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.
Is Whitechapel Station Going To Be A Jewel In The East?
When I wrote about Crossrail as a tourist attraction, I said nothing about the station at Whitechapel.
I probably didn’t as although I use the station regularly, you don’t see much as you pass through except for hoardings with lots of graphics, pictures and information. When I went through last time, I took these pictures.
It shows the construction going on over the two north-south Overground platforms. Crossrail will run east-west about forty metres down. Note how the Underground is on top of the Overground.
I was told by a man in an orange suit, that there will be a bridge over the Overground platforms connecting it all together. Escalators to Crossrail will be going down from between the two Underground platforms, where the blue crane is now situated. The space between the Underground platforms will then be filled in to create a wide island platform with the two lines on either side. It will be an easy step-free interchange from Crossrail to the Underground.
There are some detailed architect’s impressions of the new station here. The page also says this.
The new Whitechapel Crossrail station will use the existing Whitechapel Road entrance to the Whitechapel London Underground and London Overground station.
The Crossrail platforms will be in deep tunnels to the north of the existing station but they will all share a concourse, ticket hall, gateline and station operations room, leading to a fully integrated station that provides an easy step-free interchange between the Crossrail, Hammersmith and City, District and Overground lines.
Transport for London’s, Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2050, states that at some point twenty-four trains per hour will run through this section of the Overground in both directions.
This matches the Crossrail and Thameslink frequencies, so once all these lines are complete, London will have gained a high-frequency H-shaped railway, where journeys like Luton, Brighton or Peterborough to Crystal Palace or Walthamstow might be accomplished using two easy step-free changes. In fact, the biggest problem after 2019 about travel in London, will be choosing which of two or three equally fast and convenient routes is best for you.
Travel is going to be fun!
I suspect Whitechapel might be my entry into Crossrail and Thameslink. I’ll just walk to Dalston Junction, take a four stop journey to Whitechapel and then fan out to the myriad destinations, that can be reached directly from there.
Does The NHS Need Physician Associates?
There have been reports about using these in the NHS over the last few days. One article in the Independent is entitled, NHS patients to be seen by doctors on the cheap. It starts with.
Patients will increasingly be seen by “physician associates” rather than doctors under Government plans despite fears they are “doctors on the cheap”, according to a report.
I have seen a lot of doctors and hospitals over the last ten years, what with the death of my wife and son to cancer and my stroke. What is different now, to what I remember of the NHS in the 1960s and 1970s, is that nurses now play a larger role.
Does anybody bother?
Some might, but I’ve never heard anybody complain, that the nurse did a job, that a doctor might have not delegated forty years ago.
So when it comes to physician associates, I have an open mind.
Or I did until I read the letters page of The Times today, where four serious letters from eminent medical professionals were very much supportive of physician associates.
Now I’ve changed my open mind to one that is totally in favour!
These Beheaders Aren’t Jihadists, They’re The Cast Of A Clockwork Orange
This is the title of an article by Dominic Lawson in the Sunday Times today.
This is a typical thought.
the Financial Times writer Gautam Malkani last week observed of the diatribe of Foley’s killer: “As recruitment material, video footage of beheadings seem tailor-made to lure the most unhinged of maniacs to the fray. And yet by labelling them ‘terrorists’ or ‘militants’ instead of ‘lunatics’ or ‘nutters’ we unduly dignify them. We also play to the vanity of many young militant Islamists.
Sometimes, I think we’re watching a Muslim version of A Life of Brain. Except it’s not as funny. Perhaps someone should make a version, as there is no more powerful weapon against fanatics, psychopaths and dictators, than humour. I wonder how, this famous line from Monty Python’s classic would translate.
He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy! Now, piss off!
The trouble is, no-one would dare make the film!
Labour’s Instinct Is To Control Our Lives
In an article discussing the identity of the psychotic moron, who beheaded the unfortunate James Foley, there is this insert.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said those returning from fighting in the Middle East should be forced to take part in compulsory de-radicalisation programmes, even if they cannot be charged with a criminal offence.
It may be a popular policy, but where does it end? Will those who leave Oxford, who have joined the Bullingdon Club, be re-educated. And what about Malky Mackay and Iain Moody?
Let’s face it, one of the reasons we’re in this dangerous mess is because of Tony Blair’s continuous licking of Dubya’s arse.
I cdertainly wouldn’t trust the Labour Party, with anything. I doubt they could organise a piss-up in a brewery!
The Anonymous Widower 