Thanks to Holly Phillips and BBC News Online for the Headline
This headline helped answer a very important question ,what do people with Stoma bags need when they are out and about and need to access Public Toilets ? According to Colostomy UK there are more than 200,000 people in the UK living with a stoma.
A campaigner in East Yorkshire has successfully achieved her goal for more Stoma friendly toilets in the local hospitals, where shelves and mirrors have been installed in the facilities as well as coat hooks and a disposable waste system. This is to enable a change of bag when needed.
These are not expensive alterations, and could be accommodated Nationwide and even Globally.
Thanks to Joshua Askew and BBC Online News for the Headline.
Thanet District Council has a Car Park which is on the seafront of the Marina Esplanade in Ramsgate, a prime seaside location.They are looking for ideas from developers to utilise the land more creatively to get the maximum benefit for local taxpayers as well as creating a “wonderful seafront location”.
How exciting, to be in right at the very beginning of the project when anything is possible.
The site is approximately one acre along the Eastern Undercliff, and forms an unbroken seafront location.
Obviously they don’t need a Car Park as it’s not being used as much as the Council would like. So the usual options are shops, a hotel or sports and leisure spaces.
I suppose it has to be something that people both locals and visitors use and will provide an economic boost to the area.
Thanks to Pamela Bilalova and BBC News Online for the Headline.
This story is from Newcastle where tenants of garages have been sent letters saying that their garages are not considered by the Council to be used to full capacity and some are in a very poor condition and a survey had recommended demolition.
The said garages have now had a notice put on them to say that the garage demolition will begin in January. This is despite the leader of the Council saying that “No final proposals have been developed for the site, and no decisions have been made.”
The garage tenants have already received a letter saying that the site would be redeveloped for much needed “social housing” and that the local authority would seek to identify alternative garages but could not guarantee to provide them.
The tenants, who need and use the garages , say that their removal will cause further congestion in theirsurrounding streets and additional social housing squashed into the location where the garages are currently will add more requirements for access and parking.
Why the disparity between what the Council are saying and what they are doing? If garages were part of the tenants agreement , how suddenly are you supposed to live without a garage?
Thanks to Nadine Yousif and BBC News Online for the Headline.
Canada who unlike the UK has a medically assisted Dying Law (known as Maid) which has been in place in Canada since 2016 for people with terminal illnesses.
Campaigners within Canada advocated for people with Mental illness alone to be allowed to request Maid. However , after being considered for a number of years the Justice Minister has said that there was a lack of consensus on who would be eligible.
Concerns were raised about whether mental illnesses are currently understood well enough by medicine to determine appropriate eligibility.
A new Law will be introduced within a few weeks that suspends the expansion of Maid to people solely with mental illness indefinitely.
The justice minister said that an up and coming case in Canada’s federal court perhaps would be considered by Canada’s supreme Court and the Law may be challenged
This contrasts with the late Ludwig Minelli who helped found Dignitas, and who worked within Swiss Law to achieve the freedom that he felt everyone had the right to end their life if they so wished. Dignatas is probably the organisation we in the UK are more familiar with.
It is incredibly difficult and the argument comes down to “individual freedom”, however quality of life and modern medicine is changing so fast who is to know what the future holds.
Thanks to Rebecca Whittaker and the Independent Online for the Headline
Wheat , apples and carrots are half as nutritious as they were in the 1960’s a new study as suggested due to declining soil quality.
Researchers found food, such as cereals and bread had lost 20 to 50 per cent of several key nutrients, including potassium, magnesium and copper and that people today have to eat about twice the fruit and veg today to get the same benefits of those 60 years ago.
Potentially, along with the use of weight-loss drugs, this drop in nutrients could mean that 5million working adults in the UK are functioning with below safe levels of essential vitamins and minerals. The worrying trend in working environments of working lunches or no lunch at all will I think contribute to this.
The supplement manufacturers will have a field day based on this research.
Worldwide , the study authors warn more than 2 billion people still have at least one clinical mircro-nutrient deficiency. This is well documented in the UK and US where despite a diet high in calories , diet is still low in nutrients such as selenium and folate.
Apparently soil health is the answer and farmers can achieve this and still be profitable , improving nutrient density, yields and climate resilience all at once . The article doesn’t explain how they can do this or what they have been doing that has caused this situation. Where is Jeremy Clarkson when you need him?
I had a quick look at some recommendations which include less tilling( let the worms do their work).Aiming for better nutrient balance routinely and scientifically test soil and match the status of the soil to crop requirements. Add farmyard manures, digestate , compost and biosolids which can increase soil organic matter in arable soils .ie we need cow manure and chicken manure. There’s just too many ways to improve the soil for me to list here.
So actually organic farming isn’t far off from what we need to do, it’s application of all these principals to get back to where we were 60 years ago. I haven’t watched Clarkson’s Farm but yet again the farmers are the ones who have to put this in place and we have to support them to do it.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
The illustration contrasts drought-stressed soil with a thriving, root-rich garden ecosystem.
Thanks to Andy Jones and the Dorset Echo for the Headline.
This Headline links very well to the Headline about “The Grand Atlantic Hotel” in Weston Supermare except this time it’s a Saudi Investment Company who are letting the fabric of a classic Art Deco building from the 1930’s deteriorate. The hotel is at Bowleaze Cove and has beautiful views of the bay. The building in it’s prime would have fitted in well on the set of Poirot.
