Another Talking Statue
I took this picture of the war memorial on platform one at Paddington station.
Another Talking Statue
A voice track has now been added.
It’s All About Votes!
The phone-in on Radio 5 this morning was about child abuse and the Rotherham scandal in particular.
It was generally informative, but it livened up at the end, when a Muslim of Pakistani orgin from Rotherham denied the facts of the court case, where several men of Pakistani origin were found guilty and jailed.
Then a member of the Labour Party in Rotherham described meetings of the local party, where members tried to ask questions about the scandal, only to be shouted down.He then finished by saying how certain Asian councillors deliver several thousand votes and make sure Labour win.
Politicians of all parties have courted minorities and interest groups, as long as elections have been contested. But in this case, a group’s baggage has been discounted in favour of votes and power.
This must not be allowed to happen.
Do We Really Need A New London Airport?
The Guardian is running a report this morning, about the resignation of the Mayor of Berlin. This is the first paragraph.
Klaus Wowereit, the openly gay mayor who turned Berlin into a capital of cool, announces intention amid delays to new airport
If you read the Wikipedia entry about the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport, you’ll see a large number of problems.
It looks like to me, that Berlin has bitten off more than it can chew with this airport.
So would it be the same if London decided to build an airport in the Thames Estuary? Or anywhere else for that matter?
I think that we’re in some ways trying to make a decision about new airport capacity in the South-East, before all the things we’re doing now have had time to settle down.
The aviation industry obviously wants more airport capacity, as it will make the aerospace, airline and airport companies larger. And Directors, Senior Managers and Shareholders would like that, as it would enrich them. Just as British Airways has merged with Iberia, will other mergers happen, that will effect our decision on airport capacity. The shape of the airline industry will be driven by the desire to get bigger and also American companies wanting to be more tax efficient.
The airlines too, will be bringing in lots of new aircraft. If we take the example of replacing say an A330/A340 with an A380, this will probably increase the passengers going through an airport for the same number of aircraft movements. Even small airliners like the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 are squeezing in a few more passengers every couple of years or so.
So in the future we may need several more terminals. But perhaps only one extra runway! If that!
We also don’t know what the air passenger market will be. If I read the travel pages of serious newspapers, you find that the self loading cargo is restless and complains about everything from drop-off and parking charges to security delays. Even Ryanair is introducing a Business Class. Things are changing and in some ways, I think I’m typical of the new breed of passenger. I go to and from the airport by train, I only carry hand baggage and if it is available, I can afford to travel Business Class. Incidentally, I’ve had five or six outward flights from the UK this year and only one inward.
In some ways the most interesting flight I had was to Iceland, for my holiday. Many of the travellers I met, were going between North America and Europe and were having a holiday and flight break on the island. I never liked long flights and would often go to Houston or California, by changing planes at Boston.
So I think we’re going to see passengers demanding flexibility in how they book flights and they’ll adjust their schedules to make the most of the awful experience of sitting in an aluminium tube for several hours.
With the growth of low cost airlines, have we in the UK changed our pattern of holidays and swapped long haul holidays for several short-haul ones.
I believe that every flight that can be avoided should be. After flights this year, I think my days of travelling steerage are over.
All the vested commercial interests also ignore the herds of wildebeest and zebra in the room. Trains in the UK will shape our airports policy more than anybody predicts.
Manchester is now the UK’s third busiest airport. With the Northern Hub rail developments and the expansion of the Metrolink tram, the airport is getting much better connectivity. Already, electrification in the area, has allowed new electric trains to connect the airport directly to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Heathrow gets Crossrail and Gatwick gets an updated Thameslink in 2018/2019, which coincidentally is the date when the Northern Hub developments will be substantially complete.
If you look at the top ten airports by passengers, only Glasgow and Bristol don’t have a rail link, although Glasgow may be getting one. But then Glasgow’s trains need a good sorting out, as I discussed here.
I think by the end of this decade, that a much higher percentage of passengers will go to their departure airport by public transport, mainly because of more frequent and passenger friendly tram and rail links. Although the way airports see motorists as cash cows will help.
