Measles

This is lifted from another web blog. I find it very very persuasive and wonder why 'someone' in officialdom has not used it to further the cause. We had a small blizzard of publicity over the school exclusion unless immunised proposal. That just raised animosity with me and I am sure it hit others in a negative way that Dahl's effort completely avoids.

Here's Roald Dahl's impassioned plea to get your kids immunized. I live in East London, where we have live measles afflicting otherwise healthy kids who could have been vaccinated against them, but whose parents have been duped by a falsified claim that vaccinations are linked to autism (here's a non-falsified claim: measles leads to permanent disability and even death).

I remember when my daughter got sick and broke out with measle-like spots when she was too young to have had her vaccination against the disease. As I contemplated the possibility that my daughter might be permanently disabled or even killed because gullible people were choosing not to vaccinate their kids, I wanted to start wringing necks.

Dahl had a child die from measles, and he was determined that no other child should die needlessly from fear and ignorance.

Here in Britain, because so many parents refuse, either out of obstinacy or ignorance or fear, to allow their children to be immunised, we still have a hundred thousand cases of measles every year. Out of those, more than 10,000 will suffer side effects of one kind or another. At least 10,000 will develop ear or chest infections. About 20 will die. LET THAT SINK IN. Every year around 20 children will die in Britain from measles. So what about the risks that your children will run from being immunised? They are almost non-existent. Listen to this. In a district of around 300,000 people, there will be only one child every 250 years who will develop serious side effects from measles immunisation! That is about a million to one chance. I should think there would be more chance of your child choking to death on a chocolate bar than of becoming seriously ill from a measles immunisation. So what on earth are you worrying about? It really is almost a crime to allow your child to go unimmunised. The ideal time to have it done is at 13 months, but it is never too late. All school-children who have not yet had a measles immunisation should beg their parents to arrange for them to have one as soon as possible. Incidentally, I dedicated two of my books to Olivia, the fi rst was James and the Giant Peach'. That was when she was still alive. The second was 'The BFG', dedicated to her memory after she had died from measles. You will see her name at the beginning of each of these books. And I know how happy she would be if only she could know that her death had helped to save a good deal of illness and death among other children.

How far and how fast?

Would you run?

For a couple of months, you have been dealing with the nice-sounding female at one of your firm's suppliers. Formal talk came to social and down to chat. After a while of this, you suggest you meet up for a blind date dinner. It may just be your imagination but you have the idea it might lead to home-brewed coffee?

Meet-up point is a rather chic restaurant you reserve for this sort of engagement. You are known and will get service that might be deemed impressive. The bill - with a small amount of discretionary understanding from your boss - might be a business expense.

You get to the venue just about right for time. A quizzical maître de greets you and says that your companion is already there. He nods towards the woman on the right here.

So, I say again - how far and how fast?

Grieving husband takes first steps back to a normal life

The husband of saddo Jade Goody is back in circulation.
Let us hope he is unable to get his paws on the money she demeaned herself to get for her children.

What have I been saying?

Funny little programme I downloaded a long while back but never used until now. Scans chunks of text and randomises the words therein. Reckon I should lay off the B*y*e woman and increase 'pride'

BNP

The video is included in a blog which shows the dangers of sloppy thinking tomorrow.

The "Two Different Worlds" department

Kylie Minogue has sent a message to Susan Boyle. To cheer her up.

Can you imagine any aspect of Susan's life that falls within the comprehension of the little Aussie chirper? The Boyle photograph is after she was glammed and sexed up.

No - neither can I.

And the pig got up and slowly walked away..............

'Twas an evening in October, I'll confess I wasn't sober,
I was carting home a load with manly pride,
When my feet began to stutter and I fell into the gutter,
And a pig came up and lay down by my side.
Then I lay there in the gutter and my heart was all a-flutter,
Till a lady, passing by, did chance to say:
"You can tell a man that boozes by the company he chooses,"
Then the pig got up and slowly walked away.

I am unsure who I condemn most for their sad choice of alcohol-influenced bezzer friends - Brown or Piers Morgan. It is almost good enough for a caption competition, "What about that Boyle bint then? I bet she's a goer. Nudge Nudge Wink Wink"

Hard man in Afghanistan

This is the original. Ross Kemp. He was in a series where he played a sergeant in the SAS and he attracted a considerable degree of micket-taking. However, his reports from the sandy place have been very well received.


This one is a copy cat. Very convincing I reckon.

Doing my bit

Just a little something that I would provide at my own cost to any MP wishing to upgrade his 5th time flipped second home.

Susan Boyled over

A picture tells a thousand words!

