Sunny, cold, oodles of atmospheric movement and more than a
whimsy of white fluffy stuff but dry at the Castle this morn, I snatched a
glimpse of Dawn’s crack earlier and it wasn’t a pretty sight, but at least his
Maj can canter around the garden again...
Apparently four in five NHS trusts in England and Wales say
patients are suffering “unacceptable” delays for drugs to treat
life-threatening conditions including cancer, Parkinson’s disease,
schizophrenia and organ failure.
A survey of 60 NHS authorities found that the shortage was
doing patients “serious harm”, with some having to be admitted to hospital for
emergency treatment after they were unable to get their medicines.
Pharmaceutical companies began rationing drugs to the NHS
four years ago after British wholesalers and pharmacies started selling them
abroad to take advantage of favourable exchange rates.
The Department of Health said it was considering an
investigation to determine the scale of the problem. A spokesman said it was up
to drug companies to make sure quotas were set fairly.
He said the Government had an emergency reserve of essential
medicines. “We will take any action necessary in the event of disruption to
supply and distribution of medicines that causes serious risk to patients.”
Yeah right....
Are under as bit of a cloud, The Post Office has appointed
external investigators to examine allegations of deficiencies in the computer
system used in all its outlets.
It comes after many
sub-postmasters said they had been wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false
accounting.
Around 100
sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses have registered an interest in suing
Post Office Ltd over its Horizon computer system.
Horizon records
financial transactions in branches across the UK.
Sub-postmasters say
they have been forced to pay back many thousands of pounds' worth of money
which they did not take.
Many of them were
stripped of their post office contracts and bankrupted, and a handful has
served prison sentences.
The Post Office has
instructed a firm of forensic accountants, 2nd Sight Limited, to conduct an
independent review of 10 existing cases raised by a number of MPs and the law
firm Shoosmiths.
A confidential Post
Office internal memo in September 2008 said that in its crown offices alone -
those operated by the Post Office itself rather than by sub-postmasters - there
had been £2.2m of losses in one year, which was having a serious effect on its
ability to achieve profitability.
The Post Office has
repeatedly denied there is a problem with the system, saying the claims have
been made by a very small number of people who had contracts with it.
A spokesman said:
"The Post Office continues to have absolute confidence in the robustness
and integrity of its branch accounting processes.
It has refused to
publish figures on apparent losses at sub-post offices.
Should be interesting...
A baby raccoon got caught in a Dearborn Heights sewer grate,
Department of Public Works Director Bill Zimmer was in his front yard late
Wednesday morning when he noticed the critter. It was stuck head-first in the centre
of a large iron sewer grate, Zimmer told colleagues.
Zimmer called on fellow DPW employees Don Sepanski, Sean
Moylan and Carl Kennedy for help, the DPW crew carefully removed the manhole so
they didn't injure the raccoon, and then went to work "with a quantity of
vegetable oil and dish soap ... and a little TLC."
"The furry friend was freed and placed in a cage for a
trip to the DPW yard for a much-needed shower,"
"Once cleaned, watered and cooled down, the unharmed
raccoon was set free in a nearby wooded area to enjoy the rest of the day's
heat wave in a familiar (but cooler) habitat," Ankrapp's release said.
Never had a Raccoon stuck in my manhole....
Swedish authorities said strawberries are being analyzed in
a German lab in an attempt to stop foreign fruits from being passed off as
local.
Waldemar Ibron of the Swedish Board of Agriculture told the
Dagens Nyheter newspaper officials are trying to stop foreign strawberries from
being passed off as Swedish ahead of midsummer, when locally grown strawberries
are part of traditional festivities, Swedish news agency TT/The Local.se
reported Friday.
"We have taken a few samples and they're on the way to
Germany for analysis," Ibron said.
Growers in southern Sweden said the counterfeit strawberries
are hurting their business by offering the fruits for lower prices.
Mid summer-har fucking har....
Millie the Bengal cat, thought to be the world's first ever
feline security guard, has been hired to guard some of the UK's best-selling
toy ranges.
Bandai's warehouse in Sarfampton was on the lookout for a
new security guard when workers spotted the attentive moggy roaming around the
factory floor.
'We are expecting a bumper year this Christmas with orders
starting to fly in from retailers putting in their requests, including new boys
action toy releases for Ben 10 and Power Rangers,' a spokesman said.
'With the appointment of Millie the security cat, our toys
are now very well protected.'
Millie will be paid in cat food and fish at the factory.
She will be guarding toys including the new Ben 10, Power
Rangers and Thunder Cats figures, expected to be top-sellers this Christmas.
I see that she is already checking out the stock...
An X-RATED arts
festival featuring Japanese bondage workshops is set for a sell-out, with more
than 700 expected to attend.
Tickets for the
Festival of Erotic Arts, taking place at city venues this weekend, have been so
popular that many of the risqué shows are already at capacity.
Organisers say the
most popular events include flagship club night Torture Garden and revue
spectacular Kabarett, which boasts burlesque and showgirl performers.
The festival will
feature readings of erotic poetry, film screenings and parties, the largest of
which will include a sado-masochist dungeon and require revellers to wear
“latex, leather or rubber” or “all-out burlesque glamour”.
End-of-night
parties will be hosted at the Voodoo Rooms in West Register Street and The
Caves and Banshee Labyrinth in Niddry Street. White Space in Gayfield Square
and the Pleasance Cabaret Bar will also house erotic art exhibitions and
revues.
About two-thirds of
tickets have been sold in Edinburgh or the central belt of Scotland.
Festival director
Donna McGrory said: “Ticket sales are going very well. Our VIP tickets sold out
within three weeks of going on sale and our short film screening, literary
showcase and closing party events have sold out.
“We’ve a number of
free events, including a talk by Edinburgh-based striptease artist Dr Gypsy
Charms on Sunday, Saturday’s craft fair and, of course, our flagship Visual Art
exhibitions running across the weekend. We’re excited about our launch weekend
and are very happy to report a high number of ticket sales and artist
participation at the festival.
Spanking weekend....
That’s it: I’m orf to have a word
with my printer
And today’s thought:
Does my bum feel big in this Olympics?
Angus
