Thought

Though all his life a fool associates with a wise man,
he no more comprehends the Truth than a spoon tastes the flavor of the soup.

The Buddha

Sauce for the Goose

I understand the expression "sauce for the goose" to mean if a type of behaviour is acceptable for one it should be for another.
In that case , why is their a bloody big sign on the way into Llanduduno and hanging on the side of the library in the town advertising some fare?

let me be clear, I have no problem with temporary signs advertising some thing non contentious, my point is why was the poor bugger who owns Colwyn Bay harassed by the Council when he did the same thing trying to advertise some are exhibition.
The poor bugger on the pier is only trying to survive after all, yet he had the weight of the council brought to bear on him for a simple art show.

It ain't right you know!

The Drain

I have just been to St Asaph, and just about had the balls to take these 2 photographs!

They are of a divisional head quarters of North Wales Police, I say a, as there are more than one divisional head quarters.

They are amazingly huge considering we have the headquarters just down the A55.

How many police officers work here I wonder, not civilian but serving officers?

This is one of the places all the police officers are in the day I am sure, desk bound.

I wonder what the percentage of workers are 9 till 5 as opposed to the full shift system some of my friends had to work when they joined up?

Is this what 10 years of labour government has given us?

Desk bound bobbies, or is some of it Brunstroms doing?

Either way we deserve better, those of us who pay our council tax should be receiving better value for money than we are getting.

The photographs do not do justice to the size of the place, but I buggered off pretty sharpish!

Charity.

I had to go over to Chester today to meet someone , went for a coffee and we sat in the window watching the world go by, and what a world it now is.

I took this photo when we finished, I thought he was some thing to do with the big issue at first, but in fairness to them they do not directly approach any one, as this rather bohemian looking character was constantly doing.

It turned out he was fund raising for World vision charity, a very commendable charity at that, but we could not help but wonder how ethical it really is going up to what looked like mainly young people.

There were at least 3 of them.

It is supposed to take place for several charities these days in many differnent towns and cities, rather like the insurance claim sharks that used to be about in large numbers.

I hate this kind of moral blackmail that is taking place these days.

Charity to me is a very personal and private thing, but one has to accept it must be a devil of a job to fund raise these days.

All charities must have a job and a half these days trying to raise money, but it is really coming to something when it comes to this on the streets of one of the most beautiful cities we have in the country.

I once worked in Chester for a few months and absolutely love going there, we are so very lucky to have such a city on more or less our door step, yet have the wonderful scenery that we have, living on the coast.

Little Joke

A Montana cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?" The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resoluti on photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves." "That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calve s," says the cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?" The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?" You're a Congressman for the U. S. Government", says the cowboy. "Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?" "No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows. . . this is a herd of sheep. Now give me back my dog.

Travelling Expenses

Basic
Allowance SRA Total Allowances Net Allowances Travelling Expenses
Subsistence
and Other
Expenses

Goronwy Edwards 12312.00 28517.04 41129.04 34617.18 3778.31 956.22


Dilys Mars-Jones 12312.00 3354.96 15666.96 12990.62 3610.66 10.00



Second to last figure is the amount claimed for travel expense's.
Dilys mars-Jones possibly the oldest serving councillor in wales claimed nearly as much as our beloved leader last year in travel expense's
The other bugger was the Gwylim Richards, who claimed about the same.
In fairness to Goronwy as leader his figure seems fair enough' ish
But the other 2??
Do they have to have a taxi or driver?
Would not be at all surprised if they did, Before any one comments, I am aware they live on the border of the county.

Not crime Free

Took this photo earlier today at Heathrow Airport terminal 1.



In this country you can get away very much with anything, especially if your in government.

The enforcing of the law is pretty much a joke, you can smoke cannabis, if so inclined, mug an old lady, shoplift as much as you want, lie to the country if your in government, spit on the pavement etc etc

But the message you see when you wait for a parcel off the carousel is

"welcome to a smoke free England"
I suppose what I am trying to say is that this government has got most of the priorities arse about face.
Is this the only message we want to get across?

Police

Police complaints on the increase
By Dominic Casciani BBC News home affairs reporter
Almost half of complaints against police are allegations of rudeness or neglect, according to a watchdog.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said annual figures showed a 10% increase in allegations against forces in England and Wales.

So they are out and about some where!!

A Reader Speaks!

