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Proceedings of the Castle Aching Parish Council, 1905


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5 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Do you think that is responsible for the backlog in cases awaiting hearing?

 

Ah!, the present backlog of cases. They all get excused for their sluggish progress through the legal system by that one word that begins with a C, and ends with a D.

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7 hours ago, Annie said:

Only someone who had never been near the disability sector could have dreamed up the idea of performance targets.

How well we treat those less fortunate, whether they be "disabled", poor, or immigrants, is a measure of the social justice of our society. "The least of us is the most of us."

Also, it's also an indication of how those in power would treat all of us, if they thought they could get away with it.

Which, at the moment, I think they do, as they busily go about dismantling the welfare state, dismembering society constructs, and privatising everything so that only those better off can afford to access it all.

But - and this is the great bit - they get people who do worse out of it to vote for them!

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38 minutes ago, rocor said:

They all get excused for their sluggish progress through the legal system by that one word that begins with a C, and ends with a D.

You've lost me there: when I think of those responsible for the current chaos, I do think of a word beginning with C, but it is slightly shorter and ends in T! ;)

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59 minutes ago, rocor said:

 

The big problem with our system at the moment is not money but the Byzantine algorithm that determines its distribution. 

I know that this use of language has been queried somewhere on this thread before.

What did the Eastern Empire (of New Rome) do to get the reputation in the West for the complexity and corruption of it's administrative processes?

Perhaps it upset those Crusading opportunists, who thought that privilege and brute force were the answer to everything?

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13 minutes ago, Regularity said:

How well we treat those less fortunate, whether they be "disabled", poor, or immigrants, is a measure of the social justice of our society. "The least of us is the most of us."

 

 

 

That is perhaps the main way in which I feel modern British society is failing. It cuts across so many areas of concern.

 

But don't worry about that, or the chronic decades long under funding of the legal system, education and the NHS. Don't worry about draconian acts of Parliament or hostile environments for immigrants. Or cuts in foreign aid or in our benefits system.

 

None of this matters, because it is clear to me now that the majority of the British electorate don't give a primate's rectum about any of that, so long as there is no football super league. 

 

9 minutes ago, drmditch said:

I know that this use of language has been queried somewhere on this thread before.

What did the Eastern Empire (of New Rome) do to get the reputation in the West for the complexity and corruption of it's administrative processes?

Perhaps it upset those Crusading opportunists, who thought that privilege and brute force were the answer to everything?

 

Allowing for the prejudice of boorish western knights and post-schism roman catholic priests, which suggests to me that it is a pejorative term along the lines of Seventeenth Century ones such as 'Dutch Courage', it has a foundation of truth.

 

Byzantium was surrounded on all sides by enemies, the Fatimids in Egypt, the Turks, the Volga Bulgars, the Rus, the Normans etc. Apart from a couple of periods of limited re-conquest, the history of Byzantium was that of centuries of Long Retreat, worthy of Tolkien's Elves.

 

The fact that it lasted as long as it did was due to its skilled diplomacy utilising its soft power as 'Rome' and, frankly, a good deal of smoke and mirrors.  Think 'Global Britain' sending off a giant aircraft carrier too big for us to fill with our own aircraft and pilots might give your an idea. 

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1 hour ago, ian said:

I bow to Edwardian's knowledge of proper procedure but, sadly, not all of his profession appear so scrupulous.

 

I have to bow to judges. No one has to bow to me!

 

1 hour ago, ian said:

About a quarter of a century ago the company I work for shared a building with, amongst others, a firm of solicitors whose bread and butter work was defending the local criminals. Overhearing some of the conversations about their 'regular customers' was interesting and it seemed that often they had no doubt about their clients' culpability.

 

What you believe to be the case, and what you know to be the case, are two different things.

 

What you can prove is a third.

 

See Training Day (2001)

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1 hour ago, rocor said:

Ah!, the present backlog of cases. They all get excused for their sluggish progress through the legal system by that one word that begins with a C, and ends with a D.

 

The backlog predates the onset of the pandemic by a good long while. 

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1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

Allowing for the prejudice of boorish western knights and post-schism roman catholic priests, which suggests to me that it is a pejorative term along the lines of Seventeenth Century ones such as 'Dutch Courage', it has a foundation of truth.

 

Like a good many well-established prejudices, it's 19th century in origin; I read that Jules Michelet* was the first to use Byzantine as a pejorative adjective (writing in French), in 1846, and it didn't enter English usage until 1937: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/10/the-byzantine-tax-code-how-complicated-was-byzantium-anyway.html.

 

So the Great Schism and the Fourth Crusade are excused responsibility, in this instance.

 

* Michelet also introduced the term "renaissance" - his outlook, as an anti-clerical republican, was deeply antagonistic towards the middle ages. 

