and against expectations, a love child, Love, what more can you say about it....


http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/865154-galapagos-tortoise-becomes-a-mum-for-the-first-time-at-the-age-of-90

Is there a Housing Shortage or not????

Not being terribly well off, financially, I cannot, regretfully, help towards the purchase of homes for my beloved offspring, not a problem I here you say, there are plenty of us out here in the same boat.

Anyway, not too much of a problem for my kids as they make their own successful way in their chosen lives',  all ensconced in cosy little 'villas' or in the case of son, his own cosy little 'pub'.  But Jennifer, my youngest, a successful homemaker and mother to three gorgeous girls, had to start off in private rented accommodation for which she and Steve, her partner, were paying through the [proverbial] nose.  They had to do this, as the area they lived in, like most areas in the UK, does not appear to have sufficient affordable social housing.

I believe that this can be tracked back to the conservatives and Maggie Thatcher and the 'Right to Buy' policy that they/ she introduced in the 80's.  When you think about it, it really was a great idea, let the peasants invest in their own future and see the world from a different perspective, be a property owner, invest in bricks and mortar, who wouldn't want to do this, I know I  did.  

And therein lies the problem, so many of us took advantage of this great offer, with the added bonus that massive discounts were applied to the selling price, that social housing stocks across the length and breadth of the country started to dissapear at an incredible rate. And yet no one took any notice!  

But what was the main problem with this scheme, well as usual the devil was in the detail. And what was the detail, well the most important detail, at the time was,  Councils were not allowed to reinvest the money into building more homes, so, as more and more people took advantage of the, 'Right to Buy' the social housing stock began to dwindle.

When you think about it, [and I know the three degrees of separation are fairly loose on this one, but it is my rant so give me a break] is this not a similar situation to the banking debacle of the last couple of years, where the banks were deregulated by  people in power/government and who are supposedly responsible and intelligent, [as they are clearly not],  and who, under normal circumstances you wouldn't put in charge of a piss-up-in-a-brewery because, while on the surface they have had a good idea, they have absolutely no concept of how to put it into practice as a long term and effective plan without the in-built safety features needed in such grand designs!  [The argument that permanent civil servants are in place for actioning policy can be left for another blog on another day]

It seems that all politicians have these grand ideas, but let’s face it today, knowing what we do about most of them, we wouldn't allow them to be in charge of that mythical Piss up in a Brewery let alone in charge of running the country.  And why not, well, because the majority of them, regardless of the fact that they may have attended fancy schools and universities, they just do not have the intellect to manage the bus fare on the No 22 let alone the finances and economy of the country.  

That is not an outlandish statement to make; you only need to look at it:

HOUSES SOLD OFF - NO BALANCE MAINTAINED IN SOCIAL HOUSING

BANKS DEREGULATED AND REGULATORS AND HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMITTEES UNABLE TO SEE THE LOOMING DISASTER 

UTILITY COMPANIES SOLD OFF ON THE CHEAP ALLOWING SPECULATORS TO MAKE VAST FORTUNES WHILE THE MUGS WHO BOUGHT THEIR HOMES SEE COSTS SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL FOR BASIC EVERYDAY REQUIREMENTS LIKE GAS, ELECTRICITY AND WATER

GOLD RESERVES SOLD OFF ON THE CHEAP ONLY FOR GOLD PRICES TO BE  RISING HIGHER AND HIGHER, TO BE BOUGHT BACK BY THE GOVERNMENT AFTER WE SOLD IT CHEAPLY IN THE FIRST PLACE (It doesn't matter that it was G Brown who sold it and it is G Osborne who is buying it back) 

BRAND NEW RAF PLANES, NOT QUITE PAID FOR, BUT ALREADY BROKEN UP BY THE SCRAPPIES

MILLIONS SPENT ON TRAINING PILOTS, WHO THEN ARE MADE REDUNDANT BEFORE SEEING PROPER SERVICE 

The lists go on and on, and yet it is we through higher and higher taxation that must keep baling them out.........

The one and only constant in all of this is that consecutive governments of all parties prove over and over again that they are incapable of managing the country in an effective manner.

