Showing posts with label pensioners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pensioners. Show all posts

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Universal Knobheads: NHS bollocks: Polish Plonkers: Sarnie barny: Golden bacteria: and Grilled dog.


Not much vertical movement on the lack of cold liquid metal gauge, no sign of solar activity, even less atmospheric movement and after oodles of skywater during the dark thing, not a jot of wet stuff.
 
 

Spent a while yestermorn putting coloured stuff on the loo walls and ceiling with my new “super duper” paint pad thingy:
According to the blurb on the box-
“It paints ceilings effortlessly”-only if there is someone on the other end of the handle.
“Uses less paint”-true
Does not splatter-true, it just deposits great globs of coloured stuff on the floor.
Cuts in to “awkward to reach corners”-Nah, not unless said corners are perfectly square (which none of mine are).
Another problem was that the pad thingy kept falling out of the holder and like a slice of buttered bread always lands wet side dahn, and putting it back in was more that a bit messy.

Great for doing the walls, as long as you don’t use it on the corners (keep a brush handy for those), and put dahn a dust sheet, and don’t forget to put your wellies on.

Another hint-do not use “non drip” coloured stuff-use the old fashioned runny paint-it works much better.
 

But what I did found out was that it was perfect for painting doors, if you can keep the pad in the holder you can paint both sides of a door in abaht ten minutes, and it gives a nice smooth finish with no brush marks.

 
More hints from Angus the decorator over the next few days...
 


Liam (soon to be the ex shadow Work and Pensions Secretary) Byrne, said cuts to the welfare budget would have to be found because Labour would inherit a "dog's breakfast". Ed Balls, the shadow Chancellor, would look at every element of spending, he said and suggested that a Miliband government could target universal benefits such as the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes for pensioners.
Mr Byrne said: "There's been a balance in the welfare state between universal benefits and targeted benefits. And I'm afraid that as part of Ed's [Balls] zero-based review, that balance has got to be looked at (including “universal benefits” for old farts).
But “The Labour leadership” slapped down Liam’s faux pas; a senior source rapidly disowned the comments. He said: "You should be in no doubt as to our commitment to universal benefits. We believe it gives everyone a stake in the welfare state."
The issue of scrapping means-testing universal benefits paid to older people is highly sensitive – not least because of the number of over-65s who vote.
 

You bet your arse knobhead...

 

Hospitals are failing to come clean over mistakes that result in serious harm to patients, for fear of being sued.
Some patients or their families are waiting over a year before being given any formal explanation of what led to a “serious incident”, researchers at Imperial College London have found. Some are never told.
They discovered that “fear of litigation” and “worry of being accused of malpractice” are among the most important reasons why NHS trusts are failing to hold open disclosure meetings with patients or their families.
A fifth of trusts only hold such meetings in a minority of cases, according to the research, which was based on an online survey sent to almost 400 patient safety managers. Only 209 responded.
In addition, two-thirds of trusts said they typically held the first of these meetings more than three months after the internal investigation had finished. Trust investigations often take months (or years, or in some cases decades) to complete.
While nine out of 10 trusts had a “board-approved” policy on open disclosure and awareness was high, the researchers concluded that “progress is slow and that some trusts have simply failed to recognise the importance of this issue”.
Although trusts are meant to tell patients or their families what led to a serious incident, there is no legal requirement for them to do so.
Peter Walsh, chief executive of the charity Action Against Medical Accidents said: “This report underlines the desperate need for a statutory requirement for a duty of candour.”

 
No surprise there then, after spending three and a half years trying to squeeze the truth out of Grimly Dark Hospital regarding “Ms” death, and failing miserably my advice is-forget the “complaints procedure” just sue the buggers, and most importantly-refer the no mates medics to the GMC, because if enough people do that eventually even the Piss Poor medical regulator will have to act despite the old boy’s club and covering each other’s arse.