 

Edited by Compound2632
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6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The backlog predates the onset of the pandemic by a good long while. 

The pandemic has largely avoided us, but still  every largish organisation  I call up has a recorded spiel that begins "Due to COVID 19 there may be a delay in responding to your call" then I'm on hold for the usual 25 minutes. Even the ones that use Australian based call centres.

 

Other than being unable to leave the island we've been 'back to normal'  for months so  I have no idea how COVID could  affect anything based here but its a brilliant move by them , its put a stop to us being able to whinge about the shoddy service  because "its the pandemic".

Edited by monkeysarefun
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In the spirit of blowing my own trumpet, I would like to inform members of the Parish Council that I have opened a thread in the Narrow Gauge Modelling forum, detailing my adventures in recording events on the Midsomer Light Railway , a line that I have alluded to in the past without a shred of evidence that it actually exists.

 

Well, there isn't much really, there is a photo of an early incarnation, one of a loco and a recap of the story so far.  I will post a rambling backstory explaining why a completely insignificant fictional railway came into being and what the layout will illustrate, which will appear in the near future...

 

Like most narrow gauge ventures, it'll proceed slowly!

 

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It was reported in the news on the telly tonight that the pandemic has caused the SPCA and similar animal shelters here in NZ to be overwhelmed with kittens.  Apparently either the non availability of working vets, or the fact of people being in reduced circumstances, - or both, - has resulted in people not having their pet cats desexed with predictable results.

I wonder if our clever government strategists predicted this and whether somewhere in some in tray in an office within a government department there is a memo waiting to be read.

Edited by Annie
can't spell for toffee
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50 minutes ago, Annie said:

It was reported in the news on the telly tonight that the pandemic has caused the SPCA and similar animal shelters here in NZ to be overwhelmed with kittens.  Apparently either the non availability of working vets, or the fact of people being in reduced circumstances, - or both, - has resulted in people not having their pet cats desexed with predictable results.

I wonder if our clever government strategists predicted this and whether somewhere in some in tray in an office within a government department there is a memo waiting to be read.

 

Over here the bigger problem is the failure to neuter the Prime Minister

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1 hour ago, Annie said:

It was reported in the news on the telly tonight that the pandemic has caused the SPCA and similar animal shelters here in NZ to be overwhelmed with kittens.  Apparently either the non availability of working vets, or the fact of people being in reduced circumstances, - or both, - has resulted in people not having their pet cats desexed with predictable results.

I wonder if our clever government strategists predicted this and whether somewhere in some in tray in an office within a government department there is a memo waiting to be read.

 

A particularly alarming development given that the domestic cat is an invasive species in your country.

 

25 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

Over here the bigger problem is the failure to neuter the Prime Minister

 

I think the root of the problem lies further back than that. 

 

Although it is interesting to think of him as that large shaggy long-haired ginger tom, ready to curl up contentedly on your lap, but a terror to the local population - feline and wild - when he thinks you're not looking.

 

There was a joke on the joke thread a while back (it does occasionally happen):

 

Dog says to cat: "You know that feeling of shame you get when your humans look at you as if you've done something wrong but you can't work out what it is you've done?"

 

Cat: "No."

Edited by Compound2632
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28 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

A particularly alarming development given that the domestic cat is an invasive species in your country.

 

Our native bird population, - particularly the ground dwelling and flightless species, - suffer badly when there are wild cats loose in their habitats.  There have been a number of projects with wildlife conservation groups installing predator proof fences in some areas, but of course such methods are very expensive and they can't be done everywhere.

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4 hours ago, Annie said:

Our native bird population, - particularly the ground dwelling and flightless species, - suffer badly when there are wild cats loose in their habitats.  There have been a number of projects with wildlife conservation groups installing predator proof fences in some areas, but of course such methods are very expensive and they can't be done everywhere.

 

All we, and our respective governments can do is move forward with the intension to do the least harm possible. The ghost of 132 species of extinct flightless birds from the Adzebil to the Lyall's Wren will appreciate our endeavours in regard to this.

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I made a very rare trip out into the world yesterday because I needed to get my 'flu jab as well as general Annie inspection and blood tests done at our local medical centre.  After spending much of my time in dimly lit rooms I wasn't so sure about being out in the light of day (The light!  The light! - it burns......) and it took a while for my eyes to get used to it.  Normally I ask our very nice local taxi people to collect me from home and take me directly to the clinic and then back home again; - but after all the examinations and being stuck with needles I decided to walk the short distance over to our little town's mainstreet to see if I could buy a nice salad to take home for lunch.  I also wanted to go to our local apothecary's premises as well to get some more health potions while I was out rather than phoning them and asking for them to be delivered.