Shame it all ended up this way. A nice enough woman was taken out of her natural environment and put into a world of stress. She was described as having learning difficulties; we did not get the full SP on the nature of these problems. It cannot have helped when she went mega-star after her semi-final led to zillions of YouTube hits and The Big Time in America.
The bits that have leaked out about her being admitted to The Priory suggest that it was a move directed by her actual conduct and not exhaustion so it may well be that she will suffer some more lasting impairment.
The only consolation about her not winning is that she did not go on and explode big time. I do not subscribe to limiting choices and opportunities for those with mental problems. They may need special handling but should still be allowed to have a go. It might well have been justifiable for the Talent organisers to 'adjust' her marks so that she did not go into the super-heated competition and the other pressures that come with instant stardom.
Nice to see that I am not alone in my theory

Looking in from the outside

It struck me that we were being somewhat parochial in this expenses/allowance scandal. Whilst we knew all about a 50P chocolate bar we had no information as to how foreign onservers viewed the odd half million evasion on a property transaction.
I went looking and found this from Germany. It was written by a Brit - from the Grauniad no less - but the supposition it was drafted for German consumption could make it somehow 'foreign'

Not so one sided

Back in the early 50s, I lived in Gibraltar. The Spanish town of La Linea was just a short walk over the border. I used to go quite often; it was cheaper than Gib, seemed a little more 'foreign' than home where the police dressed just like Dixon of Dock Green and the ladies were nicer there. When the season came around, I started to follow the bull fights. Then, it was just as one now follows football. There were the stars that one followed. Some bull breeding estates were better than others and their bulls were star attractions.
I became a fan almost by accident. My girl friend suggested we go. This involved sandwiches, leather wine bags and sitting in the warm afternoon sun whilst a stylised ritual went on.
My first encounter did not create any great feeling one way or another. I could have left then and never been conscious I was missing anything. However, in the second duel the matador got just that bit careless and the bull had him. Old suit of lights was tossed some 10 or 12 feet into the air and it was almost as if the bull watched and caught him on a horn to the midriff. The man was dead before the bull dropped its head and let him slither to the ground.
The custom is that one of the other fighters has to come into the ring and finish things. As the bull is by now quite aware of how the man will react it is doubly dangerous and not a lot of time is wasted in despatching it.
I saw that it was not a totally one-sided ritual and was a regular visitor. I saw one or two more serious injuries or one of the lead-in players was caught or perhaps a horse rolled over. We all did silly things in our youth; I would not want to go now. As for banning it, that is a matter for the countries where bull fighting continues. I am told it is fading away and I'm in favour of that.
But I do still remember those sunny afternoons .....................

Look for the silver lining

Well may he smile! The pressure is off him while we all fulminate about MPs on the make.
He was under some pressure for his proposed solutions to the banking fiasco. 'Some' because I was never convinced that his opponents were making the maximum effort to oppose.
Now, he has merely to mutter that all is in hand. None can get onto his case as they all have their own skeletons falling out of every cabinet door and the wish is to keep things quiet.
Now his PR advisers have taught him how to smile, he is well ahead even despite what the polls say. The Conservatives surged ahead in a short time but we should remember the old adage "what goes up may come down" If there are many more Sir John's with their gross profits on property dealing then the boy David may need lessons in smiling.

All we want are the facts

I feel like emulating Sgt Joe Friday in seeking just the facts. The facts of what the boys and girls are getting up to at Westminster. It all comes so fast and packaged in such volume from the Telegraph that the full enormity of it takes a while to assimilate and process.
So, thanks to Private Eye for clarifying just what the entitlements are. It does seem from these revelations that the whole thing was a well planned theft right from the start. Well up there with bullion robberies from Heathrow or breaking into London safe deposit boxes. It does seem a shame that the media now making profits from extended sales of chip wrappings were unable to spot these preparatory acts at the time.
Well, now we know. I still find a lot of mileage in Nadine Dorries' claim that the monies advanced were never really expense claims at all but were a salary-enhancing allowance by another name. Whatever. The current problem is how to get better controls. Sweeping up after those who have torn the backside out of the system is all very nice but we should have the mechanism to get it right and then merely have to monitor it rather than have secret squirrel letter writing from the money seekers to the money issuers. Overall, there has to be a sanction that we can be assured is free of cronyism. The woman Kirkbride seemed to have support from Cameron and Brown seems to waver from outrage to understanding depending upon who is spotlit. Just as it is deemed that we send our democractically chosen representative to Westminster, we should have the ability to call them back if they fall from the standards we expect or the course of action that was manifestoed. I'm not advocating anything new here - I think it is known as Recall?
The situation regarding second homes is quite easily solved. The idea that a pied de terre needs a duckpond - still less a duck chateau - is a nonsense. Allowing Members to purchase property and then letting them refurbish or extend it prior to filling it with goodies at our expense is a recipe for fraud even before one grants them exemption from the charges we have imposed on selling such places. No - put them into rented furnished accommodation. There would be a rental range and the Government would pay rents directly. Occupying as a tenant a property owned by a fellow MP would be a no no. That covers the standards of second homes and the costs. If a landlord wants to redecorate or change something he is free to do so but any additional rent has to be within the agreed scale.
Digital cameras and all the other toys? MPs should have these issued from a central store. Known costs, economy of scale and greater efficiency. Staff - employed by the Government. Vetting to include checks that they are not some second cousin twice removed of the Member. Establish secretarial pools that are kept busy all the time and we would not need so many.
Running things this way would remove most of the grounds used by MPs to disassociate themselves from the rates and taxes the rest of us have to sustain.
If all this avoids us having to endure the teeth of Esther Rancid MP - it will be well worth the effort!