 

Polish police have released a photo fit of the prime suspect in a bank robbery - complete with his ski mask disguise.
The image - released after a £10,000 bureau de change hold up in Gronowo - shows only the suspect's brown eyes.
And then detectives accidentally released the name of their sole witness, who had only agreed to speak to them if he could remain anonymous.
"We haven't excelled ourselves this time," admitted police spokesman Tomasz Stawarski.

 No shit...

 

 
A western Nebraska man is accused of assaulting his wife with a sandwich.
The Scottsbluff Star-Herald says 50-year-old Larry Spurling, of Melbeta, is charged with disturbing the peace. According to the arrest affidavit, Spurling's wife called 911 late Sunday and reported he pushed her down during an argument and rubbed a sandwich in her face.
The newspaper says court documents don't detail the ingredients, but a deputy found several pieces of lunchmeat on the carpet outside a bedroom and some pieces of bread in the bedroom.

Ah the old luncheon meat assault ploy.
 

 
“Microbial alchemy is what we’re doing – transforming gold from something that has no value into a solid, precious metal that’s valuable,” said Kazem Kashefi, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.
He and Adam Brown, associate professor of electronic art and intermedia, found the metal-tolerant bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans can grow on massive concentrations of gold chloride – or liquid gold, a toxic chemical compound found in nature.
In fact, the bacteria are at least 25 times stronger than previously reported among scientists, the researchers determined in their art installation, “The Great Work of the Metal Lover,” which uses a combination of biotechnology, art and alchemy to turn liquid gold into 24-karat gold. The artwork contains a portable laboratory made of 24-karat gold-plated hardware, a glass bioreactor and the bacteria, a combination that produces gold in front of an audience.
Brown and Kashefi fed the bacteria unprecedented amounts of gold chloride, mimicking the process they believe happens in nature. In about a week, the bacteria transformed the toxins and produced a gold nugget. 

I did that this morning, or maybe it was the curry I had last night...

 
And finally:
 

 
The East Providence Animal Control Centre is looking for the owner of a dog that survived being inadvertently transported about 11 miles from the Taunton area in the grille of a Toyota sedan.
According to William Muggle, animal control supervisor in East Providence, the driver of the Toyota was travelling about 50 mph on Route 44 near Segregansett Country Club on Sept. 20 when the dog — a white female, believed to be a poodle-mix — ran into the road.

Muggle said the driver then hit the brakes, and after not seeing the dog anywhere in the roadway, continued along Route 44 into Rhode Island believing he had not struck the dog with his vehicle.

Upon coming to a stoplight in East Providence, the driver was alerted to the dog being wedged in the front of his car by another driver on the road.



Expelius?

 
 

And today’s thought:
I knew FirstGroup had their figures wrong


 

Angus

Friday 24 August 2012

Winter fool allowance: Bid for health: Hover bike: Man bites snake-snake dies: Norwegian plank: and a Hippopoolamus.


Not a lot going on atmospherically at the Castle this morn, just a whimsy of warm stuff, no wet stuff, even less windy stuff and lots of cloudy stuff.
Still stunned over the cost of a new “toof”, I could sell the old bod, and I reckon that might raise abaht 50p.
 


Trouble is brewing, the Work and Pensions Secretary also known as the Irritable Bowel Twins is fighting “ludicrous” European rules that mean the winter fuel payment must be made to an estimated 440,000 British pensioners living abroad.
Knob head Smith announced yesterday that he intended to introduce a new “temperature” test to prevent pensioners receiving the benefit if they live in warm countries and do not need extra money to spend on winter fuel.
However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that the new temperature rule would also apply to pensioners in Britain.
Apparently this would see the elderly in milder areas of the south of England lose the benefit, while those in colder parts of Europe continue to receive it. The reform could also mean that pensioners living in Labour-supporting parts of Scotland and northern England keep the payment, while those in the southern Tory heartlands lose out.
The average low January temperature in Portsmouth is 41.4F (5.2C), warmer than Madrid, which has an average low of 37.4F (3C).
Mr Duncan Smith yesterday promised to “protect taxpayers’ money and bring in temperature criteria”. DWP officials said the details had not been finalised.
David Cameron has promised not to cut pensioners’ benefits during this parliament.

