Oh, The Irony

[escargot]

Your Freudian slip is showing there, James M8!

 

[escargot]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 37,00.html

The Sunday Times July 30, 2006

Anti-smoking campaigner Carr is diagnosed with lung cancerSophie Kirkham

THE anti-smoking campaigner Allen Carr, whose self-help books have sold more than 10m copies worldwide, has been diagnosed with incurable lung cancer.
Carr, 73, a former smoker, gave up the habit when he was 50 after smoking more than 100 a day for 33 years. He now believes passive smoking may have contributed to his illness after spending the past 23 years in the company of smokers keen to learn his method of quitting.

Carr was at home with his family in Surrey this weekend and said: “I have been the happiest man in the world since I stopped smoking 23 years ago and I still feel the same way.

“This has come as a shock but I remain very upbeat.”

The author, a multi-millionaire, discovered he had the disease last week after a regular health check picked up the cancer.

John Dicey, Carr’s business partner and publicist, said it was unclear whether the smoking clinics he has held over the past two decades had contributed to his illness.

“He spent many years in smoke-filled rooms delivering his method to smokers — it is part of the clinic that people actually smoke during them,” said Dicey. “He is not drawing any conclusions, but Allen feels that if that did contribute it is a price worth paying as we estimate he has cured around 10m smokers.”

Carr, a former accountant, is not planning to give up work.

Dicey said Carr had been given his prognosis by doctors but the family wished to keep it private.

“He is enthusiastic about the time he has left and is doubling his work, which is fabulous. The message is not that it was not worth giving up because he got the disease anyway, but that the happiest years of his life were those once he had stopped.”

Carr started teaching his pioneering approach to quitting the habit after stopping almost overnight himself. It urges smokers not to use willpower to resist cigarettes but to lose their fear of a life without nicotine.

His book, Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, was first published in 1985 and has been sold in more than 45 countries. It has become a bible for addicts all over the world and has been followed by a series of self-help books on diets, giving up alcohol and beating the fear of flying.

Carr also built up the Easyway organisation, which operates clinics in more than 30 countries.

He claims his method has a 53% success rate after 12 months compared with less than 5% for those using willpower alone. Among his followers are celebrities such as Ruby Wax, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Richard Branson, who have all endorsed his method publicly.

“It was such a revelation that instantly I was freed from my addiction,” said Hopkins.

Irony upon irony - he gave up smoking, showed others how to, and now may be suffering from having spent so much time around smokers.

 

[robbo616]

:? It's very sad that this has happened to him,but he smoked over 120 000 cancer sticks himself-he was already way over the self-injury horizon before he stopped.

 

[escargot]

More on him here -

http://tinyurl.com/h8s3l

Those who hope that quitting smoking will mean they avoid such diseases will... want to know whether there is any point giving up at all.

Edit - hmmm, I hadn't read to the end and have only now noticed a section about 'ironic deaths'. To have missed that! Oh, the irony! :lol:

 

[robbo616]

Sorry,this is OT but Escargot......."Weeping, I saw him then depart from me"?

oh.....


Or is it the Hannibal thing?

 

[escargot]

Yup, it is the bit of the sonnet that they sing in the fillum.

Maybe it's time for something less morbid.

 

[rynner2]

Another smoking irony, from Scoopt
http://www.scoopt.com/news/article.aspx?a=116:

Nicotine Zidane
Tuesday, July 11, 2006

We hoped to get some great photos from the 2006 World Cup and Scoopt members did not let us down. From crowd scenes to dogs dressed in football shirts to footballers' wives sitting in the stands, we had a terrific selection. But the pick of the crop has to be a photograph of Zinedine Zidane – the French captain, sorcerer and all-round legend – smoking.

A Scoopt member in Germany just happened to have a bird's eye view of a balcony in the hotel where the French national team was staying. As he looked out of his window, he was amazed to see several of the players, Zidane included, enjoying a pack of Marlboro. He took the photos for fun but when they came our way we realised instantly that this was a great story.
Why? Because in 2002, Zidane spearheaded an anti-smoking campaign!

