´óÏó´«Ã½

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

No dears, it has not been 'referred'; it has been 'intercepted' as it never appeared before someone in the office twigged that it wasn't on message and raising that which must not be spoken of. And stepped in first. Tinkers.

Now, I await with eager anticipation to hear which one from the Beware of the Leopard file will be attempted first in justification.

YouGov / 38 Degrees Survey Results

Sample Size: 1601 NHS Workers
Fieldwork: 17th - 26th January 2012

"As you probably know, the Government has proposed reforms to the NHS. These
include removing current local NHS Trusts (PCTs) and replacing them with
Clinical Commission Groups, groups of GPs that will be responsible for
designing local health services in England. The plans also allow these groups to
spend money on services from ‘any willing provider’, including private and
voluntary groups, and to bring in a regulator to promote competition in the NHS.
From what you know, how likely, if at all, do you think it is that the reforms will
result in...?"

"FUTURE CONSERVATIVE ELECTORAL PROSPECTS DAMAGED"

When the electorate realises they were unlawfully conned by the Conservative Liar Flyer in 2010, and that this Parliament was illegitimate from day one, they will be more than damaged. I have just informed Tim-Nice-but-Evasive - again - of the Liar Flyer (with facsimile) and of the £100 (unclaimed) prize to anyone showing the five lies to be true. But then, why should he engage, he is simply following the HONOURABLE example of Westminster.

This is only month 22 in the INTEGRITY QUEST – MORE THAN TWO YEARS TO GO.

Perhaps the only aspect of out NHS which truly needs reform is the PFI contracts for hospitals, but of course this in not anywhere near in the health bill. Its pretty clear that the government need to offer the Banks etc a fixed lump sum price to terminate said PFI contracts, take it or leave it or we default on the payments. Perhaps the only reasonable reason the government fail to address the PFI situation is that they know full well that all the Banks and financial institutions will no doubt have to be effectively nationalised when the global economy fails in the near future anyway.

"BEWARE OF THE LEOPARD PUBLIC SERVICE" (#1)

Nice!

In my tussle with the Entrapment Department of West Berks Council, I recently sent a list of germane questions; Mr Council, unilaterally converted my 'try' to FOI - buying 20 days delay. Since then, I sent some queries to another officer who passed them to yet another, who replied saying he is going on holiday. Very civil.

The Entrapment Department of WBC, is a division of The Beware of the Leopard Jubilee Group, who model their integrity on Westminster.

Nuff sed

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Don't mention ze... well, anything really.

With apologies to Godwin. And a big up to another geezer gifted with a name starting with G.

Over and out.

It has been reported that the Green Party in Brighton are to end funding for the Talking Book service for the blind, my late mum was blind and her talking book was her main enjoyment in life. Apparently they sent plain print letters to inform the talking book customers that the service will be run down and eventually terminated. However, foolish Brighton voters can take comfort in saving money to spend on this:-

*£1,239,000 one-off funding to support the ‘Workstyles' programme which focuses on improving customer access, saving money and reducing carbon footprint through better use of buildings and office spaces.

Its time people woke up to the reality of what the alleged disabled friendly Greens ( or so the media spin would attempt to portray ) really represent.

The only sensible NHS reform would be to abolish it.

Greek police union wants to arrest EU/IMF officials

Russia accuses West of arming Syrian rebels

Meanwhile, breaking news:

IRAN WORRIED US MIGHT BE BUILDING IT'S 8500th NUCLEAR WEAPON.

After all, the US has invaded and destabilised more countries than any other since WWII.

WESTMINSTER CRIMINALS ARE OUTSIDE THE LAWS - THAT THEY MAKE (#12)

A LibDem spokesman has emailed me saying political parties are covered by The Representation of the People Act. But they can take any, or no, 'form' and have no 'responsible named individual' (as must a Limited Company) so how can any law impinge? AND IT DOESN'T.

Might the Greeks have a more honourable democracy than UK? Surely not.

#10 Oh it gets worse Noilly

/news/uk-england-sussex-15987925

I bet the locals are really pleased they voted Green party, they'll be out next election, but then Brighton is London by the sea, so all those London lefties have moved there ; )

So... not even an email excuse any more? You're slipping.

Maybe I can appeal to the newly created Protests Editor as he seem bored with Economics.

Anyhoo..

I found this interesting:



More because of how far one had to get before one got to the 'claim' bit of the 'news'.

There's a lot of it about, of course.

/news/world-latin-america-16993391

This trend for punting out any old bit of 'sources say' PR for others who are approved of, vs. those not (oddly, the UK government, its subjects and the armed forces stationed in their defence in harm's way) is going to be the norm is it?