 
Yet another Piss Poor Policy...

 

South London Healthcare Trust, which runs three hospitals in the capital, was put in the hands of special administrator Matthew Kershaw last month because it was losing more than £1 million a week.
On Thursday, Mr Kershaw announced that he had invited providers of NHS-funded care - including both NHS organisations and private companies - to submit expressions of interest.
That could mean firms including Virgin Care, Serco and Circle bidding for the contract to run the trust, which has a turnover of £424 million.
Mr Kershaw wrote that he was “seeking to identify any parties who may be interested in being part of one or more of the solutions”.
That indicates different services could be hived off to be run by different providers.
 

I see that the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition’s plan to privatise the NHS is going well....

 

 
A US company has tested a device that allows riders to float over the ground, in footage released by Californian manufacturer Aerofex Corp the device can be seen hovering above a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert and performing a series of manoeuvres.

Aerofex has spent the best part of four years perfecting its 'hover bike' and its latest offering can hover up to 15ft in the air, reaching speeds of 30mph.
The craft is steered by the rider leaning from side to side - just like a motorcycle - in a style reminiscent of the speeder bikes from "Return of the Jedi".
In a statement accompanying the video, the company explains the latest test model has technology to keep dust and debris away from the pilot, which had been a problem with rotored vehicles in the past.
The company plans to use the technology to develop unmanned aerial vehicles that can be used to patrol borders where there are no roads.

 
Seen it all before, it’s called a hovercraft.....

 

 
A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack, a newspaper said on Thursday.

Nepali daily Annapurna Post said Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, which bit him in his rice paddy on Tuesday caught it and bit it until it died.
"I could have killed it with a stick but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry," the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village some 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, was quoted by the daily as saying.
The snake, called "goman" in Nepal, is also known as the Common Cobra.
Police official Niraj Shahi said the man, who was being treated at a village health post and was not in danger of dying, would not be charged with killing the snake because the reptile was not among snake species listed as endangered in Nepal.
 

Oh well, at least that’s his lunch sorted out.
 

 
A Norwegian art gallery lost a Rembrandt etching worth up to $8,600 in the mail after trying to save money on courier and insurance costs, the gallery's chief said on Thursday.
The Soli Brug Gallery in Greaaker, about 80 kilometres south of Oslo, purchased a copy of Rembrandt's 'Lieven Willemsz, van Coppenol, Writing-Master' made in around 1658 from a British dealer, only to have it lost in the Norwegian postal system
"Using a courier or special insurance is quite expensive so we have used regular mail until now," Ole Derje, the gallery's chairman said.
"It is worth around 40,000 to 50,000 crowns ($6,900-$8,600) and the postal service is offering us compensation of 500-1,000 crowns."
 

Could have been worse, they could have used Parcel Force....

 
And finally:
 

 
A young hippo chased away from his herd at a South African game reserve has found a refreshing place to relax: the lodge's swimming pool. Now it's stuck there.
The young hippopotamus plopped into the pool on Tuesday at the Monate Conservation Lodge north of Johannesburg. The pool is big enough for the hippo to swim but its eight feet deep with no steps and "there's no way he can come out," lodge manager Ruby Ferreira told The Associated Press on Thursday.
A game capture team will sedate the hippo and lift it out of the pool with a crane, said MuIsabel Wentzel of South Africa's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Much of the water has already been drained to make the extraction easier. A veterinarian will be present during operation hippo extraction today.
Staff have been feeding the hippo. Ferreira said it's been noticeably relaxed with no other hippos fighting it for dominance, though the water in the pool has been getting mucky with hippo poop. The pool will be entirely drained before the hippo is lifted out.