We sold it everywhere. In the UK, the Sun, Daily Mirror and Guardian all saw him smoking as A Bad Thing, as you can judge from their headlines:

“Can you really be a sports star and smoke?”
“He shoots, he scores, he lights another fag…”
“Zinedine Gitane”

The World Cuppa TV show had a 'Shame or Fame' section where the studio audience had to decide which category the photo fell into. They chose Shame.

However, the Independent took a rather different line. The headline was “Zinedine’s puff for freedom” and they presented Zidane as an individualist who is not afraid to be his own man both on and off the pitch.



Well, his head-butting incident in the World Cup final was certainly 'individual' but not, we sincerely hope, due to nicotine withdrawal symptoms kicking in during extra time…

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

Firefighter's dryer prank probed

Firefighter's dryer prank probed
Officials are investigating after a uniformed firefighter was apparently filmed being spun in a tumble dryer.
Greater Manchester Fire Service believes the prank took place at one of its fire stations.

Chief Fire Officer Barry Dixon said the fire brigade was investigating the "reckless act".

The video shows a uniformed man climbing into the industrial drying machine and packing clothes around to cushion himself.


It is blatantly obvious that getting into a tumble dryer, especially of industrial design, is not only foolish, but dangerous in the extreme
Gtr Manchester Fire Service spokesman

He is heard to tell colleagues, "As soon as I say, let me out".

As the machine is switched on people start laughing.

Mr Dixon said: "A full investigation has begun and initial information would suggest that it is one of our personnel."

A fire service spokesman added: "It is blatantly obvious that getting into a tumble dryer, especially of industrial design, is not only foolish, but dangerous in the extreme."

The Fire Brigades Union said it would not comment until the fire service investigation had been carried out.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 250442.stm

Published: 2006/08/06 15:12:57 GMT

© BBC MMVI

 

[filcee]

Monks brawl at peace protest

Thu Aug 17, 10:28 AM ET

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Protesters calling for an end to recent violence in Sri Lanka found themselves brawling with hardline Buddhist monks Thursday, after a rally dubbed a "peace protest" turned unexpectedly violent...Some more moderate Buddhist monks, protesting for peace, were already on the stage when punches were thrown. Soon, monks' robes and fists were flying, although no one was badly hurt, witnesses said...

more here...

 

[escargot]

Panic for Rolling Stones as tour tickets go unsold

Saga, a company offering value-for-money services for the elderly has stepped in to offer half-price tickets to see the band during the European leg of their 'A Bigger Bang' tour.

I find this highly ironic as I am old enough to remember the Stones as being seen as the Devil's Own by most people over 40! :lol:

 

[rynner2]

A very sad, albeit ironic story here:

Family 'devastated' at rail death

The family of a safety inspector who died in an industrial accident on a steam railway tourist attraction in Cornwall have paid tribute to him.
The family of 51-year-old John Betchley say they are "devastated" by his death.

Emergency services were called to the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway after the accident on Friday morning.

Police said Mr Betchley, from Weston-super-Mare, was crushed by a steam crane and died at the scene. The Railway Inspectorate has been informed.

'Family man'

In a statement on Saturday his family said: "We are absolutely devastated by what has happened.

"He was a great family man who had been married for over 30 years.

"His life was centred around his family and love of trains, he died doing a job he loved".

The site is a well-known local tourist attraction, operating steam trains on short trips.

Most of the staff are volunteers and enthusiasts and all repairs and servicing of the locomotives and rolling stock are conducted on the premises.

Crushed to death

The railway operates a steam-powered rail crane, which is used for track laying and other lifting.

It is annually inspected by an accredited inspector on behalf of the railway's insurers.

During the course of its annual inspection Mr Bletchely was between a jib and a cable drum winch while the crane was being operated.

He became trapped and crushed to death between the two items of apparatus.

Mr Betchley leaves his wife of 30 years, four daughters and five grandchildren.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/5288810.stm

 

[rynner2]

Bishop banned from pulpit for swearing
Christopher Morgan

DAVID JENKINS, the former Bishop of Durham who survived a storm in the 1980s when he questioned the literal truth of the resurrection, has been banned from preaching in two of his local churches for swearing in the pulpit.
Jenkins, 81, was barred after using the words “bloody” and “damn” in a sermon. The ban came after complaints from members of the congregation.

