Cupid Stunt Hunt: Universal cock up: GPS say-you Pillock: and it’s fine to be dead.

Endless amounts of solar stuff, a whimsy of atmospheric movement, more than a smidge of lack of warm stuff and even less wet stuff at the Castle this morn.

Spent a while in the garden yestermorn touching up the fences and counting the green tomatoes which look like they will remain non red this autumn.

The sinus thingy still seems to be rampaging through my facial tunnels despite the industrial strength antibiotics and his Maj has discovered the joy of pilchards in tomato sauce.

And the other big sporty thing up in the Smoke finally wheels to a close this holy for some day...

 

Apparently our new Plonker in charge of ‘Elf is a bit of a CHunt

Jeremy Hunt, the new health secretary, personally intervened to encourage the controversial takeover of NHS hospitals in his constituency by a private company, Virgin Care, raising fresh concerns last night over his appointment.

Hunt, who replaced Andrew Lansley in last week's cabinet reshuffle, was so concerned by a delay to the £650m deal earlier this year that he asked for assurances from NHS Surrey officials that it would be swiftly signed.

Virgin Care, which is part-owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, subsequently agreed on a five-year contract in March to run seven hospitals along with dentistry services, sexual health clinics, breast cancer screening and other community services. The takeover took place despite concerns being raised in the local NHS risk register about the impact on patient care following the transfer of management from the NHS to one of the country's largest private healthcare firms, until recently known as Assura Medical.

Doubts over Hunt's new role have also been sparked by the revelation that he co-authored a book that supported transforming the NHS into a system of universal insurance where patients buy health care from the provider of their choice.

A source close to Hunt denied that the minister wrote the section in the book about the NHS and said that "it does not reflect his views".

 

Another Cupid Stunt in the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition sideboard...

 

And all across Piss Poor Blighty

Over 70 organisations, many involved in the move to set up the Universal Credit system, have expressed concerns about plans to access benefits online.

They say many people do not use the internet and have also expressed doubts about government IT systems.

But the government says online management of the new system, to be introduced in 2013, will save money.

The Universal Credit aims to make the benefits system simpler by replacing five work-based benefits - with just one benefit.

Ministers have also said they are determined to reform the system, so it pays people to work rather than claim benefits.

But written evidence - submitted to MPs by organisations representing councils, charities, trades unions, business groups and housing organisations - reveals fears about the push to ensure claims are made online.

Community charity Citizens Advice argues that eight and a half million people have never used the internet.

"The new Universal Credit system risks causing difficulties to the 8.5 million people who have never used the internet and a further 14.5 million who have virtually no ICT skills," it says in more than 500 pages of testimony submitted to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee and seen by BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend.

Fears are raised about paying Universal Credit monthly and to just one person per household, which could "upset the family dynamic".

And concerns that the government computer network required might not be finished on time for the launch, or be sufficiently robust, are also expressed.

Ministers say those who struggle to use the online system will still have access to face-to-face help and telephone assistance.

And they insist the timetable for the introduction of Universal Credit remains on track to begin in October 2013.

It will be phased in over a number of years, with eight million households signed up by 2017.

In its own submission to MPs, the Department for Work and Pensions says rigorous testing of the IT system is already under way.

It adds that managing Universal Credit online makes sense as it saves money and most jobs do now require computer skills.

 

Universal Credit replaces...

Jobseeker's allowance

Tax credits

Income support

Employment and support allowance

Housing benefits

  

As for data security-see yesterday’s post on the post...

 

East a lot to the land of left hand drive

 

GPS say NO!

Despite several warnings from the lady in the dashboard this Numpty Russian driver still managed to smack into the back of a lorry. 

I do love a Cupid Stunt behind the wheel....

 

And finally:

 

Left more than several miles to the power of five

A cop who was canned for ticketing dead people says he was doing it to meet the NYPD’s supposedly non-existent monthly quotas.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Paul Pizzuto says he started issuing bogus summonses after brass at the 120th Precinct in Staten Island told him he had to produce more than the 125 to 150 he was already writing.

“Specifically, Pizzuto was told that he needed to start issuing more summonses for red-light and seat-belt violations” and was warned he would be moved “if he did not issue the increased number of summonses,” the suit says.

Pizzuto “prepared summonses by taking information from legitimate summonses that he had issued in the past. But he prepared the summonses in such a way that they would not impact any motorists,” the filing says.

He was busted for the scam after his colleagues noticed he never had to testify about the tickets.

Pizzuto, 41, who pleaded guilty in May to three counts of falsifying business records, was sentenced to 150 hours of community service, but contends that his firing was improper because he didn’t get a hearing first.

He was officially fired in June.