And then there’s the elephant in the room of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. By now, London should have been linked to at least Amsterdam and Cologne, in addition to the current destinations. I wonder sometimes if there is lack of political will in the various governments to get more services through the tunnel. Or is our policy determined more by the British government discouraging immigrants than providing a proper rail service?
All of these factors must be allowed to settle before we decide if we need any more airports or runways in the South East.
Guns Kill People
When I read stories like this one from Arizona, I despair. Here’s the first paragraph.
A nine year-old girl in the US has killed her shooting instructor by accident while being shown how to use a high-powered automatic weapon.
I always feel edgy when guns are around. I think I have good reason and believe strongly that the world would be a better place,if guns had not been invented.
What’s The Opposite Of Mushroom Management?
Mushroom management is an old concept, that is a big joke in the dictionary of bad project management. It even has a Wikipedia article, which gives this short description.
keep them in the dark, feed them bullshit, watch them grow
I have on the whole not really suffered from this type of management, as I’ve been managed by some good people.
So it was with great interest that I found this document on the Transport for London web site.
It is a progress report on the various capacity improvements on the London Overground.
It certainly isn’t a document to keep everybody in the dark.
It even gives the phone number and e-mail address of the guy who is in charge of the projects.
We need more fully accessible documents like this one for public projects.
How Did The Rotherham Child Abuse Scandal Get So Big?
I suspect nearly everybody feels like I do, about the size of the child abuse scandal that has been revealed in the report by Professor Alexis Jay. This BBC article fully reports on the scandal.
C was always sweeping up the mess from child abuse, but she never dealt with anything on this scale. However, she would have her views on what needed to be done and like me would be questioning, why the abuse was allowed to get so large and carried on for so long, when it appears it had been reported to the authorities.
The BBC report publishes this.
The report found: “Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought as racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so.”
If a particular group of men are thought to be responsible, surely they should be restricted in their movements. Or perhaps they should only be allowed on the street, if accompanied by a responsible female.
We’d probably get called racist, but somehow we must stop child abuse on what is an industrial scale.
I also feel that a lot of social workers, council employees and police should be given the sack.
There Are Some Honest People In This World
A couple of months ago, I lost my little ticket folder, which contains a credit card, my Freedom Pass and Senior Railcard on a 38 bus.
Imagine my surprise today when I got an e-mail from someone claiming to be at the Transport for London, that they had found it and would I go to Baker Street to collect something.
Could this be my little folder?
It was and it cost me just four pounds to get it back.
I only actually need the folder, as I’ve replaced all the cards.
What Is Natural Oak?
I found this advert rather strange.
What Is Natural Oak?
I suppose unnatural oak would be veneered chipboard or MDF.
They’ve Given Hugh A Voice!
Islington is unusual in that the most prominent statue in the main commercial and shopping area of the town is not of royalty, a politician or a military figure, who is probably best forgotten.
Statue Of Sir Hugh Myddelton On Islington Green
Their main statue on Islington Green is of Sir Hugh Myddelton, who is described like this in Wikipedia.
Sir Hugh Myddelton (or Middleton), 1st Baronet (1560 – 10 December 1631) was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine-owner, goldsmith, banker and self-taught engineer
The statue stands where his main creation; the New River, ended its journey to bring fresh water into London. I suppose a modern equivalent would be to put a statue of Lord Coe in the Olympic Park.
They’ve now given Sir Hugh a voice, which you can listen to on your mobile phone.
Listen To Sir Hugh
This picture shows a close-up of the plaque, which details how you listen. This link takes you there.
The Real Winners In The Scottish Referendum
I’ve just looked up the betting odds for the Scottish Referendum on Odds Checker.
Typical prices as I write this are.
No! – 1/8
Yes! – 9.2
The bookies are usually right and with these odds, I think there can be only one winner.
But odds change, so check the current odds before making a decision.
If I had a vote in this referendum, I would not have been impressed by the performance of Darling and Salmond. But then whenever I see a man called Darling, I’m reminded of Blackadder.
The Anonymous Widower 