Despite his retirement as a frontline bishop Jenkins has retained his reputation for fiery sermons. But he concedes that, during an address in the parish of Romaldkirk and Laithkirk in Co Durham, he became carried away when railing against splits in the Anglican communion over homosexual priests.

Jenkins last week admitted using the words in a sermon given just before Easter but said: “The main reason for people not believing in God is the behaviour of people who do believe in God. I am fed up with the disgraceful quarrelling among Anglicans when they should be addressing major world questions.

“I suppose there was a bit of anger and swearing but I get worked up in the pulpit and I get quite lively. Dogmatism is destroying the reasonableness and realism of religion.”

Peter Midwood, the rector of the parish, said he had felt forced to act after receiving complaints. He barred Jenkins, now the assistant bishop of Ripon and Leeds, from preaching in the three churches in the parish.

Jenkins was later given a partial reprieve after parishioners wrote to John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, calling for him to be reinstated. He is now allowed to preach at Cotherstone, one of the churches.

“David is a passionate person and used passionate language,” said Midwood. “It’s easy to upset people by using immoderate language in church. It wasn’t a deep theological thing.”

One worshipper in his parish, who declined to be named, said: “This has been a sad, mishandled episode. We are horrified at what has happened. David is our inspiration. He is a most wonderful man and I prefer to hear from a man of God how we should be living.”

Jenkins has a long record of controversy. In 1984 he questioned whether the resurrection of Christ should be seen as literally true, saying it was more than “a conjuring trick with bones”.

His views offended traditionalists so much that some even blamed him for the York Minster fire in 1984, which was ignited by a bolt of lightning. Despite the row Jenkins held onto his position until 1994, when he retired.

He drew the wrath of Margaret Thatcher’s government by championing the cause of the miners during their year-long strike and criticised the leadership of the coal industry.

Jenkins has long been a strong supporter of civil partnerships and last year became one of the first clergymen to bless such a union between two men, one of whom was a vicar.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 68,00.html

 

[lupinwick]

German right-wing extremists had hoped to lure teenagers to their cause in Cologne with a new youth magazine. The nationalists even had an ad with an attractive young girl next to the slogan: "German is Hot!" The only problem? The model turned out to be a Czech erotic model.

A German far-right group has run into trouble for a publication directed towards teens in Cologne. After first angering advertisers who felt they had been duped into supporting a xenophobic student magazine named Objektiv, the right-wing bigots are now accused of stealing pictures used in the 24-page publication.

Ironically, the photo in question is of an attractive blond in a tank top and short skirt next to the slogan: "German is Hot!" But in an embarrassing faux pas for the German nationalists, it now it turns out that the Teutonic hottie is actually a Czech lingerie model. So much for offering a "free-patriotic point of view," as was supposedly the remit of the less-than-objective Objektiv.

Source

Whoops?

 

[rynner2]

I thought it was rather ironic that while Tony Blair was up on his hind legs braying about 'social exclusion', many members of his party were searching for ways to exclude him!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5315776.stm

 

[rynner2]

Recently I've been engaged in a battle with the local bus company about cuts in the timetable, combined with poor time-keeping.

Decided on a day out yesterday, so waited with trepidation for the bus into town. Allelujah! It arrived dead on time! This meant I easily made the connection with the fast bus up to the city....



...but two miles into the journey, this bus broke down!

 

[rynner2]

Green bishop spends thousands on his chauffeur-driven car
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones

(Filed: 17/09/2006)

Given that he recently described flying on holiday or buying a large car as "a symptom of sin", one might imagine that the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, would be keen to boast his green credentials.

However, new figures from the Church Commissioners show that last year he spent more than £15,000 on fuel for his chauffeur-driven Skoda and for heating and lighting his offices.

His total of £15,170 for fuel and heating and lighting was the second highest of Britain's 113 Anglican bishops, beaten only by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who has to heat and light the vast Bishopthorpe Palace.

The figures reveal that the cost of fuelling Bishop Chartres's car was £2,271 and that £12,899 was spent on paying for heating and lighting his offices in east London.

Yesterday, green campaigners called on Bishop Chartres to "practise what he preaches".