 To serve, protect, lie and steal.....

 

That’s it: I’m orf to watch the cookie fun

And today’s thought:

And then I crept up behind her and....

 

Angus

Royal read my post: Money for nothing: The door now landing in Washington: Tanks for the accident: Shotgun golf: and a really, really ugly piece of “art”.

Heaps of solar stuff, not a lot of lack of cold stuff, not even a promise of atmospheric movement and even less wet stuff at the Castle this morn.

I threw caution to the wind yestermorn and perpetrated a vast amount of vandalism on the garden, the hedges have been hedged, the borders bordered, the pots potted, the shrubs reduced in vertical distance and the moss mowed, unfortunately the wind returned the favour and now I can hardly move-ain’t gardening fun?

 

All across data protected Blighty

Allegedly if you are unfortunate enough to have to claim the pittance handed out to the not so well orf you should be prepared for your local postman Pat to open and sort your application.

According to the Independent confidential medical information from sick and disabled people applying for welfare benefits is opened and sorted by Royal Mail staff on behalf of the Government without the claimant's knowledge or consent.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) routinely uses Royal Mail to process the thousands of benefits claims, including health data, it receives every day.

For example, people applying for sickness benefits such as employment support allowance (ESA) must first complete a detailed medical questionnaire explaining their conditions, prescribed medication and therapies, and the names and addresses of their doctors and nurses.

The form, which also includes highly sensitive questions about addictions and mental illness, is then posted in a pre-addressed envelope to the DWP or Atos Healthcare – the Paralympics sponsor paid by the Government to carry out controversial assessments of claimants' capacity to work.

However, it has emerged that these envelopes are routinely opened and the contents sorted by the Royal Mail, unless the envelope is specifically marked "private and confidential". In those cases they are sent to Atos unopened, according to the DWP.

The DWP said security measures were in place to minimise the risk of any data breaches, including CCTV in sorting rooms and procedures that mean at least two people open the mail together.

 

Which doubles the chance of your “confidential” information escaping the net....

 

And keeping the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition in the sniper sight

It seems that the reshuffle of the above’s sideboard will cost the taxpayer more than £250,000 in tax-free redundancy pay-outs.

The ministers will receive thousands of pounds each because of the decision by U-Turn Cam and what’s his name’s decision to over-haul the Cabinet two and a half years into the life of the Coalition.

Under the 1991 Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act, ministers are entitled to three months of their ministerial salary when they are forced out of office.

In the reshuffle 28 paid ministers and one unpaid minister lost their jobs – about one in four of the Government.

The payments are triggered if a minister has not found another role in Whitehall three weeks after leaving.

They range according to seniority, from £17,207 for a secretary of state to £5,924 for a Parliamentary under Secretary, the lowest paid ministerial role in Government.

The money will be paid tax-free because it is less than £30,000, the level at which at which tax starts to be paid on redundancy pay-outs.

Calculations by The Daily Telegraph suggest the pay outs to ministers will total £249,027 – excluding payments to special advisers who have lost jobs with their ministers.

 

But don’t forget-well, you know the rest...and I thought that redundancy payments could only be made on proper jobs...

 

Left quite a lot to the home of the plane and the land of a new president

The US Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that a piece of metal that fell to the ground in a Kent, Washington, neighbourhood was part of a Boeing 767's landing gear door.

Witnesses said the refrigerator-size panel hit the ground and skipped about 30 feet before stopping in a street.
No one in the neighbourhood about 15 miles south of Seattle was hurt.

Neighbours said a cargo jet flew low over the area at about the same time the part came down.

Photos on news station KOMO's website show part of an identification plate on the object that has the word "aircraft" along with a serial number.

FAA officials are not saying if they have located the plane that the part came from.

 

Should be easy enough to find....

 

Right to the place where multi function knives are rife

A Swiss van driver had an amazing escape - when he survived a collision with an army tank.

Soldiers on military exercises in Unterrealta, Switzerland, had been controlling traffic to allow a column of tanks to pass through a junction safely.

But they failed to see the mini truck speeding through - straight into the path of a 15 tonne tank.

"He hit the tank and bounced off and rolled over three or four times before coming to a halt. It was a heck of a whack," said one eye witness.

Police say the driver and two passengers are recovering in hospital.

"Three men were injured. The military were in full control of the junction," said a police spokesman.

 

Or not.....

 

Left a fairway again to a fairway

 

Jeff Fleming, 53, of Reno is accused of opening fire with a shotgun on a golfing twosome, hitting one man who was treated at a hospital and released, police said on Friday.

Fleming was taken into custody at a local attorney's office where he fled following the shooting, Reno police said in a statement.