 

After several days of being a lot more sleepy than usual I was having a really good day and almost felt like my old self again which is the reason why I was feeling more venturesome and not so worried about having sudden catalepsy attacks.  It had been well over a year since I'd ventured into this part of town and it was a shock.  It was one thing reading about COVID-19 precautions in news reports, but quite another to see the town where I live in its post-COVID-19 form.  I felt like I was a time traveller in a Sci-Fi novel who had been suddenly fast forwarded into the future.  New Zealand is at level one, which is basically normal life, but watch yourself and be careful.  Seeing the shops with their Health Dept COVID-19 posters, contact tracing app barcodes, sign in stations, hand sanitiser stations and social distancing queuing artwork on the floor came as a shock and I immediately felt worried because I didn't really know what to do in this strange version of what had been a familiar world that I now found myself in.  Fortunately the local shop keepers seem to understand that old ladies get confused sometimes so I managed alright in the end.

 

I had of course seen all this several times before at the medical centre since I go there every three months, but that was a different situation to seeing the town where I live transformed .  Needlessly to say I was very happy to return home to my nice safe dimly lit rooms with the world locked away outside again.  We won't be getting anti-plague jabs here until later in the month and anyway I'd have to wait two weeks after having had a 'flu jab.  That means I'll have to go out to the medical centre again which will be annoying.

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1 hour ago, Annie said:

I made a very rare trip out into the world yesterday because I needed to get my 'flu jab as well as general Annie inspection and blood tests done at our local medical centre.  After spending much of my time in dimly lit rooms I wasn't so sure about being out in the light of day (The light!  The light! - it burns......) and it took a while for my eyes to get used to it.  Normally I ask our very nice local taxi people to collect me from home and take me directly to the clinic and then back home again; - but after all the examinations and being stuck with needles I decided to walk the short distance over to our little town's mainstreet to see if I could buy a nice salad to take home for lunch.  I also wanted to go to our local apothecary's premises as well to get some more health potions while I was out rather than phoning them and asking for them to be delivered.

 

After several days of being a lot more sleepy than usual I was having a really good day and almost felt like my old self again which is the reason why I was feeling more venturesome and not so worried about having sudden catalepsy attacks.  It had been well over a year since I'd ventured into this part of town and it was a shock.  It was one thing reading about COVID-19 precautions in news reports, but quite another to see the town where I live in its post-COVID-19 form.  I felt like I was a time traveller in a Sci-Fi novel who had been suddenly fast forwarded into the future.  New Zealand is at level one, which is basically normal life, but watch yourself and be careful.  Seeing the shops with their Health Dept COVID-19 posters, contact tracing app barcodes, sign in stations, hand sanitiser stations and social distancing queuing artwork on the floor came as a shock and I immediately felt worried because I didn't really know what to do in this strange version of what had been a familiar world that I now found myself in.  Fortunately the local shop keepers seem to understand that old ladies get confused sometimes so I managed alright in the end.

 

I had of course seen all this several times before at the medical centre since I go there every three months, but that was a different situation to seeing the town where I live transformed .  Needlessly to say I was very happy to return home to my nice safe dimly lit rooms with the world locked away outside again.  We won't be getting anti-plague jabs here until later in the month and anyway I'd have to wait two weeks after having had a 'flu jab.  That means I'll have to go out to the medical centre again which will be annoying.

 

We mostly avoided the  masks and gloves rule here except for over Christmas for a bit and then only inside but that was a whole new dimension in weird on top of all the rest.

 

On a positive note, I haven't been mooned by any  UK backpackers  when driving past The  Coogee Bay Hotel since  we shut our borders.

Edited by monkeysarefun
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35 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

On a positive note, I haven't been mooned by any  UK backpackers  when driving past The  Coogee Bay Hotel since  we shut our borders.

Only mooning?  When the borders were open we were plagued by European backpackers and freedom campers who thought they could void their bowels anywhere they liked here in the rural countryside, - and when challenged about it would protest that it was 'natural'.  Perhaps where they come from they're allowed to crap on the side of the road, on peoples' lawns and in public reserves, but here they're not.   I hope our borders stay closed for a very very long time.

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2 hours ago, Annie said:

We won't be getting anti-plague jabs here until later in the month and anyway I'd have to wait two weeks after having had a 'flu jab.  That means I'll have to go out to the medical centre again which will be annoying.

 

At least your flu-jab-jaunt got you out in the open air in relative safety. The UK is full of yahoos who only want every aspect of covid19 precautions dropped so they can jet off on foreign holidays in the sun.  Best practice, I suppose, would be to let the selfish bu@@ers go off and not let them back in again!

 

I had my second Pfizer jab a couple of days ago, and apart from feeling dozy and achey yesterday, its not had any dire side effects.  I was told pre-jab that come September (or whenever) a top-up plague jab would be offered along with the traditional flu jab*, so I expect that this will become the rule in future.