I read of two adjoining council houses this week that have been empty for over three months and boarded up with those awful steel shutters that you see over doors and windows.  And my question then is this. If we do not have sufficient social housing stocks, then why are two properties in Langdon Hills  and allegedly owned by Basildon Council and managed by St George's Community Housing, left unattended for three months and then allowed to be broken into and vandalised?

Why weren't these properties (if) taken back into the housing stock, and surely they were if St. George's Community Housing boarded them up, and immediately put back onto the rental lists?

Why were they left boarded up for three months without any maintenance or repairs taking place, if it was needed, while those in desperate need of social housing are forced to continue to live in overcrowded homes, or worse.  And then when limited stock is available they are forced into competing for one in that ridiculous and monstrous bidding system that most authorities seem to employ these days, and which I completely fail to understand. And while the properties are lying abandoned does this mean that the local authorities then are abandoning their responsibilities and indeed their voters/potential voters.....

It really is a ridiculous situation to witness what clearly is local authority housing lying empty when so many people are in need. My wife and I were out for a walk to the local garden centre a Saturday or two ago, and I saw the same thing in Ockendon, a property with the same type of steel shutters on the doors and windows and with obvious signs of neglect and un-occupancy for some considerable time as told by the weeds on the path, etc.

Don't people in power actually care, once they get into office, it seems not, and while I have been tweeting over the last few days to remind the UK to vote in local elections and in the referendum, taking place today,  when you see acts of gross neglect such as these, you do wonder if it is worth it, but you also begin to see and to realise why the turnout of voters can invariably be very disappointing.  The reason is of course that once in office the promises made at the hustings are soon forgotten by those making them, but,  and  for politicians whether local or national, the message must be, that you forget to keep the promises, but the voters don't forget that you made them when asking them to vote for you.

Do not continue to disappoint us, it is not equitable and sooner or later there will be a straw that falls and breaks the back of the voters.

NHS ANGER AT TIME WASTERS

I read an article in a local paper headlined "ANGER AT COST OF PATIENTS FAILING TO KEEP GP DATE",  and while reading the article I began to get the right hump with this story.

The reporter, Stephen Hackwell went on to report that "Thousands of pounds are being wasted by patients who failed to keep doctors' appointments", and went on further to suggest that, "Surgeries across South Essex are forced to pay staff to do nothing because people cannot be bothered to cancel bookings."

Is it me, is it really just me? who finds this kind of story thoroughly obnoxious not just in the headline grabbing appeal it is aiming for, but in the actual message of the story, for goodness sake, give us all a break will you.....

"Surgeries waste thousands of pounds...", ".... forced to pay staff to do nothing...."  Lets look at these two statements first.  Why are surgeries wasting thousands of pounds in this matter.  Are you telling me that surgeries are making appointments and the majority of those people making appointments are not turning up. Lets face it, it is so bloody difficult to get an appointment these days that the time, effort and cost, and there is a cost to this for the patient, have you tried phoning your surgery recently to get an appointment.  Most of them either only have one line that is constantly engaged or when you do get through and the phone is answered you are normally greeted with the immediate phrase, with no time to respond to it, of, "Hello, would you mind hanging on for a few moments" before you are placed on hold while the receptionist either deals with another call or talks to the doctor or books and talks with a patient who is standing in front of them .  And so, while the costs to you the patient may not be as expensive as the NHS tells us that their costs are, there is still a cost;  in time, in calls and in frustration.

But where do they get, "the costs in thousands" from.  It is probably me being over simplistic again or naive or both, so lets look at it from a simplistic point of view.

Doctors surgeries today operate a fairly open system in that they are there, or they are not, simple.  When they are there, they have staffed surgeries, so they are paying for the surgery, the staff, the medicines and the usual paraphernalia that one has to pay for whether it is a house, shop or factory in terms of rates and utilities, etc.

Appointments, as far as I can tell are made by the patient phoning in and being lucky enough to be given an appointment.  Again as far as I can tell appointments are given out for times that are suitable for the doctor/surgery and not the patient and again as far as I can tell appointments are normally made to coincide with the NORMAL OPENING TIMES of the surgery.

Gone are the days when you would turn up at your GP and find the waiting room literally and metaphorically choking to bursting point with both patients and  germs, no today, there are none, or at the least, very few open surgeries, YOU HAVE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. whether it is for the Doctor or the practice nurse. so that brings me on to the next question, how and why are, "staff being paid to do nothing?"