Tony Juniper, the director of Friends of the Earth, said: "There's a danger that climate change is easy to pontificate about, but the follow-up does not follow that through. We would like to see him make dramatic cuts." In a recent booklet, entitled Treasures on Earth, Bishop Chartres wrote: "Making selfish choices such as flying on holiday or buying a large car are a symptom of sin. Sin is not just a restricted list of moral mistakes. It is living a life turned in on itself where people ignore the consequences of their actions.

"We have no right to appeal to our contemporaries on this issue if we have failed to put our own house in order."

The commissioners' figures also show that £25,257 was spent on Bishop Chartres's chauffeur.

The sum is more than double that spent by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on the chauffeur for his environmentally-friendly, semi-electric car, and higher than the average clergy stipend of around £17,000.

The Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, said that he was opposed to his colleagues using chauffeur-driven cars. "I travel by public transport and bike. I don't want to have a car because they are killing our environment," he said. "I would like the bishops to think about being more green."

A spokesman for Bishop Chartres said: "It's the busiest diocese in the country. The bishop is involved in national and international matters. All of his costs should be seen in this wider context."

The figures show that a total of almost £1 million was spent on running bishops' cars last year and that bishops' expenditure as a whole rose by six per cent, more than twice the rate of inflation, to almost £11 million. The money covers expenses ranging from the upkeep of palace gardens to providing hospitality.

The sums involved will surprise churchgoers who have been asked to increase the amount they give to cover clergy pensions and restore crumbling buildings. Clergy and worshippers in poor parishes will also be upset at the failure of the Church's hierarchy to curb their spending.

Bishops' expenses have risen from £9.3 million in 2000 to £10.7 million last year despite a report in 2001 that called for bishops to get rid of chauffeurs and gardeners, and to live in smaller houses.

A Church of England spokesman said: "Ministries vary considerably, it's difficult to make comparisons. The bishops provide good value."

http://tinyurl.com/z5yon

 

[Nemo]

(I don't know if this is irony?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5353704.stm

Body washes up on CSI: Miami set

The set of CSI: Miami became a real-life police investigation scene when a body washed up during filming.
An off-duty police officer working on the set was alerted to a body floating in Bicentennial Park.

An autopsy will be carried out but police are not treating the death as suspicious at this time.

Earlier in the week a mummified body was found inside a building in Los Angeles where spin-off drama CSI: New York was being filmed.

The cast and crew of CSI: Miami were filming offshore to get aerial shots from a helicopter when the body was spotted.

"Unfortunately, it's not unusual during certain times of the year that people who have fallen in the bay, either homeless people or people who were asleep or in some cases boaters who had a mishap, fall into the bay and turn up days later," said Detective Delrish Moss.

(C) BBC 06

 

[rynner2]

Recently I've been engaged in a battle with the local bus company about cuts in the timetable, combined with poor time-keeping.

Further research revealed that the real villain behind all this is the Public Transport Unit of the County Council, and I've wriiten to the local papers (and others) to say so.


Today I got on the bus to go to work, and discovered I had lost my bus pass...! :shock:

And to get a replacement I have to apply to the Public Transport Unit of the County Council.......!

 

[rynner2]

RNLI red-faced at lifeguard stunt

A lifeguard has "embarrassed" the RNLI after breaking a leg in a sea jump craze condemned by the organisation.
Russell Mullins, in his second year as an RNLI lifeguard, was left unconscious after "tombstoning" into the sea from the sea wall in Newquay.

The 27-year-old from Newquay, who is also a competitive surfer, is in a stable condition in hospital.

Lifeguard manager Steven Instance said: "We need to take it on the chin, learn from it and pass this experience on."

'A shame'

Mr Instance said the lifeguard had been on a day off "looking for a bit of fun and adventure" but had misjudged the timing of the jump.

He broke his leg in two places and fractured a cheekbone, and was airlifted to Royal Cornwall Hospital on Sunday.

The RNLI has spoken out against the popular activity, which involves jumping off high objects into the sea, after one man died.

Mr Instance said: "We are disappointed definitely. Up to a degree it is embarrassing for us.

"It is a shame that while we are trying to drum this safety message into people, it is our lifeguards out doing it.

"Thankfully he wasn't doing it in uniform. This experience will go throughout the lifeguard community."

Advocate

They now hope this case will be used as an example for other people wanting to try "tombstoning".