The following was posted in the comment section of the previous posting.
The truth is out there some where!




Some good threads on here Oscar and sometimes you are spot on - saying the things I am thinking. Thanks mate. But let's set the record straight on this one. You are absolutely right in what you say and you put your name to it, hence ' you would not like to tackle some of the scum that are about late at night' and neither would I or 'Joe and Joan Public'. Neither should they have to, since I see this role of out of hours working as a Police matter where they are provided with trained resources, backup, safety wear and the necessary deterrents to tackle such situations. Turning up to those worse for wear, particularly a volatile Licensee and customers is not a job that I would want. On this particular issue, I could not disagree more with the comments by the anonymous writer 'FACT' since I have received a great deal of help and support from all of Phil Rafferty's team over the years, since the Licensing Act was transferred from the Magistrates to the Local Authorities (the wisdom of Parliament and the House of Lords). I really don't like to see personalised crap being posted since I know for sure that this person named does not drink even in his social life, since he has used my pub for the last twenty odd years, but he spends no money on alcoholic drink, he attends here alongside many who just enjoy the social aspects that go on in our ale house, so someone is certainly extracting the urine here. There is no way that this man would have turned up pissed in this way, so lets set it out as it is. No way at all. If this bloke was someone who liked alcoholic drinks, I would have retired early by now. Here ends this suggestion that this man was pissed. Let's look more closely at the writer of such an allegation. This officer would not accept alcohol if I gave it to him for free. I have never heard such a load of unbelievable bull shit. This thread is clearly porky pies to deflect from a problematic situation.Direct criticism where it is needed and not out of a man who is part of a hardworking team who I agree are run ragged with a 24 x 7 call out system, 365 days a year and all weathers. This team works both in the day and through the night, often on a 7 day a week shift pattern, long hours and often not knowing what challenge they face next, they are troopers who tread where many would not want to go. Yet the cover is always there and they have helped me no end to sort out any problems I have encountered. Attending at night, weekends and during office hours. Plus getting the raw end of criticism from the public. Through the wise wisdom of the Chief Constable, Police Station doors were closed and Community Beat Managers I believe were moved from their posts. Maybe we should be campaigning to get these reopened. Hence the exposure to our loyal Licensing Team to tackle the unbelievable problems through losing a vital link in the licensing chain and the police authority. I reiterate, I would not want to be out there on the streets having to face turning up to drunk and rowdy situations. During the transitional period all licensees within the area of Conwy county were invited to work with this team. I sat in all meetings and this team worked around the clock to fill in our forms, with excellent mediation when members of the public were objecting to the extension of licensing hours, working through raising awareness to help us to comply with the changes in the law. It has been a commendable service with good management and a committed team who have all done their best to carry out the delegated tasks. These duties are now covered by an exceptionally dedicated team.In the good old days, police officers would just turn up to public houses, those days have all gone. Pubs in the good old days were not nightclubs. Often ale houses are set in residential areas and the licensing department helped me to understand the change in the law and the four objectives and come on lads and lasses, we all have to conform to the law as set and I do this because it brings me a good living. I don't say I like it, but it is a case of earning an honest income. This licensing team is very approachable and as the previous writer has said 'loyal and dedicated' to helping where possible, but we all have to live within the regulations set by Government. You should be praising this team, they did not change the licensing laws, yet I believe this team may well have ''the worst job in the Council''. I would not want their job. As a licensee, I get rattled by legislation and keeping up with the changes in the law, but I am glad of this team since I learn much from the meetings I attend and this team are always at the end of the phone if I need them. Not many would want to be doing their job in the Licensing Department and they deserve better than the crap I have seen posted. I believe that many of the responsibilities they have been delegated with and which should have been left to the police, they have clearly been given the short straw and they are not paid enough for their challenges in comparison to other departments or professions. For sure, we all have times when we have a rowdy night in our establishments, I for one would not want the responsibility of sorting out my customers when they have had a skinful and when my neighbours start to ring in, I just sort it myself and after years of this work, it works well for me. I don't cost the local government money and I would not send in anonymous comments if I did. Talk about wasting council money and resources...Laws are made in Parliament Oscar, so let's not knock the poor sods who have to do all possible to carry them out!The licensing team is bound to be a target and many a time when I have had a visit, I have had a too many late at night and my judgment is impaired, we can change personality when we have had a skinful and in the light of day try to turn the blame onto anyone who is an easy target - cut the crap. Lets have fair play Oscar and direct our anger at the departments that don't earn their corn. There are plenty of them to which I am happy to add my honest opinion. To quote Oscar Wilde 'alcohol in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.' May I suggest you change the name of this thread to 'Sober as a Judge' please.
14 November 2007 11:44
Post a Comment

Scuse Me, burp , hick up

Please see all comments,
in the meantime this posting is been blanked.
2 separate people in the "trade" have repeated this allegation.
Untill further proof is suplied this posting remains blank.