'Argentine troops set foot on the islands on 2 April 1982.

That is one way of referring to it, I guess.

Maybe the 'South American League' can send in observers to award points for content and star quality as Ms. Kirchner and her merry band of Morris Dancers scamper up the beaches, with PR provided by none other by the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

Stictly Come Invading (Again)?

FALKANDS "BRITISH AS LONG AS THEY WANT" (#17 link 1)

Good old Despot Dave. He should have added: "England my fiefdom - until I grant democracy". Until then:

D MOCK CRASS Y

IS C-of-E's BLACK ARM ANALOGOUS TO COMMONWEALTH AND MONARCHY? (#17)

I am in no doubt that the monarchy acts as lynchpin to England's underlying culture of. . . Places and sinecures, plus all lower levels of . . . are dear to the 'hearts' of the privileged, so continuance of the commonwealth is ensured.

Remove Canterbury's black flock, and what has he got left? Pull out the linchpin and the Matrix falls.

THIS IS THE AGE OF PERVERSITY

Europe,

Collectively you are now POOR and the rest of the world is moving on, extracting itsself from your influence over time.

The same is happening with the US, but that is a tougher confidence trick to break thanks to the dollar architecture of the global system.

The biggest problem for the rest of the world is timing, it needs europe to hang on long enough for its collapse not to be too globally damaging, to be fair Eurocrats do seem to be fighting a1/2 descent rear guard action on behalf of the rest of the world, not sure for how much longer they can hold out though.

WHICH UNIVERSITY ISSUED DEGREES IN THIS KIND OF THING? (#20)

'They' have no idea what is happening, nor what to do.

A recent TV program offered evidence that giant waves are 'out there', all the time, but ship design and seamanship take no account of them. Clever man has gone global but he designed his banking in 'local' terms. The big wave has hit.

Now wisdom and integrity are called for, but the 'top people' all got to the top by eschewing such fripperies.

PERVERSITY ISN'T WORKING

The charity that helped 86 year old Maud escape the devasating loneliness she felt after her friend Margie died is Contact the Elderly. If you know someone who would benefit or want to volunteer then get more info here: www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk

18. At 09:36 11th Feb 2012, barriesingleton wrote:
FALKANDS "BRITISH AS LONG AS THEY WANT"

One way to solve the issue of the 'wrong kind of British on the line' is to get those even more representative of the UK public to talk on our behalf...

/iplayer/episode/b01c9w6c/Dateline_London_11_02_2012/?t=22m20s

That first 'B' in the ´óÏó´«Ã½... what is it meant for again?

CULTURE SECRETARY HUNT SAYS DOUBLE OLYMPIC MONEY JUSTIFIED

Hunt says the enhanced opening ceremony will show the world the true glory of this country.

I have sent proof to Mr Hunt that the Parliament approving the extra expenditure, is ILLEGITIMATE. What will the world make of that?

Integrity quest - month 22

SPOIL PARTY-GAMES (websearch)

#28

They needn't spend so much money...when all they need do is start thinking CRE-ATIV-ELY...

I NEEDED THAT V (#29)

It's all in the voice. Have you sent it to Eponymous Hunt?

One of my close relatives has had a varied career, but one the most saddening episodes was when she had a spell of visiting house-bound elderly people to sit and talk to them.

She told me that these people often did not see anybody, apart from people bringing essentials e.g. food, sometimes for weeks on end.

No relatives visiting and in a way, this attitude was correlated by a member of staff at a local Crematorium/Gardens of Remembrace, who when I went with a group of my relatives to mark the first anniverary of the passing of somebody we all loved, who told me that often very few people visit and often the cremations have few people in attendance.

Nothing is more important than your family and friends.

Money and material possessions do not even come close.

I 'sort of' knew one of the wealthiest people in England and when he died a few years ago, the great and good turned up at his funeral. I visit the graveyard from time-to-time because one of my relatives is buried nearby. The grave of Mr. Wealthy is utterly neglected, an ultimate case of out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Somewhere in this, there must be a lesson for us all.

PS. Being propelled to the grave is not something one would wish to dwell on - and one thing I can assure our readers about is that when things need to happen quickly - the NHS in England usually delivers, for which this blogger is profoundly grateful.

Only in the past fews days have I read that senior Civil Servants, some of the much maligned bureaucrats, practically begged Gordon Brown not to indulge in PFI contracts on the terms being offered by the providers.

They were over-ruled.

Maybe we ought to make politicians accountable in a meaningful way for the decisions they make, particularly when spending public money.

That does not mean standing up in Parliament saying 'I take full responsibility', which is usually completely meaningless.