Edited for a neat quote:

Robert Mugabe starves his population to death. Nothing. The Janjawid commit genocide in Darfur. Nothing. Gordon Brown bankrupts the country. Nothing. Then someone buys an unnecessary trouser press. Pandemonium.

Re-writing history

These mash-ups of a classic film are all over the place. This one appeared within an hour or two of the game ending. I think the fact that one, with time, gets to know the actual film clip adds to the fun.

Adolf with One Ball was the ogre of my youth and the way he is portrayed here is, so far as I can recall, just how I visualised him back then. We seem to have lost that ability to identify the leader of an enemy nation as an individual; I never saw Saddam in any form, just his country.

Support local industry

Though I moved away from Kent with little sadness, it was more my reverse apartheid* stance that led to it. We had a lot of experience of other counties in more than 20 years of taking self-catering holidays in England and Kent was up there as a place with much to recommend it.
So - let me direct you to a link that asks for some small piece of action on the part of individuals that will benefit many. Oh and yes, the blogger deserves support!

Online petition supporting Kent & British Food

By Chambers @ The Chamber

We have received the following from Frazer Thompson (of the English Wines Group) and thought there might others of you who would also want to add your names to the No 10 online petition "We passionately support Kent business and the need to support local products and services. Sign our petition and you can not only give the Government an even bigger headache, but also support our County's fantastic Food and Drink businesses! This isn't some Nationalist scheme advocating isolationism - just a way of ensuring that our food and drink culture starts to become embedded in our thinking and for our obsession with price to be tempered by our awareness of the economic, environmental and social benefits of local sourcing and our pride at the quality of our local produce. KCC have been fantastic supporters of this cause and we'd like that attitude to spread. It starts with HM Government... Sign up now please! Click this link then respond to confirm as instructed. Any help you can give to passing this message on would be appreciated http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/British-produce/ So, there you are daughter-of-mine. I've passed it on! * Reverse apartheid. Laws and social convention forbid me telling people I do not wish to know or have around me to Go Away in direct and forcible manner. I therefore keep myself away from them. Here in Scotland there is much less need for such personal action.

Arbiters of morality

The current spat about who might be a designated poet has awakened thoughts I had when my life required some knowledge of poetry. There were a number of poems back then where I felt that the sentiments ascribed were maybe not of the best.
So, maybe I was right? Someone has undertaken a blog on that very point. Starts off like this:

Would WH Auden have won the professorship, in 1956, had the sleepy electorate at Oxford been apprised by a hail of anonymous lettres de cachet alerting them to the fact that the poet's most famous love poem:

Lay your sleeping head, my love,

Human on my faithless arm.

was addressed to a 13-year-old schoolboy? Who would have won that year, had the "paedo-poet" been drummed out? Harold Nicolson was his rival for the professorship. But, hold on, wasn't he the complaisant husband who was happy to have his wife, Vita Sackville-West, diddle other poets' wives? Meanwhile, of course, Harold Nicolson did a lot of extra-marital same-sex diddling of his own. It was not merely immoral but criminal (as was Auden's love-life) by the brutal laws of the day. In 1956Lord Montagu had just got out of clink for committing the "crimes" Auden and Nicolson more discreetly got away with.

Fish head

Some sort of ray at the Sealife Centre near Oban. The tanks are open topped and as soon as I went to the edge to look closer, this fellow seemed to notice me and came across for a close-up look at me. I waved my hand above its head and it circled the pond but returned for more close study. Weird experience!

Click to enlarge

Soldiers eh!

Seems that soldiers are the same the world over.

A former member of the Chinese army takes a positive route to solving a problem in exactly the same manner as I would one of his English army counterparts.

Not a lot of people know this

One of the members of Parliament has spoken out about allowances. She blogged the fact that she was advised these were not so much refunds of necessarily incurred expenditure as allowances to take note of the fact that MPs were under-paid. This got up the nose of Tory Party Office and she had to remove her blog.
It was archived and is still available; well worthy of time to read it. Here is just a taste

"Just park a couple of facts for a moment, which you may not agree with but are factual.
The first is that MPs have always been encouraged, by whatever means possible, to draw down their ACA allowance in full. This is because it was upped in place of an appropriate pay rise.

The rules surrounding the ACA were deliberately sloppy in order to maximise the opportunity that MPs had to draw.
This was always felt to be the safest political method to remunerate MPs, rather than face the media backlash of a pay rise.

Parliament is in chaos. The public are angry. The Telegraph has upped its circulation.
There are 650 members of Parliament. In any walk of life, in whatever profession, you will find people who are dishonest. It will always be thus as long as we are all human!"