Mr Instance said: "It certainly goes to show that even the most experienced people can get into trouble.

"When this goes wrong, it goes very wrong.

"Hopefully Russ will be one of our better advocates of passing this message, now that he can show people just how experienced he is and what consequences happen when you get it wrong."

He said colleagues were relieved to hear that he was in a stable condition.

The RNLI advises people to only undertake the activity under experienced instruction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/5359720.stm

Quite a classic as cock-ups go!

 

[rynner2]

This'll look good on his CV!

Anger trainer drove car into club

A former Devon conflict management trainer has been jailed for driving his Jeep Cherokee through the doors of a nightclub he had been ejected from.
Paul Morgan, 29, of Richmond Road, Exeter, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and driving while disqualified.

He was jailed for eight months by Exeter Crown Court on Friday.

Morgan described it as a "moment of madness" and accepted he would benefit from courses in anger management.

Jump for safety

He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation and banned from driving for three years.

Morgan was thrown out of the Queen's Vaults nightspot in Exeter's Gandy Street after becoming angry with people who were with his girlfriend, prosecutor Mary McCarthy told the court.

He returned to try to find his mobile phone, and, having taken exception to the way door staff dealt with him, said: "I will make sure you show me some respect."

Later, he drove his Jeep into the front of the night spot, bursting open the doors and causing people to jump for safety.

Defence counsel Richard Powell said Morgan had been a trainer in conflict management and had trained 900 door staff.

He was shocked at what he did and described it as a "moment of madness".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/5371480.stm

 

[rynner2]

Fast woman castigated as she is caught again
By Nigel Bunyan
(Filed: 10/10/2006)

A chief constable has used his website blog to castigate a woman who was caught speeding - on her way to a speed-awareness course.

Richard Brunstrom, the head of north Wales police, described the hapless motorist as "a dangerous idiot".

Mrs A was caught travelling at 35mph in a 30mph zone in Abergele in May.

advertisement
She was offered and accepted a speed-awareness course that took place in Aug 4.

She was on her way to the course when she passed through another speed trap in nearby Prestatyn.

Mr Brunstrom says in his blog that the course notes had reminded Mrs A to ensure that "sufficient time is allowed for the journey".

"Almost impossible to believe, Mrs A was done for speeding on the A548 at Prestatyn, on her way to the course.

"At one level this is funny - it certainly made me smile -but at another it most certainly isn't. It's dangerous idiots like Mrs A who are still recklessly endangering the lives of others.

"Never forget that we are killing about 3,000 people a year on our roads and speeding is a major cause. So Mrs A, you will get the points and the fine this time, which you richly deserve. I strongly suggest that you change your behaviour before we get you banned - or far, far worse, you kill someone."

A recent Government report said failing to look properly was the major cause of accidents. Excessive speed was a contributory factor in only 15 per cent of all accidents and 26 per cent of fatal accidents.

Arthur Roberts, the head of a local pressure group, People for Proper Policing, rounded on Mr Brunstrom, saying: "It is time that MPs, councillors and even his police authority put a stop to all this nonsense. Who does he think he is to call someone a dangerous idiot?"

http://tinyurl.com/jm22z

 

[Peripart]

35mph in a 30mph limit? Thank goodness they caught this dangerous criminal.

The real irony here is that speed-camera partnerships are funded by the money raised from speeding fines, so it's in their interests not simply to place the cameras at accident blackspots, but at places where drivers are known to regularly exceed the (often quite arbitrary) speed limit, so that the cameras are swiftly paid for. If the cameras actually did the job that they were meant to do, which is to prevent speeding in dangerous areas, then there would be no revenue for the camera partnerships, and they would not have money for more cameras.

If the "safety" cameras targeted tailgaters, drivers who don't use their indicators or mirrors, those who smoke or use phones at the wheel, roundabout straightliners, or the numerous other breeds of "dangerous idiot" that infest our road as well as speeders, maybe I wouldn't be quite so cynical.

The only net result is that drivers like this "dangerous idiot" doing 35mph in Abergele get points on their licence, when a real policeman might have used his discretion and given a ticket or a warning, depending on the circumstances.