It means being personally bankrupted if the money turns out to have been misspent.

That type of accountability, when contemplating spending public money, would cause an immediate change in politicians behaviour.

BLOWED IF I KNOW JC (#31/32)

I would rather have a pre-death-do that I can attend, than know they were going to leave me out - as 'twer. Just one celebration of a life - where appropriate, is fine, but visiting a grave is negative culture, to my mind.

The covert despotism of Westminster, was never better exemplified than in Brown. The elevated rosette-ciphers, products of the General Election charade, will always choose to stay at the top table, rather than take the path of integrity.

Oh well - we can always bomb Johnnie Foreigner to prove our cultural pre-eminence.

D MOCK CRASS Y.

I've always liked graveyards, even though they're sad. There's a peaceful and reflective atmosphere and I like reading the inscriptions. There was one in Linthorpe Cemetery in Middlesbrough which I remember from decades ago:

"She suffered long, but complained not,
we watched her day by day,
with aching hearts,
grow less and less,
until she passed away.

Politicians, especially .... well you fill the names in ... should take note of the infamous grave of Robert Thompson Crawshay in Merthyr Tydfil with it's stark inscription: "GOD FORGIVE ME"



When it comes to some recent Prime Ministers, there will undoubtedly be variations on Byron's epitaph to Castlereagh:

#31
I have just visited a cemetery here in Philippines with my wife’s family who lit candles and bought their traditional garlands from a local stall to bedeck the family tomb. By comparison, I have to admit that I no longer visit my dad’s grave in UK.

On reflection, the difference are that (unlike my RC in-laws) I am not a believer, so prefer to remember my parents in their prime of life, by looking at happy-times family photos; and we can never return to the days where our families and relatives all lived close together (in our case in Deptford and East Ham ‘slums’) and looked after each other on a daily basis.

With the era of two-working-parents, a state welfare system, media and marketing pressures, celeb worship and the general mores of society away from family values and toward growth, greed and self, we can never return to the caring society that is still a dominant feature in the ‘developing’ world.

All we can now do is to accept as JC says (either him at #31 above, or the other JC if you are a still a believer) - ‘Nothing is more important than your family and friends.’

1. At 16:28 10th Feb 2012, You wrote:

Considered yet?

Or maybe a few more days until it's safely out of the way before you can concede there was nothing wrong bar not being to your unique tastes in narrative?

#34; I enjoy reading the In Memoriam columns in the newspapers; two I am particularly fond of from the Glasgow Evening Times;

"He was always tidy, neat and clean.
"And he lost his life in a submarine."

"Mrs. X, passed peacefully away, fortified by wines of Holy Church."

As JC'31 and II @35 said: 'nothing is more important than your family and friends.'. And, as a late former landlady of mine said: "There is nothing you can give people which is more precious than your time."

I think that applies to old AND young. No extra toys compensate for time and shared experience.

I SEE DAVE GIVES A VAST AMOUNT OF HIS TIME TO HOSPITALS (#38)

And the surrounding throng clearly are uplifted.

Sadly - the out-of-sight patients are stranded on their backs; no one comes and they can't reach their water.

Who wil explain to Dave?

FSBC = Foreign & Scottish Broadcasting Corporation

(corporation bit means they get not only a bonus to their pension & private health care bonuses but also get to avoid taxes as freelancers?)

Next director general has his accountant working out his expenses to claim as a self employed 'freelancer'

Nothing to do with the FSBC, of course, - he only just be working there

Next 'DG' will be a 'he' of course; as is blatantly absurd to think that any woman could do that job (unless a 'johnnie-ess' foreigner')?

What's that useless Patten doing there by the way - Trying to sell FSBC to Hong Kong? He should be able to place that sale with some of his HFM friends in the City?

Any news BTW - economic meltdown, bombing, EU crisis etc is not 'news' - English language appears to be short of a word or phrase for 'old repeated news' or 'orning'?

We could have 'good orning' instead of 'good morning' said at the Breakfast TV boring diatribe?

NOW THAT THERE SEEMS NOTHING LEFT BUT TO MOURNE OUR LOSS (#40)

Perhaps GOOD MOURNING should be our intra-indigenous greeting? Like a verbal Masonic handshake!

41.
At 12:52 13th Feb 2012, barriesingleton wrote:

NOW THAT THERE SEEMS NOTHING LEFT BUT TO MOURNE OUR LOSS (#40)

Perhaps GOOD MOURNING should be our intra-indigenous greeting? Like a verbal Masonic handshake!
++
Yes - indeed I like that but would need some 'gesticulation' to go with it?
Also, some might take it as 'good mooning'?