Oh well that’s dinner sorted out then.....
 

 

And today’s thought:
Not entitled to a winter fuel allowance.
 

Angus

Friday 24 February 2012

Bus pass grab: the Naked Sledging World Cup: Are you a Hyperpolyglot: Space elevator: Bog standard desk: and Big de-daws.


Warm, non wettish and much less wobbly at the Castle this morn, the butler has turned orf the furnace-until tomorrow, and I managed to venture into the garden to try plan “P” on the mock orange “tree”; it’s still there....




But there are a few flowers enjoying the lack of cold.






The best way to get bankrupt Blighty back on the straight and narrow is to take away pensioners bus passes because they are a low-priority item of spending that did nothing to improve the economy and should be scrapped.
Other “ideas” are taking away winter fuel payments and free television licences from wealthier pensioners.
And another £1 billion could be found by preventing savers from keeping any more than £15,000 in tax-free ISAs and £2.4 billion from means testing child benefit payments.


That’ll work-stopping pensioners from being able to get to the town to spend what is left of their pittance will really boost the economy....




Porn actress Mia Magma is a big winner as 25,000 packed a German village to watch the 'nude winter Olympics’
Organisers said 25-year-old was "too naked and too fast for everyone else" as she conquered the 291-foot course in temperatures just above zero. 

One way to make a point-or two...



Ray Gillon speaks 18 languages. To be precise, he only speaks eight fluently. His grasp on the other 10 is merely conversational.
Throw anything at him in Portuguese, Thai, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Bulgarian or Mandarin and he will banter back.
In the UK, where there has been a growing anxiety over the failure to learn additional languages, Gillon might seem to be a bit of an anomaly. More and more children have been giving up languages since the last government made learning foreign languages optional in England from the age of 14.

Apparently;
Up to 7,000 different languages are estimated to be spoken around the world.
Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German and French are world's most widely spoken languages, according to UNESCO
English is related to German and Dutch, and all are part of Indo-European family of languages
2,200 of the world's languages can be found in Asia, while Europe has 260
 

I ‘ave enough trouble with English, but who says you can’t learn anyfing on this blog.....




A Japanese construction firm claimed Wednesday it could execute an out-of-this-world plan to put tourists in space within 40 years by building an elevator that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon.
Obayashi Corp claims it could use carbon nanotube technology, which is more than 20 times stronger than steel, to build a lift shaft 96,000 kilometres (roughly 60,000 miles) above the Earth.
The company said it would carry up to 30 passengers at a time and travel at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour for a week, stopping off at a station at 36,000 kilometres.


That’s one way to get away from the radiation...



One inventor believes he has found the perfect way to salvage unwanted toilets - by turning them into desks for local schoolchildren.
Loo manufacturer Gao Jianguo discovered a way to transform these bog standard unused toilets into fully functional desks by turning one lavatory's cistern lid into portable lap desks.
Alternatively students can sit on top of the toilet seat backwards and work from a fixed position.
Gao, from Shijiazhuang, northern China, has now donated hundreds of the wacky toilet desks to local schools in the area.


Flushed with success-still it might do away with toilet breaks....


And finally: 


The more you fear a spider the bigger it will appear to be, according to new research.
A study of arachnophobes found the worse their condition the larger they estimated the creepy crawlies size.

The irrational fear of spiders is believed to affect as many as half of women and girls, and up to one in six males.

And the latest findings explain why many sufferers hold out their arms shrieking "it was that big" when the reality of the situation turns out to be much less scary.

Psychologist Professor Michael Vasey, of Ohio State University, said: "If one is afraid of spiders, and by virtue of being afraid of spiders one tends to perceive spiders as bigger than they really are, that may feed the fear, foster that fear, and make it difficult to overcome."


“One” always has a rolled up newspaper to hand....... 




And today’s thought:
Non nude sledding.



  
Angus