Fleming was booked into the Washoe County jail on suspicion of battery and assault with a deadly weapon late on Thursday and later released on bail.

Police say he opened fire at the 16th hole of Reno's Lakeridge Golf Course after one of the golfers shattered a window of his house with a ball. Fleming, whose home overlooks the course, had a verbal argument with the golfers before the shooting, police said.

 

Moral-if you don’t want golf balls through your windows; don’t buy a bleedin house next to a golf course....

 

And finally:

 

Back in conservation Blighty

 

A futuristic house which won the Royal Academy of Arts' prestigious architecture prize has been ridiculed by neighbours who claim it looks like a UFO and is still not finished after six years.

Residents living in Wood Lane in Highgate, north London, say work on the house has been going on since 2006 and that it still looks like a 'scrap yard'.

They are fed up that the house - which they say looks like a 'giant spaceship.....complete with UFO-style elevated gangway' - is making the street 'a mess' and forcing property prices down.

The house, which is in a conservation area surrounded by homes built in the late 18th century, was designed by architects Birds Portchmouth Russum (BPR) and is owned by partner in the firm Mike Russum.

Last year the design won the Architecture Prize at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition, which described the posh pad as a 'four-storey house (which) maximises the potential of a narrow infill site'.

But neighbours have this week slammed the house - saying it makes the prestigious road look a 'total and utter mess' with its fenced off entrance, scattered traffic cones and blue tarpaulin.

They are now demanding to know when the house - which is wedged between two existing homes - will be finished, six years since construction work began.

Neighbour Judith Steiner, who has lived on Wood Lane since 1970, said this week: "I originally supported the idea of having a home for the 21st century on the street.

"But work has been going on for years and now it just looks like a scrap yard surrounded by a chain link fence - it looks like something from War of the Worlds."

Another neighbour, who has lived in the street for the past 10 years but who did not want to be named, said: "It looks like a giant UFO just about to land.

Owner Mike Russum blamed planning laws, which he says delayed the completion of the house.

 

Should be finished really quickly now then...still bloody ugly though....

 

That’s it: I’m orf to prick the Heisenberg uncertainty principle

 

And today’s thought:

 

No she went to Vegas on her own....

 

Angus  

Health and Safety, Ton up Harry, another lunatic, Feral Pigs and M&S

Weather is a bit better today, and so am I, and I didn’t grunt or oink once, but I have this hacking cough; must give it up: coughing I mean.

Anyway, first up:

Dangerous Sign

Down in East Budleigh, Devon the Jobsworths are at it again, Mrs Voce ran a tea shop and as you do she put a sign out advertising the fact.

The sign was on an embankment with no footpath, and for a year all was happy in the cream tea paradise.

Until Devon County Council appeared on the scene and told her to remove it because of “health and safety” or to be exact “ a potential hazard to pedestrians”.

Within days of taking it down she saw her takings slump to just £8 a day, Mrs Voce, 46, said she is being left with no option but to close the Fancy That Tea Shop in the village of East Budleigh, Devon, with the loss of five jobs.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The Highways Act guidance says that no unauthorised items, such as advertising boards, should be displayed on the pavement.

"But in Devon our policy is more flexible; we do allow authorised displays on the pavement so long as they are immediately in front of the business.

"However in areas where the pavements are not that wide it can pose a potential hazard to passersby. The council has asked businesses in East Budleigh to take in their displays and most have done so willingly."


So why don’t you give Mrs Voce permission you anal morons.

Hells Angel Harry

It seems that flying helicopters doesn’t give prince “H” enough of a buzz, so he hitched a ride with acclaimed motorcycle driver Randy Mamola at Donington Park.

He clung to Mamola as the 13-time GP winner pulled a wheelie in his Ducati before setting off on two high-speed laps of the Leicestershire circuit during a break in the racing.

Onlookers were amazed to see him pull on red protective leathers, boots and a helmet to test out the track at Donington, where he was attending as the guest of a friend.

A Royal spokesman said: ‘It was a private day out. The prince had a friend going to Donington and jumped at the chance to go."


Still you are only young once and I suppose he could put Gran in a sidecar.

WHY?

American kayaker Tyler Bradt has set a new world record by plunging 186 feet over a waterfall in Washington State.

Pictures have emerged showing Mr Bradt as a tiny speck in a red canoe perched on the edge of the falls.

He was then swallowed up by the raging torrent of water which cascades down the side of the mountain. The waterfall is so high the spray it generates causes its own rainbow.

After landing at the bottom, Mr Bradt sank 20ft under the water and stayed submerged for seven seconds before he resurfaced, triumphant.