It is a listed building and has also been recognised as a “Building at Risk” by the Twentieth Century Building Register. A new roof was put on it in 2024 but no work has been done on it since and it is deteriorating further and beginning to look unsightly surrounded by wire fencing.
A campaign to save the hotel known as “The Riviera ” has been launched by Tess Shepherd who had her wedding there. The local MP Lloyd Hatton is also working with the Council to bring the Hotel back to life which has gained support from local people.
Thanks to BBC News Online and their live coverage which covered the story from all angles.
I have empathy with everyone caught up in this “early release scheme”. I have chosen the Probation Officer’s view, as they are the ones who are responsible for supervising the released prisoners where the release scheme requires it. It seems that they have been given a significant extra work-load without any increase in resources.
One of the biggest problems is that many people on the early release scheme will have no fixed address , so how do you contact them about appointments, missed appointments or even just to ask how they are doing?
Let’s face it overcrowding in Prison’s did not happen overnight and maybe for some prison was definitely the wrong place to be, but you can’t just pass the problem along to someone else as I believe is the case with the Probation Officer.
Responsibilities and Possibilities should have been clearly defined otherwise this “Early Release Scheme” will fail , and ex-prisoners will return to the already overcrowded prisons and we’ll be back to square one.
Thanks to Chris Mason from BBC News Online for the Headline,
Terrorists are scary people and there’s no doubt that we should be aware of the threat they pose.
However, as an ex-Mayor of Manchester who doesn’t know much about rural life, there is a lot of rural crime around, particularly when the price of diesel has gone up astronomically due to the situation and uncertainty surrounding Iran’s status. Yes perhaps Iran did play a role in the attempted theft of diesel if the rise in prices motivated those men.
Perhaps it is worth the effort of driving all the way down from London in three white vans to rob the well-heeled farmers that are distracted by a ploughing competition and perhaps have kept their eye off the ball with protecting their assets, such as quad bikes, diesel storage and any other agricultural implements that they can get there hands on.
As Wes Streeting said about the farmer who initially rang the Police after trying to contact base security and on the “special number ” they were given by the base for emergencies such as this one. Only for it to ring and not be answered. That they only had “a partial picture” of the situation. A pretty scary partial picture if you are confronted by three white vans blocking the road and masked men running around. One of whom gets scared and rings the Police himself, perhaps thinking the farmer is going to run him down in his 4×4. That police call should be interesting evidence.
Yes ,Politicians on all sides, perhaps you have access to information that we don’t and we rightly so can only have a” “partial picture”. However, this Headline is pretty abhorrent. Even weapons of mass destruction need evidence( Tony Blair didn’t come too well out of that ).
Prime Minister Burnham should be more responsible and should let the Security Services do their job and also ensure that those living near the base have their needs respected. Why else give them a “special telephone number” if you don’t plan to answer it? Meanwhile stop this gainsaying and making statements which in reality are heightening people’s fear.
Thanks to Rachel King and Town and Country Magazine Online for the Headline.
Apparently wearing white is not just for brides or first Communion celebrants, but also it is an exclusive privilege for Princesses and Queens from Catholic Countries to wear white when meeting the pope. Fewer than ten women in the World hold this privilege.
This was a surprise to me as how do you define a Catholic Country for one thing? There must be less than ten as only ten women can officially greet the pope in white at present.
The meeting took place in Metz in northeastern France near the borders of Germany and Luxembourg. President Macron and First Lady Macron hosted the meeting , the First Lady not being Royalty was dressed in black as is the required etiquette for a commoner.
What came to mind with this for me was a joke by the late great comedian and raconteur Dave Allen, who talked about a wedding dress for a bride which was white , but with little blue spots.
I’m pretty sure the Pope didn’t care what anyone was wearing, but seriously wanted to get the message across that war and famine was causing inevitable migration of populations and that understanding was needed on the fate of these unfortunate people.
Thanks to Kate Whannel and BBC Online News for the Headline.
I just don’t understand how any politician, Senior or Not so Senior can justify gifts from external sources. I mean have we forgotten that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”. In the real world it just doesn’t happen that anyone gives anything away for free.
So why are we satisfied that everything is above board , just because MP’s list what perks they have been given by a deadline decided by Parliament. It’s meaningless when trying to understand whether Politicians are being bought by Corporations like News Corp. What can they possibly be discussing. Kemi’s plans for the Country, surely it’s us and her Party she should be telling not News Corp and why Greece for Heaven’s sake? Did Boris Johnson drop by?
Apparently it’s OK as long as the figures are published in the latest register of members financial interests , in which MP’s must report gifts worth more than £300 within 28 days of receipt.
This is just blatant nonsense , I don’t care if Andy Burnham is a keen football supporter, his job does not require him to attend football matches . As he did for Everton’s first game of the season in the director’s lounge no less, listing on the register a gift of £677.34.
No, Mr Burnham that was not necessary or deserved. You should have paid for yourself and then we could all be sure that the Football Leagues are not benefitting from some “understanding” between Politicians and Football business dealings. We are all aware that Football is big business.
The register is just a record kept by administrators, in truth there should be more questioning of the why and wherefore of these “gifts”. The damage probably is already done and a list does nothing to prevent it.