'40. At 12:38 13th Feb 2012, nautonier -
Next 'DG' will be a 'he' of course'

Not necessarily, if one goes to chromosomal level...

/blogs/theeditors/2010/09/impartiality_is_in_our_genes.html

YOU HAVE CAPTURED THE MOOD OF FUTILITY NAUTONIER! (#42)

Helpless laughter here.

Lets just moon at each other. It encapsulates the spirit of the Age of Perversity.
Facing away enshrines individuality and formal address anally, enshines inclusion.

Good aftermoon!

"FAIR BUT TOUGH QUESTIONING" Helen Boaden (#43 link)

I never realised a hectoring sneer was fair but tough - it always seems pathetic and cowardly.

Is it me?

43/45.

I 'like' the bit on the web-link...

"That's because our audiences trust us and our specialist journalists like Nick Robinson, Stephanie Flanders, Robert Peston, Hugh Pym and Mark Easton. When stories are complex, highly charged and politicised, audiences rely on our specialists to give them context, assess evidence and test opinions without fear or favour."

++
LOL
I think 'we' trust some more than others? Not to work on a Monday and/or when stories are complex/highly charged & politicised - for some of them?

HA HA HA - they must be all on out on Harley St today as getting their private health-care seen to?

44.
I'm 'Cracked up' laughing - 'good mourning' will have to be Dr Spock's live long & prosper 'sign', I think - for 'safety'.

Recent ONS Stats.

'45. At 13:59 13th Feb 2012, barriesingleton - Is it me?'

You could ask, at the equine rest stop, as it were, being this may yet be the person in control of our public airwaves. Not sure you'll get an answer, mind (as one notes, none has ever been forthcoming from this source on the 'blog' threads, despite many a question posed).

From an Indy link I would post but does get 'modded' when attempted, luckily linked to via another that does make the cut...



""Don't bother emailing complaints to ´óÏó´«Ã½ head of news Helen Boaden. She was at the launch evening for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford last Monday night. Discussion turned to protest groups and lobbying outfits which email their views to senior editors. Boaden's response: 'Oh, I just changed my email address.'" (Elliott, 'Media Diary - Helen the hidden', The Independent, November 26, 2006)

She's also as high as it gets in the complaint process before the Trust 'takes over'. If you get that far.

I have always pondered the precedent of those the ´óÏó´«Ã½ takes to task being give a pass on account of diaries being 'chocka'. One suspects the fair but tough hectoring sneer might err on being even more curved at the edges... when it's the wrong kind of accountability on the line.

/blogs/theeditors/helen_boaden/

'the public expects us as an independent and impartial broadcaster to hold governments and opposition parties to account.'

Though we are not, one gathers, expected to expect those that hold others paid from the public purse to account to also be accountable. Odd.. uniquely so.

I must admit that I'm becoming a bit sensitive about negative criticism of the NHS in England just now.

Not just because the Grim Reaper has decided to stalk me personally and and a positive outcome is totally dependent on the skills of my local NHS hospital to see him off and allow me to live long enough to get to retirement and hopefully beyond, to spend time with loved ones, watching the grandchildren grow up etc.

Only today have I learnt that a close relative who collapsed yesterday, has already had a stent fitted at an NHS hospital in England and right now is being kitted out with a pace-maker at the same place.

I repeat, when there is a crisis, the NHS pulls its finger out and I now fully understand why politicians need to be very, very careful when dealing with the NHS, as it is not just another public institution, it really is the key arbiter of our civilised society in England.

David Cameron could have paid for private care for his late severely disabled son and I too could pay for private care, but we both probably decided that the care and extraordinary facilities offered by the NHS in England could not be bettered.

It is understandable that Cameron wishes to make the NHS more efficient as there are some wonderful developments coming along. For example, the late Steve Jobs could afford to have his 'good' DNA unravelled, and samples taken periodically of his cancerous DNA, which allowed specialists to design drugs that specifically targetted his cancers. Jobs told people that either he was going to be the last person to die from this type of cancer or be the first to survive. I told my wife this story and she wryly replied that Jobs would be either the last billionaire to die from this or the first to survive.

So, what we might call the further democratisation of health will mean that within a decade or so, people of ordinary means will be able to access this cutting edge medical technology and accrue the benefits of such.

It requires careful management of the NHS funds to enable this to be offered to people, therefore it is in all of our interests that the NHS in our England delivers great value and thus can do more for the people.

PS. Of course, my friend Pete has a completely different take on it. He says I am getting excellent treatment at the local NHS hospital only because this is an area full of wealthy old people who will sue if the hospital messes up!

Lol.