The only injury the 22-year-old suffered was a sprained wrist and a broken paddle as he fell for four seconds over Palouse Falls before reaching the bottom.


Shame that, it could have knocked some sense into the pillock.

Hero Porker

Florida has its fair share of “nasties”-alligators, snakes and other assorted beasties, but the latest threat to humankind is SUPERPIG!

The 150lb animal has survived being shot with tranquiliser darts and a taser stun gun since it appeared in a park in the Cove neighbourhood of Panama City.

A group on the social networking site Facebook, called "the Pig of the Cove" and so far boasting 429 members across the US has chronicled the pig's movements.

Officials of Bay County Animal Control have been trying to apprehend it since February, but it has remained free - as its supporters would have it, snorting contemptuously at the shackles of government.

"Is the pig a symbol of our desire to live free of government controls?" asked Mary Sittman, a Facebook follower and estate agent, last week.

She said that the pig's independent streak appealed to people in the largely conservative region in the Florida Panhandle.

Other Facebook followers suggested it should be named the Freedom Pig though others have dubbed it Wilbur.

Animal control officials are less enthralled by the visitor.

They insist that they are not trying to kill the animal but only want to catch it before it hurts itself or someone else.

Officials said the pig charged them last Monday and nearly gashed their legs.

A day later, they managed to shoot it with four tranquiliser darts but said the pig simply looked as if it had had "a couple of good shots of tequila".

Animal control officers complain that their efforts have been hampered by people tampering with the traps they set for the pig.

"It's not easy. You have a 150-pound pig with an attitude," said Jim Crosby, director of Bay County Animal Control.

More than 500,000 wild pigs are now estimated to live in Florida.

Experts believe they are the descendants of European pigs introduced to Florida by the Spanish in the 16th century.

Although they prefer to run from danger, they can be aggressive when cornered and can cause serious injuries with their tusks.



How cuddly will they think it is when they all start coughing and sneezing?


And finally:

28? Prove it

Marks and Spencer in Derby have demanded that a 28 year old shopper provide proof of her age before they would sell her a pizza cutter.

Jenny Palmer was asked for her ID at the checkout after she went to the retailer's Derby store to buy the £1.50 item.

"I'm only two years off my 30th birthday and hardly look like I'm going to go out and physically harm someone," she said.

"I told the checkout woman I was buying it because I was moving into a new house, but she said her screen was telling her to ask for ID. I think she could have used some common sense. I can't believe I had to go through all of that just to buy a pizza-cutter, of all things."

M&S insisted its employee was right to demand proof of age from Ms Palmer under the 'Challenge 25' policy.

Staff are required to ask for identification from any customer who tries to buy alcohol or a bladed item and appears younger than 25.


Computer says………..

Yes, I have the same problem.


Angus

Angus Dei politico

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

THE WAY OF THE WORLD.

Just got back from the smash and grab garage, it’s still cold but thawing, thought I would give you a weather update, if you are still wrapped in the duvet.

Any way back to the “headline”, usual stuff, Middle East, Prince Harry has inserted his size 9 in his facial orifice again, BBC NEWS.

The Inland revenue or HMRC as it likes to be known is promising to “have fully implemented the recommendations of the Poynter review into data security by June 2011” This is the-“ Kieran Poynter of PWC was appointed to review procedures after the Revenue transferred 25 million people's child benefit records onto two unencrypted discs and popped them in the post. When they failed to arrive they were sent on another two occasions” story.- The Register

I could row around the world in a bathtub by then.

And the Gov is in confusion over the “Uber Database” Jacqui Smith will soon begin one of the Home Office's famed consultation exercises on new systems demanded by spy chiefs to snoop on internet communications in the UK.-The Register

No surprises there then.

The world of medical bloggers is building up a head of steam about Dr Shirine Boardman, this is quite interesting, it is one of those NHS management balls ups that occur all too frequently, but is rarely publicised.

I won’t go into details but the Medical Bloggers are in full swing, take a look, if you are not medical it may open your eyes a bit.

Doctor Bloggs

ward87

The Jobbing Doctor

NHS Exposed

Dr Grumble

I would like to thank Dr Liz Miller for the links; it saved me a lot of research.

This type of action by management shows just how far behind the times the NHS is in matters of common sense and practicality.

It shows that the medics are still treated like idiots and children, they are told to use initiative and, when they do they are sacked because it may have contravened a rule that was being contravened by all and sundry (not a plug) at Warwick Hospital regarding “security”.

As I said, take a look it will educate you in some of the ways of Hospital management.


“Most management-speak is, as Schrijvers points out, Panglossian balderdash designed to lull the weak and credulous—the feeble-minded, the nice—into a position of supine docility.”-Daily Telegraph 2004

Angus