More insanity in action

[AnOther]

From Richard Littlejohn's column in the Daily Whale.........and you wonder why Council Tax goes inexorably up and up.................[:-))]

My old man's a sat-nav...

A few weeks ago, I brought you

the news that York City Council was spending £40,000 fitting sat-nav

systems to all its dustcarts.

Officials argued that the GPS

systems would help them track the vehicles and prevent dustmen getting

lost - presumably, should they ever take a wrong turn and find

themselves in the backstreets of Bratislava or Beijing.

The council also said the high-tech tracking technology would stop the dustcarts being stolen.

They

were right about that. The dustcarts haven't been nicked - but they

were apparently left unlocked at the 'eco-depot' and someone has had it

away on their toes with the sat-navs.

York council is trying to put a brave face on the theft, saying that so far refuse collections have been unaffected.

You couldn't make it up.

[Just Katie]

What about the marketing wizard at Birmingham Council who pasted a picture of Birmingham on their glossy brochure and, after they had all been printed off to the cost of thousands, a resident pointed out that the picture was of Birmingham USA.  Ooops[:$]

[Just Katie]

And then there was the guy from Merthyr Tydfil who stuck his head in the oven and changed his mind to have a ciggie.  [:D]

The Council put him on an advanced thinking course. 

[Dick Smith]

The funny thing about this story is that the only place any element of it appears is the Daily Mail.

Could you make it up? With Littlejohn's record? Well, that's a no-brainer.

I wonder what the real story is? Possibly something to do with route checking and monitoring for efficiency, to get better value for council tax payers. Possibly not, but whatever, it's always easier to take the Daily Mail's word for it and mock from the sidelines.

[Clarkkent]

If this story is vaguely true (see Dick's comment) is this really anything to do with York City Council? Does the council own the dustcarts and collect the rubbish or is it done by a contractor? In the parallel universe of Daily Mail land the truth must never get in the way of a good council-knocking story.

[AnOther]

An exaggeration yes but basically the truth [blink]

http://www.yorklabour.org.uk/news/pr00339.php

[Ron Avery]

The Daily "another million assylum seekers arrived at Dover yesterday" Mail does not exaggerate or make up stories[:'(]

 The story was half true (tracking device or navigational device) or 20% true (only 8 have been stolen not 40) and anyway its not a Tory Council, so in the Daily Mail offices that's good enough for them.  Surprised the sat navs being nicked was not blamed on Gordon Brown after all he is responsible for the dishonesty and actions of every other half wit in local government and the Civil Service[blink].

[Dick Smith]

[quote user="ErnieY"]An exaggeration yes but basically the truth [blink]

http://www.yorklabour.org.uk/news/pr00339.php

[/quote]

How, exactly, is an exaggeration true? We seem to be speaking two different languages.

[AnOther]

Let's look at Littlejohns piece and compare it to the York Labour Party version shall we ?

A few weeks ago, I brought you

the news that York City Council was spending £40,000 fitting sat-nav

systems to all its dustcarts.

True

Officials argued that the GPS

systems would help them track the vehicles and prevent dustmen getting

lost - presumably, should they ever take a wrong turn and find

themselves in the backstreets of Bratislava or Beijing

Tracking true - getting lost, debatable, a bit of journalistic licence perhaps and nothing wrong with a bit of humour.

The council also said the high-tech tracking technology would stop the dustcarts being stolen

Not actually written but it's true that it would, and it's not hard to imagine a council official worrying about his dustcarts being nicked especially when it and adds to the justification.

They

were right about that. The dustcarts haven't been nicked - but they

were apparently left unlocked at the 'eco-depot' and someone has had it

away on their toes with the sat-navs.

True, fair enough all 40k's worth weren't nicked but it was easy to draw that inference from the story.

York council is trying to put a brave face on the theft, saying that so far refuse collections have been unaffected.

Again not written but probaly true as only an imbecile would imagine that fitting Sat Nav to dustcarts would have any measurable positive effect on the efficiency of rubbish collection.

You couldn't make it up.

His words not mine BTW.

So maybe you can explain to me what was wrong with my comment  "An exaggeration yes but basically the truth" ?

[Chancer]

Not very effective tracking devices if they can "walk" without being found!

I hope that they are going to take more care of the remaining dustcarts.

[Dick Smith]

OK Ernie, you win.

Let's all stand on the sidelines and sneer. That'll make it a good country to live in.

Littlejohn for prime minister? (No, would involve doing some work.)

[AnOther]

It was not a question of winning Dick but of course you are quite at liberty to take whatever stance you care to.

Neither was I sneering just pointing out another example of lame perverted thinking by those whom the tax payer has a right to expect better of. I wonder if you regard the idea of commiting 40k of council tax payers money to such a project as money well spent ?

For my own part I no longer live in that particular country. Having concluded that I was always going to be a loser in a battle not of my choosing I voted with my feet.

Again, not neccessarily through choice, I retain vested interests there and concerns for what the future holds for my kids so stuff like this does still rankle me.

[Dick Smith]

Sorry, Ernie, I know you are really one of the good guys. But it really gets my goat that so many people do this 'look at what I've found in the Daily Mail and isn't Britain terrible' thing. I am just so sick of their negativity and mocking attitude - and the apparent belief that everyone feels the same way they do. As soon as someone like Littlejohn speaks they all leap in to show how this is a sign of Britain going down the pan, insanity, political correctness gone mad, Gordon Brown is an alien or whatever.