 

Keep well!

 

* Which in its way is also a plague-jab as uncontrolled flu might be as bad as covid19.

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16 minutes ago, Hroth said:

* Which in its way is also a plague-jab as uncontrolled flu might be as bad as covid19.

That is very true.  With my health issues getting the 'flu is no joke which why I could get it for free every year even before I became an OAP.

 

19 minutes ago, Hroth said:

At least your flu-jab-jaunt got you out in the open air in relative safety. The UK is full of yahoos who only want every aspect of covid19 precautions dropped so they can jet off on foreign holidays in the sun.  Best practice, I suppose, would be to let the selfish bu@@ers go off and not let them back in again!

That is certainly one of the reasons why we are keeping our borders tightly shut Mr Horth.  The fact that there are countries out there, - including the UK, - with completely porous borders is a major reason for our high state of vigilance.  The only reason why we're experimenting with a travel corridor with Australia is that they are as fussy as we are over keeping the plague out.  The feeling of living in a walled city that's under siege is not all that pleasant, but the last thing we want is to experience what India is suffering at the moment.

 

When we began quarantining NZ citizens returning home we had a few situations where some people thought it was a bit of joke  and they could wander out the door.  Being arrested by the Police, dragged into court and getting heavy fines or tossed into prison once their quarantine period was over soon cleared up that idea.

 

Just recently we have had the situation where NZ citizens travelled to India to help family when COVID-19 started to turn into a firestorm with the new highly infectious strains of the virus in the country.  Now they can't come back because it's too much of a risk to let them back into New Zealand.  Our government has been bad mouthed and called cruel for that decision, but it was the right decision for them to make.  So understandably I can't begin to get my head around why the Uk government has failed to grow a spine over locking down the borders.  Anyone wanting to go off anywhere in the world for a holiday in the present situation has to have rocks in their head.

 

50 minutes ago, Hroth said:

I had my second Pfizer jab a couple of days ago, and apart from feeling dozy and achey yesterday, its not had any dire side effects.  I was told pre-jab that come September (or whenever) a top-up plague jab would be offered along with the traditional flu jab*, so I expect that this will become the rule in future.

 

Yes I can see the need for some kind of booster jab as an on-going thing after the initial vaccination program is completed.

Nice to know that Pfizer jab has about the same after effects as most other vaccinations.  We have the usual cognitively challenged individuals here who go about spouting wacko theories about the COVID-19 vaccination.  In some ways I'd be perfectly happy for them to get the Darwin Award if it wasn't such a risk that they'd pass on the virus to others before they suffered the logical conclusion to their stupidity.

 

And I did have nice outing yesterday in the lovely Autumn weather we're having at the moment.

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4 hours ago, Hroth said:

The UK is full of yahoos who only want every aspect of covid19 precautions dropped so they can jet off on foreign holidays in the sun.  Best practice, I suppose, would be to let the selfish bu@@ers go off and not let them back in again!

 

 

That should be possible, as a precedent has already been set, with the example of British citizens that went to Iraq to join ISIS not being allowed to return.

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3 hours ago, Annie said:

So understandably I can't begin to get my head around why the Uk government has failed to grow a spine over locking down the borders. 

 

In a word: money. But, its not quite as simple as it seems.

 

There are so many pressures from commercial vested-interests, ranging from the obvious ones like airlines and holiday companies, through to the less-obvious ones like the higher education sector, which relies heavily on students from overseas.

 

The same applies to much of the pressure for "internal re-opening", although it is only fair to say that in both cases a lot of peoples' livelihoods depend upon these things.

 

I know its hard to get across to people in Aus and NZ, but the UK has long been an incredibly "connected" place, with people and goods zipping in and out in all directions. That isn't something that can be changed without a severe impact on peoples' economic wellbeing.

 

Anyway, HMG does seem to be playing it all a bit more sensibly now than it did last year, when frankly they were way, way too liberal for our own good. 

 

 

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Thank you for explaining the Uk situation Kevin.  With NZ being miles from anywhere except Australia we are very much used to getting on with it by ourselves which very much colours our world view. 

We did have the beginnings of an education sector based on students coming here from overseas and there were howls of protest when our borders closed because that was very much the end of overseas students coming here for a very long time.  Institutions had to close their doors and people lost their jobs, but I can well understand that what happened here in our education sector is only a tiny drop in the bucket compared with what would happen if the same thing happened in the Uk.

Our tourist and hospitality sector took a huge hit too, but with some nasty exploitative practices going on in some parts of the sector it was a good thing that the ratbags got sent to the wall.  The better run businesses have managed to make the transition to local tourism and with the travel bridge with Australia now opening that should help the sector to recover as well.

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