 

[rynner2]

Ex-firearm boss cautioned for gun

A former Devon and Cornwall police firearms office boss has been cautioned for illegally possessing a gun.
Steven Young, 43, of Little Pitt, pleaded not guilty at Exeter Crown Court to possessing the gas-powered six-shot air pistol without a licence.

Knowledge of the gun came to light in January after which Mr Young resigned as manager of the force's explosive and licensing office.

A criminal prosecution was discontinued after Mr Young accepted a caution.

He accepted the caution nine months after initially refusing to accept one.

The gun came to light when the 43-year-old was challenged by a cloakroom attendant at a club in Exmouth in January.

He identified himself as a police employee responsible for firearms and pointed out the presence of a gun wrapped in a carrier bag, in his pocket.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6092278.stm

 

[rynner2]

PARKING WARDENS WITH OUT-OF-DATE TAX DISC

11:00 - 16 November 2006
Motorists have reacted with anger after parking wardens in a Westcountry resort pulled up in a van with an out-of-date tax disc.

Shoppers spotted that the warden's van in Torquay had an expired tax disc and reported it.

The vehicle was parked in the town's Abbey Road at lunchtime on Tuesday. In its window was a tax disc which had run out on October 31.

One onlooker said: "It is a bit of a cheek to park up and start issuing tickets to motorists when your vehicle isn't taxed. I couldn't believe it."

NCP, which runs the parking controls for Torbay Council, said the vehicle was taxed but the tax disc had not yet arrived.

Tim Cowen, NCP spokesman, said: "We have leased the vehicle from a leasing company and it is taxed but the van should not have been taken out without the tax disc, which is in the post. The vehicle will not be taken out again until the tax disc arrives. It is taxed and we would be able to produce a disc in seven days if we were asked to by the police but the vehicle should not have been taken out by us without the tax disc."

James Pritchard, of NCP, admitted that "on this occasion [NCP] have shown ourselves to be fallible".

He added: "All human life is fallible at one level or another and we apologise for that.

"But what I would say is that it does not detract from the fact that in Torbay we still continue to provide an excellent service enforcing the rules on the street."

NCP has been at the centre of a row in the town after a dramatic rise in parking fines last year, after the firm took control.

http://tinyurl.com/u5gqr

 

[rynner2]

Some of you may have noticed I've been having a spot of bother with our local bus service. I've often wondered what health problems might result from waiting long periods in the cold and wet, but I didn't foresee this problem - I had to jump out between vehicles parked at the bus stop ( ) to signal a bus to stop....

...and tore a muscle in my calf!

(I've just got back from A & E.)

These buses will be the death of me....

 

[Pietro_Mercurios]

Some of you may have noticed I've been having a spot of bother with our local bus service. I've often wondered what health problems might result from waiting long periods in the cold and wet, but I didn't foresee this problem - I had to jump out between vehicles parked at the bus stop ( ) to signjavascript:emoticon(':cry:')
Crying or Very sadal a bus to stop....

...and tore a muscle in my calf!

(I've just got back from A & E.)

These buses will be the death of me....

Aargh!

 

[rynner2]

Pretty disturbing piece of irony here:

No jumps for Paras as MoD cuts £1bn
By Sean Rayment and Rob Watts, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:28am GMT 17/12/2006

Parachute training in the Army is set to be halted for four years as part of a £1 billion cost-cutting programme by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Members of the Parachute Regiment will not receive parachute training :shock:

The proposals mean that Britain will be without a parachute-trained force for the first time since the Second World War when the Parachute Regiment was created on the orders of Winston Churchill.

Documents leaked to The Sunday Telegraph reveal that no new recruits or even serving members of the Parachute Regiment or airborne forces will be trained in military parachuting from next year until 2011. It will then take a year to get the Army's 2,500 paratroopers up to scratch.

The cost-cutting programme is being launched after defence chiefs warned that spiralling costs of complex equipment and the demands of military operations would create a financial "black hole" in the MoD of £868 million by the end of the next year.

The severity of the crisis prompted one of the Government's most senior civil servants to describe the situation as "an extremely difficult position with no clear way forward".

The crisis has placed the MoD on a collision course with Gordon Brown and the Treasury, and has raised fears that multi-billion pound projects could be postponed or even cancelled.