I feel it says more about them than the society they have left/want to leave.

[Ron Avery]

But if it had been a Tory Council the article would have read  "Working class scum steal devices meant to save pensioners money" 

York Council having invested £40k of council money in an effort to improve refuse collection services in the City and save thousands of £s of tax payer's money in order to reduce pensioners' council tax bills have been frustrated in their efforts to install these spy-in-the-cab machines.  The devices were to be installed to detect when dustmen were slacking and sloping off home during their rounds, but before the money saving equipment could be implemented many of the machines have been stolen by skiving dustman no doubt inspired by their union bosses and sold at boot fairs.

  These scandalous actions have left the Tory controlled council's efforts to save money and follow David Cameron's edict of improving public services whilst slashing council tax bills in tatters.[:P][:D]

[AnOther]

No apologies neccessary Dick, only having a mildly spirited exchange of views after all, nothing personal [:)]

Daily mail/Littlejohn or not I think you would find it hard not to concede that over the last decade or so UK has become a much less desireable and pleasant place to live and the tragedy is that there seems to be little if any will or spirit left in the population to stand up to what's been, and is being, imposed on them in the names of those three catch all bogey men, anti terrorism, 'elf and safety and political correctness [:(]

I'll shut up now [;-)]

[Russethouse]

A few weeks ago  I was chatting to a friend who lives in Normandy - believe me - her view of the UK was light years from what I experience on a day to day basis....don't believe all you read...

[Dick Smith]

[quote user="ErnieY"]No apologies neccessary Dick, only having a mildly spirited exchange of views after all, nothing personal [:)]

Daily mail/Littlejohn or not I think you would find it hard not to concede that over the last decade or so UK has become a much less desireable and pleasant place to live and the tragedy is that there seems to be little if any will or spirit left in the population to stand up to what's been, and is being, imposed on them in the names of those three catch all bogey men, anti terrorism, 'elf and safety and political correctness [:(]

I'll shut up now [;-)]

[/quote]

No, I wouldn't. I haven't seen any of that, it isn't talked of in workplaces or pubs that I frequent. Most people are better off (despite the present drop in house prices) and no-one I have heard of has been thrown out of work. I don't, and the people I meet regularly, don't feel 'imposed upon' by anything or anybody, other than terrorists. As I live just outside of London (and was in the area on 7/7) we have opinions on being kept safe, thanks, rather than just being negative about everything.

I just don't recognise this dismal, dispirited society you seem to think exists.

And as for 'elf and safety' and 'political correctness' - oh do me a favour. Two fictional baddies if there ever were.

'elf and safety' - possibly that is exactly what it is, try thinking about it for a moment.

'Political Correctness' - usually a reaction by the prejudiced to those who object to their primitive views. Often called 'politeness' or 'good manners' of course. Sometimes people get it wrong, well we mustn't have that, must we?

Do you remember the Daily Mail story about the school sports which were cancelled due to 'elf and safety' and 'political correctness' and 'the nanny state' (god, how the cliches flow once you start). Turned out that a farmer had promised the school a field for their sports (they had never had a playing field before) but he didn't get round to ploughing it properly, so the furrows were deemed unsuitable for primary age kids to run on. But, of course, that came out as (see previous cliches) by the time the Daily Mail was reporting it. And so on.

I get sick and tired of it, especially when I hear it from people who don't actually live in the UK. Of course the country has faults, some big ones in some areas, but it isn't some third-world banana republic ruled by Guardianistas and sliding into a socialist nightmare. It's Britain, rather stodgy, rather conservative, a bit silly at times, generally well meaning and mostly tolerant. Like it has been for the last fifteen hundred years.

[AnOther]

It would appear that we do indeed live in parallel universes then Dick so I will keep my word and shut up now.

Regards

[Chancer]

[quote user="Ron Avery"]

  The devices were to be installed to detect when dustmen were slacking and sloping off home during their rounds, [/quote]

 

I think that you are absolutely right on this one Ron.

Its a generalisation I know but all the dustmen that I have ever known, as a group were harder working, better balanced and even more intelligent than most other trades, if only the same could be said for their managers!

Throwing money at a perceived problem is no substitute for good management and people skills

[Cendrillon]

".................................................................................I get sick and tired of it, especially when I hear it from people who

don't actually live in the UK. Of course the country has faults, some

big ones in some areas, but it isn't some third-world banana republic

ruled by Guardianistas and sliding into a socialist nightmare. It's

Britain, rather stodgy, rather conservative, a bit silly at times,

generally well meaning and mostly tolerant. Like it has been for the

last fifteen hundred years."

Thank you Dick Smith for your very balanced and sensible answer.

[Iceni]

IMHO none of the large circulation newspapers can be relied upon to report accurately and without bias, consistently. They all pander to the views of their readership in the hope that giving them what they want will ensure loyalty and encourage them to spread the word amongst like minded colleagues (that's co-workers if you are a US person) and friends.

One of the sayings sometimes attributed to M. Twain is "believe half of what you see and none of what you read" - perhaps there is something in that.

We no longer live in England, it is highly unlikely that we will return and, but for the fact that we have a degree of financial dependency upon it, whether the country has gone to the dogs or not neither concerns nor interests us. Unlike some or many we do not feel the need to justify our decision to move to France by quoting the alleged mishaps of York council. 

Disgusted of N. Lot