Again you need to ask yourself, when was the last time you visited the surgery! As you stood there at the reception desk being ignored or not.  The receptionist IS ALWAYS BUSY, on the computer, on the phone, filling out forms, filing patients notes, retrieving patients notes, when have you ever seen a receptionist at a doctors surgery doing nothing.... never, their workload seems never ending, so how pray are they getting paid to do nothing.

Don't get me wrong here, I am not condoning patients making an appointment and then not keeping it, especially if they don't even bother to make contact and inform the surgery that they are unable to make the appointment.  But, lets face it, there could be a relevant reason as to why they were unable to keep the appointment.  Take me for example: I get the train to and from work each day, It doesn't happen very often but it does happen, there I am sitting on the train and out of no where the driver makes an announcement, telling me that instead of taking the branch line via Chafford Hundred and Ockendon, this train is now going to run directly into Fenchurch Street station via Rainham, etc. SO, all of us travelling to our chosen destination are dumped from the train and invariably left with no information on what's happening as the station staff we have been dumped at have no clue either.  

So, imagine the situation, you have just been dumped off a train, you are given no information, the station staff you have been dumped on are as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike, and while you should be thinking of phoning your surgery, you are getting more and more angry and frustrated at the situation you find yourself in and forget to make the call, it happens, but this then causes the NHS to lose thousands of pounds and have staff sitting around doing nothing.......

I don't bloody well think so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

One doctor in the article, who wishes to remain anonymous, comments that, "It can cause a real problem. It's not just the money - it's the time it wastes."

I accept that missing an appoint can appear to be time wasted, but, lets look at it in simple terms again.  Lets just assume that five people have made an appointment to see the doctor and numbers 2 through 5 turn up ahead of or on time for their appointment.  No 1 hasn't turned up and hasn't called and their appointment was for 5 PM.  Well under those circumstances does No 2 not move into the slot immediately vacated and so on until all of the patients have been seen, leaving the last ten minutes of the missed appointment for finishing off the admin for the day and tidying up, locking up file cabinets etc. It's not as if they really HAVE NOTHING TO DO.  And if patient No 1 turned up late, they are slotted in or kept to the end, it doesn't matter.

Apparently, the Department of Health does not collect statistics on missed appointments so is all of this a storm in a teacup or are local NHS trusts starting the next round of patient disenfranchisement, by publicly labeling some patients as time wasters as another prelude to more cuts in the already deplorable service offered to the ailing patient.  And lets not forget, you can't compalin anymore because every surgery now displays that nice notice, Do Not Complain about the Service or Lack thereoff as We will just remove you from our books, or words to that effect.......

     

 For the article referred to go to:  

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9004434.Anger_at_cost_of_patients_failing_to_keep_GP_date/

AV or not to AV

AV or not to AV that is the big question for May 5th, or it could be that you are not interested in that question at all and just want to vote for your local councillor or you may not even be interested in that either, anyway it doesn't matter what you are interested in, cos, this is my Blog [only kidding, of course I AM interested in anything you want to say, so, have at it any time you want].

I have to confess that I still haven't made up my mind as to whether I am going to vote for the existing, "first past the post", or not, or for change to the, "alternate voting system" and why not I hear you ask, well it's simple really.......

Every time I open a, newspaper, turn on radio or television, or indeed browse the internet, I am finding it more and more difficult to separate the real arguments for change or not,  for all of the vitriolic fighting going on between those pro AV and those opposed.  

Sworn political enemies John Reid, Labour, is sharing a platform with David Cameron, conservative and sitting Prime Minister, arguing for no change while Nick Clegg, Lib Dem and sitting Deputy Prime Minister is, albeit hesitantly sharing with Ed Milliband, current leader of the Labour party informing us it is better to change.

But for the ordinary person out there can you get past these totally mismatched pairs and listen to any positive argument from either side, or are you being drowned by the flood of accusation of personal attacks and accusations of lies against each other.

Once again the only thing that you and I as voters can take to the polls with any degree of certainty is, That ALL politicians are only interested in promoting what they believe WILL BE BEST FOR THEM IN THE LONG TERM, and that they will lie and cheat to get it, and we the plebs, are left shaking our heads once again at the sheer arrogance of every single one of them.....