The planned cuts to be imposed on 16 Air Assault Brigade, which the MoD admits would be a public-relations disaster, can be

Continued on Page 2revealed just days after 77 members of the unit received awards, including a Victoria Cross and a George Cross, for their actions in Afghanistan.

The document states that if the cuts were imposed "the Parachute Regiment and other airborne units would be undermined with implications for morale, recruiting and retention. It would take until March 31, 2012, to retrain all aircrews, dispatchers, planers and parachute-trained units".

It adds: "This measure would also have implications for special forces' recruiting and selection." The Parachute Regiment provides more than half of the special forces' intake.

Senior officers were aghast last night at the latest round of cuts. One said: "It is extraordinary that at a time when the Armed Forces are fighting two wars and are stretched to the very limit, defence spending is being pared back in this way."

The crisis has emerged two months after Tony Blair promised commanders in Afghanistan that they would get whatever they needed to beat the Taliban.

The scale of the crisis within the MoD is highlighted by another leaked document in which Ian Andrews, the 2nd permanent undersecretary of state, warns that the military is having to take "painful measures" to stay within budget. "Equipment, support, fuel and utilities costs are causing real pressures across the departments. We remain in an extremely difficult position with no clear way forward."

In an effort to stay within budget, he proposes measures including a "moratorium on recruitment" of civilian manpower and that all "existing contracts for agency or casual staff be terminated".

Instead of flying to meetings around the world, senior officers should "encourage staff to consider video conferencing, e-mail or the telephone".

http://tinyurl.com/ufs4n

 

[rynner2]

..and a hilarious one here:

Cricketer tests eco-friendly box

A Cornish man who has invented what is thought to be the world's first eco-friendly cricket box has been hit in the face while testing the product.
Ben Foster, 23, from the Eden Project, split his eyebrow after being hit by a cricket ball bowled from Charlie Shreck from Nottinghamshire Cricket Club.

He said the bloody end to the test proved the fast bowler could not dent the new biodegradable box.

"The box stood up well- we just need to make an eco-friendly helmet," he said.

Speaking at the product launch at the Eden Project, Mr Foster said: "I am perfectly fine in the box region, it is my head that's sore, and he didn't get me out.

"But it was all good natured, he shook my hand afterwards and I am pretty sure it was an accident."

The idea for the box - also known as an abdominal protector - was dreamed up by Mr Foster during the last Ashes series.

Most cricket boxes and abdominal protectors in other sports such as boxing and hockey are made of plastics derived from oil and do not biodegrade at the end of their life.

As a spin-off from the Eden Eco Surfboard, the Eco Cricket Box is made of hemp and a plant-based resin and is completely biodegradable.

It is designed to encourage companies and individuals to go greener.

The box is now being sent to England Captain Andrew Flintoff although there are no plans to put it into production yet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6194467.stm

I saw the Eden Eco Surfboard the other week - I thought at the time it would be awkward if it decided to biodegrade just when you were riding the biggest wave of your life!

 

[rynner2]

Banned from driving a car, Saudi woman becomes pilot
By Michael Theodoulou

HANADI HINDI will not be allowed to drive to the airport, but when she gets there she will be able to fly jet aircraft.

The 26-year-old Saudi is to become the kingdom’s first accredited woman pilot after signing a contract with the fleet of Prince al-Walid bin Talal, a billionaire Saudi businessman and nephew of King Fahd.

“I am proud of myself and my family for supporting me, and I’m proud of Prince al-Walid bin Talal . . . (who) made this great offer,” she told The Times.

After an advanced flight training programme in neighbouring Jordan, Ms Hindi is due to start work by the middle of next year. The Prince, a reformist, paid for her studies in Jordan.

“Recruiting Captain Hindi as a pilot . . . is a major step in the employment of women and in their more active participation in Saudi society,” he said. “I’m in full support of Saudi ladies working in all fields.”

The Forbes website lists Prince al-Walid as the world’s fourth-richest man, with a net worth of $21.5 billion (£11.4 billion). It describes him as a “jet-setting prince” who is “transforming himself into a businessman-cum-political activist”.