Not in the least surprised!

Felicity Ann Ledgerwood ELPHICK

The following action by Elphick comes as no surprise whatsoever to me.
I have known her from afar for many years.
The Commander, will be writing letters on her behalf any day now!
I, for one hope Cllr Groom and Cllr Cater see her off big time next May.
She is the very sort of Conservative that Theresa May was referring to when she said that the Conservatives were seen as the nasty party.
Thereas May was telling the truth, yet got a bollocking for doing so.


Leafleting row at Llandudno Remembrance service
Nov 13 2007 by Hywel Trewyn, Daily Post
A PROSPECTIVE councillor caused outrage by using a solemn Remembrance Day ceremony to hand out political campaign leaflets.
Tory hopeful Felicity Elphick was spotted handing out notices advertising a public meeting about weekly bin collections, within minutes of the Armistice Day service ending at the cenotaph in Penrhynside, Llandudno.

So True

If you look at the burden of damage to society, it's hugely greater for alcohol than for drugs.
Professor Ian Gilmore Royal College of Physicians

Headline on Sunday in the Mail On Sunday,
"Drunk for a Pound"
Can of beer works out at only 22p as opposed to water and a Coke costing more.
I have said this a few times in previous posts, we are heading for big big problems in the next 10 years or so.
That is how long it will take for the addiction in young ones will take to come out fully.
We are going to pay dearly for this liberal attitude towards them ll been encouraged to get tanked up.
That and lack of direction from their parents, and lack of alcohol education etc.

Little Joke

What's the difference between Heather Mills and your car?

You don't burst out laughing when ever your car has a breakdown.

Tee Shirt

Alan Coren RIP

Caine and Coren's showbiz gold RIP Alan Coren
Radio 4's tribute to him contained this gem. Alan Coren once met Michael Caine at a party during the height of Richard Gere's battle with the British press over his sexuality.
As the actor and wit chatted, it transpired that Caine lived next door to Gere and Cindy Crawford in Malibu. "So," Coren asked. "You must know the answer to the big question, Michael. Is Richard Gere gay?"
"I don't know if he is actually gay," came the reply.
"But he would probably help out if they were short handed."

Ysgol John Bright

Just been around John Bright's, must say it is a credit to the area, and also a hive of post school activity, it is very much part of the community as a whole with people of all ages using it for a variety of uses, only my knee is still on the mend I was tempted to use the gym, which one is more than welcome to do for a very nominal charge. I might well go back to use the gym!

The car park was full and the staff most welcoming,my visit was a pleasure!

One thing question, and it concerns politics!, what on earth has Betty Williams got to do with handing over some computer equipment that was supplied by Tesco under its computer for schools promotion?

You would think looking at her she had coughed up some cash from her own pocket!

Even the school was funded under the private initiative scheme, all to do with Asda getting the land for their new store, at the expense of some of the smaller business's in the area, but the school gets full marks.

Game Off Down the Ale House

The discerning patrons of at least 3 local "ale house's" have been left disappointed the last week or so in Conwy.
For the the licensee's have been rather naughty!

Instead of applying the commercial fee to Sky to screen the sports channel etc, they have only being paying a residential fee, and running the cable down to their public areas.
A sky inspector checked up upon this and proceedings are to follow.
At least I think it was a Sky inspector, for I can not see the the local council would have had either the gumption or indeed inclination to check upon such things.

Mr Rafferty has quite enough on his plate with some of his staff, and indeed his own personal problems with the planning department!
See previous post but one.

Some of us Remember.

It is remembrance Sunday, what is there more to say?

I shall not be able to be at any of the local services, first time in many years, I have unavoidable family commitments in Chester.

It hardly seems 12 months since Denise Idris Jones caused a stir because she had "not been invited" to the service in Llandudno.
Well the people all remembered last may did they not?
She went!