In June the Saudi Government lifted a ban on women holding jobs in most fields. The reform was partly a response to international calls for political and social change. But economic pressure has also played a part. Women, who must cover themselves from head to toe and be accompanied by a male relative in public, make up more than half the graduates from Saudi universities, but only 5.5 per cent of the 4.7 million Saudi women of working age are employed.

However, reform is being resisted by the powerful religious establishment and some members of the Saudi Royal Family. Women are not allowed to drive. Nor will they be allowed to vote in next year’s municipal elections, the first in the kingdom for more than 40 years.

“Women are very capable of taking on any job previously monopolised by men,” said Ms Hindi, a former English literature student at a college in Mecca, her home town.

The ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia was made official only in 1990 after 47 women demonstrated against what was then a customary law by driving a convoy of cars in Riyadh.

They were arrested and detained until male relatives signed undertakings that they would not violate the ban again.

The ban was made official by a fatwa issued by the Council of Senior Ulama (religious scholars). “Women driving leads to many evils . . . included among these is her mixing with men without her being on her guard,” the fatwa said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 82,00.html

 

[rynner2]

Girl, 18, killed in crash hours after police told her to wear a seatbelt
Russell Jenkins

She was fined hours before crash
Mother had also pleaded with her

A young woman who was fined on the spot for not wearing her seatbelt was still breaching the law hours later when she was thrown through the window and injured fatally.
Francesca-Lee Platt, 18, was a front-seat passenger in a Fiat Punto driven by her friend when they were pulled over by police and issued with fixed-penalty notices.

An inquest in Manchester was told that later that day the driver had belted up but Miss Platt was still refusing to wear hers when the car was in a crash. Miss Platt died but the driver survived.

Nigel Meadows, the coroner, said that the lesson to be learnt from this “very sad and tragic” case was always to wear a seatbelt. “One can only speculate whether Francesca-Lee would have suffered fewer injuries if she had been wearing her belt, but it is unlikely that she would have been ejected from the car.”

The wearing of seatbelts was a much discussed issue in Miss Platt’s family. She had ignored the repeated pleas of her mother.

In April last year Miss Platt, who worked in a call centre and lived in Chorlton, Manchester, was travelling with Kelly Bulger along Kingsway, a main suburban highway, in Didsbury, when they were stopped by police and fined.

The inquest was told that six hours later Miss Bulger was at the wheel of the Punto when she failed to observe a no-right-turn sign and drove into the path of an oncoming car in Wythenshawe. Miss Platt was thrown out of the window and suffered severe head injuries, from which she died the next day in hospital.

Wendy Gilbert, 39, Miss Platt’s mother, said that she had pleaded with her daughter to wear a seatbelt in the days before the crash.

“Francesca-Lee was obsessive and stubborn about it. She was 18 years old and made her own decisions,” Mrs Gilbert said. “She felt that nothing would ever happen to her and would tell us, ‘I don’t need a belt’. I think it was just an attitude of a teenager. I told her again and again to wear a seatbelt. It became a real family issue but she just refused.”

Mrs Gilbert said that she could not attach any blame to Miss Bulger for her role in the crash. The pair were inseparable friends who had been looking forward to a holiday together in Tenerife.

“I know that Kelly is torturing herself over this,” Mrs Gilbert said. “I hate to see her that way. I don’t want Kelly to be prosecuted. If I have to blame anybody, it’s Francesca-Lee for not wearing her belt.”

She said that it was a comfort to know that her daughter’s donated organs had helped others to live.

“Ironically, just six days before, she had asked me how you go about getting on the donor list. I don’t know what made her think of it. Among those she helped were three newborn babies. I have letters from all the families. The letters are sent via the donor service and only have first names.I know members of my family would like to meet some of the recipients.”

Roger Vincent, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: “It is always a terrible tragedy especially when someone has been given an earlier warning. Hopefully, when they were handed the fixed-penalty notices they were given advice as to its importance.

“Many people do not belt up. We have all seen the graphic images in the latest television campaign as to the consequences. Seatbelts have saved thousands of lives. If anything good is to come from this case, it is a reminder to people just how important it is to wear belts.”

Sarah Fatica, of the road safety charity Brake, said: “We would particularly urge young drivers and passengers not to cave in to peer pressure. Make sure you are wearing a seatbelt at all times.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 95,00.html